HOW TO

WRITEESSAYS

More related titles from How To Books

Quick Solutions to Common Errors in EnglishAn A–Z guide to spelling, punctuation and grammar

Angela Burt

Critical Thinking for Students Learn the skills of critical assessment and effective argument

Roy van den Brink-Budgen

Writing an Assignment Proven techniques from a chief examiner that really get results

Pauline Smith

A Practical Guide To Research MethodsA user-friendly guide to mastering research techniques

Dr Catherine Dawson

The Mature Student’s Study GuideEssential skills for those returning to education or distance learning

Dr Catherine Dawson

howtobooks

Please send for a free copy of the latest catalogue:How To Books

Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road,Begbroke, Oxford OX5 1RX, United Kingdom

info@howtobooks.co.ukwww.howtobooks.co.uk

HOW TO

WRITEESSAYSA step-by-step guide for all levels,

with sample essays

Don Shiachhowtobooks

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author and publishers are grateful to Nicholas Murray and the Rack Press, Kinnerton, Presteigne, Powys LD8 PF for permission to reproduce History from Nicholas Murray’s collection ‘The Narrators’. Published by How To Content, A division of How To Books Ltd, Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road, Begbroke, Oxford 0X5 1RX. United Kingdom. Tel: (01865) 375794. Fax: (01865) 379162. email: info@howtobooks.co.uk http://www.howtobooks.co.uk All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for purposes of review) without the express permission of the publisher in writing. The right of Don Shiach to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBN: 978 1 84803 056 5 Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock, Devon, UK Typeset by specialist publishing services ltd, Montgomery, UK Cartoons by Phill Burrows Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford, UK NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying in particular circumstances on statements made in the book. The laws and regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should check the current position with the relevant authorities before making personal arrangements.

CONTENTS

Preface vii

Introduction ix

1 Planning Your Essay 1

What are you being asked to do? 1

Making a plan 6

2 The Opening Paragraph 11

‘Waffle’ 12

The length of the opening paragraph 15

Useful phrases 16

More opening paragraphs 18

3 The Body of the Essay 26

Paragraphs 26

More examples of paragraphs 30

Continuity 34

The use of close references 38

More about the body of the essay 41

4 The Closing Paragraph 43

Final sentence 45

Further examples of closing paragraphs 45

5 Summary of Essay Structure 50

6 Sample Essay 1: A Discursive Essay 52

v

7 Sample Essay 2: Literature 61

Essays on literature in examinations 61

8 Sample Essay 3: Writing about Poetry 71

9 Sample Essay 4: Another Essay on a Poem 77

10 Sample Essay 5: A Media Studies Essay 83

11 Sample Essay 6: History 91

12 Sample Essay 7: Writing About a Novel 97

13 Sample Essay 8: Writing in Response to a Critical Thinking Task 108

14 Sample Essay 9: A Film Studies Essay 115

15 Sample Essay 10: A Politics Essay 124

16 Grammar and Accuracy 133

Writing in sentences 134

Punctuation 138

The use of the apostrophe 141

17 Spelling 145

Their/there/they’re 145

Were/where/we’re 146

18 Bibliographies and Reference Lists 151

19 Examinations 154

Answers to Practice Sections 157

Index 161

vi

HOW TO WRITE ESSAYS

PREFACE

I strongly recommend readers to study and absorb the first five sectionsof the book before turning to the ten sample essays that have beenprovided. These sample essays are presented as models of good practiceand each is followed by a detailed analysis or questions that are intendedto focus your attention on key essay-writing skills that you should havelearnt from the first five sections. You will benefit if you study thesesample essays in tandem with the analysis that follows. Only with thiskind of close attention to structure and detail can you hope you toimprove your essay-writing skills.

Don Shiach

vii

This page intentionally left blank This page intentionally left blank

INTRODUCTION

The skill of writing essays is an essential tool if you are toachieve the kind of grade you want in the courses you arestudying. This is true whether you are studying at GCSE, ASor A levels at school or college, or trying to gain a degreeat university.

There is no single, foolproof method of successfulessay-writing. However, the advice and the practicalguidance you will receive in this book will provide youwith all you need to know about how to improve your grade assessmentsby putting into practice some simple, but invaluable, principles of essaywriting.

These approaches will work for you whether you are facing assessmentin timed examinations and/or being judged by coursework assignments.In essence, the principles of essay-writing apply to both situations: whenyou are under the pressure of an examination room, or, at home or incollege with more time to produce your assignment essay.

There is no doubt at all that the people who do best in assessments of allkinds are those who understand exactly what is required of them andwho manage to deliver exactly that. In other words, it is not just whatyou know, but how you apply that knowledge when you are beingassessed that finally counts.

In the case of examinations, you have to be effective at sitting

ix

examinations in order to maximise your grade potential. Like almosteverything else, there is an art to taking exams. In other words, what youare being examined on when you sit an exam is your ability to sitexaminations.

Equally, with coursework, you have to know how to present yourself inthe most favourable light to the assessor. There has been a good deal ofcontroversy about the role of coursework in examination assessment andhow important a component for the basis of a grade award it should be.Problems of plagiarism from the internet and how to ascertain thatstudents’ coursework has indeed been produced by the studentsthemselves without undue assistance have cast a cloud over the wholeissue. However, it is highly likely that some element of coursework,however reduced, will remain an essential element of examinationassessment. Thus, it will continue to be essential for examinationcandidates to produce coherent, well-written and structured essays fortheir coursework.

Essay-writing is, then, crucial in both instances: exams and continualassessment. In most subjects, a talent for essay-writing is essential toachieve high grades. Candidates who fall down in this aspect of theirwork will do harm to their own chances of achieving the higher grades.It is as important as that, not some optional extra you can add onto yourknowledge of a subject. Essay-writing skills are an essential componentof being a successful student at all levels.

My belief is that the basic essay-writing skills are not that difficult toacquire. The reason why so many students fail to acquire these skills isthat not enough attention has been paid to teaching them. It is inevitablethat schools, colleges and universities spend most of their time teachingthe core subject-matter of a course, but hardly any time in advisingstudents how to put their ideas down on paper in the form of an essay.Yet, these skills are neither obscure nor too complex for the average

x

HOW TO WRITE ESSAYS

student to learn. This book will show you a method of essay-writing inseveral simple steps and will provide sample essays. Once you havelearned this method, you should be in a much stronger position to faceup to the demands of essay-writing in your various courses and acrossthe subject range.

xi

INTRODUCTION

This page intentionally left blank This page intentionally left blank

1

PLANNING YOUR ESSAY

Why should you make a plan for your essays? Why ‘waste time’ doingthat when you are in a pressured examination situation or pushed toproduce a coursework assignment?

Answer: Because it will pay off in the long run in terms of the relevance,organisation and clarity of your essay.

Think about occasions when in everyday conversation you are askedyour opinion about something or about how to do something. Isn’t youranswer more likely to be well-received when you give the matter somethought before you jump in with both feet?

It is the same with essays, whether they are for coursework assignmentsor timed answers in classroom or examination situations. A little priorthought which is transformed into brief notes will pay dividends.

WHAT ARE YOU BEING ASKED TO DO?

Whatever the form of the assignment you are given, you have to focus onthe specific task you are being asked to perform: not what you would likethe task or subject to be, but the actual task the question is asking you toperform. Forget the fact that you know a great deal about particular

1

aspects of a subject and focus your energies on answering on the exacttopic you have been asked about. You don’t make up the assignments youare set, your examiners do! So give them what they want, not the answeryou would like to write, but the answer you’ve been asked to write.

That means reading the words of the question or the assignment withgreat care. Remember, give the examiners what they want, a response tothe task they have set. Many a student has come a cropper by misreadingthe assignment or question and banging down almost all they knowabout a subject, regardless of whether it is relevant ornot. Your essay may be absolutely brilliant in its ownway, but if it’s not an essay written in answer to theset task, then you can kiss a good grade goodbye.

Answer the specific question that is set, not some other

question that you might like to be answering. Relevance

is all!

EXAMPLES

• Consider this literature question.

Why does Shakespeare’s Hamlet delay carrying out his revenge forthe murder of his father?

What are you being asked to do here?

To help you decide that, a useful approach is to underline three or fourkey words from the question. Why? Because that will focus yourthinking on the approach you need to take and concentrate your mind ongiving the examiners what they want.

2

HOW TO WRITE ESSAYS