How to write an essay



How to write an essay

This brief guide is for politics students to help them improve their essay writing skills.

Essays are used by lecturers as a means of assessment because they test students’ abilities to:

• structure an argument

• communicate ideas effectively

• research and learn independently

• structure their time and manage deadlines

This guide covers several areas, including:

• Picking the right question

• Managing your time

• Creating an essay plan

• Making the best use of graphs and tables

• Revising, editing and proof reading

• Learning from your previous essays

Pre-essay preparation

Before starting to write an essay there are a couple of things you should be aware of. Almost all university courses now produce a set of marking criteria made available to students. You should obtain a copy of this and read it carefully as it will give you a clearer idea of what the lecturers are looking for from your work in terms of its content, structure and presentation. Most essays are judged on five main areas. These are:

Content – Has what you’ve written answered the question? Have you used appropriate arguments, examples and facts?

Structure – Do your arguments appear in a logical order with each point supporting the next? Does your introduction give the reader a good idea of what to expect and does your conclusion clearly sum up the essays main points?

Style – Is your essay well written in an academic style, with arguments clearly flowing from paragraph to paragraph?

Presentation – Is your essay carefully set out and easy to read, without any spelling, grammar or typing mistakes? Does it conform to the university style guide?

References – Have you used a reasonable number and range of sources? Are they of an appropriate quality?

Points to remember

Three things you should always keep in mind when writing an essay:

• What is the essay question?

• When is it due in?

• What is the word limit?

Be aware of what sources of information are available to you in terms of libraries (both university and local) and online resources like E-books, electronic journals and online databases. Most university libraries offer short courses on information retrieval and management. If you haven’t already taken one of these then you should do so as soon as possible.

Always save your work as you go along. Lecturers rarely, if ever, accept computer failure as a legitimate reason for an essay being handed in late. The best way to guard against this happening is to save it to several locations such as your computer hard drive, your drive at the university or onto a memory stick. Alternatively set up a free email account so you can email drafts to yourself as you write.

First steps: Picking the right essay question

Sometimes students are assigned an essay question by the lecturer at the beginning of the year leaving them no choice in the matter. In this case you simply have to make the most of it and concentrate on writing the best essay you can.

More usually the lecturer hands out a list of several essay titles to choose from. This gives the student more freedom but also creates the dilemma of having to pick what they want to write about. When deciding which question to answer you should take into consideration several factors:

Pick an essay top that interest you: you’ll be devoting several weeks of your life to researching and writing about this topic so pick a favourite topic.

Is it an area you know something about?

Have you studied it at A-level or in previous years at university? Sometimes it’s best to go with a question you already have a good working knowledge of or a previous interest in.

What resources are available to help you answer the question?

In short how much has already been written about this subject? Before choosing your essay question you should do some research to find out what books, articles and web resources are available to you. In the case of limited library resources, like books, you may be competing with dozens of other students. The more resources you have access to the better.

Points to remember

Don’t be afraid to spend a few days conducting some research before selecting a question. This is a good investment of your time if it means that you pick the question that is right for you. An informed choice is always better than guesswork.

Equally don’t be afraid to admit when you’ve made a mistake. If after a week you’ve spent time in the library researching the topic and you realise that you’re not making any progress you might want to re-think your choice of question.

What is the question asking you to do?

One of the biggest problems lecturers come across when marking is students not answering the question they’ve been asked. Either the student misunderstands the question, attempts to answer the question they wished they’d been asked or simply writes about subjects they feel comfortable with. This is easily avoided by looking carefully looking at the question and keeping it in mind all the way through.

Questions tend to fall into categories:

Analyse – examine a particular event or issue

Compare – to look at how things are the same, or different, and why. Often it is used in conjunction with contrast.

Discuss/Examine – to look in detail at a subject. It often involves looking at contrasting points of view on an issue.

To what extent – this is asking you if the statement that follows is true or not.

Summarise – this involves succinctly setting out what the main points of an argument or theory are.

Points to remember

The lecturer won’t be trying to trick you with the question. If you have any uncertainties about the question talk to your Lecturer or your fellow students.

Researching your question

Researching your essay is about finding the arguments, sources, quotes and facts that will help you answer the question.

Sometimes when you pick an essay question you’ll already have a good idea of what books or articles you’ll need to look at. Take the essay title and the relevant lecture notes as your starting point.

When looking at a book good use of the contents page and the index to concentrate on the parts of the book relevant to the question you’re trying to answer.

The web is an increasingly useful source of research. However this comes with its own problems. On advantage of academic books and journals is that everything in them will be peer reviewed and as a result you can be sure that it’s accurate.

Points to remember

The starting point for your research should be the lecture notes and the module reading list.

Try to draw your information from a wide range of sources to show breadth of reading. Don’t just use only books, or only websites.

When looking for online resources, start with those that the your University library supports, sources found through a search engine such as Google, might be good, but be a little sceptical about what their purpose is.

Creating an essay plan

As you research your essay topic you should begin to get a much better idea of how to answer the question. Your next step should be to start drawing up an essay plan that will help you transfer these ideas into a coherent argument.

A good essay plan will provide:

• A detailed breakdown of the arguments and information you will use in the essay

• How these arguments will be structured

• A approximate idea of how long each section of the essay will be

Every essay you write should be composed of three basic sections:

The Introduction – this is where you introduce the topic of the essay, what the main arguments are and how the essay will be structured.

The main body of the text - this will contain your arguments that specifically address the essay question.

The Conclusion – this sums up your arguments and makes clear to the reader that you’ve answered the question.

You should always leave the writing of your introduction and conclusion until after you’ve written the main body of the essay. The reason for this is so that they’ll accurately reflect what you’ve already written.

With regards to the length of each section a rough rule of thumb would be that you should devote 10 per cent of your word count to the introduction, 70 per cent to the main body of the essay and 20 per cent to the conclusion.

There are many different way of constructing essay plans here are two examples:

• The Mind map method

• The Table method

The Mind Map

This type of plan is useful when you have to discuss or examine arguments or factors and it isn’t too important which order you put them in. The best way to create a mind map plan is to write the essay question on a blank sheet of paper and then spend half an hour jotting down as many points as you can. One advantage of this plan is that it’s a good way of coming up with ideas. The downside is that it doesn’t provide much structure. If you’re struggling with an essay question it’s sometimes good to start with this sort of plan and then when you have generated enough ideas, use a table or flowchart plan to provide greater structure.

Here is an example of a mind map for the question ‘Where does power lie in the United States’. As you can see there are many different answers to this, some of which are listed here.

[pic]

The Table essay plan

Another way of creating your essay plan is by drawing up a table.

Here a Table essay plan for the question, Does the UK need a codified constitution?

|Does the UK need a codified constitution? |

|Introduction (10%) |

|Arguments for (35%) |Arguments against (35%) |

|Would provide legal protections |Would be too rigid |

|More coherent and easily understood |Still open to interpretation |

|Could be amended as time goes by e.g, the US Constitution |Would give too much power to unelected judges |

|Conclusion (20%) |

The advantage of this plan is that it provides a clear structure that you can easily refer back to when writing. It also gives you some idea of many words you should devote to each section.

Table essay plans like this are often useful if the questions deals with dualities, for and against, agree/disagree.

What are the arguments for and against Britain leaving the European Union?

‘Every US Presidency since 1960 has ended in failure’. Discuss.

Critically examine the view that power in UK is concentrated with the elite

Eventually you’ll develop a planning style that suits you. If you are at all worried about your essay it is a good idea to create your plan and take it to your tutor or lecturer who will be able to immediately see what you have in mind and offer advice.

Managing deadlines

Time management is a useful skill for all elements of university life, not just essay writing.

A rough rule of thumb is that you should devote a minimum of two weeks to a 1000 word essay with an extra week added for every extra 1000 words. Therefore for a 2000 word essay you should take three weeks and for a three thousand word essay four weeks. The percentage of your time should split something like this

|10% |Picking a question and researching it |

|40% |Researching the question |

|30% |Writing up |

|20% |Redrafting, proof reading and checking references |

Whatever time frame you are working to, try to use an approximation of this split to put together a good essay.

If you have multiple essays due on the same deadline the earlier you start the better.

Notice that in my % draft plan I’ve left 20% for redrafting, proof reading and checking references. While these may seem like relatively simple tasks they always take you much longer than you expect.

Points to remember

The deadline is the last possible date you can hand work in. However if you finish the essay a few days earlier and you’re happy with it you shouldn’t be afraid to submit it to get it out of the way, especially if you have other work to be getting on with.

Always take your own previous experiences into account when constructing your time plan. You will be the best judge of how much time it will take you to complete your work.

Be clear about your hand in dates so they don’t sneak up on you.

If you have multiple essays or pieces of coursework due in on the same date (for instance the end of term) you need to think carefully about how to manage your time so that you don’t end up trying to complete several pieces of work at the same time.

Reviewing and editing an essay

Once you’ve finished the first draft of your essay it’s time to review and edit it. This is different from proof reading, which is more concerned with issues of spelling, grammar and style and will be addressed in the next section. Reviewing and editing is about making sure that your essay answers the question in a clear and coherent fashion using appropriate sources of information.

Some important questions you should ask yourself when reviewing your essay:

• Does it answer the question?

• Does the argument clearly flow from paragraph to paragraph?

• Is each argument or point backed up by appropriate and accurate facts and quotes?

• Does the essay remain within the word limit?

If the answer to any of these questions is no then think logically about how to solve the problem. Having a good plan minimises the amount of redrafting that you might need to do.

If you are over the word count

Reread the essay carefully to check if there are any areas that could be re-worded or rewritten to cut down on the word count. Also check to see if you can cut an example or quote or shorten it to just the most pertinent points.

Be aware as you make your cuts that you guard against damaging your arguments or the flow of your essay.

If you are under the word count

Carefully reread the essay and consult your essay plan to check if there are any arguments you haven’t made or if those you have made could be extended in anyway. Alternatively see if you can add further examples or quotes to back up the arguments that already exist.

Try to be careful when you’re adding material to an essay that you don’t simply repeat a point that you’ve already made or add anything that contradicts arguments you’ve made elsewhere.

Redraft, redraft, and redraft again

You may think that once you’ve read your essay through once and fixed the problems you found you’re ready to move onto the final stage of proof reading. However this is not the case. You should always review the essay again after every redraft. You might have changed or cut something that has an impact later in the essay. Equally you might spot something you missed on the previous read through.

Points to remember

Always make sure you leave yourself adequate time for revising and editing your essay. It always takes longer than you think it will, but if done correctly is worth the effort. A careful editing process is often what transforms an average essay into a great one.

Always save each revision of the essay under a new filename on your computer or memory stick. Then if you decide that you’re not happy with the changes you’ve made you can easily return to an earlier draft.

Proof reading

Often when you’re working intensively on an essay you make any number of small mistakes of spelling, grammar and sentence construction that would never otherwise occur. Examples of this can include mistaking there, their and they’re and effect and affect which wouldn’t be picked up by spell checkers. A suggestion is to swap essays with a friend, sometimes someone else will see something you miss because of your familiarity with the text.

Another way to avoid these problems is to read the essay slowly aloud to yourself as you’ll be much more likely to notice if sentences are overlong or badly constructed.

Most universities now have style guides available that make clear exactly how an essay should be set out. If your university does not specify any particular layout then refer to the tutor. Alternatively if no other information is to hand then Times New Roman, font size 12, double spaced is usually acceptable. You should justify the margins but also remember to leave sufficient room in the margins for the lecturer to write comments.

Learning from your mistakes

When you’ve had your essay returned to you the first thing most students do is to check their grade and then put the essay in a folder somewhere, never to be looked at again.

If you want to improve your essay writing skills then you should carefully read and analyse the marker’s feedback. This can range from annotations to the essay itself, correcting spelling and grammar mistakes, to detailed feedback about the contents and structure. From this you’ll be able to see where you’ve gone wrong and how to avoid these mistakes in the future. Even if you disagree with the markers comments you should always take them on board and try to learn from them.

It’s also worth summarising the markers comments into a list of where you went wrong and how the essay could have been better. This means that you’ll be less likely to make these mistakes in future. Here is an example of the sort of table you could draw up to help you do this.

|Marking criteria |Lecturers comments |Action points for next essay |

|Content |Made a strong argument but need to be more critically|Do more research looking for apposing points of |

| |aware of both sides of the debate |view. |

| | |Try to think more critically about the subject |

|Structure |Introduction far too long |Take more care when writing the essay plan and |

| |The arguments sometimes go off at a tangent |structuring the essay |

|Style |Too many colloquialisms and slang terms used |To bear in mind the academic audience I’m |

| |Needs to write in a more academic fashion |writing for |

| | |Proof read more carefully, look at examples of |

| | |good practice which your tutor should be able to|

| | |provide. |

|Presentation |Sentences are sometimes overlong |Proof read aloud |

| |Some spelling and grammar mistake |Ask someone else to proof read the essay for me |

| |Sentences lacks commas |Work hard to improve my grammar |

| |The odd typo here and there | |

| |Should proof read more carefully | |

|References |Too few references for a 2000 word essay |Do more research |

| |Over reliance on internet sources |Make greater use of books and journal articles |

By referring to the list of comments and action points the student can clearly see their strengths and weaknesses and how they could be improved for the next essay.

Top tips

Things you should do when writing your essay

Do answer the essay question.

Remember to save your work on a regular basis in at least two different places to guard against accidents.

Make sure you know exactly what your word limit is before you start researching and writing. Try to keep this limit in mind when writing it as this will save you from having to add or cut out words later on.

When conducting research be it at home, in the library or on the internet it’s always useful to keep a copy of the essay title close at hand. This means you can always remind yourself as to whether what you’re researching relates to the question.

Do make sure that you’ve left yourself enough time to proof read the essay and complete the bibliography. Both of these tasks usually take up more time than you think so it’s best to leave at least one day spare for this.

Do make sure that the essay is factually correct and consistent.

Do make sure that the essay is well presented and conforms to the university style guides.

While researching keep careful records of the sources you use. This will make compiling a bibliography much easier.

Always try to write in a professional academic style.

Things you shouldn’t do when writing your essay

Don’t mistake opinion for fact. While it is often important in essays to give your own opinion when evaluating various pieces of evidence you should always make it clear that this is a subjective position.

Don’t forget to include a bibliography

Don’t hand in the first draft of your essay

Don’t start writing before you’ve constructed an essay plan. Sometimes when you’re enthusiastic about a subject the temptation is to dive straight in and start writing straight away, but your essay is likely to be improved by a solid plan

Don’t you colloquialisms or slang terms.

Don’t use ‘I’ if you can help it, even when you’re expressing your own opinions.

Be aware of what plagiarism is so that you can take steps to avoid this.

Checklist

While working on your essay you might like to print out this and keep it somewhere close to your desk while you work. Every so often you should check it to see what progress you’re making and what you need to do next.

|Task |Completed |

|Have you chosen an essay title? | |

|Do you know what the word limit is? | |

|Have you carefully read the lecturer’s marking criteria? | |

|Do you know when the essay has to be completed by? | |

|Have you looked carefully at the reading list? | |

|Have you drawn up a list of sources you need to research? | |

|Have you created a plan to manage your time? | |

|Have you started to research the topic? | |

|Have you drawn up an essay plan? | |

|WRITE ESSAY |

|Have you answered the question? | |

|Does the argument flow from paragraph to paragraph? | |

|Are your arguments well supported by examples, quotes or facts? | |

|Have you left yourself enough time to revise and proof read the essay? | |

|Have you proof read the essay carefully? | |

|Have you found someone else to proof read your essay? | |

|Have you made sure it conforms to the university style guide? | |

|Do you know where or how you hand the essay in? | |

Common mistakes to avoid when writing essays

Here are listed some of the most common mistakes encountered when marking essays. Each error has been named, given an example and an explanation as to why it’s wrong. You might want to examine your own essay against this chart to make sure that you haven’t made any of these mistakes.

|Mistake |Example |Why this is wrong |

|The wrong word is used |The new law only effects citizens living in Scotland. |It can be confusing for the reader |

| |The law was a pail reflection of itself | |

|Using contractions |Parliament didn’t approve of this |Although we all use contractions in every|

| |The members of Congress individually aren’t that powerful |day speech for formal essay writing you |

| | |should try to avoid them when ever |

| | |possible. |

|Overlong sentences |The UK parliament makes laws for the UK although in more |Can be confusing for the reader and makes|

| |recent years this role has been challenged both by |the work harder to read |

| |devolution to Scotland and Wales and by the European Union| |

| |this has also challenged the supremacy of parliament with | |

| |regard to… | |

|Lack of commas |The Supreme Court rules on cases interprets the law |Sentences should be broken up to help the|

| |provides stability and acts as the final court of appeal |reader make sense of them |

|Using slang terms and |At this point Tony Blair should have really gotten a grip |Makes the essay appear un-academic |

|colloquialisms | | |

|Making factually errors |World War Two ended in 1947 |Can be confusing for the reader |

|Using the first person |I don’t think that this was a good idea |Makes the essay appear un-academic |

|‘I’ | | |

|Repetition of words or |From this it can be argued that Bush was a failure as |Makes the essay appear un-academic |

|phrases |President. It could also be argued that this is reflected | |

| |in results of the 2008 election. Another argument… | |

|Stating facts without |As Putnam states in Bowling Alone “social capital is the |The reader will find it difficult to |

|referencing them |bedrock of Civic America”. |check your sources |

|Not including a | |Makes it impossible for a read to check |

|bibliography | |your sources |

List of essay questions

What follows is a list of essay questions. I’d highly recommend as a practice exercise looking at each one and writing down what the question is asking you to do and how you might structure an answer.

Do we need the House of Lords?

Discuss the ways in which parliaments can scrutinise the actions of government.

Where does power lie within the European Union?

Assess the claim that Britain’s welfare state is unsustainable.

Has devolution for Scotland and Wales been a success?

Is Russia still undergoing a transition to democracy?

Are wars reported objectively?

Critically evaluate the meaning and significance of EU citizenship.

Does the UK need a properly codified constitution?

‘Cabinet government is in reality government by the Prime Minister’. Discuss.

Compare and contrast the roles of the Executive and the Legislature in the US system government.

What are the powers of the media and how might they be constrained?

Analyse the impact of the contemporary US media on the practice of national politics.

What factors constrain the powers and influence of Congress?

Discuss the roles played by the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund in global economic governance.

What gives news its value?

Critically examine the resilience of the US two party system.

Compare the political impact of two British Prime Ministers since 1945.

Compare and contrast the political ideologies of conservatism and socialism.

Compare and contrast the political though of Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine.

Explain the failures of third parties in US politics.

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Pressure groups

State Governors

The Federal Bureaucracy

The Executive – The President

The military-industrial complex

Big business

Where does power lie in the United States?

The media

The Legislature -Congress

With the People/Electorate

Within the member states

Political parties

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