(CONTINUED) Essay Writing: Learn how to Become a True Writer
As with other types of writing, essays have their specific requirements. Most of the time, tutors explain these to their students, but if you have doubts, contact your tutor (examination body). In broad terms, your essay should show your ability to:
- quickly gather relevant information and use it to focus on a given topic
- read in a critical and purposeful manner
- discuss problems and processes and lay out your arguments in favor of a certain conclusion
- back theory up with concrete examples
- use creativity to make a personal contribution to the topic
- arrange the material in a logically consistent manner while preserving clarity of expression.
Clarity usually takes precedence over readability (except where a tutor demands creativity), but you can imagine what tutors have to endure when going through tens if not hundreds of essays in a single week. Rather than trying to achieve effect, try to make your essay as clear and readable as possible. For models of readability, refer to examples of prize-winning journalism. As part of their secondary school exams, students are often tasked with writing letters, reports, and articles, rather than essays, and term papers often take these forms. Keywords: essay writing accounting, essay writing application letter, essay writing architecture, essay writing art, essay writing aviation, biology essay writing, business studies essay writing, chemistry essay writing, civil engineering essay writing, English literature essay writing, essay writing music, essay writing communications, essay writing computer science, essay writing techniques criminal justice, criminal law essay writing tips, ethics essay writing tutorial, essay writing ecology, essay writing economics, education essay writing tips, English 101 essay writing tutorial.
CASE STUDIES
Neil showed the opening paragraph of his term paper on ‘Should the Monarchy be Abolished?’ to his tutor:
In its current state of recession, the country can no longer afford to support the monarchy as a model of governance. The various castles and palaces would cost tens of millions in taxpayer money to maintain. And regardless of the cost, the queen is stripped of any meaningful powers, so continuing to finance her and her family makes little economic sense. The UK is part of the EU now, and trade with the Commonwealth has been reduced to a minimum, so there is no need for the Commonwealth to have a formal leader and/or patron. The way some of the royal family’s younger members act throws into doubt its ability to serve as an edifying example of unity and morality for the nation, what with their numerous escapades and breakups.
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Tutor’s comments
Asked by his tutor which way the essay was headed from there, Neil said he was still thinking of how to develop the plot but that he would definitely elaborate on the points already mentioned.
The tutor told Neil that his essay’s main goal was to make sure that readers understand his arguments and that this required elaborating on these arguments, rather than just mentioning them. The remark about tourists was irrelevant, as it left unanswered the contribution of the monarchy to revenues from tourism.
Analyze your data. Poll data suggest loyalty to the Queen. You have to compare your arguments with those in favor of the monarchy. Have there been polls in the US saying how many tourists would visit the UK if it abandoned the monarchy? If the number of visitors were the same as under the monarchy, it would better support your argument on this point. Before you start writing, think of how you are going to lay out your arguments. Consider different aspects: tourism, the Commonwealth, and respect. Neil said that he would not just stop after making the mention of the Queen but that he would phase it out.
The tutor said, ‘Yes, you have to explain that part of it, maybe even in the very first sentence.’
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Marjorie learns how to illustrate with examples
Marjorie is discussing her essay with her tutor:
The purpose of the essay is to describe the way Jane Eyre’s character develops over the course of the novel and the way Charlotte Bronte depicts that development.
Tutor: you seem to have lost track of the main theme as you delved into the social background. Describe the rebellious child’s transformation into a mature woman with a strong character. Discuss the stages of this transformation.
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Marjorie: She was rebellious growing up as a child under the care of her aunt and took some of that rebellion with her to the boarding school. But a friend taught her the principles of Christian tolerance there. Jane then went to work for Rochester as governess and fell in love with him. That is the main turning point in the plot. After that happened, she visited her aunt and turned the tables, so to speak. And that is how she really asserted herself for the first time in her life. Then she stopped short of marrying Rochester, for fear of bigamy. Then she ran away to stay with the Rivers family. There, she reasserted herself again by declining to marry parson Rivers, as doing so would have been out of duty, rather than love. Then she went back to Rochester, found the house burnt down and himself blind and ruined, but she persevered in staying with him and taking care of him out of love in what appears to be the final stage of her transformation into a person of character.
Tutor: What about revelations by Bronte?
Marjorie: Which revelations?
Tutor: I mean the way she reveals Jane’s feelings by unraveling the plot through the prism of Jane’s mind and by making us see the events from Jane’s perspective and through her thoughts and the way she argues with herself. Some of the revelations are symbolic, like the episode in which we see him coming off his horse and leaning on her or the one in which the storm splits a tree open and such.
Some revelations are made during Jane’s conversations with Rochester and Rivers. There is lots of psychology going on there.
Marjorie: I would love to study Psychology at a university. Psychology is fascinating.
Tutor: Understanding Jane Eyre seems to be a good stepping stone towards understanding psychology.
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