How to Write an Essay
ANALYSE THE ESSAY QUESTION
1 ) Identify Keywords:
-Focus-Keywords: Set out the topic; tell you what to write about, always keep them at front of your mind.
-Approach Keywords: Tell you what you are required to do with the topic, how to approach the topic, rather: how to write than what
e.g.: Identify and contrast the perspective of narrator and character in Katherine Mansfield`s short story “Miss Brill”
>Focus Keywords: “perspective”; “narrator”; “character”
>Approach Keywords: ”identify” , “contrast” (pay same amount of attention to both of them)
2) Unpacking the Question
-What are the questions Demands ?: You always have to fulfill all the demands
-What are the question Suggestions?: you don’t necessarily have to agree with the suggestions, but if you don´t, make sure you have good backup arguments for your position
>Suggestions: 1. “there must be more than one perspective in Mansfield´s story
2.”these perspectives can be attributed to the narrator and to the character”
3.” These perspectives need to be essentially different (they have to if one wants to
Contrast them)
Do you agree with all of them? If not, can you provide convincing evidence against them?
>Demands: Identify and contrast the perspectives of narrator and character
Any part of your Essays which is not engaged in the business of either identifying or contrasting is rather irrelevant
3) Decoding Terms:
-“Identify”: finding and defining relevant information in the text.
For our example you have to find a)passages in the text where a perspective is suggested and b) say what this perspective is and whom it belongs to . While planning your Essay, draw up two lists of such perspectives: one for the narrator, one for the character
-“Contrast”: means showing differences.
Go through your list and find out the main differences
-“Discuss”: to break a topic down to its component parts, and...