Teaching Essay Writing Should Not Be Formulaic

Teaching Essay Writing Should Not Be Formulaic Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. When I first came to the UK, it was hard to catch up with the study load. Promptness coupled with the highest quality â€" that’s what I like here. The assigned writer turned out to be very knowledgeable in the subject. Do I just say what my opinion is about the subject matter? ' Well, partly -- but it's not just a matter of expressing your personal opinion without justification or rationale. Some general things to keep in mind when doing your research is to be careful to stay on topic and always double check with yourself that the research is relevant to your essay. then it is clear that a balanced essay is required. Good critical essay writing is shaped by effective planning, following the plan for drafting, and improving by editing and proofreading. TheAlex Essay Writing Toolis a free app that you may find useful. Developed by the RLF, it takes you through all the stages of essay writing. Come up with your main line of argument, but plan your essay before you launch into the actual writing of the essay. That means that you need to decide exactly what your key points are. So you need a logical sequence of key points that actually build up your argument. Well, my first guideline for writing an essay is to make sure that you have a clear line of argument. Remember the main objective is to support the main line of argument that you want to present to the reader. That doesn't mean that you have to cover absolutely everything that you've read. Reading good journal articles will help you write better by observing how academics develop their arguments. Ask your professor or TA to suggest a couple of well-written articles that you can learn from. Thesis Statementis the most fundamental component to include in your introduction. It is your basic argument, demonstrating what you are trying to prove. It should be concise and clear and it should be a statement that someone can disagree with a.k.a. an argument. Originality in an academic essay is all about the way that you interrogate the material in front of you and the way that you put the material together. Can you show originality and flair in the way that you write your essay? Well, a lot of students often ask, ‘What do I do to show originality in an essay? Sometimes, using a certain number of class readings is a requirement. It is also a good idea when defining concepts to use class sources and material. Remember to never… EVER use Wikipedia as a cited source. It is a great way to get a better idea of different topics, concepts, people, and trivia, but not acceptable for an academic paper. If the essay title is in the form of a question - this might seem obvious - answer the question. After you have more clearly articulated your thesis and arguments by responding to these questions, you can spend some time thinking about the overall presentation. Once you have gotten on paper as much as you have to say, read it back carefully, see if you find contradictions, make new connections between ideas, or notice things you've omitted. The tentative thesis that you have plastered above your desk is there to keep you focused. This could be the specific time period you are discussing, country/location, specific case, etc. Being specific about the scope of your paper is like an academic safety guard, diminishing any criticisms for not addressing issues outside of your specified scope. Read the abstract and if that looks promising then read the introduction and the conclusion, skimming through the subheadings and/or the first sentence of each paragraph. This will give you a pretty good idea if the article will be of use to you and save you time from reading the whole thing. Start with class resources and then move to library resources. OK, my final guideline for writing an essay concerns originality. You'll probably see in most of the assessment criteria for essays in different subjects across the university that originality is one of the markers of first class essays. My next guideline for writing an essay is to make sure that you give it to someone else to read. In an essay, and even in longer essays like 4,000 word essays, you'll usually only need to have a handful of key points.