Starting An Essay and Choosing A Question PDF
Starting An Essay and Choosing A Question PDF
The
best
thing
to
try
and
remember
when
starting
any
essay
is
not
to
panic.
Essay
writing
is
a
process
and
has
a
beginning,
middle
and
an
end.
Using
a
systematic
approach
to
every
essay
you
undertake
will
help
you
feel
more
in
control
of
your
work
and
make
the
experience
a
less
overwhelming
one.
Essay
writing
is
also
a
skill
and
it
can
be
acquired
and
improved
on
with
time.
Feedback
on
past
essays
is
one
of
the
most
useful
tools
you
can
use
to
improve
your
writing.
Look
at
where
you’ve
fallen
down,
speak
to
your
tutor/
lecturer
if
possible,
and
seek
to
improve
on
a
weakness
for
future
work.
• Take
your
time.
You’re
committing
yourself
to
an
essay
title
for
a
few
weeks.
This
is
not
a
decision
you
should
rush.
• Choose
a
title
that
interests
you
(not
the
one
you
think
your
lecturer/
tutor
wants
to
correct!).
Students
always
do
better
when
they
pick
a
subject/
topic
they
enjoy
as
they
engage
better
with
it.
• Make
sure
you
fully
understand
the
question
asked.
What
is
it
asking
you
to
do
e.g.
evaluate,
discuss,
contrast,
critique,
examine.
Use
a
dictionary
to
double
check
definitions.
• Write
it
down!
Writing
the
essay
question
down
makes
you
fully
engage
with
it
and
you
are
less
likely
to
misinterpret
what
is
being
asked
of
you.
N.B. Remember, you can only be marked based on the question asked!
Establishing
what
you
already
know
about
a
topic/
subject
is
a
good
starting
point
for
any
essay.
It
also
helps
you
figure
out
what
you
don’t
know
and
where
you
need
to
start
researching.
An
effective
way
of
doing
this
is
using
a
word
dump.
A
word
dump
is
taking
a
blank
piece
of
paper
and
writing
down
key
words,
phrases,
themes,
ideas
and
questions.
You
can
then
organise
this
information
into
groups,
linking
complementary
ideas
together.
This
will
help
you
find
areas
to
focus
on,
and
help
you
identify
gaps
in
your
understanding
or
knowledge.
It
also
starts
the
process
of
writing
which
for
many
students
is
the
most
daunting
part
of
tackling
an
essay.
Target Reading:
The
next
step
in
this
process
is
to
start
reading.
Begin
with
the
key
texts
given
to
you
by
your
lecturer.
These
are
there
to
get
you
started,
and
have
been
recommended
because
they
are
of
good
quality.
However,
they
are
usually
not
an
exhaustive
list
of
writings
available
on
a
subject.
Look
beyond
these
books
for
further
reading;
a
useful
way
of
finding
supplementary
reading
is
to
look
at
what
works
are
cited
by
your
key
texts.
N.B.
Be
careful
of
information
provided
by
non-‐peer
reviewed
journals
or
books
and
of
information
available
on
websites.
If
in
doubt
check
the
quality
of
your
source
with
a
lecturer
or
tutor.
Be
sure
you
read
your
texts
critically
with
your
essay
question
in
mind
and
take
notes
as
you
go.
There
are
many
different
methods
of
note
taking
using
a
range
of
materials
such
as
notebooks,
records
cards
or
digital
documents.
Find
a
method
that
you
are
comfortable
with
and
that
works
for
you.
Taking
notes
while
you
do
your
reading
will
make
the
planning
and
writing
stages
of
your
essay
much
more
straightforward
and
will
help
you
to
better
retain
information.