Your AI powered learning assistant

Summer drain. We are writing the essay of the Unified State Exam No. 11. We are writing the essay of the Unified State Exam

Holiday Stream Shifts to Tolstoy’s Timeless Counsel A festive session pivots from a planned war topic to a timeless text by Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy is presented as a late‑life sage whose aphorisms were reread with devotion. One concise maxim is chosen for reading. For essays, a conclusion is not strictly required, yet experts often expect it, so adding one is a safe habit.

Chasing a Perfect EGE Score Amid Teacher Realities An earlier exam in 2021 felt effortless, finished in about forty minutes, yet returned 96 instead of a hoped 100 due to small mistakes. The new goal is an uncompromising hundred. Colleagues share similar stories, including a 99 after second‑part deductions and tears when results arrive. For students, 95+ is excellent; for a teacher, the hundred becomes a matter of principle. Preparation happens alongside students and experts, and perfection is never guaranteed.

Philosophical Text Chosen Despite Moralizing Tone The chosen passage feels moralizing and cumbersome, yet the author and era invite patience. The reading proceeds despite stylistic misgivings. A brief aside marks a parenthetical as an inserted construction.

Life Defined by Self‑Gratification Breeds Misery Life, understood as maximizing pleasures for “me”—Ivan, Peter, Mary—turns unhappy and embittered. Everyone seeks the same good for themselves, so the good never suffices for all. Scarcity transforms coexistence into competition and resentment.

Endless Desire, Fear, and Envy When Living for Self Living for oneself invites taking from others, fighting, and mutual anger. Even achieved desires feel insufficient, pushing the chase for more. Fear of losing gains and envy of others’ successes harden life further.

True Life Resides in Spirit, Not Body Life is given for good and is located not in the body but in the spirit that lives through it. This spirit is the same in all and seeks the good of everyone. Wanting good for all is love, which nothing can prevent. The more one loves, the freer and more joyful life becomes.

Love Frees Life and Requires No Struggle Satisfying the body is unreliable and often demands struggle with others. Satisfying the soul asks only for love. Love does not oppose people; it draws them closer. Shared happiness expands as love grows.

Misery Stems from Wrongdoing, Not a Broken World Misery comes from us, not from a fatally flawed world; the power called God sent life for good, not torment. We miss this good when we misunderstand life and do the wrong things. Complaints about how life is arranged hide our own misdeeds, like a drunk blaming taverns for his drinking. Living by love rather than hatred would make life an ever‑growing good for all.

Repetition Tolerated Through Tolstoy’s Context The passage reads as repetitive moralizing and feels heavy. Allowance is granted: Tolstoy’s authority and the late‑nineteenth‑century context set the style. The essential idea stands despite the circling.

Essay Skeleton: Problem, Position, Comments, Connection, Stance, Conclusion An essay framework is laid out like a tabled skeleton: problem, author’s position, two comments, their connection, personal stance, and conclusion. The structure simplifies drafting by sketching bones first, then adding flesh. This method keeps focus when time is tight.

Framing the Problem: Why People Are Unhappy The central question is set: what causes human unhappiness? Methodical guidance permits stating the author’s position as a direct quote. Tolstoy’s answer: people misperceive life, blame its poor arrangement, and instead must live by love and the good.

Body‑First Values Create Scarcity; Soul‑First Love Abounds Material values fog reason as people feed the body. Grabbing for bodily goods never suffices and breeds anger, envy, and hatred. Nourishing the soul with love suffices for everyone and requires no strife.

Naming Authors and a Lesson From a Bullying Backlash Naming conventions wobble between surname and full name, yet using “Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy” feels safe. A cautionary tale recalls students who found and bullied a contemporary author online after his text appeared on the exam. Choosing Tolstoy avoids such storms.

Formulating the Thesis Without Extra Labels The thesis is cast plainly: the only cause of unhappiness is living for oneself, chasing “as many pleasures as possible” for oneself. The tempting label “egoism” is avoided because it is absent from the text. Precision with fragmentary quotation and restrained repetition keeps the phrasing safe.

Building Comments: Cause–Effect, Contrast, and Safe Quotation Commentary can be built via cause–effect or contrast, and the drunkard analogy fits neatly. The golden rule limits repeated words; pronouns help avoid tautology. Fragmentary quoting is permitted without heavy ellipses if integrated into one’s sentence. For a personal stance, references from fantasy are acceptable, since fictional wars mirror real ones.

Contrasting Paths: Selfish Strife Versus Loving Joy A contrast‑based commentary lands cleanly: living for self yields struggle, scarcity, and envy; living in love brings freedom, joy, and shared happiness. Drafting begins with how to live so life is not “evil and grief,” then cites that “everyone wants as much good,” so it never suffices. Care is taken to avoid inversion and keep a neutral formal style.

Neutral Style and Word Order Shape Tone In essays, a neutral style is required; altering Russian word order creates a new style and can derail tone. Quotation marks, ellipses, and punctuation must be handled carefully to keep citations distinct from the author’s text. Rearranging words or signs for effect risks penalties, so clarity outranks flourish. Keep narrative flow straightforward to avoid stylistic whirlwinds.

Desire for Good Meets Scarcity, Breeding Envy Everyone wants as much good as possible for themselves, and assumes good is the same for all. Resources are limited, so pursuit of material benefit ignites human anger, hatred, and envy. Grasping for more divides people into those with plenty and those without. Egoism becomes the seed of an unhappy life.

How to Live Without Evil and Grief The guiding question is how a person should live so existence is not filled with evil and sorrow. Precise quoting clarifies the problem without mixing citation and commentary. State plainly that each person strives for material well-being under scarcity. From this starting point, trace the moral consequences.

Cite Precisely: Fragments, Ellipses, and Commas Fragmentary citation must be marked so borrowed lines do not masquerade as the author’s narrative. Ellipses, exclamation points, and question marks end sentences without extra commas. Commas are inserted only where grammar demands, not where intonation tempts. Precision in mechanics supports precision in thought.

Choosing Words: Life, Existence, Days Repetition of “life” dulls meaning; substitute existence, days, or lived reality when apt. Avoid inflated terms like “being” if they jar with context. Keep constructions varied to prevent clumsy monotony. Sound choice of synonyms keeps the argument sober and clear.

From Body to Spirit: The Axis of Meaning True good is not in pleasing the body but in doing what the spirit seeks. Structure the commentary by moving from the body’s demands to the claims of the spirit, then to the culmination in love. This reordering strengthens logic and prepares the final insight. The path runs from appetite to purpose.

Love Alone Nourishes the Soul The soul can be nourished only by love. The more a person loves, the freer and more joyful life becomes. Love here is broad: love of people and the world, not merely romantic attachment. For happy existence, one thing is necessary—love.

Material Values Cannot Satisfy Material values never truly satisfy a person, much less the soul. Feeding only physical needs breeds restlessness and emptiness. Love, not possessions, fills the inner hunger. Therefore, the fixation on wealth leads away from joy.

Contrast as the Engine of Argument Set opposed examples to sharpen the thesis. A life ruled by the body ends in struggle, anger, and envy; a life animated by love brings freedom and joy. Juxtaposition makes the movement from error to truth unmistakable. Through contrast, the argument breathes.

A Family Life Bent to Money, Then Reclaimed by Love Parents labored for more than twenty years to provide, centering their days on material values. In the chase for earnings, they failed to notice their children. Later they began giving time and affection, offering love that had been scarce in childhood. Shared moments now bring joy that money never did.

The Gentleman from San Francisco: Wealth Without Life A man devoted his whole life to material accumulation, postponing living until later. He finally boarded a cruise with his family, but the long-anticipated life never arrived. He died suddenly, unable to enjoy the wealth amassed. Hoarding for tomorrow extinguished today.

Other Literary Paths Point the Same Way Works like Ionich, The House with the Mezzanine, Gooseberries, and The Overcoat echo the tension between money and meaning. Each offers variations on how possession and status fail to bring happiness. These narratives broaden the frame of examples without repeating plots. The theme remains: values of the spirit outweigh the material.

Cause Leads to Effect: Egoism Breeds Misery Living for oneself is ruin because egoism begets anger, envy, and ceaseless struggle. Even when desires are briefly satisfied, it is never enough; fear of loss and hunger for more persist. Complaints about a badly arranged life mask the real cause: doing the wrong things. If one serves the body and not the spirit, existence fills with grief.

Write Impersonally, Yet Own Your Position In analysis, avoid “I” and “we,” favoring impersonal phrasing like “the reader understands” or “it becomes clear.” For the stated personal stance, a concise “I think” is acceptable. Do not write “the author tries to say”; present conclusions directly. Abstraction and precision keep evaluation objective.

The Intensive: Dates, Pace, and Long Days The main course ends on May 18, with an intensive starting May 19. Sessions run in long blocks—afternoons into late evening—and span six days: 19, 21, 24, 28, 29, and 30. Some streams begin at 10:00 on select days and may overlap with other subjects. Support remains available, with discounts or inclusion for some students depending on plans.

Marathon Prep and Hard Tasks A “sweat marathon” runs March 17 to May 17, packed with homework and varied tasks. Hard-level problems are solved by few, but tackling them is encouraged if time allows. New video lessons will cover pending topics and regional exam variants. Tenth graders need not do the hard set.

Closing Notes and Next Steps The detailed intensive schedule is still being finalized, though core dates are set. The team plans around-the-clock availability near exam days. Students may inquire about packages, discounts, and other instructors. Farewell for now, with more content and short videos to come.