General Essay Writing Tips

General Essay Writing Tips Essays are a widely used form of assessment that is used by lecturers. As a student you will need to demonstrate the ability to create a coherent and logical argument that proves that you understood the course work. Writing an essay can be a difficult task, however this module will equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to successfully write an essay. To outline the method of researching and preparing to write an academic essay. Make sure that you read the assignment sheet thoroughly and are sure about what it asks for before you start reading for the essay. While you are reading, bear in mind what sort of material you are looking for in order to address the assigned topic. Even if you do come across a lot of interesting material when researching for your essay, be selective. Interesting material won’t gain you extra marks unless it is relevant. This process will help expand your vocabulary over time. Using these words when you write will also make your essay more vibrant . Good essay writing is a skill acquired rather than learnt. Approaches vary from person to person and will depend on one’s experience in essay writing, almost to the point where a style of writing will be as individual as a signature. A well-structured essay should consist of a series of paragraphs that progress logically through the series of points that you intend to cover. Obviously, the difficult part is working out what that order should be. In essence, an essay is an argument, so your structure should be based on the particulars of your argument. Although this may sound obvious, a lot of essays lose marks for containing material that is simply irrelevant. This doesn’t mean that you have to invent a new theory each time you write an essay. Your essay should have a definite ending, in the form of a conclusion. Here you should summarize what it is that you have said in your essay, stating what your answer to the question is and why. Often, there is no simple answer (which is why you are writing an essay, and not a two-mark answer on a class test), so you should state what the complexities of the issue are. You may feel that you are repeating yourself, as the body of your essay should have made your argument clear already, but the reader will appreciate a good summary. A step-by-step strategy to prepare for, research and write an academic essay. Write an answer to the question in just one or two sentences â€" this can form the basis your thesis statement or argument. This is the main point of your paragraph and everything within this paragraph should relate back to it. Originality is one of the hardest things to achieve in an essay, but any effort you make at being original will be noticed by the marker. Remember that good essays don’t just give evidence for their point of view, but also demonstrate why opposing views are flawed. Imagine a reader, then try to predict their objections to your argument, and then demonstrate why they are wrong. Writing Essays does not cover every type of writing you will do at university but it does cover the principal types. So you will find guides to essay writing, dissertation writing, and report writing. You will also find a section dealing with the differences between writing for the humanities and writing for the sciences and social sciences. The information and guidelines in these sections will provide blueprints you can apply elsewhere. This friend will also be able to point out grammatical or spelling errors that you might have missed. Once the essay is written, go back through the writing to find any sentences that seem too long or wordy. You might have learned a large number of fancy words when studying for an entrance exam. But before you start using them in academic essays, be very sure you know what they mean in the context of your essay. Just make sure you learn something new every time you write an essay, and you willgrow your abilities. The ASK service is run by Student Academic Leaders who have demonstrated abilities in academic writing, research and general all around awesome-ness. If you are struggling to write the introduction, reword the essay question in your own words.