How to Write Better Essays Book

I already knew quite a bit about writing essays, so this book didn't expand my knowledge for the most part. But here are a few things that caught my interest in the book:

INSTRUCTIONAL VERBS

Analyse
Separate an argument, a theory, or a claim into its elements or component parts; to trace the causes of a particular even; to reveal the general principles underlying phenomena.

Compare
Look for similarities and differences between two or more things, problems or arguments. Perhaps, although not always, reach a conclusion about which you think is preferable.

Contrast
Set in opposition to each other two or more things, problems or arguments in order to identify clearly their differences and their individual characteristics.

Criticise
Identify the weaknesses of certain theories, opinions or claims, and give your judgement about their merit. Support your judgments with a discussion of the evidence and the reasoning involved.

Define
Outline the precise meaning of a word or phrase. In some cases it may be necessary or desirable to examine different possible, or often used, definitions.

Describe
Give a detailed or graphic account, keeping to the facts or to the impressions that an event had upon you. In history this entails giving a narrative account of the events in the time sequence they occurred.

Discuss
Investigate or examine by argument; sift through the arguments and the evidence used to support them, giving reasons for and against both sides; examine the implications. It means playing devil's advocate by arguing not just for the side of the argument that you support, but for the side with which you may have little sympathy.

Evaluate
Make an appraisal of the worth of something, an argument or a set of beliefs, in the light of their truth or usefulness. This does involve making your own value judgments, but not just naked opinion: they must be backed up by argument and justification.

Explain
Make plain; interpret and account for the occurrence of a particular event by giving the causes. Unlike the verb 'to describe', this does not mean that it is sufficient to describe what happened by giving a narrative of the events. To explain an event is to give the reasons why it occurred, usually involving an analysis of the causes.

Illustrate
Explain or clarify something by the use of diagrams, figures or concrete examples.

Interpret
Reveal what you believe to be the meaning or significance of something; to make sense of something that might otherwise be unclear, or about which there may be more than one opinion. So usually this involves giving your own judgement.

Justify
Show adequate grounds for a decision or a conclusion by supporting it with sufficient evidence and argument; answer the main objections that are likely to be made to it.

Outline
Give the main features or the general principles of a subject, omitting minor details and emphasizing its structure and arrangement.

Relate
This usually means one of two things. In some questions it means narrate a sequence of event - outline the story of a particular incident. Alternatively, it can mean show how certain things are connected or affect each other, or show to what extent they are alike.

Review
Examine closely a subject or a case that been put forward for a certain proposal or argument. Usually, although not always, this means concluding with your own judgement as to the strength of the case. However, if it involves examining just a subject or a topic, and not an argument or a proposal, it will mean just examining in some detail all the aspects of the topic.

State
Outline briefly and clearly the facts of the situation or a side of an argument. This doesn't call for argument or discussion, just the presentation of the facts or the arguments. Equally it doesn't call for a judgement from you, just reportage.

Summarise
Give a clear and concise account of the principal points of a problem or an argument, omitting the details, evidence and examples that may have been given to support the argument or illustrate the problem.

Trace
Outline the stages in the development of a particular issue or the history of a topic. (Greetham 56)


3 READING STRATEGIES

1. We can read carefully word-for-word when we're reading a text or a passage we know is of central importance to our work, from which we want to extract in our notes the detailed structure of the main points and subsections.

2. In contrast, when we just want to pick up the general impression of the contents, the key ideas and the broad structure of a text or an article, then we would do better to skim it.

3. And, if we're just looking for an answer to a specific question, say a date, a name, a set of figures, or what the writer says about a certain subject, then we need to scan it. (Greetham 80)


TRAVELING WELL WITH AN IDEA
"Description → Analysis → Criticism → Evidence → Evaluation" (Greetham 194)


Work Cited
Greetham, Bryan. How to Write Better Essays, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.