for a printer friendly pdf version of this guide, click here to write a good essay, you firstly need to have a clear understanding of what the essay question is asking you to do. Looking at the essay question in close detail will help you to identify the topic and ‘directive words’ dhann, 2001 , which instruct you how to answer the question. Understanding the meaning of these directive words is a vital first step in producing your essay. This glossary provides definitions of some of the more typical words that you may come across in an essay question. Please note that these definitions are meant to provide general, rather than exact guidance, and are not a substitute for reading the question carefully. Get this wrong, and you risk the chance of writing an essay that lacks focus, or is irrelevant.

You are advised to use this glossary in conjunction with the following study guides: writing essays and thought mapping written by student learning development. Organizing your notes and other research information what system will you use to keep track of your bibliographies? your reading notes? the quotations, images, or other specific items that jumped out at you during the course of research? if you are writing about a complex event that unfolds over time, constructing a chronology can be helpful. It can be useful to group your materials in a way that relates to your questions and to the story you plan to tell. Try categorizing them so you can easily recall which are more important and which are less important. What relevant background to your subject must your reader have to understand your argument? what organizational scheme makes the most sense for your subject and intellectual goals? chronology is often useful in historical writing, and some historians prize narrative writing. If your paper proceeds by way of a comparison, how will that comparison be structured? are there terms you will need to define at the outset? characters you will need to introduce? periodization you will need to explain? if so, where should these go? will you be placing your subject in the context of historiography? if so, where in the paper should this be presented? some historians devote considerable text to this some utilize footnotes.

Historiographical questions include: what are the major interpretive debates about your subject? who are the key commentators on your subject? what makes your approach and argument original and different? outlines are good places to sketch out several kinds of balance in your paper. One common error is to get so involved in telling the background story that you forget to mention your actual subject until page 15! aim for proportionality in your outline. Balance between more general assertions and concrete evidence and examples to back those assertions up. Another common error is to gravitate toward either overly general or overly detailed writing.

Remember that evidence helps you answer questions about who, what, where, when, and why. Use multiple sources to support a claim you think is especially unusual or controversial. Consider tackling the weakness of your sources directly, anticipating obvious criticism rather than ignoring it.

Good Words to Put In a College Essay

Formulating your argument what exactly is your subject? what exactly is your argument sometimes also called a thesis ? your subject and your argument are not identical. Your argument is the original point you are making, the result of all the thinking you have done during the course of research. It is a claim about the significance of a historical subject or problem or question and a promise that you will demonstrate that your approach to the subjectyour interpretation is persuasive and compelling. Writing an introduction the introduction should introduce your subject, state your argument, and reveal for the reader what you plan to accomplish in the paper. You can also explain briefly why the paper is organized as it is so that the reader will know exactly what to expect. Writing a conclusion return to your argument and remind your reader of the most compelling evidence presented to support it. Excellent papers are drafted far enough ahead of time so that you have time to re read, reflect, and reviseall of which will make your paper better than it would have been without revision.

Does is flow logically and cohere throughout? are there bumpy spots that need reworking, better transitions, and reorganization? think about each paragraph. Does it go where you say it will go? do you offer concrete evidence and examples when you make general points? is the transition from the paragraph before smooth? is the transition to the next paragraph equally smooth? think about each sentence: grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice, etc. Presenting it is very difficult and even futile to try and think about what you want to write and how you want to phrase it in the same time. In planning, you try to foresee what you want your final text to look like, using the following points: bull define your writing topic and content area. Make sure you are aware of any specific content or technical requirements you may have from teachers.

Remember that even a 1,500 word college essay may take a few days to properly complete, so do not postpone writing assignments to the last minute! bull brainstorm and jot down any ideas, thoughts, arguments, words, and phrases you think are relevant to your text. Bull organize your preliminary arguments into an outline following a logical order that would suit the general essay structure of opening, body, and ending. When writing the first draft of your text, focus on content only and forget about language and mechanical aspects such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Do not get stuck checking spelling and other nitty gritty at this point! that will stop your writing flow! remember the following points: bull the opening paragraph introduction should present the text rsquo s topic. Refrain from using the first person when doing this no: ldquo in this essay i will present hellip rdquo and prefer a stronger opening technique to entice the reader to keep reading. For example, pose a provocative question give a testimonial or illustrative story, or present interesting facts on the phenomenon under discussion. Bull the body discussion paragraphs should each present one idea or aspect of the general topic and begin with a topic sentence that will orient the reader to what follows within the paragraph.

Bull provide enough supporting sentences for the topic sentence, using examples, explanations, facts, opinions, and quotes. Bull use connecting words conjunctions and discourse markers, such as and, or, but, so, because, however, moreover, for example etc. Bull the ending conclusion should present summative remarks and repeat the text rsquo s key idea or thesis in other words.