How To Write An Essay

How to write an essay

Whether for a timed essay in an exam, or for handing in week to week for your lessons, essays are the key to showing you understand and have digested what you re studying. You want to show a through-flow, a growing development of ideas, with a beginning, a middle and an end, a bit like a story. It s the story of your understanding of what you re writing about. It can be helpful to think of your essay as a courtroom, with a judge and two barristers on either side of the room, all in enormous wigs, arguing this question out.

With this in mind, gather your thoughts into four sections:

The IntroductionThe DefenceThe ProsecutionThe Conclusion

The Introduction (aim for about 2/3 of a page)

Here is where you are the judge , where you give an overview of the quandary expressed in the question. Here is where you show the examiner that you understand and have carefully considered all the ramifications of the question. Turn the question around like an object, looking at it from all sides, and write down what conflict of interests, crisis or point of discussion it s trying to draw out of you. There will always be one. Lay this out in the introduction. What is the question asking you to take a look at? Lay out the context of the texts you are being asked to analyse here, if relevant.

The Defence (aim for about 1 pages)

Here is where you argue one side of that conflict. Lay out the points of your argument on one side, backing up each point you make with a quote from all over the text if you can. This is a better way than starting from a place in the text and analysing it. You are the source here, not the text it s how you find patterns in the text that the examiner will find interesting, not the text itself.

The Prosecution (aim for about 1 pages)

Of course, it could be argued that . Here s where you cross the floor and argue the other point of view. Again, organize your points, your opinions, and lay them out one by one, backing up each one with a quote moving around the text. This is a really elegant way of showing that you re fluent in this text, and that it s under your skin.

Another way to do this might be an analysis of a few characters let s say the essay is asking you about women characters in a play so with each character you could take this courtroom approach, arguing one way and then crossing the floor to argue the other. You could also use this approach for key themes a paragraph each, pitting them against each other, showing up the problems and dichotomies posed, which are always more interesting, rather than making bold statements of fact.

The Conclusion (aim for about 2/3 of a page)

Here is where you become the judge again. At the end, having considered all the points on both sides of the argument, you draw your conclusion, using one or two key quotes to back you up. It might be that you side with the Prosecution s arguments, or the Defence s points it might also be that you see a compromise between the two sides, a middle way.

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