1. Before you start:
The main things that you should have in mind throughout your work on the essay are:
- Avoid repetition
- Be clear and well organised
- Beware of plagiarism
- Show your originality and imaginative thinking / writing
2. Structure
- Clear Structure
help you to do all the above, so you need to structure your essay carefully:
- Start with an introduction that introduces the subject and justifies your choice of it,
- State your purpose and your direction
- Develop your argument or analysis by use of subtitles
- Provide your essay with a focus or a thesis
- Show that you have a logical sequence of information
- Provide a coherent discussion of the topic
- Use examples when necessary
- Imaginative final comment
3. Format
- Use an
appropriate format:
- A cover page on
which you state the following:
- Your name and id number
- The title of the paper
- The course and teacher for which it is intended
- Word numbers of your essay (2500-3000 words)
- Towards the bottom of the page include a signed statement saying that you read and understood the course note on plagiarism.
- Use one font throughout, and do not mix fonts without purpose or function
- Use appropriate line spacing (1.5 or 2)
- Use appropriate margins
- Pay attention to your spelling and punctuation
- A cover page on
which you state the following:
4. Mechanism
- It is good to have varied word choice
- Select engaging vocabulary
- Use different types of sentences and clauses
- Develop a coherent discussion of your topic
- Communicate your ideas clearly and directly
- Avoid common
sentence problems
- Such as long winded sentences
- Sentences with multiple clauses
- Incomplete sentences
- Minimise the use of 1st person and 2nd person sentences
- Show your mark; insight, and personal interpretation or comment
- Pay attention to your spelling and punctuation.
5. Bibliography
An academic bibliography is normally divided into two sections:
- Primary Sources: includes the main texts which your essay/ paper analyse or discuss
- Secondary Sources: includes all other bibliographical material such as: books, chapter in books, journal articles and internet sites (in this order) which you consulted or quoted in your essay/ paper/ project.
