Essay Writing
What makes a good essay?
Essay Writing
• What is a good essay?
• Planning
• Essay structure
• Editing and proofreading
• Referencing and avoiding plagiarism
• Paraphrasing
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
A Good Essay
• answers the question set,
• develops an argument logically( which means being coherent
and consistent where one point follows from another),
• clearly indicates the evidence on which the argument and
individual points are based,
• acknowledges the sources of the information,
• gives the message clearly.
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
Simple rules to follow
• Develop a logical argument
• Be coherent, consistent and concise
• Provide evidence
• Acknowledge sources
• Conform to directions
• Use clear language
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
Planning(Step by step)
(1st step)Brainstorming
 Analyse the topic of your essay question
 Consider time period and word limit to understand the
limits of your discussion
 Break down your essay question by asking what, when,
why, where, who, how, to what extent, how significanttype questions regarding your topic
 Always consider your lectures and readings while doing
that
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
(2nd step) Making of a preliminary plan
 You have to form a preliminary plan from the ideas you
generate from the brainstorming
 Having such a plan will guide your research and help you to
review after you have completed your research
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
(3rd step)Research the topic
 Some of the ideas will be covered during the
lectures
 In the library focus on the issues that are not
covered in your course outline
 While reading write down the bibliographic details
of any reference you make notes from(page numbers
for direct quotes)
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
(4th step) Reviewing your materials and finalising
your plan
 Consider the order in which you want to present
the ideas for a structure and a logical
progression in your argument
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
Essay Structure
• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion
The Structure of the each paragraph
• A topic sentence states the main or controlling idea
• Supporting sentences explains and develops the point
you’re making
• Evidence Most of the time, your point should be supported
by some form of evidence from your reading, or by an
example drawn from the subject area.
• Analysis Don’t just leave the evidence hanging there analyse and interpret it! Comment on the
implication/significance/impact and finish off the paragraph
with a critical conclusion you have drawn from the evidence.
• a concluding sentence restates your point, analyses the
evidence or acts as a transition to the next paragraph.
https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-your-essay
Editing and Proofreading
• After finishing go over your essay several times.
• Look for overall structural coherence first.
• Look at style and expression(your choice of
vocabulary, the construction of your sentences and
the way ideas are introduced).
• Check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/study-support/study-skills/handouts/essay.php
Referencing and avoiding plagiarism
•
“How to avoid plagiarism
When using sources in your papers, you can avoid plagiarism by knowing what must be documented.
•
Specific words and phrases
If you use an author's specific word or words, you must place those words within quotation marks and
you must credit the source.
•
Information and Ideas
Even if you use your own words, if you obtained the information or ideas you are presenting from a
source, you must document the source.
•
Information: If a piece of information isn't common knowledge (see below), you need to provide a
source.
•
Ideas: An author's ideas may include not only points made and conclusions drawn, but, for instance, a
specific method or theory, the arrangement of material, or a list of steps in a process or characteristics of
a medical condition. If a source provided any of these, you need to acknowledge the source.”
http://www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_plagiarism.html
Common Knowledge?
• “You do not need to cite a source for material considered common knowledge:
General common knowledge is factual information considered to be in the public
domain, such as birth and death dates of well-known figures, and generally accepted dates
of military, political, literary, and other historical events. In general, factual information
contained in multiple standard reference works can usually be considered to be in the
public domain.
Field-specific common knowledge is "common" only within a particular field or
specialty. It may include facts, theories, or methods that are familiar to readers within that
discipline. You must be sure that this information is so widely known within that field that
it will be shared by your readers.
If in doubt, be cautious and cite the source. And in the case of both general and fieldspecific common knowledge, if you use the exact words of the reference
source, you must use quotation marks and credit the source.”
http://www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_plagiarism.html
Paraphrasing
• Methods of Paraphrasing
Change the structure; break up long sentences,
combine short ones, expand phrases for clarity,
or shorten them for conciseness
Change the words; use synonyms or a phrase that
expresses the same meaning
http://www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html
Some examples to compare
• The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse
quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript
should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount
of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing
Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
• A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down
to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential
to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
• An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the
amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).
• A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many
of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy
should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source
material copied while taking notes.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/03/
Giving References
•
The Harvard Referencing System
 Surname of author(s) or name of organization, followed by the date of publication in round
brackets.
e.g. “As with any investment, working capital exposes the business to risk”
(McLaney 2003)
 Title followed by the date in round brackets.
e.g. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (2003), this ...
 If the author produced more than one work in the same year use letters to indicate this (arrange
the items in the list of references alphabetically by their title first):
e.g. Singh (2004a) claims that ...
Singh (2004b) is of the opinion that ...
 When citing a secondary source, for example, when including source material from
a work you haven’t read, as cited in another work which you have read, this must be
indicated in your text. For example:
e.g. Smith, cited by Laycock and Shaw (2006), believes that ..
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/references.pdf
• Direct quotes should always include the page
number
e.g. Shah (2002, p.33) indicates that ...
Jones (2000, pp.17-20) disputes this claim.
Wheeler (2007: 122) argues for ...
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/references.pdf
Good Luck with your essays!
Thanks for listening