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How to write an essay
During your academic
work, or even as part of your application, you will have to write
essays on different topics. It is well to know that the generally
accepted way of writing these essays demands compliance to a number of
«academic writing» rules, mostly related to the structure of the
essay.
Even when assigned, the topics on which the essay should be written
are generally quite broad, allowing the narrowing of the topic. You
should first do some research and try to get an idea about what has
been written on the topic so far. Most often, your essay will build
on, analyze or criticize one or more pieces of work, while building an
own position.
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The
introduction, should clearly state the subject you are going to
deal with, the narrowed topic, if any, and the position you are
going to take. Specifying the position (thesis statement) is one of
the most difficult parts of writing a structured essay. In the end,
you should be able to state in one phrase what your thesis is. It
should be narrow, specific and clear. You should not promise to
analyze, review, interrogate or examine a problem, but to find and
defend a specific side in the debate. As an example, a good thesis
sounds like «I will argue that the differences in economic status
between the countries in transition are the result of economic
policy options made at the beginning of the transformation process»,
rather than «I wish to analyze the differences in the economic
well-being of countries in transition». Version A takes a stand,
defends it and by introducing a new idea, contributes to the debate,
while version B merely points to some facts. The thesis statement is
one of the few places in the essay where it is acceptable to use the
first person writing, while most of the rest should be written in
the third person. Announcing the organization of the essay is
what follows the thesis statement in the introduction. Depending on
the size of the essay, you will develop a number of arguments to
defend your thesis. It is advisable to enumerate those arguments in
the paragraph following the thesis statement. « Three arguments
defending the thesis will be presented. First, it will be pointed
out that ... . The second argument developed will be that ... .
Finally, it will be proved that ... ».
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The body
of the essay should discuss the arguments you presented, preferably
in the order that you have announced. Each chapter/paragraph starts
in a well-written essay with a «topic sentence», restating the
argument and the author's position to it. In case you use chapters,
give them names that respect the structure and make the lecture
easier. The discussion should follow the statement of each argument
in a manner resembling the overall organization of the essay: facts,
ideas, and opinions of authorities in the field, as well as own
reasoning should be brought in the discussion one by one. In the
end, it should be examined whether the argument survived the debate
or not, inside a conclusive sentence/paragraph.
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Conclusions.
When all the arguments have been presented and discussed you should
be able to present the conclusions. If the essay has been well
written and organized, the arguments have been proved and, together,
they prove your thesis. You only have to show that, note the
progress that has been made in the research of the examined subject,
mention its possible implications.
A possible, but not
mandatory section, usually met in academic papers on more important
dimensions, is the limitations. Here you can note the
limitations of your reasoning, assumptions held true, but which if
proved wrong could invalidate your conclusions, aspects that have not
been brought under scrutiny, possible conditions that could limit the
impact of your conclusions, etc.
The specified size of
the essay is, unless otherwise stated, under the +/-10% rule. That is,
the entire text should not be shorter or longer than the suggested
size with more than 10% of that size. Ex: for a 3000 words essay, it
is acceptable to write 2700-3300 words. Use the MS Word's Word Count
function to see the size of your essay measured in words.
An academic essay
necessarily contains a bibliography, where you quote all the
sources used. Western universities tend to be very rigid with
plagiarism rules. So quote every source you have used. In the body of
the essay, avoid lengthy citation, use paraphrasing - saying with your
own words what other guy said before. If you quote, make it clear, and
give the source! In any case, referencing should be used only to start
discussing an argument, never to end it.
In some essays, like
those that you write when applying for an MBA, you have to answer
question like « What would you do if you were the manager of a plant
and why ?». In this situation, the rules explained above do not apply
that rigidly. You should maintain a clear structure, but a
bibliography is no longer necessary, since your answer will be more
practical-oriented than theoretical.
Good
luck!
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