UCC DSS
Academic Skills Programme
Essay Writing and Proofreading
© J. Amberson
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Contents
• Essay Writing
– Key Words
– Essential Ingredients
– Drafting
• Referencing Taster
• ‘Turnitin’
• Proofreading
© J.Amberson
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Key to Essay Writing
• Key to good essay writing is to:
– Identify
– Trace and
– Develop
• Certain key words in your
– Research
– Planning and
– Writing.
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What are key words?
• Key words are:
a. Action words at the start of your essay title
b. Key periods, ideas or concepts
c. Relationships to time, space, location
e.g. Examine (a) the use of propaganda (b)
during the Irish Civil War (c) in Ireland (c).
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Understanding the Title 1
ANALYSE:
• Describe the main ideas and principles or assumptions on which they are
based, describe the significance and results of those ideas and describe
how the ideas are related.
COMPARE:
• Show the similarities and differences.
CONTRAST:
• To compare in order to show difference only.
DEFINE:
• Give the exact meaning; to be safe, also give an example.
DESCRIBE:
• Give a detailed and accurate picture.
DISCUSS:
• Write in detail from different points of view.
EXAMINE:
• Explore – inquire into – attempt to discover.
EXPLAIN:
• Give details so that it can be understood, (account for) or illustrate the
meaning by examples.
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Understanding the Title 2
GIVE AN ACCOUNT:
• Same as describe.
HOW?
• In what way, by what means for method, to what extent.
OUTLINE:
• State the main ideas of a topic in a general way. Do not give all the details.
REVIEW:
• Examine the subject critically.
STATE:
• Give information, a conclusion or an opinion briefly and exactly.
SUMMARISE:
• Briefly present the main points; do not go into too much detail or use too many
examples.
TRACE:
• Show that you understand how a topic has progressed and developed from start
to end.
WHY?
• For what reasons.
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Researching Your Essay
• What key words did you identify in you essay
title?
– These are the words used for a literature search
• Do an online literature search, including
reviewing UCC’s resources, before you
physically enter the library
• Do not wander, undirected, up and down the
shelves looking for resources.
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What resources can I use?
Use a wide range of resources to support your
essay, for example:
– Peer reviewed journal articles
– Databases
– Recommended reading
– Supporting additional material – material from
depositories, Youtube and television
documentaries and contemporary documentation
(i.e. newspapers, legal and historical documents).
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Broad Spectrum Online Research
• 1st steps
– Wikipedia: just to find your feet,
Never reference this!
– Online dictionaries, encyclopaedias
and reference sources
• 2nd steps
– Academic or peer reviewed websites and journals
– Association resources
– Look out for websites ending in .edu or acu.co.uk –
these are academic websites.
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Evaluating Resources
Online
• Literature searches can be done in:
– UCC’s online catalogue,
– using Google Scholar,
– other reputable or recommended websites
• Look out for websites ending in .edu or
acu.co.uk – these are academic websites.
© J.Amberson
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Evaluating Resources
Print
• Consult your recommended reading lists
supplied by your Department. These usually
stored in UCC DESK RESERVE
• Check publication dates – these should be
relatively recent unless you’re specifically
looking for contemporary documents
• Check publisher and author – is it an
established academic publisher? How well
published and experienced is the author?
© J.Amberson
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Documenting my Research
• Such broad spectrum research turns
up a whole load of other problems…
How to reference this
correctly?
• That’s another can of worms…
What referencing system does your
department use?
© J.Amberson
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Reading
• Using your chosen key words…
• Read Conclusion or Summary first
• Check Table of Contents and Index
• Scan read
• If reading an electronic resource, add your own notes
using Onenote, Stickies or ‘Insert comment’ in Word.
• Use CTRL and F – text FIND box
• If in print, use coloured pens, drawings and sketches,
post it notes (if you trust them to stick), handwritten
notes or Mindmaps.
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Next Steps
• Once you’ve figured out what the
question is asking, evaluate material you have
already gathered which helps to answer the
question
• Check out:
– Lecture and tutorial notes?
– Blackboard slides and class handouts?
– Background reading and core texts?
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Next, Next Steps!
• Now you must decide which bits of the answer go
where
–
–
–
–
–
–
References to lecture and reading material
Definitions
Introductory and concluding comments
Own opinions
Supporting evidence
Future research, your questions or concerns
• Where do the above fit?
• Are they appropriate to the question?
• But first, what does an academic essay look like?
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Essays:
Essential Ingredients
© J.Amberson
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Essential Ingredients
The Introduction needs to do a number of things:
• Introduce the topic: whet reader’s appetite!
• List the main points covered i.e. provide an
overview
• Explain any limitations in your work. You should
pre-empt questions that may arise in the reader’s
mind. You might say things like ‘In this essay, I am
going to concentrate on the twentieth century’ or
‘In this report, ‘Ireland’ refers to the Republic of
Ireland’.
• Alert the reader to any major conclusions.
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Essential Ingredients
The Main Body or central part of your essay
• If you make 3 main points in this section of the
essay there should be 3 visually separate
paragraphs, which deal with separate but related
points
• Spaces between paragraphs should be obvious
• Each paragraph should deal with separate point
i.e. argument should progress from point to
point.
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Essential Ingredients Continued
Your Conclusion should include:
• a restatement of your key argument
• a demonstration of your proof for this
argument
• perhaps a nod to future
research/developments.
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What is referencing?
• Referencing or citation is needed when you
quote or use an idea or material which is not
your own
• It gives details of the author, source and
nature of the material which is not your own
and which is included in your work
• It gives the reader directions to
find the source of the material.
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What is Plagiarism?
• Quoting verbatim (exactly as it appears
on the page!) from a source
without referencing it
• Taking someone else’s thoughts,
argument and supporting
evidence without showing that they aren’t yours
• Submitting someone else’s work, in whatever
form,
without
complete
and
accurate
acknowledgement.
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Turnitin
• Turnitin is a tool used by UCC to prevent
plagiarism. It:
– compares a student’s submitted assignment
against a set of already written sources to identify
areas of overlap between the submitted
assignment and existing works
– creates opportunities to help students identify
how to properly attribute sources rather than
paraphrase
– works as a deterrent and an educational tool.
© O. Whelton, 2013
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But…
Have you proofread your assignment
This is:
• The final step before submitting your assignment
• Where you check for omissions and errors of
spelling and grammar
• When you complete and double check
referencing
• When you ensure you have satisfied
departmental guidelines i.e.
– font, spacing, page numbering and
cover sheet requirements.
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OK I made mistakes,
but HOW do I spot them?
• Pay attention to red and green lines and other
messages from MS Word or similar
• Word won’t pick up every error, i.e. words left
out, so read, read and re-read
• Record your assignment as it’s read aloud and
listen back i.e. dictaphone or I-phone
• Use your friends and family to check and
proofread your work
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Checklist
Structure
•
•
•
•
•
•
Have I arranged the material logically?
Is there fluency between each paragraph?
Have I left out transitions where they are needed?
Do I introduce the subject of each paragraph?
Does each argument relate to the overall essay plan?
Has each argument developed clearly and in enough
depth?
• Have I dealt with all the implications identified in the
introduction?
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Checklist
Evidence
• Is there enough evidence? Or too much?
• Sometimes you may have too much and need
to prune unnecessary detail for the word
count
• Is evidence relevant?
• Is it specific enough? (avoid generalisations or
abstract concepts)
• Do I show rather than tell?
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Checklist
Starting and Finishing
• Do introduction and conclusion relate to each other?
• Have I avoided raising new issues?
• Have I delivered on promises made in introduction?
Style:
• Have I removed unnecessary words, sentences and
paragraphs?
• Have I broken up complex sentences enough?
• Have I replaced long/obscure words with simple ones?
• Have I removed all unnecessary modifiers in favour of
good strong nouns and verbs?
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Checklist
• Check accuracy of your facts & quotations;
otherwise you might lose the reader’s trust
• As you revise your style keep a simple checklist of
those things you’re looking for
• Remember, the more you take out the more
readable your essay becomes
• Get someone to read it to you so you can see where
the fluency breaks down or where the sequence of
ideas seems illogical.
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