You want to make a good impression on the marker from the start of your essay, but how do you know if you are getting the essay introduction right? A good introduction should be like a map; you are telling the reader what to expect and how the terrain of the essay is set out. Here are some important essay writing dos and don’ts:
Choose a topic that you really are interested in. You need to keep your motivation up, so tackling a topic that bores you is pointless. Coming up with a good idea can take you months – don’t be surprised by this. Your lecturer should be encouraging you to do this from the start of your course. If it helps, carry a notepad around and jot down ideas that interest you. Whatever you see that inspires you might form the basis for your dissertation.
Effective note-taking is an essential skill for study and forms the basis for essay writing. Let’s say you’re in a lecture and as the teacher speaks you make your notes. You write as fast as you can and you try to write down every word they say. At the end of the lecture you’re exhausted and you can’t really remember much of what was said because you were taking dictation rather than really listening to what the lecturer was saying.
While you’re working on your essays or revision sheets, it’s useful to know your learning style. Learning styles have been identified by education theorists. By being aware of the different learning styles, teachers are able to make sure that their classes or lectures contain a range of different material so that each type of learner will be able to relate to the class and understand the material.
For essay writing at A’level and beyond, it becomes important to learn how to reference correctly. There are a range of different referencing systems named after the universities that popularize the method.
The Chicago referencing system provides two ways of referencing – in text or using footnotes or endnotes. The method using notes and bibliography is used in the humanities and the in text method (using only author name and date in text) is preferred for science subjects.
Quality is far more important than quantity when it comes to revision. Make a plan for each of the subjects you are revising. Break the work down into small chunks and do a little every day. Decide on a variety of methods to help you tackle the work. Don’t push yourself to study for hours every day. You never know; two well-planned sessions of 45 minutes a day might help you learn more than other people trying to cram their minds with facts for 8 hours at a stretch.
The reason you want to present your text in the best light possible is that you want to help the reader understanding your meaning. The reader, in this case, is your tutor and you don’t want them to misunderstand your meaning and mark you down. You also want to check that you haven’t made any silly mistakes that would be embarrassing.
It’s time to start getting ready for the summer exams. This is going to need focus on time management and a different style of essay writing:-
Plan your revision time. There are lots of useful study charts online. Many of these are made for secondary education students, but there is no reason why you can’t take a GCSE study tool and use it for your BA course. If it’s helpful to you – use it. No one else is going to know you used a Key Stage 3 timetable! Take a look at some of the revision charts available online
