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Writing it up
Writing essays
Students write essays for a range ofpurposes.
There are 3 main types of essays: discussion argumentative personal or reflective.
Essays have:
different purposes the same basic structure.
Don’t jump straight into writing theessay/report.
Remember to: analyse the question brainstorm ideas
research.
Discussion essays Discussion essays examine different aspects of a topic. They compare,contrast and comment on different points of view. Most essays arediscussion essays.
Argumentative essaysArgumentative essays put forward arguments to support a particularpoint of view.
Personal or reflective essays Personal or reflective essays present and explore ideas and conceptsfrom a personal perspective.
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Writing it up
A sample essay structure
IntroductionIntroduces the topic and
focus of the essay
Body paragraphMakes a point, expands
and supports
Body paragraph
Makes another point,expands and supports
Body paragraphMakes another point,
expands and supports
ConclusionSummary of your
discussion
B o
d y
For more information about
referencing, check out the
handout on ‘Making notes and
referencing’.
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Writing it up
Parts of the essay
The introductionYour introduction should give thereader an overview of what youressay is about. As your essaygrows and changes, you may needto adjust your introduction to
accurately reflect your content.Some people prefer to write theintroduction last, once the body ofthe essay is complete.
A good introduction will: provide a context draw the reader in indicate the particular
approach
introduce the main topics.
Here’s a sample essay question:
E x ample i nt r o duct i o n:T od ay i n Aust r al i a, i t i s d i f c ul t , i f not i m possi bl e , t o d e sc r i be t he t y pi c al f ami l y . N ow , i n t he 2 1st c e nt ur y , t he r e al i t
y of
w hat c onst i t ut e s a f ami l y , and how f ami l i e s
and t he i r me mbe r s o pe r at e , i s of t e n v e r y d i f f e r e nt f r om t he st r uc t ur e and f unc t i on of f ami l i e s i n t he mi d 2 0 t h c e nt ur y . T hi s e ssay w i l l d e sc r i be c han g e s t hat hav e oc c ur r e d f r om t hi s pe r i od t o t he pr e se nt i n f ami l y t y pe s and i n how f ami l i e s o pe r at e . I t w i l l e x pl or e t he soc i ol o g i c al , e c onomi c and c ul t ur al r e asons f or t he se c han g e s. I t w i l l al so c r i t i c al l y anal y se how t he se c han g e s hav e af f e c t e d t he r ol
e s, l i f e st y l e s and w e l l be i n g of me n, w ome n and c hi l d r e n.
You can see how this introduction: leads the reader into the topic links to the question
gives an overview of the essaycontent.
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According to t he A ustra lian B urea u of Statistics
( 2004 ), f ami lies wit h c hi ldren
ma k e u p 60% of a l l f ami lies, b ut t he variet y and str uct ure of t hese f ami lies has
c hanged o ver t he years. T he introd uction of ‘no f a u lt’ di vorce in 1973,
reected
c hanges in socia l va l ues. T his lega l c hange has r
es u lted in a hig her di vorce rate
and a large increase in t he n um bers of b lended
and sing le parent f ami lies, in
contrast to t he more common n uc lear f ami l y w hic h e xisted bef ore t his lega l
c hange. Ad vances in I V F tec hno log y ha ve a lso
res u lted in creating same se x
f ami lies wit h c hi ldren, or c hi ldren wit hin f ami lies w ho ma y ha ve a bio logica l
parent w ho has been a s perm or o v um donor. S urrogac y is les
s common, and in
t his t y pe of f ami l y a c hi ld ma y ha ve a bio logica l mot her and a birt h mot her, bot h
of w hom ma y p la y a ro le in t he c hi ld’s lif e. T heref ore, man y of t he c hanges we
see in f ami lies are t he res u lt of lega l, socia l and medica l c hanges in o ur so
ciet y
( Edgar, 2002 ).
how do I
build up
a body
paragraph?
there is an easy way
to remember. have
you heard of ‘teel’?
T is for Topic Sentence,
E is for Explain
E is for evidence and
L is for Linking.
Body paragraphs follow logically and cohesively from one to the other. The number of body paragraphs depends on the given word length.
There is no set length for a paragraph. Balance the content of your essay to reflect the requirements of your
essay.
Body paragraphsHere’s a useful way to remember how a body paragraph is built up:
TEEL
T opic sentence Make a point linked to the questionE xpand, explain Give more detailsE vidence, examples Support with material from referencesL ink Link back to main point/forward to next point
Example body paragraph:
Writing Writing it up Parts of the essay
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Conclusion
The conclusion must: tie together ideas show some personal insight leave the reader with something to think about.
It must not contain any new information.
Example conclusion:
T his essa y has descri bed t he wa ys in w hic h t
he A ustra lian f ami l y has
c hanged o ver t he past 50 or 60 year
s. It has disc ussed ho w t he t y pes of
f ami lies ha ve become more varied and t he ro les wit hin f ami lies are le
ss
bo und b y traditiona l stereot y pes. It has dem
onstrated t hat man y of t hese
c hanges are attri b uta b le to c hanges in societ
a l va l ues and economic and
c u lt ura l conditions. No matter ho w it has b
een dened in t he past, or wi l l
be dened in t he f ut ure, t he f ami l y in some
f orm or anot her is certain to
remain a ver y im portant f eat ure wit hin A ust
ra lian societ y.
ReferencesAnd don’t forget … the reference list - on a separate page.Most essays will require you to follow a referencing system. For most courses at the Gordon, the Harvard referencingsystem is used.
Writing Writing it up Parts of the essay