quotation + discuss' questions one of the most common types of essay question is a direct quotation followed by a general task word or phrase like ‘discuss' or ‘to what extent do you agree?'. When answering these questions, the most important thing is to work out your argument – what you think about the ideas in the quotation. Are they right, or wrong? is there more than one side to the issue? this type of question lets you argue both sides of an argument, as long as you still come to a clear conclusion. �double barrelled' essay questions contain several issues that you need to answer separately. It's easy to miss parts of these questions – especially in an exam – but you have to answer each part in order to pass.

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One way to deal with these questions is to break them into smaller, simpler questions. This makes it easy to see if you need to discuss more than one idea, and gives your research some clear goals. Double barrelled questions also challenge you to find relationships between different issues, and show your understanding of how they affect each other. ‘world war ii saw many people question old beliefs and argue for change.' to what extent do you agree? a good essay would talk about both issues raised in this question and talk about how they impact on each other. Firstly, you'd write about whether wwii made people question their beliefs and if so, how their beliefs changed. Then you would talk about whether questioning old beliefs led people to argue for change.

General questions often use task words like ‘discuss', and ask broad questions that could apply to almost any topic. This means you have to decide on the scope of your essay, and build your argument from scratch. The good thing about general questions is that they allow you to pick a topic you know about and really show what you can do. Were there any winners in the conflict that you studied? this is a history question, so topics you could write about include: the american civil war colonisation in australia world war i or ii. The key to answering this question well is exploring the idea of what it means to ‘win', and whether there are ever any real winners when societies come into conflict.

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Specific questions are usually quite long and clearly outline what you need to cover in your essay. They're often easier to answer because they tell you exactly what to do, but they aren't very flexible – you have to be able to do everything in the question, so there can't be any gaps in your knowledge. Introduction using essay plans why an essay? before you begin planning ahead analysing the question selecting the material organising your material find your preferred style summary a good essay plan makes the most of your essay material by helping you to organise the content of the essay before you begin writing. This guide shows you the key steps in preparing and planning an essay effectively. Being organised before you begin writing your essay will make the writing process quicker and easier. Good preparation and planning gives you a clear overview of your material so you can see the best way to organise your points.

This guide presents four main steps to planning your essay: planning ahead analysing the question selecting material organising your material. Essay writing gives you a chance to: explore a specific subject area in depth select relevant material explain theories and concepts evaluate arguments express and support your own views and opinions. There may be information about: how long the essay should be what the deadline is relevant assessment criteria requirements for presentation, referencing and bibliographies.

The availability of journals, books and other resources may affect your choice of title. Make an action plan or 'to do list' for: finding relevant resources reading and making notes from articles on short loan obtaining items through inter library loan using computer facilities. Look at how much time you have before the deadline so you can see what can be realistically done.

Before you can begin to select material for your essay, you need to make sure that you understand the exact requirements of the question. The following method of title analysis encourages you to break the question down into clearly identifiable elements so that you can accurately see what the question requires. Begin with the basic reading: lecture notes handouts relevant chapters in core texts. When you understand the basics you can then select more detailed and specific texts.

This may be in the form of journal articles or texts referred to by your lecturer. You can also follow up useful references in handouts or core texts to widen your reading. Be sure to record only information that is directly relevant to your essay question. One way of making an essay plan is to list your main points in keywords and phrases and organise them under main headings. This gives you an overview of your points so you can decide which should be included and what is the most logical sequence for them.

an example of a linear essay plan using key words and phrases index cards can be useful in essay planning. Write the keyword or phrase for each point on a separate index card.use the cards to group and order the points.number the cards sequentially when you are happy with the order of your points. an example of a non linear essay plan using key words and phrases experiment with different styles of planning essays and use the method that you find most useful. Make as many essay plans as you need to find the best sequence for your material. By separating the planning stage from the writing stage you will be better able to write an essay that is well organised and clearly expressed. Use essay plans to create a clear and logical sequence for your material before you begin to write.

This brief study guide aims to help you to understand why you should include references to the information sources that you use to underpin your writing. It explains the main principles of accurately referencing such sources in your work. When you are writing an essay, report, dissertation or any other form of academic writing, your own thoughts and ideas inevitably build on those of other writers, researchers or teachers.