How to Write Essays and Dissertations - A Guide for English Literature Students - Second edition

Sep 18, 2026

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A practical handbook for English literature students focused on writing essays and longer dissertations. It explains how to respond to prescribed and self-devised topics, meet assessment expectations, and select primary and secondary texts while keeping effective notes and references. The book guides drafting and revising through developing arguments, weighting evidence, adopting an appropriate voice, integrating quotations and paraphrases, correcting grammar and punctuation, and preparing submissions and vivas.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages185

Reading Time4 h 45 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Unit 1: Introduction

The importance of writing in literary studies

Four basic principles

Practice and experimentation

Preparing for work

Unit 2: Writing on a Prescribed Topic

What essay questions ask you to do

Types of prescribed question

Exam questions

Unit 3: Devising Your Own Topic

Some questions to ask yourself

Giving your chosen topic a structure

Giving your essay a title

Unit 4: What Markers Want

Assessment criteria

Learning outcomes

FAQs about how you are marked

Unit 5: Selecting Primary and Secondary Texts

How to choose your primary texts

How to choose secondary texts

Keeping notes on your reading

Unit 6: Getting Help from Reference Works, Online Resources and Your Supervisor

Using secondary texts

Reference books

Keeping references

Unit 7: The First Draft

Starting to write

Keeping to a given format

Writing to an outline

Unit 8: Developing Your Argument

Causation, correlation and coincidence

Assembling a description or commentary

Comparing texts

Unit 9: Weighting Different Elements in Your Argument

Asserting, justifying and presupposing

Generalising

Giving examples

Unit 10: The Voice to Write In

Your register and your voice

Mode of address

Expressing taste and value

Unit 11: Revising an Essay Draft

Showing your essay’s structure

Sign-posting and connectives

Making local edits

Unit 12: Editing the Beginning and Ending

Particular prominence: the first paragraph

Particular prominence: the last paragraph

Beginnings, endings and essay structure

Unit 13: Incorporating Other People’s Words into What You Write

Quotation and paraphrase

Indicating where someone else’s words come from

Plagiarism

Unit 14: Mistakes in Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation

What makes something a mistake and why does it matter?

Problems with grammar

Punctuation and the boundaries of the sentence

Unit 15: Handing In

Meeting your deadline

Judging when your essay is finished

Preparing for a viva

Second Edition HOW TO WRITE ESSAYS AND DISSERTATIONS A GUIDE FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDENTS Nigel Fabb and Alan Durant How to Write Essays and Dissertations: A Guide for English Literature Students How to Write Essays and Dissertations A GUIDE FOR ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDENTS Second edition NIGEL FABB AND ALAN DURANT PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED Edinburgh Gate Harlow CM20 2JE United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1279 623623 Fax: +44 (0)1279 431059 [Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk](Website: www.pearsoned.co.uk) First edition published in 1993 Second edition published in 2005 © Pearson Education Limited 1993, 2005 The rights of Nigel Fabb and Alan Durant to be identiﬁed as authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN 0 582 78455 7 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Fabb, Nigel. How to write essays and dissertations : a guide for English literature students / Nigel Fabb and Alan Durant.—2nd ed. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–582–78455–7 (pbk.) 1. Criticism—Authorship—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Literature—History and criticism—Theory, etc.—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Dissertations, Academic—Authorship—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. English language—Rhetoric—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 5. Essay—Authorship—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 6. Academic writing—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Durant, Alan. II. Title. PE1479.C7F33 2005 808′.0668—dc22 2004060175 All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the Publishers. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 Set in 10.5/13pt Bembo by 35 Printed by Malaysia The Publishers’policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests. Table of contents PREFACE ix UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION 1 The importance of writing in literary studies 1 Four basic principles 2 Practice and experimentation 6 Preparing for work 7 UNIT 2: WRITING ON A PRESCRIBED TOPIC 9 What essay questions ask you to do 9 Types of prescribed question 10 Exam questions 13 UNIT 3: DEVISING YOUR OWN TOPIC 17 Some questions to ask yourself 17 Giving your chosen topic a structure 21 Giving your essay a title 25 UNIT 4: WHAT MARKERS WANT 27 Assessment criteria 28 Learning outcomes 31 FAQs about how you are marked 34 Imagining your reader as someone particular 36 UNIT 5: SELECTING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TEXTS 39 How to choose your primary texts 39 Kinds of primary text and how to use them 41 How to choose secondary texts 43 Keeping notes on your reading 45 UNIT 6: GETTING HELP FROM REFERENCE WORKS, ONLINE RESOURCES AND YOUR SUPERVISOR 47 Using secondary texts 47 Reference books 49 Keeping references 53 Reading what you found 55 Learning by being supervised 56 UNIT 7: THE FIRST DRAFT 58 Starting to write 58 Keeping to a given format 60 Writing to an outline 61 UNIT 8: DEVELOPING YOUR ARGUMENT 67 Causation, correlation and coincidence 67 Assembling a description or commentary 68 Classiﬁcation 69 Presenting alternative arguments 71 Experimenting 71 Providing contexts for texts 72 Comparing texts 73 Building an argument around a word 75 UNIT 9: WEIGHTING DIFFERENT ELEMENTS IN YOUR ARGUMENT 77 Asserting, justifyin

FAQs

How should you prepare for writing essays in literary studies?

The book emphasizes confronting difficulty and explains the importance of writing in literary studies. It also covers preparation steps and practice and experimentation before starting work.

How do you develop a strong argument for an essay or dissertation?

It guides readers through developing an argument using ideas like causation, correlation and coincidence, classification, presenting alternative arguments, and comparing texts. It also covers how to weight elements such as asserting, justifying, generalising, and giving examples.

What guidance is given for revising and editing an essay draft?

It explains revising by showing structure, using sign-posting and connectives, and mediating material for the reader. It then addresses editing the beginning and ending and making local edits, including managing earlier drafts.

How should you handle quotations, paraphrases, and plagiarism?

The book provides methods for quoting and paraphrasing and for indicating where someone else’s words come from. It also explains plagiarism and how to avoid it in academic writing.

Sep 18, 2026

Upload by Aria