ESSAY WRITING

The purpose of writing essays

Essays in literary studies generally require you to carry out two related
tasks:

a) They invite you to show that you are familiar with the
literary works you have studied.
b) They invite you to show that you dominate those literary
works in order to argue a specific aspect of them.

It is extremely important to demonstrate this knowledge within a

coherent or developing argument. This means the following:

a) Identifying an issue in a given area.

b) Establishing different points of view.
c) Presenting evidence in support of and against the question
set.
d) Reaching a conclusion consistent with the argument you
have presented.

Key ideas to bear in mind:

1. You develop ideas in paragraphs and then illustrate them with

examples chosen from the text (either quotations if you have learnt some by
heart – preferred, or the reference to the episode -bearing in mind the number
of words allowed it has to be expressed clearly and briefly. These are used as
supporting evidence of your argument.

2. The originality of your essay lies in the way you compare and
organise the material.

3. Keep asking yourselves questions about the topic set.

4. Language has to be simple but formal. Avoid slang, colloquialisms

and contractions.

4. Remember: if reading is re-reading, writing is re-writing. However, in

an exam question, since you cannot rewrite, you need practice and a good
outline.
 Planning your essay is the most important stage in the process of
writing a good essay.

Planning Your Essay

Planning is a very important stage in the process of writing a good

essay. What you need to reach is an overview of the content and structure of
your essay, and one way of arriving at a plan for your essay is to write down
headings on one or two pieces of paper so that the whole can be seen
together. This helps to make the situation easier to see.
One possible outline the plan can take is along the following lines:

1. Introduction

A. Comments about the subject of the essay or what you

understand by it, why you think it is important, etc.
B. Which aspects you are going to cover and the reasons why
you think these are important.

Bear in mind, once again, the number of words allowed for the essay
question. The introduction should take no longer than 3 lines.

2. Main Body of Essay

Several main ideas, each illustrated and supported by evidence and

argument – the relationship between these ideas must be made so that
their connections are crystal clear. Jot down lots of paragraph headings
and sub-headings for this main section in your planning, these will prove
very helpful.

Remember this is the main body of your answer and therefore it

should take the most of the space allotted to the essay.
 3. Conclusion

Firm or tentative answer to the question(s) set by the essay title-

including your own views.

Again, given the number of words of the essay, this should take no more
than two lines.

DEFINITION OF TERMS COMMONLY USED IN ESSAY TITLES AND

EXAM QUESTIONS

Compare: Examine similarities or differences in qualities,

characteristics, or functions.

Contrast: Stress dissimilarities, differences, or unlikeness of things,

qualities, events, or problems.

Criticise: Express your judgement of correctness or merit, usually with

supporting evidence. Discuss the limitations and good points or contributions
of the plan or work in question.

Define: Definitions call for concise, clear, authoritative meanings.

Details are not required, but limitations of the definition should be briefly
cited. You must keep in mind the class to which a thing belongs and whatever
differentiates the particular object from all others in the class.

Describe: You should give an account, characterisation, or sketch of

the main aspects of the topic and as many of the minor ones as you have time
for.

Discuss: You have to examine, analyse carefully and debate the

problems and issues involved. This type of question calls for a complete and
detailed answer.

Enumerate: It specifies a list or outline form of reply. In such questions

you should recount, one by one, in concise form, the points required.

Evaluate: You are expected to present a careful appraisal of the

problem or issues, stressing both advantages and limitations.
 Explain: In explanatory answers, you have to clarify, elucidate, and
interpret the material you present. It is best to state the “how” or “why”,
reconcile any differences in opinion or experimental results and, where
possible, state causes. The aim is to make plain the conditions which give rise
to whatever you are examining.

Illustrate: It usually requires you to explain or clarify your answer to

the problem by presenting concrete examples.

Interpret: An interpretation question is similar to one requiring

explanation. You are expected to exemplify, solve or comment upon the
subject and usually to give your judgement or reaction to the problem.

Justify: You must prove or demonstrate grounds for decisions or

present adequate reasons for conclusions. In such an answer, evidence should
be presented in convincing form.

List: Listing is similar to enumeration.

Outline: You should give main points and essential supplementary

materials, omitting minor details, and present the information in a systematic
arrangement or classification.

Prove: Proof demands confirmation or verification. In such

discussions, you should establish something with certainty by citing evidence
by logical reasoning.

Relate: Your answer should stress connections and associations in

descriptive form.

Review: You should analyse and comment briefly in organised

sequence upon the major points of the problem.

State: In questions which direct you to specify, give, state, or present,

you are called upon to express the main points in clear form, giving details,
and usually illustrations or examples, as appropriate.

Summarize: You should give in condensed form the main points or

facts.
 ESSAY AND/OR EXAM QUESTIONS

It is helpful to bear in mind these recurrent instruction words (‘discuss’,

‘contrast’, etc.) but it is also necessary to link up these instruction words with
other aspects of the questions. These are several different categories of exam
questions:

a) Questions on given passages.

b) Questions which explicitly invite debate, and the weighing of
evidence (these might be called ‘to what extent’ or ‘discuss’ questions).
c) Other specific types of questions.
d) General invitations.
e) Complex questions.

a) Questions on given passages.

Examples:

- How appropriate is the use of archaisms and literary language in the

passage?

- By what means, stylistic and other, does the author attempt to

establish the physical appearance of the main characters in the following
passage?

The examination is testing what skills you have developed over time.
You have to concentrate on isolating suitable phrases or passages for
comment, and on drawing general observations from them in relation to the
whole literary text with the help of what has been theoretically said about that
particular text.
 b) Questions which explicitly invite debate, and the weighing of evidence
(these might be called ‘to what extent’ or ‘discuss’ questions).

The answer is never just a long version of ‘yes’ or ‘no’. These questions
are meant to provoke reaction, so you have to justify your own view and
opinion but based on evidence from what has been studied in the course and
the literary texts read.

c) Other specific types of questions.

Example:

- In what ways can Conrad’s female protagonists be regarded as

subversive?

Here you must pay a lot of attention to the instruction words of the
questions set (see list of terms). It is important that you notice that the
question is NOT about Conrad’s novel, but about a particular aspect of the
novel. Here, having read the novel, of course, comes as of paramount
importance to be able to argument the question properly.

d) General invitations.

Example:

- Write on Owen’s use of ‘direct speech’ in his work.

Roughly speaking, you can take ‘write’ as synonymous with ‘describe

and discuss’. In your first paragraph, you will have to make very clear to your
examiner what shape you are imposing on your discussion.

e) Complex questions.

Example:

- In a letter to his brother early in 1915 poet Charles Hamilton

Sorley wrote: "All illusions about the splendor of war will, I hope, be
gone after the war." In an essay-form answer, discuss this statement in
relation to the war poetry studied in the course.
 Here we have the following pattern:

a) A quote captures a general perception.

b) You are asked about some other writer where it is plausible to
think the quote may be relevant.
c) You are asked to discuss this second writer in the light of the
quote.

TO END WITH

Please, always remember to revise your exercise and make sure that
you do use some quotation from the literary texts you are discussing;
this really improves your arguments and makes it clear you have read
and studied the titles from the compulsory reading list.