Essay Writing Made Easy!

what is required. Be sure you know what is being asked for and then
consider what information is relevant and what is not.

Use a variety of relevant background texts, refer to your lecture notes
and heed any advice given by your lecturer. When you collect material,
always ask yourself what questions need to be answered and then take
good notes in your own words. Begin notes on each source on a new
page and do not forget to record details of the author, title of the book
and date of publication. Remember that copying words from another
writer’s work without acknowledging the source constitutes the serious
crime of plagiarism.

Once you have collected your source material you should then sketch
out a plan. Begin by writing three or four sentences, which provide a
summary of the essay. Begin by writing three or four sentences, which
provide a summary of the essay. You can amend or add to the plan as
you proceed and it provides a useful scaffold for your essay. It also
ensures that your cover all the main themes and that your essay
focuses on the question. Ideally you should plan to examine the
question from all sides, presenting various views before reaching a
conclusion based on the evidence.

The introduction to the essay should explain to the reader how you are
going to tackle the question and provide an outline of what will follow.
Then move on to the main body of the essay. Refer to your notes and
develop two or three logical arguments. Begin each paragraph with a
topic sentence, which clearly states the subject to be discussed, and
then use the remainder of the paragraph to fill out this opening
sentence. A good essay should finish rather than simply stop. That is to
say, the conclusion should provide a statement of your final position,
summing up the arguments that your opinions are based upon.

It is important to keep the essay relevant and to provide some
examples, quotations, illustrations, diagrams or maps wherever
appropriate. However, it is equally important to avoid the temptation
to pad your essay with unwanted information: this wastes your time
and undermines the relevant parts of the essay. In coursework and
assessment essays not written under examination conditions, do not
forget to acknowledge your sources in a bibliography.