The world wide web is awash with not-so-helpful essay writing advice, making it tricky for students to get the advice they want when writing essays. So our experts that are academic written the following tips so that you could utilise before and whilst crafting your essay, to ensure your writing hits the mark.
Comprehend the question
This could, at the face of it, seem like somewhat advice that is banal but simple fact is that failing continually to properly comprehend the question set is regarded as, if not the most frequent reason for a disappointing grade when it comes to essay writing. Are you currently being asked to critically evaluate something? Compare and contrast? Analyse a circumstance that is particular? Measure the usefulness of a concept that is particular?
These are some of the common phrases present in essay questions, and every indicates a different collection of expectations. If you’re asked to critically evaluate a certain theoretical approach, by way of example, you have to gain an awareness not merely of said theory, but additionally other common approaches. They must all be weighed against one another, highlighting the relative strengths and weaknesses of each and every theory and, importantly, you must come to a well-justified and conclusion that is confident. Could be the theory good? Exactly what are its flaws? Just how can it be improved?
If you are asked to judge the usefulness of something, however, you don’t necessarily need to go into the maximum amount of critical depth. Yes, you ought to still acknowledge alternative approaches, and yes, you need to still note some strengths and weaknesses – nevertheless the bulk of the job must emphasise the concepts usefulness that is practical. Perhaps the best approach is to locate one, or a few, case studies in which the theory has been utilized – the thing that was the results for this? Does the use of the theory reveal any shortcomings that are particular or strengths?
“Compare and that is contrast, meanwhile, are essentially a hybrid associated with above – you’ll want to take a critical approach and measure the literature, but your focus needs to remain solidly from the theories which you have been asked to compare and contrast. You should show which you understand both (or all) core theories in great depth, both on a theoretical and applied level.
In essence, the wording regarding the essay question shall tell you the way the essay should always be written. It’s going to indicate where in fact the focus of your essay should lie while you write and research.
Plan and schedule
Knowing the question is the initial step, but it is equally important which you make efficient use of the available time. Students often underestimate the level of work necessary to write a beneficial essay, which leads to two things: (1) late nights during the library, and (2) a grade that is disappointing. If you wish to achieve a great mark, you ought to start planning your essay as soon as you will get the essay question. The following table may be a aid that is useful
| Step | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Understand the question | (Insert date) |
| Map the essay chapters | (Insert date) |
| Collect articles | (Insert date) |
| Read and take notes | (Insert date) |
| Start writing | (Insert date) |
| Finish first draft | (Insert date) |
| Proofread | (Insert date) |
| turn in | (Insert date) |
By setting deadlines that you won’t be left with too much work right before your hand-in date for yourself and committing to stick to them, you are ensuring. It is also essential that you leave time, ideally a short time, between finishing your first draft and proofreading.
Be critical
Perfect theories and academic approaches are rare – the majority that is clear of, arguments, and studies have flaws. Being descriptive is okay if you’re looking to scrape a pass, but for an increased grade you’ll want to show that you’re able to leverage critical reasoning in your dealing with academic materials. Exactly what are the limitations associated with theories you are drawing on? How have these been dealt with within the literature? How do they impact the quality of arguments presented, also to what extent do they limit our understanding of what you are studying? What alternate explanations might offer depth that is additional?
Critical thinking is really what is going to make your essay be noticeable. It shows the marker throughout your studies, but actually engaging with theories in an academic manner that you are not simply repeating the arguments that have been fed to you. A way that is good practice this really is to pay careful attention when reading literature reviews in published articles – you will notice that authors don’t simply summarise previous studies, but offer a critique leading to a gap with their own research.
Structure, focus and flow
Itself, which is why it is imperative that your essay follows a logical structure how you present your argument is nearly as important as the argument. A classic word of advice is to “tell them what you’re planning to let them know, then inform them, and inform them what you told them” – this, in essence, summarises the core introduction, main body, and conclusion structure of one’s essay.
Having a definite and logical structure will help make sure that your essay stays focused, and doesn’t stray from the question being answered. Each section, paragraph, and sentence should add value into the argument you might be presenting. When you are writing, it is good to take one step back and ask yourself “what value does this sentence/section add? How does it connect to my argument that is overarching?” If you learn that you can’t answer that question, there is certainly a high risk that you have strayed from your own core argument, and you’ll wish to reconsider the trail you’re taking.
You should also be sure that all the various parts of your essay fit together as a cohesive and logical whole, and therefore the transition in one argument to the essay writing service next is fluid. Students often treat essays as lists of arguments, presenting one following the other with little consideration for the way they fit together, which inevitably contributes to a lower life expectancy grade. Be sure to tell your reader why you are transitioning from a single argument to another location, why they’ve been in this order that is particular and how each argument helps shed light on a certain aspect of what you are actually discussing.
Whether you should read the article as a whole if you are still not a hundred percent sure, it is usually a good idea to skip to the conclusion – this usually contains a detailed summary of the study, which will help determine. You don’t want to spend time reading through and endless number of articles in order to realize that they aren’t actually relevant. After you have identified a couple of solid articles, you ought to (a) go through their bibliographies and pay attention to who they are citing, as these articles will probably be of value for the research that is own (b) check on Google Scholar to see who has cited them. To work on this, simply input the true name associated with the article into the search bar and hit enter. Into the results, click “cited by” – this can return a listing of all of the articles which have cited the publication you searched for.
It’s important that you don’t rely too heavily on a single or a few texts, as this indicates to the marker which you haven’t engaged because of the wider literature. You need to be particularly careful in using course books (in other words. “introduction to management” and the like), as they are essentially summaries of other people’s work.
Quoting, paraphrasing and plagiarism
Academic writing requires a careful balance between novel argument, and drawing on arguments presented by others. Writing a completely ‘novel’ essay, without drawing for a passing fancy source, indicates which you haven’t produced a novel argument that you haven’t made yourself familiar with what has already been published; citing someone for every point made suggests. As such, it is important you are making a statement of fact, or drawing on arguments, frameworks, and theories presented by other academics that you provide evidence (a credible citation) when. These, in turn, should offer the overarching novel argument that you yourself are making.