Writing Essays: A Guide for Students in English and the Humanities

by Richard Marggraf Turley

Essays are the major form of assessment in higher education today, a fact which causes poor writers a great deal of anxiety. However essay writing is simply a skill to be learned. anyone can learn to express themselves coherently and effectively, and this book explains precisely how. If you are dissatisfied with your essay grades but don't know where to start, read on.
Writing Essays reveals the tricks of the trade, making your student life easier. You will;
* become proficient in every aspect of composition from introductions and conclusions, down to presentation and printing out
* learn how to impress tutors with minimum effort
* discover exactly what markers look for when they read your work.
In addition, this book explains stress free methods of revision; effective library management; word processing and the internet. undergraduates on English, humanities and modular courses. Constructed around typical essay-writing mistakes as encountered by the author, this presents a refreshing alternative to the usual stuffy guides, written in the right language and focusing on what is relevant for students today. It includes advice on how to reference research done in the Internet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2000

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been very helpful for me, especially as a newcomer to writing English essays. English essays are very different from philosophy essays and the section on critics was particularly invaluable. It works around physical examples (both good and bad) and this makes it easy to understand, in some cases you can even preempt the point Turley will make and you learn fancy phrases so you're able to say Turley's points concatenate. The book has a relaxed tongue-in-cheek attitude and I was able to read it cover to cover, highlighting as I went on my Kindle, in three hours.

If you are looking for advice on style, organisation and writing this is the book for you. Turley doesn't go into detail about researching and making notes, testing your ideas etc.

Very few sections are slightly outdated (the use of floppy-discs being the main one) but the section on computers in the first edition is still worth reading. As a note of caution, some new information is included in the 'Notes' box at the end of each chapter, so be sure to read them than skim then.

I'm glad I read it anyway and I hope it makes a positive difference to my MA essays.

[Marsha Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book as a student, and I'm not exaggerating, it raised my grades by a whole class. What else is there to say - this study guide works.

[Rauwolfia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful and funny. Not all information was relevant to modern days, but great book nonetheless.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely helpful and insightful book. Relevant guidance for a Masters student reflecting on undergrad dissertations and preparing for further thesis’s.
Appreciated the humour

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a requested or required text for my first term at University but at £18 for the book I refused to buy it and instead requested it from the Library, might I add it took me nearly a month and a half to get it as well!

Writing Essays, is a short book of only 140 pages. The book is broken down into 10 sections which makes reading easier as, if you want to read only one section it's easy to find and get what you need. However saying this the book overall is written in a fairly complex manor. The first chapter 'How To Write An Introduction' is rather complex and boring, I struggled to read the whole chapter and not skim read it. Yet I did enjoy reading chapter 2 'The Middle Section: Structure and Critics, chapter 5 'Grammer and Punctuation' and finally the last chapter 'How To Write Exam Essays.

Overall, I don't think the book was very informative and I when I finished it, I didn't feel as though I'd learned or gained anything from reading it I just felt annoyed and frustrated with the way the author had written the book and that fact it cost so much! Yet the 3 chapters I did like weren't overly helpful and detailed enough, nor were they explained in a coherent manor for all ages (by this I mean exam and essay ages) to understand.

[Lief · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is useful as a practical suggestion book for writing essays, especially at the undergraduate level. It is written in a very personable style, and it is easy to follow and understand. Chapter seven is outdated, and chapter nine is only useful if you are not following a specific style guide such as MLA. Again, a fast, useful read.