FULL CONTENTS

A brief review Analyse the question – Generate ideas – Choose topics – Reading – Selection process – Put topics in order – Arrange material – Make changes – Finalise plan – First draft – Paragraphs – Revising draft – Editing.

A good essay Answers the question – Clear structure – Appropriate style – Arguments supported by evidence – Shows clear thinking – Wide reading – Originality.

Abbreviations Common abbreviations used in referencing sources and showing bibliographic details.

Analysing questions How to recognise key terms and instruction terms in the question(s) you have been asked to answer..

Apostrophes How to use the apostrophe correctly in contractions and the possessive case.

Bibliographies How to create and present a list of the works you have used or quoted from in your essay.

Case agreement How to create agreement between subjects and objects, and ensure consistency when using singulars and plurals.

Categorising How to assess and organise the topics you are going to use in the construction of your essay plan.

Checking drafts A checklist of what to look for after you have completed the first draft of your essay. It’s easy to forget details: a checklist helps.

Colons The colon is used to introduce a list, or to separate two clauses. This shows how to do it.

Conclusions A good conclusion should draw together and summarise all the arguments in your essay.

Dates The commonly used system for referring to days, dates, and seasons in academic writing.

Endnotes How to represent bibliographic information of works from which you have quoted, in a separate list of notes at the end of the essay.

Exam essays How to produce essays under the pressure of limited time during an examination. Some tips and tricks.

Footnotes How to represent bibliographic information of works from which you have quoted, in a separate list of notes at the foot of each page of the essay.

Generating ideas How to create the ideas and the arguments for your assignment – free thinking and capturing data.

Instructions An explanation of the terms commonly used in essay questions and instructions – and what they require from you in your answer(s).

Introductions How to get an essay off to a good start. It must be relevant, and it should be short.

Jargon How to recognise specialist language – and understand where it is appropriate – and when it is not.

Length of essays How to stay within the word limit, and how to edit your work if you have exceeded the word count.

Line references How to show references to quotations from plays and poetry.

Names How to represent the names of people, organisations, places, and events in academic writing.

Narratives How to deal with subjects which involve a ‘story of what happened’ (history, fiction) without getting lost in events.

Numbers How to represent the numbers of things mentioned in an essay.

Paragraphs How to create the structure and arrange the elements of an effective paragraph.

Plagiarism How to understand plagiarism, and avoid it by acknowledging your sources.

Planning essays Analyse the question – Generate ideas – Choose topics – Arrange order – Provide evidence – Make charges – Finalise plan – Check for relevance. Sample plan.

Presentation How to maximise the visual impact of your essay by using margins, white space, headings, line-spacing, and emphasis.

Punctuation The basic rules of punctuation, plus guidance on using marks such as the dash, hyphen, oblique stroke, and quote marks.

Questions Do not pose your answer in the form of questions. In fact do not raise questions in essays – unless you are going to answer them.

Quotations How to quote from other people’s work in your essay – and how to make sure that your quotes are tied back accurately to bibliographical citations.

Reading How to decide how much reading and research are required for background information to an essay assignment.

Relevance How to decide on the relevance of your arguments in relation to the question you have been asked to answer.

Repetition How to avoid repeating the same names (people and places) and key words in an essay.

Rewriting How to improve the quality of your essay by editing and re-writing it before submission.

Semicolons How to understand the semicolon and use it correctly. If in doubt, don’t use it.

Sentences How to create simple and effective sentences. Follow the simple Subject – Verb – Object pattern of writing.

Signposting Avoid heavy-handed signals of intent in your essay. Let your arguments speak for themselves.

Style A plain and simple prose style will help you to avoid the problems of over-complicated writing.

Taking notes How to take efficient notes when reading, listening to lectures, or watching videos. An example of a good set of notes.

Tenses How to choose the right tense to discuss a text and describe events from the past.

Titles How to show the titles of articles, journals, newspapers, magazines, films, and books in essays.

Tone How to create a persuasive tone for an essay, which is engaging but not too personal.

Tutor comment Learning from the comments a tutor may write on your essay. It’s valuable feedback.

Word-processors How to use the power of a word-processor to improve the quality of your work.

Writer’s block Seven effective techniques for getting words onto the page. Recognising the type of block. How to generate more text.

Sample essays Four sample essays at different levels – on Government, Philosophy, Sociology, and Literary Studies.

Reference Reviews of useful reference books for academic writing – with direct web links to Amazon.