Study groups are the same idea but with the more flexible structure of reading, studying, or writing together. Working in a group has been proven to improve accountability, motivation, and the achievement of desired outcomes–especially during online classes. We facilitate Write-In Studio hours or help Self-Guided Groups to get started The body of the essay should be organised into paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with a different aspect of the issue, but they should also link in some way to those that precede and follow it. This is not an easy thing to get right, even for experienced writers, partly because there are many ways to successfully structure and use paragraphs Jan 27, · This is a good way of working out what important points or issues make up the overall question – it can help focus your reading and start giving your essay a structure. However, try not to have too many sub-questions as this can lead to following up minor issues, as opposed to the most important points
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The first thing to do when preparing to write an essay is to make a plan. You could just rush in and write everything that comes into your head, but that would make it difficult for your marker to read and would reduce the effectiveness of your ideas.
These will make much stronger arguments if you group them together than they would do on their own. The guidance on this page will show you how to plan and structure your essay to produce a strong and focused response to the question. A very common complaint from lecturers and examiners is that students write a lot of information but they just don't answer the question.
Don't rush straight into researching — give yourself time to think carefully about the question and understand what it is asking. Set the question in context — how does it fit with the key issues, debates and controversies in your module and your subject as a whole? An essay question often asks about a specific angle or aspect of one of these key debates. If you understand the context it makes your understanding of the question clearer.
Is the question open-ended or closed? If it is open-ended you will need to narrow it down. Explain how and why you have decided to limit it in the introduction to your essay, so the reader knows you appreciate the wider issues, but that you can also be selective. If it is a closed question, your answer must refer to and stay within the limits of the question i.
specific dates, texts, or countries. But make sure you then consider the question as a whole again, not just as a series of unconnected words.
Re-read the question — Read the question through a few times. Explain it to yourself, so you are sure you know what it is asking you to do.
Try breaking the question down into sub-questions — What is the question asking? Why is this important? How am I going to answer it? What do I need to find out first, second, third in order to answer the question?
This is a good way of working out what important points or issues make up the overall question — it can help focus your reading and start giving your essay a structure.
However, try not to have too many sub-questions as this can lead to following up minor issues, as opposed to the most important points. Before reading - This is a really valuable stage which many people miss out, but it makes your reading and planning much easier. Before rushing into your reading, note down your initial thoughts about the question - a spider diagram or mind map is good for this. This helps you start formulating your argument and direction for answering the question. It reading university essay help helps you focus your reading, as you can pinpoint what you need to find out and go straight to the parts of books, chapters, articles that will be most relevant.
After reading - After your reading, it is often good to summarise all your findings on a page. Again, a spider diagram can help with this. Bringing together the key points from your reading helps clarify what you have found out, and helps you find a pathway through all the ideas and issues you have encountered.
If you include brief details of authors and page nos. for key information, it can act as a quick at-a-glance guide for reading university essay help the evidence you need to support your points later. It also helps you see how your initial response to the question might have changed or become more sophisticated in light of the reading you've done.
It leads into planning your essay structure. Planning your essay makes it much more likely that you will end up with a coherent argument. You need to work out what to include, and what can be left out. It is impossible to cover everything in an essay, and your markers will be looking for evidence of your ability to choose material and put it in order. Brainstorm all your ideas, then arrange them in three or four groups.
Not everything will fit so be prepared to discard some points you can mention them briefly in your introduction. Writing a summary - Some people plan best once they have written something, reading university essay help, as reading university essay help helps clarify their thinking.
If you prefer to write first, try summarising the central idea of your essay in a few sentences. This gives you a clear direction for working out how you are going to break it down into points supported by evidence.
You can then use one of the methods below to write a more detailed plan. This kind of plan gets all the main ideas down on a page with key words and phrases round the central question. You can then order your ideas by numbering the arms of the spider diagram. This method is flexible and creative, so is good to use first even if you like to order your points in linear form afterwards.
Example of a spider diagram. It can be a brief outline of the main point per paragraph, or a more detailed plan with sub-points and a note of the evidence to support each point e. source and page no. If you know you tend to write too much, cut down the number of individual points in your plan. If you find it difficult to write enough, expand on some of your points with sub-points in the planning stage. Reading university essay help plan is perfect, so be prepared for your ideas to change as you write your essay.
However, once you have an initial plan it is much easier to adapt it and see where new things fit if your thinking does change.
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If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results. Library LibGuides Essay writing Planning and structuring your essay Search this Guide Search. Essay writing Expert guidance from Study Advice at the University of Reading. Home Planning and structuring your essay Introduction Answering the question Generating ideas Planning your essay Different planning methods Writing your essay Developing your essay writing Useful links for writing essays Study Advice Guide: Essay Writing Download a printable PDF version of this guide.
Study Advice Helping students to achieve study success with guides, reading university essay help, video tutorials, seminars and one-to-one advice sessions. Academic writing LibGuide Expert guidance on punctuation, grammar, writing style and proof-reading. Guide to citing references Includes guidance on why, when and how to use references correctly in your academic writing.
Reading and notemaking LibGuide Expert guidance on reading university essay help your reading and making effective notes. Academic Phrasebank Use this site for examples of linking phrases and ways to refer to sources. Ten stages of assignment success Prezi Based upon Burns and Sinfield, Essential Study Skills. Critical Thinking A short video on Critical Thinking that the BBC have prepared in partnership with The Open University.
Answering the question A very common complaint from lecturers and examiners is that students write a lot of information but they just don't answer the question, reading university essay help.
Top tip: Set the question in context — how does it fit with the key issues, debates and controversies in your module and your subject as a whole?
Answering the question and planning video Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic. Answering the question and planning transcript Read along while watching the video tutorial. Generating ideas Before reading - This is a really valuable stage which many people miss out, but it makes your reading and planning much easier. The kinds of things to note briefly are: What you already know about the topic — from lectures, seminars, reading university essay help, general reading university essay help. Things you don't know about the topic, but need to find out in order to answer the question.
Initial responses reading university essay help answers to the question — what you think your conclusion might possibly be. Planning your essay Planning your essay makes it much more likely that you will end up with a coherent argument.
It enables you to work out a logical structure and an end point for your argument before you start writing. It reading university essay help you don't have to do this type of complex thinking at the same time as trying to find the right words to express your ideas.
It helps you to commit yourself to sticking to the point! Outline what you are going to include in each section: Introduction : Address the question, reading university essay help, show why it's interesting and reading university essay help you will answer it. Main body : Build your argument, reading university essay help. Put reading university essay help groups of ideas in a sequence to make a persuasive argument.
One main point in each paragraph. Conclusion : Summarise your arguments and evidence, and show how they answer the original question. Structuring your essay video Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
Structuring your essay transcript Read along while watching the video tutorial. Top tip: If you know you tend to write too much, cut down the number of individual points in your plan, reading university essay help.
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The Writing Center Campus Box # SASB North Ridge Road Chapel Hill, NC () writing_center@blogger.com Jan 27, · This is a good way of working out what important points or issues make up the overall question – it can help focus your reading and start giving your essay a structure. However, try not to have too many sub-questions as this can lead to following up minor issues, as opposed to the most important points Of course, the writer's personal experience may occasionally come into the essay, and all essays depend on the writer's own observations and knowledge. But most essays, especially academic essays, begin with a close reading of some kind of text—a painting, a movie, an event—and usually with that of a written text
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