Essay-Writing-Guide

Please see attached Essay Writing Guide 1.06 Essay_Writing_Guide_1.06 Word Document Essay_Writing_Guide_1.06 PDF Document

Why take notes in lectures? The lecture provides a good introduction to a subject in a short space of time and taking notes will help you take full advantage of this. For example, notes can be a useful as quick reminder of a logical approach to a subject when doing essays. Notes will also help your concentration in class because you are taking a more active approach to learning. Notes will help your memory. By writing you will reinforce points and be forced to mentally process what is being said. According to one source if you do not write anything down you will forget 42% of the information in 20 minutes, 56% after 1 hour, 66% after 1 day, 75% after 1 week and 80% after 1 month (see: http://www.edison.k12.nj.us/cms/lib2/NJ01001623/…/1453/NoteTaking.ppt ) ...

Portions of this are taken from an LSBU document and so it will be rewritten. The business of academics is words. If you copy other people’s work then a marker can spot in a second that the writing style has changed and can quickly look up the source. The main thing is to avoid putting yourself in the situation where you are even tempted to present someone else’s work as your own. This means giving yourself as much time as possible to start on your essay rather than leaving it to the last minute. ...

This lesson is about sentences and the two most common mistakes students make with constructing sentences. This is not a grammar lesson exactly, but instead a way of thinking about sentences that can help you spot and correct these mistakes. The reason to avoid these mistakes is so that your writing is clearer. This is important not just for the reader, but also for you to use your writing to clarify ideas for yourself. ...

The Comma Demystified Essential to writing is the humble comma. Thought by many the creation of a sadist, the dot-curl combo can be the key to clarity. My comprehensive school education certainly skirted the issue. So, as a mature student, I looked into it myself. I found a few simple rules in a simple book and, in a few hundred words, here is most of what you need to know about the comma, but were afraid to ask. ...

Why are you being asked to reference other people’s work in your writing? Perhaps the main reason that you are asked to use references is that academic work (and a great deal of modern knowledge) relies on the idea that you can build on the insights and research of others. In an essay, report or dissertation you are using the theories and writing of others as building blocks or scaffolding for your argument – as all academic writers do. These sources or references can allow you to assume or state ideas that experts have worked on for years and so potentially let you build powerful and insightful arguments of your own with their backing. Alternately some of your writing will engage with important ideas to critique them and some of your work will use logic and evidence to undermine ideas you oppose. This is something that academics do in ongoing debates on many subjects – you are being asked to take part. Either way (through support and/or critique) the idea is that by engaging with ideas from the best thinkers you will be able to develop your understanding of a subject and be able to apply that to develop insights of your own. ...

There is a saying “It’s like comparing apples and oranges”. This means that it is seems impossible to compare two very different things. Sure, they are both fruit. But ask yourself, which is best? The only answer seems to be “I like oranges best” (or of course you might like apples). However, this is just your view and not really a comparison. In academic writing you have to solve a similar problem. You must evaluate two (or more) different arguments or theories. ...

Further reading Cottrell, S. (1999) The Study Skills Handbook. London: Macmillan Evans, H. (2000) Essential English: For Journalists, Editors and Writers. London: Pimlico Mounsey, C. (2002), “Research” and “Structuring the essay” in Essays and Dissertations. London: Oxford University Press, pp.18-41 Orwell, G (1946) Politics and the English Language Available at http://iis.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Politics_%26_English_language.pdf [accessed 14 July 2013] Trask, R.L. (1997) Penguin Guide to Punctuation. London: Penguin

[reading time 5 minutes] Or watch the animated version! https://youtu.be/nZ-admndPJE We couldn’t do it; it was such a slog. The lecturer was sighing and we were moaning. The class I took recently (at another University) was less than half-way through the essay and we simply gave up. And that was just reading and critiquing, done so that we might learn about writing. People in the class expressed disbelief that the lecturer might have to sit through 10 of these. Sure the essay was about taxation, but specifically the Poll Tax and whether the opposition outside of Parliament, culminating in mass riots, was effective. The lecturer said, “I don’t expect any to be an interesting read. I’m just pleased if the English is okay and they have a structure.” ...

[reading time: 20 minutes] It seems obvious that undergraduates should use essays to answer the question that has been set. However, the main comment made on essay papers is “Answer the Question”. Academic guides often use detailed explanations of the terms used in questions to help students. However, as this complaint crops up time and again, there seems to be a more fundamental problem of communication between those creating questions and those required to answer. This piece is an attempt to address this by discussing why the essay is counterintuitive, then looking at what the ideas are behind an essay, and finally look at an alternative way of approaching the essay. ...