A GUIDE TO ESSAY WRITING

Christine Jackson Department for Continuing Education

Department for Continuing Education University of Oxford 2007

Introduction
If it is some time since you last produced work for assessment, or if you have moved to a new area or higher level of study, you may feel that you would like some help in developing and improving your essay writing skills. This guide leads you through the main stages of planning, researching, writing and presenting your essay and suggests ways to improve your writing skills. It has been written to accompany the Building Assignment Writing Skills Workshop but is also available for use on Certificate and Diploma courses, online courses and by individual students. The guide is designed to supplement materials and advice provided on your own course and should be used in conjunction with guidance provided by your own tutors. Writing essays can and should be one of the most enjoyable aspects of studying your course. It enables you to pursue chosen aspects of your subject in greater depth and to develop and express your own ideas. It is also an essential part of the learning process. It provides an incentive for you to master particular topics and concepts and encourages you to develop your ability to communicate your ideas and arguments in written form. In addition, it enables you to demonstrate your competence in these skills and allows assessment of your progress. Developing and improving writing skills is a gradual and individual process that takes time, practice and patience. It is important to build upon existing skills and preferences, but you also need to be prepared to experiment with new approaches and methods. For example, you may find initially that preparing a detailed plan for your essay makes the writing process more difficult, but it is worth persevering in order to ensure that you produce a persuasively argued essay that answers the question and does not exceed the prescribed word limit. This guide is not intended to be prescriptive or to offer a complete off-the-shelf methodology for achieving top grades. We hope, however, that it will enable you to gain maximum benefit and enjoyment from your coursework and will help you to obtain the results that you deserve.

Contents
Planning and writing your essay........................................................................................................................3 Presenting your essay................................................................................................................... .....................6 Reviewing progress..........................................................................................................................................11 Essay checklist: what are tutors looking for?...............................................................................................11 Using feedback constructively............................................................................................. ........................12 Improving the construction of your essay ........................................................................................................13 Paragraphs and sentences .............................................................................................................................13 Common punctuation and grammar problems..............................................................................................14 Further reading..................................................................................................................................................17

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Planning and writing your essay

Examining the essay title
Your first task is to read the question carefully and check that you understand w hat you are being asked to do. Identify the key instruction words in the question and use them to determine the material you need to cover and how you need to organise it. Common instruction words include: Account for/Why Assess/Evaluate How far/To what extent What Discuss Compare and contrast Explain, clarify, give reasons for Make an appraisal of worth/validity/effectiveness Consider and weigh evidence/arguments for and against Identify, describe and evaluate Explain, present and appraise opposing views, etc. Identify and assess similarities and differences

Make sure that you understand the meaning of any unusual or specialised words and phrases and the context in which they are being used in the question.

Producing a preliminary plan

It is useful to produce a preliminary plan for your essay at an early stage. This will help you to organise your ideas and enable you to plan your research and gather relevant material purposefully from your seminar and lecture notes, books, articles, electronic media or other sources. Your plan should be a list of the main points that will form the basis of your argument or discussion. List all of the points you can think of and then group and order them to develop an argument. As your work progresses, you may discover that you need to modify your plan as your ideas change, or if you find that some material is not available.

Collecting material
You may initially feel slightly daunted by the size of the reading list you have prepared or been given to research your essay, but remember that your goal is not to read every word but merely to extract the information you need. Aim to gather material for the individ ual sections of your essay that you have identified in your outline plan and to focus on the issues you consider to be important. Approach your reading selectively and critically. Before tackling a book or article, consider why you need to read it and what information you want from it. You will need to read important texts thoroughly in order to obtain a detailed knowledge of the subject and viewpoint adopted, but it may be sufficient to skim-read other texts to obtain a broad overview. Use the contents page and index to access selected paragraphs in order to answer specific questions or obtain further information.
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It is helpful to make brief notes when reading. This will enable you to list the key points and evidence you need to write your essay and help you to understand and digest what you have read. Record the sources of your notes (author, title of book or article/journal, date of publication) and the relevant page numbers for use when preparing your references and bibliography. Develop a system for storing your research notes and references, for example in a file or card index, so that they can be retrieved easily. If you own the book or material, highlighting and underlining are useful techniques for identifying the main points and directing rereading.

Organising your material

Once you have gathered your material you will need to review and organise it:

Check that your material supports your planned answer to the question and modify your argument if necessary. Consider how to structure your essay in order to answer the question effectively. Review the selection, grouping and order of your main points. Decide whether you need to adopt a comprehensive approach or focus on a narrower range of issues in order to cover them in greater depth. Select your sub-points and the evidence to support your main points. Estimate the likely length of your essay and check that it will meet course requirements. You may be penalised for submitting significantly under- length or over-length essays.

Structuring your essay

An essay consists of a beginning, a middle and an end.

introduction which explores the question, provides context and indicates the direction or structure of the argument to follow. discussion which develops a logical argument from a series of points and supports it with relevant evidence such as facts, examples, illustrations, etc. conclusion which draws together your ideas, summarises your argument and demonstrates that you have answered the question.

Starting writing
Many students find it difficult to start the writing process. You may find it convenient to write your introduction first, but it is not essential to start at the beginning. Select part of your argument that you feel comfortable with and start to jot down your ideas, gradually weaving them into a logical sequence of clear and carefully considered points, backed up by supporting evidence. As you write, try to keep in mind the underlying structure of your essay. Present each point of your argument logically and precisely, restricting yourself to one main point per paragraph or two paragraphs. This will enable you to develop each point (together with
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any relevant sub-points) sufficiently and to cite supporting evidence. Try to write clearly and compactly, and to use the active voice whenever possible. Avoid the frequent use of long sentences (over 20 words). Writing style is a matter of personal preference and competence, and a skill that is developed over time and with practice. In general, however, since academics strive to be objective in their interpretation of evidence and fair to all sides of an argument, it is preferable to write in the detached third person (It is likely that Tess had already decided) rather than in the more personal first person (I think that Tess had already).

Writing the introduction and conclusion

Use your introduction to attract the attention of the reader but remember that you also need to:

restate or redefine the question posed (for example, define contentious words/phrases or specify chronological restrictions) engage with the topic establish your approach to the question by including a topic statement provide any necessary background or context acknowledge the existence of controversy.

Similarly an interesting and thoughtful conclusion makes a g ood final impression upon the reader, but you should also:

summarise the main points of your argument, highlighting the most important points, and demonstrate that you have answered the question identify wider implications, future trends or issues worthy of further consideration avoid introducing new arguments or material.

Reviewing and editing your essay

If you have time, it is useful to produce a first draft of your essay. This will enable you to:

check that you have answered the question re-order points to strengthen your argument add or remove supporting evidence/quotations eradicate needless repetition check grammar, punctuation and spelling check and adjust the length of your essay

Reviewing your final draft should be a largely mechanical process that enables you to submit a carefully edited and proofread assignment.
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Presenting your essay

It is important that work produced at undergraduate level follows accepted academic conventions. You will be familiar with many of these from your reading but applying them to your own work takes practice and patience. Your tutor can provide further guidance, as needed, for your own subject.

Quoting from sources

If you want to quote material from other authors in your assignment, you can do this directly or by using paraphrase. In general, is important to use your own words to present your argument, not only in order to avoid plagiarising someone elses work, but also to demonstrate to yourself and to your tutor that you have mastered the concepts and evidence that you are handling. It is sometimes both effective and useful to employ direct verbatim quotation to support your argument, but avoid excessive use of quotation because it disrupts the fluidity of your writing. Quotations from primary sources are generally to be preferred to those from secondary sources. Direct quotations are usually reserved for important or provocative points, for example ideas that need to be discussed or challenged, or are produced in support of a point. Try to keep direct quo tations as short as possible and place them in inverted commas. Long quotations, if used, should be indented from the main text and do not require inverted commas.

Acknowledging sources
When you use material or arguments (including quotations) from the work of other writers it is essential that you acknowledge your debt and include a reference identifying the source. If you do not, you may be accused of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the deliberate copying of passages, wholesale or disguised by paraphrase, from books, other students work, etc. Plagiarism is dishonest and is always penalised.

References
Good academic practice demands that wherever material or arguments (including quotations) are used from a primary or secondary source, a note must be included to enable the reader to trace the evidence and check it personally. There are three main ways of presenting references. Seek advice from your tutor about which to use but remember that, once you have chosen a method for your assignment, you need to apply it consistently in that piece of work.

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Footnotes Each point or quotation to be referenced is numbered consecutively (using brackets (1) or superscript 1 ) and a list of numbered notes is provided at the foot of the page, for example: 1. Guy, J. (1988) Tudor England, p. 36 or Guy, John (1988) Tudor England, p.6. A short form can be used for subsequent references to a title, for example: 2. Guy, p. 120. 3. Tudor England, p. 120. If consecutive references are taken from the same source, ibid (meaning in the same place) or ibid plus page number are used, for example: 4. Ibid. 5. Ibid p. 40. Endnotes The same conventions are used as for footnotes but the notes are listed at the end of the assignment, chapter or book. Harvard system An author date note with page numbers is enclosed in round brackets and inserted in the text directly after the point or quotation, for example: It has recently been suggested (Guy 1988, p. 36) that Clearly, you do not need to reference every statement made, and getting the process right is a matter of practice and experience. You may find it useful to look at some books and articles to see how different authors have tackled the exercise.

Bibliography
You need to include a list at the end of your assignment of all the books, articles etc which you have used to write your essay. The list should be given in alphabetic al order of authors surnames with: for a book (single author): authors surname and initials, publication date, title (italics or underlined), place of publication Eliot, T.S. (1957) On Poetry and Poets, London for a book (joint authors): authors surnames and initials, publication date, title (italics or underlined), place of publication

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Kriedte, P., Medick, H. and Schlumbohm, J. (eds.) (1981) Industrialisation Before Industrialisation, Cambridge. for a chapter in a book: authors surname and initials, publication date, title of chapter, editors surname and initials, title of book (italics or underlined), place of publication, page numbers Adams, S. (1984), Eliza Enthroned? The Court and its Politics, in Haigh, C. (ed.) The Reign of Elizabeth I, London, pp. 55 78. for an article: authors surname and initials, publication date, title of article (in inverted commas), title of periodical or book (italics or underlined), editors name or volume number, and page numbers Tarling, D. H. (1975) Archaeomagnetism: the dating of archaeological materials by their magnetic properties, World Archaeology 7, pp. 185197 for a journal article accessed electronically: authors surname and initials or first name, year of publication, title of article (in inverted commas), title of journal or book (italics or underlined), editors name or volume number, page numbers, the name of the electronic supplier, Online (in square brackets), Available at: URL of collection, Accessed: date, month and year (in brackets) Mendels, Franklin F. (1972), Proto-Industrialisation: the first phase of the industrialisation process, Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXXII, pp. 24161. for a web site: authors surname and initials or first name, title of page (in inverted commas), title of the composite work if page is part of a group of documents, date page was created, URL (in angle brackets), date, month and year you saw the page (in round brackets). Stratford, Jenny, The treasure roll, Richard IIs Treasure, 2007 (Accessed: 1 July 2007).

Citing other sources

In some subjects, you may need to refer to material such as specific passages of music, works of art or original documents. Brief guidance is provided below, but your tutor will provide more detailed advice if needed. Paintings, sculptures, buildings, maps, plans, diagrams, etc. Illustrations and diagrams should be numbered sequentially as figures in the order in which they first appear in your text. Such items can either be incorporated in your text or included in an appendix. It is usually preferable to select one approach; seek guidance from your tutor about the preferred approach for your subject.

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Figures should be titled and include relevant description and explanation, for example: the artist, title of painting, date produced, medium and dimensions. You should then use the figure number to refer to the item in your text, for example: The German painter Albrecht Drer drew his mother, figure 2, with devotion. It is not necessary to number different types of material, for example paintings and photographs of buildings, in separate series. Music In music assig nments, it is sometimes necessary to refer to a specific passage in a piece of music. This can be done in a variety of ways. A passage in a CD recording can be pinpointed by giving the timing of the CD player. For those familiar with musical notation, examples can be cited using bar numbers in a score. If you use either a CD or a score you will need to make sure these are available to the tutor when submitting the assignment. Musical examples can also be copied and embedded in the text of the assignment at the relevant point or given at the end and referred to by example numbers. Original documents If you undertake a project that requires you to use unpublished manuscript sources, these need to be listed separately in your bibliography and referenced in yo ur text. The following information should be provided: title of record depository; name of collection of papers; catalogue reference number; page, folio or membrane number. For some documents you may wish to provide a title and date. Berkshire Record Office (hereafter BRO), Reading Charity Papers, R/Box 67, bundle 2, no. 17. Oxfordshire Record Office (hereafter ORO), MS Wills Oxon 183.143 (will of Alice Pearman of Goring, 1559). You could leave out the description in brackets if you wished. National Archives, HO 107/877 (1841 census, Headington, microfilm in Centre for Oxfordshire Studies). The British Library has the standard abbreviation BL, but other record depositories and names of collections of papers need to be written in full in the first instance. Manuscript is abbreviated to MS, manuscripts to MSS.

Layout
For ease of marking, and to enable the tutor to make meaningful and legible comments at the appropriate point on your script, please adopt the following guidelines:

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Use A4 paper and print or write on one side of the paper only. Number and write your name on each sheet. Specify the essay title at the head of the first sheet. Leave a left-hand margin of at least 4 cm and at least 2 cm between paragraphs. If word-processed or typed, use a clear font, no smaller than 12 point. If handwritten, write legibly and if using narrow feint, write alternate lines only.

Submitting your essay

Plan your work schedule carefully in order to ensure that you leave enough time to write and edit your essay and meet the submission deadline. Remember to keep a copy of your script so that if the original is lost or damaged you do not have to rewrite the assignment.

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Reviewing progress
Essay checklist: what are tutors looking for?

Structure

Basic format introduction, main body and conclusion Development of a central theme

Argument

Direct engagement with the question Logical and carefully developed argument that makes a persuasive case

Content

Sound knowledge and understanding of the subject matter Discriminating use of evidence (examples, illustrations, etc.) to support argument

Language

Standard formal English (avoid slang, contractions, abbreviations, etc.) Appropriate vocabulary Accurate use of vocabulary (particularly specialist terms) Correct use of grammar and punctuation

Style

Continuous prose (avoid sub -headings except in reports) Attractive, lively and direct writing style Ownership (but take care with personal voice and especially use of first person) Appropriate use of quotation Memorable introduction and conclusion

Presentation Use of references to acknowledge sources Inclusion of bibliography Legibility

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Using feedback constructively

It is often tempting to file essays away once you have read the tutors comments and discussed your work at tutorial. It is, however, good practice to treat each essay as a learning experience for the next by:

reflecting whether the grade and comments are what you expected to receive examining the tutors comments and listing your strengths and weaknesses identifying aspects of your work that you could improve, for example: o o o o o o o overall structure of essay development of argument use of supporting evidence balance of analysis, description, narrative sentence and paragraph construction spelling and grammar presentation

noting any new insights acquired working to reduce weaknesses when planning, writing and reviewing future essays seeking further help or clarification of feedback if you need it

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Improving the construction of your essay

Paragraphs and sentences
An essay is an organised sequence of ideas expressed as a logical argument. It is constructed from paragraphs and sentences. The paragraph divisions help your reader to understand your essay because they provide a structure fo r your argument and give notice of the introduction of each new idea. The sentence divisions enable you to express and develop your ideas in a digestible form. Paragraphs are the building blocks for your essay. Each paragraph is a short block of text whic h develops one main point or theme in your argument. Like your essay, each paragraph needs a beginning, a middle and an end: the first sentence introduces and summarises the main point the middle sentences explain and develop the point, and cite and evaluate evidence to support it the concluding sentences explain any implications or consequences, demonstrate the development of the argument, and provide the link to the next paragraph. It is important to gather all your ideas on each general point into the same section of your essay. This enables you to demonstrate the progress of your argument. The order of your paragraphs determines the fluidity and strength of your argument. It is important that they are organised to present and examine your ideas in a logical and persuasive sequence. A typical essay of 2,000 words consists of between eight and ten paragraphs. A typical paragraph is between five and eight sentences long. It is difficult to develop a point adequately in less that five sentences and a succession of short paragraphs gives a jerky texture to your writing. Longer paragraphs encourage the development of complex ideas and greater elegance of expression, but if excessively long, can be confusing to the reader. If a paragraph is longer than ten sentences it is possible that you may have begun a second point in the same paragraph. Varying your paragraph length is a useful technique for adding interest to your writing. A sentence begins with a capital letter, contains a main clause with a verb, and ends with a full stop. Simple sentences express a single idea, but more complex sentences express two or more related or contrasting ideas. Sentences vary in length from two words to thirty plus: longer sentences may require commas, semi- colons or colons to make their meaning clear. Short sentences are useful for emphasising particular points, but a succession of short sentences tends to be jerky and can be monotonous. Longer sentences are generally preferred in academic writing because they enable you to develop complex ideas and encourage a more fluid and elegant writing style. As with
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paragraphs, varying the length of your sentences adds interest and emphasis to your writing.

Common punctuation and grammar problems

Knowledge and understanding of the basic rules of grammar and punctuation are essential if you wish to write fluid and accurate prose. Communication with the reader is restricted or impaired if your meaning is not clear. The points below cover some of the common punctuation and grammar proble ms encountered by students. If you find punctuation and grammar difficult, dont try to learn too many rules and guidelines in one go. Aim for steady progress: concentrate first on the content of your writing and then check and correct the punctuation. If you feel that you would like further information and guidance, you may wish to refer to one of the punctuation and grammar guides listed for further reading. Full Stop: The full stop (also called the period) is used to end a sentence. It separates each complete statement or idea from the next. Commas: The comma explains the structure of the sentence to the reader. It is used to: separate one group of words in a sentence from another in order to make the meaning of the sentence clear (often when a subsidiary comment is made about the main statement, for example, After clarifying the situation, he felt happier) enclose additional information (often a description or explanation of the subject noun, for example, The leading lion, a magnificent specimen, sprang forward) separate items in a list (the comma is normally omitted before the conjunctions and/or but can be used if preferred, particularly if this clarifies the meaning) separate a sequence of adverbs, action verbs or adjectives (in the case of the latter, the comma is normally omitted if one adjective describes another, for example, bright red) introduce dialogue and quotations indicate a pause in the sentence.

Modern usage discourages the excessive use of commas and allows considerable discretion to the writer in applying many of the guidelines above. Commas can be invaluable in communicating meaning, but if overused they interrupt the flow of the writing and may be irritating to the reader. Semi-colons: The semi-colon is used to: link two related statements (for example, There were five students in one group; four in the other)

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join two contrasting statements (for example, Some students enjoy exams; others do not) punctuate a long or complicated list.

Colons: The colon is used to: introduce a list, speech or a quotation separate a subsidiary part of the sentence from the main part when the subsidiary part explains, expands or summarises the main part (for example, The student was distraught: he could not write his essay unless he found his notes). Apostrophes: The apostrophe s is used with a noun to denote possession. For one owner the apostrophe is placed before the s, for two or more, the apostrophe is placed after the s, for example: the kings power instead of the power of the king the queens power instead of the power of the queens

The apostrophe s is never used with possessive pronouns (his, hers, its, theirs, yours, ours). If the form its is used it should be read as the contracted form for it is. Verbs: The verb needs to be ma tched to the subject in order to ensure effective and accurate communication. This can cause problems if the subject contains more than one noun, for example: The use of both books and articles is (not are) to be applauded. The chapter deals with wide-ranging ideas that explore ( not explores). In this instance there were (not was) plenty of warning signals. Check carefully to ensure that you are matching the verb to the correct noun. If you are uncertain, reading the sentence aloud often helps. Tenses: Students often worry whether to use the past or present tense in their essays. In general, the following guidelines can be applied:

the present tense is used to tell a story or summarise the plot of a novel or opera the present tense is also used to describe a text, painting or piece of music (Hardy uses landscape to good effect) the past tense is used to describe and analyse historical events and the development of academic ideas and criticism (As a number of historians have recognised, the relationship between Henry VIII and Wolsey was crucial )

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Consistency is important, particularly within sentences. In some essays it may be necessary to use the past tense for some sections of your essay and the present tense for others but check that the transition is necessary and that it is made smoothly.

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Further Reading
Chambers, E. & Northedge, A. (1997) The Arts Good Study Guide, Milton Keynes. Black, Jeremy and MacRaild, Donald (1997) Studying History, Basingstoke. Creme P. & Lea Mary R. (2nd edn., 2003), Writing at University: A Guide for Students, Buckingham. Cottrell, S., (2003) The Study Skills Handbook , Basingstoke. Fabb, Nigel and Durant, Alan (2nd edn., 2005) Essays, Dissertations & Theses in Literary Studies, London. Hilton, Catherine and Hyder, Margaret (1992) Punctuation and Grammar , London. Northedge, A. (2005) The Good Study Guide, Milton Keynes. Peck, John and Coyle, Martin (2nd edn., 2005) The Students Guide to Writing: Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling, Basingstoke. Pirie, D.B. (1985) How to Write Critical Essays. A Guide for Students of Literature, London. Redman Peter et al (1998) Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide, Milton Keynes. Rose, Jean, (2001), The Mature Students Guide to Writing , Basingstoke.

The OUDCE Study Skills programme offers a range of workshops. Further details of other workshops can be obtained from the Departmental prospectus or website, from Study Skills publicity material or by telephone (01865 280892) or email (studyskills@conted.ox.ac.uk).

Christine Jackson Revised December 2007

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