Effective Essay Writing

Effective Essay Writing Task Aim 1. To introduce some simple, but effective ways to improve essay writing, by

focussing on planning and structure.

2. To examine examples of good practice in academic writing to inform

students about their own approach to writing.

Essay writing is a key study skill that you will need to develop, and will

naturally develop with practice. Here, you are asked to examine the key

components of an essay and there are a couple of exercises for you to have

a go at in order to help you begin to understand the principles involved.

The Introduction is the first opportunity a writer has to make an impression

on the marker or reader of their work. This means that the introduction

should be carefully thought through to entice the reader to find out more

about your argument, and to demonstrate from the start that you have

understood the question, that ‘you are on the right track’.

Exercise 1: Compare the opening paragraphs of the essays below. Use the space in the box to answer the question:

Which is the best of the 2 student essay introductions and why?

The following points might help you think through your answer.

• How clearly do you think they set out the essay’s agenda, i.e. what it plans

to do?

• How articulate is the expression of ideas? Is it clear what has been said?

• Are there any problems with sentence structure and grammatical accuracy?

• What alterations, if any, would you suggest to clarify meaning or make

expression of ideas more succinct / easier to take on board?

Effective Essay Writing

Question: How are issues of citizenship covered in the

module related to legislative measures proposed in the

Queen’s Speech?

a) At the State Opening of Parliament on 15th November 2006, the

Queen announced the proposed legislation and the new

framework for education in the speech, written for her by the

government. This essay will cover the issues of the proposed

reform of the Further Education system and how this relates

back to citizenship. Initially I will look at the Further Education

and Training Bill and then follow this with a debate about the

educational reform to help all children reach their full potential.

The area I will be looking into is children and young adults from

under privileged backgrounds and how issues of citizenship

affect them. Finally I will then reach a conclusion based on the

evidence I have found.

b) The National Health Service was set up on the 5 July 1948 by

the Labour Government, to supply a healthcare system for

citizens of this country, based on need only. To enable this to

happen, the money to pay for this has to be found and this is

the responsibility of the Tax Payer. The Department of Health

now provides a health care system for citizens of this country

through the National Health Service. The National Health Service

celebrated its fiftieth birthday in 1998 and so began the biggest

change and modernisation it had seen to date. This brings me to

the Queens Speech from the 15 November 2006. How are issues

of citizenship covered in the Queens Speech related to legislative

measures to modernisation of the National Health Service?

Effective Essay Writing

The introduction of an essay functions as a funnel, taking a general initial

comment or context and bringing it together as it develops to guide the

reader about the essay’s direction and the focus of its argument. This will

lead to the development of a thesis statement. Read the following boxes to

explain the development of an essay.

How to write an essay: some suggestions for structure

When you write an essay, structure is crucial. Each

essay will have an introduction, a body and a

conclusion. In your introduction you can start by

introducing a general idea or setting for your essay,

giving the reader a context for the question. As the paragraph progresses you should

gradually narrow down your focus so that

by the time you reach your final sentence

you are ready to state the main idea – or

‘thesis’ – of your essay.

This is called the thesis statement. It makes clear what the

essay discusses and what your

answer will be.

After the thesis statement, you can start each new paragraph of the essay’s main

body by letting the reader know what its main topic will be; this is called a topic sentence. In each paragraph you will also need to present evidence to back up

and develop your topic. You should make sure that the topic is related in some way

to your overall thesis statement. This will stop you from digressing. Avoid very

short paragraphs; they should be substantial enough to make a point in full and in

order to move the discussion forward.

As you begin to organise your essay it is important that you group similar

ideas together in the same paragraph or section of the essay. Use linking

sentences to show a logical progression from one point to the next. To make

your essay more analytical, you need to start finding links between these

different ideas, for example, comparisons or contrasts. All the time you

should be developing your main thesis.

Effective Essay Writing

Evidence can be taken from your own reading, which you can paraphrase. For

example, you might take from the first paragraph of an article that one of its

main themes is there is now too much choice in the ranges of products

available in supermarkets (Hollis 2007). To emphasise a point you could

embed a quotation into your argument – The choice makes shopping “Hell”

(Hollis 2007: 4). If you want to focus on the text itself in more detail you might

want to use an indented quotation:

Often we feel bamboozled and just shove a familiar or prominently displayed brand in our basket. Then we feel useless because we can’t cook gourmet dinners like Jamie Oliver and don’t know what to do with any of these exotic new ingredients (Hollis 2007:4).

However, don’t leave the quote to speak for itself, but analyse it. Show the

reader what it is telling you about how greater choice in our consumer society

arguably generates waste and unhappiness in shoppers. If it is appropriate,

develop your argument further by looking at some of the cases the source

itself quotes or some of the wider themes raised. Think critically about how

reliable the evidence is and the extent to which it supports or contradicts your

argument.

Finally, when you have completed your essay, you need to let the

reader know that you have come to the end of your argument. If

your essay is very long it is sometimes useful to recap the main ideas. In a shorter essay it is usually sufficient to sum up your

main idea one more time (i.e. restate your thesis but in new

words). This leaves the reader feeling satisfied, because they know

you have reached your conclusion and how. Of course, you can

always add a final thought, but do not introduce a brand new topic

in your final paragraph. Also, don’t forget to proof-read and redraft

if necessary. You also need to list all the sources you have used in

the essay in a bibliography.

Effective Essay Writing

Writing and sticking to an essay plan helps you to maintain focus on the

question you are set and to put your points in the most logical way for them

to be understood and linked to each other. This should emphasise that you

have thought about the topic, know what you want to say, and are able to

express your argument to others so they can develop their own

understanding.

Bibliography Hollis, Liz (2007) ‘Spoilt for Choice’ in The Times 2, 4th July 2007, page 4

Adapted from Saffron Walkling, York St John University

Effective Essay Writing

Writing for Academic Success

Paper Planning: A Simple Strategy

1) What are the key words or instructions in the essay question? Into how

many bits is the question broken down?

2) Brainstorm ideas about the text in a spidergram, starting to make the

connections.

3) Write a thesis statement: keeping your essay question in mind, what do

you plan to argue, or prove, in your paper?

4) Put ideas that will support your argument into hierarchical order.

Notes for introduction:

Thesis Statement: this is where in the structure of the essay you would add

the thesis statement.

Effective Essay Writing

Point 1: (Tip: when planning your main points slot in any quotes or statistics

from sources you plan to use.)

Point 2:

Point 3:

Point 4:

Point 5:

Notes for conclusion:

In addition, it may be a good idea to indicate next to each main point how

long you plan to give to it– e.g. in word count or amount of pages. Then you

can work to stay within your limit, and you won’t have to do too much cutting

(if you have a tendency towards high word count) at the end.

Effective Essay Writing

Exercise 2

Now have a go at using the essay plan, filling it in as though you have been

asked to answer the question:

What difference can your actions make to reduce

the effects of climate change?