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It also guides planning through iterative strategies and defines key question terms for analytical, evaluative, comparative, and descriptive tasks, with exam-time tips on managing planning and presentation.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/","Template",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/paper-templates/","Paper Templates",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/essay-writing-handout-march-2018/349864/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/essay-writing-handout-march-2018/349864.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":42,"@type":43},"eBook King","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15","2026-09-22",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why are essays considered important for developing academic skills?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Essays help learners demonstrate engagement with material, identify and prioritize what to read, evaluate evidence, and select the most relevant information to answer a task. They also support organizing thinking, producing precise writing under constraints, and building transferable skills like critical thinking and analysis.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What general advice should be followed when writing an essay?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Answer the question and keep the work relevant, develop a logical and clearly structured argument, support and illustrate claims, and demonstrate critical thinking beyond description. Practice writing and proofreading to improve clarity and effectiveness.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How should an essay be planned, especially in an exam setting?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Plan around a strong and clear structure organized by argument, and expect planning to be iterative for term-time essays. In exams, creating a plan still helps identify relevant points and reduces reliance on working memory, but avoid leaving unfinished plan lists that could be mistaken for parts of the essay.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},349864,1791283127,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,89,94,99,104,109,114,119,123],{"id":85,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":86,"show_sort_weight":87,"slug":88},11,"Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":90,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":95,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":100,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":105,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":110,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":115,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":120,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},21,5,"papers-templates",{"id":124,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":126},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":128},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":129,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":130,"doc_module":22,"category_id":120,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":131,"file_id":132,"file_url":133,"file_type":134,"file_size":135,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":136,"language":137,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":138,"faqs":139,"seo_title":140,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":141,"read_time":33},962088006270,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Essay Writing Handout  \nDr Jeunese Adrienne Payne [JP662@cam.ac.uk](JP662@cam.ac.uk)[ ](JP662@cam.ac.uk)March, 2018  \n1. Why Essays?  \nEssays give you the opportunity to demonstrate a wide range of skills. A good essay shows that you:  \n• Have engaged with the material and learning  \n• Are able to identify and prioritise appropriate material to read  \n• Understand and are able to evaluate that material  \n• Can select and apply the most relevant material to a task  \n• Can construct an effective argument and arrive at a wellsupported conclusion  \nOften, it isn’t until you try to communicate an argument and its evidence (through an essay, in a lecture, to your peers, etc. ) that you discover where the gaps are. In this way, essays help you consolidate and make sense of what you’ve learned. They do this by helping you organise your thinking on topics.  \nWith essays, you are also typically restricted by a small word limit and/or little writing time; this encourages you to produce an essay that is precise, concise, and clear – an important skill in itself, beyond university. Other transferable skills from essay writing include: ability to organise ideas; ability to manage time; ability to argue a case and communicate effectively; active reading; critical thinking; and analysis.  \n2. General Advice  \nAn essay is not just about showing what you know. A good essay, whether for an exam or during term-time, is one that applies what you have learned to the task of addressing the specific essay question. With this in mind, the general advice is:  \n• Answer the question; keep it relevant  \n• Develop a logical and clearly structured argument  \n• Support and illustrate your argument  \n• Go beyond description to demonstrate critical thinking  \n• Practice writing and proofreading  \n3. Plan Your Essay  \nEvery essay needs a strong and clear structure, organized around an argument. The planning process is likely to be iterative for term-time essays. In an exam setting, where time is limited, it can seem like a waste of time to brainstorm and plan before beginning. However, creating a plan, even in exams, should help you in a number of ways:  \n1. The process of creating a plan helps you identify the most relevant points rather than the first ones that come to mind.  \n2. Having a plan with key ideas written down to refer back to allows you to rely less on your working memory as you write.  \nR1 . Definitions of Terms R.1.1. Critical Question Terms  \nAnalyse: Break the issue down into parts; present evidence for/against these parts and how they interrelate to inform your final argument on the topic.  \nAssess/to what extent: With evidence, weigh up different stances to make a judgement about the extent to which an assertion is true/you agree with it.  \nDiscuss (debate): Make a case for or against an argument with reasoning and evidence before arriving at a conclusion.  \nEvaluate: Give a verdict/weigh up to what extent an assertion is true based on evidence for and against.  \nExamine: Establish key facts and issues relevant to the topic and justify why these are important, in context. Also, provide an evaluation (see directly above) .  \nJustify: Make a case for an idea/point of view and back this up with evidence, considering and debunking the opposing view(s) before coming to a conclusion.  \nReview: Recap/summarise the main themes/points and comment on any major arguments arising from them in relation to your own stance on the topic.  \nR.1.2. Descriptive Question Terms  \nClarify: Explain (see below) the concept/topic in simpler/clearer terms.  \nCompare: Concentrate on the similarities between 2+ subjects, and point out where they diverge.  \nContrast: Concentrate on the differences between two+ subjects.  \nDefine: Give the meaning; bring attention to different interpretations and problems with the definition.  \nDemonstrate/illustrate/show: Present the  \nstages/factors that give rise to a phenomenon or show how an assertion is valid; present in a logical","cbCaihUDt9fX5APS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihUDt9fX5APS","pdf",934901,10,"English","# Why Essays?\n# General Advice\n# Plan Your Essay\n## Definitions of Terms R.1.1. Critical Question Terms\n## R.1.2. Descriptive Question Terms\n## If you run out of time in an exam\n## 3.1. Introduction","[{\"question\":\"Why are essays considered important for developing academic skills?\",\"answer\":\"Essays help learners demonstrate engagement with material, identify and prioritize what to read, evaluate evidence, and select the most relevant information to answer a task. They also support organizing thinking, producing precise writing under constraints, and building transferable skills like critical thinking and analysis.\"},{\"question\":\"What general advice should be followed when writing an essay?\",\"answer\":\"Answer the question and keep the work relevant, develop a logical and clearly structured argument, support and illustrate claims, and demonstrate critical thinking beyond description. Practice writing and proofreading to improve clarity and effectiveness.\"},{\"question\":\"How should an essay be planned, especially in an exam setting?\",\"answer\":\"Plan around a strong and clear structure organized by argument, and expect planning to be iterative for term-time essays. In exams, creating a plan still helps identify relevant points and reduces reliance on working memory, but avoid leaving unfinished plan lists that could be mistaken for parts of the essay.\"}]","Essay Writing Handout - March, 2018 | PDF",1790086026]