How To Plan An Essay

In this way, a well-planned and structured essay enables the reader, or marker, to follow the points being made easily.Essay assignments are usually formulated in one of the following ways: on another aspect of the subject.Remember it is perfectly possible to write an outstanding essay, but not to have answered the original question. Planning is the process of sorting out what you want to include in your essay.

After you have generated some ideas, it’s important to write an initial plan before you head for the library.

This can feel strange—after all, how can you answer a question when you haven’t done any research?

Writing an essay (or other assignment) is an important part of the learning process.

In the writing of an assignment, learning occurs as you think through and interpret the points raised (together with those of other writers on the subject).

We recommend you read both pages to gain a full understanding.

Developing the skill of essay writing takes practice, time and patience, your essay writing skills will improve and develop the more you write.When marking an assignment, a marker will look for some of the following elements, which will demonstrate you are able to: One main factor, always worth bearing in mind, is that a marker will usually only award marks for how well you have answered the essay question.It is likely that the marker will have a set of criteria or marking guidelines that will dictate how many marks can be awarded for each element of your essay.In the initial plan, try to express the main idea of each point in a single, clear sentence.These can become topic sentences (the first sentence of each paragraph which establishes its central idea) when, in your second plan, you develop these points further. Do the main points, when considered as a whole, present a unified discussion? A plan should follow the STRUCTURE of an essay (eg. While you may not be ready to construct an introduction or conclusion, this three-part structure should be at least suggested in your plan.Consider and if possible, specify the evidence you might draw on and which texts you might refer to. This page is the first of two that describe the processes involved in producing an essay for academic purposes, for school, college or university.With the help of your course tutor (teacher or lecturer) and peers (other students) and from constructive feedback from the marker of your work, writing an essay will become easier as you progress through your studies and your confidence increases.This page details general good practice in essay planning, including what you should do and what you should try to avoid.It develops your powers of criticism, analysis and expression, and gives you a chance to try out your and other writers' ideas on the subject.The feedback you receive from the marker of your essay should help to advance your study skills, writing, research and critical thinking skills.