How to Write Better Essays

with informing consumers. Then the structure will turn on the word

‘only’, leaving the writer, in the second half of the essay, to examine

the way advertisers use information selectively and employ other

devices to manipulate the consumer through appeals to sex, status and

prejudices.

A simple formula for introductions

The real value of writing introductions in this way lies in the fact that

most of us benefit from having a simple structure, a formula, like this

to work from. As a result we’re likely to feel more confident about what

we’re doing when we write introductions. They’ll present fewer prob-

lems and they’ll focus the reader ’s attention on the issues we believe

are the most relevant.

Nevertheless, you may find as your confidence grows that you want

to do more with introductions. You may want to set the problem in the

context of recent history, or you may want to endorse your analysis of

the problem by quoting a respected authority.

For example, in the following question, which asks you to consider

the inevitability of progress, you could begin with this:

Question

‘You can’t stop progress.’ Discuss critically with reference to one

major technology.

Looking back at the early years of the industrial revolution in Britain

it’s tempting to view opponents of progress, like the Luddites who

smashed the machines they believed were threatening their way of

life, as naïve and short-sighted. But in this we ought to be cautious;

after all, theirs might not have been opposition to progress as such,

but to just one account of it. It’s worth wondering what makes our

view of progress, with all its alienation at work, dissipated com-

munities, rising crime, social disaffection and persistently high levels

of poverty and homelessness, any better than that of the Luddites.

Today the problem is the same. Developing countries in the Third

World can claim to have learnt from the mistakes of western indus-

trialised countries. As a result their account of progress is quite dif-

ferent. So, while we might agree that ‘you can’t stop progress’, there

is no reason why we should accept the implication of this, that

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