Written assignments help you develop and deepen your understanding of a topic. They give you the opportunity to assess evidence, develop and evaluate arguments and express your views. They can provide a stimulating and engrossing experience. Careful planning and preparation will make the process of writing an assignment less They take research, planning and practise. daunting. Preparation and planning are as important as the writing process itself. General Writing Guidelines Pay attention to the requirements of an assignment. When asked for evidence, do not offer opinion. When asked for your opinion, do not simply present the facts. The assignment brief will cue you as to how to respond. Pay attention to standards and rules. Your tutors will expect you to write carefully and clearly. They will expect your work to be free of errors in grammar and style. They will expect you to follow the rules for citing sources and to turn in work that is indeed your own. If in doubt, ask your tutor; they're here to help! Familiarise yourself with academic language. While you will want to avoid unnecessary use of jargon in your own writing, you will want to make sure that you have a clear understanding of important concepts and terms. Provide evidence to support your argument. Do not confuse evidence, assumption, and opinion. Evidence is something that you can prove. Assumption is something that one can safely infer from the evidence at hand. Opinion is your own particular interpretation of the evidence. Adapted from Dartmouth College [online], 2004
Writing Rules Write in a rhetorical stance Consider fully what you want to say and to whom you are saying it Do not shorten or abbreviate words Do not shorten: ‘don’t’, ‘won’t’, ‘didn’t’ etcetera. Do not abbreviate: ‘etc’, ‘info’, ‘pro’ etcetera.
Avoid writing in the first person Instead of ‘my assignment will contain…’ write, ‘the assignment will contain…’ Follow rules for acronym use (Ask your tutor which method they require) Follow acronym with meaning in brackets, or Follow full meaning with the acronym, in brackets. Provide a glossary of terms.
Essay Writing Planning an essay: Decode the essay question – what is it asking you to do? Identify the key words. Underline them. Box the activity words. What case are you going to argue? Identify sub-questions you intend to answer. (Why? What? Where? When? Who? How?) With these questions in mind, embark on your research. Your research should answer these questions and maybe spark off new or more specific ones. Write them down. Consider whether they are relevant to the essay. Re-visit the essay question. Rationalise your research notes, and be selective. Ditch what you do not need. Organise your material. Plan your essay, (use whichever method suits you brainstorming, mind-mapping, bullet points, index cards, grid of pro’s and con’s). Identify the key/main themes. Order/number them into a logical sequence. How long should the assignment be? Allot a rough number of words to each section. Consider the importance of each section. Create mini plans for each theme; identify the main idea for each paragraph. Create an outline based on the structure of an essay. You have to develop an argument in stages towards your conclusion so you need to link each stage to the next one. Take a critical look at the outline. Does it mention the facts you intended to include? Does it present facts and arguments in a logical sequence e.g. simple to complex, specific to general, ineffective to effective? Does it make a convincing case? The following basic format can be used for all types of writing. Different types of structure can be developed within it according to the approach required. Structuring an essay: 1. Title/question – The essay/assignment needs to focus on the title/question and address it. 2. Introduction –
In your introduction, explain what the essay is going to do. The first sentence needs to grab the attention of the reader. It should be related to your essay and it should be doing important work for the argument you intend to present.
Essay Writing continued Explain how you interpret the question. Identify issues that you are going to explore. Give a brief outline of how you will deal with each issue and in which order. Length: about one- tenth of the essay. 3. Develop your argument or line of reasoning Paragraph 1 This paragraph covers the first thing your introduction said you would address. The first sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the topic of the paragraph. Include relevant examples, details, evidence, quotations, references. Lead up to the next paragraph. Paragraph 2 and other paragraphs The first sentence, or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraphs, then introduce the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraph’s topic. 4. Conclusion The conclusion contains no new material. Summarise your argument and the main themes. State your conclusions. Make it clear why those conclusions are important or significant. In your last sentence, sum up your argument very briefly, linking it to the title. Length: about one- tenth of the essay.
5. References and / or bibliography References and bibliography List all the books, articles and other materials you have referred to within the essay. If a bibliography is required, list relevant texts, including those you read but did not refer to in the essay.
Extract taken from: Cottrell S. The Study Skills Handbook, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2003. p160 Writing for University. ISBN 1-4039-1135-5
Essay Writing continued Writing an essay: Make sure you save your work frequently. Make sure you back up your work. Avoid using the first/second person e.g. ‘I’ , ‘we’ ‘you’ etc. Substitute ‘I think’ etc with ‘It seems that’ etc. Adopt a neutral and objective tone. Use good, clear English, whole sentences and punctuation. Avoid slang and abbreviations. Avoid long, complicated sentences. If you are in any doubt keep it plain and simple. Do not use irrelevant padding. Use your own words. Do not plagiarise. Reference quotes and other people’s ideas. Use ‘endnotes’ (if relevant) Keep referring to the question and your essay plan. Proof read and redraft your work at least once. Make sure you include references and a bibliography. Redrafting your essay: Draft 1: Ideas and arguments - don't worry about layout, style or grammar. Draft 2: Check / amend the layout / order. Draft 3: Amend the flow and style (does it sound academic?) Draft 4: Final proof read, spell check and editing. Leave at least a day between drafts.
Final proof read: Does the opening sentence to your introduction grab the reader’s attention? It should be related to the essay question. Check the content; does the essay say what you mean? Is it clear? Read it aloud. This helps to sort out clumsy and muddled phrasing. Have you covered the main aspects in enough depth? Is each main point supported by evidence or examples? Is the content accurate? Make sure the tense is consistent. Could you use any better words. Have you often repeated the same word? Check the spelling; the spell checker does not always provide the correct word. Check the grammar and punctuation. Is the essay well laid out; is the format clear? Avoid fancy fonts. Make sure you retain a second copy.