ESSAY WRITING SKILLS - University of Edinburgh · 2017. 11. 6. · Writing the Introduction Criteria for a good introduction • Contextualisation and its relevance to the essay topic

ESSAY WRITING SKILLSESSAY WRITING SKILLS

Today’s Agenda

1. Academic writing

2. How to write a good essay

3. Understanding assessment

Today’s Agenda

1. Academic writing



Today’s Agenda

1. Academic writing



[email protected]; [email protected]

ASSESSMENTS

• Essays



What is an ‘essay’?

What makes for a bad essay?


What makes for a good essay?• Answer the question set…

• Structure your argument effectively

• Use appropriate signposts

• Overarching Structure

• Introduction

• Main Body

• (Conclusions)


Example question‘To what extent is August Strindberg’s play, Miss Julie, a Naturalistic drama?’

Define the question!• Who was Strindberg?• What do we know about his societal context?• What do we know of his literary agendas?• What is ‘Naturalism’?• How might the plot in Miss Julie address these

themes?


Main Theme

Sub‐theme A

Sub‐Theme B

Naturalism

Class Struggle

Gender Struggle

Example question‘To what extent is August Strindberg’s play, Miss Julie, a Naturalistic drama?’


Writing the IntroductionCriteria for a good introduction

• Contextualisation and its relevance to the essay topic

• Essay topic reformulated

• Structure of the essay (main themes to be discussed)

Criteria for a bad introduction

• Contextualisation = sweeping statements (not relevant to the essay question itself)/ padding

• Lack of reformulation of the essay question

• No indication of the actual content of the essay

• Vague overall


Writing the Conclusion• The conclusion should not be the same as the introduction

• It must sum up your argument• It must give a sense of completeness


Writing the Main Body• Answer the question set

• Structure your argument effectively

• Paragraph Structure

• Give illustrative examples

• Engage with other writers

• Provide source references

Topic SentenceEvidenceAnalysis


The means / analytical tools you use to illustrate your points

Writing the Main Body

Textual evidence / textual cluesTextual evidence / textual clues

Brief summary of a passage only if you are going to use it to contextualise a point, to trigger a demonstration (no long summaries…)

Brief summary of a passage only if you are going to use it to contextualise a point, to trigger a demonstration (no long summaries…)

Citing the text with the purpose of analysing specific details, concrete examples (looking at the imagery, the language used to convey a given theme, carry out a critique of society, etc.)

Citing the text with the purpose of analysing specific details, concrete examples (looking at the imagery, the language used to convey a given theme, carry out a critique of society, etc.)

Narrative devices

Figures of speech/tropes

Other devices

Monologues / Dialogues

Indirect discourse

Description: landscape, cityscape etc.

Parody

Comedy

Metaphors

Personification

Oxymoron / antithesis

Periphrasis

Synaesthesia

Assonance / alliteration

Onomastic (meaning/ symbolism of names)

Pace / rhythm



Referencing: In footnotes or main body1. I would argue that thematically Labé is continuously giving a

voice to her desire, her suffering and her consequential frustration in addressing what Baker calls the theme or ‘motif of the absence/inacessibility of the Beloved’[add reference in a footnote] (NB: always indicate full reference if first occurrence; or abbreviated if second occurrence, giving page numbers).

2. I would argue that thematically Labé is continuously giving a voice to her desire, her suffering and her consequential frustration in addressing what Baker calls the theme or ‘motif of the absence/inacessibility of the Beloved’ (Baker, [insert date if you cite more works by him], 16).


Referencing• See ‘Research Skills’ Powerpoint Presentation

by Shenxiao Tong.

• For more information on how to reference citations within your essay; for the presentation of your bibliography at the end of your essay, and for formatting in general see also the DELC Style Guide:

https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures‐languages‐cultures/delc/current‐students/general‐assessment‐information


Prepare thoroughly• Research• Keep detailed notes• Sketch out your thoughts


Migration & Sweden

IntroductionDefinitions??

Evidence

Historical Context

Documents

Official statisticsGovt

websites?

ObservationsMediaPoliticalAcademicOther?

‘Immigration Board’‐‘Migration Board’

Integration of‘New’ Swedes

Education

Laws

Migration in the UK

References?!!

References?!!

References?!!

‘Migration’‘Emigration’‘Immigration’

References?!!

Changes over time?

Housing

Ghettoisation?

Official Statistics

Interpretations

Conclusions

References?!!

References?!!

References?!!References?!!

References?!!

References?!!

Question: Examine the main changes in immigration demographics in Sweden since the 1970s, commenting on the success or otherwise of successive governmental policy in this area.


Title• Intro

• Brief general contextualisation of the question• Definition of any particular terms or ideas • Outline of the main themes of your essay

• Main Body Discuss with reference to primary and secondary sources

• Theme 1• Theme 2• Theme 3

• Conclusion• Draw your ideas together• Sum up your argument• Give your overall conclusion



Fail. May show some awareness of the course, but:Makes frequent mistakesIs unable to formulate a response to the questionDoes not adhere to the conventions of essay writing

Good work. Few factual errors: Covers the subject matterAppropriately organised and presentedDoes not engage effectively in critical discussion

Excellent work. Intimate yet selective use of ‘facts’:Comprehensive understanding of conceptual frameShows independent insight and readingDemonstrates an awareness of altern. critical positionsSustains analytical and independent argument



Example 1

As the home of the Vikings, Sweden is more famous for emigration than immigration. Compared to New York, there is hardly any immigrunts in Copenhagen. Most people look the same and have a very similar cultural background. Recently,,, however, there has been a lot of anger with large numbers of refugees causing big problems. Especially with their weird urban dialects. The Sweden Democrats have suggested welcoming the incommers with open arms but other parts opf the political spectrum has been less enthusiastic about all of this. I think its easy to see that there are no real problems in Sweden anyway, but immigrants are famous for writing some really good books over the past couple of years. One of the most famous is the so‐called ‘New Swede’ Jonas Hassen Khemiri, who made his breakthrough with a book about montecores. The whole problem started after the war in the Balkans.



Example 2

For almost 200 years now, human migration has played a major, and in some senses transformative role in the dynamics of Swedish society. While the main direction of this flow was outwards‐bound throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the events leading up to the Second World War saw the prevailing trend in emigration change to one of immigration (Johansson 2003:23). Although accepted as a moral obligation by the Swedish establishment during the war (Schramm 2010:112‐3), the continued and increasing influx in the years that followed was welcomed out of economic necessity as much as anything else (Johansson 2003: 25). With the luxury of a buoyant economy, and the support of a perennially left‐of‐centre social‐democratic government, comprehensive measures were put in place to accept all incomers on their own terms (Newton 1977:56). However, following global recession in the late 1970s, and the concomitant rise in military unrest in less developed parts of the world, the demands on the Swedish system grew to untenable levels (Newton 1977:65). In this essay, I will explore how the Swedish response to the immigrant issue has developed in recent decades, showing how it has differed from that of similar countries, and discussing the challenges that face it in the future.



Example 3

From a point at the beginning of the 20th century when Sweden was recognised as the least diverse nation in Western Europe, the intervening period has witnessed changes in immigrant numbers and characteristics, which could hardly have been more dramatic. In 2016, around 20% of Sweden’s 9 million inhabitants were classified as either first or 2nd generation immigrants (Wikipedia). With a steadily increasing proportion of these arriving as refugees, the strain placed on the economy in a time of global recession and cutbacks, has been considerable. The inevitable friction this has caused with a hard core of disadvantaged natives, encouraged by the less scrupulous politicians, has fed into an increasingly heated debate on the Swedish state’s moral obligations to the victims of new international crises, and the measures taken to provide ongoing support for those already in the country. In my opinion, the problem can be boiled down to economic priorities.