How to write an essay?

The process of writing an essay can be broken down into several stages:

Problem Statement - Thinking - Planning - Writing - Checking - Improving what you've written

Preparatory stage

The quality of any essay (essay) depends on three interrelated components:

• the source material that you are going to use (notes of the literature you have read, lectures, notes of the results of discussions, your own thoughts and accumulated experience on the problem);
• the quality of the processing of the available source material (its organization, argumentation, and arguments)
• argumentation (how accurately it corresponds to the problems raised in your essay).

Outlining, especially in reading, is a strategic intellectual skill and discipline (not a mechanical process of writing a summary). Why?

In outlining, you pay attention (after making the appropriate decision) to those points that are key (both a theoretical or general argument, and an empirical argument or a case study of a particular issue).

As you outline, you select relevant material and develop your understanding of theoretical points and/or empirical arguments (i.e., what kinds of facts either support or refute a particular point).

It should be noted that when you read some texts, you take more notes than others because they will be useful to you in future work or are more relevant to the problem you are interested in and/or are more interesting and/or more informative from a theoretical or empirical point of view. You then divide the material you read into those of greater and lesser interest to you for the reasons given above.

We suggest the following method of outlining: divide your notebook into two columns. In the left column you make an outline of the material you are reading, and in the right column (at the same time or later) you make a comparative analysis of the content of this outline with other facts you have previously read about, heard about (in lectures), discussed (in classes - tutorials - or informally), and with your own comments and criticisms of the text you are reading. In other words, you use your notes to build a cross-reference, based on your own thoughts, language, data, and including your own comments on the statements of others.

What to read? How much to read?

There is a kind of notional relationship between the quality and quantity of reading material: how you read and how much you read. In general, it is better to read less but better than to read more and worse. For the latter leads to misunderstanding, misjudgment, and destruction of the connection between the argument and the facts.

This means that a very important point is the choice of reading material: for each particular topic, you should first read two or three key articles or book chapters, 8 which, for example, provide a clear conceptual framework or theoretical argument, and/or provide comprehensive empirical data (and, as much as possible, the latest data), and/or review and evaluate a wide range of literature on the topic. This strategic reading will begin to form some key reference points on the topic (including various interpretations and discussions) that will serve as some foundation for the direction and development of your future reading. [Course syllabus and faculty advisement will help you in finding material for your subject reading].

Depending on the topic, it is very important to include one or two case studies with opposing points of view in your reading list. Effective use of case studies and data will help you avoid the typical mistake of overgeneralizing material in your essay.

Preparing to write an essay

Usually, the questions and assignments posed to you in the essay writing checklist process require analytical answers, i.e. finding an explanation: why something happens (why) and how it happens (processes, mechanisms), with the answer requiring more than a simple description of facts or a generalization of what others have said. Naturally, the facts, along with the available points of view on the problem, are extremely important. However, all of this is just part of the background material that you use in answering the question, but it is not the answer to the question itself.

When you choose a question on a topic, be sure to read carefully and understand it correctly before you plan your answer, as it can be interpreted in different ways and there are several approaches to cover it: therefore, you will need to choose an interpretation or approach you will follow and be able to justify your option (see below). In doing so, the content of the question may cover a wide range of issues that require a lot of literature. In this case, you may decide that you will cover and illustrate only certain aspects of the issue. You will have no problem in doing so, as long as you stay within the scope of the question, and your choices are well-reasoned and can be supported by appropriate evidence.