English lesson

1. Essay and
Report
Writing

2. Learning Outcomes
After completing this course, students will be able
to:
• Analyse essay questions effectively.
• Identify how to organise essay paragraphs and
structure an essay.
• Construct essay introductions and conclusions.
• Identify the differences between essays and
reports.
• Organise a report correctly.

3. The Question
Your first task is to fully understand the question being asked.
Make sure you actually answer this, rather than just writing
everything you know on the topic or answering a question you
would have liked to have been asked!
You need to focus your research around this question, so take
a few minutes and identify the keywords and command word
in the question.

4. Keywords
The keywords are the important words in your
question.
For example:
‘Discuss how a tutor can motivate their students’
The keywords are ‘Tutor’ ‘Motivate’ and ‘Students’

5. Command Words
Your essay question will probably begin with a
command word, such as ‘analyse’ or ‘discuss’. It is
essential that you understand what this word
means – use a dictionary if you don’t.
As you write your essay, keep referring back to the
question and check you are doing what the
command word asked you to do.

6. Analyse
Take something apart and look at the
concepts and ideas under discussion in
depth.

7. Compare and Contrast
Show how two things are similar and
dissimilar and indicate the
consequence of the differences.

8. Evaluate
Weigh up the arguments surrounding
an issue, using your own opinions and
the opinions given in the work of
others.

9. Describe
Give a detailed account of something.

10. Justify
Make a case by providing a body of
evidence to support your ideas and
points of view. Consider opinions
which may run contrary to your own
before stating your conclusion.

11. Outline
Provide the main features of
something.

12. Tone
When writing an academic
essay, it is important that you
use the correct tone and
language.
There are a few things you
should avoid doing in an
essay…

13. Things to avoid
1) Informal Language
Your essay should be written in formal English.
There should be no colloquial language, or
language written as someone would speak, or use
in a text message.
Don’t use words like ‘okay', 'maybe’ or ‘sort of’
Write out numbers – ‘Four’ rather than 4
Don’t abbreviate words – ‘did not’ rather than
‘didn’t’

14. Things to avoid
2) Using clichés
Avoid using clichés in your work. Examples of
clichés include:
‘stuck out like a sore thumb’
‘think outside the box’
‘avoid it like the plague’

15. Things to avoid
3) Long Quotes
Don’t use too many long quotes. Try and
paraphrase the ideas and words of other people
and put them into your own words, rather than
copying big chunks of text.
Remember that even when you put the ideas of
someone else into your own words that this still
needs to be referenced!

16. Things to avoid
4) Unnecessary words
Don’t use too many unnecessary words. Use
straightforward language and communicate
succinctly.
Go through a paragraph that you have written
and cross out any words, phrases or sentences
that may be unnecessary. Read it again to see if
you have lost anything essential to the meaning.
If you have not, then delete it permanently.

17. Things to avoid
5) Writing in First Person
Academic writing should be written in third person,
eliminating the personal use of ‘I’
Instead of ‘In this essay, I am going to discuss’
say ‘This essay will discuss’
Instead of ‘I think’
say ‘It can be argued’
Instead of ‘I noted from Petty’s research’
say ‘It can be noted from Petty’s research’

18. Introductions
An essay introduction should form about 10
percent of the total word count for your
essay.
You should engage immediately with the
question, to show you understand what is
being asked.

19. Introductions
It is a good idea to briefly explain the topic
you are going to discuss, and how you are
going to address it in your essay.
Your introduction should
be like a map –
identifying the
surrounding context and
the route the essay will
take to answer the
question.

20. Questions to ask of your
1. Have I shown that I understand the task that
has been set?
2. Have I given an outline of the way I plan to
respond to the title?
3. Is my introduction a true indication of what the
reader is about to read?
If you can answer YES to all these – you should
have an effective introduction.

21. You don’t necessarily have to write
your introduction first!
Sometimes it is easier to go back and
write this last, once you have written
the main body of the essay, and know
the points you have made.

22. Paragraphs
Each new point or argument made to
answer your essay question should be put
in a new paragraph.
Each point made should be expanded upon
and supported with evidence, examples and
relevant quotations.

23. Paragraphs
Each paragraph should begin with a ‘topic sentence’ which
introduces the point the paragraph is going to cover.
Example paragraph of an essay which discusses the arguments for and against
abortion.
One of the main debates surrounding abortion
is the point at which the unborn child has
rights. There are a variety of different opinions
on the stage at which a foetus has the right to
live. These range from conception, the first sign
of brain activity or when the foetus could
survive outside the womb. There is no agreed
moment in medicine or philosophy of the point
at which a foetus should have the same rights
as an adult human being (BBC, 2012).
Introduces
topic of an
argument
against
abortion
The rest of the
paragraph
then expands
on the point
made in the
topic
sentence,
using other
sources to
back up the
point being
made.

24. Paragraphs
You should be able to sum up the content of each
paragraph in a few words.
When you think you have finished your essay, you
could go through your essay, and next to each
paragraph, write down the main point covered.
Doing this allows you to check the topics flow
smoothly and there is no unnecessary repetition.

25. Conclusions
An essay conclusion should form about 10
percent of the total word count for your
essay.

26. Conclusions
There should be no new material in an
essay conclusion, just a brief summary of
the points which have already been made.
Ensure you refer back to the question, to
show you have answered it effectively.

27. Conclusions
Three questions to ask to check you have written
an effective conclusion.
1. Have I referred back to the title of the essay?
2. Is my conclusion genuinely well-supported by
the evidence and argument that I have
presented throughout the essay?
3. Have I made sure that I have not introduced a
new argument at this stage which hasn’t been
previously mentioned in the essay?

28. Reports
There are several differences between
reports and essays.
• Reports are often used to give the results of
research, and the content tends to be more
informative and factual.
• Reports have a more formal structure than
essays
• Reports include headings and sub-headings.
• Reports often include bullet points, tables or
graphs.

29. Academic Tone
You still must use an appropriate tone when
writing a report, avoiding the same issues as you
would with an essay.
• Do not use informal language or clichés.
• Do not use unnecessary words.
• Do not write in first person.

30. Report Headings
Not all reports contain the same headings, but these are
some of the most commonly used:
Abstract - A short summary of the whole research, including
context, methods, results and conclusions.
Introduction - Overview of context. Compares, contrasts and
analyses findings of other similar or relevant research.
Method - Step-by-step description of how the research was
conducted.

31. Report Headings
Results - Factual data and description of findings with
no explanations.
Discussion - Critical evaluation of results and
methodology. Link back to other research, models and
theories.
Conclusion - Final summing up of findings of report
with no new material.

32. Contents Pages
You will also number the pages of your report and
use a contents page to detail the headings
included and which pages these can be found on.