Essay/Assignment Writing: Planning to Editing. 2 August, 2015 2 Agenda 4 stages in essay writing:...
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Transcript of Essay/Assignment Writing: Planning to Editing. 2 August, 2015 2 Agenda 4 stages in essay writing:...
19 April 20233
Questions for you:
What makes a good essay?
If you were marking an essay, what would you look for?
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“To essay”
The verb “to essay” means “to put to the test, to attempt something difficult”.
Essays give you opportunities to come to terms with new knowledge.
Writing an essay helps you to measure how much you really understand.
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Four Stages in Writing an Essay
1. Preparing2. Planning3. Drafting4. Editing
Post-essay writing5. Learning from the experience
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Stage 1Preparing
What question do I need to address and what does it mean?
What do I know about this already? What do I need to find out? Research
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Analyse the question
What is the subject? What are the key verb(s)? What are the key aspect(s)? Any other other significant words? Ask questions about the question
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Understand Key Verbs
analyse compare and contrast describe discuss evaluate examine explore outline summarise
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Paragraphing (I)
Paragraphs structure thoughts and help the reader
Each paragraph should contain one clear idea support sentences
Support sentences add to the topic sentence, e.g. explain ideas raised define terms more fully give supporting detail
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Paragraphing (II)
For every paragraph, ask: Is there one main idea here? Is it stated clearly? Is it properly supported with evidence? Have I commented on the evidence? Does it link with the previous paragraph
and anticipate the next?
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Beginning a new paragraph
To mark off the introduction and the
conclusion
To signal a shift to a new idea
To indicate an important shift in time or
place
To emphasise a point
To highlight a contrast
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Stage 3Drafting
Drafting shapes the notes into an essay.
How? Revise, reconsider and rewrite what you
have done. Fill in any gaps. Revise plan, now you know more.
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Checking a Rough Draft
Look for: the sequence of ideas logic paragraphing sign-posting need more information? grammar punctuationAm I answering the question?
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Introductions
State clearly How you are going to answer the
question What you are going to cover
Address the question, the key idea. Define key terms. May help to write the introduction last. Should be 10% of the word count
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Conclusions
Pull the essay together. Show where you stand in the debate
(judgement). Draw conclusions or extract general
principles (factual). May indicate an area for further study. Link back to the question / essay title. 10-13% of the word count
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Stage 4Editing
Proof read your essay. Check for mistakes:
spelling grammar punctuation
Check quotations, citations. Have I answered the question? Is there a logical, coherent argument?
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Presentation
Word limit Margins Spacing Font types and sizes Legibility Does it comply with the required
layout? Diagrams References
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Citations
Examples: According to Jones (1998), …. Jones (1998) argued that …. To quote from Jones (1998), …. In name of text, Jones (1998) supported
the idea of …. …. paraphrases …. (Jones, 1998, p82)
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Quotations
Short quotationJones (1999, p23) described the idea as ‘quoting a few words’ ….
Long quotationJones wrote:
long quoteslong quoteslong quotes (Smith, 1999, p9)
etc. etc.
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References
Put at the end of an essay. Do not number them. Begin each source on a new line. List alphabetically by the first author’s
surname. Italicise the book or journal title. Place single quotation marks around the
title of an article within a journal.
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Examples of References
A bookCottrell, S.M. (1999) The Study Skills
Handbook, Macmillan.
An article in a bookTizard, B. (1991) ‘Working Mothers
and the Care of Young Children’ in Woodhead, M., Light, P. and Carr, R. (eds) Growing Up in a Changing Society, Routledge.