Written Assignments

c. Planning the essay: Remember: It is expected that the essay will present a reasoned argument. In some assignment, such as lab re­ports or book reviews, the structure of the assignment is standard, so this step does not present any great problem. You may still have to decide which material to introduce first and how to develop points within a section; but the general structure is determined by the nature ­of the assignment.

In most essays, however, the effectiveness of the arguments depends greatly on the way it is structured, so planning is important.

Some students prefer to make a fairly detailed plan of their whole essay before they start writing. Others prefer to map out only the general outline and then reorganize and develop their points as they write. Such students would explain that they do not find out what hey think until they've tried to write it out; only then are they able to reorganize their ideas coherently.

In general, then, some initial planning, if only of the steps of your argument, is usual. At some stage in your writing of the essay a coherent and satisfactory structure for your ideas must be developed.

d. Writing the first drafts : Even experienced and very competent stu­dents find it useful to write at least two drafts , or trial writings, of an essay. You may find you have to write three or four drafts before you have produced an essay that satisfies you. There is an important distinction between the first draft and later revisions.

In the first writing you are still in the process of creating and finding out your own ideas on the topic; you gradually recognize the logic of your argument as you write. You may have to discard certain ideas and rewrite many sections before the whole argument really fits smoothly together. It is important to recognize that the initial draft is only an exploration, and the presentation is unlikely at this stage to be fluent and polished.

In fact, if you do try to write `perfectly' from the outset, you will probably get very frustrated. You will be trying to achieve perfection in each separate sentence when the whole flow of the essay is still far from clear. Much better, then, to regard the first draft as only a preliminary stage, a tentative start towards your final essay.