PREPARING TO WRITE THE ESSAY

ASSESSING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE ESSAY TOPIC, READING AND RESEARCHING, NOTE-MAKING, BRAINSTORMING AND PLANNING

As this long heading suggests, there is plenty of work to be done before you even begin writing the first draft of your essay.  It is thus a very bad idea to begin working on it the night before it is due to be handed in. 

First, you need to consider the topic of the essay carefully and decide exactly what it requires of you. A helpful way to consider your essay topic is to highlight the keywords/concepts in the question Next, you will need to brainstorm your ideas with a spider-diagram, flowchart, rough notes etc. (Please find examples of these in the e-Learning section of the SU English Department website). Once you are certain of the topic’s requirements, you will be able to do the reading and research required.  You may be writing an essay on a single poem: if so, and in part depending on the topic set, it may be useful to read other poems by the same poet, or to do research into the details of the poet’s life and the time and place in which he or she lived. Please note, however, that these details should not be included at the expense of a proper, clear analysis of the text. Writing an essay on a short story, novel, play or any other kind of cultural text (an advertisement or a film, for example) will necessitate careful reading of this text, often referred to as the “primary text,” because it is the one on which your essay is focused.  You will also need to spend some time thinking about your ideas regarding the topic and the primary text, and may find it useful to note these down on paper.

By this stage, you will be ready to formulate a writing plan or essay outline.  Your plan need not be very detailed, but should at least include a thesis statement (your central argument), and a list of points in logical sequence showing how your argument will develop during the course of the essay.  It is also a useful exercise to formulate a short title for your essay, a title which summarises the gist of your argument rather than just consisting of the name of the text you’re discussing.  Doing this will compel you to set out, in a very few words, what your main thesis is regarding the text or topic before you.

Once you have set out your ideas, it’s time to put them to paper. Although essay writing should push you to think creatively and deliver a convincing argument about your topic, structure is necessary. You are probably new to essay writing, so it would be advisable to learn to structure your argument correctly. Proper structure will also help to strengthen your argument! Although this is not always the rule, your ideas//paragraphs should flow in more or less the same fashion:  

· Introduction

Opening//introductory statement

Problem//how do we state this?

Thesis statement

· Paragraphs

Opening statement//line of argument

Quote to justify argument

Explain//analyse//discuss

· Conclusion

Opening statement

Findings//close argument

Closing statement