Essay writing (part 1)

What Does a Good Essay Need?
• An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence.
• An academic essay should answer a question or task.
• It should have an argument.
• It should try to present or discuss something: develop a ‘thesis’ or a set of closely related points - by reasoning and
evidence.
• An academic essay should include relevant examples, supporting evidence and information from academic texts or
credible sources.
1. Starting Your Essay
2. Researching Your Topic
3. Organising Your Ideas
4. Writing the Essay
5. Referencing Your Essay
6. Editing Your Essay
In General:
Make sure you know when, where or to whom your assignment should be handed in. Most schools have a box for
students to submit their essays.
Don’t hand in your essay in a plastic folder or sleeve (unless you are asked to do so).
Use double-line spacing and a readable font (size 12 at least)
Essays should be legible so make sure your essay is easy to read. If possible, type your essay. If not, write neatly on
every second line.
Use a cover sheet (available from your school office).
Number pages and use wide margins.
Print on one side of the page only.

You can get complete this material in pdf format by click http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/pdf/essay.pdf

Start from writing's Definition

If only "writing" were just a task involving putting words down on the paper (or typing onto the screen). In fact, most students (and some adults) believe that this is the only step involved in writing. However, effective writing usually requires three skills:

1. Generate and express ideas. This is mostly where the "writing" part happens.

2. Revise. Revisit the writing after some time has passed if possible. Re-read. Re-think. Rework it for a different order of information, perhaps different choices of examples, clarity of expressed ideas. At times this requires re-reading source materials or searching for more information to include in a research paper. This revision step often takes more than one sitting, and some writers find it hard to ever stop revising their work.

3. Proofread it. This step can happen more than once as well; some writers move back and forth between 2 and 3 several times. Regardless, the last step a writer should take, before submitting the work to the teacher, editor, boss, or etc., is to proofread it carefully. One strategy for careful proofreading involves reading it aloud to yourself, either in your head or vocally, depending on what you are free to do. When you read your work aloud, remember to go slowly, and it can help to read it like a robot, with a strange accent, or while touching each word as you say it. This makes you focus on each word on the page, rather than on the ideas being expressed.

Some other steps to consider when in the generating and revision stages include talking about your writing to someone familiar with the subject (for feedback and ideas) and outlining what you have already drafted.

"What?!" you ask, aghast. "Outline AFTER you write?"

Yes. It can be more helpful to outline what you have created and then examine the outline for order and logic as well as balance of examples, etc. This doesn't preclude brainstorming or outlining before step 1. Some teachers require outlines before the essay topic is approved. Whether you do the pre-writing outline or not, identifying what you have created, idea by idea, can help you see if the logic flows, if you have left something important out, or if you may need more information. This outline can be jotted down on scratch paper--it's only for you.

So the GRP method of writing, the real representation of what is meant by writing, is a system you have been learning and will continue to improve in, throughout your writing experiences in high school, college, and your professional life.