Writing It Up Essays

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WritingStudyExpress

Writing it up

Writing essays

Students write essays for a range ofpurposes.

There are 3 main types of essays: discussion argumentative personal or reflective.

Essays have:

different purposes the same basic structure.

Don’t jump straight into writing theessay/report.

Remember to: analyse the question brainstorm ideas

research.

Discussion essays Discussion essays examine different aspects of a topic. They compare,contrast and comment on different points of view. Most essays arediscussion essays.

Argumentative essaysArgumentative essays put forward arguments to support a particularpoint of view.

Personal or reflective essays Personal or reflective essays present and explore ideas and conceptsfrom a personal perspective.




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Writing it up

A sample essay structure

IntroductionIntroduces the topic and

focus of the essay

Body paragraphMakes a point, expands

and supports

Body paragraph

Makes another point,expands and supports

Body paragraphMakes another point,

expands and supports

ConclusionSummary of your

discussion

B o

d y

For more information about

referencing, check out the

handout on ‘Making notes and

referencing’.




WritingStudyExpress

Writing it up

Parts of the essay

The introductionYour introduction should give thereader an overview of what youressay is about. As your essaygrows and changes, you may needto adjust your introduction to

accurately reflect your content.Some people prefer to write theintroduction last, once the body ofthe essay is complete.

A good introduction will: provide a context draw the reader in indicate the particular

approach

introduce the main topics.

Here’s a sample essay question:

E x ample i nt r o duct i o n:T od ay i n Aust r al i a, i t i s d i f c ul t , i f not i m possi bl e , t o d e sc r i be t he t y pi c al f ami l y . N ow , i n t he 2 1st c e nt ur y , t he r e al i t

y of

w hat c onst i t ut e s a f ami l y , and how f ami l i e s

and t he i r me mbe r s o pe r at e , i s of t e n v e r y d i f f e r e nt f r om t he st r uc t ur e and f unc t i on of f ami l i e s i n t he mi d 2 0 t h c e nt ur y . T hi s e ssay w i l l d e sc r i be c han g e s t hat hav e oc c ur r e d f r om t hi s pe r i od t o t he pr e se nt i n f ami l y t y pe s and i n how f ami l i e s o pe r at e . I t w i l l e x pl or e t he soc i ol o g i c al , e c onomi c and c ul t ur al r e asons f or t he se c han g e s. I t w i l l al so c r i t i c al l y anal y se how t he se c han g e s hav e af f e c t e d t he r ol

e s, l i f e st y l e s and w e l l be i n g of me n, w ome n and c hi l d r e n.

You can see how this introduction: leads the reader into the topic links to the question

gives an overview of the essaycontent.




According to t he A ustra lian B urea u of Statistics

( 2004 ), f ami lies wit h c hi ldren

ma k e u p 60% of a l l f ami lies, b ut t he variet y and str uct ure of t hese f ami lies has

c hanged o ver t he years. T he introd uction of ‘no f a u lt’ di vorce in 1973,

reected

c hanges in socia l va l ues. T his lega l c hange has r

es u lted in a hig her di vorce rate

and a large increase in t he n um bers of b lended

and sing le parent f ami lies, in

contrast to t he more common n uc lear f ami l y w hic h e xisted bef ore t his lega l

c hange. Ad vances in I V F tec hno log y ha ve a lso

res u lted in creating same se x

f ami lies wit h c hi ldren, or c hi ldren wit hin f ami lies w ho ma y ha ve a bio logica l

parent w ho has been a s perm or o v um donor. S urrogac y is les

s common, and in

t his t y pe of f ami l y a c hi ld ma y ha ve a bio logica l mot her and a birt h mot her, bot h

of w hom ma y p la y a ro le in t he c hi ld’s lif e. T heref ore, man y of t he c hanges we

see in f ami lies are t he res u lt of lega l, socia l and medica l c hanges in o ur so

ciet y

( Edgar, 2002 ).

how do I

build up

a body

paragraph?

there is an easy way

to remember. have

you heard of ‘teel’?

T is for Topic Sentence,

E is for Explain

E is for evidence and

L is for Linking.

Body paragraphs follow logically and cohesively from one to the other. The number of body paragraphs depends on the given word length.

There is no set length for a paragraph. Balance the content of your essay to reflect the requirements of your

essay.

Body paragraphsHere’s a useful way to remember how a body paragraph is built up:

TEEL

T opic sentence Make a point linked to the questionE xpand, explain Give more detailsE vidence, examples Support with material from referencesL ink Link back to main point/forward to next point

Example body paragraph:

Writing Writing it up Parts of the essay




Conclusion

The conclusion must: tie together ideas show some personal insight leave the reader with something to think about.

It must not contain any new information.

Example conclusion:

T his essa y has descri bed t he wa ys in w hic h t

he A ustra lian f ami l y has

c hanged o ver t he past 50 or 60 year

s. It has disc ussed ho w t he t y pes of

f ami lies ha ve become more varied and t he ro les wit hin f ami lies are le

ss

bo und b y traditiona l stereot y pes. It has dem

onstrated t hat man y of t hese

c hanges are attri b uta b le to c hanges in societ

a l va l ues and economic and

c u lt ura l conditions. No matter ho w it has b

een dened in t he past, or wi l l

be dened in t he f ut ure, t he f ami l y in some

f orm or anot her is certain to

remain a ver y im portant f eat ure wit hin A ust

ra lian societ y.

ReferencesAnd don’t forget … the reference list - on a separate page.Most essays will require you to follow a referencing system. For most courses at the Gordon, the Harvard referencingsystem is used.

Writing Writing it up Parts of the essay

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Writing It Up Essays