The word ‘essay’ is also a verb meaning ‘to attempt’. It still retains something of that meaning in it’s commoner sense of ‘a piece of continuous prose (not like a series of notes) in which the writer explores a topic’. As essays are one of the ways in which examination boards test you will need plenty of practice in writing them.

There are many reasons why you need to write essays:

• The experience of note-taking, planning and writing an essay places you in the position of really thinking through arguments for yourself. Few things concentrate the mind as much as having to produce an essay! It enables you to really engage with the issues.
• Your essay enables you and your tutor to gauge your progress and suggests what further work you may need to carry out.

Clarifying your purpose

When you first encounter an essay question, ask yourself:

• What is the key verb? Am I being asked to ‘discuss’, ‘compare’, ‘give reasons for’, ‘analyse’…? Your essay will need to address directly the request in the question.
• What is the questioner looking for? Clearly this will depend on the precise content of the question, but in more general terms all essays should provide:
  • Evidence that you have done enough thoughtful reading and understood the issues at stake.
  • Evidence of an ability to reason effectively – to develop a line of argument, comparing and contrasting different views on the matter.

Let’s consider how you can best provide this evidence.

Planning your essay

Always plan your essay. This is where note-taking is useful. An essay needs to be crafted; it is not just an expression of everything you know about the question. Never begun an essay without having thought through the order in which you intend to lay out the issues. The architect and the carpenter both plan their work first- so must the essay writer.

Your plans can be in brief note form. But do make them. And remember, even when your time is limited you are unlikely to gain anything by omitting this stage.

Essay structure

One approach might be to think of an essay as a courtroom, in which a case is made, with evidence for and against a proposition. You have the choice to be either a barrister or a judge.

As a barrister your aim should be to make your case as strongly as you can to the judge and jury. To do that effectively you need to lay out not only your own position, but also that of the other side.

As a judge. At the end of the trial a judge goes through the evidence of the prosecuting and defending councils, weighing up the evidence each way. She may then advise the jury on the verdict.

The second approach is often the most useful. In either case you need to be fair to all the alternative arguments. For your case or verdict to be convincing, you have to show that you have dealt with all the relevant views properly.

Once you have decided on your approach:

• Give your essay a clear, brief introduction, stating what you intend to do.
• Either –
  • Assign a number of paragraphs describing or stating a case, followed by more paragraphs discussing problems arising out of the foregoing and/or the alternative case/s

  Or –

  • Alternate pro and contra in the paragraphs as you go.
• Finish with a clear conclusion. You may feel that you have no neat answer to the problems you have been discussing, but you need to review what the main issues were in the main body of the essay.

Examples

Whenever you can, give examples to illustrate what you are trying to say. Examples often clarify what’s being said and show (if you have thought of them yourself) that you have really understood the problem.

Analysing

When you write an essay, part of your task will be to describe an argument, problem or position. However you should avoid mere description. Try to analyse. Use your critical intelligence to examine claims, weigh them up, check them for flaws, etc. You’ll feel more confident about doing this once you have worked the course materials.

Offering your position

By all means give your reader your own views, but always base them on the evidence in the essay. Never make unsupported claims. Show why something is the case – don’t just state it. And never pad out an essay with vague generalisations.

Finally…

Try and enjoy crafting your essay. It can be a very therapeutic way of informing the reader about all you know on the subject, and when you have finished and are happy with how it reads it can be a very satisfying and celebratorary feeling!

Next steps

Why not download our free study guide on academic essay writing from the UCAS website for even more support.