Essay/Assignment Writing:
Planning to Editing
Agenda
4 stages in essay writing:
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Preparing
Planning
Drafting
Editing
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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.
2.
3.
4.
Preparing
Planning
Drafting
Editing
Post-essay writing
5. Learning from the experience
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Stage 1
Preparing
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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
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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
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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
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one clear idea
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support sentences
Support sentences add to the topic sentence, e.g.
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explain ideas raised
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define terms more fully
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give supporting detail
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Paragraphing (II)
For every paragraph, ask:
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Is there one main idea here?
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Is it stated clearly?
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Is it properly supported with evidence?
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Have I commented on the evidence?
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Does it link with the previous paragraph and
anticipate the next?
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Beginning a new paragraph
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To mark off the introduction and the conclusion
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To signal a shift to a new idea
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To indicate an important shift in time or place
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To emphasise a point
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To highlight a contrast
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Stage 3
Drafting
Drafting shapes the notes into an essay.
How?
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Revise, reconsider and rewrite what you have done.
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Fill in any gaps.
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Revise plan, now you know more.
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Checking a Rough Draft
Look for:
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the sequence of ideas
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logic
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paragraphing
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sign-posting
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need more information?
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grammar
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punctuation
Am I answering the question?
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Introductions
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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
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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 4
Editing
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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
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Word limit
Margins
Spacing
Font types and sizes
Legibility
Does it comply with the required layout?
Diagrams
References
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Citations
Examples:
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According to Jones (1998), ….
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Jones (1998) argued that ….
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To quote from Jones (1998), ….
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In name of text, Jones (1998) supported the idea of ….
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…. paraphrases …. (Jones, 1998, p82)
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Quotations
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Short quotation
Jones (1999, p23) described the idea as ‘quoting a few
words’ ….
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Long quotation
Jones wrote:
long quotes
long quotes
long quotes (Smith, 1999, p9)
etc. etc.
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References
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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
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A book
Cottrell, S.M. (1999) The Study Skills Handbook,
Macmillan.
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An article in a book
Tizard, 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.
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Bibliography
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A list of everything you read for the assignment.
They need not be referred to in your writing.
Listed in the same style as references.
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