The Beginners Guide To Writing An Essay

The Beginner's Guide To Writing An Essay Respond directly to the essay question and clearly state what your essay intends to achieve. Always check the assignment criteria and other information in your unit site for specific requirements. If you are not sure, ask your lecturer or tutor. You can also get further advice from a Writing Mentor or a Language and Learning Adviser. Next, copy and paste the APA reference into the reference section of your essay. A simple way to write your reference section is use Google scholar. Just type the name and date of the psychologist in the search box and click on the 'cite' link. Introductions are very important as first impressions count and they can create a halo effect in the mind of the lecturer grading your essay. If you start off well then you are more likely to be forgiven for the odd mistake later one. Highlight the major issues which “lie behind” the question. For example, if an author has summed up their argument in one pithy phrase, then it might be worth repeating. Poor spelling, reasonably or not, gives the impression of carelessness and laziness. Since your essay will be processed electronically, use the spell checker! But don’t rely on it exclusivelyâ€"proofread your essay carefully as well. In simple terms every time you cite/refer to a name of a psychologist you need to reference the original source of the information. The reference section is the list of all the sources cited in the essay . Finally, only repeat citations when it is unclear which study / theory you are discussing. Repeating citations unnecessarily disrupts the flow of an essay. Although there is no strict convention on layout, do consider how the essay looks on the page. Several studies have shown that presentation does have a subconscious effect on markers, even when they’re not explicitly marking on that criterion. Consider how you conclude your paragraph and how you might link it to the following paragraph. Integrate evidence and examples into your paragraph from your readings to support your point. Do not simply present evidence, but analyse it at each stage, always relating it back to your assignment question. Provide an overview of some of the main points, or direction, of the essay. No new information is presented in the conclusion. Use synonyms and paraphrasing so that you do not repeat all your main points word for word. When you have finished the first draft of your essay you must check if it 'flows'. This is an important feature of quality of communication . Areference list or bibliography â€" formatted according to your referencing style â€" on a separate page at the end of your essay is also usually required. Normally this is not included in the word count, but check with your lecturer or tutor to be sure. 2) report writing, which focuses primarily on reporting facts and making recommendations. Unless you are told otherwise by the course instructor, use the Departmental conventions. You should only use a quotation when you are unable to say something better, not just because you can’t be bothered to summarize a point of view! You may feel that a diagram could help illustrate a point. This has the added effect of breaking up large chunks of text that can be subconsciously off-putting to the reader. But beware the added complexities involved in formatting your document or the added time required to add a diagram by hand. Some versions of the software available on public machines produce graphics that cannot be printed from other machines. Give yourself time to test for potential glitches of this sort.