How should I structure a main-body paragraph in a 25-mark essay question?

Although daunting facing a question a 25-mark question, following a template for structuring your paragraphs will help you feel more prepared and your argument will be clearer to the examiner reading it.
Typically, these 25-markers present a theory and ask you to discuss its validity. After stating your intent in the introduction, i.e. whether you are arguing for or against the validity of the theory, this argument should follow through your essay consistently. This is to say each main body paragraph should conclude consistently in line with your argument presented in the introduction.
Begin each main body paragraph with an objection to the theory. Try to explain this objection as clearly as possible - how does it challenge the theory in question? The next stage of your paragraph is to outline the response to this objection. How does it argue against the objection and attempt to refute it? Again, try to be as clear as possible, using the all the correct philosophical terms that you know. The last stage of your paragraph is the evaluation, which is what you will need to complete successfully in order to reach the top-mark bands. Here you provide your opinion - does the objection succeed in proving the theory weak or is the response more convincing? What is your reason for your decision? In your final line to conclude the paragraph, you should refer back to the question - you need to summarise in one sentence why the objection or response was more convincing and thus why your argument is for or against the theory.



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