Structuring Your Essay

An essay should be written in a flowing manner with each sentence

following on logically from the previous one and with appropriate
signposts to guide the reader.
An essay usually takes the following structured format:

The introduction

The main body: a development of the issues

A conclusion

A list of references of the sources of information you have used

The Introduction
The function of the introduction is simply to introduce the subject, to
explain how you understand the question, and describe briefly how
you intend to deal with it.
You could begin by defining essential terms, providing a brief historical or personal
context if appropriate, and/or by explaining why you think the subject is significant or
interesting.

Keep the introduction short, preferably to one or two paragraphs and

.keep it, succinct, to the point
Some students find it best to write a provisional introduction, when starting to write an
essay, and then to rewrite this when they have finished the first draft of their essay. To
write a provisional introduction, ask yourself what the reader needs to know in order
.to follow your subsequent discussion
Other students write the introduction after they have written the main body of the
.essay do whatever feels right for you and the piece of work you are writing

The Main Body: A Development of the Issues

Essays are generally a blend of researched evidence (e.g. from
.additional reading) and comment

Some students' essays amount to catalogues of factual material or summaries of

.other people's thoughts, attitudes, philosophies or viewpoints
At the opposite extreme, other students express only personal opinions with little or
no researched evidence or examples taken from other writers to support their views.
.What is needed is a balance
The balance between other researchers and writers analysis of the subject and your
own comment will vary with the subject and the nature of the question. Generally, it
is important to back up the points you wish to make from your experience with the
.findings of other published researchers and writers
You will have likely been given a reading list or some core text books to read. Use
these as your research base but try to expand on what is said and read around the
.subject as fully as you can. Always keep a note of your sources as you go along
You will be encouraged and expected to cite other authors or to quote or paraphrase
from books that you have read. The most important requirement is that the material
you cite or use should illustrate, or provide evidence of, the point you are making.
.How much evidence you use depends on the type of essay you are writing
If you want a weight of evidence on some factual point, bring in two or three
.examples but no more
Quotations should not be used as a substitute for your own words. A quote should
always have an explanation in your own words to show its significance to your
.argument
When you are citing another author's text you should always indicate exactly where
the evidence comes from with a reference, i.e. give the author's name, date of
publication and the page number in your work. A full reference should also be
.provided in the reference list at the end

.See our page: Academic Referencing for more information

A Conclusion
At the end of an essay you should include a short conclusion, the
purpose of which is to sum up or draw a conclusion from your
.argument or comparison of viewpoints

In other words, indicate what has been learned or accomplished. The conclusion is
also a good place to mention questions that are left open or further issues which you
.recognise, but which do not come within the scope of your essay
Neither the conclusion, nor the introduction, should totally summarise your whole
argument: if you try this, you are in danger of writing another assignment that simply
.repeats the whole case over again

References
You must include a reference list or bibliography at the end of your
.work
One common downfall is to not reference adequately and be accused of plagiarism.
If you have directly quoted any other author's text you should always indicate exactly
where the evidence comes from in a reference. If you have read other documents in
.order to contrast your argument then these should also be referenced

Styles of Writing

Academic Writing Styles

Academic writing tends to be precise, cautious, lengthy and even
pedantic. It is a style of writing which most students will quickly
.become familiar with
Academic writers attempt to ensure that their analysis does not contain inaccurate
information or omissions - essential points are usually clearly justified. This is a way
of ensuring that the writer is saying exactly what they mean - even if this means
creating a lengthy piece in the process. This style can be tedious to read - but it does
help to ensure that the essential points of the text are interpreted correctly. Such
texts are usually written in a clear and logical way, which often involves pointing out
what the author is going to say and then actually explaining their point and
.concluding by pointing out what has been said similar in style to a student essay
Academic texts will contain references and quotes from others work and a reference
list or bibliography. This shows that the author is writing on sound foundations and

has taken into account, or at least read, what others have also explored and
discussed. Of course, even academic authors may have been selective and ensured
that their viewpoint is being validated by others, so a degree of caution - to
understand the validity and biases - should be given. Some academic writers offer
alternative interpretations by other academics. This is usually a good sign since it
ensures that the reader is aware of the diversity of opinion and that the author is
.being objective

Academic Journals
Academic journals are produced by different institutions across a
.broad range of subject areas
Academic journals are usually published regularly; quarterly or tri-annually although
some may be more frequent. Because they are regularly produced they are able to
respond more quickly to new research. For this reason they are thought of as
providing analysis of the latest ideas and thoughts from across the academic
.community
Academic journals will be written in very much the same tone as academic books
containing the same analytical style. Academic journals are generally well-respected
as their content has been peer reviewed. Peer review means that an article has been
examined and scrutinised by an expert in the field (a peer) and that it is considered
acceptable for publication. Journal articles may go through several revisions before
.they are accepted for publication
Despite these checks you, as the reader, still need to be wary of the quality of the
content and take steps to read further around ideas and theories to check relevance
and validity. As you should use an element of common-sense when using internet
.sources, so you should when reading journal articles

:Ask yourself

Is the journal a well-known and well-established publication?,

Are the articles in the journal peer-reviewed?,

Does the journal represent a national body?,

Is the journal linked to a university?

Academic journals, like other academic texts, will contain references to, and quotes
from, others work as well as a reference list or bibliography. For a list of available
journals you could check your library or search online for academic journals or a
related theme. If you are a student at university then you may have access to JSTOR
.(http://www.jstor.org) or another online journal distributor

Journalistic Writing Style

Printed Newspapers and Magazines

In the UK (and internationally) there are two types of

newspapers - each with a specific style of writing. These
are broadsheet journalism and tabloid journalism. The
name broadsheet comes from the era of the Rotary
Press when a broadsheet was the full size of a rotary
press plate. This style of journalism is usually composed
of considered points of view, but will certainly conform to
an editorial style and perspective and usually a political
bias. Broadsheet newspapers can however supply good
.quality, up-to-date stories
Journalists who write for broadsheets will usually have a good command of
language and be able to argue their point well. They will often use a deductive
style of reasoning; this involves a logical progression of points which confirm the
original statement. Nonetheless, one should always be aware that their main
objective is to sell newspapers and hence they may be likely to sensationalise within
.their own remit
Tabloid newspapers were, traditionally, two pages made up from one printing plate
and are hence half the size of broadsheets. In the UK the physical boundaries
between broadsheet and tabloid publications has broken down, some daily
newspapers which were once printed as broadsheets are now printed in tabloid form.

The style of writing and the content of tabloids does however still differ from that of
.the broadsheet press
Generally, tabloids are considered to have a strong editorial bias and to be
more sensational than broadsheets, traditionally they contained more photographs
and less serious discussion. As with broadsheet newspapers, their remit is to sell and because of this they are often accused of sensationalising news and playing on
the prejudices of what they see as the belief system of their public. The style of a
tabloid journalist is usually less considered than that of broadsheet journalists and
often the point of view or news will be boldly stated without too much evidence
provided to back it up. The use of language is usually less deductive than
.broadsheet newspapers and more blatant in stating a point of view
Similar styles of writing, broadsheet or tabloid, exist in many other publications such
as magazines. You should be able to recognise the different styles and access
.whether the content is relevant and useful to your research
Newspapers do not usually quote from academic texts unless they are reviewing
them and will not contain references or a bibliography. They also often quote
.unknown sources which are not backed up by any evidence

Online News
Printed newspapers continue to decline in sales as many people read
.journalistic writing styles online
One major advantage, if you follow journalist writing styles for your research, is that
you can quickly get a more global perspective of any given news story or discussion if
.you follow online news sources
Online news sources will still write for their expected audiences usually a certain
demographic and often defined by a geographic region. For this reason you should
.expect bias towards the expected audience and/or political viewpoints
You can quickly, however, read the views of international journalists whose opinions
and viewpoints will inevitably differ - try reading a story about the same event from
four or five different online news agencies from different countries and consider the
.different perspectives provided in the articles

Fiction
Most of us will have read a book of fiction and will realise that the
.author has used imaginary people and events
Works of fiction do not usually contain a list of references and will not contain a
bibliography. That is not to say that some of the aspects related in them are not
factual, as in an historical novel, but they will not usually be useful for academic study
purposes and would not normally appear in a list of books referred to (unless you are
pursuing an English Literature qualification). Having said that, some works of fiction
make use of academic conventions to give authority to their imaginary worlds and
.provide a list of sources at the end of their work

Non-Fiction
Non-fiction deals with facts, examples of which include biography,
history and special interest subjects such as gardening through to
.academic texts
Although these are all non-fiction it cannot be taken for granted that they contain
undeniable facts. For example, there has been a long running debate on the genre of
history as it is agreed that all historical accounts will have been compiled with the
prejudices of the recorder going unchallenged, although historians are now more
.aware of this likely bias
Most, but by no means all, non-fiction books will contain references to others work
.and a biography. They will also range through different writing styles