How to write an essay on the exam in social studies. Essay topics and writing plan

An essay on the exam in social studies is considered one of the most difficult tasks when passing the exam. According to statistics, only every sixth graduate cope with it. For the assignment, you can score from 3 to 5 points. In order not to lose them, it is extremely important to carefully prepare for the written part of the exam. Next, we consider some examples of essays on social studies, a plan, typical mistakes in performing this task.

Validation criteria

An essay on the exam in social studies is written on one of the selected statements. The assignment contains six quotes. Ready-made essays on social studies are evaluated in stages. The first and most important criterion is K1. The disclosure of the meaning of the chosen statement is evaluated. If the graduate did not identify the problem posed by the author, the examiner puts zero points according to the K1 criterion. Ready-made essays on social studies in such cases are not further evaluated. According to other criteria, the examiner automatically puts zero points.

The structure of essays on social studies

The task is performed as follows:

1. Quote.
2. Definition of the problem raised by the author, its relevance.
3. The meaning of the selected statement.
4. Expression of one’s own point of view.
5. Using arguments on a theoretical level.
6. Citing at least two examples from social practice, literature / history, which confirm the correctness of the opinions made.
7. Output.

Quote selection

Determining the topic on which the essay on the exam in social science will be carried out, the graduate must be sure that he:

1. He knows the basic concepts in the subject.
2. Clearly understands the meaning of the quote used.
3. He can express his opinion (partially or completely agree with the chosen statement, refute it).
4. He knows social science terms that are necessary for the competent substantiation of one’s position at the level of theory. It should be borne in mind that the selected concepts should not go beyond the topic for an essay on social studies. You must use the appropriate terms.
5. He can confirm his own opinion with practical examples from social life or from literature / history.

Problem definition

Here you should immediately give examples. An essay on social studies (CSE) can reveal problems from the areas of:

• Philosophy.
• Families.
• Sociology.
• Political science.
• Jurisprudence.
• Economics and so on.

Problems in the philosophical aspect:

• The ratio of consciousness and matter.
• Development and movement as modes of existence.
• The infinity of the cognitive process.
• The relationship of nature and society.
• Theoretical and empirical levels of scientific knowledge.
• The spiritual and material aspects of social life, their relationship.
• Culture as a transformative activity of people as a whole.
• The essence of civilization and so on.

Social Studies Essays: Sociology

When writing, you can uncover the following problems:

• Social struggle and inequality.
• The ratio of subjective and objective factors that influence processes in people's lives.
• The value of material and spiritual values.
• Preservation of stability in public life.
• Features of the city.
• Youth as a community.
• The social nature of thinking, knowledge, human activities.
• The interaction of society and religion.
• Features of the socialization of young generations.
• The historical inequality of men and women.
• Progress of a public organization.
• Social mobility and so on.

Psychology

As part of writing an essay on social studies, a person can act as a key object of research. In this case, problems such as:

• Interpersonal communication, the essence and tasks to be solved.
• The psychological climate in the team.
• The relationship of the individual and a separate group.
• Norms, roles, personality status.
• National identity.
• The value of the communication process.
• The essence of social conflict.
• Inconsistency between claims and capabilities of an individual.
• Sources of social progress.
• A family.

An essay on social studies may also affect the specific functions of the science in question.

Political science

In the framework of this topic for an essay on social studies problems may be revealed:

• Authoritarian mode.
• Policy actors.
• Places and roles of the state in the system.
• Modern political interactions.
• Totalitarian regime.
• Correlation of politics, law and the economy.
• The origin of the state.
• Political regime (through the disclosure of its concepts and attributes).
• State sovereignty.
• Civil society (through the disclosure of structure, features, concepts).
• Party systems.
• Socio-political movements, pressure groups.
• The essence of a democratic regime.
• Mutual responsibility of the individual and the state.
• Political pluralism.
• Separation of power as a principle of the rule of law.
• Political modernization and so on.

Economic system

Another common science by which problems can be revealed in an essay on social studies is economics. In this case, issues such as:

• The contradiction between the limitless needs of people and limited resources.
• Production factors and their significance.
• Capital as an economic resource.
• The essence and functions of the monetary system.
• Efficiency of using existing resources.
• The importance of the division of labor.
• The role of trade in the development of society.
• Efficiency and incentives of production.
• The essence of market relations.
• State regulation of the economy and so on.

Legal discipline

Within the framework of science, one can identify a number of key problems and reveal any of them in an essay on social studies:

• Law as a regulator of people's lives.
• The essence and specific features of the state.
• The social significance of law.
• The political system and the definition of the role of the state in it.
• The similarities and differences of morality and law.
• Social state: concept and signs.
• Legal nihilism and methods for overcoming it.
• Civil society and the state.
• The concept, signs and composition of offenses, classification.
• Legal culture and so on.

Cliche phrases

In addition to the disclosure of the problem, the structure of the essay on social science suggests an indication of its relevance in the modern world. For the effective implementation of this task, you can embed cliche phrases in your text: "This problem is relevant in the context of ...

• globalization of relations in society;
• the contradictory nature of inventions and scientific discoveries;
• exacerbation of global problems;
• the formation of a single economic, educational, information field;
• strict differentiation in society;
• dialogue of cultures;
• modern market;
• the need to preserve traditional cultural values, the own identity of the nation. "

Important point

In the essay on the exam in social studies, as, however, and in written assignments in other subjects, one should periodically return to the raised problem. This is necessary for its fullest disclosure. In addition, periodic mention of the problem will allow you to be within the scope of the topic, prevent reasoning and use of terms that are not related to the selected statement. The latter, in particular, is one of the common mistakes of graduates.

The basic idea

In this part of the essay on the exam in social studies, the essence of the statement should be revealed. Along with this, you should not repeat it verbatim. You can also use cliché phrases here:

• "The author is convinced that ..."
• "The meaning of this statement is ..."
• "The author focuses on ..."

Defining your own position

In the essay on the exam in social studies, you can agree with the opinion of the author partially or completely. In the first case, it is necessary to reasonably refute the part with which the contradiction of opinion arose. Also, the writer can completely deny the statement, argue with the author. You can also use the cliche here:

• "I agree with the opinion of the author that ..."
• "In part, I have a strong point of view about ... but I can’t agree with ..."
• "In my opinion, the author clearly reflected the picture of modern society (the situation in Russia, one of the problems in the modern world) ..."
• "I allow myself to disagree with the position of the author that ..."

Arguments

An essay on the exam in social studies should contain a justification for the expressed opinion of the writer. In this part, it is necessary to recall the key terms related to the problem, theoretical provisions. Argumentation should be carried out at two levels:

1. Theoretical. In this case, social science knowledge (opinions of thinkers / scientists, definitions, concepts, directions of concepts, terms, interconnections, etc.) will act as a basis.
2. Empirical. Two options are allowed here: use events from your life or examples from literature, social life, history.

In the process of selecting facts that will serve as an argument to one’s own position, it is necessary to answer the following questions:

1. Do the examples confirm the expressed opinion?
2. Do they agree with the stated thesis?
3. Can they be interpreted otherwise?
4. Are the facts convincing?

Following such a scheme, one can control the adequacy of examples and prevent deviation from the topic.

Output

He must complete the essay. The conclusion summarizes the main ideas, sums up the arguments, confirms the correctness or incorrectness of the statement. He should not literally convey a quote that has become the subject of an essay. When formulating, you can use the following cliches:

• "To summarize, I would like to note ..."
• "Thus, we can conclude that ..."

Decor

We should not forget that the essay is a short essay. It should be distinguished by semantic unity. In this regard, a coherent text should be formed, logical transitions should be used. Also, do not forget about the correct spelling of the terms. The text should be divided into paragraphs, each of which reflects a separate thought. It is necessary to observe the red line.

additional information

In the essay you can include:

• Brief information about the author of the quote. For example, the information that he is “an outstanding Russian scientist”, “a famous French educator”, “the founder of an idealistic concept” and so on.
• Indication of alternative solutions to the problem.
• Description of different opinions or approaches to the issue.
• An indication of the ambiguity of concepts and terms that are used in the text with a justification of the meaning in which they were applied.

Job requirements

Among the whole variety of existing approaches to writing technology, we should single out a number of conditions that must be observed:

1. Adequate understanding of the meaning of the statement and the problem.
2. Relevance of the text to the question raised.
3. Identification and disclosure of key aspects pointed out by the author of the statement.
4. A clear certainty of one’s own opinion, attitude to the problem, to the position expressed in the quote.
5. Relevance of disclosure of aspects to a given scientific context.
6. The theoretical level of substantiation of one’s own opinion.
7. The presence of meaningful facts of personal experience, social behavior, social life.
8. Logic in reasoning.
9. Lack of terminological, ethnic, factual and other errors.
10. Compliance with the rules of the language and the requirements of the genre.

Any rigid framework for the volume of the essay is not established. It depends on the complexity of the topic, the nature of thinking, experience, and the level of preparation of the graduate.

Errors in formulating the problem

The most common shortcomings are:

1. Misunderstanding and inability to highlight the problem in the statement. On the one hand, this is due to insufficient knowledge of the discipline to which the utterance belongs, and on the other hand, with an attempt to adapt the considered, written or read earlier works to the identified issue.
2. Inability to formulate a problem. This error is usually associated with a small vocabulary and terminology in basic sciences.
3. Inability to articulate the essence of the quote. It is explained by a misunderstanding or a misunderstanding of the content of the statement and the lack of the necessary social science knowledge.
4. Substitution of the problem by the position of the author. This error occurs due to the fact that the graduate does not see and does not understand the difference between them. As a problem in the essay, there is a topic that the author discusses. It is always voluminous and extensive. Different opinions can be expressed on it, often completely opposite. The meaning of the statement is the author’s personal position on the problem. A quote is just one of many opinions.

Deficiencies in determining and justifying their position

The absence of arguments confirming the position of the graduate indicates ignorance or ignoring the requirements for the structure of the essay. Common mistakes when using concepts are unjustified narrowing or expansion of the meaning of the term, substitution of some definitions with others. Incorrect work with information indicates inability to analyze experience. Often the examples that are given in the text are weakly related to the problem. The lack of critical perception of information received from the Internet, the media leads to the use of unverified and unreliable facts as justifications. Another common mistake is the one-sided view of these or other social phenomena, indicating the inability to identify and formulate causal relationships.