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Drafts of essays

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1. Don’t imagine that you should be able to produce a fluent and successful essay at your first attempt. Even professional writers don’t work like that. You should think of writing as a process in which the first stages are sketches or rough drafts. These will help you to produce something more polished and fluent at a later stage.

2. The advantages of working in this way are enormous. You can disregard the fine details and concentrate on generating your arguments. The writing does not need to be grammatically correct. You can come back later to make corrections.

3. There is no need to worry too much about the structure of what you produce. If new ideas come to mind, you can write them down. Anything can be changed later, when you do more work on the essay.

4. This writing strategy assumes that you are prepared to do this extra work. You should try to avoid thinking of the first draft as the finished essay, no matter how much effort you have put into its production. Regard it instead as the raw material from which a more considered and well-crafted second draft will be produced. You should be prepared for extensive re-writing.

5. A word-processor is an ideal writing tool for working with drafts. You can choose to keep polishing and refining the same basic document, saving it to incorporate each set of changes. Alternatively, you can create and save separate drafts. These may then be compared and mixed until you have produced something to your satisfaction.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Editing essays

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1. Editing essays or any piece of writing before you submit it for assessment is a sure way of improving its quality. Only very skilled writers can produce work without making mistakes. The elimination of small errors will improve the appearance and effectiveness of what you write.

2. The difference between a first and second rate piece of work may rest on just a little extra time spent checking what you have written. Read through your work carefully and correct any errors.

3. If necessary, read the essay out loud to check its grammar and correctness, but keep in mind that a conversational tone is not appropriate in essays.

4. Eliminate any sloppy or muddled writing. If something strikes you as weak or unclear, take the trouble to put it right. If this is not possible, be prepared to eliminate it from the essay.

5. Check for sentences which are grammatically incomplete. Look out for those which might lack any part of the Subject-Verb-Object minimum for grammatical coherence.

6. Check for missing words. Insert them into even the neatest completed typescript or manuscript. If you are using a word-processor, a grammar-checker might help you here.

7. Check that you have spelled correctly any proper names, technical terms, or lesser-known words. If in doubt, look them up in a good dictionary. Use the spell-checker if your word-processor has one.

8. Check that your punctuation is consistent, accurate, and legible.

9. Check for consistency in the layout of your pages.

10. If your final draft contains a lot of mistakes and corrections, be prepared to re-write it, even if this will take quite some time. This will give you the opportunity to improve your presentation, and you will probably discover that you can introduce further improvements to the arguments.

Checklist

  • Eliminate any awkward turns of phrase
  • Split up any sentences which are too long
  • Re-arrange the order of your paragraphs
  • Eliminate any repetitions
  • Correct errors of spelling or punctuation
  • Create smooth links between paragraphs
  • Add anything important you have missed
  • Delete anything which is not relevant
  • Check for weak syntax and grammar
  • Run the grammar-checker and spell-checker

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Endnotes in essays

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1. When you use quotations or mention someone else’s work in an essay, the source of the information is most conveniently given in endnotes – a system of bibliographic references which appears at the end of the essay.

2. A bracketed number is placed in your text, as A.B. Smith suggests, ‘at the end of the statement or the sentence in which the reference is made’ (1), and successive references to this or other works are given the next higher number.

3. These endnotes are then listed ‘with bibliographic exactness’ (2) at the end of the essay as follows:

NOTES

1. A.B. Smith, How to Use Endnotes Correctly, Manchester: Imaginary Press: 1999, p.345.

2. Judith Butcher, Copy Editing: the Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors, and Publishers, 3rd edn, Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.234.

4. If you are using the Harvard system of referencing, the date of publication follows the author’s name.

5. If a direct quotation is being used, the information in the endnote should allow a reader (including you, at a later date) to trace the source of the quotation if necessary. That is, you should give details of author, title, publisher, and date of publication, then page number – as indicated here in the first endnote.

6. Successive quotations from the same source may be indicated by using the op. cit. and ibid. system. However, the short reference system which gives author and title is preferable as this makes the information easier to trace for the reader.

7. In a short essay which only refers to three or four different sources, successive references might be given as follows:

3. Butcher, op. cit., p.123.

8. In a longer essay, which might be drawing on a large number of sources, some of which may include different works by the same author, the short title system is to be preferred:

4. Smith, Endnotes, p.321.

9. The traditional referencing system using op. cit. and ibid. is gradually disappearing in favour of the much clearer short title and Harvard systems. However, it is worth knowing how it works, because so much academic writing has been produced using this system. You need to know how to trace other people’s references in older publications.

10. If you are quoting repeatedly from one particular work, give
full bibliographic details in your first endnote. Then add the statement All subsequent page references to this edition. After that, just give page references in the text of your essay.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Evidence in essays

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1. Evidence in essays is the information you put forward to support your argument(s). This might be items of data or the illustrative examples which demonstrate the validity of your claims.

2. This evidence might be statistical data [51% of the population is female] illustrative examples [Milton’s ‘On his Blindness’ and Wordsworth’s ‘On Westminster Bridge’ are both written in sonnet form] or experimental results [Four out of the five control groups failed to meet these targets].

3. Many academic essays are normally concerned with the detailed inspection of evidence. A proposition is asserted, but then it must be substantiated by examples which are analysed and discussed.

4. Evidence might sometimes be a detailed selection of points from a body of data under consideration. For instance, in making a historical analysis of a subject, your particular selection of its chronological details might form the evidence supporting your argument.

5. In other essays, the evidence might have to be assembled or discovered as part of the examination of the subject. A project on urban traffic density or on public opinion regarding divorce for instance might require practical research to compile statistics.

6. Many subjects require the study of what are called ‘set texts’. That is, books which have come to be regarded as standard works on their subject:

  • Richard G. Lipsey, Positive Economics
  • Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
  • Charles Dickens, Bleak House
  • Ernst Gombricht, The Story of Art
  • Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

7. Essays, term papers, and assignments set in these subject require a close examination of these set texts, and the evidence used in your arguments will be drawn from the texts to show your understanding of them.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Examination essays

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1. Examination essays are a very common form of writing exercise in further and higher education. During most examinations you will have to produce written responses to a number of questions in a very limited time. This might mean writing as many as three complete essays in rapid succession, each one in as little as forty-five minutes or an hour.

2. Because of this time limitation in exams, you don’t need to write out the essay question in full on your examination script, (otherwise you will be using up valuable time). But you must indicate clearly which question you have chosen to answer.

3. Read each of your chosen questions in very close detail, paying attention to their principal topic(s). You should check the rubric for any key terms, and such instruction terms as either-or options. Pay particularly close attention to the number of examples it requires you to consider in your answer.

4. Write a brief plan or a list of topics you will cover on the left-hand page of the examination booklet. This will show the examiner what you are setting out to consider. Such a layout has the advantage that you can change it or make additions whilst you are writing the essay. If you do not complete your answer, you might be given some credit for your plan.

5. Write your answers to the questions on the right-hand pages of the booklet only (unless you are instructed to do otherwise). Leave the left-hand pages blank. These blank pages can be used for making any later additions or alterations to your answer if necessary, giving some indication of where the extra material should be inserted.

6. You will not be expected to produce work of the depth or quality required in a normal coursework essay. However, you should make every effort to write clearly and concisely. Try to give your answer a firm structure.

7. You will not be expected to quote from memory extensive details of the texts and materials you have been studying. However, you should be as precise as possible. Avoid any impression of sloppiness or uncertainty.

8. If you make any mistakes of fact or grammar, do not be afraid to correct them. Do this as neatly and clearly as possible. If you find that you have wandered from the point of the argument for instance, it is quite acceptable to cross out a whole paragraph.

9. If you discover that you have missed out a vital earlier part of your argument, it is possible to go back, write out the missing part on a left-hand page, and indicate with an arrow where it belongs.

10. In ‘open book’ examinations you are allowed to take texts or course materials with you into the examination room. Do not spend too much time searching for information or suitable quotations. Quite apart from the valuable time this may consume, it is far more important that you construct your own argument. The secondary material is only used as supportive evidence or illustration.

11. If you do locate suitable quotations, you should avoid quoting them at too great a length. They might seem very relevant as a support for your case, but remember that the general requirement of most examinations is that you should produce your own argument in response to a question.

12. When you have finished answering the questions, even if there is time to spare, avoid the temptation to hand in your work and leave the examination room. Such time is much better used in checking through your work. Correct any factual errors and slips in punctuation or grammar.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Footnotes in essays

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1. When you offer quotations from other people’s work in an essay, the sources of the information may sometimes be given in footnotes printed at the bottom of the page. In modern word-processors footnotes can be added automatically. However, you should use this facility with care and restraint.

2. A bracketed number should be placed, as A.B. Smith suggests, ‘normally at the end of the sentence in which the reference is made’, and successive references are then given the next higher number. (1)

3. The number may be placed after a specific word if necessary, or at a break in the sense of the sentence.

4. Sometimes the footnote may be used to add an aside or to offer a comment on something which is only obliquely related to the topic in question. (2)

5. If a direct quotation is being used, the reference in the footnote should allow a reader to trace the source of the information if necessary. That is, you should give details of author, title, publisher, and date of publication, then page number. (If you are using the Harvard system of notation, remember that the date follows the author’s name.)

6. Successive quotations from the same source may be indicated by using the op. cit. and ibid. system of abbreviations. Alternatively, use the short-title system.

7. This system of footnoting can become extremely complicated and difficult to use – particularly if you wish to make changes. The addition of one new quotation in the middle of the essay can throw the whole system out of order. [If you are writing or typing it is difficult to know how much room to allow for the footnotes, and once the page is full you cannot add more.]

Footnotes

8. There are other reasonable arguments against using footnotes. The most important is that by their very nature they interrupt the flow of your argument. It is very difficult for a reader to resist the inducement to glance to the bottom of the page – no matter how lightweight the remarks which are placed there.

9. The easiest solution to these problems is to present this information as endnotes. These are given on a separate sheet at the end of your essay. This system is much easier to use, and additions or corrections can be more easily made when producing the final draft.

10. The general tendency in academic writing has recently been to offer endnotes rather than footnotes. This is because the printing of footnotes in academic publications is very costly. However, the automatic footnoting facility on modern word-processors might reverse this trend.

Footnotes

1. A.B. Smith, How to Use Footnotes Correctly, Manchester: Imaginary Press, 1999, p.368.

2. This system can easily become very unwieldy, even though it is obviously convenient for the reader. If the notes are no more than bibliographical information on your sources, the effect will be slightly irritating.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Full stops in essays

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1. Full stops in essays (a full stop is sometimes called a ‘period’) are used at the end of complete sentences – like this one.

2. The only common exception to this rule occurs when the sentence is a question or an exclamation (both of which should be avoided in academic essays).

Is this question really necessary?
What a mess!

Notice that both these marks of punctuation have their own built-in full stop.

3. The stop is also used following abbreviations:

ibid.     No. 1     ff.     e.g.

4. The stop is not necessary following common titles which are shortened forms of a word (technically, contractions):

Dr     Mr     St     Mme

5. Full stops are not necessary after the initial capital letters commonly used as abbreviations for the titles of organisations and countries:

NATO     BBC     UNESCO     USA

6. They are not used where the initial letters of a standard work of reference is used as an abbreviated title:

OED [Oxford English Dictionary]
DNB [Dictionary of National Biography]
PMLA [Papers of the Modern Languages Association]

7. No full stop is required if a sentence ends with a title or an abbreviation which contains its own punctuation:

He is the editor of Which?

She gave her address as ‘The Manor, Wilts.’

8. Full stops should not be used after titles, headings, or sub-headings.

Introduction
The Turn of the Screw
Industrial Policy Report

9. The stop is normally placed inside quotation marks but outside a parenthesis:

“What joy we had that particular day.”
Profits declined (despite increased sales).

10. However, if the quotation is part of another statement, or the parenthesis is a complete sentence, the full stop goes inside:

Mrs Higginbottam whispered “They’re coming”.

There was an earthquake in Osaka. (Another had occurred in Tokyo the year previously.)

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Generalizing in essays

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1. You should avoid generalizing in essays. It works against the spirit of academic inquiry, and leads away from precision and accuracy. Instead, it leads towards sloppy thinking and the sort of empty prejudice which fills tabloid newspapers.

2. Generalizing often arises from attempts to avoid the first person mode, or from misguided efforts to appear rather grandiose in style.

‘Encountering Katherine Mansfield’s well-sculpted prose, the reader immediately feels that …’

3. As a substitute for ‘I feel …’ this is both clumsy and unacceptable. It suggests that all readers will respond in the same way and that there is only one possible response to the subject in question.

4. Try to avoid this expression and all its variations, such as ‘the reader becomes involved with…’ and ‘the reader’s attention is gained … ‘.

5. Another common form of generalizing arises when a specific example is discussed as if it were a general truth. It might be tempting to say ‘Thus Marx’s work shows us that …’ However, this suggests that you have read everything Marx ever wrote – which is probably not the case.

6. Variations of this approach occur in phrases such as ‘Women in the nineteenth century were all …’ and ‘The French have always been a nation which finds it impossible to …’.

7. Whatever the conclusions to these two statements, they are making claims about every woman in the nineteenth century and the entire population of France. Neither statement is likely to be true, because there will be so many exceptions.

8. The solution to this problem (in both cases) is to be more accurate and precise. This is a matter of clear thinking rather than written style – but it is at this point that the two subjects intersect.

9. If you wish to make such a claim but do not have exact numbers or percentages – then you should be more cautious and modest. You could at least say ‘Many women in the nineteenth century were …’ and ‘Many French people seem to …’.

10. Keep in mind that most essay assignments are asking you to deal with the specific details of your subject. You will gain more credit for claims which are modest yet accurately supported, than ones which are grandiose but unproven.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Generating ideas for essays

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1. Generating ideas is a useful preliminary stage when faced with an essay writing task. Start by ‘brainstorming’ the subject or the topic(s) concerned. This is often a good way to produce material for planning your answer.

2. Keep in mind that it is a preliminary stage in the essay writing process. It is designed to supply you with ideas, topics, and material for preparing the essay.

3. Take a sheet of blank paper and write in the middle of it the subject, topic(s), or the question concerned. Then, write down everything that comes into your mind which is connected with the question or the subject. Do this without editing or questioning your thoughts in any way.

4. This should be done in note form, single words, or with very brief reminders. Do not try to write out grammatically complete sentences.

5. Give your thoughts a chance to flow freely. Use one-word triggers,
abbreviations, or even symbols. Write down even trivial or vaguely associated items. They might help you to make connections with other items which are more centrally important to the subject.

6. When you have finished doing this, your task will be to make some sense of the topics or the ideas you have produced. You will need to put this material in some sort of order. This process is often known as categorizing.

7. Prior to that stage however you might first look over what you have written down. Eliminate anything which is not connected to the subject in question.

8. Be as rigorous as possible at this stage. Keep asking yourself “Are these arguments or topics directly relevant to what the question is asking for?”

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Grades in essay results

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1. There are two systems of essay grades commonly used in further and higher education [in the UK]. One is the numerical percentages system of grades (from 0 up to 100) and the other is the alphabetical letter system (from A to E, F, and G).

2. Older, traditional universities sometimes employ a similar system, but using the initial letters of the Greek alphabet – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.

3. Those using the English and Greek letter system often employ the further refinement of a plus and minus system to provide a greater degree of discrimination. In this system, the grades Beta-plus (B+) and Alpha-minus (A-) represent incremental grades between Beta and Alpha.

4. Although these systems are in widespread use, there might be minor local variations. An example of the other common [sixteen-point] marking scheme is given below. See also the section on assessment.

5. In numerical percentages especially, there is sometimes a sense of fuzziness about the distinctions between one grade and the next. It is also quite common not to award percentages over eighty.

6. The percentage and letter grades, corresponding to the standard university degree classification, are as follows:

CLASS PERCENT LETTER
First class (I) 70% or over A
Upper second (II.i) 60-69% B
Lower second (II.ii) 50-59% C
Third class (III) 40-49% D
Pass/Fail 34-39% E
Fail Below 34% F

7. For most courses, the boundary between a pass and a fail will be forty percent. Below this there can be different levels of failure. A tutor might award thirty-five to record a near miss. This could permit a student to re-submit a piece of work or maybe to re-sit an examination. The band of marks between thirty and forty is sometimes called a ‘compensatory pass’.

8. A mark as low as twenty-five suggests a basic misunderstanding or a serious lack of achievement. Below this, there are further possible degrees of failure. These marks may sometimes be designated as E, F, and G in the letter grading system – though some institutions stop registering grades at D.

9. Low marks for individual pieces of work might nevertheless be significant depending on the system for calculating an overall course grade. One single low essay grade on a course might bring down an average score – or it might be disregarded as an aberration if all other grades were high.

10. Above forty percent there is a band of ten marks which designate a ‘bare pass’. The question has been considered, but that is all. The answer might be weak and hesitant, either in the arrangement of its ideas or in the quality of its arguments and evidence. The manner of expression might also be shaky. This band corresponds to the D grade in the letter system or a third (III) or pass mark in the traditional university system.

11. Work which scrapes through the pass mark will usually suffer from a number of weaknesses. The answers might have been very short, the focus of the argument might have wandered on and off the required subject. It might lack coherence and structure, and the expression may have been hesitant or clumsy. In work of this calibre there is often no indication that the student knows which is the more and which the less relevant part of the argument.

12. The higher the grade awarded to an essay, the greater must be the proportion of material it contains which is directly related to the question. Conversely, there should be as little as possible which is not relevant. The success of the work, in almost all cases, is directly related to the ability to focus single-mindedly on the question topic(s).

13. Next comes the band between fifty and sixty percent. Grades at this level represent a greater degree of competence, both in terms of handling the issues and the manner in which they are expressed. There may be a greater degree of fluency in the written style, and the generation of ideas. More supporting evidence may have been offered, or examples discussed. However, there will still be weak patches, and possibly mistakes or omissions which dilute the overall effect of the essay. This band corresponds to the C grade or the lower second (II.ii) in the other grading systems.

14. Grades between fifty and sixty are perfectly respectable. They represent rising degrees of competence in handling the issues raised by the question. These grades reflect an average ability in the subject at this level – yet they often seem to cause more problems than any other grades. Many students imagine that such results represent a humiliating failure to succeed, when in fact they demonstrate competence and success – albeit at a moderate level.

15. In the next band, between sixty and seventy, there will be a rise in the quality of written expression, argument and evidence. There will also be far less extraneous material and usually a greater degree of self-confidence in the writing. The essay will demonstrate an ability to focus attention on the question. This is a standard which shows a well informed and firm grasp of the issues involved, and the intellectual capability to deal with them. This band corresponds to the B grade or the upper second (II.i) in the other systems.

16. Students often want to know (quite rightly) what constitutes the difference in quality between two results, one of which might score 59 and the other 62 percent. This is a gap of only three marks, but enough to make the distinction between a lower and upper second level pass. The answer is that the better work probably has a stronger sense of focus and structure, presents more concrete evidence, or makes a closer engagement with the details of the question.

17. The regions beyond seventy or seventy-five are normally reserved for work which is clearly outstanding in its quality, intellectual breadth, and fluency of articulation. Answers pitched at this level are likely to be very confidently presented, and they will demonstrate a breadth of knowledge and reading in the subject which make it especially praiseworthy. Marks in this band are often awarded to work which not only answers the question but say something insightful or original about it as well. This band corresponds to the A grade or first class award (I) in the other systems.

18. Keep in mind however that essay questions do not require you to be dazzlingly original. Your tutors will be perfectly happy to award good grades to work which shows that you have studied the course material and answered the question.

19. Most institutions use similar standards of assessment, even though many of them do not make the criteria explicit. Here is one which does.

SIXTEEN-POINT MARKING SCHEME
Grade Degree     Guide to interpretation
90/85 1 Outstanding work
78 1 Work of exceptional merit, in terms of coherence, clarity of presentation, comprehensive coverage and critical analytic discourse.
73 1 Excellent command of relevant material, clearly expressed, with a high level of perception and critical insight.
68/63 2.i Based on wide reading and critical analysis of material. Work is logically structured, is expressed clearly, offers broad coverage of the topic, and is accurate in points of detail.
58/53 2.ii Work is satisfactory in structure and expression, and is based on a fair range of reading. The student has thought through the subject, tackled most relevant issues with reasonable accuracy, and has attained an acceptable level of understanding.
48 3 Work has some merits, but is deficient in one or more significant respects. For example, structure and expression are poor; certain issues are misunderstood; factual errors creep in; insufficient reading; lack of evidence of independent thought.
43 Pass Work is deficient in several respects or badly deficient in one of them, but nontheless has some recognisable merit.
33 Fail Some awareness of the dimensions of the question/issue, but the communication of knowledge and understanding is limited and/or error-prone. Alternatively, the communication of knowledge and understanding is of a related subject, which represents a misreading or misunderstanding of the question/issue as set.
25 Fail Sufficient knowledge to indicate a minimal level of understanding, but knowledge based unacceptably weak.
15 Fail No coherent response to the question/issue, but a few relevant points made.
8 Fail Virtually no relevant response to the question or issue.
0 Fail No relevant response to the question or issue.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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