why do tutors ask students to write essays? · essay writing skills@library the university library...

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SKILLS@LIBRARYTHE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

Why do tutors askstudents to Write essays?

tutors ask students to write essays to:• learn about the topic• to show their understanding• to clarify their own thinking• to get a grade that leads to a qualification.

• Thinkingaboutthequestion• Gatheringinformationandideas• Organisingyourideas• Gettingsomethingonpaper• Writingafirstdraft• Reviewinginthelightoffeedback/reflection• Producingafinaldraft

staGes oF WritinG


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interPretinG your assiGnMent

What are you beinG asked to do?

Allassignmentquestionscanbebrokenupintothefollowingcomponents:

the instructional verbsThesewordsshowyoutheapproachtotake.It’simportanttointerpretthesewordsproperly.

the topicThisclarifiesthecontextofthediscussionyou’llneedtoconstruct.

the specific aspect of the topicThishelpsyoutonarrowdownyourtopic.

restrictions imposed on the topicThiswilllimityourdiscussion.

Theinstructionalverbsinyoursetquestionwilldeterminethetypeofwritingyouareabouttoundertake.

discuss• Investigateorexaminebyargument• Siftthroughevidenceandgivereasonsforandagainst

assess• Decideontheimportanceofandgivereasonsfor

evaluate• Makeanappraisaloftheworthofsomething• Youcanmakeyourownvaluejudgementsbutbackthemupwithargumentandjustification

understandinG the Question


the Question MatriX

Aquestionmatrixcanhelpyoutobreakdownthequestionyouareansweringby:• definingterms• determininghowthetermsrelatetothequestion• decidingwhatthetermsare.

“identify and discuss barriers preventing effective global action on climate change”

Whatisthedefinitionofclimatechange?

Whatismeantbyeffectiveaction?

Whatismeantby‘barrier’inthiscontext?

WhatdoIwanttofocusoninterms

ofglobal?

What’sthetimescale?

What[important]actionsarethere?

Whatarethebarriers?

Howdoesthisrelatetothemodule?

Howisanactiondeemedeffectivewith

regardstoclimatechange?

Who/whatarecreatingthebarriers?(Doesthis

haveanyimpact?)

Isitgovernments,multinationals,

everyone?

CLiMateChanGe

[eFFeCtiVe]aCtion barriers GLobaL

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the Question MatriX teMPLate

essay titLe

terMs terMs terMs terMs

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s-M-a-r-t obJeCtiVes

Agreatwaytostartplanningyourtimeiswithsmartobjectives.WhencreatingaS-M-A-R-Tactionplanaskyourselfwhetheryourtasksare:

specific• Aretheyclearlyidentifiable,oraretheyvague?

Measurable• Whatareyoursuccesscriteria?Ifyourgoalsarenotmeasurable,howwillyouknowwhen

you’veachievedthem?

action-orientated• Whatareyourgoalsandhowwillyouachievethem?

realistic• Arethey“do-able”?Aretheyachievablegiventhelimitedtimeandresourcesyouhave?

time-bound• Haveyousetadeadline?Canyousaywhatneedstobedone,bywhom,andbywhattime?

PLanninG your tiMeFor your assiGnMent

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s-M-a-r-t obJeCtiVes

Example-Readandmakenotesonmainsettext(PearceandTurner,1990)forclimatechangeessay:

“Identifyanddiscussbarrierspreventingeffectiveglobalactiononclimatechange”

specific• IwillreadChapter11‘Pollution-ControlPolicyinMixedEconomies’tonight

Measurable• Iwillhavecoveredonesubstantiveelementofthistopic

action-orientated• IwilltakeCornell-stylenotes(see‘Note-Making’guide),identifykeyevidenceanddataon

post-itsandproduceamind-map

realistic• Onechapterisokbecauseit’sdensematerialandIneedtogettosleepearlytobereadyformy

workshifttomorrow

time-bound• Iwillstartat6pmandfinishby9pm

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First draFt

CreatinG a draFt FroM your PLan

Focus• Makesureyoufocusonyourassignmentquestionandhowyou’veinterpretedit

Core ideas• Writeoutyourcentralideaandmainlineofreasoning

headings• Writeoutyourheadingsandsub-headingsfromyourplan

ideas• Addthecontentanddevelopthetopicideaofeachparagraph

the big picture• Useyourplan• Keepreferringbacktothebigpictureandthelinksyoumadebetweenyourideas• Makesureyouanswerthequestion

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struCture

introduCtion 5%

ConCLusion 10%

Main body 85%

your introduction tells the reader how you will answer the question. your introduction should:• commentonthetitleortopicoftheessay• defineorexplainanydifficultorambiguoustermsinthetitle• directthereaderbystatingwhichaspectsofthetopicyouintendtocoverandwhy.

your conclusion should:• re-stateyourarguments• re-stateyourpoints• havenonewevidence• provethatyouhaveansweredthewholequestion• makerecommendationsifapplicable.Somethinkyoushouldwriteadraftfirstsoyouknowwhereyouaregoing,andre-writeitwhenyou’refinished.

answer the question! answer in a chain of paragraphs that build and present a case. each paragraph should contain 1 big idea and should:• introducetheidea• defineanyconcepts• offeranargument• offeranddiscussevidence• makeafinalpoint.the reader is asking you - and in your writing you should answer - the following questions:• whatisthisparagraphabout?• whatexactlyisthat?• whatisyourargumentonthis(inrelationtothequestion)?• whatisyourevidence?• whatdoesitmean?• whatisthefinalpoint(inrelationtothequestion)?

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eXaMPLe tyPes oF essays - disCursiVe

“Discusswhatarethemostlikelycausesofasthmainchildren”,topic-causalfactorsofchildhood-diagnosedasthma.

introduCtion 5%

ConCLusion 10%

Main body 85%

• Definition-whatisasthma?• Howitismeasuredinpopulations(incidenceandprevalence)?• Scopeofessay(i.e.childrenare15yearsandyounger,trendssince1976,globalstudiesand

databutfocuspredominantlyonEurope)

• Identificationofoveralltrendsorpatternsandthelikelihoodofanyparticularissueasasignificantcausalfactor,givingexplanationsandpossiblefutureimplications

• Comprehensiveandbroadidentificationanddiscussionofdifferentpotentialcausalfactorsandcorrelatingevidence

• Genetic/health• Dietandnutrition• Wealth/poverty• Environment/pollution• Homeandlifestyle• Psychological

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eXaMPLe tyPes oF essays - anaLytiCaL

“Whyhastherebeenanincreaseintheprevalenceofasthmainchildren?”,topic-causalfactorsofchildhood-diagnosedasthma.

introduCtion 5%

ConCLusion 10%

Main body 85%

• Definitionofasthmaandhowitismeasured• Briefoverviewofcurrentglobaltrendsinprevalence• Scopeofessay(i.e.concentrationonenvironmentalcausalfactors,particularlyfocusingon

dieselexhaustpollution,studies/dataused)

• Summaryofthedataandfindingsandtowhatextenttheyrevealthecauseofchildasthmaprevalence,highlightingthereplicationofcorrelationglobally,butalsowherefurtherresearchisrequired

• Identificationanddiscussionofdatatrends• Descriptionoftrends• Comparisonwithglobalincidenceandprevalence• Mostlikelycausalfactors-e.g.environmental• Dataontrafficdensityandpositivecorrelations• Identificationofanycontraryevidenceoralternativeexplanations

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eXaMPLe tyPes oF essays - eVaLuatiVe

“Towhatextentisitlikelythattrafficpollutionisasignificantcauseofasthmainchildren?”,topic-causalfactorsofchildhood-diagnosedasthma.

introduCtion 5%

ConCLusion 10%

Main body 85%

• Definitionofchildhoodasthma• Scopeofessay(globalstudies)

• Repetitionofsignificantcorrelativeevidence• Provenlinksbetweenpollutionandasthma• Isfurtherresearchrequiredtoshowthatitwasthis,ratherthanothersignificantfactors-e.g.

geographicallocation,effectsofpovertyandlifestyle...

• Briefdiscussionofmostlikelycausesofasthma• Briefdescriptionofcomponentsoftrafficpollutionlinkedtoasthma–particulatematterand

dieselexhaust–andwhythesecauseproblems• Analysisofthedatacorrelatingtrafficpollutionandasthma,statingtowhatextentthisis

sufficientandidentifyinganygaps• Examinationofcollectionmethods(ieselfreporting)andlikelihoodofbias• Alternativepossibleexplanations–e.g.hygienehypothesis,geographical,poverty,

malnutrition...

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introduCinG: assertion, eVidenCe and reasoninG

assertion

eVidenCe

reasoninG

Goodparagraphstructureincludesacombinationof:• statement,claimorassertion• evidenceorinformationwhichsupportsandgivesvaliditytotheassertion• reason,logic,justificationfortheassertion.

Goodparagraphsweavethesethreeelementstogethertocreateawell-structuredargument,expressedinaparagraph.ThisisanexampleofagoodparagraphfromaBusinessStudent,using…

Firstly,studentswithexperienceofapplyingforworkplacementsarelikelytomakemoreeffectiveapplicationsfortheirgraduatecareerjobsbecausetheyhavealreadyhadanopportunitytobecomefamiliarwiththeprocess...

...assuggestedbytheHighFliersarticle:“studentsapplyingforworkplacementsintheirfirstorsecondyearatuniversityareselectedthroughaverysimilarrecruitmentprocesstothatusedtorecruitgraduates”(HighFliers,TheGraduateMarket2015,p.23)...

...TheexperiencegainedwhilstapplyingforinternshipswouldbebeneficialwhenapplyingforanentrylevelgraduatejobastheywouldhavehadexperienceinbothinterviewsandwritingCVs,andthereforehadtheopportunitytopractiseandhonetheseskills.

WritinG in ParaGraPhs

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restate your Main arGuMent

siGniFiCanCe

Link your ideas

LiMitations and Further sCoPe

Yourconclusionshouldtakeupwhereyourintroductionleftofftobringyourargumentsandideasinfullcircle.Theconclusiontoyouressayisthelasttimeyouhaveachancetoimpressyourselfuponthereaderandpersuadethemofyourideas.Itisthereforeimportantto:

• Reiterateyourmainideawithevidencesupportingyourargument.• Don’tjustsummarisewhatyou’vewritteninthemainbody,useapersuasivetonetoargueyour

thesis.

• Thinkabouttheimportanceofyourfindings,andifitindicatesfurtherinvestigation.

• Thisisyourchancetolinkallofyourideasnowthatyouhavepresentedthereaderwithallthetopicinformation.

• Don’taddanynewideashere.

• Mentionanylimitationsyouhadtoapply,andtakeintoconsiderationhowfurtherscopecouldintroducedifferentfactors.

ConCLusions

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Good PraCtiCe

LanGuaGe

ForMat

reFerenCinG

• Planforrevising,editingandproofreading• Knowyourweaknesses• Useyourfeedbackfrompreviousassignments• Createalistofcommonerrors• Printoutyourworkwithdoublespacingandusecolour• Checkfordifferentthingsandproofreadforonethingatatimee.g.language,format,references

• Grammarandspelling• Punctuation• Abbreviations• BritishvsAmericanEnglish• Discriminatorylanguage

• Layout• Numbering• Labels• Fontsize• Spaces• Pagenumbers

• Makesureyou’reusingtherightstyle• Foreverycitation,isthereareference?• Foreveryreference,isthereacitation?

reVisinG, editinGand ProoFreadinG

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