Essays,how dou you handle it

scotty1971

i'm a 39 year old first year nursing student,just attempting my first essay,how do you guys manage it,i left school 23 years ago,and have never written or even attemted an essay,all foreign to me and bloody stressful_pale__pale_,how do you guys handle the pressure of it?

cheers

scotty

my_definition

You just have to try and plan it out in some way or another make sure you look at the marking scheme carefully and answer what they are looking for. Try and back anything you say up with references and keep your own opinions out of it as much as you can. Make sure your references are ok as this can loose you marks

on a more personal note in now in my fourth year and struggling with the though of my major project, i get much more emotional about uni that i was before i started and i came pretty much from school. Make sure you have someone to talk to or the stress can make u ill, talking from experience there. Many of us find essays and projects stressfull but try and ask your peers questions when stuck, facebook can actually be handy as it shows you everyone else is in same boat though it can be distracting.

good luck with your course the essays will get easier x

The_One_Who

You should have access to a student support centre. They can offer help with this sort of thing.

Everyone goes about writing essays differently, some like to plan, some don't. You need to find your own way of working and your own writing style. Just remember to always be critical, to not take something you read as fact.

MrsManda

See if your department has an essay advisor - my department has a PhD student who is available to give general advice about essay writting. Most departments will issue some sort of essay guidance and may offer essay writing workshops.

As My Def said, make sure you talk to your friends and peers about things which you are stuck with.

Depending on what kind of essay I'm writing I go through various stages:

Decide the title (if it's not already given)

Gather all my lecture notes about the subject

Write out the key points

Look up journal papers on the subject using the key points from the
lectures as a guide

Write out the key points from the different journal papers

Write an essay plan: Introduction, Key Points, Conclusion

Start writing, trying to keep to the essay plan.

I write an essay plan because otherwise I end up getting distracted and spend all my time writing about one particular aspect and end up with a long rambly piece of writing rather than a structured essay which is actually saying something.

The first one is always the hardest but I find that once I've started writing I actually enjoy the chance to look into a subject on my own and write about it - but that may be because I'm a bit odd

Reference everything you can, especially if you're stating something as fact.
- references don't generally count towards the word count.

Good luck, remember it's only your first essay so they're not expecting a perfect masterpiece and if you're finding yourself getting too stressed talk to someone about it.

scotty1971

thanks for all your advice,i have done quite a bit of research for my essay,just trying to type it up i'm finding difficult,my mind is just going blank!!!

MrsManda

scotty1971 wrote: »

thanks for all your advice,i have done quite a bit of research for my essay,just trying to type it up i'm finding difficult,my mind is just going blank!!!

If you have a number of points you want to write about it may help to write about one point at a time rather than trying to write it all in one go.

Breaking it up in to small chunks may stop you getting overwhelmed

Oldernotwiser

scotty1971 wrote: »

thanks for all your advice,i have done quite a bit of research for my essay,just trying to type it up i'm finding difficult,my mind is just going blank!!!

Just get something down that you can edit later. There's nothing more dispiriting than looking at a blank screen!

slummymummyof3

Do your Harvard referencing as you go along as it is far more time consuming than you imagine (and make sure you refer to your student handbook to ensure you are doing it correctly!!)

You might find it easier to give yourself sub-headings as little pointers which you can remove later.

Ensure you refer back to the marking criteria so that you ensure you are covering everything. Most importantly - PROOF READ to pick up any errors (do not rely on spell checker etc on computer)

Do not make sweeping statements - you must back thing up with evidence! Make sure you have at least 6-8 references.

Oldernotwiser

slummymummyof3 wrote: »

Do your Harvard referencing as you go along as it is far more time consuming than you imagine (and make sure you refer to your student handbook to ensure you are doing it correctly!!)
.

Now I don't agree with doing references that way - I think it breaks the flow.

alwaysonthego_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Now I don't agree with doing references that way - I think it breaks the flow.

I reference as I go along as it was taking me a few hours to do it afterwards.

My advice is;

Make sure you answer the question; be concise and try not to waffle.

Use academic language; avoid slang and shortening of words like can't, shouldn't etc.

Back any arguments with references to research and make sure you acknowledge other academics through references.


Try to be critical and look at the otherside of the argument.

I always do my intro last, but when you do your conclusion do not include items that you have not discussed in your main text.

Do not forget to put references from your work into your reference list [I once did this and embarrisingly it was my lecturer's paper I had missed whoops].

Once you have finished leave it for a couple of days then proof read it.

Don't include the first name of any academics you are discussing such as Jean Piaget, you would say Piaget.


You may find this useful.

Liquorice_Twirls

I graduated this year, and as someone just slightly older than you found the first year quite tough in respect of what was required. I did eventually find that my uni had some "key skills" type help and information online (in the secure student area) which gave me loads of help such as verbs for reporting other writers eg believes, challenges, claims, establishes, explains, explores. There was also advice on critical writing as opposed to descriptive writing and I gained a lot of online help in essay planning.

I would encourage you, like others have, to learn all about how you need to reference your work. There are several ways to do this, but early on I would go tracking back at the last minute looking for the page numbers of quotes etc and then regret not being a bit more organised.

The more you read, I think will help you and get you into the right frame for writing your essays.

The pressure - try to keep reading each week or day if you can manage. Make sure you plan for other things in your life that might get in the way of an essay deadline such as family get togethers and only you know whether you can pull it off at the last minute. I couldn't and so always tried to give myself a few days spare ahead of every deadline.