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Time: 12 hours
Level: Introductory
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 Introduction Resource- When you write down an account of your ideas for other people to read, you have to explain yourself particularly carefully. You cannot make the mental leaps you do when you talk with others or think about...
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| | 1 The importance of writing
- 1.1 Why write? Resource
- Of all aspects of studying, writing is probably the most challenging. That is because when you write down an account of your ideas for other people to read you have to explain yourself particularly carefully....
- 1.2 What is an essay? Resource
- The different arts and humanities subjects make their own particular demands on you. You may have to do various kinds of writing – diaries, logs, project reports, case-studies – or even write creatively....
- 1.3 Developing your essay-writing ability Resource
- To develop your skill in writing essays you need to address two basic questions.
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| | 2 What does an essay look like?
- A lack of insight? Resource
- One of the curious things about learning to write essays is that you are seldom offered much insight into what you might be setting out to produce. You know only too well what your essays look like and...
- 2.1 Looking at other people's essays Resource
- One of the best ways of developing your essay-writing ability is to see how other students respond to the same essay title as you. It is not that you want to copy someone else's style. It's just that you...
- 2.2 Analysing Philip's essay Resource
- The first thing I noticed about Philip's essay is that although it begins with a title it is not the one he was given. This immediately creates two problems.
- 2.3 Analysing Hansa's essay Resource
- To refresh your memory, look again at Hansa's essay and the notes you made earlier. The first thing I noticed is that her essay starts with the title she was set. It also comes to a conclusion that tries...
- 2.4 Other aspects of writing Resource
- Now we will look at the way Philip and Hansa wrote and presented their essays. Did you find them both easy to read? As regards Philip's, my answer is, ‘yes and no’. It is sometimes easy because he has...
- 2.5 How good are Philip's and Hansa's essays? Resource
- There are no absolute standards against which the quality of an essay can be judged. It depends on the course you are studying – its content and aims, and the level at which it is pitched. Your tutor will...
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- A sharper focus Resource
- So far, we have been analysing essays in a practical way, looking at the strengths and weaknesses of some actual examples, rather than at formal rules or abstract ideas about essay-writing. Now, though,...
- 3.1 Answering the question Resource
- An essay can be good in almost every other way and yet be judged poor because it ignores the question in the title. Strictly speaking, I should say ‘it ignores the issues presented in the title’ because...
- 3.2 Drawing on course material Resource
- Unless you are taking a course in creative writing, essays are generally meant to help you consolidate what you have been studying. You are not asked to answer the question in the title ‘off the top of...
- 3.3 Showing a good grasp of ideas Resource
- To show your grasp of the ideas you have been studying you have to express them for yourself, in your own words. Your tutor will certainly be looking out for signs that you understand the centrally important...
- 3.4 Presenting a coherent argument Resource
- Presenting a coherent argument is closely linked to ‘answering the question’. The essence of an essay is that it sets out to be an argument about the issues raised in the title. Even if you have a lot...
- 3.5 Taking an objective, analytical stance Resource
- One of the things I said an essay should be is ‘objective’. What does that mean? Being objective about something means standing back from it and looking at it coolly. It means focusing your attention on...
- 3.6 Writing clearly Resource
- A final point that emerged from our analysis of Philip's and Hansa's essays was that a good essay is easy to read. Grand-sounding phrases and elaborate sentences do not make an essay impressive. Clarity...
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- 4 Conclusion Resource
- Finally, a few key messages to take from this unit. One is that there is no great mystery about what good writing is. We can recognize it just by reading it. The difficulty is how to produce it. However,...
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| | Dictionaries/companions to arts study
- Subject areas Resource
- Unless you are advised otherwise, always consult the most recent edition of these books. The dates / editions given here are as at the time of printing.
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| | References and Acknowledgements | |
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