How To Turn Your Essay From A 2:1 To A First Class
A 2:1 And A First Class Essay: Overall Difference
To turn your essay from a 2:1 to a First Class one, you need to understand the "quality gap" between the two. In fact, an overall difference between a 2:1 and a First Class essay is as simple as the difference between "very good" and "outstanding", where the latter offers the reader the extra value that allows the essay to "stand out" as unique and worthy of additional attention. Regardless of the class level, an essay is a written presentation of your research process and outcomes. It is the description of the steps you have taken and the results you have achieved. The extra value should be added to both - process and result -- components. In other words, to turn a 2:1 essay to a First Class one, you need to show that you have put an extra effort into researching the topic. Moreover, you should thoughtfully structure the paper in such a way that guarantees a reader at least one "aha!" moment for each written page.
If you want to turn your 2:1 essay to a First Class one, you need to explore one of the two popular methods: first, to audit and improve the essay preparation/writing process. Second, you can advance the quality of each part of the written product.
Method One: Enhance the Process
The first approach would be to add the extra value to each of the four essay-writing steps: problem identification, selection of credible sources, clarification of your position on the issue, and description of the entire process in writing. The choices that you make when completing each of the steps define your final grade. To turn a 2:1 essay to a First Class essay, you have to alter your previous choices and to modify their description in the essay accordingly.
- Problem identification: At this stage, you select the topic of your discussion. For a good 2:1 essay, you can choose a valid and relevant issue regardless of its novelty. However, to turn your essay to a First Class work, you need to identify an unexpected problem, which is scarcely researched but which resolution will allow you to contribute to the knowledge area.
- Source Selection: A minimum number of sources is a valuable guideline for a 2:1 essay. Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that for an essay to be considered First Class, just meeting the minimum is not enough. You have to select a thoughtful range of authors, who represent all the diversity of opinions on the topic of your essay.
- Your Position on the Issue: The advantage of choosing an unexpected problem as discussed above is that you do not have to side with one of the authors and can voice a unique position within existing theories. Thus, to turn a 2:1 essay to a First Class one, look at the "gaps" in existing theoretical background and pick one of them to develop your own distinctive insight.
- Process Description: By the time you have revised the first three steps, the changes in the process description will flow logically to reflect the new circumstances. However, to make sure that your essay is successfully upgraded from a 2:1 to a First class level, you might want to combine Method One with Method Two that follows.
Method Two: Enhance The Presentation
Another approach to turning an essay from a 2:1 to a First Class level is to advance the quality of each part of the essay, including: thesis statement, literature overview, discussion, and conclusion. Similar to a 2:1 paper, a First class essay is well developed in a recognized scholarly format and is grounded in a strong consistent argument. In addition, it is creative and it demonstrates reading beyond the coursework and thinking beyond the surface knowledge.
- Thesis Statement: To turn a 2:1 essay into a First Class one, you should turn your thesis statement from simply clear and well defined to innovative and imaginative. A high quality thesis serves a dual role: first, it is an "aha!" moment in itself. Second, it creates an expectation of more discoveries.
- Literature Overview: A 2:1 essay demonstrates familiarity with at least a required minimum number of references. It also discusses 20% of the sources in more details as a theoretical framework for the chosen problem. To turn it to a First Class essay, you have to demonstrate a nuanced and complex insight in the material by including past and contemporary works in the field and by citing renowned as well as unknown authors.
- Discussion: It is not enough for a First Class essay to present an argument. To turn your 2:1 piece to a First Class one, you need to clearly state your position and contextualize it in the larger discipline. In addition, you need to ground your writing in empirical studies and create links between theory and practical application of your position.
- Conclusion: A First Class essay's conclusion is more than an overview of the paper. It is a culmination of the essay and the resolution for the expectations created by the thesis statement. To turn a 2:1 writing to a First class essay, you need to build tension throughout the paper and to lead the argument toward a final - partially foreseen and partially surprising - statement, which sets the stage for follow-up essays you might want to write in the future.
Helpful Tips
When deciding on the appropriate method of turning your 2:1 essay to a First Class one, keep in mind that the first method will work the best for persuasive/argumentative and comparison essays. In addition, the first method requires that you commit certain time to enhancing the prewriting/research steps. Therefore, it would help if you have at week or so to devote to the task of revising your 2:1 essay. However, when you are under the pressure of a tight deadline or when you are working on a descriptive or a narrative essay, you will be better off choosing the second method of upgrading a 2:1 essay to a First Class level.
