Academic essay writing is a seminal requirement of most educational institutions. However, it is something that often perplexes many students when they are learning the process. Academic essay writing can be simplified if you follow certain patterns and steps. Over the last 10 years technology has enhanced and improved the educational landscape making it easier than ever before to obtain information. Therefore, academic essay writing if anything has become easier to master. In this articles we cover many tips and techniques to help you with your academic essay writing.
Understand the Question
Although this may sound basic. This is one of the most important elements of good essay writing. All essays at all academic institutions are first and foremost testing your ability to understand the question and provide a logical, relevant answer. Therefore, read and re-read the question making sure you understand exactly what it is asking you to do. If you are not sure, ask your friends or your tutors, as if you get this wrong, making irrelevant points will no doubt affect your marks.
Research your Subject Area
The next step after you understand what the essay question is asking you to do is to research the area. In recent years it has become easier than ever before to obtain relevant, high quality information. Many libraries now have online catalogues of their books, there are numerous websites which will be useful sources. However as a guide, although you should use websites and blogs for useful information and to help you understand the topics, after you have considered them, then move to the more rigorous materials, such as books and journals. You can use Wikipedia for basic information, however use it with caution as it will be available to everyone and you will want to make your work appear well researched, you can only do this by using a wide variety of sources.
Plan your Academic Essay
After researching your subject matter thoroughly, the next academic essay writing step is to plan. As you now have a good understanding of the topic, you can logically visualise where information would go and in what order in the essay. So you should start by planning headings, such as introduction, discussion, analysis etc. For each, briefly note what you will discuss as each point. This is important as it will help your essay to flow logically.
Paragraph Linking
One of the arts of good academic essay writing is the flow. Key to this is how one paragraph flows nicely onto the next. To master this, you first need to focus on covering one or two main points in each paragraphs. Once you have ended a point, you can then link this to the next paragraph by covering the converse point or argument. For example starting the next paragraph with ‘However, it could be argued that..’.
Short, Concise Conclusion
The final element of a good academic essay will be a short, sharp, concise conclusion. The conclusion is your chance to summarise your key points not to make any new points. You will need to summarise key points and add your own view to suggest where on the balance of probabilities your opinion now lies. For example saying something such as ‘It is the view of this author that on the balance of probabilities..’.
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