Essay writing These pages outline a set of strategies for approaching the task of writing essays at university level.

This skill usually takes some time to acquire, but by following the advice below we hope you will gain a better appreciation of what is required. Plan your research and start your reading and writing weeks, not days, before the essay is due. Look closely at the assignment specification. Make sure that you have covered all that is asked for in the assignment. The marking grid is a very helpful guide; ask yourself, Have I covered each aspect of the assessment? and tick each one off. Essay questions usually contain one or more of the following E! "#$%&, which are your main guide as to what is required '

ANALY E (onsider the various parts of the whole and describe the inter'relationship between them. !"#$A%E E)amine the ob*ects in question with a view to demonstrating their similarities. !"N&%A & E)amine the ob*ects in question for the purpose of demonstrating differences. 'E(INE +ive a definition or state terms of reference. 'I !) Present the different aspects of a problem or question and draw a reasoned conclusion. E*AL)A&E E)amine the various sides of a question and try to reach a *udgment. )##A%I E #utline the main points briefly.

,uestion the assessment task itself. (onsider the possibilities, scope and limitations. %efine each term used in it and use these definitions as tentative headings for your research. Essay questions at university level are usually more testing than those you may have previously confronted. -f you are unclear about what is wanted, ask your lecturer or tutor for clarification. Plan your initial research around questions relevant to the topic. 1. !ou can use a mind map to plan your work. .ave a look at the mind maps created by Tony /u0an. &ome people find mind maps a very useful way of sorting out their ideas. -f you are not bu00ing with ideas -t1s helpful to read around the topic a bit first.

.ere is a brief e)ample of an uncompleted mind map. The theme is smoking and young people.

&chool nurse $ole of schools

Physiology and pathology

Peer pressure moking patterns of yo+ng people

(urriculum: P.&E Media Politics: policy

T8 Music 9 film

;egislation

4nti'smoking campaigns

2. 3se small cards on which to build up a file of material. ,uestion headings can go on to these. 4lternatively, make notes using a 5otepad or "ord processing facility so that you can cut and paste later.

6. &ee that your reading is not too general and that you do not amass material hapha0ardly and to no purpose. Prune steadily as you read, and actively assess the value of your material.

7. (ontinually check your reading against your questions ' and the questions asked. !our sub*ect may redefine itself as you become more familiar with the material.

5. -t is helpful to note ideas, facts and quotes on separate cards or as part of your word processed notes. This makes later organisation of material much easier, especially if you have to rewrite a draft.

6. $eview all your material and decide what your line of approach <argument, plan= will be. &ort your ideas into a pattern that will best support the development of your ideas. This is a very important part of your work. it is rarely sufficient to summarise or *ust describe material. !ou will be required to use techniques such as analysing <detecting unstated assumptions, seeing interrelationships between ideas, distinguishing facts from hypotheses= and evaluating <making *udgments about the value of material and methods for given purposes=.

>. -t is your responsibility, not your reader?s, to see that you make sense of your material. 4n introduction outlining the question and the organisation of your answer is necessary. -n the same way, a conclusion that sums up and clinches your argument is necessary. $emember sub'headings may be helpful in some sub*ects. This may be achieved by a carefully planned outline. #ne basic framework for an outline is ' Introd+ction @ think of this as an introduction to the *ourney of your essay. Tell the reader where you are going

(omment on the sub*ect of the essay. <"hat do you understand by itA .ow is it importantA=. -ntroduce the points you are going to discuss, first stating your case in general terms ' the opinions you are going to support in the rest of the essay. 8ery briefly summarise the overall theme of your essay, indicating the main points to be made, and perhaps the order in which they are to be presented. This gives the reader an idea of what to e)pect and greatly increases his comprehension. %o not waste your own and your reader?s time with padding.

&he #ain ,ody

%evelop your line of argument through several main ideas. &upport each idea with e)amples and illustrations drawn from the books, articles and any other sources you have used. 4s you develop your essay, make it clear how your arguments in one place relate to others you have used or will use. Headings often help divide your te)t into logical units for your reader and yourself. Think of headings as signposts along the *ourney. -f you use headings, the te)t should make sense as it stands. -n other words, headings are additional to the essay. Employ a

conventional format in your setting out of headings. -f you use headings *ust use bold. There is no need to use upper case, a larger font or underline. !oncl+sion

&ummarise the main ideas Borm a tentative answer by way of final comment on the main theme under discussion.

/e prepared to write more than one draft ' in the first you will concentrate on content rather than style. <4dapted from 4ston 3niversity=