ESSAY WRITING INSTRUCTIONS

Prior to writing their essay each student is required to consult the web pages below. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/toc.shtml http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/ I. STRUCTURE OF ESSAY Title page, Introduction, Main body of essay, Conclusion, Notes, Bibliography. I.1 Title page: TITLE OF ESSAY (NAME OF STUDENT)

COURSE YEAR TEACHER I.2 Introduction: Introduction of the problems discussed in the essay: a. What topic was chosen and why b. Name specific problems that the essay will discuss c. Name the methods of analysis that will be used d. State the hypothesis (thesis) that the essay discussion should prove. (For a detailed explanation of what is a hypothesis (thesis) and how to formulate it consult: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/develop.shtml) I.3 Main body of essay: - presents your critical analysis of primary texts. Ideas must be presented in a clear, coherent way, i.e. each idea must be logically developed from the previous one and at the same time it must be logically connected with the following one. The aim of the main body is to present an argument that proves the hypothesis stated in the Introduction. Evidence from the primary text must be given in support of the argument. (For detailed instructions on how to develop an argument in a coherent way consult: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/write.shtml) Academic writing style: Academic essays should be written in a formal, academic style: 1. Employing tentative rather than assertive language. Do this by: - using possibly and probably in front of verbs and noun phrases; e.g. 'This is possibly caused by...' or 'This is probably the most important factor.' - using the modal verbs may and might; e.g. 'This may be the most important factor.' - using appears to and seems to; e.g. 'This appears to be the most important factor.' - avoiding always and every, and replacing them with often and many/much

2. Using formal vocabulary e.g. discuss rather than talk about. One way to do this is by replacing phrasal verbs with more formal ones. 3. Use more formal grammar, for example: - Use 'There' as a subject; e.g. 'There is a serious risk of...' - Use 'It' as a subject; e.g. 'It is very difficult to...' - Use 'One' as a subject; e.g. 'One may ask whether...' ('One' is a formal version of 'You' [plural] in general) - Use the passive voice; e.g. 'Many things can be done in order to...' 4. Avoiding the use of personal pronouns such as you and we to address the reader 5. Avoiding short, disconnected sentences 6. Avoiding the use of rhetorical questions such as Did you know that spoken and written language are very different? 7. Avoiding the use of contractions such as wont, didnt, well 8. Avoiding the overuse and misuse of certain logical connectors, especially besides, furthermore and moreover. Besides is too informal, and both furthermore and moreover mean that the following information is more important than the information before, which is usually bad organisation. Use In addition or Also instead 9. Ensuring that grammar is accurate, that ideas link together smoothly and that a full range of grammatical structures is employed, such as relative clauses 10. Referencing correctly, in both in-text references and bibliographical references.
source: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/academicstyle.htm

For the rules of grammar and academic writing style also consult: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/grammar.shtml http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/style.shtml Paragraphs -paragraphing is essential for clarity of your presentation of ideas: AVOID PRODUCING A MASS OF TEXT. Indent each paragraph 6-8 spaces from the left margin. -paragraph linking - paragraphs must be linked together through logical connection of ideas; consult: Writing: Considering Structure & Organization in http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/write.shtml Quotations/Paraphrases < Quotations are used to support your analysis of a problem from the analysed text/your argument. Giving a quotation is giving evidence that your analysis/ideas are correct. That is why chosen quotations must be logically and clearly connected with the ideas that they are evidence of. > Each quotation must be introduced, i.e. it must be clearly expressed why you use the given quotation and each quotation must be followed by a commentary explaining why you believe that the given quotation is the most suitable for supporting your idea. > Quotations mustnt be too long (e.g. half a page), there should be no more than 3 quotations (reasonably long) in one page. When incorporating more than one line of poetry, use a slash to show where a line ends: 2

Sources of each quotation must be clearly indicated - footnotes or endnotes (computer programmes can create footnotes/endnotes automatically). Quotations that do not exceed 3 lines are usually incorporated in the text (they can be part of your sentences). They must always be put into quotation marks. Example: Andrew Sanders believes that in Sonnet 10 the narrator stands defiantly against Death (Sanders, 2000, p. 200). or (with a footnote) Andrew Sanders believes that in Sonnet 10 the narrator stands defiantly against Death1 Longer quotations must be clearly separated from your text: indent these quotations 4 spaces from the left margin. If you use indented quotations, DO NOT use quotation marks! Example: In his discussion on John Donne Andrew Sanders states: Donnes last poem, A Hymn to God the Father, which almost mockingly puns on his name in the penultimate line of each stanza, was, like the sermon Deaths Duel, to serve its author as a part of the ceremonial acting out of his final drama of self-projection and self-abnegation. This final, seemingly incongruous drama, which included the performance of a musical setting of the hymn by the choristers of St Pauls, centred on the contemplation of a picture of himself dressed in his winding sheet, emerging from a funerary urn as if summoned by the Last Trump. (Sanders, 2000, p. 200) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------These quotations are not put into quotation marks and, unlike quotations from poetry, they are NOT italicised. There can be only one line gap between the last/first line of your text and the quotation. Notice that while your text must be double-spaced - these quotations must be single-spaced. Paraphrase is a retelling of other peoples ideas using your own words. The main aim of the paraphrase is to shorten/simplify the original idea. Both primary and secondary sources can be paraphrased, but it is usually ideas from secondary sources that are paraphrased. Notice: paraphrasing presents the greatest danger of plagiarism! ! ! Be always sure that you can distinguish between your own ideas and the ideas of other critics that you paraphrase. It is an essential requirement for good essay writing to make this distinction visible for the reader of your work through formal means of language: i.e. it must always be clear where in your text each paraphrase starts - it must be clearly introduced through various means of formal style. The end of each paraphrase must be numbered and its source must be stated in Notes. STUDENTS MUST READ THE PROVIDED ARTICLE ON PLAGIARISM AND THEY MUST FOLLOW ITS INSTRUCTIONS. Notice: the sources of generally known/accepted ideas do not have to be indicated, but it is the authors responsibility to decide whether the given idea would really be recognised as generally known. Notice: If you use The Bible for either quoting or paraphrasing - treat it as a normal secondary source giving all the bibliographical data required. (Book, Verse) Finally, remember that quotations and paraphrases (of reasonable length) can be used also in Introduction and Conclusion. I.4 Conclusion - must sum up the most important arguments from the analysis and must express to what extent the given arguments support the hypothesis stated in the introduction. 1 Sanders, Andrew, The Short Oxford History of English Literature (Oxford: Oxford University Pres, 2000), p. 200 3

I.5 Notes The aim of the Notes is to provide the reader with clear information on the sources of quotations and paraphrases. The most common form of presenting notes is either footnotes (given at the bottom of each page) or endnotes (at the end of your text, after Conclusion.) To produce notes, each quotation (with the exception of quotations from drama texts and poetry) and paraphrase must be numbered and the following information must be given in footnotes/endnotes: Surname and name of the author), Title of the text (underlined or in italics), place where the text was published, publisher, year, page/s (from which you quoted) If several subsequent quotations/paraphrases are taken from the same source, the bibliographical data are replaced by Ibid., which is followed by number of the page. I.6 Bibliography -provides complete bibliographical information, i.e. all texts used for the preparation of the essay. Texts must be divided into: PRIMARY SOURCES and SECONDARY SOURCES they must be listed according to the alphabetical order of the surnames of the authors. example: Holman, C. Hugh. A Handbook to Literature. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1986. Sanders, Andrew. The Short Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Spracovala: Mgr. Soa nircov, PhD.