Essays,how dou you handle it

Wiggynut

scotty1971 wrote: »

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

I'm 39 too and I've started on my 3rd year so I'm working on the dissertation proposal progress report and so far I keep putting it off!

I have two papers to hand in 9 days time so I feel like I'm in a muddle.

my course is a practical one so luckily my written assignments are fairly small compared to other courses - thankfully!

I find that writing out a layout in the word document helpful.

ie: title, intro, aim, objective, methodology, literature review, findings, conclusion and then write what you plan to do in each - notes to yourself that is... bullet point them so you know exactly what you are looking for - I tend to go off on tangents and easily distracted so it helps to keep looking back at your bullet points.

I'm at the stage on my paper now of having too many notes and articles to reference and now feel like I have a massive jigsaw to sort which will go over the word count before I've even brought my observations... lol so I need to cull it back or get rid of the stuff that isn't needed... I do find that I have a period of time that feels like a massive mess but I do get through it so be nice to yourself - if you've just started your course then don't worry too much as you are in the learning phase and these assignments are all about preparing you for your final year.

you can ask at student services for someone to have a look at what you've done so far - they can't say what to write on but they can help you structure yourself more or give you tips.

for an essay that is 500 words then your intro will be 10% of the word count and the conclusion is 5% (repeat intro and main points to remind reader and then conclude and keep to one paragraph) and the rest will be your main body of work - best to give 3 (or 4) things to write about in connection with your subject.

I've heard that you can go over the word count by 10% or under by 10% - but that depends on your course and if they state a specific word count rather than saying 'up to 2,000 words' then it's best not to go over.

ignore me if I've said stuff you already know - I'm faffing rather than getting on with my paper!

good luck and keep asking questions... you are learning something new afteral and who starts off perfect anyway - you'll probably surprise yourself by doing far better than you think... I did - my first essay (I didn't do any essays at school, went to five secondary schools and left at 15) yet got 78% on my first one... that was a surprise!!

sapphireeye

As a tip, I'm 23 and in my first year and they gave us a massive talk on how to write an essay, and the lady giving the talk suggested negative brainstorming before doing your reading, so a brainstorm of all the questions you have about the topic that you want to find the answer to. You can then use these questions in your essay plan as she said that every paragraph should answer a question. I found this really helpful as I'm currently writing my first essay, so my plan was written out with questions and what I wanted to say to answer them, what texts I would refer to in that paragraph and etc and I found it so much easier to get something down on paper this way.

scotty1971

well done 1300 words,only 1200 to go :eek:!!!! hope to get it finished today,thanks for everyones advice

scott

Heamol

scotty1971 wrote: »

well done 1300 words,only 1200 to go :eek:!!!! hope to get it finished today,thanks for everyones advice

scott

Good luck!

Depending on when it's due, my advice would be to put it aside once it's completed for at least a few hours, or overnight if you have time. When I was in my first year I was so relieved every time I finished an essay that I wanted to hand it in right away- big mistake! I was so punch-drunk from intensive essay-writing that I missed spelling mistakes, grammatical errors etc, which cost me quite a few marks in several essays. If you can, get someone else to read over your essay and give you their feedback, because what seems crystal-clear to you after spending so long on it might be confusing or unclear to a first-time reader.

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?

As an aside, I ran essay workshops at uni when I was in my final year of PG and more often than not the mature students I saw on an individual basis were the most nervous and worried about essays, and yet were the ones who had done the most research and produced some of the best work. Every single one of them said the same thing- that they had been out of education for so long that they really doubted their ability to produce good essays, especially when their younger classmates were fresh out of Sixth Form and thus so much better prepared etc etc. One lady was even thinking about dropping out because she thought she might have made a mistake in thinking she could cope with the work. I told them not to worry and arranged to see them again after the first essay was returned to them. Lo and behold, the next time I saw them they were much happier, had much more confidence in their own abilities and had achieved some of the best grades in their class! Not because of anything I did, but because they took a serious approach to the work.

scotty1971

well got my result back,not the greatest got a 2e,but suppose its ok for the first essay i have ever attempted.

lorietta

Maybe the person who you handed the essay into can give you some pointers for next time, if it is for a tutorial or something with a small group. As others have said, many universities have services to help with essay writing, and you can also find little £1 books on the subject in acedemic bookstores which can be really helpful.

The way I write essays is to first think of the arguement you want to make in answer to the question, then think of points to support (and possibly contradict) your arguement. You can then research each point in a focused way, rather than having tonnes of research that doesn't always fit the structure of what you want to write if that make sense.

Another thing I was taught ever since I started to write essays is the point, evidence, explain structure for paragraphs. I find this useful, as it means I avoid making assertions. The evidence can sometimes go on for over a parargraph in university essays, but it is still a good way to structure your points. The introduction and conclusion can summarise the main points, and "answer the question". Most people write these last, as you can look over what you have written to help. Also, don't forget to define any scientific/technical terms you use in the essay, the first time you use them.

Seriously though, I would recommend seeking feedback and all the help that is available to you, as there is usually a lot at university. It is only the first essay, they will get better with practise so don't feel too down.

Noselfdiscipline

Start early is my advice, I had lots of nightmare times when I started my essays the day before they were due, I could see everyone from my course in the library, and none of the books I needed were on the shelves!

There are books available on the subject too, about studying and essay writing, those helped me.

montymud

Noselfdiscipline wrote: »

Start early is my advice, I had lots of nightmare times when I started my essays the day before they were due, I could see everyone from my course in the library, and none of the books I needed were on the shelves!

There are books available on the subject too, about studying and essay writing, those helped me.

I think different things work for different people and you have to find what works best for you. A good friend of mine on the course would start as soon as she had the essay title and she always did well. I started the night before it was due in and I always did well. I think it is important to find what works for you then stick to it