Ruth Livesey ruth.livesey@rhul.ac.uk
Some Guidelines for Longer Examined Essays
Choice of Question:
As ever, select the question that you find most interesting and stimulating – though
this might not be the one that looks ‘easy’. It is often the case that a question that
challenges you from the outset leads you to produce more considered analysis and
independent argument. If the question includes a quotation, try to acknowledge that
quotation at the outset and indicate how it maps out potential directions for response,
even if your particular argument moves away from it.
Please be aware of our guidelines concerning the repetition of coursework material:
Candidates must not replicate material from work submitted in fulfilment of
other coursework and examination requirements in this assignment. You may,
if you wish, refer to or discuss a text that you have used in your coursework or
address similar themes and perspectives. If you choose to do so, however,
we expect your examined essay to display such extension and development
that it is demonstrably a new piece of work. Any evidence of a simple
reproduction of coursework essays in part or whole will be treated as
plagiarism.
So – we enjoy the sense that you take an idea from a seminar presentation and then
research and develop in it full in an essay, for instance. But we don’t want to see
material from earlier course essays cut and pasted into other assignments.
Planning:
Given the length of these extended essays it is essential that you have some sort of
plan of your answer before you start to write. Although everyone has a different mode
of planning – from spider diagrams and detailed maps of each paragraph to a single
post-it note with five words, each referring to one section of the essay – you need to
have some sense of the essay both as a whole and as constituent parts (paragraphs
and/or sections). If you don’t take this time at the outset, you will have a much
tougher job in the editorial stages if the essay is to have a clear structure.
Structure:
If you are unsure what an introduction is for, when it is appropriate to begin and end
a paragraph and have received negative feedback on your syntax it is likely that your
work is hampered by problems of structure. However scintillating your insights are, if
they are not clearly argued through and not signalled (albeit subtly) to the reader
from the very beginning of the essay, they will get buried and lost to your examiner’s
sight.
Introductions:
Every essay should have an introduction that outlines the thesis (or argument) of the
assignment. The introduction is your chance to outline your response to the question,
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frame your choice of texts and foreground the historical context or theoretical tools
that you are going to deploy in answering the question. In longer essays it may be
appropriate to extend your introduction beyond a single paragraph and provide one
or two more in order to construct an introductory section (see below) that deals with
the concerns outlined above. You might think of your introductions as maps that
show your reader the route on which you are going to take them. But try for some
subtlety and richness even here: scatter some gems from your textual sources, give
a few hints of how you might be unpacking your material, rather than just a bald
statement of ‘In this essay I will...’. You may end up returning to and, where
necessary, rewriting your introduction once you have completed the essay.
Paragraphs:
Every paragraph should contain one idea or unit of your argument. When you move
on to another idea, then you start a new paragraph. This discipline will ensure that
each idea and aspect of your analysis receives a full examination. As you know
better than to provide one or two sentence paragraphs it will also help you work out
when an example or observation really is part of another, larger movement in your
analysis. The first sentence of every paragraph is your chance to return (with nuance
rather than ‘and now I will’...) to the question. Reading the first sentence of every
paragraph back should give a good sense of a digest of the essay. The body of the
paragraph unpacks the idea through detailed textual analysis, or further critical
argument. The last sentence of the paragraph can draw together your argument and
foreshadow the next idea in your essay.
Sections:
In a longer essay it may also help you to plan sections before breaking these down
into paragraphs. These sections may or may not be indicated to your reader. One
simple and unobtrusive way to signal such sections of your argument is to insert
roman numerals (I, II, III) in the centre of the page between paragraphs when you are
about to move on to a new section. For example, you might wish to indicate such
breaks at the end of your introductory section and between sections dealing with
different texts or distinct aspects of your argument. Subtitles for such sections can be
distracting for your reader: the movement of your argument and analysis should be
smooth and clear by itself without needing such prompts. If you do decide to use
section breaks you can use the opening paragraph of a new section to reflect back to
the question and your argument again, assess the conclusions you have drawn so
far and suggest how your next text or theme extends that argument – but again, the
art is to do this with a degree of subtlety and nuance, rather than overt statement.
Conclusions:
Every essay must have a conclusion. This need not be a simple restatement of the
foregoing argument. A conclusion can reach out towards the wider implications of the
question, mention other texts or theories that your thesis might be applied to or
sketch out developments in literary history that are foreshadowed in the works you
have examined.
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Editing
With longer essays careful editing becomes all the more crucial as it is likely that you
will have written them in a discontinuous fashion over a period of time. Editing is not
an optional extra; it is one of the most important skills you can learn in your time here
and an integral part of the writing process. All writers and critics (and publishers)
learn their trade through the process of re-reading, correcting and scrutinising their
own work. It is only through such a process that you can hope to develop a sense of
your own written ‘voice’ and prose style. You should leave enough time to re-read
and edit your essay three times: for content; for style; then one final time for
remaining errors.
Editing for Content:
Try to stand back from your work (it is really worth printing it out and reading it
somewhere where you don’t usually work) and imagine yourself reading it for the first
time. Does the introduction relate to the argument and analysis of the rest of the
essay? If new ideas emerged in the process of writing (and often the most exciting
elements of essays come about in this way) then go back and revise the introduction
to indicate these points to your reader. Does the argument flow smoothly or are there
some portions congested with ideas and others that wander from the point? Do you
explain concepts and contexts to your reader with clarity and accuracy? Are all your
dates, names, titles and quotations accurate? Although it is natural to become
attached to your own work, be ruthless and excise passages that are no longer
relevant to your argument/analysis. If necessary, stick them in a separate document
in order to reassure yourself that they are not lost if you change your mind when rereading the essay again.
Content and our Marking Criteria:
When you are editing for content bear the following points in mind: for a first
class mark an essay must ‘address the topic directly and keep it in focus
throughout…construct an exceptionally lucid argument, anchored in concisely
adduced textual evidence [and] bring a broad range of secondary reading…
to bear, intelligently and questioningly, on the literature under discussion.’ An
upper second-class essay must also ‘exhibit an ability to construct a clear
argument backed up by relevant textual evidence’ and bring secondary
literature to bear ‘intelligently’ on the literature discussed. Work that falls short
of clarity, coherence, focus and accuracy is classified either in the 2:2 or 3rd
band, depending on the level of the content.
Editing for Grammar and Style:
Before starting your essays we recommend that you take time to familiarise yourself
with a published style guide (we recommend the MHRA style guide, free to download
online; some students pursuing joint honours use the MLA guide which we also
accept). We expect a professional level of presentation at this point in your degree
and lapses will have a negative impact upon the examination of your work. Check
your presentation of footnotes, bibliography and quotations and ensure that they
comply with our style guidelines.
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Before editing for style, re-read an article or a chapter by one of your favourite critics.
Why do you enjoy reading his or her prose? Obviously a great deal of your
enjoyment results from his or her style. Read your own essay out loud. How does it
sound to you in comparison to the style of your favourite critic? How might you craft
more fluent syntax, phrasing and choice of words? As literary critics we know that
language is not a transparent medium: your style affects the expression of your ideas
and, like all readers, examiners prefer clear, fluent prose to clumsiness and a limited
command of written English.
Grammar, Style and our Marking Criteria:
A first class essay must display ‘an advanced command of the language by
expressing ideas in clear fluent and stylish prose, by using appropriate critical
terms precisely, and by exhibiting an expert grasp of the rules of grammar,
spelling and punctuation’. An upper-second class essay also ‘reveals a sure
command of the language by expressing ideas in lucid prose, by using
appropriate critical terms properly, and by evincing a firm grasp of the rules of
spelling, grammar and punctuation’. Essays that lapse from this standard will
not meet our marking criteria for upper-second class essays.
Put simply, however advanced the level of your ideas, if they are not expressed
grammatically and lack clarity you will drop down a class in the degree classifications
on the basis of our published marking criteria and national subject guidelines.
Finally: Read the essay through slowly one last time, looking for missed words and
typographical errors.
And even more finally …
Check your word count and state it at the end of your essay. The word count
excludes the bibliography and title but includes footnotes and quotations. We abide
by your stated word count, not that on turnitin which just counts total words in the
document. Be aware of college penalties for over-length work.
RL February 2013
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