by The Open University
Available in 34 free installments
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To try out or test a proposition or ideas in the context of other thinkers and in the light of personal experience and judgement.
In Montaigne's day, the idea of applying your personal assessment to issues, rather than deferring to authority, was quite revolutionary. If you look ahead to the sample essay questions in Activity 9 (don't worry about how you would answer these questions; they are drawn from a wide range of subjects and levels), you can see how this approach applies. In most of them, you are given a statement to test, to try out the arguments and opinions for and against a particular position by demonstrating a use of evidence.
The essay should guide the reader from the issue(s) raised in the title to a conclusion, by developing a clear and logical line of thought so that the reader is not side-tracked by points that are not directly relevant. It is normally in the form of continuous prose, using paragraphs but probably not using headings or numbers. This means that, while the essay may be broken up into paragraphs, generally the writing flows along without interruption.
An essay needs:
an introduction, telling the reader what the essay is about;
a main body, containing the ?meat? of the essay, where you outline your particular point of view, while demonstrating awareness of other perspectives or interpretation;
a conclusion, summarising the content of the essay clearly and concisely.
Note down in your Learning Journal what you think the stages are that you have to go through in producing an assignment, from beginning to end.
You may well have thought of some, if not all, of the following stages:
preparation
planning
drafting
polishing
letting go
reflecting on the feedback.
Let's break down these stages further.
This stage consists of:
estimating the time available for the task
identifying what the question is asking of you
taking note of the guidance you have been given
researching or carrying out an experiment or collecting data
making notes
thinking over your ideas.
Planning your assignment involves:
working out an appropriate and logical structure
identifying what is relevant and what is not
taking account of the word limit
refining your ideas
selecting appropriate evidence or quotations.
This stage comprises a single task:
writing the assignment, perhaps with one or more early drafts.
Polishing your assignment means:
reviewing what you have written and making changes
