An essay is a complex exercise. To write a good essay you must not only demonstrate a good critical grasp on the issues and research, but also deliver a well structured piece of writing that communicates clearly.
A good essay has a definite beginning, a middle and an end – and it should stick to the point and avoid waffle (you’d be surprised how often students overlook these simple facts!).
• The opening paragraph of a good essay lays out a clear agenda: it spells out the question to be answered – the issue or controversy to be covered, so that the reader has a clear and focused idea of what the essay is supposed to be about. There’s no waffle
• The body of the essay then presents and critically evaluates the research addressing that issue,
• So that the last paragraph can sum up the conclusions emerging from that critical analysis
A first class essay (grade A, 70% plus) shows an intelligent and incisive grasp on the issues and sets up a clear agenda for the discussion to follow. It then demonstrates a comprehensive and critical understanding of the relevant research, using this research to directly address the question set up in the introduction in a focused way. The conclusion follows directly from this discussion – emerging from the critical evaluation of the relevant research and issues.
A good second class essay (2:1, grade B, 60-69%) must also show a good grasp on the issues, set up a clear agenda for the essay, provide a critical review of the relevant research and reach a conclusion which follows from that review.
The difference between this B grade essay and an A grade one is a matter of degree: the first class essay has a deeper insight into the issues, a more critical grasp of the research and its strengths and weaknesses and presents a more incisive analysis and a better defended and sharper conclusion. The A grade essay is more of an argument and less of a summary of research than the B grade. The A grade essay has an intelligent critical opinion and an authority of its own – whereas the B grade essay is more conventional, sticking more closely to describing and supporting conventional opinions.
A weaker second class essay (2:2, grade C, 50-59%) may or may not be well written, but its ideas are more muddled than those in a B grade essay. The issues are presented in rather a woolly way, there’s no clear agenda in the introduction. There may be errors of understanding. The research review is less comprehensive, less critical and less focused – typically, there is much in the essay that has no relevance at all. Since the discussion is not well structured, the conclusion often is not justified – and may not have much to do with either the introduction or the discussion in the body of the essay.
The key difference between this C grade essay and either an A or a B is that, where the A and the B both address the issues and the research in a focused and insightful way (with a greater or lesser success), the C grade essay typically simply lists or summarises everything the writer can remember about some key word in the title – and then presents a conclusion which has not been critically justified in the discussion.
You’d be surprised how many students don’t read the title of the essay carefully before setting out to answer the question - a sure recipe for a C grade or worse.
A third class essay (grade D, 40-49%) shows even less grasp on the issues and even less critical skill than the C grade essay. There are more mistakes, and more muddles. Like the C grade essay, a D grade essay basically tries to summarise all the writer can recall about the topic in question without analysing the issues in an intelligent way – and so does not provide a focused argument and cannot hope to come to a defensible conclusion.
Hypothetical essay outlines across the grades
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The question: |
How would you test the IQ of a dolphin? |
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Grade A |
Reflects insightfully on the question: for example, since IQ is defined as what IQ tests measure and dolphins can’t take those tests, trying to measure dolphin IQ is not straightforward. The starting point must surely be a better conception of what intelligence is, before one can begin thinking whether this concept can be applied to dolphins, or how it could be measured in a dolphin? The essay then focuses on a discussion of theories about the nature of intelligence / the origin of individual differences in ability, before discussing how any of these concepts might apply to dolphins or how such individual differences between dolphins might be measured. |
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Grade B |
Accurately summarises the history of IQ testing, showing a clear understanding of that history; points out that dolphins can’t take human IQ tests; uses the principles of IQ test design to invent new tests appropriate for aquatic mammals which might effectively measure dolphin IQ |
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Grade C |
A less accurate and insightful summary of the history of IQ testing than a B grade, and an attempt to construct a dolphin IQ test which shows less grasp on psychometric methods. |
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Grade D |
A poor summary of IQ testing and showing a poor grasp on psychometric principles. Little insight into the key issues |
Quite apart from the intelligence of your understanding, writing is a skill in its own right. There are many websites which offer good advice on essay writing for example:
o http://www2.actden.com/Writ_den/tips/essay/index.htm
o http://www.studentnow.com/features/essayswritingtips3.html
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