<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> A quick guide to essay writing
   
   

>> And finally...

Some quick don'ts

Don't fail to address the question

This is harder than you might think, as any examiner reading through exam essays will tell you! It's very easy to answer the question that you would have liked to have been asked, often without even realising it. Think very hard about what the question really is, and why that particular question was asked. Your teacher or the examiners will often deliberately ask you a hard question in order to make you think harder - which will make you write a better essay!

Don't fail to support your argument

Neither your teacher nor your examiner will be impressed by a string of unsupported opinions and unrelated facts. Always back up your argument with examples and quotations. (take a look at our Quick Guide to Quotations)

Don't provide lengthy plot summaries or paraphrases of poetry

Your teacher or examiner has read the book for themselves and doesn't need to know what happens (unless they explicitly ask for this). Save yourself the trouble of writing it out!

Don't make simple errors of fact

This isn't going to impress anyone. Always check facts before you include them in an essay.

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