ESSAY WRITING Guidelines

Essay should be :
 size 12 font.
 times new roman font.
 Formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style.
 A4 paper (no long sheets).
 Have the word count on the cover page (Word count 2200 -2500 words, not
including references).

NB: Plagiarism is a serious academic offence, and will not be tolerated. Students are
strongly advised to familiarize themselves with what constitutes plagiarism.

Essay Format

You can check the net for the relevant way in which essays are structured in the
Social Sciences (The Chicago Manual of Style Online).

The Chicago manual of style gives guidance as to how quotes, paraphrases and
bibliographies should be formatted. See the Chicago Manual of Style Quick Guide:
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html

NB: THE MOST IMPORTANT AND FOREMOST FACTOR IN GOOD ESSAY

WRITING IS A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION OF
THE QUESTION

It is totally inadequate at this level to do an essay and only use three or four sources.
You NEED to read widely to understand the topic area.

You can cautiously search for information via the internet. (wikipedia is not an
acceptable academic source. However, useful references can be found at the end of
Wikipedia articles.) You must rely MOSTLY on established academic sources

It is highly recommended that persons do an essay plan and pass it by

their lecturer. Essay plan should included Introduction (including clear
thesis statement), key paragraph points, and initial references.

A useful resource is The Writing Centre. This centre is located on the third floor of the
south Humanities building and appointments to meet with a writing coach can be made
via e-learning.

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Structure

The text should include the following sections:

1) Introduction
2) Main body
3) Conclusion and summary
4) Bibliography

Introduction

The introduction sets out the context and uses broad and general strokes to introduce the
topic or issues to the audience. A good introduction is crisp and should contain a thesis
statement.

Main Body

The argument previewed in the introduction is fully developed in the main body of the
text. Each paragraph should contain a topic statement that is developed in that paragraph.
In other words, each paragraph should be the development of one idea or argument,
aligned to the thesis statement. There should be a thread of continuity that ties the
question to the thesis statement to the topic statements. Focusing on this ensures that all
your paragraphs are contributing towards you answering the question.

The following is for your consideration:

It is not enough to simply include what various authors say, but you must be critical
in the context of what is required by the question. Being critical may involves both
strengths and weakness, advantages and disadvantages; considering what has been
said, as well as what has been omitted. Furthermore, remember to stay relevant to
what the question is asking of you, in that, you are not to be critical in a haphazard
and irrelevant manner, but rather to demonstrate critical thought in the context of
the question -

1) Inadequate paraphrasing; if you remain too close to the style and language of the
sources you are using and do not make a serious attempt to put them in your own
language, your essay runs the risk of looking like a "collage" of different bits of text
with no stylistic unity at all.

2) Excessive use of quotes; if you like a passage so much that you feel paraphrasing
would not do justice to it, you may reproduce it in quotation marks. (If the quote is
one or two sentences long, you may keep it in the same paragraph, if it is longer,
indent and use a new paragraph). However, too many quotes, unless there is a specific
reason for them (like doing textual analysis) break up the text and render it
incoherent and difficult to read. The same applies to the use of tabulations and

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 numbers. If they are short and easy to follow, you may keep them in the text. If not,
you can use an Appendix at the end of your text to which you may refer the reader.
The simple rule is to avoid whatever will interfere with ease of reading and clarity.

3) Essays should have no misspelled words and no grammatical errors. Punctuation

should be correct. Please use the Grammarly app in this regard.

5) Every paragraph has at least three sentences.

6) Use of numbers should be minimised in the text. However, tables never stand alone.
They are always discussed IN DETAIL, or omitted.

7) Title of books do not go in the text. Only an author's last name is used in the text, and
never with a title (unless he/she is royalty).

Conclusion

The conclusion summarises the main points of your discussion and draws out their
implications. The conclusion, just like the introduction, must be crisp and to the point. If
you find yourself going on at length or developing a new idea, go back to the text; you
may need to add another paragraph to the main body of the essay.

References and Bibliography

Faulty referencing and a lack of referencing are major errors in many essays.

Any ideas, thoughts or analyses gleaned from authors should be credited to them, and not
passed off as your own. Once you paraphrasing an idea from someone or using their
words verbatim you must credit them.
a) To indicate references within the text, the author's name, date, and if required, the
page number are placed in parenthesis at the end of the relevant sentence, e.g. (Jones
1964, p.10). It is not necessary to PUT the PAGE NUMBER unless it is a direct
quotation.

b) Any sources you use in your text should be fully accessible to the reader in the
bibliography.

c) If necessary, you may use footnotes or endnotes indicated in superscript numerals at

the end of the relevant sentence. Keep notes to a minimum. These are only used for
substantive points, not for references.

A well-written essay:
1) Is structured, with every sentence essential to the argument
2) is focused, with a clear theme,

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3) never uses two words when one will do.
4) Makes use of examples

Essay Checklist
 Have I interpreted the question correctly?

 Have I addressed all parts of the question?

 Have I read the recommended (and non recommended) literature to understand

the question?

 Did I mostly rely on academic literature as opposed to websites?

 Does my essay mainly use the literature in a descriptive way? If so, revisit to be
more analytical/critical?

 Does my essay have a thesis statement? In other words: What is the argument I
am developing?

 Is each paragraph, connected to and relevant to my thesis statement and the essay
question?

 Do I have adequate and relevant examples?

 Do I understand what plagiarism is? Did I reference all the authors who I took
material from, whether paraphrased or directly quoted?

 Has my work been proofread for typos, grammatical errors and other mistakes?

 Are my pages numbered?

 Are my references in the bibliography properly formatted and in alphabetical

order?

 Are my paragraphs justified?

 Do I have the word count on the cover page?