Essay writing - Style and clarity - presentation - My.Anglia Homepage

Essay Writing - 

Style and 

Clarity 

Study Support 

Service, 

Student 

Services 

www.anglia.ac. 

uk/studysuppor 

tservice

Session Objectives 

• Know what academic writing style involves 

• Understand concept of academic honesty 

• Pick up tips on expressing ideas clearly 

• Introduction to available resources 

Created with MindGenius Business 2005®

Essay Writing - Style and Clarity 

Likely combination of: 

• Descriptive writing 

• Critical/analytical/argumentative writing 


Descriptive writing 

• To describe: 

• What happened – e.g. events, methods, results 

• Main features/functions –e.g. of illness, treatment method 

• Summarise main points –e.g. of theory, article 

• Identify relevant points 

• Be clear, precise, accurate 

• Use logical order 

• Keep to the point 


Argumentative writing 

• Purpose: 

• To argue a point of view 

• To influence the reader’s s thoughts/actions 

• Guidelines 

• State position clearly, concisely 

• Use clear line of reasoning 

• Give reliable, relevant, valid, convincing evidence 


Evaluative/Analytical writing 

Involves: 

• Comparing and contrasting 

• Weighing up importance of similarities/differences 

• Making a judgement (give reasons, based on evidence) 

NB: Need for balance – compare like with like, give equal 

information/evidence 


Critical analytical writing – useful 

resources 

• On-line guides, including list of useful 

expressions for commenting on 

theories/practices/models etc: 

• www.anglia.ac.uk/studysupportservice 

• Learnhigher materials: 

• http://learnhigher.ac.uk/Students/Critical- 

thinking-and 

and-reflection.html 


Using personal experience 

• Only if course requires it 

• Not main evidence unless so instructed 

• Points to consider: 

• How typical is experience? 

• How does it compare with others’ ? 

• How relevant is it? 

• How does it link to, support/contradict theories/views? 

• Any lessons to be drawn? 

• Any valid generalisations? 

• Language may be more personal. 


Academic Honesty 

• Inspire guide: 

• http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/students/pdf 

s/300310_academic_honesty.pdf 

• Link to City University guide on how to 

avoid plagiarism 

• http://www.city.ac.uk/library/ls_nsq/learn 

_research_supp/lrs-train/plagiarism.html 


Referencing – library resources 

Information skills – including referencing 

and refworks 

http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/guides/guides.htm 

• Pilot module 6 – use your information 

appropriately 

• http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/pilot/module6/i 

ndex.html 


Conventions of Style 

• Continuous prose 

• Formal, standard English 

• No abbreviations/contractions but – 

• Proper Nouns in full with abbreviation on first use 

• Numbers below 10 in words 

• Impersonal (avoid, “I”, “you”, “we” ) 

• Objective (avoid subjective, emotive language) 

• Avoid direct questions 

• Concise 


Make this sentence less personal: 

I discovered from my questionnaire that 

patients nursed on the intensive care unit 

were more likely to develop pressure 

sores than those nursed on my own 

surgical ward. 


Suggested alternative 

The questionnaire demonstrated that 

patients nursed on the intensive care ward 

were more likely to develop pressure 

sores than those nursed on the surgical 

ward. 


Make this question more cautious: 

Nursing standards on the intensive care 

unit were so poor that, within two days of 

their admission, 50% of its patients 

developed pressure sores. 


Commonly Confused Words 

• For more examples: 

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/erro 

rs.html 

• Adverse - hostile 

• Averse - disinclined 

• Affect - the action 

• Effect - the resultr 

• Alternative - another 

• Alternate - by turns 

• Appraise - assess, evaluate 

• Apprise - inform 



• Results showed that, of the patients 

admitted to the intensive care unit, 50% 

developed pressure sores by the end of 

the second day. The study showed that, of 

a number of possible causes, inadequate 

nursing interventions could have 

contributed to these results. 


Expressing ideas clearly 

• Be clear in your own mind! 

• Get to the point 

• Be precise 

• Use straightforward sentences 

• Use familiar words 

• Use correct words/spellings 

• Avoid cliches 

• Avoid ambiguous words/sentences 

• Avoid repetition 

• Check punctuation 


Unnecessary fillers 

• In order to fully appreciate x, it is first of all very 

important to give careful consideration to -- 

• For the reason that (because) 

• At the present time (currently, at present, now) 

• In spite of the fact that (despite) 

• In the event of 

(if) 

• Owing to the fact that (due to) 

• With a view to 

(to) 


Unnecessary Extras 

• Initially, originally, first conceived or created 

• Past history 

The end result 

• Future plans 

Advance planning 

• The general consensus 

May possibly 

• The reason why 

Temporary respite 

• No other alternative 

Rather unique 

• Habitual custom 

A new innovation 

• Assembled together 

As to whether 

• An annual income of £20,000 

per annum 


Reader loses way in long winded sentence! 

The respondents, however, in spite of their 

doubts about the single currency, foresaw many 

benefits, including the elimination of the risks 

involved with currency change, the equalization 

of currencies, the reduced administrative costs 

(for example in billing) and the psychological 

benefits attached because of a strengthening of 

bonds between currencies and it being evidence 

of a unite European economic power. 



The correspondents had doubts about the single 

currency but they foresaw many benefits. The 

risks taken in exchanging currencies would be 

removed, currencies would be equalized and 

administrative costs would be reduced. 

Moreover, psychologically, bonds between 

countries would be strengthened by the 

existence of a united European economic 

power. 


What do you mean? 

• In the absence of the feline predator the rodent 

scavenger can engage in recreational activity. 

• (While the cat’s s away the mouse will play.) 

• A repair implemented at this point in time will yield a net 

saving of human resources of the order of 88.899%. 

• (A stitch in time saves nine) 

• In so far as they can be projected, the adverse economic 

factors in the immediately foreseeable future are likely to 

be of the order presently pertaining. 


• Negative patient care outcome. (Death) 

• A terminological inexactitude. . (A lie) 

• We do not contemplate the possibility that 

such a thing will eventuate. 


Is that really what you mean? 

• Brian kept his pigeons at the bottom of the 

garden with his brother Sid. 

• Glancing to the right, the church spire is visible 

above the rooftops. 

• Touching the greasy surface, her face bore an 

expression of disgust. 

• Water is available below the ground surface and 

most of the country’s s crops are grown there. 


Cliches 

• In this day and age 

• At this moment in time 

• To all intents and purposes 

• In any shape or form 

• Leave no stone unturned 

• The bottom line 

• The long and short of it 

• It goes without saying 

• At the end of the day 

• From time immemorial 


Commonly confused words (cont.) 

• Its - belonging to it 

• It’s - it is 

• Imply - suggest 

• Infer - deduce 

• Principle - fundamental truth/belief 

• Principal - chief, main 

• Biannual - twice a year 

• Biennial - every two years 


Check your punctuation helps your 

reader 

• He did not behave as expected. 

• He did not behave, as expected. 

• The picture was bought for £1,000 more 

than it was worth. 

• The picture was bought for £1,000, more 

than it was worth. 


Writing skills – useful guidance 

• http://www.dyslexstudyskills.group.shef.a 

c.uk/ 

• Includes tips and practice activities on 

paragraphing and sentences 

• http://www.mantex.co.uk/ 

• Free downloads on essay writing, English 

Language, grammar, spelling etc 


Writing skills – useful guidance 

(cont.) 

• www.learnhigher.ac.uk 

• Academic Writing section includes: 

• Initial skills assessment; 

• Grammar beagle – grammar 

knowledge quiz 


Other useful resources 

• Hull University’s s guide to proofreading 

• http://www2.hull.ac.uk/student/docs/Proo 

f-reading.doc 

• The BBC’s ‘Skillswise’ site has a good 

section on proofreading. : 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/wri 

ting/proofreading/. 


Further Reading 

• Cottrell, S., 2003. Critical thinking skills: developing effective 

analysis and argument. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 

• Cottrell, S., 2003.The study skills handbook, 2nd ed. Basinstoke: 

Palgrave Macmillan 

• Crème, P., and Lea, M.R., 2003. Writing at University: : a guide for 

students, 2nd ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw Hill 

• Fairbairn, G.J. and Winch, C., 1996. Reading, Writing and 

Reasoning: a guide for students, 2nd edn. Buckingham: Open 

University Press 

• Rose, J., 2001. The mature student’s s guide to writing. Basinstoke: 

Palgrave 

• Buzan, , T., 2006. The Mindmap Book. London: BBC Active. 

• Buzan, , T., 2003. Use Your Head. London: BBC Active. 


Questions? Concerns?

Essay writing - Style and clarity - presentation - My.Anglia Homepage

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