This text has sections on structure, style and common pitfalls. It includes material relating to the following areas: the continuous assessment or topic essays (such as coursework); background or geography essay (dealing with a region of a German-speaking country); and how to go about researching, structuring and writing these. It offers advice, as well as useful exercises, model essays and lists of useful words and phrases, to help enable the student to write with self-reliance even in the exam situation.