Essay/Assignment Writing:

Planning to Editing

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Agenda

4 stages in essay writing: Preparing Planning Drafting Editing

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Questions for you:

What makes a good essay?

If you were marking an essay, what would you look for?

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“To essay”

The verb “to essay” means “to put to the test, to attempt something difficult”.

Essays give you opportunities to come to terms with new knowledge.

Writing an essay helps you to measure how much you really understand.

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Four Stages in Writing an Essay

1. Preparing2. Planning3. Drafting4. Editing

Post-essay writing5. Learning from the experience

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Stage 1Preparing

What question do I need to address and what does it mean?

What do I know about this already? What do I need to find out? Research

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Analyse the question

What is the subject? What are the key verb(s)? What are the key aspect(s)? Any other other significant words? Ask questions about the question

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Understand Key Verbs

analyse compare and contrast describe discuss evaluate examine explore outline summarise

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Paragraphing (I)

Paragraphs structure thoughts and help the reader

Each paragraph should contain one clear idea support sentences

Support sentences add to the topic sentence, e.g. explain ideas raised define terms more fully give supporting detail

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Paragraphing (II)

For every paragraph, ask: Is there one main idea here? Is it stated clearly? Is it properly supported with evidence? Have I commented on the evidence? Does it link with the previous paragraph

and anticipate the next?

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Beginning a new paragraph

To mark off the introduction and the

conclusion

To signal a shift to a new idea

To indicate an important shift in time or

place

To emphasise a point

To highlight a contrast

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Stage 3Drafting

Drafting shapes the notes into an essay.

How? Revise, reconsider and rewrite what you

have done. Fill in any gaps. Revise plan, now you know more.

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Checking a Rough Draft

Look for: the sequence of ideas logic paragraphing sign-posting need more information? grammar punctuationAm I answering the question?

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Introductions

State clearly How you are going to answer the

question What you are going to cover

Address the question, the key idea. Define key terms. May help to write the introduction last. Should be 10% of the word count

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Conclusions

Pull the essay together. Show where you stand in the debate

(judgement). Draw conclusions or extract general

principles (factual). May indicate an area for further study. Link back to the question / essay title. 10-13% of the word count

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Stage 4Editing

Proof read your essay. Check for mistakes:

spelling grammar punctuation

Check quotations, citations. Have I answered the question? Is there a logical, coherent argument?

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Presentation

Word limit Margins Spacing Font types and sizes Legibility Does it comply with the required

layout? Diagrams References

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Citations

Examples: According to Jones (1998), …. Jones (1998) argued that …. To quote from Jones (1998), …. In name of text, Jones (1998) supported

the idea of …. …. paraphrases …. (Jones, 1998, p82)

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Quotations

Short quotationJones (1999, p23) described the idea as ‘quoting a few words’ ….

Long quotationJones wrote:

long quoteslong quoteslong quotes (Smith, 1999, p9)

etc. etc.

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References

Put at the end of an essay. Do not number them. Begin each source on a new line. List alphabetically by the first author’s

surname. Italicise the book or journal title. Place single quotation marks around the

title of an article within a journal.

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Examples of References

A bookCottrell, S.M. (1999) The Study Skills

Handbook, Macmillan.

An article in a bookTizard, B. (1991) ‘Working Mothers

and the Care of Young Children’ in Woodhead, M., Light, P. and Carr, R. (eds) Growing Up in a Changing Society, Routledge.

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Bibliography

A list of everything you read for the assignment.

They need not be referred to in your writing.

Listed in the same style as references.