Learn How To Write An Essay
How To Write An Essay?
There are a number of factors that need to be considered if the student is to learn how to write an essay. A good starting point is to understand what an essay is and the purpose of writing one. ‘Planning’ is a vital part of the writing process; without a plan it is easy to digress from the essay title. Having made an outline plan it is necessary to read around the subject matter and make notes on texts that are relevant to the essay title. Additionally, most tutors will require an introduction, main body and conclusion. The introduction should demonstrate that the essay question is well understood. In the main body, every paragraph should refer to the key words and every statement supported by evidence. Each paragraph should develop a logical sequence starting with description, analysis, criticism, evidence and finally, evaluation. The conclusion is a summary of the whole essay and should pull together the threads of the main argument.
What Is An Essay?
The word ‘essay’ refers to a short piece of writing on a specific subject. When composing an essay the writer works from the title, putting together an argument that progresses to a conclusion. The lecturer marks an essay, commenting on the way it has been written and structured.
What Is The Purpose Of An Essay?
Many students assume that the key to how to write an essay is to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject. However, for a student to receive good grades they need to go beyond the mere recitation of the facts acquired from a text book and show that they also have a good understanding of the question being asked.
‘Analysis’ is the feature that distinguishes understanding from knowledge. In analysing an essay question the student needs to attempt to reveal the underlying principles. For example, by looking at the essay title “Judicial review is concerned, not with the decision, but with the decision-making process. Discuss” the analytical student would try to understand why the author of the quotation contrasts the decision with the decision-making process. By breaking down the question into sections the student will find themselves discussing the tension between the judiciary and the executive and the problems the courts encounter in avoiding a usurpation of the power of the executive.
Planning An Essay
When learning about how to write an essay, planning is the most vital part. The plan determines what approach is taken to answering the essay. If it is properly written the student will know already exactly what the answer is going to be. Everything written must be must have relevance to the question and without a plan it is easy to go off on a tangent and include a lot of text which is fundamentally irrelevant to the essay title.
Reviewing Literature
Having made an outline plan, it is important to read around the subject area and to write notes on the most relevant material. Although a student is usually provided with a reading list they should read widely and evaluate the usefulness of journal articles and books. Journal articles are particularly useful as they can offer more up-to-date research than books and are highly prized by tutors.
Writing An Introduction
The introduction should be less than a third of a page long and should make a good first impression. Composing an introductory sentence is a skill that is relatively easy to develop. A straightforward technique is to rewrite the question in different words to the essay title. This shows the tutor that the question is being addressed and is thoroughly understood. On the other hand, the student might choose to do something a bit more creative by describing a significant event, setting the scene or challenging the question. This will demonstrate that the student has complete mastery of the subject. To illustrate, for the following title “In 1680 Louis was awarded the title Great. Considering his whole reign, did he merit it?” the introduction could be written as follows;
“The award of the title Great can be viewed as part of the routine flattery that surrounded Louis XIV. However, it is important to consider what it actually means to be Great. Did he have some of the ambition and vision attributed to other Great monarchs? And do his achievements deserve the title great?.....”
This kind of introduction will impress the tutor and make them eager to know more.
Writing The Main Body
If a student is to learn how to write an essay effectively, they need to ensure that every paragraph refers to the key words in some way and everything that is said, must be supported by fact or examples.
In general, each paragraph ought to be dedicated to one point and treated like a mini essay. There is a simple formula for paragraph writing. It should start with a description of the topic, followed by analysis, criticism, evidence and finally evaluation. These elements may be arranged in any number of paragraphs, but they should always be written in this order.
Writing The Conclusion
The conclusion is a summary of the main points in the essay. It is here that the threads of the essay argument are pulled together and the main arguments clarified so that the reader is left in no doubt as to the answer. Essentially, it should contain nothing new, although it is sometimes appropriate to suggest wider implications of the main theme.
Final Thoughts
There are techniques common to all essays which will ensure that a student has a good understanding about how to write a good essay, but the most fundamental factor which is overlooked time and time again by students is to make sure that the essay question is sufficiently answered. By reading the question several times over and breaking it down into manageable key words (the issue to be considered) and topic words (the subject matter), the student can be confident that they are on their way to achieving a satisfying result.
Do You Know How To Reference Correctly?
- Harvard referencing
- Oxford referencing
- OSCOLA referencing (The Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities)
- APA referencing
- MLA referencing (Modern Language Association)
- Chicago referencing
- Vancouver referencing
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