Undergrad Support group

Tallulah22

Thanks for that, so am i right in saying that in a conclusion you can draw attention to what i think? as i know that this is a no no during your essay!

BTW our department use double line spaces. Thanks

lellie

You should draw attention to the line of argument you agree with yes.. you can give a little repetition, but you should only refer to the types of arguments, not the evidence used to support them.

sciencegeek

Hi,

regarding the ongoing essay debate,

The style of essay you will use will probably vary considerably depending on your course and the size of the essay you are being asked to write.

The following points are based on scientific courses as that is my field, i have to mark stuff as part of my university job and have lots of conversations with other staff who regularly mark essays so hopefully my comments will benefit someone.

When i had to write science essays under exam conditions i tended to use the body of the text for making the individual points (ideally in some kind of logical order) and the conclusion to draw each of the points together into a coherant argument. It is always worth considering highlighting any of your points that appear inconsistant with the rest and providing a possible explanation as it shows that you have thought about the topic and are not just repeating the info you have read parrot fashion.

One thing i learnt during my degrees is the value of essay selection and careful planning. In my exams we generally had to write 2 or 3 essays in 1.5h from a total of say 5 essay titles.
I would spend 5-10 mins VERY carefully reading each title several times and then select the 2 i felt i knew most about.
I would then plan the first essay for up to 10 mins, jotting down key points in draft form - these points can then be organised quickly into a logical order that stops you rambling and waffleing and keeps the essay concise and easy to read.
Then write the essay. (25-30 mins). Repeat for the 2nd essay.

If you jump at the first essay title you see you may find that you spend alot of time writing essay you finally realise you dont know alot about. Time spent planning is rarely wasted.

For essays that are literature search based your references are critical. Dont just use the course textbook as your only source as it drives the markers mad!! You would be amazed how much slack a marker will cut you for minor errors if they think you have read around the subject and made a decent effort.


good luck in your courses.

Tallulah22

Thanks for that lellie and sciencegeek

EthelBloggs

Hellllllllllp!!!

Im trying to write an essay and I've got all the info in my head and it just wont translate onto the paper or screen.. I can't seem to get the words out and it's driving me mad!

any suggestions pleaaaaaaaase???

djhworld

Currently in the second year of my course now.

I wish my university would adopt the "no lectures before 10am" policy!

Mind you this semester isn't so bad, 9am starts Monday to Wednesday, and nothing on Thursday/Friday mornings.

So I can spend Wednesday night (the prime student night here) out enjoying myself.

EthelBloggs - Try writing the introduction first, I find that usually structures an essay so you know what you need to write.

Karnam

EthelBloggs wrote:

Hellllllllllp!!!

Im trying to write an essay and I've got all the info in my head and it just wont translate onto the paper or screen.. I can't seem to get the words out and it's driving me mad!

any suggestions pleaaaaaaaase???

a stream of conciousness might help, it works for most as a first draft and then some major editing happens later. just start typing what you think or your train of thought.

EthelBloggs

I'll give it a bash.. thanks

lisa_75

EthelBloggs wrote:

Hellllllllllp!!!

Im trying to write an essay and I've got all the info in my head and it just wont translate onto the paper or screen.. I can't seem to get the words out and it's driving me mad!

any suggestions pleaaaaaaaase???

When I am stuck like that I write ANYTHING I can think of about the subject. I usually draft a rough structure e.g. intro, defining terms, description of problem, statistics, arguments, conclusion, but I very rarely write my essay in order e.g. intro first. I just write what I feel and it all seems to come together.

It also helps if you have all your sources together before you write. I will usually spend a couple of weeks getting all my books, journals, newspaper articles, government publications together first before I even put pen to paper. This helps A LOT as then I can just concentrate on writing.

Hope that helps!

lisa_75

sciencegeek wrote:

For essays that are literature search based your references are critical. Dont just use the course textbook as your only source as it drives the markers mad!! You would be amazed how much slack a marker will cut you for minor errors if they think you have read around the subject and made a decent effort.

This is very true. Reading widely does impress the markers. As a rough guide I was told to have one source for every 100 - 150 words in an essay, so a 2000 word essay would need 15 - 20 sources in your bibliography.

You may write the most fantastic essay ever, but if you only use 3 books your marks will be lower.