Essay structure

Question 1

Outline the essay structure of each paragraph

Answer 1

PEELC

Point - outline the view/idea of your point by linking it back to the question and source
e.g. ‘functionalists believe that the family is a vital institution which plays a key role in maintaining social order and value consensus, because as commented in item A… Reflecting this idea/consensus view….’

Evidence - explain point with evidence e.g. ‘An example of this…’

Explain - ‘This means that…’ ‘sociologists may acknowledge…’ ‘sociologist reinforces this idea…’

Link - always link back to the question by emphasising a key point linked to the question e.g if question is about the functions of the family, you should write typically about how ‘this shows how XYZ is functional for the family or not functional for the family but for society ‘ ‘this suggests that the family is not functional but functional for wider systems of inequality etc’ ‘this further suggests’

Criticism - examiners tend to mention in their reports on previous exams that evaluations should tend to be on criticisms rather that positives e.g. ‘ A weakness to this perspective would be that…’

criticisms may be a starting point for secondary paragraphs if points tend to link - ‘However, critics of X perspective such as Y would…’ ‘Y holds a critical and negative view on….’ etc

Question 2

introduction sentence starters

Answer 2

Sociologists have vastly different view and opinions, when discussing the …. ,
each perspective evaluating whether changes linked / reaching different conclusions to whether ….
have a negative or positive impact on….

Question 3

Paragraph sentence starters

Answer 3

1st paragraph sentence starters:
[insert sociologist/perspective] believe that… because as commented in item A.. Reflecting this idea/view…, [sociologist] argues.. An example of this…. This means… [sociologist] argues/reinforces this idea… A weakness to this perspective…

2nd paragraph sentence starters:
However, critics of [sociological perspective] such as [sociologist] would reject/argue/question the view that…
as commented in item A. [sociologist] would argue ….
[sociologist identify/argue. An example of this…
[sociologist argues]…. This meant that/This is significant… This further suggests….

3rd paragraph sentence starters:
[Sociologists] such as… dispute [sociological view]
[sociologist] also hold positive/negative view… as commented in item A. [sociologists] would argue…. This is because… etc

4th paragraph sentence starters:
However, [sociologist] would be critical etc
Finally, [sociologists] such as would argue
In opposition to the [sociological view], [sociologist argues]

Question 4

conclusion sentence starters

Answer 4

In conclusion, there are many sociological contributions and perspectives / sociological theories and perspectives that offer a good insight on how…. improved/link back to question.

start with the first view on topic e.g (It can be argued that has improved/has not improved as …)

However, it can be difficult to claim/argue that… link back to topic

As well as this, many of the sociological theories or the fact that (insert overall criticism)