I have known lots of people who are fantastic in discussions at university, contributing some really great thoughts and insights, but who then struggle when it comes to putting those thoughts on paper…
especially when the page is blank and you don’t know where to start.
especially when the page is blank and you don’t know where to start.
Essay writing is much more important in Britain than it is in other European countries (the Italians, for example, prefer oral exams) so it’s a skill that’s important to get right if you want a good grade. Starting with an empty Word document can seem scary, though, and it can be tempting to just start writing straight away.
The great news is that the process can easily be broken down into more manageable steps to get you away from a blank page towards the finished essay. The key to a good piece of work is definitely to plan well, so don’t forget to plan your time, too - don’t leave everything until the night before the deadline!
But before you can do any essay planning, you need to understand the question.
How to Understand the Question Effectively
How to Understand the Question Effectively
Put simply, essays are just a way to test your understanding of a subject. So to write a good essay you need to make sure that you:
- understand what the question is asking: you can’t include everything you know about the topic in a 2,000 word essay, so you need to make sure your answer answers the question. One really good way of helping yourself to do this is to turn your question into a thesis statement.
- understand what your marker wants: read your department’s assessment criteria to see the kind of critical analysis and comment that will get you the top marks. Think to yourself, “How can I show the marker that I know how to do this in my essay?” At undergraduate level, no one is expecting that you make exciting new discoveries about an idea or a text: the most important thing is that you make links between critics’ material to back up your argument.
Where Do I Start?
Once you know what the question is asking, don’t be afraid to use your lecture notes as a starting point for the essay. Of course, not all of your material will come from them, but in the UK an essay is often a closer look at something you’ve already studied in class. This means that they can be a good place to start when thinking about how you’re going to answer the question and the points you’re going to make. Often lecture notes also have reading lists, too, so if your essay topic was mentioned in a lecture this can be a good place to look before you go to the library.
Hopefully this has given you some useful advice on where to start once you’ve got your essay question. The next post will concentrate on how to get the most out of your research and reading. Let me know if you have any questions - or just want to say hi! - in the comments. Or you can tweet us @CLivingUK.
Jess is a modern foreign languages graduate from the University of Warwick, where she won the Giving to Warwick non-finalist prize and achieved a first in her dissertation. She also has an MA in Translation Studies.
Having spent time studying and working abroad, she has first-hand experience of the challenges that living in a new country can bring. She is excited to bring her knowledge of academic English to help others to achieve their potential.
COMING NEXT WEEK:
Essays: How to Make Sure That Your Essay Answers the Question
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