National Essay Day: Essay Writing Guide and Advice

That time of the semester is creeping up once again. For many individuals within our student community, deadlines are looming. A flurry of assignments and exams will be upcoming. It will usually be the case for many of them that you will be asked to write an essay. Whether it is a small or big piece of written work, it can feel very overwhelming to even know where to start. So, we can imagine that a day like National Essay Day, which takes place on the 28th of February, is a day which you do not particularly feel like celebrating. Especially if you have written, been writing have been set to write a lot of them. Not to worry though!  If you are a student at Edinburgh Napier University, we have a wide variety of resources and services which are there to support you with upcoming assignments and exams as well as essay research, writing and structuring.

But first, a bit of history…

National Essay Day is promoted as an annual awareness campaign by One Freelance LTD. And celebrated on the birth date of Michel de Montaigne who authored the first ever written texts that were declared as ‘essays.’ Having been an influential philosopher during the French Renaissance, Montaigne managed to turn essays into a mainstream literature genre and way of communicating one’s own thoughts on a specific subject matter.

National Essay Day ultimately promotes the significance of timely writing assistance. As well as the challenges and complexities students can face when writing an academic paper or extended answer to a specific issue or topic of debate. As Napier’s library services, we pride ourselves in supporting our students with reaching their academic potential and goals. So would like to take the opportunity to promote the help and support we can offer regarding essay writing, essay research and essay structuring skills.

Essay Research

One of the first things that you may wonder when commencing your essay research is where to start looking. The good (and sometimes bad) news is there is not one single correct answer to this question. For most subject areas an essay, question could be covering. There are often many databases and webpages where one could find the relevant information and references they are seeking. While this usually gives you a wide variety of options to consult, you may become extremely overwhelmed with the number of search results. It can be a timely process skimming through article after article or book after book trying to find the best resources with the most relevant and up-to-date information.

This is where our subject librarians usually come in. They can offer subject-based guidance and advice, support with your research, and have put together some very detailed subject guides which can be found in our LibGuide. These guides can assist you with conducting effective literature searches and also include links to useful databases and online resources. They can help you to find the most current and relevant books, journal articles and other materials for your essay research. Our subject librarians offer one-to-one research support where they can provide further support with finding the resources you need. As well as online and in-person training sessions which you can find in our Library Calendar.

 

Essay Structuring and Writing…

 

The standard paradigm for an essay that students and researchers tend to use consists of the following:

  1. The Title and Question.
  2. An Introduction.
  3. Main Body of Paragraphs.
  4. Conclusion
  5. Reference List.

 

All in this order. The introduction is often a concise summary of the topic or issue you are addressing, an analysis of the essay question at hand and the questions and debates surrounding the question which you will be addressing. The main body of the essay will often consist of the key points of your argument. Then the evidence to back it up, the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence at hand alongside counterevidence and arguments challenging it, then an overall summary of whether the key points addressed reflect a strong (or weak) answer or argument in relation to the essay question at hand. There will also likely be some relevant references thrown into each main body paragraph as well.

 

Then there’s writing the essay, which is often the most daunting part. It can sometimes make the task at hand seem less overwhelming if you start writing some of it in plenty of time before the deadline. And break it down into small, manageable steps – for example, if you set yourself the objective of starting the introduction one morning and aiming to finish it by the end of the day. While this may not always be a guarantee, it can help to get the cogs turning. And you might find yourself writing more than you intended to in the first place. Maybe an extra paragraph or two should you really get into the swing of it. Sometimes, however, we do get completely stumped – which is where our academic skills team can be of great assistance. If you feel that you would benefit from a one-to-one drop-in session or appointment with one of our academic skills advisors, you can find more information on our My Napier webpage, or email academicskills@napier.ac.uk. Recorded tutorials are also available on Panopto which include workshops on how to write your introduction, main body paragraphs and conclusion as well as paraphrasing and grammar tips.

 

Recommendations…

 

All our campus libraries have an extensive range of resources, particularly within our Research Collection. This can help you to enhance your essay writing, structuring and research skills. It is definitely worth checking out, along with a couple of recommendations from us below.

 

‘Planning your Essay,’ Godwin, Janet, 2009, Planning your essay – Edinburgh Napier University. Available at Sighthill Campus Library.

 

‘Essay Writing: A Student’s Guide,’ Sheilds, MunLing, 2010, Essay writing : a student’s guide – Edinburgh Napier University. Available at Merchiston Campus Library and online.

 

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By Rachel Downie