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2020 Essay Writing Business Improvement.pptx
- 2. What are you most worried about with writing essays? Please answer in the chat
- 4. A piece of writing that presents a topic and defends a stance to the reader. A piece of writing about a specific topic?
- 5. Above all, it should ANSWER THE QUESTION!
- 7. A good essay takes a position, supports that position with evidence, anticipates and respects objections or counterarguments and maintains momentum throughout anticipates and respects objections or counterarguments takes a position supports that position with evidence momentum throughout maintains
- 9. Introduction Hooks the reader; positions the topic within the wider field; explains how YOU will be answering the question (your position and a road map); defines any key terms.
- 10. An introduction begins general and ends specific General Specific Introduction
- 11. Main body The main body is where you build your argument using several points Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4
- 12. Conclusion Q: Compare and contrast the ability of hierarchical and flat organisational structures to reduce waste Summarises the essay and draws conclusions to address the question
- 13. A conclusion begins specific and ends general Specific General Conclusion
- 14. References Complete Everything you have referred to in the text Correct Formatted how your subject area needs it Consistent Even if it consistently wrong! It is not included in the word count.
- 15. Getting started & planning (5 steps) 1 2 3 4 5
- 17. Break down the essay title Download the key instruction word glossary Analyse the role of effective leadership in the implementation of lean project management “Instruction” word
- 18. Discuss the implications for organizational design and management of shortening a product cycle. Here is another example: “Instruction” word Download the key instruction word glossary
- 19. Step 2 Do your initial reading 1 2
- 20. Find resources to help you get a feel for the tocpi
- 21. Decide your position You will mention this in your introduction and it will be a crucial element of your conclusion Spectrum of relevant debate Author A Author C YOU Another Student Author B
- 22. Step 3 Make a basic plan 1 2 3
- 23. How many points will you need? Example for a 2000 word essay 200 words = introduction 200 words = conclusion 1,600 words = main body paragraphs 1,600/200-300 = 6-8 main body paragraphs = 6-8 substantial points in your essay
- 24. How many points should you have in a 3,500 word essay? 350 words = introduction 350 words = conclusion 2,800 words = main body paragraphs 2,800/200-300 = 9-14 main body paragraphs = 9-14 substantial points in your essay
- 25. Decide what points you need (Each point will have its own paragraph)
- 26. Option 1 Make a list or brainstorm
- 27. Option 2 Use a spider diagram or mind map
- 29. Step 4 Research in more detail 1 2 3 4
- 30. What specific evidence will back up the points in your initial plan?
- 31. Remember to keep a record of all the sources you are using somewhere!
- 33. Step 5 – Expand your initial plan Tighten up your points and note the evidence that backs them up
- 34. Note down how these actually help you answer the question (think about how you will make this link to your reader)
- 35. Are there any questions about the planning process?
- 36. Swearing alert!
- 37. “The first draft of anything is shit” Ernest Hemingway
- 38. “You can always fix crap. You can’t fix a blank page.” Christina Dodd
- 39. Your first draft is about getting your ideas on paper – don’t worry about the English Introduction Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Conclusion
- 40. Main body paragraphs should use the PEEL structure (other similar acronyms exist) Point one Evidence Explanation Link Point two Evidence Explanation Link Point three Evidence Explanation Link
- 41. Paragraph should follow PEEL structure Point Introduce the point (make a claim) Evidence Support the point with references Explanation How does the evidence support the point? Why is the point itself relevant? Link Link back to the topic of the essay, forward to your conclusion or onto the next paragraph
- 42. Example (this is from Sociology) Point One type of explanation for rising divorce has focused on changes in laws relating to marriage. Evidence How laws relating to marriage have changed – give information from Bilton et al. (1987); Conner & Armitage (1998); Van der Pligt & De Vries (2007). Explanation Divorce is easier to obtain – less blame is now attached. Problem – doesn’t explain why laws change Fundamental changes in society come first. Link Examples of these changes will be considered next.
- 43. Using storytelling in educational settings can enable educators to connect with their students because of inborn tendencies for humans to listen to stories. Written languages have only existed for between 6,000 and 7,000 years before then, and continually ever since in many cultures, important lessons for life were passed on using the oral tradition of storytelling. These varied from simple informative tales, to help us learn how to find food or avoid danger, to more magical and miraculous stories designed to help us see how we can resolve conflict and find our place in society Oral storytelling traditions are still fundamental to native American culture and Rebecca Bishop, a native American public relations officer believes that the physical act of storytelling is a special thing because children will automatically stop what they are doing and listen when a story is told. Professional communicators report that this continues into adulthood. This means that storytelling can be a powerful tool for connecting with students of all ages in a way that a list of bullet points in a PowerPoint presentation cannot. The emotional connection and innate, almost hardwired, need to listen when someone tells a story means that educators can teach memorable lessons in a uniquely engaging manner that is common to all cultures, as will be illustrated next.
- 44. Using storytelling in educational settings can enable educators to connect with their students because of inborn tendencies for humans to listen to stories. Written languages have only existed for between 6,000 and 7,000 years (Daniels & Bright, 1995) before then, and continually ever since in many cultures, important lessons for life were passed on using the oral tradition of storytelling. These varied from simple informative tales, to help us learn how to find food or avoid danger, to more magical and miraculous stories designed to help us see how we can resolve conflict and find our place in society (Zipes, 2012). Oral storytelling traditions are still fundamental to native American culture and Rebecca Bishop, a native American public relations officer (quoted in Sorensen, 2012) believes that the physical act of storytelling is a special thing because children will automatically stop what they are doing and listen when a story is told. Professional communicators report that this continues into adulthood (Simmons, 2006; Stevenson, 2008). This means that storytelling can be a powerful tool for connecting with students of all ages in a way that a list of bullet points in a PowerPoint presentation cannot. The emotional connection and innate, almost hardwired, need to listen when someone tells a story means that educators can teach memorable lessons in a uniquely engaging manner that is common to all cultures, as will be illustrated next.
- 45. Remember that your introduction and conclusion deserve a lot of attention too Introduction Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Conclusion What order you write them in is a personal choice
- 46. Recap: the introduction should… Set the scene (not too much) Define terms (if necessary) Map your route Destination State your destination
- 47. Recap: the conclusion should… Restate your position Summarise your points Show how your points link Destination (we made it!) Indicate the wider importance
- 48. Are there any questions about the initial writing process?
- 50. You can edit your draft on several levels: Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references Adapted from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/editing-and-proofreading/
- 51. Check your assignment guidance – have you covered everything? Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references
- 52. Does the order of your main paragraphs make a logical narrative? Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references
- 53. Highlight the P-E-E-L parts of each paragraph to make sure they are all present in a nutshell Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references
- 54. Are you signposting enough to help the reader know where your argument is heading? Moreover Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references
- 55. Exercise is essential for maintaining health Many exercise activities involve positive social interaction = Addition Furthermore, many exercise activities involve positive social interaction
- 56. Discount supermarkets offer better value for consumers. The big four supermarkets offer a greater selection of products at a range of price points. Cause/effect? Comparison? Contrast? Addition? Examples? Lidl has introduced an in-store bakery which undercuts both high-street bakeries and larger supermarkets. The big four are taking steps to further increase their competitiveness. However, the big four supermarkets offer a greater selection of products at a range of price points. In the case of Lidl, the new in-store bakeries undercut both high- street bakeries and larger supermarkets. Consequently, the big four are taking steps to further increase their competitiveness.
- 57. Linking words/Signposts Cause/effect Comparison Contrast Addition Examples Conclusion Time whenever likewise although/but also for example accordingly as soon as as/as a result similarly alternatively and/and then for instance in brief at the same time because equally besides/despite in addition in other words in short as long as consequently as with however/yet moreover in effect in conclusion at length/at last hence compared to nevertheless too in this case on the whole meanwhile since equivalent to on the other hand further in particular to sum up secondly/once so on the contrary furthermore specifically throughout first of all/first(ly) thus whereas again such as in all finally/eventually therefore while/whilst the following in the case of overall initially/next accordingly in contrast what is more to show that in summary after(wards) until otherwise as well as significantly to conclude subsequently conversely henceforth See also: http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/learning/FileStore/Filetoupload,628191,en.pdf
- 58. Is your writing in academic style? (Not colloquial or flowery) Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references
- 60. Be concise Do not use lots of extra words that you really do not need as they are not adding anything to your argument and will only be unnecessarily using up precious word count.
- 61. Are all your sources clearly referenced? Are they all present and formatted correctly in the reference list? (Check them all!) Content Overall structure Paragraph structure Flow Style Citations and references
- 62. Are there any questions about the editing process?
- 64. Make sure you leave time to proofread
- 65. Proofreading is not reading Normally we read for: Content, to ascertain the information the text contains When we proofread we should: Read for the medium and not the message
- 66. Read Look through several times, checking for different problems each time Spelling Sentence fragments Sentence length Apostrophes Contractions Comma splices
- 67. top proofreading tips: Print your document Read your text out loud Don’t trust MS Word – but don’t ignore it Separate text into different sentences Don’t trust yourself – get another pair of eyes Proof reading for common errors 5
- 68. If you struggle with things like grammar, use our grammar resource Link to all our SkillsGuides Link to Grammar Resource
- 69. Finally… When tutors set essays, they are not interested in what you know… …they are interested in how well you can argue your point
Editor's Notes
- First we must answer this basic question
- At school, an essay may have been described as this first point – however at university it is more. The second point shows the main difference – you need to defend a stance – i.e. tell the reader what your position is and why.
- An essay never says “Write everything you know about x”. There will be a specific question to answer
- Takes a position – already talked about that a little – there is no sitting on the fence in a good essay. Supports with evidence – you MUST persuade the reader why your position is a valid one by providing reliable evidence to support it. Anticipates and respects objections and counterarguments – you cannot ignore other possible positions. You must show that you have taken these into consideration when deciding on your own and explain why you have rejected them or revised your own in light of them. Maintains momentum – the argument you are making throughout the essay should flow logically from point to point, you don’t want to be back-tracking too much or go off on side paths or you will lose the forward momentum that it needs. It needs a clear structure.
- Most students are quite poor at writing introductions. They are often too short and don’t actually introduce the essay, just give background information.
- So…
- The important word here is BUILD. It is essential that the essay builds towards your conclusion – there should be a clear narrative (story) that leads you from paragraph to paragraph. It should not just be a random group of paragraphs about the topic in question. For longer essays, it may be subdivided into sections – we will look at this again in a moment.
- Answer any question set in the title (if it is a pros and cons essay, you will need to say which argument is stronger). Link back to introduction (show that you did what you said you would do) Summarise the main points. Give a sense of an ending and says why it is significant for the wider field that you started the introduction with.
- In essence, it mirrors the introduction.
- Every essay should end with a list of the references cited (as all academic writing should).
- The key instruction words (‘do’ words) all have different meanings. Download a glossary to help you.
- This is one that shows that it isn’t always easy to tell which is the key issue and which is the scope/constraint. The rule of thumb is that if you have had a lecture about it, or if your text book has a chapter on it, it’s probably the key issue. The other part is an aspect of it and so a constraint (maybe a few slides in a lecture or a sub-section in a book).
- For any topic, there will be a spectrum of relevant debate with writers at various points along that spectrum. You need to decide where you stand – which author’s writing convinced you most? Does the work of another author pull you slightly in that direction? Another student could take a completely different position along the spectrum. If we imagine the “essays” question, some authors may suggest essays are fantastic as they are the only way to show critical understanding of complex topics and the ability to argue eloquently and other authors may suggest that they are behind the times in our digital and visual world where employers are looking for more varied communication skills. You would have to way these up and come to your conclusion.
- Sometimes you have do to a little maths…
- Now you have decided on your position following your initial reading. You need to decide what points you need to make to convince your reader of that position. There are various ways that you could go about this…
- Come up with more than you need – then you can see if you can combine any or just choose the most convincing points (usually the ones you have most evidence to support).
- This can help if you like to think more visually.
- This is good if you want to be able to move things around easily – it’s very satisfying when you decide not to use one and you can crumple it up and throw it away too!
- Now you have the points, you can find specific evidence to back them up. Remember your points CAME from your reading so you will already have some of it. If, in the course of your further reading you come across something that doesn’t fit – consider revising your plan or a counterargument that you can use to explain why you choose not to agree with it.
- As you begin to write longer and longer essays, consider using something like RefWorks to help you manage and cite your sources.
- This doesn’t need too much work – just write down the main point and then the evidence you have for that.
- You don’t necessarily have to write it down, but as you are planning, think about how you are going to write the explanation to the reader. If you can’t think of a way – should you be making that point?
- We don’t necessarily draft anymore in the same sense (we have wordprocessors that allow us to continuously edit) but the point is valid. Don’t expect the first version you write to be any good. It isn’t actually supposed to be. Writing is an iterative process that requires lots of editing.
- This is self explanatory!
- Just write
- Exceptions may occur - for example when paragraphs are small and serve as transition paragraphs for emphasis
- You may have done this at school – but it still holds true at university. The main difference is the amount of explanation (and evaluation within that). At school, this may be sentence but at university it could be half the paragraph.
- First question is easy – where is the point of this paragraph? (tell me the first and last words of the sentence). Next question, where is the evidence to support that point? I’ve made it harder by taking out the citations. (from where to where – again, tell me the first and last words Where is the explanation? (Again, tell me the first and last words). This doesn’t have a direct link as part of the paragraph – that actually came at the top of the next paragraph which went on to talk about the cross-cultural element of storytelling which links to the final sentence here.
- Some people like to write a draft conclusion first – it is easier to plan a journey when you know where you are going Some people like to write a full introduction with a road map before they start – like following written instructions. Some people like to write their introduction at the end – so they can make it fit what they have already written. It is all personal choice – try a few options and see what works for you.
- Check these one at a time – note that it does not include spelling or punctuation
- These are two consecutive points in a paragraph. A good writer will show how they are relate to each other using a signposting word. In this case, the second point is adding to the argument that exercise is a good thing (it is an addition). This can be made really clear by using a suitable signpost at the beginning of the next point; in this case, furthermore.
- Now you have a go. How would does each of these points relate to the one at the top and what sort of word can we use to indicate the relationship? (Hopefully) Some of these will be disputed – it goes to show the important of the signpost in helping your reader understand where you argument is going.
- There are lots of words you can use!
- Some students appear to think that academic writing must be complex with long words and long sentences. This is not true. Academic writing may cover some complex concepts and some of these may include uncommon terminology but that does not mean the sentences themselves need to be complex. Above all, the writing should be clear and the arguments easy to follow. Admittedly, a lot of the academic papers that you have to read at university do use long sentences but you do not have to emulate these. This is especially true if you are struggling with sentence structure – the longer the sentence, the easier it is to get the structure wrong.
- It’s a good idea to sleep on an essay before your final proofreading.
- Proofreading is a skill like any other you have to learn. Content: we want to understand Medium We are not reading the essay for the content/understand we are looking at words to spot any errors.
- .
- Read our your text aloud, this might sound silly but it works. When you hear yourself reading any errors are automatically picked up. Don’t trust MS Word – never, never trust the processor to spot the errors, it may pick out some but then it can blatantly miss others. Don’t trust yourself Our eyes often skim words, we only see part of the word, usually the beginnings and the endings, so we guess the rest by assumption from memory or context rather than by sight. This is one way we fail to spot any mistakes. Work with a Friend Try and work with another student/friend, get into the habit of checking each other’s work. Best if this is someone NOT on your course – they they will not be worried about understanding the content and will concentrate on the errors. Grammar – be careful with grammar. There are lots of words that are commonly confused.
- Any final questions?