This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. One article in this series will be published on the Elite Editing blog each day this week. You can also access them through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/
What should be finished before I start writing?
In Step 2 of the essay writing process, you would have drafted a rough essay plan before you began your research. During the research process (as explained in Step 3), you would have developed this plan further as you learned more information on your topic.
The first draft of your essay plan may have looked like this:
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Topic 1: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
Topic 2: Patient outcomes (300 words)
Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems (300 words)
Topic 4: Communication (300 words)
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
However, as you were collecting, organisation and analysing information in your research document, you may have found that Topic 2: Patient outcomes and Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems were far more important than you thought. You might have decided that Topic 4: Communication is not something that should be discussed in the essay. Importantly, you would also have found out what information or points needed to be discussed under each of your topics. All of these changes would have affected your essay plan, and you would have made these changes to your essay plan (and the organisation of your research document) as you went along.
Once you have completed your research, and before you begin writing your first draft, you need to re-think your essay plan and write a final version based on what you discovered during your research. Your final essay plan will contain more detail than your first draft and be a very specific guide to how to write your essay. It might look like this:
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, accuracy of diagnoses
Topic 1: Patient outcomes (450 words)
a) Assessment
b) Planning of care
c) Implementing care plan
d) Evaluation of care and outcomes
Topic 2: Prevent and solve problems (450 words)
a) Types of problems
b) Prevention of problems
c) Solving problems
Topic 3: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
a) Problems with inaccurate diagnoses
b) How critical thinking allows improved diagnoses
c) Benefits and outcomes of accurate diagnoses
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, accuracy of diagnoses
Once you have completed the final draft of your essay plan, you are ready to begin writing the first draft of your essay. You might like to print out the essay plan and have it sitting next to you as you write. Depending on the length of your research document, you might print that or simply have it open on your computer. Your essay plan will let you know what information from your research document needs to be included in your essay as you write.
The next article in this series is ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 5. Write the First Draft’.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing website at www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
Showing posts with label essay writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label essay writing. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 2. Draft the Essay Plan
This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. One article in this series will be published on the Elite Editing blog each day this week. You can also access them through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
Have you ever borrowed some books to start your research and realised you did not know where to begin?
Have you ever spent time reading a great deal of information that in the end was irrelevant to the essay or assignment you were working on?
Have you ever started to write your essay and realised you had too much information on one topic, and not enough information on another topic?
If you write a first draft of your essay plan before you begin your research, you will be organised, prepared and save time.
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
What does a first draft of an essay plan look like?
The first draft of your essay plan will show you what main topics you will discuss in your essay, how the essay will be structured, and roughly how many words you will spend on each part.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you had to write 1,500 words, then your essay plan might look like this:
Essay question: ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’
Essay length: 1,500 words
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Topic 1: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
Topic 2: Patient outcomes (300 words)
Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems (300 words)
Topic 4: Communication (300 words)
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Introductions and conclusions
As you can see from the example essay plan above, an introduction and a conclusion will normally be approximately 10% of the word count of the entire essay. (This is a general guide and does not apply to essays longer than 5,000 words).
In order to be considered a true introduction your first paragraph must do two things: 1) answer the essay question in a clear statement (this is called your thesis statement) and 2) introduce the main points your essay will make to support your argument. You cannot discuss any major points or topics in your essay if you have not introduced them in your introduction. Also, you must discuss all your main points or topics in the order that you introduce them in your introduction. This helps to maintain the flow and structure of your essay.
Similarly, in order to be considered a true conclusion your last paragraph must do two things: 1) re-state the answer to the essay question and 2) sum up the main points your essay has made to support your argument. Remember, a conclusion cannot contain any new information.
Body of the essay and topic sentences
You can find out how many words you will write in the body of your essay by taking away the number you will spend on your introduction and conclusion from the total amount. How you divide the number of words in the body of your essay between your main topics will depend on how important each topic is to your argument. How long you spend writing about each topic should reflect the importance of each topic. If all of your topics were of equal importance, you would write roughly the same amount of words on each. If one topic was more important, you would write about it first and spend longer discussing it. If one topic was less important, you would write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Using topic sentences at the beginning of each new paragraph is essential for ensuring that your essay is well organised and well structured. It also ensures that the essay flows logically and reads well. A topic sentence must do two things: 1) introduce the new topic about to be discussed and 2) shows how this new topic helps to answer the essay question or support your argument in answering the essay question.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you were about to discuss the topic ‘accuracy of diagnoses’, then your topic sentence might sound like this: ‘Another way in which Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse is in ensuring accuracy of diagnoses’. This sentence clearly demonstrates to the reader that you are about to discuss ‘accuracy of diagnoses’ and you are doing so because it is another way that Critical Thinking is relevant to Registered Nurses, which is what your essay is arguing.
The next article in this series is: ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research’.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
Have you ever borrowed some books to start your research and realised you did not know where to begin?
Have you ever spent time reading a great deal of information that in the end was irrelevant to the essay or assignment you were working on?
Have you ever started to write your essay and realised you had too much information on one topic, and not enough information on another topic?
If you write a first draft of your essay plan before you begin your research, you will be organised, prepared and save time.
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
What does a first draft of an essay plan look like?
The first draft of your essay plan will show you what main topics you will discuss in your essay, how the essay will be structured, and roughly how many words you will spend on each part.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you had to write 1,500 words, then your essay plan might look like this:
Essay question: ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’
Essay length: 1,500 words
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Topic 1: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
Topic 2: Patient outcomes (300 words)
Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems (300 words)
Topic 4: Communication (300 words)
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Introductions and conclusions
As you can see from the example essay plan above, an introduction and a conclusion will normally be approximately 10% of the word count of the entire essay. (This is a general guide and does not apply to essays longer than 5,000 words).
In order to be considered a true introduction your first paragraph must do two things: 1) answer the essay question in a clear statement (this is called your thesis statement) and 2) introduce the main points your essay will make to support your argument. You cannot discuss any major points or topics in your essay if you have not introduced them in your introduction. Also, you must discuss all your main points or topics in the order that you introduce them in your introduction. This helps to maintain the flow and structure of your essay.
Similarly, in order to be considered a true conclusion your last paragraph must do two things: 1) re-state the answer to the essay question and 2) sum up the main points your essay has made to support your argument. Remember, a conclusion cannot contain any new information.
Body of the essay and topic sentences
You can find out how many words you will write in the body of your essay by taking away the number you will spend on your introduction and conclusion from the total amount. How you divide the number of words in the body of your essay between your main topics will depend on how important each topic is to your argument. How long you spend writing about each topic should reflect the importance of each topic. If all of your topics were of equal importance, you would write roughly the same amount of words on each. If one topic was more important, you would write about it first and spend longer discussing it. If one topic was less important, you would write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Using topic sentences at the beginning of each new paragraph is essential for ensuring that your essay is well organised and well structured. It also ensures that the essay flows logically and reads well. A topic sentence must do two things: 1) introduce the new topic about to be discussed and 2) shows how this new topic helps to answer the essay question or support your argument in answering the essay question.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you were about to discuss the topic ‘accuracy of diagnoses’, then your topic sentence might sound like this: ‘Another way in which Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse is in ensuring accuracy of diagnoses’. This sentence clearly demonstrates to the reader that you are about to discuss ‘accuracy of diagnoses’ and you are doing so because it is another way that Critical Thinking is relevant to Registered Nurses, which is what your essay is arguing.
The next article in this series is: ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research’.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
Monday, June 6, 2011
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing
There are six steps to writing an academic essay. If you follow each of these steps correctly, you will find that you can write university essays that will earn you a distinction (or high distinction) every time. It is simply a matter of understanding what steps to follow, and then completing each of them thoroughly.
This article provides an outline and brief description of each of these steps. It is an introduction to a series of articles that will examine each step in more depth. Reading just this article alone will provide you with assistance in learning how to plan, research and write your essays. However, reading all the articles in the series will allow you to gain a more sophisticated insight into essay writing, and to improve your grades even further.
One article in this series will be published on this each day this week, at http://eliteediting.blogspot.com/. You can also access them through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
These are the six steps you need to follow to write high quality university essays:
1. Analyse the Question
There are generally two types of essays: argumentative essays and explanatory essays. In an argumentative essay, you are expected to put forward an academic argument in answer to the essay question and support your argument with academic sources (references). In an explanatory essay, you are expected to explain or describe a process or topic in answer to an essay question and support your argument with academic sources (references). Regardless of the type of essay you are writing, it is very important that you understand what is being asked of you before you begin your research and writing your essay.
You must be sure that you understand all parts of the question and what it is asking you to do. You must be able to recognise the ‘task words’ in the question, which tell you what you have to do (for example, ‘discuss’, ‘compare’, ‘analyse’ or ‘argue’) and the ‘key words’ in the question, which tell you what you are being asked to write about (for example, Critical Thinking, or the roles of registered nurses). (More information on this step will be provided in the article ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 1. Analyse the Question.’)
2. Draft the Essay Plan
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
3. Conduct the Research
Part One: Organising your Research using a Research Document
Your research should be organised so that the transition from doing your research to writing your essay is simple. The best way to do this is to organise your research so that it matches the organisation of the essay. In Step 2 of writing an academic essay, you would have written a rough essay plan before you began your research. This essay plan is the guide you need to use to organise your research.
Copy and paste this essay plan into a Word document. All your research for this essay will be recorded in this one document. Use each of the dot points from your essay plan (topics you are planning to discuss) as a heading in your research document. When you do your research, you will organise it in the order that the information will appear in your essay. Doing this means you will be organising your research by theme or topic, not by source.
Part Two: Research Skills and Academic Sources
Being able to tell the difference between an academic source and a non-academic source, knowing where to find academic sources and deciding what sources are relevant to your research are important skills that you will develop during your tertiary studies.
The first place you should go is the library, even if this means ordering in books from other libraries. For academics to have their books (and journal articles) published, they must go through a process called peer-reviewing. During this process, one or more other academics who are experts in the field will read and assess a book or article to decide if it is of publishable standard. This is why your research will be of the highest quality if you use books, monographs, textbooks and journal articles written by academics for your research, because the work had to meet academic standards. There is no such process for publishing on the internet; anyone can write whatever they like on any subject.
Your second stop after books, monographs and textbooks will be journal articles. Some of these will only be available in hardcopy from the library, but many will be available in their full-text versions through online electronic databases, such as JStore, ProQuest and Ingenta.
4. Finalise the Essay Plan
In Step 2, you would have drafted a rough essay plan before you began your research. During the research process (in Step 3), you would have developed this plan further as you learned more information on your topic. Once you have completed your research, and before you begin writing your first draft, you need to re-think your essay plan and write a final version based on what you discovered during your research. Your final essay plan will contain more detail than your first draft and be a very specific guide to how to write your essay. Once you have completed the final draft of your essay plan, you are ready to begin writing the first draft of your essay.
5. Write the First Draft of the Essay
Now that you have completed your research in an organised way and have written a final draft of your essay plan, writing the first draft of your essay will be easier than it ever has been. All of the following decisions about your essay have already been made:
1. What your answer to the essay question is
2. What main points you will discuss in order to back up your argument
3. The order in which to discuss your main points
4. How long to spend discussing each main point
5. What information each paragraph will contain (i.e. what information you will use to discuss each of your main points)
6. What references you will use to back up your argument
Thus, there is no reason for you to feel lost or stare at your computer screen not knowing what to write. If you do get stuck for any reason, the best thing to do is to just keep writing. You can always improve something once you have written something down. If you have not written anything, not much can be done until you do.
6. Professional Academic Editing
Once you have completed writing your essay, it is vital that you have it professionally edited by an academic editor. You have just spent a significant amount of time doing the best possible job on your essay or assignment, doing your research and writing up your results. After all this effort, it is critical that your work is presented in the best possible way. Using a professional academic editor will ensure that your work is polished, well written, and presented correctly. If English is your second language, having your essay or assignment professionally edited is even more important. You do not want mistakes in your writing to confuse your markers or distract them from the important arguments you are making. This could lead to you receiving a grade lower than the grade you really deserve.
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
Stay tuned for the in-depth articles in this series, which will explain in detail each of the above six steps. Understanding and following these steps will mean a significant improvement in the quality of your essays!
This article provides an outline and brief description of each of these steps. It is an introduction to a series of articles that will examine each step in more depth. Reading just this article alone will provide you with assistance in learning how to plan, research and write your essays. However, reading all the articles in the series will allow you to gain a more sophisticated insight into essay writing, and to improve your grades even further.
One article in this series will be published on this each day this week, at http://eliteediting.blogspot.com/. You can also access them through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
These are the six steps you need to follow to write high quality university essays:
1. Analyse the Question
There are generally two types of essays: argumentative essays and explanatory essays. In an argumentative essay, you are expected to put forward an academic argument in answer to the essay question and support your argument with academic sources (references). In an explanatory essay, you are expected to explain or describe a process or topic in answer to an essay question and support your argument with academic sources (references). Regardless of the type of essay you are writing, it is very important that you understand what is being asked of you before you begin your research and writing your essay.
You must be sure that you understand all parts of the question and what it is asking you to do. You must be able to recognise the ‘task words’ in the question, which tell you what you have to do (for example, ‘discuss’, ‘compare’, ‘analyse’ or ‘argue’) and the ‘key words’ in the question, which tell you what you are being asked to write about (for example, Critical Thinking, or the roles of registered nurses). (More information on this step will be provided in the article ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 1. Analyse the Question.’)
2. Draft the Essay Plan
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
3. Conduct the Research
Part One: Organising your Research using a Research Document
Your research should be organised so that the transition from doing your research to writing your essay is simple. The best way to do this is to organise your research so that it matches the organisation of the essay. In Step 2 of writing an academic essay, you would have written a rough essay plan before you began your research. This essay plan is the guide you need to use to organise your research.
Copy and paste this essay plan into a Word document. All your research for this essay will be recorded in this one document. Use each of the dot points from your essay plan (topics you are planning to discuss) as a heading in your research document. When you do your research, you will organise it in the order that the information will appear in your essay. Doing this means you will be organising your research by theme or topic, not by source.
Part Two: Research Skills and Academic Sources
Being able to tell the difference between an academic source and a non-academic source, knowing where to find academic sources and deciding what sources are relevant to your research are important skills that you will develop during your tertiary studies.
The first place you should go is the library, even if this means ordering in books from other libraries. For academics to have their books (and journal articles) published, they must go through a process called peer-reviewing. During this process, one or more other academics who are experts in the field will read and assess a book or article to decide if it is of publishable standard. This is why your research will be of the highest quality if you use books, monographs, textbooks and journal articles written by academics for your research, because the work had to meet academic standards. There is no such process for publishing on the internet; anyone can write whatever they like on any subject.
Your second stop after books, monographs and textbooks will be journal articles. Some of these will only be available in hardcopy from the library, but many will be available in their full-text versions through online electronic databases, such as JStore, ProQuest and Ingenta.
4. Finalise the Essay Plan
In Step 2, you would have drafted a rough essay plan before you began your research. During the research process (in Step 3), you would have developed this plan further as you learned more information on your topic. Once you have completed your research, and before you begin writing your first draft, you need to re-think your essay plan and write a final version based on what you discovered during your research. Your final essay plan will contain more detail than your first draft and be a very specific guide to how to write your essay. Once you have completed the final draft of your essay plan, you are ready to begin writing the first draft of your essay.
5. Write the First Draft of the Essay
Now that you have completed your research in an organised way and have written a final draft of your essay plan, writing the first draft of your essay will be easier than it ever has been. All of the following decisions about your essay have already been made:
1. What your answer to the essay question is
2. What main points you will discuss in order to back up your argument
3. The order in which to discuss your main points
4. How long to spend discussing each main point
5. What information each paragraph will contain (i.e. what information you will use to discuss each of your main points)
6. What references you will use to back up your argument
Thus, there is no reason for you to feel lost or stare at your computer screen not knowing what to write. If you do get stuck for any reason, the best thing to do is to just keep writing. You can always improve something once you have written something down. If you have not written anything, not much can be done until you do.
6. Professional Academic Editing
Once you have completed writing your essay, it is vital that you have it professionally edited by an academic editor. You have just spent a significant amount of time doing the best possible job on your essay or assignment, doing your research and writing up your results. After all this effort, it is critical that your work is presented in the best possible way. Using a professional academic editor will ensure that your work is polished, well written, and presented correctly. If English is your second language, having your essay or assignment professionally edited is even more important. You do not want mistakes in your writing to confuse your markers or distract them from the important arguments you are making. This could lead to you receiving a grade lower than the grade you really deserve.
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
Stay tuned for the in-depth articles in this series, which will explain in detail each of the above six steps. Understanding and following these steps will mean a significant improvement in the quality of your essays!
Friday, June 3, 2011
How to analyse an essay question
In order to write an essay that answers the essay question effectively, you first must be able to analyse the essay question. Firstly, you should know the kind of essay you are expected to write. There are two main types of essays: explanatory essays and argumentative essays.
An explanatory essay, as its name implies, is an essay that explains or presents a certain topic in a descriptive way conveying the information in detail. This type of essay does not require the writer’s opinion, argument, ideas or criticism.
In an argumentative essay, the writer’s opinions are needed. In this type of essay, you must include information about the topic and your own argument, personal ideas or viewpoints on the topic. When writing an argumentative essay, you need to demonstrate both the knowledge you have regarding the topic, and your analytical skills.
In order to know what kind of essay you are going to write, you must be able to understand what the essay question is asking you to write about. There are usually task words in an essay question, for example, ‘explain’, ‘discuss’, ‘argue’, ‘analyse’ or ‘compare’. The essay questions will also contain key words that will help you understand more about your essay question. For example, the essay question ‘Explain the state of world politics between World War I and World War II’ is asking you to write an explanatory essay with descriptive details on world politics during that time. If the essay question asks you ‘Are there feminist aspects in Renaissance art?’, answering this question will require you to express your opinion and argue a viewpoint on the topic.
In cases when you are not given an essay question and must write your own question, you should consider which type of essay you are going to write or are being asked to write. If you will write an argumentative essay, your essay question should be one that allows you to express a point of view, i.e. it should invite or allow you to make an argument on the topic. For an explanatory essay, your question should ask you to describe or explain something, for example, ‘What are the main characteristics of Renaissance art?’
If you do not understand what the essay question is asking you to do, it is advisable to check your course information booklet or website. Textbooks, lecture notes and recommended books may help you to get some ideas of the answer for your essay question. Your tutor or lecturer can help you if you really do not understand what the question is asking you to do. Do not hesitate to consult with them right away to address the problem before you can begin researching and writing your essay.
Written by:
Amy Jindaphan
Customer Service and Marketing
Elite Editing
An explanatory essay, as its name implies, is an essay that explains or presents a certain topic in a descriptive way conveying the information in detail. This type of essay does not require the writer’s opinion, argument, ideas or criticism.
In an argumentative essay, the writer’s opinions are needed. In this type of essay, you must include information about the topic and your own argument, personal ideas or viewpoints on the topic. When writing an argumentative essay, you need to demonstrate both the knowledge you have regarding the topic, and your analytical skills.
In order to know what kind of essay you are going to write, you must be able to understand what the essay question is asking you to write about. There are usually task words in an essay question, for example, ‘explain’, ‘discuss’, ‘argue’, ‘analyse’ or ‘compare’. The essay questions will also contain key words that will help you understand more about your essay question. For example, the essay question ‘Explain the state of world politics between World War I and World War II’ is asking you to write an explanatory essay with descriptive details on world politics during that time. If the essay question asks you ‘Are there feminist aspects in Renaissance art?’, answering this question will require you to express your opinion and argue a viewpoint on the topic.
In cases when you are not given an essay question and must write your own question, you should consider which type of essay you are going to write or are being asked to write. If you will write an argumentative essay, your essay question should be one that allows you to express a point of view, i.e. it should invite or allow you to make an argument on the topic. For an explanatory essay, your question should ask you to describe or explain something, for example, ‘What are the main characteristics of Renaissance art?’
If you do not understand what the essay question is asking you to do, it is advisable to check your course information booklet or website. Textbooks, lecture notes and recommended books may help you to get some ideas of the answer for your essay question. Your tutor or lecturer can help you if you really do not understand what the question is asking you to do. Do not hesitate to consult with them right away to address the problem before you can begin researching and writing your essay.
Written by:
Amy Jindaphan
Customer Service and Marketing
Elite Editing
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Shortened phrases
A shortened phrase is an abbreviation of a group of words form a phrase or name that have been contracted for ease of writing. They are especially useful in essays and theses that repeat the same phrase or name many times. Understanding their correct usage can help avoid errors and confusion, and add to the polished appearance of your document. There are two types of shortened phrases: acronyms and initialisms.
An acronym is a shortened phrase that usually contains the first letter of each word from a phrase. An acronym is pronounced as a word, for example: ‘SACE’ and ‘CAPA’.
An initialism is similar to an acronym; however, it is not pronounced like a word—each letter is pronounced as though it is being spelt-out. Some common initialisms include: ‘UN’, ‘USA’ and ‘NSW’.
Each letter in an acronym or initialism should be capitalised. The only exception to the rule of capitalising shortened phrases is if an acronym is well known and is used like a proper name, for example, ‘Qantas’ and ‘sonar’.
Full stops should not be used between the individual letters in a shortened phrase. The only exception to this rule is if an initialism has been used in a heading that consists of uppercase words. In this instance, full stops would be used between the individual letters of the initialism to prevent it from being read as a word, for example: ‘MAJOR VICTORY FOR U.S.’.
The expanded version of a shortened phrase should not always be capitalised, the normal rules of capitalisation apply. To make a shortened phrase plural, a plural ‘s’ is added without an apostrophe.
It is important to introduce a shortened phrase in the first instance it is used in a document, even if the shortened version is common. This is achieved by writing the expanded version of the phrase, followed by the acronym or initialism in brackets. For example, ‘The United Nations (UN) press release stated … ’. Thereafter, the initialism ‘UN’ would be used for the remainder of the document.
The same rule applies for theses: if a shortened form has been introduced in a previous chapter, it does not need to be introduced again. The only exception is the abstract of a thesis. Any shortened phrase that has been introduced in the abstract must be introduced again the first time it is used in the body of the thesis. In addition, if your thesis uses many shortened phrases, you should include a ‘List of Abbreviations’ in the preliminary pages of your thesis.
Did you know, the longest acronym in the English language contains 22 letters? It is ‘ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC’ and stands for ‘Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command’. However, this is dwarfed by the world’s longest initialism, which contains 56 letters: ‘NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT’. It stands for ‘The laboratory for shuttering, reinforcement, concrete and ferroconcrete operations for composite-monolithic and monolithic constructions of the Department of the Technology of Building-assembly operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for building mechanization and technical aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’.
You should now have a clearer idea of shortened forms and know how to use them correctly. Remember, you must always introduce acronyms and initialisms, even if they are commonly used. They do not use full stops, unless an initialism appears in an uppercase heading and may be confused for a word. Using shortened phrases correctly will certainly add to the polished appearance of your essay or thesis.
Written by:
Nick Brandenburg
Quality Assurance Manager
Elite Editing
An acronym is a shortened phrase that usually contains the first letter of each word from a phrase. An acronym is pronounced as a word, for example: ‘SACE’ and ‘CAPA’.
An initialism is similar to an acronym; however, it is not pronounced like a word—each letter is pronounced as though it is being spelt-out. Some common initialisms include: ‘UN’, ‘USA’ and ‘NSW’.
Each letter in an acronym or initialism should be capitalised. The only exception to the rule of capitalising shortened phrases is if an acronym is well known and is used like a proper name, for example, ‘Qantas’ and ‘sonar’.
Full stops should not be used between the individual letters in a shortened phrase. The only exception to this rule is if an initialism has been used in a heading that consists of uppercase words. In this instance, full stops would be used between the individual letters of the initialism to prevent it from being read as a word, for example: ‘MAJOR VICTORY FOR U.S.’.
The expanded version of a shortened phrase should not always be capitalised, the normal rules of capitalisation apply. To make a shortened phrase plural, a plural ‘s’ is added without an apostrophe.
It is important to introduce a shortened phrase in the first instance it is used in a document, even if the shortened version is common. This is achieved by writing the expanded version of the phrase, followed by the acronym or initialism in brackets. For example, ‘The United Nations (UN) press release stated … ’. Thereafter, the initialism ‘UN’ would be used for the remainder of the document.
The same rule applies for theses: if a shortened form has been introduced in a previous chapter, it does not need to be introduced again. The only exception is the abstract of a thesis. Any shortened phrase that has been introduced in the abstract must be introduced again the first time it is used in the body of the thesis. In addition, if your thesis uses many shortened phrases, you should include a ‘List of Abbreviations’ in the preliminary pages of your thesis.
Did you know, the longest acronym in the English language contains 22 letters? It is ‘ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC’ and stands for ‘Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command’. However, this is dwarfed by the world’s longest initialism, which contains 56 letters: ‘NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMONT’. It stands for ‘The laboratory for shuttering, reinforcement, concrete and ferroconcrete operations for composite-monolithic and monolithic constructions of the Department of the Technology of Building-assembly operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for building mechanization and technical aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’.
You should now have a clearer idea of shortened forms and know how to use them correctly. Remember, you must always introduce acronyms and initialisms, even if they are commonly used. They do not use full stops, unless an initialism appears in an uppercase heading and may be confused for a word. Using shortened phrases correctly will certainly add to the polished appearance of your essay or thesis.
Written by:
Nick Brandenburg
Quality Assurance Manager
Elite Editing
Monday, May 23, 2011
What is a Topic Sentence?
The body of an essay includes many paragraphs that each paragraph discusses a new topic to substantiate the essay’s thesis statement (i.e. answer the essay question). Before you start writing a paragraph, it is important to have a topic sentence to unify the paragraph’s content and to ensure the paragraph discusses the topic coherently.
A topic sentence is a single sentence that states a single idea or a topic in a paragraph. It must be presented at the beginning of a paragraph to tell the reader what the topic of the paragraph is and how the paragraph will discuss it. Another important function of a topic sentence is to prove the essay’s thesis statement (answer the essay question). It can also specify the order of the content of a paragraph. This way, the reader can see the organisation of your essay as it will be written in an organised and smooth way, without illogical or sudden shifts or jumps.
For example, if you were writing an essay on the causes of the Holocaust in Germany and your thesis statement was ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism’, then from this thesis statement, your first topic sentence might be:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust was the economic state of Germany.’
This topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph will discuss. After this topic sentence, you can give background information. Then you start to discuss the topic by applying facts, incidences, argument, analysis, or examples from your research. In the final step of writing a paragraph, you should wrap up the connection between your discussion in the paragraph and the topic sentence of the paragraph to ensure the main message of this paragraph stays in the reader’s mind.
Once you have finished discussing the economy of Germany in relation to how it caused the Holocaust, you would move on to the next cause for the Holocaust that you gave in your thesis statement (which was presented in your introduction). In order to transition smoothly from one topic to the next, and to explain to the reader why you are discussing a new topic, you would need to begin your next section with a topic sentence like:
‘Another important cause for the Holocaust was the ideology of the Nazi Party.’
This signals that you are discussing a new topic, which is the ideology of the Nazi Party, and explains that you are discussing it because it answers your essay question.
Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Customer Service
Elite Editing
A topic sentence is a single sentence that states a single idea or a topic in a paragraph. It must be presented at the beginning of a paragraph to tell the reader what the topic of the paragraph is and how the paragraph will discuss it. Another important function of a topic sentence is to prove the essay’s thesis statement (answer the essay question). It can also specify the order of the content of a paragraph. This way, the reader can see the organisation of your essay as it will be written in an organised and smooth way, without illogical or sudden shifts or jumps.
For example, if you were writing an essay on the causes of the Holocaust in Germany and your thesis statement was ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism’, then from this thesis statement, your first topic sentence might be:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust was the economic state of Germany.’
This topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph will discuss. After this topic sentence, you can give background information. Then you start to discuss the topic by applying facts, incidences, argument, analysis, or examples from your research. In the final step of writing a paragraph, you should wrap up the connection between your discussion in the paragraph and the topic sentence of the paragraph to ensure the main message of this paragraph stays in the reader’s mind.
Once you have finished discussing the economy of Germany in relation to how it caused the Holocaust, you would move on to the next cause for the Holocaust that you gave in your thesis statement (which was presented in your introduction). In order to transition smoothly from one topic to the next, and to explain to the reader why you are discussing a new topic, you would need to begin your next section with a topic sentence like:
‘Another important cause for the Holocaust was the ideology of the Nazi Party.’
This signals that you are discussing a new topic, which is the ideology of the Nazi Party, and explains that you are discussing it because it answers your essay question.
Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Customer Service
Elite Editing
Thursday, May 19, 2011
What is a Thesis Statement?
A thesis statement is a sentence or sentences that present the main idea or the central argument of your essay. It tells the reader what your essay is going to argue. Your thesis statement must be presented in your introduction. A good thesis statement will answer your essay question and outline what you will write about, clearly and concisely.
Why should your essay comprise a thesis statement?
The thesis statement guides you to write your essay in a developed and organised way, allowing you to present your argument in a manner that is not too broad. In addition, it provides the reader with an overview of what your essay is going to argue.
For example:
There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.
From this thesis statement, a reader will know that the essay is going to talk about the causes of the Holocaust. It also clear that the main causes the essay will discuss are: 1) the economy of Germany; 2) the ideology of the fascists; and 3) Hitler’s personal racism.
How to write a thesis statement
1. From the general issue that you are interested in arguing, you should narrow down which part of the issue you are going to discuss. From the example above, you select the Holocaust and narrow it down to discuss only the causes of the Holocaust, not the results, consequences or its influences.
2. Question the issue that you are going to discuss. For example, if you are going to discuss the causes of Holocaust, you might ask yourself, ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ This should be done as part of your research for your essay.
3. Answer your question with one main idea and provide main valid points to support your answer. For example, from the question above, your main answer might be, ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust’. Then you might support your main answer with these reasons:
- The economy of Germany
- The ideology of the fascists
- Hitler’s personal racism
4. Try to write your thesis statement in one or two sentences, concisely and comprehensively. From the above example, your complete thesis statement might be, ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism’.
Once you have written your thesis statement you are well on your way to writing a high-quality essay!
Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Customer Service
Elite Editing
Why should your essay comprise a thesis statement?
The thesis statement guides you to write your essay in a developed and organised way, allowing you to present your argument in a manner that is not too broad. In addition, it provides the reader with an overview of what your essay is going to argue.
For example:
There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.
From this thesis statement, a reader will know that the essay is going to talk about the causes of the Holocaust. It also clear that the main causes the essay will discuss are: 1) the economy of Germany; 2) the ideology of the fascists; and 3) Hitler’s personal racism.
How to write a thesis statement
1. From the general issue that you are interested in arguing, you should narrow down which part of the issue you are going to discuss. From the example above, you select the Holocaust and narrow it down to discuss only the causes of the Holocaust, not the results, consequences or its influences.
2. Question the issue that you are going to discuss. For example, if you are going to discuss the causes of Holocaust, you might ask yourself, ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ This should be done as part of your research for your essay.
3. Answer your question with one main idea and provide main valid points to support your answer. For example, from the question above, your main answer might be, ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust’. Then you might support your main answer with these reasons:
- The economy of Germany
- The ideology of the fascists
- Hitler’s personal racism
4. Try to write your thesis statement in one or two sentences, concisely and comprehensively. From the above example, your complete thesis statement might be, ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism’.
Once you have written your thesis statement you are well on your way to writing a high-quality essay!
Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Customer Service
Elite Editing
Monday, May 9, 2011
How to Write Your First Draft
After researching and arranging your information and topic sentence in an organised way, it is time for you to present your ideas or arguments in an essay. The most difficult process for many students is writing the first draft. How do you put all ideas into your first draft comprehensively and relevantly? Many times, you may find yourself sitting and facing a blank screen for a long time, not knowing where to start, and end up with nothing. It would be helpful if you have answers for the following questions before you start writing your first draft:
1. What is your answer to the essay question?
2. What main points will you discuss in order to support your argument?
3. In what order will you discuss your main points?
4. How long will you spend discussing each main point?
5. What information will each paragraph contain (i.e. what information will you use to discuss each of your main points)?
6. What references will you use to support your argument?
(http://www.eliteediting.com.au/step5-write-first-draft-essay.php)
Write your first draft as quickly as possible and try to finish it in one go. Your first draft should include all your ideas and supporting facts or examples, following your organised outline from your research. Do not worry about adding adjectives, adverbs or producing words. Concentrate on your ideas/main points that have to be relevant to and support your topic sentence or thesis statement, and try to finish your draft in one sitting as quickly as possible. This is important for your first draft writing.
Keep the thesis statement or your topic sentence as a guideline of your whole essay. You have to know the main points that will be used to support your topic sentence. In addition, those main points have to support your topic sentence flowingly. Put examples or facts in your first draft to support your main points in each paragraph. If you have found that some sections of your essay need more facts or examples but you do not have them, mark or bracket that section to remind yourself that it needs more supporting facts and keep on writing your draft until you finish.
Ensure that your essay is written in an academic style and in the correct format according to the guidelines that you refer to. The academic writing style has to be formal and impersonal. Avoid using the personal ‘I’ in your essay because it will make your essay look unprofessional. Instead of using ‘I agree with...,’ you might use ‘This essay agrees with…’, which makes your essay looks formal and reliable. The readers know automatically that this essay is your idea as it is written by you.
Make sure that you write the essay in the correct format, consistent with the guidelines that you use for your essay, for example, line spacing, font and page margins. The in-text references or footnotes should be included while you are writing your first draft, as you have to refer to the sources of your supporting examples or facts from your research anyhow. Putting the necessary information and ideas comprehensively in your first draft will help you edit your second draft.
Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Elite Editing
www.eliteediting.com.au
1. What is your answer to the essay question?
2. What main points will you discuss in order to support your argument?
3. In what order will you discuss your main points?
4. How long will you spend discussing each main point?
5. What information will each paragraph contain (i.e. what information will you use to discuss each of your main points)?
6. What references will you use to support your argument?
(http://www.eliteediting.com.au/step5-write-first-draft-essay.php)
Write your first draft as quickly as possible and try to finish it in one go. Your first draft should include all your ideas and supporting facts or examples, following your organised outline from your research. Do not worry about adding adjectives, adverbs or producing words. Concentrate on your ideas/main points that have to be relevant to and support your topic sentence or thesis statement, and try to finish your draft in one sitting as quickly as possible. This is important for your first draft writing.
Keep the thesis statement or your topic sentence as a guideline of your whole essay. You have to know the main points that will be used to support your topic sentence. In addition, those main points have to support your topic sentence flowingly. Put examples or facts in your first draft to support your main points in each paragraph. If you have found that some sections of your essay need more facts or examples but you do not have them, mark or bracket that section to remind yourself that it needs more supporting facts and keep on writing your draft until you finish.
Ensure that your essay is written in an academic style and in the correct format according to the guidelines that you refer to. The academic writing style has to be formal and impersonal. Avoid using the personal ‘I’ in your essay because it will make your essay look unprofessional. Instead of using ‘I agree with...,’ you might use ‘This essay agrees with…’, which makes your essay looks formal and reliable. The readers know automatically that this essay is your idea as it is written by you.
Make sure that you write the essay in the correct format, consistent with the guidelines that you use for your essay, for example, line spacing, font and page margins. The in-text references or footnotes should be included while you are writing your first draft, as you have to refer to the sources of your supporting examples or facts from your research anyhow. Putting the necessary information and ideas comprehensively in your first draft will help you edit your second draft.
Written by:
Chloe Anuwong
Elite Editing
www.eliteediting.com.au
Friday, May 6, 2011
Academic Writing: Some general guidelines
Have you ever been told that your writing style is not academic or that it is too informal?
Have you ever felt unclear on how to write an academic essay.
Are you unsure what rules to follow, what you can do and what you should not do?
Formality
Academic writing needs to be formal and impersonal. This means that your writing should be clear, concise and professional. It needs to follow certain rules (such as those outlined below) in order to ensure that it meets academic standards.
Supported by evidence
The most significant difference between academic and non-academic writing is that academic writing puts forward arguments and ideas that are supported by evidence, most often in the form of citing other research or studies. Learning how to reference correctly is an important part of ensuring that your arguments and ideas are always supported by evidence. You must remember that you cannot make a claim or assertion in an academic essay without supporting it.
The use of the first person
Although there are exceptions, (for example, if you are discussing a field trip that you personally took in order to conduct research or interviews that you carried out), normally academic writing does not make use of the first person. This means you would not use ‘I’ in your essays. Therefore, instead of writing ‘I will argue’, you might write ‘this essay will argue’. The first reason for this is that academic writing must be formal and impersonal.
Consider the difference between these two sentences:
1. ‘In this essay, I will discuss the reasons why Critical Thinking is important to the role of Registered Nurses, including its role in improving the accuracy of diagnoses.’
2. ‘Critical Thinking is important to the role of Registered Nurses because it improves the accuracy of diagnoses.’
Not only is the second sentence more formal because it does not make use of the personal ‘I’, but it is also more direct and thus sounds clearer, more concise, and more academic. Instead of stating that a point will be made, as in the first sentence, the second sentence simply makes the point directly.
The second reason why the use of the first person is discouraged is that it is often redundant (unnecessary). Consider the difference between these two sentences:
1. I believe that Critical Thinking is relevant to the role of Registered Nurses.
2. Critical Thinking is relevant to the role of Registered Nurses.
It is unnecessary to state ‘I believe’. The reader knows that the statement is what the author believes, because the author is writing it in their essay. Further, which sentence sounds more convincing? The second sentence sounds more convincing because it is direct and straight to the point.
Grammar, spelling and punctuation
Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation are very important in academic writing. In order to write formally and to a high academic standard, your writing must be accurate. Writing an essay that contains correct grammar, spelling and punctuation can make a significant difference to your final grade. Accurate writing affects not only your marks for presentation. If your grammar and sentence structure is so unclear that your tutor or lecturer cannot understand the point you are trying to make, for example, you could lose marks overall. Handing in an essay that is well written, accurate and highly polished can improve your grades.
Have you ever felt unclear on how to write an academic essay.
Are you unsure what rules to follow, what you can do and what you should not do?
Formality
Academic writing needs to be formal and impersonal. This means that your writing should be clear, concise and professional. It needs to follow certain rules (such as those outlined below) in order to ensure that it meets academic standards.
Supported by evidence
The most significant difference between academic and non-academic writing is that academic writing puts forward arguments and ideas that are supported by evidence, most often in the form of citing other research or studies. Learning how to reference correctly is an important part of ensuring that your arguments and ideas are always supported by evidence. You must remember that you cannot make a claim or assertion in an academic essay without supporting it.
The use of the first person
Although there are exceptions, (for example, if you are discussing a field trip that you personally took in order to conduct research or interviews that you carried out), normally academic writing does not make use of the first person. This means you would not use ‘I’ in your essays. Therefore, instead of writing ‘I will argue’, you might write ‘this essay will argue’. The first reason for this is that academic writing must be formal and impersonal.
Consider the difference between these two sentences:
1. ‘In this essay, I will discuss the reasons why Critical Thinking is important to the role of Registered Nurses, including its role in improving the accuracy of diagnoses.’
2. ‘Critical Thinking is important to the role of Registered Nurses because it improves the accuracy of diagnoses.’
Not only is the second sentence more formal because it does not make use of the personal ‘I’, but it is also more direct and thus sounds clearer, more concise, and more academic. Instead of stating that a point will be made, as in the first sentence, the second sentence simply makes the point directly.
The second reason why the use of the first person is discouraged is that it is often redundant (unnecessary). Consider the difference between these two sentences:
1. I believe that Critical Thinking is relevant to the role of Registered Nurses.
2. Critical Thinking is relevant to the role of Registered Nurses.
It is unnecessary to state ‘I believe’. The reader knows that the statement is what the author believes, because the author is writing it in their essay. Further, which sentence sounds more convincing? The second sentence sounds more convincing because it is direct and straight to the point.
Grammar, spelling and punctuation
Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation are very important in academic writing. In order to write formally and to a high academic standard, your writing must be accurate. Writing an essay that contains correct grammar, spelling and punctuation can make a significant difference to your final grade. Accurate writing affects not only your marks for presentation. If your grammar and sentence structure is so unclear that your tutor or lecturer cannot understand the point you are trying to make, for example, you could lose marks overall. Handing in an essay that is well written, accurate and highly polished can improve your grades.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Ten Way to Improve Your Grades
It is possible to improve your grades by self-editing your essay or assignment before you hand it in. Many students fail to look over their work once they have completed it, or they do not know what to look for.
This means that students are handing in work that contains spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, unclear or clumsy writing, and referencing and formatting errors. Some students have even greater problems with issues like the clarity and consistency of their argument or their essay organisation. These types of mistakes are costing you grades!
You might be very surprised how much your grades can be improved through editing your own work before you hand it in. This article will explain ten ways you can improve your essay writing yourself.
1. Spelling and Consistency
Spelling is a very important aspect of essay writing that many students overlook. Usually this is as a result of spell-checking programs, upon which many students rely. However, it is important to remember that if you have mistyped a word that is not a spelling mistake, the spell-checker will not find it. For example, you could mistype ‘he’ instead of ‘she’, ‘four’ instead of ‘for’, or ‘though’ instead of ‘through’. Once you have completed writing your first draft, read your work through carefully to look for these kinds of mistakes.
It is crucial that you are consistent throughout your essay. This applies to many things such as the spelling of words (some people switch between American and Australian/British English), the spelling of names, and the capitalisation of words. For example, if you are using Australian/British English you must do so throughout your essay. You cannot use the word ‘recognise’ and then later use the word ‘analyze’. You must stick with ‘analyse.’ If you capitalise the first letter of ‘Government’ the first time, you cannot refer to it as ‘government’ later in your essay.
2. Grammar
It is very difficult to write an essay with perfect grammar, as there are many rules that must be followed and thousands of exceptions to these rules that you must know. In order to aim for perfection, the best idea is to hire a professional to edit your essay. However, there are many things that you do yourself to improve the grammar in your essay.
Ensuring consistency of tenses is one of these. Often students change tenses in the middle of an essay without realising; changing from present to past or vice versa. A quick check at the completion of writing your essay can ensure that you have used the correct tense throughout the essay.
Here is another grammar tip: When writing about a decade, you must write (for example) 1980s not 1980’s. If you write 1980’s, this indicates something belonging to the year 1980, because you are using a possessive apostrophe. To indicate a decade, you must write 1980s.
3. Paragraphing
Many students write paragraphs that are too long. A paragraph should only contain one main idea. There is no definite length for a paragraph, but normally you would have at least three paragraphs on one type-written page. Long paragraphs can cause confusion for the reader, since they would contain several ideas, and they make your essay look poorly planned.
4. Repetition
Developing a sophisticated and creative writing style can take time. One thing you can do immediately to improve your writing style is ensure that you do not repeat the same words too often in your essays. Using varied language to express yourself with mean that your writing is interesting, and will appear more stylish.
5. Essay Organisation
For some reason, many schools and universities do not spend sufficient time teaching students how to organise their essays properly. Beyond the knowledge that an essay must contain an introduction, a body and a conclusion, many students do not have a clear understanding of how to organise an essay correctly.
Here are a few tips. When writing an argumentative essay, your introduction must do two things to be considered an introduction. It must first answer the essay question. It must then introduce all the main ideas you will discuss in your essay to convince the reader why your answer is correct. An introduction should be roughly ten per cent of your essay length. So for an essay of 1,000 words, write an introduction of 100 words.
Use topic sentences. These are sentences at the beginning of each new topic that tie your essay together. They introduce new topics and explain why they are relevant to the essay question. Topic sentences give your essay an internal logic, and help you to write a convincing argument.
6. Direct and Indirect Quotations
This is an example of a direct quotation: Dr. Lisa Lines told me yesterday that ‘students who want to improve their grades should hire a professional editor’.
This is an example of an indirect quotation: Dr Lisa Lines is always emphasising how important it is to hire a professional editor if you want to improve your grades.
It is preferable not to include too many direct quotations in an essay. Essays of a very high standard are written almost entirely in the student’s own words, with many references to the sources they have used (using indirect quotations). You should only quote directly from a source when it is absolutely necessary, for example, if you had a need to point out a particular person’s opinion on an issue, or if an issue or opinion is particularly controversial. Otherwise, it is highly favourable for you to demonstrate that you have read, understood, and assimilated the source into your own knowledge of the subject. The best way to do that is to present the ideas in your own words and then provide the reference.
7. Formal Language
When writing an academic essay, you must use formal language. You cannot use contractions such as ‘don’t’, ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t’. You must write these words out in full (‘do not’, ‘cannot’ or ‘will not’). You should also refrain from using any colloquial language (slang) in an academic essay.
8. Your Research
The research component of writing an essay should take up the majority of your time. It is the longest stage of the essay writing process. How much time you spend will depend on your year level, the word length of the essay, the type of essay (minor, major or tutorial paper) and what percentage of your grade it is worth. It also depends on what grade you are aiming for.
The way that you record your research is absolutely vital to the essay writing process. If you do not record your research properly, you could spend hours (or even days or weeks) doing your research, and then when you begin to write your essay you may discover that you have to go back and re-do things, like search for page numbers or correct quotations. This is a waste of your time!
You must record your research in a way that makes essay writing easier for you. It must be accurate, include all the information you need, and give you a chance to record your own ideas and thoughts on the material you are reading as you go along. Do not leave this to the end!
9. Referencing and Bibliography
(This point may not be relevant to high school students who are not yet required to include references in their essays.)
This stage is absolutely vital to essay writing; however, it is often over-looked by students. If you do not reference properly at university you can get in serious trouble for what is called ‘unintentional plagiarism’. One type of unintentional plagiarism is when students have found information during their research and included it in their essay (even if they have completely re-worded it) but then did not provide a reference. If you do this, you are actually claiming someone else’s work as your own, which is plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism is very different to deliberate plagiarism, which is when students are cheating on purpose. However, it can get you in just as much trouble. This is why you must learn how to reference correctly!
You must find out from your school or university which referencing system you need to use for each subject you study. Then, spend some time learning how to reference using that system correctly.
Once you know how to do it, and if you have organised and recorded your research properly, referencing your research as you are writing your essay should be simple. You should have all the information you need right in front of you. That is why it is so important for you to keep track of which books you use and on which page numbers you find information while you are doing your research.
10. Polish Your Writing
After you have written your first draft, you should edit it yourself before you have anyone else look at it. This means that you should read it very carefully, looking for mistakes and things you can improve. Since editing requires that you look for a number of different things, it can be a good idea to read over your essay several times.
The first time you read your essay, just concentrate on the writing itself. Look for spelling mistakes, things that are not explained clearly, and grammar that could be improved. Do not look for anything else at this stage.
The second time you read your essay, look for problems with your content. This is the point at which you check to see if the information you have used to write your essay is correct, if you have answered the question properly, and if you have argued your case successfully.
Once you have corrected your essay as well as you can yourself, it is recommended that you hire a professional, academic editor. This article has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website.
This means that students are handing in work that contains spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, unclear or clumsy writing, and referencing and formatting errors. Some students have even greater problems with issues like the clarity and consistency of their argument or their essay organisation. These types of mistakes are costing you grades!
You might be very surprised how much your grades can be improved through editing your own work before you hand it in. This article will explain ten ways you can improve your essay writing yourself.
1. Spelling and Consistency
Spelling is a very important aspect of essay writing that many students overlook. Usually this is as a result of spell-checking programs, upon which many students rely. However, it is important to remember that if you have mistyped a word that is not a spelling mistake, the spell-checker will not find it. For example, you could mistype ‘he’ instead of ‘she’, ‘four’ instead of ‘for’, or ‘though’ instead of ‘through’. Once you have completed writing your first draft, read your work through carefully to look for these kinds of mistakes.
It is crucial that you are consistent throughout your essay. This applies to many things such as the spelling of words (some people switch between American and Australian/British English), the spelling of names, and the capitalisation of words. For example, if you are using Australian/British English you must do so throughout your essay. You cannot use the word ‘recognise’ and then later use the word ‘analyze’. You must stick with ‘analyse.’ If you capitalise the first letter of ‘Government’ the first time, you cannot refer to it as ‘government’ later in your essay.
2. Grammar
It is very difficult to write an essay with perfect grammar, as there are many rules that must be followed and thousands of exceptions to these rules that you must know. In order to aim for perfection, the best idea is to hire a professional to edit your essay. However, there are many things that you do yourself to improve the grammar in your essay.
Ensuring consistency of tenses is one of these. Often students change tenses in the middle of an essay without realising; changing from present to past or vice versa. A quick check at the completion of writing your essay can ensure that you have used the correct tense throughout the essay.
Here is another grammar tip: When writing about a decade, you must write (for example) 1980s not 1980’s. If you write 1980’s, this indicates something belonging to the year 1980, because you are using a possessive apostrophe. To indicate a decade, you must write 1980s.
3. Paragraphing
Many students write paragraphs that are too long. A paragraph should only contain one main idea. There is no definite length for a paragraph, but normally you would have at least three paragraphs on one type-written page. Long paragraphs can cause confusion for the reader, since they would contain several ideas, and they make your essay look poorly planned.
4. Repetition
Developing a sophisticated and creative writing style can take time. One thing you can do immediately to improve your writing style is ensure that you do not repeat the same words too often in your essays. Using varied language to express yourself with mean that your writing is interesting, and will appear more stylish.
5. Essay Organisation
For some reason, many schools and universities do not spend sufficient time teaching students how to organise their essays properly. Beyond the knowledge that an essay must contain an introduction, a body and a conclusion, many students do not have a clear understanding of how to organise an essay correctly.
Here are a few tips. When writing an argumentative essay, your introduction must do two things to be considered an introduction. It must first answer the essay question. It must then introduce all the main ideas you will discuss in your essay to convince the reader why your answer is correct. An introduction should be roughly ten per cent of your essay length. So for an essay of 1,000 words, write an introduction of 100 words.
Use topic sentences. These are sentences at the beginning of each new topic that tie your essay together. They introduce new topics and explain why they are relevant to the essay question. Topic sentences give your essay an internal logic, and help you to write a convincing argument.
6. Direct and Indirect Quotations
This is an example of a direct quotation: Dr. Lisa Lines told me yesterday that ‘students who want to improve their grades should hire a professional editor’.
This is an example of an indirect quotation: Dr Lisa Lines is always emphasising how important it is to hire a professional editor if you want to improve your grades.
It is preferable not to include too many direct quotations in an essay. Essays of a very high standard are written almost entirely in the student’s own words, with many references to the sources they have used (using indirect quotations). You should only quote directly from a source when it is absolutely necessary, for example, if you had a need to point out a particular person’s opinion on an issue, or if an issue or opinion is particularly controversial. Otherwise, it is highly favourable for you to demonstrate that you have read, understood, and assimilated the source into your own knowledge of the subject. The best way to do that is to present the ideas in your own words and then provide the reference.
7. Formal Language
When writing an academic essay, you must use formal language. You cannot use contractions such as ‘don’t’, ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t’. You must write these words out in full (‘do not’, ‘cannot’ or ‘will not’). You should also refrain from using any colloquial language (slang) in an academic essay.
8. Your Research
The research component of writing an essay should take up the majority of your time. It is the longest stage of the essay writing process. How much time you spend will depend on your year level, the word length of the essay, the type of essay (minor, major or tutorial paper) and what percentage of your grade it is worth. It also depends on what grade you are aiming for.
The way that you record your research is absolutely vital to the essay writing process. If you do not record your research properly, you could spend hours (or even days or weeks) doing your research, and then when you begin to write your essay you may discover that you have to go back and re-do things, like search for page numbers or correct quotations. This is a waste of your time!
You must record your research in a way that makes essay writing easier for you. It must be accurate, include all the information you need, and give you a chance to record your own ideas and thoughts on the material you are reading as you go along. Do not leave this to the end!
9. Referencing and Bibliography
(This point may not be relevant to high school students who are not yet required to include references in their essays.)
This stage is absolutely vital to essay writing; however, it is often over-looked by students. If you do not reference properly at university you can get in serious trouble for what is called ‘unintentional plagiarism’. One type of unintentional plagiarism is when students have found information during their research and included it in their essay (even if they have completely re-worded it) but then did not provide a reference. If you do this, you are actually claiming someone else’s work as your own, which is plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism is very different to deliberate plagiarism, which is when students are cheating on purpose. However, it can get you in just as much trouble. This is why you must learn how to reference correctly!
You must find out from your school or university which referencing system you need to use for each subject you study. Then, spend some time learning how to reference using that system correctly.
Once you know how to do it, and if you have organised and recorded your research properly, referencing your research as you are writing your essay should be simple. You should have all the information you need right in front of you. That is why it is so important for you to keep track of which books you use and on which page numbers you find information while you are doing your research.
10. Polish Your Writing
After you have written your first draft, you should edit it yourself before you have anyone else look at it. This means that you should read it very carefully, looking for mistakes and things you can improve. Since editing requires that you look for a number of different things, it can be a good idea to read over your essay several times.
The first time you read your essay, just concentrate on the writing itself. Look for spelling mistakes, things that are not explained clearly, and grammar that could be improved. Do not look for anything else at this stage.
The second time you read your essay, look for problems with your content. This is the point at which you check to see if the information you have used to write your essay is correct, if you have answered the question properly, and if you have argued your case successfully.
Once you have corrected your essay as well as you can yourself, it is recommended that you hire a professional, academic editor. This article has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Planning the Essay
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 2. Draft the Essay Plan
This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. You can access the full series through the Elite Editing & Tutoring blog, at http://eliteeditingtutoring.blogspot.com, or through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
Have you ever borrowed some books to start your research and realised you did not know where to begin?
Have you ever spent time reading a great deal of information that in the end was irrelevant to the essay or assignment you were working on?
Have you ever started to write your essay and realised you had too much information on one topic, and not enough information on another topic?
If you write a first draft of your essay plan before you begin your research, you will be organised, prepared and save time.
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
What does a first draft of an essay plan look like?
The first draft of your essay plan will show you what main topics you will discuss in your essay, how the essay will be structured, and roughly how many words you will spend on each part.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you had to write 1,500 words, then your essay plan might look like this:
Essay question: ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’
Essay length: 1,500 words
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Topic 1: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
Topic 2: Patient outcomes (300 words)
Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems (300 words)
Topic 4: Communication (300 words)
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Introductions and conclusions
As you can see from the example essay plan above, an introduction and a conclusion will normally be approximately 10% of the word count of the entire essay. (This is a general guide and does not apply to essays longer than 5,000 words).
In order to be considered a true introduction your first paragraph must do two things: 1) answer the essay question in a clear statement (this is called your thesis statement) and 2) introduce the main points your essay will make to support your argument. You cannot discuss any major points or topics in your essay if you have not introduced them in your introduction. Also, you must discuss all your main points or topics in the order that you introduce them in your introduction. This helps to maintain the flow and structure of your essay.
Similarly, in order to be considered a true conclusion your last paragraph must do two things: 1) re-state the answer to the essay question and 2) sum up the main points your essay has made to support your argument. Remember, a conclusion cannot contain any new information.
Body of the essay and topic sentences
You can find out how many words you will write in the body of your essay by taking away the number you will spend on your introduction and conclusion from the total amount. How you divide the number of words in the body of your essay between your main topics will depend on how important each topic is to your argument. How long you spend writing about each topic should reflect the importance of each topic. If all of your topics were of equal importance, you would write roughly the same amount of words on each. If one topic was more important, you would write about it first and spend longer discussing it. If one topic was less important, you would write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Using topic sentences at the beginning of each new paragraph is essential for ensuring that your essay is well organised and well structured. It also ensures that the essay flows logically and reads well. A topic sentence must do two things: 1) introduce the new topic about to be discussed and 2) shows how this new topic helps to answer the essay question or support your argument in answering the essay question.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you were about to discuss the topic ‘accuracy of diagnoses’, then your topic sentence might sound like this: ‘Another way in which Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse is in ensuring accuracy of diagnoses’. This sentence clearly demonstrates to the reader that you are about to discuss ‘accuracy of diagnoses’ and you are doing so because it is another way that Critical Thinking is relevant to Registered Nurses, which is what your essay is arguing.
The next article in this series is: ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research’.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website.
This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. You can access the full series through the Elite Editing & Tutoring blog, at http://eliteeditingtutoring.blogspot.com, or through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
Have you ever borrowed some books to start your research and realised you did not know where to begin?
Have you ever spent time reading a great deal of information that in the end was irrelevant to the essay or assignment you were working on?
Have you ever started to write your essay and realised you had too much information on one topic, and not enough information on another topic?
If you write a first draft of your essay plan before you begin your research, you will be organised, prepared and save time.
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
What does a first draft of an essay plan look like?
The first draft of your essay plan will show you what main topics you will discuss in your essay, how the essay will be structured, and roughly how many words you will spend on each part.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you had to write 1,500 words, then your essay plan might look like this:
Essay question: ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’
Essay length: 1,500 words
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Topic 1: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
Topic 2: Patient outcomes (300 words)
Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems (300 words)
Topic 4: Communication (300 words)
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Introductions and conclusions
As you can see from the example essay plan above, an introduction and a conclusion will normally be approximately 10% of the word count of the entire essay. (This is a general guide and does not apply to essays longer than 5,000 words).
In order to be considered a true introduction your first paragraph must do two things: 1) answer the essay question in a clear statement (this is called your thesis statement) and 2) introduce the main points your essay will make to support your argument. You cannot discuss any major points or topics in your essay if you have not introduced them in your introduction. Also, you must discuss all your main points or topics in the order that you introduce them in your introduction. This helps to maintain the flow and structure of your essay.
Similarly, in order to be considered a true conclusion your last paragraph must do two things: 1) re-state the answer to the essay question and 2) sum up the main points your essay has made to support your argument. Remember, a conclusion cannot contain any new information.
Body of the essay and topic sentences
You can find out how many words you will write in the body of your essay by taking away the number you will spend on your introduction and conclusion from the total amount. How you divide the number of words in the body of your essay between your main topics will depend on how important each topic is to your argument. How long you spend writing about each topic should reflect the importance of each topic. If all of your topics were of equal importance, you would write roughly the same amount of words on each. If one topic was more important, you would write about it first and spend longer discussing it. If one topic was less important, you would write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Using topic sentences at the beginning of each new paragraph is essential for ensuring that your essay is well organised and well structured. It also ensures that the essay flows logically and reads well. A topic sentence must do two things: 1) introduce the new topic about to be discussed and 2) shows how this new topic helps to answer the essay question or support your argument in answering the essay question.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you were about to discuss the topic ‘accuracy of diagnoses’, then your topic sentence might sound like this: ‘Another way in which Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse is in ensuring accuracy of diagnoses’. This sentence clearly demonstrates to the reader that you are about to discuss ‘accuracy of diagnoses’ and you are doing so because it is another way that Critical Thinking is relevant to Registered Nurses, which is what your essay is arguing.
The next article in this series is: ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research’.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
How to Write an Essay Plan: An Example
Title: How to Write an Essay Plan: An Example
Before you start writing your essay, it is important that you plan it. Below is an example of what an essay plan should look like (including explanations and tips), and how much detail it should contain. You can use this as a guide for your essay plans.
Essay Question: Was the Russian Revolution a genuine revolution or was it a coup?
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Introduction (10% of word limit): 200 words
Introductions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered an Introduction, an Introduction must do two things:
Answer the question – It was a genuine revolution.
This must be done first. An Introduction must answer the question. This is how you put forward a strong argument.
List the evidence your essay will put forward to prove your answer – This can be seen through an examination of the sections of society which supported the revolution. workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities. Any major topic or subject that you plan to discuss in your essay must be introduced in the Introduction.
Body of the Essay: 400 words each
How long you spend writing about each subject should reflect the importance of each subject. If all four topics are of equal importance, write roughly the same amount of words on each. If a topic is more important, write about it first and write more words on it. If a topic is less important, write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Topic 1: workers
Topic 2: peasants
Topic 3: soldiers
Topic 4: national minorities
Conclusion (10% of word limit): 200 words
Conclusions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered a Conclusion, a Conclusion must do two things:
Answer the essay question again (using different words than in the Introduction, don’t repeat yourself exactly) – It was a genuine revolution.
Recap (repeat, summaries) all the evidence you have given to prove your answer during your essay– workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities
A conclusion must not contain any new information, you are only summarising what you have already written.
Before you start writing your essay, it is important that you plan it. Below is an example of what an essay plan should look like (including explanations and tips), and how much detail it should contain. You can use this as a guide for your essay plans.
Essay Question: Was the Russian Revolution a genuine revolution or was it a coup?
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Introduction (10% of word limit): 200 words
Introductions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered an Introduction, an Introduction must do two things:
Answer the question – It was a genuine revolution.
This must be done first. An Introduction must answer the question. This is how you put forward a strong argument.
List the evidence your essay will put forward to prove your answer – This can be seen through an examination of the sections of society which supported the revolution. workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities. Any major topic or subject that you plan to discuss in your essay must be introduced in the Introduction.
Body of the Essay: 400 words each
How long you spend writing about each subject should reflect the importance of each subject. If all four topics are of equal importance, write roughly the same amount of words on each. If a topic is more important, write about it first and write more words on it. If a topic is less important, write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Topic 1: workers
Topic 2: peasants
Topic 3: soldiers
Topic 4: national minorities
Conclusion (10% of word limit): 200 words
Conclusions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered a Conclusion, a Conclusion must do two things:
Answer the essay question again (using different words than in the Introduction, don’t repeat yourself exactly) – It was a genuine revolution.
Recap (repeat, summaries) all the evidence you have given to prove your answer during your essay– workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities
A conclusion must not contain any new information, you are only summarising what you have already written.
How to Write an Essay Plan: An Example
Title: How to Write an Essay Plan: An Example
Before you start writing your essay, it is important that you plan it. Below is an example of what an essay plan should look like (including explanations and tips), and how much detail it should contain. You can use this as a guide for your essay plans.
Essay Question: Was the Russian Revolution a genuine revolution or was it a coup?
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Introduction (10% of word limit): 200 words
Introductions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered an Introduction, an Introduction must do two things:
Answer the question – It was a genuine revolution.
This must be done first. An Introduction must answer the question. This is how you put forward a strong argument.
List the evidence your essay will put forward to prove your answer – This can be seen through an examination of the sections of society which supported the revolution. workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities. Any major topic or subject that you plan to discuss in your essay must be introduced in the Introduction.
Body of the Essay: 400 words each
How long you spend writing about each subject should reflect the importance of each subject. If all four topics are of equal importance, write roughly the same amount of words on each. If a topic is more important, write about it first and write more words on it. If a topic is less important, write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Topic 1: workers
Topic 2: peasants
Topic 3: soldiers
Topic 4: national minorities
Conclusion (10% of word limit): 200 words
Conclusions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered a Conclusion, a Conclusion must do two things:
Answer the essay question again (using different words than in the Introduction, don’t repeat yourself exactly) – It was a genuine revolution.
Recap (repeat, summaries) all the evidence you have given to prove your answer during your essay– workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities
A conclusion must not contain any new information, you are only summarising what you have already written.
Before you start writing your essay, it is important that you plan it. Below is an example of what an essay plan should look like (including explanations and tips), and how much detail it should contain. You can use this as a guide for your essay plans.
Essay Question: Was the Russian Revolution a genuine revolution or was it a coup?
Word Limit: 2,000 words
Introduction (10% of word limit): 200 words
Introductions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered an Introduction, an Introduction must do two things:
Answer the question – It was a genuine revolution.
This must be done first. An Introduction must answer the question. This is how you put forward a strong argument.
List the evidence your essay will put forward to prove your answer – This can be seen through an examination of the sections of society which supported the revolution. workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities. Any major topic or subject that you plan to discuss in your essay must be introduced in the Introduction.
Body of the Essay: 400 words each
How long you spend writing about each subject should reflect the importance of each subject. If all four topics are of equal importance, write roughly the same amount of words on each. If a topic is more important, write about it first and write more words on it. If a topic is less important, write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Topic 1: workers
Topic 2: peasants
Topic 3: soldiers
Topic 4: national minorities
Conclusion (10% of word limit): 200 words
Conclusions should never be longer than 500 words, so this 10% guide only applies to essays shorter than 5,000 words.
To be considered a Conclusion, a Conclusion must do two things:
Answer the essay question again (using different words than in the Introduction, don’t repeat yourself exactly) – It was a genuine revolution.
Recap (repeat, summaries) all the evidence you have given to prove your answer during your essay– workers, peasants, soldiers, national minorities
A conclusion must not contain any new information, you are only summarising what you have already written.
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Writing Essays Well: Introductions, Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Introductions
In order for the first paragraph of an essay to actually be a proper introduction (in other words, for it to fulfill the requirements of a proper introduction), it must do two things. These two things are:
1) Include a thesis statement.
2) Provide a preview or essay plan for the essay.
So what do these two things mean?
1) A thesis statement is the sentence (or sometimes sentences) that tells the reader what the position of the author is. When you are given an essay question, the thesis statement is your clear and concise answer to the question. For example, if an essay question was ‘What were the causes of the Holocaust in World War II?’ then your thesis statement would be something like ‘There were many complicated and inter-related causes for the Holocaust, including the economy of Germany, the ideology of the fascists, and Hitler’s personal racism.’
A ‘thesis’ is an ‘argument’, so the thesis statement indicates what the argument of the essay is, or what argument (or point of view) the author of the essay will be putting across to readers.
2) An introduction must introduce all the main points that the essay will discuss. Argumentative essays must provide evidence in order to back up or support the thesis statement. This means you have to provide proof to back up your answer to the essay question. So if your essay is on the causes of the Holocaust, and your essay is going to discuss six main causes (two paragraphs on each), then your introduction must list (or introduce) each of these six main causes. So an essay map or preview is just a list of topics that your essay will discuss. Usually this list is linked to your thesis statement, or comes straight after it.
Topic Sentences
When writing an essay, you must use ‘topic sentences’. These are sentences that go at the beginning of each paragraph in which you are about to discuss a new topic. So in the example we have been looking at of the Holocaust essay, I mentioned that the essay will discuss six reasons for the Holocaust and each reason will have two paragraphs. So that means that every second paragraph would use a ‘topic sentence’ since it would be moving on to discuss another reason for the Holocaust. Here are some examples of topic sentences for the example essay:
‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany.’
‘Another reason why the Holocaust occurred is due to Hitler’s personal views.’
These sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss (what the next point to be discussed in the essay is) and also relate the paragraph back to the introduction. This gives the essay a nice flow, and shows that it has been well organised.
So, you can tell what the topic of the first body paragraph is by reading the topic sentence, which is the first sentence in the paragraph.
Concluding Sentences
A concluding sentence goes at the end of a paragraph or topic, and sums up for the readers what has just been discussed and relates it back to the question.
So if you had used the topic sentence ‘The most significant cause for the Holocaust is the economic state of Germany’ and then written a paragraph or several paragraphs discussing this topic, a concluding sentence could be: ‘Thus it can be seen that the economic state of Germany was the most important cause for the Holocaust.’
Topic sentences and concluding sentences go before and after your paragraphs like a sandwich, leading the reader through your essay.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research.
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research.
Part One: Organising your Research using a Research Document
This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. One article in this series will be published on the Elite Editing & Tutoring blog each week. You can also access them through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
Do you ever have any of these problems?
Have you ever started to write an essay and found that you were staring at a blank screen and a flashing cursor? Did you feel like you were starting from scratch?
Have you ever started writing an essay and found that you could not remember some of the information you read? Or tried to put a reference in and could not find the page number of the quotation you were using?
Is your research usually scattered all over the place, in the form of books, photocopied pages, bookmarked websites and some notes? Do you find it hard to create an essay out of disorganised research?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then learning how to create and use a research document can help! If you organise and record your research properly, you should never have any of these problems again.
How can you organise your research?
Your research should be organised so that the transition from doing your research to writing your essay is simple. The best way to do this is to organise your research so that it matches the organisation of the essay. In Step 2 of writing an academic essay, you would have written a rough essay plan before you began your research. This essay plan is the guide you need to use to organise your research.
Copy and paste this essay plan into a Word document. All your research for this essay will be recorded in this one document. Use each of the dot points from your essay plan (topics you are planning to discuss) as a heading in your research document. When you do your research, you will organise it in the order that the information will appear in your essay. Doing this means you will be organising your research by theme or topic, not by source.
This means that you will not simply record all the information from one source together and then go on to type up the information from your next source underneath it. If you do things that way, you would need to go back and re-organise your research later, into the correct order for your essay. That would be a waste of your time.
Why should you record your research (instead of just reading or taking a few notes)?
If you do not record your research properly, you can spend hours, days or weeks doing research, and then when you start to write your essay you will find that you have to go back and re-do things, like search for page numbers or correct quotations. You must record your research in a way that makes essay writing easier for you. It should be accurate, include all the information you need, and give you a chance to record your own ideas and thoughts on the material you are reading as you go along. Do not leave this until the end.
Instead of just taking notes when researching, a better and more efficient way to research is to critically arrange and organise material by typing out all the important information you find. You do not need to type out everything, just the critical, relevant and important information for your essay. Then you can add your own notes. (Make sure you use punctuation marks so you can see what is a quotation and what are your own words.)
There are a few important reasons for why it is better to type out sources word for word in your research rather than only take notes.
1. You do not have to remember everything you have written, all the important material is written down.
2. When you begin writing your essay you will have all information you need to make accurate direct quotations.
3. You will not make the mistake of writing something in your essay that you think you have thought of yourself, but is in fact something you are remembering from a book word-for-word.
4. You still have the opportunity to write your own notes about the sources as you go along, and develop your own ideas. But you will do this in a way that makes it clear what is from the book, and what are your own ideas.
How should you record your research?
You must record the following information from your sources:
1. Reference information about the source you are using
2. The subject or topic of each paragraph you type out (to help organise your ideas)
3. The exact wording of the source (using punctuation marks to show you are quoting)
4. The page number of the information you are typing up
5. Your own ideas and thoughts about the material you are reading
While you are doing all this, you can be working on your reference list at the same time. Each time you begin reading a source, type up all reference information into your reference list straight away. One good way of setting out your research is as follows:
The topic/subject of the paragraph
‘The exact wording of the source/paragraph that you are typing up goes here, using punctuation marks so you can see that you are quoting’ (Put the reference information here, the way you would in an in-text reference: Surname, Year, Page number).
[Your notes and ideas go here. Your own words go in square brackets and do not have punctuation marks, so you can easily see what are your own words and what words come from the source.]
So for example:
The number of people killed during the Spanish Civil War
‘The number of people killed during the Spanish Civil War is very difficult to ascertain. It was probably over one million people. Many people went “missing” and were never found’ (Nash, 1989, p. 61).
[This is very interesting information since it shows that the number of people killed could be much higher than was originally thought.]
How can you develop your essay plan while you are researching?
All the decisions about what will go into your essay and in what order are made at the research stage, not at the essay writing stage. This is a common mistake made by students who do not establish enough of a connection between the two stages.
At the beginning of your research, you started out with your rough essay plan as a basis for the headings in your research document. As you go along, you may add more headings or sub-headings to your research document. For example, you might find that there are three sub-topics under the first main topic that you wish to discuss, and so you will create sub-headings for them. The information under these sub-headings will eventually become paragraphs in your essay.
As you conduct your research, you must critically analyse the information that you find. Change your sections around in order of importance. Decide what information should be included and what should not. All these decisions should be made at the research stage, so that by the time you come to do your writing you know exactly what you will be writing about and in what order, down to each paragraph. You will have in front of you exactly what information needs to be used in each section and paragraph of your essay. This also means that you will never feel like you are starting from scratch or have nothing to go on when you begin writing your first draft.
The next article in this series is Part Two of this article: ‘Research Skills and Academic Sources’. If you can’t wait a week for this article, please contact Elite Editing & Tutoring.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
Part One: Organising your Research using a Research Document
This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. One article in this series will be published on the Elite Editing & Tutoring blog each week. You can also access them through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au
Do you ever have any of these problems?
Have you ever started to write an essay and found that you were staring at a blank screen and a flashing cursor? Did you feel like you were starting from scratch?
Have you ever started writing an essay and found that you could not remember some of the information you read? Or tried to put a reference in and could not find the page number of the quotation you were using?
Is your research usually scattered all over the place, in the form of books, photocopied pages, bookmarked websites and some notes? Do you find it hard to create an essay out of disorganised research?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then learning how to create and use a research document can help! If you organise and record your research properly, you should never have any of these problems again.
How can you organise your research?
Your research should be organised so that the transition from doing your research to writing your essay is simple. The best way to do this is to organise your research so that it matches the organisation of the essay. In Step 2 of writing an academic essay, you would have written a rough essay plan before you began your research. This essay plan is the guide you need to use to organise your research.
Copy and paste this essay plan into a Word document. All your research for this essay will be recorded in this one document. Use each of the dot points from your essay plan (topics you are planning to discuss) as a heading in your research document. When you do your research, you will organise it in the order that the information will appear in your essay. Doing this means you will be organising your research by theme or topic, not by source.
This means that you will not simply record all the information from one source together and then go on to type up the information from your next source underneath it. If you do things that way, you would need to go back and re-organise your research later, into the correct order for your essay. That would be a waste of your time.
Why should you record your research (instead of just reading or taking a few notes)?
If you do not record your research properly, you can spend hours, days or weeks doing research, and then when you start to write your essay you will find that you have to go back and re-do things, like search for page numbers or correct quotations. You must record your research in a way that makes essay writing easier for you. It should be accurate, include all the information you need, and give you a chance to record your own ideas and thoughts on the material you are reading as you go along. Do not leave this until the end.
Instead of just taking notes when researching, a better and more efficient way to research is to critically arrange and organise material by typing out all the important information you find. You do not need to type out everything, just the critical, relevant and important information for your essay. Then you can add your own notes. (Make sure you use punctuation marks so you can see what is a quotation and what are your own words.)
There are a few important reasons for why it is better to type out sources word for word in your research rather than only take notes.
1. You do not have to remember everything you have written, all the important material is written down.
2. When you begin writing your essay you will have all information you need to make accurate direct quotations.
3. You will not make the mistake of writing something in your essay that you think you have thought of yourself, but is in fact something you are remembering from a book word-for-word.
4. You still have the opportunity to write your own notes about the sources as you go along, and develop your own ideas. But you will do this in a way that makes it clear what is from the book, and what are your own ideas.
How should you record your research?
You must record the following information from your sources:
1. Reference information about the source you are using
2. The subject or topic of each paragraph you type out (to help organise your ideas)
3. The exact wording of the source (using punctuation marks to show you are quoting)
4. The page number of the information you are typing up
5. Your own ideas and thoughts about the material you are reading
While you are doing all this, you can be working on your reference list at the same time. Each time you begin reading a source, type up all reference information into your reference list straight away. One good way of setting out your research is as follows:
The topic/subject of the paragraph
‘The exact wording of the source/paragraph that you are typing up goes here, using punctuation marks so you can see that you are quoting’ (Put the reference information here, the way you would in an in-text reference: Surname, Year, Page number).
[Your notes and ideas go here. Your own words go in square brackets and do not have punctuation marks, so you can easily see what are your own words and what words come from the source.]
So for example:
The number of people killed during the Spanish Civil War
‘The number of people killed during the Spanish Civil War is very difficult to ascertain. It was probably over one million people. Many people went “missing” and were never found’ (Nash, 1989, p. 61).
[This is very interesting information since it shows that the number of people killed could be much higher than was originally thought.]
How can you develop your essay plan while you are researching?
All the decisions about what will go into your essay and in what order are made at the research stage, not at the essay writing stage. This is a common mistake made by students who do not establish enough of a connection between the two stages.
At the beginning of your research, you started out with your rough essay plan as a basis for the headings in your research document. As you go along, you may add more headings or sub-headings to your research document. For example, you might find that there are three sub-topics under the first main topic that you wish to discuss, and so you will create sub-headings for them. The information under these sub-headings will eventually become paragraphs in your essay.
As you conduct your research, you must critically analyse the information that you find. Change your sections around in order of importance. Decide what information should be included and what should not. All these decisions should be made at the research stage, so that by the time you come to do your writing you know exactly what you will be writing about and in what order, down to each paragraph. You will have in front of you exactly what information needs to be used in each section and paragraph of your essay. This also means that you will never feel like you are starting from scratch or have nothing to go on when you begin writing your first draft.
The next article in this series is Part Two of this article: ‘Research Skills and Academic Sources’. If you can’t wait a week for this article, please contact Elite Editing & Tutoring.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
Monday, October 12, 2009
Essay Editing
This week we were planning on adding the next article in the series: 'How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research'.
However, there is a problem! Not enough students are following our blog at the moment.
These articles on the six steps to academic writing are very important for students learning how to improve their work. So we don't want to post the next one until more students will receive it!
If you are currently following this blog, please recommend it to your friends. Tell them to visit this website, http://www.eliteeditingtutoring.blogspot.com and sign up to be a follower.
Hopefully, by next week more students will have signed up to receive this free help from Elite Editing & Tutoring and we will post our next article.
In the meantime, you can always visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au to use our professional editing service.
Our PhD qualified editors will edit your essay, assignment, thesis or dissertation to help you improve your grades or finish your postgraduate degree! Contact us today for more information.
However, there is a problem! Not enough students are following our blog at the moment.
These articles on the six steps to academic writing are very important for students learning how to improve their work. So we don't want to post the next one until more students will receive it!
If you are currently following this blog, please recommend it to your friends. Tell them to visit this website, http://www.eliteeditingtutoring.blogspot.com and sign up to be a follower.
Hopefully, by next week more students will have signed up to receive this free help from Elite Editing & Tutoring and we will post our next article.
In the meantime, you can always visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au to use our professional editing service.
Our PhD qualified editors will edit your essay, assignment, thesis or dissertation to help you improve your grades or finish your postgraduate degree! Contact us today for more information.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 2. Draft the Essay Plan
How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 2. Draft the Essay Plan
This article is part of the series ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: The Six Steps to Academic Essay Writing’. One article in this series will be published on the Elite Editing & Tutoring blog each week. You can also access them through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/
Have you ever borrowed some books to start your research and realised you did not know where to begin?
Have you ever spent time reading a great deal of information that in the end was irrelevant to the essay or assignment you were working on?
Have you ever started to write your essay and realised you had too much information on one topic, and not enough information on another topic?
If you write a first draft of your essay plan before you begin your research, you will be organised, prepared and save time.
You must write the first draft of your essay plan before you start your research. This will give your research direction and ultimately make it easier for you to write your essay. Having a plan will let you know what you need to research and how much research you need on each topic or subject that you will be writing about.
You will base this first draft of your essay plan on your essay question, and your current knowledge of your subject. It will not happen very often that you are asked to write an essay on a topic you know nothing about, since you will already be studying the subject and will normally have had one or more lectures or tutorials on the topic.
It is acceptable if your essay plan is rough or vague at this point, or if you do not have a great deal of detail. You will develop your essay plan (expanding it and including more detail) and possibly even change it as you go through the research process.
What does a first draft of an essay plan look like?
The first draft of your essay plan will show you what main topics you will discuss in your essay, how the essay will be structured, and roughly how many words you will spend on each part.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you had to write 1,500 words, then your essay plan might look like this:
Essay question: ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’
Essay length: 1,500 words
Introduction (150 words)
1) Thesis statement: Through an examination of the evidence, it is clear that Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse for a number of reasons.
2) Introduce main points or topics to be discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Topic 1: Accuracy of diagnoses (300 words)
Topic 2: Patient outcomes (300 words)
Topic 3: Prevent and solve problems (300 words)
Topic 4: Communication (300 words)
Conclusion (150 words)
1) Concluding statement: Thus, it can be seen that the concept of Critical Thinking is invaluable and highly relevant to Registered Nurses.
2) Sum up main points or topics that have been discussed: accuracy of diagnoses, patient outcomes, prevent and solve problems, communication
Introductions and conclusions
As you can see from the example essay plan above, an introduction and a conclusion will normally be approximately 10% of the word count of the entire essay. (This is a general guide and does not apply to essays longer than 5,000 words).
In order to be considered a true introduction your first paragraph must do two things: 1) answer the essay question in a clear statement (this is called your thesis statement) and 2) introduce the main points your essay will make to support your argument. You cannot discuss any major points or topics in your essay if you have not introduced them in your introduction. Also, you must discuss all your main points or topics in the order that you introduce them in your introduction. This helps to maintain the flow and structure of your essay.
Similarly, in order to be considered a true conclusion your last paragraph must do two things: 1) re-state the answer to the essay question and 2) sum up the main points your essay has made to support your argument. Remember, a conclusion cannot contain any new information.
Body of the essay and topic sentences
You can find out how many words you will write in the body of your essay by taking away the number you will spend on your introduction and conclusion from the total amount. How you divide the number of words in the body of your essay between your main topics will depend on how important each topic is to your argument. How long you spend writing about each topic should reflect the importance of each topic. If all of your topics were of equal importance, you would write roughly the same amount of words on each. If one topic was more important, you would write about it first and spend longer discussing it. If one topic was less important, you would write about it last and write fewer words on it.
Using topic sentences at the beginning of each new paragraph is essential for ensuring that your essay is well organised and well structured. It also ensures that the essay flows logically and reads well. A topic sentence must do two things: 1) introduce the new topic about to be discussed and 2) shows how this new topic helps to answer the essay question or support your argument in answering the essay question.
If your essay question was ‘Is Critical Thinking relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse?’ and you were about to discuss the topic ‘accuracy of diagnoses’, then your topic sentence might sound like this: ‘Another way in which Critical Thinking is highly relevant to the role of a Registered Nurse is in ensuring accuracy of diagnoses’. This sentence clearly demonstrates to the reader that you are about to discuss ‘accuracy of diagnoses’ and you are doing so because it is another way that Critical Thinking is relevant to Registered Nurses, which is what your essay is arguing.
The next article in this series is: ‘How to Write Distinction Essays Every Time: Step 3. Conduct the Research’. If you can’t wait a week for this article, please contact Elite Editing & Tutoring.
This article (and the remainder in the series) has been written by Dr Lisa Lines, the Director and Head Editor of Elite Editing & Tutoring. If you require further assistance with essay writing or with the professional editing of your completed essay, please contact her through the Elite Editing & Tutoring website at http://www.eliteediting.com.au/contact.php
For more information on our professional essay, assignment, thesis and dissertation editing service, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/essay-editing.php
To submit your essay assignment, thesis or dissertation for professional editing now, please visit http://www.eliteediting.com.au/submit.php
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