Module 5 Requirements for a university essay Part 3 Transition Module 5 developed by Elisabeth Wielander

Writing an outline Formal essays must have a clear underlying structure so the reader does not have to wonder where your points will lead. Before writing the first draft of your essay it is useful to draw up an outline plan. This will: give you a basic overview of what each section of the essay will focus on. help you to think about the order you will put your material in and how you will develop each paragraph. In the outline plan you are not writing the actual essay. All you need to do is bullet point the key information. Be prepared to make changes as you go along.

Essay framework Introduction Essay topic Focus of the essay Main body Section 1 Topic of this paragraph Supporting point Closing sentence Section 1/2/3 etc Topic of this paragraph Supporting point Closing sentence Conclusion Sum up/recap key points Conclusion, closing comments Aston University: LTS Essay Guidelines Essay Framework

Essay structure Your essay must follow a clear structure: Title / question Every essay title contains an actual or implied question. The whole of your essay must focus on the title and address that question. Introduction The reader should get a clear idea of what s/he can expect in the essay. You have to address the main question or problem of the essay. Explain how you interpret the question. Identify issues that you are going to explore. Give a brief outline of how you will deal with each issue, and in which order. (Only in longer essays, e.g words) Length: about one-tenth of the essay

Essay structure Main body: (develop your argument or line of reasoning) The main body will consist of a series of paragraphs. For essays over 1,500 words, these have to be grouped together in numbered sections with headings. Each section will develop one key point you wish to make about the topic. Each main idea that you outlined in your research and planning will become one of the body sections. If you had three or four main ideas, you will have three or four body paragraphs.

The basic internal structure of each section should be: Introductory paragraph with topic sentence: This sentence introduces the topic of the section - literally what this section is about. The other sentences develop the topic sentence: Each one adds further information to support the topic sentence Include evidence, analysis and commentary. Essay structure

Conclusion Sum up the main points of your essay Refer back to the essay topic/question and consider in which way your essay has solved / questioned / further deepened / illuminated / contributed to a better understanding of / deconstructed etc. the problem Come to a balanced conclusion. Not your personal opinion (avoid: ‘I think...’) but a weighing up of the arguments brought forward in the main body, expressed in an impersonal style. possibly add final comments, e. g., suggestion for further research; need for rethinking of existing literature. Length: One tenth of overall essay length New ideas should not be inserted into the conclusion

Essay structure Bibliography Almost all University essays require a bibliography. This is a list of all the material you have used in your essay. Do not list anything which you have not used in the main text and, vice versa, do not quote anything in the main text which does not appear in the bibliography. There are many styles of bibliographies; the most important thing is to make sure all of the information necessary for someone to look up the source is there. For more information, see Transition Module 4: Referencing.