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CAE Essay Examples | 1 Great Way To Learn

Table of Contents

CAE Essay Examples Introduction

Before looking at some CAE essay examples, we should quickly answer this question: "What is a CAE essay?"

A CAE essay  is an obligatory task in the C1 Advanced (CAE) Cambridge English exam. There are 4 CAE exam papers: Speaking, Listening, Reading & Use of English and Writing. The CAE essay forms part 1 of the 2 part writing paper. Students need to answer a question and write between 220-260 words.

On the rest of this page I have put some CAE essay examples which my students have sent to me. If you keep reading, you will find tasks to complete and either a video or written feedback which I provided to the student. The feedback is based on the Cambridge English Assessment Scale from the C1 Advanced handbook for teachers. It is very important to understand this marking criteria if you want to pass this part of the exam.

If you don't know how to write a good essay, or if you want to know how examiners mark your essay, check out my C1 Advanced Essay page.

CAE Essay Example 1 - Question, Critique etc.

Cae essay question.

WAYS OF LOOKING AFTER YOUNG CHILDREN:

At home with parents or other family members In nurseries or pre-school With a professional nanny

Write an essay for your tutor in 220-260 words. You should discuss two of the ways of looking after young children in your notes. You should explain which way is more beneficial and provide reasons to support your opinion.

CAE Examiners Assessment Template

Download this assessment template here or complete the online version here with your thoughts on the writing below.

CAE Essay Example 1 - Answer

C1 Essay Example Answer & My Comments

I have highlighted the mistakes and written comments showing you how to correct them in ( bold and italics).

HOW TO LOOK AFTER YOUNG CHILDREN

There is no doubt that one of the problems of (the word ‘problem’ collocates with ‘with’ before a person/people) modern families is how to take care of young children. Some years ago, the most common solution was to leave the new-borns with a family member. Usually, it was the mother, who had to leave her job and sacrifice her career for the new arrival. Today, the situation is slightly different, because, often, both parents have to work and no relatives are available to come into (‘into’ is not the right word to use here - you could say - ‘come and support’) support of (don’t write ‘of’ here. We say ‘support somebody’ in English, not ‘support of somebody’) the family. In this essay, I will discuss two possible solutions (‘solution’ is not the right word here. ‘Solution’ implies that leaving the children with a family member is not an option, and that you will therefore discuss two alternative methods. The problem is the next paragraph then talks about leaving the children with a family member)  and their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the advantages of leaving your children with a family member is that you trust this person (I would say ‘this person will usually have your trust’ - because it is better to try and use the passive voice in an essay. We also tend to use more nouns and fewer verbs in formal writing) and you know (do you know that?) that they will certainly take care of them in the best way. Furthermore, when the children are sick, you can leave them in bed and check their temperature frequently, preventing complications. (I think you could develop this last sentence more and state that you cannot do this if the children go to nursery) . On the other hand, though, your children could (you should use ‘may’ or ‘might’ rather than ‘could’ here. ‘Could not’ in this sentence means they were not able to. It is a definitive statement and it does not imply possibility) not develop some important social skills such as team playing (‘teamwork’ might be a better word to use here) and sharing (‘connecting’ might be a better word to use. We tend to say ‘sharing’ + something) with peers, but they could be left (for) some time in front of a screen (you could explain why this wouldn’t be beneficial) .

Another solution could be to make them attend a nursery. There are numerous advantages in (‘advantages’ collocates with ‘to’) this approach as well, but, above all, I would enlighten (‘enlighten’ is usually followed by an object) that children are taught to stay together, to help each other and to have fun. Unfortunately, on the other hand, they run the risk of getting ill more frequently and this could be a problem for parents who have to take maternity leave to cure (‘look after’ or ‘take care of’ are better phrases to use here. ‘Cure’ is stronger and implies the parents will heal them from a serious illness or disease) them.

To sum up (this expression is a little too informal for an essay) , I think that I would choose a mixed solution for my children: a family member during the first years but then a nursery as soon as they start speaking and relating (‘building relationships’) with others, so that to (remove the word 'to' and replace it with 'they') improve their abilities (‘ability’ should be countable singular here) to be part of a group.

CAE Essay Sample Marks

CAE Essay Sample - Pass or Fail

Adding the marks together, the student has scored:

Content: 3/5

Communicative Achievement: 3/5

Organisation: 4/5

Language: 2/5

Total: 12/20.

If you can't remember what these scores mean, watch my CAE writing marking criteria video .

If this student got 12/20 for their part 2 writing in the exam, they would have 24/40 for the C1 Advanced writing paper.

The student would therefore pass this exam paper.

To understand how these marks are calculated, check out this page . I suggest using a table like this to mark your scores when you are practising for all the different exam papers.

CAE Essay Examples - Question 2 Critique etc.

This question has come from ' Cambridge English Advanced Practice Tests - Plus 2 ' by Nick Kenny and Jacky Newbrook.

While you read this example answer, you should write down any mistakes you find on this document , then complete the examiner assessment template below:

Online template

Hard copy Assessment Scale Template

Example Answer Download

C1 Writing Exam Assessment Template

If you haven't done it yet, download this assessment template here , or complete it online here with your thoughts on the writing above.

C1 Essay Sample Answer 2 & My Comments

Here is the student's answer with my corrections and comments written in ( bold and italics).

Nowadays , many young people tend to ask themselves how valuable is the benefit of taking part in sport competitions in which they participate ( I don’t think these words add any extra to the sentence) . It is said that ‘ it’ ( after using the phrase ‘it is said/thought that’ you should repeat the subject) is worth y (you should use ‘worth’ here) for healthy people to hav ing a positive attitude and th is (the attitude) are also usually able to contribute s more to a the healthy mind. 

But which point s can be highlighted as valuable from ‘ having’ healthy lifestyles? (Personally, I wouldn’t ask questions in an essay). Not only ‘ does’ physical condition ha ve a very important role to play, but also mental condition might be affected ‘ as a result’ .  This (what starts at the beginning?) starts at the beginning (the beginning of what?) when the young child can learn about the value of exercise. Despite having a fit ness body, this (what is ‘this’?) should not only be aimed at sport s competition s . They need to have continuous ‘win nings and los ses ings ’ in order to understand the importance of being trained mentally ( I think the argument of the essay disappears a bit here). For instance, Usain Bolt is an excellent athlete thanks to ‘ his’ capability to accept to los s e s and train hard for the next sport competition.

Attitude alone, however, is not enough. Young athletes need to have easy access to resources which will enable them to learn in a better way. There is no point in having a great attitude to learn if they cannot find materials that other athletes can share as tips in order to make the difference. In this case, these materials refer s to personal experiences and train ing methods ed abilities which youngsters need to pay more attention ‘to’ . If cooperation is not performed (we don’t normally ‘perform cooperation’, it would be more common to say ‘if cooperation does not exist’ , young people are all too likely to slip into bad habits (this  paragraph is well written) .

To sum up, of the two values outlined above, healthy lifestyles is the more effective one. lt is more far reaching in that it relates to all aspects of living healthily. In addition to this, after all, through (‘developing the right’) attitude , that a person will learn why it is better to go to a sport competition than to lie on a couch in front of the television. (I don’t think I understand this final sentence. Do you mean attitude will teach a person? I probably wouldn’t introduce a new idea into the final sentence of an essay).

CAE Essay Sample 2 Marks

Below, you can read my critique on the examiner assessment scale...

Sorry, you'll need to register or upgrade your membership in order to access the content below.

CAE Essay Sample 2 - Pass or Fail

This student has scored:

Communicative Achievement: 2/5

Organisation: 3/5

Language: 3/5

Total: 11/20.

If this student got 11/20 for their part 2 writing in the exam, they would score 22 out of 40 and they would not pass the CAE writing exam at a C1 level.

The student might still pass the exam if he/she gets higher marks in the other exam papers, Reading , Use of English , Speaking and Listening .

CAE Essay Examples - Question 3

Let's have a look at another example essay that a student sent to me. Similar to the first two, we'll have a look at the question, answer and my feedback.

Fantastic work if you've made it this far...you're really going to be helping yourself prepare for this tricky part of the exam. High five!

The following question can be found on this website .

While reading the next answer, you should complete the assessment scale. You can download the assessment template here or complete this online version .

CAE Essay Examples - Answer 3

CAE Essay Examples - Answer 3 pdf

Okay, so hopefully you've completed the hard copy or the online examiner assessment template with your marks and comments. Before reading my corrections below, you should now write down any mistakes you find on this document.

CAE Essay Examples - Answer 3 + My Comments

We live in a wor ’l’ d where there are so many options for travelling (Spelling mistakes are not a huge issue, but they are important if they disrupt the flow/meaning of your writing. This spelling mistake is in the first sentence and therefore might put negative thinking in the examiner’s mind) . According to a recent article, there has been an increase in international travelling. Since the article did not find the major causes of what is causing this new trend (can you think of a way to avoid saying ‘causes’ and ‘causing’ in the same sentence?) , I decided to raise two crucially important factors which could presumably contribute to this. 

It cannot be denied that we take most means of transport for granted and flying on a plane is becoming more prevalent (Good sentence) . In comparison to the previous century, the cost of airline tickets has noticeably decreased. In other words, most airlines are now aiming at a wide ’r’ range of ‘people’ public . (We don’t often say ‘a range of public.’) Not only do they want to attract the affluent, but they also want to ensure that even the poorest citizens can afford to buy a ticket. Moreover, the convenience of aircraft also plays a vital role as flying is not so time-consuming. (Good paragraph).

Another potential factor is global business and trade. The majority of successful companies, such as Foxconn and Apple, are spread out into ‘across’ the whole world. If they did not do this, they would not be able to satisfy their customers. Therefore, they often have no other option, but to dispatch (‘dispatch’ is not often a word used for people but more for inanimate objects) their representatives , (remember the comma as this is a non-definite relative clause because the next part of the sentence is extra information) who always travel by plane. Secondly, the world economy has reached its peak, that is to say, our population is buying more cars. (I think this point would be made stronger by adding another sentence.)

To sum up, as far as I am concerned, global business plays a bigger role when it comes to the increase in travelling. Despite the fact that means of transport have changed, companies have a major impact. To make it clear, companies have the power to shape our society. We are under the influence of them. They set down the rules in terms of new trends in our society (I think you could combine the final two sentences and avoid repeating the words ‘our society’) .

CAE Essay Examples - Question 3 Marks

Upgrade here to access my marks and comments >>

CAE Essay Examples - Question 3 - Pass or Fail

I have awarded the essay the following marks:

Content - 3 Communicative Achievement - 4 Organisation - 4 Language - 4

Total: 15/20

In my opinion, this is a good essay. Remember you only have 90 minutes to complete 2 writing tasks in the exam, but if you could write this and a similar part 2 answer in 35 minutes each, leaving time for planning and checking, I think you will stand a good chance of passing at a C1 level. The examiners tend to mark the writing paper quite strictly in my experience and so it’s possible that some of the marking criteria could be awarded a 3, but it’s also possible some could be awarded a 5. It depends a little bit on the individual examiner. Well done!

CAE Essay Examples - Question 4

This came from the book ' Cambridge English Advanced 2 ' which you can buy here >>

CAE Essay Answer

You should print off a copy of the answer below here and write down any mistakes you find.

Alternatively, you can write the mistakes on a separate sheet of paper or on this online template .

You should also complete the examiner assessment scale template in hardcopy or online .

CAE Essay Answer With My Corrections

Here is a video of me critiquing this answer:

If you would like to receive a similar video critiquing one of your answers, check out my CAE writing assessment service >>

Below, you can read the answer with my corrections and what I wrote on the examiner assessment scale...

Social trends are part of today’s society and they could be described as peculiar behaviours that become ‘a’ fundamental characteristic of a society. In the last few years there have been many changes such as the development of ‘the’ internet, mobile phones and cheaper flights that have had an important influence in ‘on’ social trends.

As far as I’m concerned, the factor which influence ‘s’ the most social trends ‘the most’ is the communication and especially the new communication via social network ‘s’ . As a matter of fact s , the way we communicate has been influenced a lot by the development of ‘the’ internet and technology. Therefore, internationally widespread social networks such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok have created ways of communicating that make it very easy to spread a peculiar ‘specific’ social trend by imitat ‘ing’ e the trends of other countries.

Other people may say that advertising is shaping social trends because of its u ‘i’ nescapable influence on consumers. Although it surely plays an important role and everywhere we go we are surrounded by advertising, in my humble opinion , we are totally used to them and we know how to ignore them, so they don’t ‘ do not’ have such a big influence on social trends.

In conclusion , it ’s ‘i s evident that what influence ‘s’ ‘social trends’ the most social trends are the ways of communicating used by the people of today. They have the ‘ability’ peculiarity to make the world smaller and spread a new trend amazingly rapidly with the feature that it will affect a big amount ‘number’ of people in a small amount of time.

CAE Essay Marks

C1 Advanced Writing - Pass or Fail?

Content - 3

Communicative Achievement - 3

Organisation - 4

Language - 2

Total: 12/20

You need a minimum of 24 out of 40 possible marks to pass the CAE writing paper. Remember, there are 2 different writings to complete, so you need to average 12 out of 20 for each writing task.

Remember, you do not need to pass every exam paper in order to pass the C1 Advanced (CAE) exam and get a certificate.

If you want to find out more about what marks you need in order to pass the exam, have a look at this page >>

More CAE Essay Examples + Feedback

I recently published a book with 6 CAE essay examples and 15 other CAE sample writings. They all have my mistakes and suggestions highlighted, as well as critique based on official writing marking criteria.

Some of you can read it for free with Kindle Unlimited:

Take a look inside >>

Register to start the course below >>

2 thoughts on “ CAE Essay Examples | 1 Great Way To Learn ”

I learnt a lot from your essays samples and corrections. Please send more of your lesson I need it for studies. Thanks

Thank you Evelyn, I’m glad they helped you. When you become a member of my website you get access to more of my materials: https://studentlanguages.com/membership-checkout/?level=4

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Breakout English

Advanced (CAE) Essay Questions and Sample Answers

The Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) essay is a formal, academic writing. You’ll find it in Part 1 of the CAE writing exam and, just like at other levels, Part 1 is mandatory. That means whether you like it or not, you’ll be writing an essay for your C1 Cambridge exam. Considering that, it’s probably a good idea to practise. The good news is, the CAE essay can be quite formulaic. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll notice the structure and style are always pretty similar. Before you know it, you’ll be writing them in your sleep! In this post, you’ll find some useful CAE writing tips and three essay questions with sample answers.

If you’re looking for a complete overview of the CAE writing exam, with CAE writing tips and much more, check out Advanced Writing Plus , our complete self-study course.

Topics for Advanced (CAE) essay questions

At C1 level, you are expected to be able to write about pretty much any topic you can imagine. However, CAE essay topics are generally going to be quite formal. You’re not going to be asked about your plans for the weekend!

These are some of the topics which are most likely to come up in an Advanced essay question:

• Environmental issues
• Public projects
• Science and nature
• Global issues

Make sure you’ve looked into these topics and studied relevant vocabulary. You can also read different articles and listen to radio broadcasts (or podcasts) related to the topics. Don’t forget to note down important vocabulary so you can remember it for your writings!

C1 Advanced (CAE) Essay Tips

You’ve probably got plenty of experience writing in English if you’ve reached a C1 level. Students who prepare for this exam often need their skills focused in the right way rather than being taught brand new ideas.

Here are my top tips for preparing the CAE essay task.

• Don’t do anything too strange – The essay question is likely to be on quite an interesting topic. It could even be on something you feel strongly about or specialise in. But be careful! When essays start to ramble too much or go too far, they lose their strength. This essay isn’t going to change the world, so don’t go overboard!
• Use advanced language – Remember that to get top points, you must use advanced structures in your writing. Take some time to practise inversion, cleft sentences and participle clauses, then use them in your essay.
• Don’t be stingy with linking words – Linking words (and expressions) are the glue of a writing. Without them, everything falls apart. This doesn’t mean you have to use ridiculous uncommon linking words, but you should use them frequently, probably more than you expect. Take a look at our post about linking words for some ideas.
• Be stylish! – An essay needs to read like an essay, just like a report needs to read like a report. This means it is a formal, academic text. Formal means no contractions, few phrasal verbs, complex sentences and an impersonal style. The essay needs to include your opinion, so you need to express that opinion through style and substance, supported by facts.
• Focus on argument and coherence – To score high in the CAE essay, it’s important to have a clear argument and structure. Plan your essay and stick to the plan, making sure each paragraph has a clear purpose. Ensure that your points are logically connected and that your writing is coherent.
• Use a variety of sentence types – Varying sentence types and lengths keep the reader engaged and demonstrate your writing skills. Mix simple and complex sentences to add interest to your writing.
• Check your writing! – Proofreading is critical for writing a top-scoring CAE essay. Check for grammatical and spelling errors and make sure the writing flows well. Also, don’t forget to check your writing style and tone to make sure you sound professional and academic.
• Practice, practice, practice – Finally, practise writing essays under timed conditions. This will help you to improve your time management and build confidence for the actual exam.

The materials

Here are three Advanced (CAE) essay questions. They each use different CAE essay topics. Use them to practise and improve in preparation for the Cambridge C1 Advanced exam. After completing your own essay, check the example answer and compare.

• How to write a C1 Advanced Essay

• Posted on 26/02/2020
• Categories: Blog
• Tags: C1 Advanced , Cambridge Exams , Writing

The Cambridge C1 Advanced is an excellent qualification to aim for if you’re thinking of studying or working abroad. It’s recognised by universities and governments all over the world and also helps you prove your language skills to future employers.

One of the most demanding parts of the exam is Part 1 of the Writing paper, which includes writing an essay. For many of you, this won’t come naturally… especially in another language.

So, to give you the best chance at success, we’ve created this in-depth guide full of Cambridge C1 Advanced Writing tips and useful language to get you producing excellent essays in no time.

So, pick up your pen, and let’s get started!

If you’d like to get more help with the C1 Advanced, consider our exam preparation class!

C1 Advanced Writing Requirements

The C1 Advanced Writing exam has two writing parts, which you must complete in 90 minutes. Both parts have a word limit of between 220-260 words. We recommend getting lots of writing practice under these conditions!

Part 1 is always a discursive essay . It requires you to think about arguments for and against a topic.

Part 2 is a situationally based writing task. This could be a letter , an email , a report , a proposal or a review and you have three options to choose from.

Today, we’ll be looking at how to do your best in part 1.

Before you begin

When you turn over the paper and begin Writing Part 1, take some time to read the task instructions. Identify all parts of the question, underlining which parts are obligatory and noting which parts are optional.

Let’s take a look at an example question!

Remember, you don’t have to use the opinions expressed in the box, but they may help you to get the ball rolling . Also, you only have to talk about two of the options given, not all three.

Make a plan

Take ten minutes to lay out your ideas. Make a pros and cons list for each of the three options and then decide which two you feel most confident with. Here’s some things you might come up with, can you think of any more?

Structure your essay

The essence of a good essay is a clear structure.

Introduction

Here you want to introduce the topic in your own words. Your first line should also grab the reader’s attention, then you should paraphrase the question. Finally, try using a statistic or a rhetorical question. This will make them want to read on, right?

Paragraph 1

Discuss the first option you’ve chosen. Include a good topic sentence and remember to give reasons for your answer. Describe some of the advantages, and even some of the disadvantages too. This will give a well-balanced argument.

Paragraph 2

Here’s where you introduce the second option. Again, try to present both sides of the argument and give reasons for your ideas. Gradually work towards the conclusion.

State your final opinion. This should be a summary of the rest of the essay and point clearly to which option you think is the most important. Do not introduce any new arguments at this stage. The conclusion is where you tie-up any loose ends .

This is an advanced piece of writing, so make sure your choice of language reflects it. You will get marked for accuracy, however, occasional errors can still be present as long as they do not impede understanding. So don’t play it too safe . This is your opportunity to show what you can do, so take some risks and have fun with it!

In the writing paper you should use a range of vocabulary, including less common lexis. Brainstorm some vocabulary related to the topic. Take your time to think of nouns and compound nouns that you know at C1 level. Really let your vocabulary sparkle .

No one likes a broken record . Find synonyms for simple words. You want to use a variety of language, and try not to repeat yourself too much. Check out these different ways of saying the same thing:

advantage = benefit, positive, upside

disadvantage = downside, drawback

effect = influence, impact, result, outcome

problem = issue, challenge, difficulty, obstacle, setback, complication

important = valuable, essential, beneficial

expensive = costly, dear, high-priced, extortionate

cheap = inexpensive, affordable, economical

big = great, large, sizeable, considerable, wide, vast

small = slight, tiny, little

Quick tip: Visit Thesaurus.com to study more synonyms!

Experiment with different grammatical forms. At this level you’re expected to have a good grasp on the grammar. You should use a range of simple and complex grammatical forms with control and flexibility. So challenge yourself with some of these…

• Participle clauses
• Conditionals
• Modal verbs
• Passive with reporting verbs
• Cleft sentences
• Comparatives
• Relative clauses

Useful expressions

To make your essay flow it’s best to use some key phrases. These will link all your ideas together, and help it sound semi-formal. Take a look at the expressions below. Why not use some in your next essay?

Introduction:

It is often said that…

Many people feel that…

We live in an age when..

More and more…

Introducing & Addition:

Firstly, secondly, thirdly…

On the one hand…

In addition…

What is more…

For example…

For instance…

As a case in point…

Contrasting:

In contrast…

On the other hand…

Alternatively…

However…

Conclusion:

All things considered…

As far as I’m concerned…

In light of the above…

What the examiners are looking for

When writing your essay, bear in mind what you’ll be marked on:

Have you answered all parts of the question? Is everything relevant to the question?

Communicative Achievement

Is the style and tone appropriate? Remember it should be semi-formal and neutral.

Organisation

Does it follow a logical order? Have you used paragraphs and linking devices?

Are you using a variety of grammar and vocabulary? Is it accurate?

Now your masterpiece has come together. Remember to take time to check your work. Here’s the official Writing Checklist from Cambridge Assessment English . And our list of the most common mistakes:

• subject + verb agreement
• singulars / plurals
• question formation
• variety of tenses
• dependent prepositions

Some final tips

Avoid contractions (I’m, they’re, we’re) as this is a formal writing.

Don’t use first person pronouns (I, my, our, us).

Practise under timed conditions.

Use model answers to practise fixed expressions.

——

Looking for more help with your Cambridge C1 Advanced exam? Here are our other guides from our blog:

C1 Advanced Reading and Use of English – Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3

And if you are not sure if you’re ready for the C1 Advanced, check out our article Am I ready for the C1 Advanced exam? to find out!

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Get the ball rolling (exp) : to start something.

Lay out (v): to explain something in detail.

Paraphrase (v): to say the same thing in a different way.

Tie-up any loose ends (exp): to resolve issues.

Play it safe (exp): to act cautiously.

A broken record (exp): when someone repeats themself.

Sparkle (v) : to shine.

Good grasp (exp): a good knowledge.

Bear in mind (exp) : to consider.

Masterpiece (n): an incredible work of art.

exp = expression

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• By: oxfordadmin
• Posted on 19/02/2020

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How to Write an Essay for C1 Advanced (CAE)

Luis @ kse academy.

• diciembre 21, 2022

As I’m sure you already know, Cambridge exams have several papers (Reading, Writing, Use of English, Speaking and Listening), and each of these components is divided into different parts. In this post, I want to focus on Writing Part 1 of the C1 Advanced, that is, how to write an Essay for the CAE . Because, remember, C1 Writing Part 1 will always be an essay 🙂 

Sample C1 Essay

New C1 Writing Guide out now!

• 3 examples of every task type
• Essay, Review, Formal and Informal Email and Letter, Report & Proposal
• 500+ useful phrases ready to use in your writings
• 95 pages of exclusive and original writing content
• Description of the C1 Writing paper
• Detailed description of each part of the Writing paper
• Assessment criteria and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

See sample or Buy on Amazon

What are the parts of the C1 Advanced Writing?

The C1 Advanced (CAE) Writing, as we have already seen in another article, has 2 parts , and for each one you will have to write a text according to the exercise instructions. What you should know is that there is a limited range of text types that you may be asked to write in each part, so let’s see: 

• Writing Part 1: In this part you will always have to write an essay, and you will have no other options to choose from. That’s why it is really important that you pay attention to this article and learn how to write an essay for C1 Advanced to the best of your ability. 
• Formal letter/email
• Informal letter/email
• Review 
• Proposal 

Each writing task you do should be between 220 and 260 words long, approximately, and, as they are different types of writing, you should take into account the peculiarities of each one in terms of structure, register, grammar and vocabulary, etc. 

So let’s start with the one that concerns us in this article: Essays! 

What is an essay ?

An Essay is a text of opinion in which we analyse a topic, a situation or a problem from different points of view or by considering several points or solutions to the problem. In each of the paragraphs, we deal with each point and express different facts, considerations and opinions. 

Now that we know what an essay is, let’s look at how to write an essay and its characteristics. 

How to Write an Essay for CAE Writing

Here are the main characteristics of a C1-level essay so that you can keep them in mind when writing: 

• Purpose: With an essay, what we do is evaluate a topic, situation or problem that is of some interest or controversy (e.g. teenage mobile phone use ). Often, the Writing activity is set as a task that takes place after a class debate. In an exam, you will have to imagine the debate for yourself (duh!).
• Tone and register: As it is a text on a serious or controversial topic, the Essay is always written in a formal context, so we must use an objective tone. Furthermore, the linguistic register should always be formal, avoiding common words such as things , stuff , get , etc.; contractions ( can’t , don’t , won’t , etc.); or expressions that may sound informal. 
• Structure: Like all writing tasks, an essay has a fairly well-defined structure, although it is not 100% fixed and immovable. To begin with, we can choose to give it a title or not, but, personally, I find it more appropriate to write an Essay with a title. Have you ever seen a text published without a title? Probably not.  As for the body of the essay, it should be divided into the following paragraphs: introduction, point 1, point 2 and conclusion. In other words, in general, a Cambridge C1 Essay should have 4-5 paragraphs.
• Opinion: This is where we have the most leeway when writing an essay for C1. There are many ways of expressing your opinion in an Essay, so you should choose the one that best suits your Writing approach. What I usually recommend, however, is that you remain impartial throughout the whole text and only express your opinion at the end, in the last paragraph, as a conclusion. As always, the most important thing is that you justify everything you say in your writing and that your conclusion answers the main question of the assignment.
• Coherence and progression: Coherence is essential in all Writings, but especially in the essay. As it is a supporting and argumentative text, you cannot write unconnected sentences and paragraphs; the ideas must follow a logical and well-connected order, using connectors appropriate to C1 level, in this case. Furthermore, the reader must perceive a logical progression of paragraphs, without losing the thread of what you are trying to argue. Otherwise, when they get to the last paragraph, they won’t know what you are talking about and our writing will have failed catastrophically. 

CAE Writing Essay Example

Now that we are familiar with the main features of an essay for Cambridge Advanced (CAE) Writing, let’s look at a sample essay at C1 level, both the sample instructions and a possible answer.

C1 Essay Instructions

In the picture below you can see an example from the Cambridge website. 

From these instructions, we must always extract the essentials: 

• Topic: facilities which should receive money from local authorities
• sports centres
• public gardens
• «Museums aren’t popular with everybody!»
• «Sports centres mean healthier people.»
• «A town needs green spaces – parks are great for everybody.»
• Address only 2 of the 3 points given. 
• Answer and justify the main question (« to which facility is it most important that local authorities give money «).
• Justify your answer (« giving reasons in support of your answer «)
• Use your own words (« use your own words as far as possible «)

According to the task model outlined above, we can approach out writing with the following structure: 

• Introduction
• Point 1 (museums)
• Point 2 (sports centres)

Although it is not set in stone, you will normally get 4 paragraphs. So now let’s look at an example Essay for CAE Writing: 

At first glance, we can see that this Essay for C1 has an introductory title and 4 paragraphs ( introduction , museums , sports , conclusion ). In addition, if we read the text carefully, we can see the following aspects: 

• Title: The title perfectly summarises for the reader the topic to be covered in the text. Sometimes, a title in the form of a question such as « Which facilities should receive funding from local authorities? » can be a good idea, although I always prefer more concise titles.
• Introduction : introduces the topic and mentions the two options we are going to discuss in the following paragraphs. 
• Museums : Discusses the benefits of museums and the benefits of investing money in them. 
• Sports centres : Discusses the benefits of sports centres and the consequences of investing money in them. 
• Conclusion : In a very clear way, museums are seen as the ones that should receive the investment for certain reasons that are well justified. 
• Connectors: Connectors are used that clearly define the coherence and progression of the text.: on the one/other hand, in addition, ultimately, however, while, etc. 
• We do not use contractions or catch-all words.
• When it comes to
• comes to mind
• valuable cultural resource
• heritage 
• generating income
• engage in physical activity
• positive outlet for energy
• Grammar is also advanced (E.g.: Not only can…, but they also… )

In short, this is a good example of an Essay for CAE Writing. It should be noted, however, that this writing is written to simulate a strong C1 level, perhaps without necessarily going into a C2 level.

Will I be penalised if I write less than 220 or more than 260 words?

This is the most typical question in this part of the exam and the answer is: yes and no. Let me explain. The assessors won’t count the words and penalise you according to the number of words only. There is a rumour going around among students and teachers that for every 10 words they take away X points, but this is not true. However, if you have gone over 260 words by 50 or 100 words, or more, there is probably some content that is not relevant to the assignment, and that is penalised. Likewise, if you write less than 220 words, you are probably missing important information or you are not covering it in the detail required by the task instructions.

For this reason, I always recommend going over 20 words at most. That way you won’t lose points if your assignment covers the required topics and points. 🙂

The best guide for C1 Advanced Writing with examples and useful expressions

Although I will be publishing more articles explaining how to do each type of task for C1 Advanced, the best thing you can do to get plenty of information and practice is to buy the official KSE Academy guide to CAE Writing. In this guide you will find the following:

I hope you found this post useful. If you did, don’t forget to share with your friends and family. 🙂

I’ll see you in the next post. Until then, don’t forget to keep smiling! 

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Writing - Part 1 - C1 Advanced (CAE) - Practice, Write & Improve

Exam question:, type: essay.

Write an  essay  discussing only two points . You should explain which point is more important , giving reasons in support of your answer.

Student's Answer:

“The 21st century observes an upward tendency of mass globalization, most notably among developing countries. While this ever-growing trend is significantly helpful to their economic growths as they can be recognized and valued more by first-world countries, people might perceive them as condemning the sustainability of local cultures or their entertainment industry. Which of these two concerns is more predominant?

Local cultures can actually benefit from globalization. Inasmuch as the majority of developed countries are Western countries, acknowledgement and influence of Western culture is an integral part of globalization. However, globalization is not assimilation. The aim of this trend is to bring international attention to countries that are potential, which actually helps people notice underlying cultural beauties. Therefore, local culture cannot be undermined by globalization.

In contrast, the music or film industry can be affected negatively. Though all forms of art are valued and preserved by generations of artists, they are rapidly fading. Because many movie directors and singers nowadays constantly want to make breakthroughs in their industries, they incorporate elements of western cinematography or singing techniques too often. Moreover, there hasn’t been an effort of younger generations willing to cease this unjustified preference for Western cultures among Asian people working in the music or film industry. Therefore, globalization can result in the dominance of the Western music/film industry.

All in all, while globalization can help countries around the world become economic powerhouses, it also has certain demerits. Though local culture isn’t too negatively affected, the music/film industry of is. Therefore, movie directors and artists must acknowledge this counter-effect of globalization.”

The 21st century observes an upward tendency of (formal style/nouns) mass globalization , most notably among developing countries . (relevant vocabulary/topical) While this ever-growing trend is significantly helpful (evaluative writing) to their economic growths growth as (conjunctions) they can be recognized and valued (indirect language) more by first-world countries , (interrupting clauses) people might perceive them as (balanced opinion)   condemning the sustainability of (formal style/nouns) local cultures or their entertainment industry . (complex ideas are communicated) Which of these two concerns is more predominant? (rhetorical question)

The introductory section effectively communicates to the reader the fundamental aspects of the essay.

First and foremost, (introduce ideas/paragraphs) local cultures can actually benefi t from globalization due to...   ( topic sentence /avoid short sentences) Namely , (link ideas) i nasmuch as the majority of (suitable expressions) developed countries are Western countries , the acknowledgement and influence of (formal style/nouns) Western culture is an integral part of  globalization . (suitable expressions) However , globalization is not assimilation. (avoid short sentences) Ultimately , the aim of this trend is to (introductory phrases) bring international attention to countries that are have potential , which (relative clauses) actually help s people notice underlying cultural beauties. Therefore , (linking words) local culture cannot be undermined by globalization . 1

• avoid short sentences - write complex/compound sentences ("... however, … but…., which.., and" )
• occasionally the ideas are not as clearly connected as they could be .

In contrast, (transitional phrases) the music or film industry can be affected negatively. (passive voice/ topic sentence ) Though all forms of art are valued and preserved by generations of artists, they are rapidly fading . (appropriate language and register/evaluative) Because many movie directors and singers nowadays constantly want to make breakthroughs in their industries, they incorporate elements of western cinematography (complex ideas are communicated)   or singing techniques too often. Moreover , (linking words) there hasn't (use long forms) been an effort of younger generations willing to cease this unjustified preference for (formal style/nouns) Western cultures among Asian people working in the music or film industry. Therefore , (linking words) globalization can result in the dominance of the Western music/film industry . 2

• avoid using  contractions in formal writing such as "don't," "can't," and "isn't - use long forms

All in all, (informal) All things considered, while globalization can help countries around the world become economic powerhouses, it also has certain demerits. (relevant vocabulary) Though local culture isn't (use long forms) too negatively affected, the music/film industry of is. Therefore , (linking words) movie directors and artists must acknowledge this counter-effect of (suitable terms) globalization . 3  

Content: 5/5 have you answered the question?

All content is relevant to the task. Target reader is informed.

• 1 the undermining of values of local culture- commented
• 2 the dominance of the Western music/film industry.-  commented

3 You should explain which point is more important, giving reasons in support of your answer- commented

Communicative Achievement: 4-5/5 have you completed the task in the right sort of language?

The language register is appropriately formal and evaluative  (slips)   Formal & Informal Style (C1)  

Uses the conventions of the communicative task with sufficient flexibility to communicate complex ideas in an effective way.

The organisation: 4/5 have you structured your writing properly?

The topic is clearly communicated in the first paragraph and the main points are developed in separate paragraphs.

The text has been effectively organized into paragraphs, with each fulfilling a specific function.

Occasionally the sentences are not as clearly connected as they could be - use consistently linking words

• Linking words and phrases
• Linking words and paragraph connectors(video)

Language: 4/5 have you used a good range of grammar and vocabulary?

Vocabulary There is a wide range of vocabulary, including less common lexis.

Grammar There is suitable range of simple and more complex grammatical forms which are used with control and flexibility.

Errors if any, are insignificant and do not impede communication.

Uses a range of vocabulary, including less common lexis, effectively

• don't repeat the same words and phrases - paraphrase, and use synonyms,

The sentences are generally complex but could present more differentiated structures . Complex Sentences in English Writing C1/C2 ,

The text uses semi-advanced and simple grammar with control and flexibility (passives,  modal forms and tense contrasts) but utilises a limited number of more advanced grammatical forms ; u se some of the following:

• inversion (not only/no sooner/seldom)  read more
• conditionals (If it hadn't been.. )  read more
• inverted conditionals (Were it to.., Should it rain.. But for ...)  read more
• passive reporting structures (It could be argued that...)  read more
• negative conditional (unless)  see more
• past modals (might have left.., could have been.. )  read more

  Score: 17/20 Grade: C1/C2

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Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): How to Write an Essay

Get Your Free C1 Advanced Writing Cheat Sheet Now!

Introduction.

An essay in the C1 Advanced Writing paper is usually written for an academic tutor and may be written as a follow-up to a class activity, such as attending a seminar or watching a documentary. The main purpose of the task is to underline relevant salient issues on the stated topic, and to support an argument with subsidiary points and reasons. An essay should be well organised, with an introduction, clear development and an appropriate conclusion. It should hold the target reader’s attention and communicate complex ideas using an appropriate range of vocabulary and structures. Source: Cambridge English C1 Advanced handbook for teachers

Essays are part of the first section of the CAE Writing paper. The task is mandatory, which means that you always have to write an essay unlike the other texts ( emails/letter , proposals , reviews , reports ) where you can choose which one you would like to tackle in the exam.

Essay writing is not that difficult…

Long story short, in this article I’m going to take you by the hand and guide you through all the different aspects of essay writing. We’re going to see what a typical essay task looks like, the structure and language and, of course, common problems and mistakes you should avoid on your way to mastering essays.

What a typical essay task looks like

Apart from that, you are also gifted a few ideas in the smaller of the two boxes . You can use these in your essay (You don’t have to.), but make sure that you don’t just copy them word for word. Instead, paraphrase them and make them your own, or simply come up with your own ideas.

Formal or informal language in an essay?

I’ll keep this short for you because this works in every single task: Keep your language formal , which means no contractions ( I’m , don’t , etc.), no colloquial expressions ( Hey, what’s up? , I liked it heaps ., etc.), and no slang or phrasal verbs that convey informality ( I’m bursting vs. I have had enough to eat; carry on vs. continue).

How to organise your essay

Plan before you start writing.

It took me 4 minutes to create this plan. I used the idea from the task for sports centres (“Sports centrs mean healthier people.”), but I paraphrased it (public health) while the idea for public parks seems too vague for me so I left it out. Remember that it is optional to include these thoughts in your essay. if you feel that you have better ones, go for it.

The different parts of an essay

In recent years, public funding for local facilities has become more problematic for many towns, which has become more obvious to me after listening to a panel on the financial needs of several different local facilities like sports centres and public parks. As these places battle for funds, the main question is which ones deserve the money more.

Let’s have a closer look at this intro. At the beginning the whole issue is put into the context of the financial problems many local authorities have experienced. Sports centres and public parks as our two topic points are included as well and, last but not least, a question is asked to create a little more interest in the reader.

It is widely known that sports centres provide many different benefits to the local community. Someone on the panel mentioned that, from a public-health standpoint, it is crucial to offer opportunities to exercise in order to keep everyone healthy physically as well as mentally due to the social character of sports. In addition to that, exercise comes in many different shapes and forms, from team sports to individual activities like swimming, so there is something for everyone to enjoy in a dedicated group of people. While green spaces in a town or city have their own benefits, it can be difficult to maintain such large areas in order to keep parks pleasant and inviting to everyone. Nevertheless, considered by many as the green lung of a city their use as a refuge from hectic city life cannot be debated, and groups of people as well as individuals can be seen following their favourite pastime or socialising with others, which makes the discussion about allocating funds even more difficult.

Last but not least, both parts are balanced in terms of their length, but I don’t want you to think that they have to be perfectly equal. If there is good reason to give one part a little bit more attention over the other, that’s fine. For example, you can say in your essay that one of the ideas is more complex than the other, which tells the examiner that you actually thought about this instead of just having messed up your text. Be clear about it and think it through before you even start writing.

Taking into account all the positions from above I come to the conclusion that funding should be allocated to both facilities as they provide essential resources to the local community. However, due to their more social character and possibly greater public health benefits I would give more funds to sports centres.

Time to start practising

Similar posts, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): how to write a proposal, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 1, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): how your writing is marked, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 3, cambridge c1 advanced (cae): reading and use of english part 2, how to stay calm on your cambridge exam day.

• Myriam Frisano
• Sep 18, 2024

SVG Coding Examples: Useful Recipes For Writing Vectors By Hand

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• SVG , Coding , Guides
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About The Author

Myriam Frisano is a Swiss lover of words who has fallen head over heels for the world of CSS when she realized it could make one of her biggest dreams as a … More about Myriam ↬

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Even though I am the kind of front-end engineer who manually cleans up SVG files when they are a mess, I never expected to become one of those people. You know, those crazy people that draw with code.

But here we are.

I dove deep into SVG specs last winter when I created a project to draw Calligraphy Grids , and even though I knew the basic structures and rules of SVG, it was only then that I fully tried to figure out and understand what all of those numbers meant and how they interacted with each other.

And, once you get the hang of it, it is actually very interesting and quite fun to code SVG by hand.

No <path> ahead We won’t go into more complex SVG shapes like paths in this article, this is more about practical information for simple SVGs. When it comes to drawing curves, I still recommend using a tool like Illustrator or Affinity. However, if you are super into compounding your lines, a path is useful. Maybe we’ll do that in Part 2. Also, this guide focuses mostly on practical examples that illustrate some of the math involved when drawing SVGs. There is a wonderful article here that goes a bit deeper into the specs, which I recommend reading if you’re more interested in that: “ A Practical Guide To SVG And Design Tools .”

Drawing With Math. Remember Coordinate Systems?

Illustrator, Affinity, and all other vector programs are basically just helping you draw on a coordinate system, and then those paths and shapes are stored in SVG files.

If you open up these files in an editor, you’ll see that they are just a bunch of paths that contain lots of numbers, which are coordinates in that coordinate system that make up the lines.

But, there is a difference between the all-powerful <path> and the other, more semantic elements like <rect> , <circle> , <line> , <ellipse> , <polygon> , and <polyline> .

These elements are not that hard to read and write by hand, and they open up a lot of possibilities to add animation and other fun stuff. So, while most people might only think of SVGs as never-pixelated, infinitely scaling images, they can also be quite comprehensive pieces of code.

How Does SVG Work? unit != unit

Before we get started on how SVG elements are drawn, let’s talk about the ways units work in SVG because they might be a bit confusing when you first get started.

The beauty of SVG is that it’s a vector format, which means that the units are somewhat detached from the browser and are instead just relative to the coordinate system you’re working in.

That means you would not use a unit within SVG but rather just use numbers and then define the size of the document you’re working with.

So, your width and height might be using CSS rem units, but in your viewBox , units become just a concept that helps you in establishing sizing relationships.

What Is The viewBox ?

The viewBox works a little bit like the CSS aspect-ratio property. It helps you establish a relationship between the width and the height of your coordinate system and sets up the box you’re working in. I tend to think of the viewBox as my “document” size.

Any element that is placed within the SVG with bigger dimensions than the viewBox will not be visible. So, the viewBox is the cutout of the coordinate system we’re looking through. The width and height attributes are unnecessary if there is a viewBox attribute.

So, in short, having an SVG with a viewBox makes it behave a lot like a regular image. And just like with images, it’s usually easiest to just set either a width or a height and let the other dimension be automatically sized based on the intrinsic aspect ratio dimensions.

So, if we were to create a function that draws an SVG, we might store three separate variables and fill them in like this:

SVG Things Of Note

There is a lot to know about SVG: When you want to reuse an image a lot, you may want to turn it into a symbol that can then be referenced with a use tag, you can create sprites, and there are some best practices when using them for icons, and so on.

Unfortunately, this is a bit out of the scope of this article. Here, we’re mainly focusing on designing SVG files and not on how we can optimize and use them.

However, one thing of note that is easier to implement from the start is accessibility .

SVGs can be used in an <img> tag, where alt tags are available, but then you lose the ability to interact with your SVG code, so inlining might be your preference.

When inlining, it’s easiest to declare role="img" and then add a <title> tag with your image title.

Note : You can check out this article for SVG and Accessibility recommendations .

Drawing SVG With JavaScript

There is usually some mathematics involved when drawing SVGs. It’s usually fairly simple arithmetic (except, you know, in case you draw calligraphy grids and then have to dig out trigonometry…), but I think even for simple math, most people don’t write their SVGs in pure HTML and thus would like to use algebra.

At least for me, I find it much easier to understand SVG Code when giving meaning to numbers, so I always stick to JavaScript, and by giving my coordinates names, I like them immeasurable times more.

So, for the upcoming examples, we’ll look at the list of variables with the simple math and then JSX-style templates for interpolation, as that gives more legible syntax highlighting than string interpolations, and then each example will be available as a CodePen.

To keep this Guide framework-agnostic, I wanted to quickly go over drawing SVG elements with just good old vanilla JavaScript.

We’ll create a container element in HTML that we can put our SVG into and grab that element with JavaScript.

To make it simple, we’ll draw a rectangle <rect> that covers the entire viewBox and uses a fill.

Note : You can add all valid CSS values as fills, so a fixed color, or something like currentColor to access the site’s text color or a CSS variable would work here if you’re inlining your SVG and want it to interact with the page it’s placed in.

Let’s first start with our variable setup.

Method 1: Create Element and Set Attributes

This method is easier to keep type-safe (if using TypeScript) — uses proper SVG elements and attributes, and so on — but it is less performant and may take a long time if you have many elements.

See the Pen [SVG Rectangle (JS Method 1) [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/LYKKVzg) by Myriam .

Method 2: Create An SVG String

Alternatively, you can create an SVG string and set the innerHTML of the container to that string. This is more performant, but you lose type safety, and the elements aren’t properly created in the DOM.

See the Pen [SVG Rectangle (JS Method 2) [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/BaggNmN) by Myriam .

Method 3: Best Of Both Worlds

The best of both worlds is to just create the SVG itself as a DOM element and then set the content of the SVG via innerHTML .

We’re appending a proper SVG element to the container and can type-check that and have access to it properly. You aren’t typically going to be changing the content of the SVG that much, so I feel like this is probably the best way to do it.

See the Pen [SVG Rectangle (JS Method 3) [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/RwzzPjz) by Myriam .

Drawing Basic Elements

Okay, so now that we have the basics of the SVG setup, let’s look into how the most common elements are drawn.

Drawing Boxes

<rect> creates a box, as we’ve learned in the previous example. It has y and x attributes, which define the position of the top left corner. They are optional, and if not set, the box will be drawn at the origin (0,0) like in that previous example.

There are also rx and ry attributes. Those are radii. If you define rx , ry will automatically be set to the same value unless you redeclare it, then you’d use an elliptical corner-radius instead of a circular one.

Let’s draw four different rectangles in our next SVG, one in each quadrant:

• Top left: This is just a rectangle with a top and left offset and a width and height.
• Top right: We will make use of a small corner radius to make it a rounded rectangle.
• Bottom left: It uses such a large corner radius that it turns into a circle. It has a bit of a weird box origin, but it’s an option.
• Bottom right: It uses an elliptical corner radius for this squoval shape.

This is the implementation in JavaScript:

And to then set up the SVG, we’ll apply these variables to the template:

And this is the result:

See the Pen [SVG Rect [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/mdZZJpN) by Myriam .

Drawing Lines

There is a <line> element in SVG that takes an x1 , y1 , x2 , and y2 attribute, which are the coordinates of the start and end points of the line.

For me, knowing how to draw straight horizontal or vertical lines was fairly important.

The rules for that are simple: We’ll just have to make sure that the y values are the same for a horizontal line and the x values are the same for a vertical line.

Let’s look at an example where we draw a horizontal and a vertical line through the center of our document. I purposefully used some weirder numbers here; you’ll see that the resulting SVG is still perfectly centered, though, since it’s totally fine to use floating point numbers in SVG, and we don’t really run into subpixel rendering issues as we do in some CSS cases, where we end up with fractional pixels.

These are the JavaScript variables we set up:

And this is how we can integrate these variables into the SVG element:

And here’s our result:

See the Pen [SVG Line [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/abggOqK) by Myriam .

Drawing Circles

<circle> elements have cx , cy , and r as coordinates. The x and y values are relative to the circle center, and r describes the radius of the circle.

This is where things are less intuitive in my head because there will be times when I want the edge of the circle to be placed at a certain point and not the center, and I’ll usually also think in terms of diameters, not radii.

So, let’s say we want to draw a circle whose outer edge is offset from the bottom left corner by a certain amount and whose diameter is a certain size. We’d have to do some math again to calculate our coordinates.

These are the variables in JavaScript that we’re working with:

And, just like before, this is how we might integrate them into the SVG element:

And this is what it looks like:

See the Pen [SVG Circle [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/KKjjpoW) by Myriam .

Drawing Ellipses

<ellipse> elements have cx , cy , rx , and ry as coordinates. The x and y values are relative to the ellipse center, and rx and ry describe the radius of the ellipse.

Let’s draw an ellipse that is offset from the top right corner by a certain amount, whose horizontal radius is a certain size, and whose vertical radius is half of that.

For that we need to define our variables in JavaScript:

…and integrate them into the SVG element:

Here’s the result:

See the Pen [SVG Ellipse [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/NWZZqMR) by Myriam .

Connecting Dots With <polyline> And <polygon>

Let’s say we want to have a line that has multiple points but doesn’t make a rectangle or a circle.

This is where we can use polyline and polygon , which share the same attributes and only differ in the way that a polygon will connect the first and last point, while a polyline won’t.

They take a points attribute, which is a list of x and y values separated by a space, and, by default, both of them have a fill , which can be a bit strange. That’s especially true for a polyline , so you might want to set that value to none .

Let’s say we have three circles, and we want to have lines connecting their centers. We can just take the cx and cy values of those circles and chain them together in the points attribute.

SVG is drawn from background to foreground, so the circles are drawn first, then the lines so they are stacked on top of each other.

To notice the differences between the polyline and the polygon, we’ll draw our composite four times, like we did before with the circles.

This time, we have more than one element, though. To make it quicker to scan which set belongs together, we can make use of the g element, which groups multiple elements together. It allows us to apply certain attributes to all children at the same time.

To see that in action and to save us a bit of time, in having to adjust x and y values for each separate element within the composite, we can apply a transform to that group element to push our composite into the different quadrants.

transform="translate(x,y) ” is how we do that. The transform attribute works a lot like CSS transforms, with slight differences in syntax. But in most simple cases, we can assume the same thing to happen. The translate attribute will take the original position and then move the elements contained within the group along the x and y axis.

So, let’s have a look at our SVG:

Here, you can see that with the same coordinates, a polyline won’t draw the line between the blue and the red dot, while a polygon will. However, when applying a fill, they take the exact same information as if the shape was closed, which is the right side of the graphic, where the polyline makes it look like a piece of a circle is missing.

This is the second time where we have dealt with quite a bit of repetition, and we can have a look at how we could leverage the power of JavaScript logic to render our template faster.

But first, we need a basic implementation like we’ve done before. We’re creating objects for the circles, and then we’re chaining the cx and cy values together to create the points attribute. We’re also storing our transforms in variables.

And then, we apply the variables to the template, using either a polyline or polygon element and a fill attribute that is either set to none or a color value.

And here’s a version of it to play with:

See the Pen [SVG Polygon / Polyline (simple) [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/OJeeVoM) by Myriam .

Dealing With Repetition

When it comes to drawing SVGs, you may find that you’ll be repeating a lot of the same code over and over again. This is where JavaScript can come in handy, so let’s look at the composite example again and see how we could optimize it so that there is less repetition.

Observations:

• We have three circle elements, all following the same pattern.
• We create one repetition to change the fill style for the element.
• We repeat those two elements one more time, with either a polyline or a polygon .
• We have four different transforms (technically, no transform is a transform in this case).

This tells us that we can create nested loops.

Let’s go back to just a vanilla implementation for this since the way loops are done is quite different across frameworks.

You could make this more generic and write separate generator functions for each type of element, but this is just to give you an idea of what you could do in terms of logic. There are certainly still ways to optimize this.

I’ve opted to have arrays for each type of variation that we have and wrote a helper function that goes through the data and builds out an array of objects with all the necessary information for each group. In such a short array, it would certainly be a viable option to just have the data stored in one element, where the values are repeated, but we’re taking the DRY thing seriously in this one.

The group array can then be looped over to build our SVG HTML.

And here’s the Codepen of that:

See the Pen [SVG Polygon / Polyline (JS loop version) [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/XWLLbPq) by Myriam .

More Fun Stuff

Now, that’s all the basics I wanted to cover, but there is so much more you can do with SVG. There is more you can do with transform ; you can use a mask , you can use a marker , and so on.

We don’t have time to dive into all of them today, but since this started for me when making Calligraphy Grids, I wanted to show you the two most satisfying ones, which I, unfortunately, can’t use in the generator since I wanted to be able to open my generated SVGs in Affinity and it doesn’t support pattern .

Okay, so pattern is part of the defs section within the SVG, which is where you can define reusable elements that you can then reference in your SVG.

Graph Grid with pattern

If you think about it, a graph is just a bunch of horizontal and vertical lines that repeat across the x- and y-axis.

So, pattern can help us with that. We can create a <rect> and then reference a pattern in the fill attribute of the rect . The pattern then has its own width , height , and viewBox , which defines how the pattern is repeated.

So, let’s say we want to perfectly center our graph grid in any given width or height, and we want to be able to define the size of our resulting squares (cells).

Once again, let’s start with the JavaScipt variables:

Now, we can apply them to the SVG element:

And this is what that then looks like:

See the Pen [SVG Graph Grid [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/XWLLbxq) by Myriam .

Dot Grid With pattern

If we wanted to draw a dot grid instead, we could simply repeat a circle. Or, we could alternatively use a line with a stroke-dasharray and stroke-dashoffset to create a dashed line. And we’d only need one line in this case.

Starting with our JavaScript variables:

And then adding them to the SVG element:

And this is what that looks like:

See the Pen [SVG Dot Grid [forked]](https://codepen.io/smashingmag/pen/eYwwNQM) by Myriam .

This brings us to the end of our little introductory journey into SVG. As you can see, coding SVG by hand is not as scary as it seems. If you break it down into the basic elements, it becomes quite like any other coding task:

• We analyze the problem,
• Break it down into smaller parts,
• Examine each coordinate and its mathematical breakdown,
• And then put it all together.

I hope that this article has given you a starting point into the wonderful world of coded images and that it gives you the motivation to delve deeper into the specs and try drawing some yourself.

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C1 advanced exam format.

C1 Advanced is a thorough test of all areas of language ability.

The exam is made up of four papers developed to test your English language skills. You can see exactly what’s in each paper below.

The formats below are the same for both the digital and paper-based exams.

• openbook Reading and Use of English
• compose Writing
• playlist Listening
• megaphone Speaking

openbook What’s in the Reading and Use of English paper?

The C1 Advanced Reading and Use of English paper is in eight parts and has a mix of text types and questions.

Part 1 (Multiple-choice cloze)

Part 2 (Open cloze)

Part 3 (Word formation)

Part 4 (Key word transformations)

Part 5 (Multiple choice)

Part 6 (Cross-text multiple matching)

Part 7 (Gapped text)

Part 8 (Multiple matching)

compose What’s in the Writing paper?

In the two parts of the C1 Advanced Writing paper, you have to show that you can write different types of text in English.

Part 1 (Compulsory question)

Part 2 (Situationally based writing task)

playlist What’s in the Listening paper?

The C1 Advanced Listening paper has four parts. For each part you have to listen to a recorded text or texts and answer some questions. You hear each recording twice.

Part 1 (Multiple choice)

Part 2 (Sentence completion)

Part 3 (Multiple choice)

Part 4 (Multiple matching)

megaphone What’s in the Speaking paper?

The C1 Advanced Speaking test has four parts and you take it together with another candidate.

There are two examiners. One of the examiners conducts the test (asks you questions, gives you the paper with things to talk about, and so on). The other examiner listens to what you say and takes notes.

Part 1 (Interview)

Part 2 (Long turn)

Part 3 (Collaborative task)

Part 4 (Discussion)