The AIMS model for writing essays - simple but effective tips on how to write effectively

This post is about effective writing in general, and effective economics writing for A level economics students in particular. 

Writing essays effectively is an important skill for students and workers in the knowledge economy.

There are many good reasons why this is the case. Jobs often require good writing skills for career success; writing is also clearly an important part of communication in daily life; and excellent writing skills are needed for attaining excellent results in essay examinations. 

This post shares a simple mnemonic device to remembering simple yet effective tips on how to write effectively:

The AIMS model for writing essays

A - Accuracy

I - Impact, Importance, and Implication

M - the "Mother Test"

S - Substance

A

Accuracy is very important in writing. Vague allusions and unspecific arguments make it difficult for readers to really understand the author's intentions. Using economics essays as an example, when an economics student writes about "economic policy" or "macroeconomic policy" in his essay, does this term refer to fiscal policy, or monetary policy? At once, it becomes clear that accuracy is important.

Or even better still, is the student making an argument about "expansionary fiscal policy" or "contractionary monetary policy"? Accuracy makes writing stronger and better, and much more effective. 

I

I can stand for impact, or importance, or implication. 

It can stand for a lot of things - but what is the core idea here about impact, importance, or implication? 

Impact or importance is very important in writing. Why is a sentence or an argument useful or relevant to the reader?

For instance, when an economics student writes about expansionary fiscal policy and the details of how it works or functions, that is great - but what is the impact or implication of the policy? What is the importance of this particular policy? If the argument goes on to say that expansionary fiscal policy can reduce demand-deficient unemployment in theory, then the argument has a real impact and importance, and tells the reader the full implication of the theory. 

What is the impact of contractionary monetary policy? Does it lower AD and thus reduce demand-pull inflation in a particular economy? To what extent does it successfully achieve this aim? 

In other words - impact, importance, implication. 

Make your writing impactful by drawing out the importance of what you are saying, and often this is done because you have told the reader about the implications of your reasoning.

M

M stands for the Mother Test. 

Can your mother understand what you are writing? 

Some people call this the grandmother test, but I wanted to write a post that was neat and memorable, and so I chose M for mothers - because mothers are particularly memorable (mine is). 

If your writing is comprehensible to your mother, then that is a good piece of writing. If your essay cannot be easily understood, because of one reason or another (bad spelling, bad punctuation, bad grammar, meandering arguments, unclear sentences) then you should practise harder. Strive to make your writing as clear and powerful as possible.  

Make your mother understand. 

S

S stands for substance. Do you really know what you are writing about? Do you have detailed knowledge of the field, or the topic for that matter? For instance, in economics, do you really understand the  economic policies that you are analysing? Do you understand the intricacies of the arguments that you are making? 

For economics students, the relevant questions are: have you really mastered your economics material?

Studying hard for economics will provide you with a strong theoretical background to answer essay questions accurately and properly, detailing the importance and implications of your arguments. 

In conclusion, for effective writing, always remember the AIMS of good writing. 

Thank you for reading, and cheers. 

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For more specific articles on various economics essays topics, please refer to the following useful links:

How to write excellently in economics case studies

How to write a good economics paragraph

How to write economics essays (self help guide)

How to write a good macroeconomics essay

JC Economics Essays - While this is an economics essay website for A level economics (mainly H1, H2, H3, AS, AO, GCE, GCSE, A level economics), it is also important for students (beyond just economics students) to learn how to write effectively. The editor of JC Economics Essays strongly and firmly believes that writing effectively is an important skill. Writing effectively will help all students with their written examinations, not just for economics, but also for General Paper and other examination papers that require excellent essays written in English. Students can always get better and writing, and make steady improvements if they are willing to learn.

Thank you for reading this article, and cheers. 

E-Book: Success in Macroeconomics - A Concise Companion to Core Concepts

Hi my dear readers, 

Allow me to introduce the next economics e-book in my series, "Success in Macroeconomics: A Concise Companion to Core Concepts". 

Written by myself (the editor) of the popular, useful, and relevant economics blog, JC Economics Essays, "Success in Macroeconomics" is a clear cut, concise companion to core economic concepts and theories for success in understanding Macroeconomics simply and effectively, which will help students gain an edge to excel academically in their economics examinations. 

Often, students want a clear and simple guide or effective lecture notes that provide the main arguments and explanations of key economics concepts, rather than a long, verbose textbook. They often lament that their school economics notes sometimes give a deluge of information, or an overload of economics case studies, and they are unsure of what the core economics content is, or what economics theories and concepts they should be focusing on for their studies. 

Since 2012, I have heard this common comment over and over (and as well as the reverse comment, incidentally, that some other junior college's economics lecture notes are totally in point form and need students to fill in the blanks, so as to keep them awake during econs lectures - such clever teachers). 

It's a legitimate issue: what learning resource provides a clear and simple economics guide that summarises key concepts and theories needed for the A levels? 

My e-book provides an effective solution - how? 

My concise guide provides simple yet effective explanations of key economics concepts, and entire arguments in paragraph form, for easy learning and retention. 

With this targeted solution, writing argumentative paragraphs or economic analysis in essays becomes simply more effective and efficient. 

Without long wordy paragraphs and additional filler information, this concise companion to core macroeconomic theories provides clear definitions, word-for-word explanations, and effective theoretical analyses of various macroeconomic issues. 

What will you learn?

In this effective yet concise guide to core A level macro-economic theories and concepts, students will learn:  

(1) Clear, concise, easy-to-memorise definitions to highly important macroeconomic concepts and theories often tested in economics tests and examinations

(2) Clear, accurate, step-by-step arguments to make a convincing economic case, either for or against an economic position, on a diverse range of macroeconomic questions and issues 

(3) Theories on major macroeconomic problems and how governments theoretically could implement impactful economic policies to address these macroeconomic problems and pursue their macroeconomic objectives

(4) The clear, step-by-step arguments to make to explain the mechanisms of the economic policies and the analysis of their limitations, with specific arguments to make for specific policies

(5) Commonly used economics diagrams, with detailed yet simple explanations, that you can draw and utilise to analyse questions 

(6) Useful and relevant, yet simple to understand, concise economic information for economic analysis on a variety of common macroeconomic issues

How a book helps students is often dependent on how it is used, so let me share some useful suggestions for your consideration. (Don't worry, I have also included a small section in the e-book to remind readers of how best to utilise the resource to reach their fullest potential.)

First, this book is an excellent complementary companion to supplement a traditional economics education, because it focuses students' attention on core macroeconomic issues and useful concepts. 

It can be used for additional reading. Usually, strong economics students already have a good understanding of the subject, so they can just read this book from cover to cover. It will still help them, a lot! 

Secondly, Success in Macroeconomics can be alternatively used effectively as a set of simple yet clear-cut notes for easy memorisation for quick success in economics examinations. 

This would make this guide more significant as a revision toolkit for examination preparation. 

With concise yet incisive arguments that are easy to understand, yet pack an impactful, powerful punch, with relevant theories and concepts, this economics book can be used for effective examination preparation. 

If you want to learn A level Macroeconomics more effectively, do click on the link and get this useful guide now. 

In Success in Macroeconomics - A Concise Companion to Core Concepts - you will be receiving: 

Pages: 68 pages including cover pages 

Chapters: 28 chapters 

Edition: 1st Edition, 2015

Details: Full colour; high resolution; with varied economics diagrams

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JC Economics Essays supports social enterprise! 

This book was kindly contributed by JC Economics Essays to Sallyforth Enterprise, and some proceeds from the book will be given to support and build up less privileged communities. Sallyforth Enterprise is a social enterprise that strongly supports social enterprises, volunteerism, and charity work. Part of the proceeds from this book will be given to charity, to build up less privileged communities, especially in less developed economies and rural communities. In particular, women and children are supported by such funding. Social enterprise can and should be a force for good. 

Thank you for your kind and invaluable support, which will definitely go a long way to greatly supporting the needy and vulnerable.  

JC Economics Essays - Here on this economics learning site, you will find economics education and learning resources for "A" levels, especially H1, H2, H3 A level Economics, and also many economics essays, also including undergraduate, and post-graduate and master's economics essays. Fundamentally, JC Economics Essays is mainly an economics essays blog that shares contributions and economics articles to help students learn economics and how to write excellent essays. Thank you for reading, and cheers. 

Update Post! E-Book on How to Study Economics (3rd Ed.) by JC Economics Essays

[This is an updated post replacing the earlier post on the e-book How To Learn Economics. Thank you once again to kind supporters!]

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Hi my dear readers, 

E-Book on How to Study Economics (3rd Ed.) by JC Economics Essays

As you know, JC Economics Essays is an economics blog collection of sample model essays from former students, teachers, and National Institute of Education (NIE) trainee teachers, and some economics articles written by myself, for reference and reading.

Basically, this blog is about economics essays, of all sorts and from a variety of sources. I edit some of the essays and comment on some of them, and they all demonstrate different perspectives on how to approach economics essays. 

However, the main focus of this entire economics blog is mainly on essays. 

There have of course been a few economics articles on this site on how to write a good economics paragraph and how to craft good macroeconomics essays, but generally speaking this economics blog has a lot of material on economics, essay writing, and essays in general and much less in the way of how to study economics. 

In the link below (yes, this is a plug, a shout out, a sharing! :)) I have an updated (June 2015) e-book called How to Study Economics, which is about effective studying skills, useful methods of learning, and means of how to learn Economics effectively. 

Do visit it and if you're interested you could buy the book, and thus contribute to Sallyforth Enterprise, which is a social enterprise dedicated to sharing profits to help underprivileged communities in less developed economies, women, and widows. 

So, what will you learn from How to Study Economics (3rd Ed.)?

In this new and updated e-book on How to Study Economics, you will learn:

1. the secrets of how to study Economics effectively, directly, and relevantly

2. the secrets of how to craft excellent Economics essays that will score high marks reliably and consistently in tests and examinations  

3. the secrets to successfully ace your Case Study Questions 

4. additional useful economics content and material above and beyond what you learn in school

5. and how to make strong analytical comments about the Singapore macroeconomy 

Hope you can support this e-book, and concomitantly support social enterprise and charity, while at the same time learning relevant and useful  material. Thank you very much! 

Also, all the very best for studying economics! Just do your best and apply what you have learnt. Hopefully this economics blog and the ebook might help you ace the subject :)

Thank you very much for reading and cheers!

Editor of JC Economics Essays

How To Write A Good Economics Paragraph

How To Write A Good Economics Paragraph... A Basic Introduction!

(Edited and improved from the 2010 version)

In this introductory and basic post on Economics, I reiterate and show how to write a good economics essay paragraph - one that gets good marks rather than bad marks in an economics essay test or examination. 

Often, students ask, and rightly so: "How do we write a good Economics essay?" 

However, before you can answer that, you might need to know how to write a good Economics paragraph first, because paragraphs are the building blocks to create a well-crafted, well-written essay. 

Let's begin with a simple exercise. Ready? 

Have a look at the following sample Economics paragraphs, and think to yourself whether the paragraph is well written or not. 

"A" grade by Adam

Insert tariff diagram - small country case (international trade)

Tariffs, taxes imposed on imported goods and services, hurt the local, domestic economy. The above diagram shows that, for a small country, putting a tariff on an imported good increases the price of the good, making quantity demanded fall by B2 and quantity supplied by local sellers to rise by A1, thus causing deadweight loss A and B. Not only is there deadweight loss of A and B, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good is consumed. For example, a tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more locally produced cars, perhaps just like the Proton Saga cars in Malaysia if Malaysia were to impose a tariff. Consumers lose out because they pay more and consume less numbers of cars overall, but local producers and the government gain from the loss in consumer surplus. The deadweight loss is not efficient as the losses from consumer surplus do not accrue to the government, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect lost. Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto (or allocative) efficient.

"B" grade by Ben

Insert tariff diagram - small country case (international trade)

Tariffs, taxes on imports, are bad. The above diagram shows that, for a small country, putting a tariff on an imported good increases the price of the good, making quantity demanded fall by B2 and quantity supplied by local sellers to rise by A1, thus causing deadweight loss A and B. Not only is there deadweight loss of A and B, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good is consumed. For example, a tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more locally produced cars. Consumers lose out because they pay more and consume less numbers of cars overall, but local producers and the government win. The deadweight loss is not efficient as the losses from consumer surplus do not accrue to the government, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect lost. Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto efficient.

"C" grade by Cadence

NO ECONOMICS DIAGRAM 

Tariffs are bad because they hurt the local economy. Not only is there deadweight loss, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good (which are cars) is consumed. Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto efficient.

"D" grade for Denise

NO ECONOMICS DIAGRAM

Tariffs hurt the economy. A tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more produced cars. People locally lose out because he pays more and consume less of cars overall, but homebody producers and my government win. The deedweight loss is not efficient as losses fro consumer surplus do not goes to the garvenment, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect gained. Like disappeared. Thus, tariffs hurt foreign economys because deadweight loss, which is Not good.

So, what have we learnt about writing a good Economics paragraph?

WHAT ARE THE GOOD POINTS?

STATE Tariffs, taxes imposed on imported goods and services, hurt the local economy.

EXPLAIN The above diagram shows that, for a small country, putting a tariff on an imported good increases the price of the good, making quantity demanded fall by B2 and quantity supplied by local sellers to rise by A1, thus causing deadweight loss A and B. Not only is there deadweight loss of A and B, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good is consumed.

EXAMPLE For example, a tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more locally produced cars, just like the Proton Saga in Malaysia.

EXPLAIN Consumers lose out because they pay more and consume less numbers of cars overall, but local producers and the government win. The deadweight loss is not efficient as the losses from consumer surplus do not accrue to the government, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect lost.

CONCLUDE Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto (allocative) efficient.

I would strongly recommend crafting good essay paragraphs by stating clearly what the argument is, first and foremost. After stating your argument, explain what it means by defining the terms, explaining what the process is, and explaining why you think that argument makes sense. Perhaps even draw a diagram to explain the situation, and explain the diagram itself as well to show your economics knowledge. Giving an example, you will now want to explain the example to show how it links to the theoretical content, and then you conclude by wrapping up your paragraph. If each paragraph is written consistently like this, your paper will be more detailed, well-explained, and full of rich real world examples that highlight your points. 

Good luck and all the best writing your economics essay paragraph!

The editor. 

JC ECONOMICS ESSAYS - For H1, H2, H3, "O" levels, "A" and "AS" levels, GCE, GCSE, AS, and introductory undergraduate Economics.