How to Write Help Guides...

Welcome to the "How to Write" Help section. This section is dedicating to writing essays based on your current university course. We will be updating this section on a regular basis so remember to check back very soon.
The basis of most academic work is the ability to construct a good essay. Although this sounds obvious, it is a skill which most students need to develop as none of us is born with the natural ability to write an essay, never mind one which will both address a given topic effectively and adequately support an argument with evidence. Read more...
- How to write an accounting essay - The most important aspect of writing an accounting essay or report is that the content must be informative and factually accurate; to ensure that opinions are supported by facts and figures in accordance with latest financial reporting standards and the piece considers all points of views. The layout and presentation is also critical in writing a good accountancy essay. The inclusion of an introduction to launch the essay is important for two reasons, firstly to address the topic and secondly to identify the audience before embarking on any written exercise, the writer must have it clear in his or her own mind who they are writing for, hence, consideration for your audiences level of accountancy knowledge. Also the essay needs to offer an objective conclusion in ensuring that the essay has addressed the accountancy question posed. Read more...
- How to write an animation essay - Normally a dissertation in animation will be to do with a piece that you have created and the ideas behind it. This will usually provide you with more than enough material to talk about, provided that your animation is something that you are really interested in. If this is the case, then all you will really need is a way of expressing your thoughts and a way of structuring the ideas you would like to present. In order to do this, there are a few general tips that are useful to consider when writing an animation essay. Firstly, you should structure your essay in a four-step format including; an introduction; a thesis; an antithesis and a conclusion. The introduction will consist of a general overview of the essay. It does not need to be done to begin with (it is normally best to revise it after the essay is finished) but it is important that you should have in your mind the general premise of the essay before you begin. Read more...
- How to write an anthropology essay -
Where choice is given, it is always advisable to write your anthropology essay on a subject you are at least in some way knowledgeable about. Familiarity, in this case, breeds content and it is always preferable to start from a position of knowledge than one of ignorance. Of course, should choice not be given, then an added importance is placed upon the research phase of your anthropology essay.
Preparation being key, it is important to fully understand what the question is asking. It is impossible to overemphasis enough how critical this point is in the creation of a good anthropology essay. Read more...
- How to write an archaeology essay - Like archaeology itself, the key to writing an archaeology essay is to dig for clues and come up with new and innovative answers. You need to take the physical evidence you have and interpret it so as to show how civilizations of the past might have lived. Whilst it is not always possible to be involved in the physical excavation of archaeological sites, this does not mean you cannot plan and create an excellent archaeology essay. In this article there will be an analysis of all you need to know about planning, researching and writing for an excellent archaeology essay. Read more...
- How to write an architecture essay - Detailed below is a brief yet hopefully very helpful quick guide on how to write an Architecture essay to a high academic standard. The main objective of this piece of writing is therefore to present a simple to understand, and also to use user guide on how to write an outstanding Architecture essay. The following tips and advice are intended to allow the readers of this guidance piece to write their very own Architecture essay that achieves high marks as well as permitting them to demonstrate a high degree of understanding of Architecture as an academic discipline, not to mention their chosen profession. Architecture essays that are written to these guidance notes are intended to make people better architects besides assisting their efforts of becoming better writers of academic work. Read more...
- How to write an arts essay - In order to write an Arts essay, the writer should firstly read the question and be able to understand what the question is asking, for example, Discuss Michelangelo’s painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, is this his greatest work? In order to answer this question the writer should research Michelangelo’ and his works. It is important that the writer understands what the question is asking of them. This can be an extremely demanding undertaking and also within the preparation of the essay, the writer needs to understand where the starting point is. Read more...
- How to write a beauty therapy essay - As with any essay project, there are some basic steps that are required in producing a high-quality piece of work. Additionally, when it concerns writing about beauty therapy, there would be some other specific recommendations that could help a student who is obtaining a degree in this specialty. Any writing skills that are developed during the course of these essay projects will be of great advantage once the student begins their beauty therapy career because writing is an effective way of communicating with clients, potential customers, and colleagues in the work environment. Read more...
- How to write a business essay -
Whether you’re writing an essay for Marketing, Management, Finance or any other business topic, following certain guidelines can help you develop a piece of work that is well structured, insightful and compelling. The most important considerations for a business essay are that it presents relevant content and its arguments are supported by qualified references or examples. Other critical factors include layout, presentation and use of appropriate language. Breaking up the essay writing process into stages makes it less painful and ensures that you cover the task from all angles. Read more...
- How to write a childcare essay - In tackling a childcare essay, it is important to understand the question. The wording in it needs to be broken down by the writer so that they are clear about the subject matter and exactly what the marker will be looking for in answer to the question. There is no point in noting the phrase ‘child development’ and writing everything you know about it, if the marker only wants to know about it between the ages of 6 months to 1 year. The instructional words like ‘summarise,’ ‘contrast’ and ‘analyse’ need to be understood by the writer – this will inform him/her of what the marker is expecting them to do. Technical or subject specific words and phrases like ‘Cognitive Development’, ‘Motor Development’, ‘Piaget’s Theory’, ‘Language Acquisition’ and ‘Heuristic Learning’ need to be explained within the body of the essay so that the marker is certain that the writer understands the subject. Read more...
- How to write a criminology essay - Before you start anything else in relation to your criminology essay, you should firstly ensure that you understand what the essay question is asking you. Successful criminology essays address the question throughout and demonstrate a structured answer to the specific question. There are key phrases to look out for which will enable you to understand how you should approach the construction of your answer. For example, if you have been asked to describe the concept of penal welfare, you are being asked to provide an outline, or account of the concept. If you are asked to criticise the concept of penal welfare, you are being asked to assess the concepts strengths and weaknesses, and to ultimately perform a value judgement. The University of Manchester have published a useful online dissemination of key essay terms. It is worthwhile reading this resource before beginning your essay. Read more...
- How to write an education essay - An education essay requires a lucid grasp of the stated question or essay prompt, in order that a perceptive thesis contention may be formulated, articulated, substantiated and defended. The thesis statement must be in the form of an explicitly stated contention or assertion that responds to the specific sub-field of education the essay question is addressing. The formulation of the thesis statement for an education essay must demonstrate an awareness of both the historic and current intellectual trends pertaining to the relevant area within education to be explored and evaluated. Additionally, the education essay must explicitly engage with course aims, as the essay set is usually designed to test knowledge of the specific question, topic and course parameters. Read more...
- How to write a health essay - The first thing you must do in the process of writing a successful health essay is to make sure you fully understand what the essay question is asking you to do. There are key terms that you should look out for which will act as signposts to how you should construct your response to the essay question. For example, if asked to evaluate the impact of the Health and Social Care Act upon the patient experience, it is important that you provide a critique of the strengths and weaknesses of the outcomes of the implementation of the Act. If required to discuss the statement ‘the Health and Social Care Act has been ineffective in improving patient outcomes’ then you are required to decide whether or not you agree with this statement, and present your arguments accordingly. Understanding what you are being asked to do will not only enable the structuring of your essay but will also demonstrate the directions in which you should take your reading in order to address the essay question effectively. Read more...
- How to write a history essay - An essay is not a chance for you to display all your knowledge on a particular subject. Rather it is an opportunity for you to show that you can marshal facts and data in support of a coherent, logical and compelling case or argument. Relevance is crucial to writing a good history essay and for your argument to be relevant then it has to address specifically what it is that the question is asking. In every essay question there will be keywords, such as discuss, analyse, compare, contrast, identify and so on. You should treat these keywords like road signs, pointing you in the direction that you need to go. Writing your essay will seem so much easier once you have deciphered these keywords and thus have a clearer understanding of what it is that you are being asked to do. Let’s move on to some examples of these keywords and how best to go about answering them. Read more...
- How to write a law essay - The starting point in writing a law is essay is to analyse the question and understand clearly what the question is all about. Ideally, one should start in identifying the area or topic of law. Once the topic is identified, the writer should analyse the question in light of the area of the law and understand what is it that should be discussed in the body of the essay so as to answer the question. In order to ensure that he is relevant throughout, the writer may want to draw up a quick plan consisting of bullet points of the different elements of his answer which he will elaborate on throughout the essay. The idea of having a plan is for the writer to mind map his thoughts. With the plan in mind, he could set off writing the essay which normally would consist of an introduction, the body, and a conclusion. Read more...
- How to write a management essay - People read management essays to gain valuable insight that is up-to-date and reveals the knowledge of concepts that are prevalent in the market today. After all management is a soft skill that is developed outside of the classroom with practical examples that reflect the theories build in management study. In order to write a management essay the first thing to do is to asses the expectations that a reader of such an essay will have. Ideally a management essay should shed new light on information or introduce a new concept. The essay should relate the idea to contemporary theories and bring forth examples to prove the introduction of the new idea. Read more...
- How to write a marketing essay - Any student should understand the importance of embarking upon the completion of a well-written marketing essay. Marketing can be key to market advantage and product adoption success. Key marketing attributes should be researched as a way for deploying a marketing strategy. Part of writing such an essay would be deciding which aspects of marketing are important for the analyst, the company and that of the product characteristics. Alongside with investigating the marketing problem and subsequent research questions with viable sources, it is also important to know how to write such an essay. The research can get lost in a paper that is not articulate or fails to communicate the right ideas. So as a result a marking expert can write a how-to guide for others in need of assistance. Read more...
- How to write a media essay - The starting point to a good essay is finding a focus. If the subject matter is engaging to start off with, then the focus is already there. But it is still necessary to settle on a thesis. To start writing an essay without a thesis is to squander the focus, because the mind begins to wander in various directions, and so does the essay. A thesis comes from having thought the matter through, considered the various opinions, analysed the concrete findings, and then having settled on a position regarding the whole matter. The thesis is what the entire piece will revolve around. The introduction will contain the statement of the thesis, the body will then subject the thesis to various objections, or add to it various support, while the conclusion will restate the thesis in light of the foregone analysis. Read more...
- How to write a nursing essay - Before you begin any work on the assignment, it is vital that you ensure that you know what the question is asking of you. This will enable you to structure your approach and write appropriately for a higher education audience. Look for key terms that can act as pointers to what is expected of you. For example, if you have been asked to compare Boyd and Fales and Atkins and Murphy models of self reflection, it is required that you highlight the similarities and differences between the two models. If you have been asked to evaluate the models then a dissemination of their strong and weak points are required. Generally, the goal of a nursing essay is to demonstrate how your theoretical learning will inform your practice, so make sure you provide concrete examples when required. Read more...
- How to write a politics essay - Time constraints and strict deadlines may make you want to begin writing your essay as soon as possible but before you commit anything to paper you should first conduct a process of preliminary reading on your chosen topic. If you have been free to choose the subject of your essay, or have had the opportunity to choose from a set list of questions then hopefully you have opted for a subject on which you have at least some degree of prior knowledge and learning. However, it may be the case that you have been set a particular question on a topic that is rather new to you. If this is the case then obviously you will need to conduct some research in order to familiarize yourself with the subject. Even if you are already familiar with your subject area then you should not neglect this important stage of the essay writing process, as there may have been new developments that you were previously unaware of. Read more...
- How to write a psychology essay - Writing the psychology essay is one of the most enjoyable of all essays to write. Although the organisation and process of writing the psychology essay are essentially the same as any other requiring careful planning, comprehensive research, research analysis and secondary research and analysis before you begin your writing. Once your topic is well researched you can begin outlining and then writing the actual essay. After you write, follow-up steps include review and editing. These areas will be discussed below and followed by a discussion of how the psychology essay is different than other types of essays. Read more...
- How to write a science essay -
The steps to writing a science essay are much the same as any other type of essay: planning, research and analysis, outlining your ideas and then writing your prose. Once completed you need to edit your manuscript by carefully proofreading for content, context and format required by your instructor. Following a detailed discussion of each of these points, a discussion on the differences between science essays and other types of essays will be presented.
If you think of this first paragraph as an example, your first paragraph tells your reader what you’re going to write about. Alternately, your first paragraph can be used to get your reader’s attention with statements or statistics on your topic in order to focus the read into the urgency of your topic. Read more...
- How to write a sociology essay - It could be argued that the most important stage of your essay is not the actual writing period but the time you spend beforehand planning your essay, conducting research and collecting your reading materials. If you have been provided with a reading list by your tutor then you should attempt to get hold of as many of the works that you have been directed towards as you can. Your bibliography will inform the reader of the scope and quality of your reading and if you have included – and more importantly, appropriately cited and knowledgably quoted – key texts then this is likely to win you extra marks. Reading a wide variety of works on your chosen subject will also ensure that you have a wide knowledge of your topic and will also inform you any recent developments in, and key arguments on, the subject. Once armed with this information it will be easier for you to construct an argument and build a structure for your own work. Read more...
