Writing Essays For Dummies

Do ever wish that you could write the perfect university essay? Are you left baffled about where to start? This easy-to-use guide walks you through the nuts and bolts of academic writing, helping you develop your essay-writing skills and achieve higher marks. From identifying the essay type and planning a structure, to honing your research skills, managing your time, finding an essay voice, and referencing correctly, Writing Essays For Dummies shows you how to stay on top of each stage of the essay-writing process, to help you produce a well-crafted and confident final document.


Writing Essays For Dummies covers:


Part I: Navigating a World of Information 
Chapter 1: Mapping Your Way: Starting to Write Essays
Chapter 2: Identifying the essay type


Part II: Researching, Recording and Reformulating
Chapter 3: Eyes Down: Academic reading 
Chapter 4: Researching Online
Chapter 5: Note-taking and Organising your Material 
Chapter 6: Avoiding Plagiarism


Part III: Putting Pen to Paper
Chapter 7: Writing as a process
Chapter 8: Getting Going and Keeping Going


Part IV: Mastering Language and Style
Chapter 9: Writing with Confidence
Chapter 10: Penning the Perfect Paragraph
Chapter 11: Finding Your Voice


Part V: Tightening Your Structure and Organisation
Chapter 12: Preparing the Aperitif: The Introduction
Chapter 13: Serving the Main Course: The Essay’s Body
Chapter 14: Dishing up Dessert: The Conclusion
Chapter 15: Acknowledging Sources of Information


Part VI: Finishing with a Flourish: The Final Touches
Chapter 16: It’s all in the detail
Chapter 17: Perfecting Your Presentation
Chapter 18: The afterglow


Part VII: Part of Tens
Chapter 19: Ten Tips to Avoid Things Going Wrong
Chapter 20: Ten Ways to Make Your Essay Stand Out

Mary Page teaches English for Academic Purposes and essay-writing skills at the University of Southampton.


Dr Carrie Winstanley is a Principal lecturer in Education at Roehampton University. Carrie was recently named one of the Top 50 university teachers in the UK by the Higher Education Academy.

Introduction 1


Part I: Navigating a World of Information 7


Chapter 1: Mapping Your Way: Starting to Write Essays 9


Chapter 2: Getting Going and Keeping Going 27


Chapter 3: Working Out the Essay Type 45


Part II: Researching, Recording and Reformulating 63


Chapter 4: Eyes Down: Academic Reading 65


Chapter 5: Researching Online 85


Chapter 6: Note Taking and Organising Your Material 97


Chapter 7: Avoiding Plagiarism 115


Part III: Mastering Language and Style 129


Chapter 8: Writing with Confidence: Brushing Up Your Grammar 131


Chapter 9: Penning the Perfect Paragraph 147


Chapter 10: Writing in the Academic Style 163


Part IV: Tightening Your Structure and Organisation 189


Chapter 11: Preparing the Aperitif: The Introduction 191


Chapter 12: Serving the Main Course: The Essay's Body 201


Chapter 13: Dishing Up Dessert: The Conclusion 215


Chapter 14: Acknowledging Sources of Information 227


Part V: Finishing with a Flourish: The Final Touches 243


Chapter 15: Editing and Proofreading: It's All in the Detail 245


Chapter 16: Perfecting Your Presentation 259


Chapter 17 : Moving On: Results and Feedback 269


Part VI: The Part of Tens 279


Chapter 18: Ten Troubleshooting Tips 281


Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Writing Essays in Exams 289


Index 301