"When you write an essay you are making a case for the validity of a particular point of view, analysis, interpretation, or set of facts or procedures."
Dawson, J. (2007). The little blue writing book: essays. Bentley, Australia.
Standard Essay Model
Important steps in writing a essay
Introduction
Though many students make mistakes while writing introductions, Tim Squirrel a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh on Guardian says "Introductions are easiest things in the world to get right and nobody does it properly." According to him, “It should be ‘Here is the argument I am going to make, I am going to substantiate this with three or four strands of argumentation, drawing upon these theorists, who say these things, and I will conclude with some thoughts on this area and how it might clarify our understanding of this phenomenon. You should be able to encapsulate it in 100 words or so. That’s literally it.”
Though many students make mistakes while writing introductions, Tim Squirrel a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh on Guardian says "Introductions are easiest things in the world to get right and nobody does it properly." According to him, “It should be ‘Here is the argument I am going to make, I am going to substantiate this with three or four strands of argumentation, drawing upon these theorists, who say these things, and I will conclude with some thoughts on this area and how it might clarify our understanding of this phenomenon. You should be able to encapsulate it in 100 words or so. That’s literally it.”
Analyse the question: Clearly you cannot write a great essay without understanding the question properly. Most students start writing without understanding the meaning of all the words in the question. Students should look for limiting words and phrases, content words and phrases, and directive words in the question to know the parameters of the task.
It is important to understand the actual meanings of the directive verbs so that you clearly know what you should do. Here is a list of common directive verbs used in essay questions. This list is adapted from Cottrell, S 1999, The study skills handbook, MacMillan Press, London by Jane Mangano.
- account for - explain (reason)
- analyse - examine closely, examine in parts, show how the parts contribute to the whole.
- argue - present the case for and/ or against
- assess - decide the value of
- judge - measure the importance of
- compare - discuss two or more things in terms of their similarities and differences
- critically evaluate - weight arguments for and against something, assessing all evidence. Decide which opinions, theories, models or items are preferable
- define - explain, give full meaning(s), make clear what is meant by, use definition(s) to explore the concept of
- describe - give a detailed account of the features of something without interpreting the information
- discuss - present and give a judgement on the value of arguments for and against, consider all angles
- distinguish - bring out the differences between two possibly confusable items
- enumerate - an item-by-item account, such as all steps in a process
- evaluate - judge, criticise in terms of impact/significance, and investigate the implications
- examine - make clear the details/ meaning of, look in particular at reasons causes and effects, account for, give reasons, justify, explore describe in detail, and note impact
- illustrate - use example to show a concept
- indicate - focus on specific areas (similar to illustrate)
- interpret - make clear the meaning of, consider implications
- narrate - concentrate on saying what happened telling a story
- outline - describe main features, a broad but thorough account, identify briefly the main features of
- prove - show by logical argument
- relate - show similarities and connection between two or more things
- review - describe chief features, criticise generally (important parts)
- to what extent - consider how far something is true or not true, consider how far something contributes to a final outcome
- trace - identify and describe the development or history of
- what is - describe
Knowing content words and delimiting words gives you a clear sense of direction about what to write. Content words tell you about the topic and the area of study you will be looking at. Similarly, delimiting words limit your research: to a particular place, time or demographic.
example. Critically evaluate two contemporary theories of nursing.
Critically evaluate- directive verbs; two contemporary- delimiting words; theories of nursing- content words.
example. Critically evaluate two contemporary theories of nursing.
Critically evaluate- directive verbs; two contemporary- delimiting words; theories of nursing- content words.
To what extent does obesity impact upon the coronary health of middle age women.
To what extent- directive verbs; obesity - content words ; coronary health- content words ; middle age women - delimiting words ;
Acknowledgement:
This blogpost partially draws from the powerpoint slides 'Success with Writing Online Workshop' prepared by Jane Mangano | University of Notre Dame Australia
To what extent- directive verbs; obesity - content words ; coronary health- content words ; middle age women - delimiting words ;
Some common mistakes to avoid in an essay
- Failing to answer all or part of the question and writing copied or learned response rather than properly deconstructing essay question.
- Writing off-topic and giving inadequate evidence to support viewpoints expressed.
- Using overly casual and informal expressions.
- Writing essay having no paragraph divisions and no logical flow of thought and lacking proper shape and structure.
- Writing paragraphs which have no central or easily recognisable main idea. With no central idea, there is no essay, as there is no thesis and therefore nothing to prove.
- Writing paragraphs which fail to distinguish between a thesis statement, explanation, illustration and summary statement and diminishes the informative and persuasive communication of ideas.
- Ignoring the instructions regarding the essay type. For example, discursive and evaluative essays demand different arrangements of ideas and different choices of language selection.
- Using jargon poorly, thereby making the essay confusing or misusing jargon.
- Using quotations taken out of context.
- Ignoring word limits, either writing over length or under-length. This is linked to failing to develop the skill of conciseness.
- Obscuring own argument by over-reliance upon the words of others.
- Plagiarism.
- Being too opinionated and not supporting views strongly.
- Cluttering the essay with verbose language.
- Not using referencing and citation properly.
- Failing to manage time effectively.
- Failing to proofread.
Acknowledgement:
This blogpost partially draws from the powerpoint slides 'Success with Writing Online Workshop' prepared by Jane Mangano | University of Notre Dame Australia
