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Writing an Essay What is an essay? “A prose composition with a focused subject of discussion“. (Gale, 2011) An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is the same no matter what. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task.

Essay Writing Critical Point  What is the question asking you to do?  What is the word count?  What are the key words?  Split it into smaller tasks

What do you mean?  Choose two artists whose work you enjoy. Make specific reference to at least three pieces by each artist and compare what you regard to be the distinctive characteristics of their work. (2000 words) OR  Monet’s depiction of the Paris urban scene is more realistic than Degas’s. Evaluate this statement and illustrate with reference to at least 3 pieces by each artist. (2500 words)

What Should an Essay Look Like? The essay should be produced in a particular structure, which has three main parts: 1.Introduction 2.Main body 3.Conclusion + References

Introduction (10%)  Your interpretation of the question  Issues you will explore  Outline the way you will explore the issues DO NOT JUST REPEAT THE QUESTION

Main Body (80%) Develop your key arguments Paragraph 1  Covers the issues you said you would cover first  First sentences introduces the main idea  Rest of paragraph gives examples, evidence, references etc.

Main Body Paragraph 2  first sentence links paragraph 2 to previous paragraphs and introduces the main idea of paragraph 2  rest of paragraph develops ideas

Conclusion (10%)  summarise arguments and main themes  state your conclusions  no new information should be introduced

What to avoid  Avoid slang and colloquialisms  Avoid abbreviations and contractions  Avoid questions  Be impersonal  Be objective

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