Writing an Essay
An essay is not simply an opportunity to show how much you know about a subject. You are usually being asked a particular question, and everything you include should help you answer it.
Research is important, but so is deciding what to do with it. Ten pages of perfectly accurate information will not make a strong essay if the reader is still wondering what you are trying to argue.
Read the Question
It sounds obvious, but before you start writing, make sure you know exactly what you have been asked to do. Discuss, compare, evaluate and analyse do not ask for quite the same thing.
It is very easy to begin with the question and gradually drift towards the subject instead. The difference matters. You may know a great deal about the subject, but your essay is being assessed on how well you answer the question.
Keep going back to it while you write. If a paragraph is interesting but does nothing to help answer the question, ask yourself why it is there.
Give the Essay a Structure
Your introduction should give the reader a clear idea of what the essay will address and the direction it will take. The main body then develops that argument, point by point, using evidence where it is needed.
Paragraphs should not simply follow one another because that is the order in which you happened to think of them. There should be a reason why one point follows another.
Your conclusion brings those points together. It is not the place to introduce an entirely new argument or an important piece of evidence that the reader has not seen before.
Use Your Sources
Academic sources support your argument; they do not make the argument for you. Quoting several authorities does not automatically demonstrate that you understand the subject.
The important part is what you do with the information. Why is a source relevant? Does it support your argument, challenge it or provide evidence that needs to be considered alongside something else?
A quotation should have a reason for being there. The reader should not have to work out why you included it.
Academic English Should Still Be Readable
Academic writing needs to be precise, but it does not need to be unnecessarily complicated. Long words and long sentences do not make an argument more intelligent.
If you are writing in English as another language, concentrate first on saying exactly what you mean. A complicated sentence that imitates formal academic English can easily become less accurate than a simpler one.
Use the terminology your subject requires, but do not make the rest of the language difficult simply because the subject is academic.
Read What You Actually Wrote
When you have spent days or weeks working on an essay, you know what you meant to say. That can make it surprisingly difficult to notice what is actually on the page.
Read the finished essay as though you had not written it. Can you identify the argument? Does each paragraph contribute to it? Can you follow the progression from one point to the next?
Most importantly, go back to the original question. After reading your essay, could somebody clearly explain how you answered it?
