How to Write Better Essays

tences. Long sentences are very comforting and reassuring. They may be

best suited to the development of the core elements of your arguments,

which need to be analysed and elaborated carefully. But when you want

to be abrupt, to grab your reader ’s attention with a vivid piece of detail,

or an insight that you feel is a key point to get across, use a short sen-

tence – don’t let it get drowned in the words that surround it.

Checklist

1 Does it read well for someone reading it for the first time?

2 Is the pace and rhythm right for the arguments I want to make?

Using the checklists

As we’ve seen in previous stages, it always helps if you have a simple,

clear strategy to work with: even though you may know what you’re

looking for, it helps to have a checklist so you can deliberately ask your-

self questions which you just might overlook. It will also help you to

assess how well you’ve completed each stage of the process, so you

can see where you need to spend more time in the next assignment.

With these advantages in mind, get into the habit of using checklists

and try to answer the questions as you think your examiners might

answer them when they assess your work.

Appearance

Does your essay have a neat professional appearance?

Amid every other consideration, this last question appears to be the

least significant. And, of course, it is, or it should be. But first impres-

sions count, however unfair this may seem. Despite every effort made

to ensure that each essay is subjected to the same objective criterion

for assessment, marking still contains an element of subjectivity. Most

people find it difficult to shake off their first impressions as they read

an essay.

What’s more, there may be an inductive truth here. There are people

who’re convinced that experience shows that a sloppily presented

essay is more than likely to be sloppily argued. It’s likely to lack suffi-

cient attention to detail in terms of accuracy and the evidence used

to support arguments convincingly. Whether these views have any

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