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Writing essays

In your faculty studies, you will be required to write essays in many of your units of study. In general, we have covered the points relevant to producing successful essays in Chapter 4 on writing in your university studies. In the following section, we emphasise again the significant points for essay writing.

5.1 Analyse the task

The most important point is that you analyse your task, so that you understand clearly what you are required to do. You need to investigate the themes of the task. However, this activity in itself is insufficient, and would result in writing that is descriptive only. You must address the relationship and subtleties of the themes, as laid out in the task. An important factor in doing so is paying attention to the words in assignment tasks that direct you to the required cognitive process, or activity. These include processes like “discuss”, “compare and contrast”, “explain”, and soon. We have previously analysed a task in Chapter 4 which demonstrates this process.

When you are clear about what the task requires, you then need to research and find relevant information from the literature. You will use your critical thinking skills when you decide which publications, and which sections of these, are relevant to your task. Take notes on the relevant sections, remembering to keep the bibliographic details of the publications, and the page numbers if you take direct quotes.

5.2 Synthesise your information

When you have gathered and taken notes on all the information you need, the next step is to synthesise it and, in so doing, arrive at your response to the task. See Chapter 4 for an illustration of this.

5.3 Plan the essay

The next step is to plan your essay, so that you are presenting your response and explaining it clearly, logically and convincingly in the essay. Developing a succinct, initial response to the task as we have explained in point 5.2 is useful. This forms a focus for your essay, and can be included in the last part of the introduction. In this way, the reader is provided with direction as to your over-riding response to the task.

As essay is structured along the lines we have discussed in Chapter 4. It begins with an introduction, which is generally 10% of the overall size of the essay and states for the reader what will be done in the essay.

The body of the essay explains logically and in detail, and with properly-referenced evidence from the literature, your response. The body is made up of sections, which are divided into points. Each paragraph should contain a main point (usually the first sentence of the paragraph) and the remainder of the paragraph explains this point, with the use of evidence from the literature.

The conclusion to the essay is again about 10% of the overall size of the essay, and summarises in general form the response presented throughout the essay. The final sentence or two can open up the discussion by presenting implications, or a comment on the future of the issue.

5.4 Reference the sources of information

A vital point is that referencing must be completed appropriately. If information is used from a source, whether as a direct quote, or as a paraphrase or a summary, the source must be referenced. It is also important that the essay is more than merely a summary of information from the literature, even if it is referenced appropriately. An essay must represent the “writer’s voice”. This occurs through the writer developing their own response to the task, on the basis of the evidence in the literature or the data,and the evidence used to support the writer’s clearly expressed view.

In essays for some units such as some Management and Economics, it is suitable to use headings, in a similar way to the headings in a report. It is always necessary to ask your lecturer or tutor if headings can be used. If so, the headings must relate to and express succinctly the nature of the information that follows. If headings cannot be used, the links throughout the essay will need to be expressed in sentences.

In all, an essay needs to respond directly to the task, have a clear focus through the writer developing their own response to the task, explain the response in a logical and organised way, and convince the reader of its validity through the use of references and data as evidence. An essay must demonstrate a writer’s voice, and be appropriately referenced. It should be coherent, cohesive and flow logically.

Checklist for essay writing:

  • Make sure that you analyse your task and understand the underlying themes and their interaction.
  • Direct your efforts to developing your own task response. It must respond to the complexity embedded in the task, rather than merely describing the themes.
  • Make sure you provide your reader with a succinct overview of your response in the introduction.
  • Link sections of the body and paragraphs within these, so your reader understands what you are doing, and why.
  • Use appropriate headings in the essay, if appropriate.
  • Support points that you make with evidence from your reading, and acknowledge it appropriately.
  • Form your conclusion on the basis of your response to the task and the discussion in the body of your essay.