Study and computing skills

1. Study and computing skills Learning Outcome Three: Writing Skills Lesson Five

2. Recap from last session • Paraphrasing and writing a precis • Paraphrasing is re-writing a paragraph into your own words. • A precis is a summary of an article. • In order to write a precis, or paraphrase an article, it needs to be fully understood.

3. Essay writing • What is an essay?

4. What is an essay? • An essay: • Discusses • Argues • Proves • or relates to one main idea or topic. • Non fiction – not a piece of creative writing. The content must be factual. • Written in paragraph form. • Written in the 3rd person. • Uses sources/ references to back up argument and/or to persuade the reader.

5. What makes an essay good? • Logical and clearly structured. • Shows evidence of independent research. • Develops and sustains a position on a subject or issue. • Uses and integrates a wide range of detailed evidence. • Accurately references all sources of information (APA). • Well presented – academic format.

6. What makes an essay bad? • Lack of understanding of the requirements of the topic and of the issues it raises • Often a result of copying chunks from the internet  • Lacks clear and logical structure of content. • Insufficient research. • An inability to use evidence appropriately. • An inability to communicate ideas in a clear and logical manner. • Untidy presentation.

7. Steps to writing a good essay • Establish your topic – make sure you understand what the essay topic is. • Plan where and how you will study. • Brainstorm your topic, use mind-maps and ask yourself questions to research. • Research and take notes. Keep reference information as you go. • Books • Journals • Newspapers • Internet.

8. Steps to writing a good essay • Once you have collected your information, decide on the angle you will take. • Establish which information you will use, and put the rest to the side. • Start on your plan. • Decide on essay’s sub-topics and what you will say about them • Decide what order they will go in • Use that information to work out what the introduction needs to include. • The conclusion should reflect the introduction.

9. drafts • Write at least one draft essay first. • The order of the paragraphs can be moved around to ensure they are in logical sequence. • This may involve re-writing beginnings and ends of paragraphs so they make sense. • Get someone to read it over and ask for feedback – • They are more likely to see errors that you won’t • They can let you know if the order of paragraphs is easy to read and logical. • Check your work against the marking schedule – have you missed anything?

10. Essay structure • Introduction • Main Body • Conclusion • Write your main body paragraphs first, then your introduction and conclusion. Wkbkpg 54

11. Essay Plan • An essay plan is an outline of what your essay will look like. • It will state what will be covered in each paragraph, with the reference of where the information for that paragraph will come from. • It will state what will be mentioned in the introduction and also the conclusion. • It is brief.

12. Activity • Start writing an essay plan for your chosen essay topic. • Introduction • Main Body • Paragraph one • Paragraph two • Paragraph three • Conclusion • References • You need to say what you are going to discuss at each section.

13. summary • An essay is a piece of writing made up of several paragraphs that discusses a specific topic. • To be good they must be planned out well, and have quality research. • All research must be correctly referenced. • They must be well presented, and written in a logical sequence. • They must have an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.

14. Next session • Will be going in-depth into: • Introduction • Main body • Conclusion. • Bring today’s essay plan plus all of your research notes to the next session.