Thursday 21 August 2014

Key Tips to Writing Successful Postgraduate Essays

It all seems so easy until you have to sit down and write it! So what is going to make your essay successful? There are a number of factors to consider when writing an essay and probably the most important is to be clear about the topic you are going to write about. If you are not clear at the beginning, it is very likely that this will come through in your writing.
Most of the time you will be given an essay question and it is important that you are sure you understand this before you start to write. Carefully analyse the question, breaking it down into different parts. Spend some time researching the topic before you start to write. If you have simply been given a topic, then it is best to set yourself a question so that you can work to some parameters and stay focused. Otherwise, there may be a tendency to ramble! Breaking any question down into more manageable parts helps to focus the mind and address the topic.
Allow yourself plenty of time to write your postgraduate essay. This is a common area where students fall down.
Essays can take longer to write than you think. Planning is important and you need to allow time for research, drafting and revising your essay. You may need to keep visiting these steps as you find more information or change so details in your essay. Allowing yourself a couple of days is not going to be enough; a couple of weeks are required to ensure that you produce the best piece of work you can.
It is important to follow any instructions on guidelines that you have been set by your college/university or tutor. These can relate to script type (e.g. Arial), font size (e.g. 12) and referencing style (e.g. Harvard). Precious marks can be lost by failing to follow guidelines so be sure you stick to these when writing your postgraduate essay. Be sure you stay within the allocated word count.
There are a number of other points you can follow to help you write a successful postgraduate essay:
• Research your topic well before you start. Make good use of all research materials available.
• Plan your essay before you start to write. This will help you structure your essay clearly and concisely. Always keep the question in mind to keep you on track. Clearly write out the points you want to address and develop each one supported by an explanation, evidence (reference) or examples. Each paragraph you write should develop one main point supported by evidence.
• Try to create a sense of flow in your essay. You can use transitional words assist the reader to follow your thoughts and link sentences. Examples of transitional words are; equally important, previously and furthermore.
• Ensure your referencing style is correct. As stated earlier, follow the guidelines set and use the allocated referencing style correctly throughout the essay and when outlining the bibliography. It is vitally important that ideas and examples are allocated to the correct person. Use up-to-date references to demonstrate that you have researched your topic.
• Before submitting your essay, read it and re-read it to allow you to reflect on points made and make changes if necessary. Don't ever write an essay and submit it without re-reading it!
• Check that you have answered the question; that the essay flows, that there is a logical order, that all major points are covered and that the conclusion brings together all your main points.
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