Advice from the teacher: which type of essay question to choose and why

The changes introduced to the exam this year did not affect the first paper, which, as always, is designed to assess candidates’ expressive, logical-linguistic and critical skills. It is set in three different text types: analysis and interpretation of an Italian literary text (type A); analysis and composition of an argumentative text (type B); and a critical reflection of an expository-argumentative nature on current affairs (type C). There are a total of 7 questions to choose from: 2 each for types A and C; 3 for type B. This should come as no surprise to final-year students, who are accustomed to tackling such questions throughout their three-year course. Therefore, rather than analysing each type in detail here, it seems more useful to offer some advice on how to approach the exam and how to choose a topic that will best showcase your preparation and strengths. It is, in fact, important to go into the exam already knowing which types of questions you have generally performed best in.

Type A, for example, requires an understanding of a formalised and nuanced language such as literary language, but this does not mean that, in order to choose it, we must necessarily be familiar with every author from the Unification of Italia to the present day. A compelling passage or poem that sparks our interest – even if we haven’t covered it in class or studied its author – shouldn’t put us off. Above all, it will be our ability to read and understand those words in depth that makes the difference, as well as the practice of engaging directly with the texts, which prompts us to question them in order to reflect on what they are telling us. If anything, a useful tip might be to check carefully what the final prompt for the ‘Interpretation’ section requires, as this indicates the theme to be developed, including in relation to other works and authors. The more one can draw on a personal wealth of references and reading, the less likely one is to fall into a formulaic approach or run out of arguments.

Type B also requires the ability to understand a text written by someone else thoroughly; in this case, however, it will involve an expository or argumentative passage covering various subjects. In addition to an interest in and knowledge of the topic in question, what will make the difference here is the habit of reading short essays and opinion pieces. Equally important is a good command of argumentative techniques, which will help us understand the writer’s thesis and how they support it and, above all, to develop our own writing. If you are interested in tackling this type of task, in the weeks leading up to the exam, read well-written texts and articles and study their structure and organisation, paying attention to the key points of the argument, the progression of ideas, the variety of connecting words, and the types of evidence used (examples, data, quotations, reasoning by analogy, by contrast, and so on). Conscious imitation (not copying) is a good way to master the tricks of the trade. In this sense, even a conscious and critical use of Artificial Intelligence can provide us with good practice, provided we do not simply ask the chatbot to do the work for us, but to help us construct and improve our own texts.

For Type C, which many dismiss as the ‘old-style essay’, some of the advice already given applies, with one caveat: in this case, the focus is entirely on producing a text of our own. We will not, in fact, be asked to analyse a passage written by others; rather, we may be presented with a prompt in the form of a quotation, offering practical suggestions on a specific topic. The time available should therefore be spent gathering ideas (what we know about that topic), planning the structure of the essay – which must meet the basic criteria of essay writing (introduction, main body, conclusion) – and enriching the discussion with our own knowledge. On the face of it, this may seem the easiest type of essay because it is the least restrictive and the one that gives us the most freedom to be creative. But beware: clichés and trivialisation are always lurking, and if you have no genuine interest in the subject, or cannot draw on your own stock of examples, experiences and cultural references, you risk slipping into the trap of stating the obvious and lacking in creative ideas. As this question type is very popular amongst students, it is worth warning against the risks of thinking along the lines of: ‘I’ve always done Question Type C throughout the year, so it’ll be the same in the exam’. On the face of it, it makes perfect sense, but if the topics covered by the two options are difficult and impractical for us, what should we do? Do we carry on anyway out of habit, or should we consider other options? Finally, let’s not forget that even freedom has its own rules: you cannot write without being clear about what you want to say, how you want to say it, and why. Therefore, reflection and argumentation go hand in hand in this case too.

We can offer one final piece of advice on an aspect that is generally taken for granted: time management. Six hours is a long time and requires concentration and stamina. In cases like these, it is essential to allocate the right amount of time to each of the activities involved in performing well: reading through and familiarising yourself with all the questions; choosing the question, analysing and reading the texts and/or instructions in depth; planning and writing the first draft; proofreading and revising; and, finally, writing the ‘final’ copy (yes, in exams you still write by hand on paper). Of course, there is no single protocol or ‘road map’ that works for everyone in the abstract; for this reason, it is important to know yourself and to be able to manage your own processing and concentration times. Keep an eye on the clock, then, and after each stage of work, take a few minutes to ‘switch off’ and review what you’ve done. And, above all, we cannot stress enough the importance of a thorough final review. This is a neglected task, one that students tend to dislike, and which is often impractical during the academic year due to the tight deadlines under which writing tasks are carried out. Yet it is an essential stage, requiring sufficient time and a focused mind.