Writing a university essay in English
Essay Writing
Here are some tips for writing good university essays in English. This is not the be-all and end-all for essay writing, but it can help lift your writing game.
To start with, an essay has a few important elements.
1. An essay has argument.
The argument is not just an opinion. Your essay’s argument rests on a set of evidence that supports it. The argument is your answer to the question. The evidence is not all one-sided, it accepts and responds to counter-evidence. The counter evidence is not simply a set of “straw men”, but are fully-fleshed out and serious challenges that make your victory so much sweeter.
2. An essay considers evidence.
Your claims and points need to be backed up by evidence, correctly referenced of course. You need to make sure that the sources you are using to back up your points are strong. Stronger sources are things like peer-reviewed journal articles and books. Weak sources are things like blogs, Wikipedia articles, and anonymous articles. The evidence needs to be considered. It needs to be relevant to the point that you are making.
3. An essay has structure.
Your essay should be planned out: points build on points, concepts are defined before they are discussed and used.
A good essay structure includes good paragraphs. Good paragraphs are about 5 sentences long. They start with a topic sentence that contains the main point of the paragraph and backs up your overarching essay argument. The following sentence back up the topic sentence with argument and referenced evidence.
A good essay structure includes good sentences. Good sentences are not too long, on average about 20 words. Sentences make a point that contributes to the main point of the paragraph, and essay as a whole. Good sentences have correct grammar. Incorrect grammar makes your writing less clear, can make your ideas confusing, and makes your paper look less professional.
4. An essay needs proofreading.
Once you have finished writing you can move onto the next stage, proofreading. It is a good idea to finish writing your essay well before the deadline. That way you can put it away for a day or two, then look at it again with fresh eyes. To proofread you can start by reading quickly through your paper and asking yourself if it makes sense. You then need to read it again. This time more slowly. This time you need to read line-by-line. You need to ask yourself questions like, “Is this a good sentence?”, “Is the grammar and spelling great?”, and “How does this sentence contribute to my argument?”.
Hope that helps, let us know in the comments below if you have any questions about essays.
This article has come about thanks to Dr Peter Chen, Milly Stilinovic, and Chris Hall.
This article was first published on the website for the UniBRIDGE Project, a DFAT supported initiative.