Writing a university essay: - You must write concisely, how WELL did you answer the question?

- You don t ever write I , me , and we in an essay. Try to use formal writing (research journal style) - No abbreviations - You must focus on actually answering the question and not write everything about the topic or everything related to it. - Expect to have a well-structured argument it should flow and make sense - Having a well-supported argument means you must have references - For the introduction, the reader should know where your essay is going Tim s top tips 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Start Early Plan your essay Structure your essay Answer the question Proof-read before you submit (should do it after a break)

Analysing the question - Look at the key words - Are there any terms you may need to define? - There are clues in the question that will suggest how you might structure your response, e.g. describe & comment - If the question has a question mark, make sure you answer it directly, so that your essay has direction, it knows where it is going. - In every question, you should always look at psychologists attempt to explain (whatever topic) = refer to empirical research. Stages in essay writing - Understand the question. - Gather the information from lectures, tutorials, textbooks, journals, articles, and the internet - Never cite Wikipedia!

- Scholarpedia on the other hand is well discouraged to reference BUT a good place to start, it will at least provide you with some reliable sources and references. Planning your essay: How much time would you spend on each of these stages? 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Understand Gather Plan 1st draft Edit Proof read Submit

What might you write in your introduction? Motivation: what is it about the essay that s interesting? What will your essay do? How will it do this? What scope will your essay achieve? Any definitions you might need to define before writing your essay

Main Body of your essay - Treat every paragraph as a mini-essay: intro, body & conclusion - Have evidence to support your essay - No need for paragraph headings, the reader should be able to figure that out from the content of the paragraph - Have critical evaluation! - Be sure to have a concluding sentence - Have some sort of linkage between your paragraphs where were we before the question and after answering it, where are we now? - Related research that might provide insight. - Try NOT to write needs further research .