Banner

  • Library Guides

Write In Time

  • Dr. Amanda Paxton's Course (Durham)

General Writing Guides (Websites)

  • Academic Writing Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • The Writing Process Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Common Writing Assignments Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Journalism & Journalistic Writing Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Professional, Technical Writing Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Advice on Academic Writing Writing at the University of Toronto. Guides include: Planning and Organizing; Using Sources (e.g. paraphrasing); Style and Editing
  • Specific Types of Writing Writing at the University of Toronto Guides included: Annotated Bibliography; Book Reviews; Literature Reviews; Comparative Essays; Academic Proposals; Abstracts; Essays; Presentations.
  • Writing Essays Academic Skills Centre, Trent University
  • Avoiding Plagiarism Academic Skills Centre, Trent University
  • Grammar & Clear Writing Academic Skills Centre, Trent University

Writing Guides (Print & Electronic Books)

trent university essay writing

Arts & Humanities (Websites)

  • Writing in Literature Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University Guides included: Literary Terms; Literary theory; Writing about Fiction; Writing about Literature; Writing in Literature; Writing About Poetry; Image in Poetry
  • Creative Writing Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Writing about History Writing at the University of Toronto

Social Sciences (Websites)

  • Writing in Psychology Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Social Sciences Academic Skills Centre, Trent University

Sciences (Websites)

  • Medical Writing Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Writing in Nursing Online Writing Lab (OWL), Purdue University
  • Writing in the Sciences Writing at the University of Toronto
  • Lab Report Writing at the University of Toronto
  • Science Academic Skills Centre, Trent University
  • Last Updated: Apr 22, 2024 2:56 PM
  • URL: https://guides.lib.trentu.ca/WRIT1001H
  • Navigation Logo
  • Our mission
  • Trustee board
  • Your campus
  • Social media
  • Work for us
  • Freshers' Advertising
  • Accessibility
  • Sustainability
  • Student Life Pulse
  • Exec Guide to NTSU
  • Student-led Teaching Awards
  • Student networks
  • Black History Month
  • City campus
  • Brackenhurst campus
  • Clifton campus
  • Deals & offers
  • Online shop
  • Lost Property
  • Passions & Projects
  • Information & advice service
  • International student support

Academic support

  • Discrimination & harassment support
  • Health & wellbeing
  • Housing advice
  • Safety advice
  • Sex & sexuality
  • NTU Active membership
  • Social sports
  • Sports calendar
  • Sports exec
  • Sports committees
  • Upcoming Fixtures
  • Sports clubs A-Z
  • Freshers 2024
  • Freshers Advertsing
  • Refreshers 2024

Essay writing tips

  • Time management tips
  • Exam prep and mindset

trent university essay writing

Not sure how to get started with an assignment? Here are our top tips to help you avoid all-nighters.

Plan first, write later.

Plan your essay in bullet points before you start writing it. This makes it easy to have an overview of your essay and structure your argument so you know what to write. Make your points follow on from one another so your argument builds to a logical conclusion. Once you have all your points in order, then start writing.

You don't need to have done 100% of your research to start writing your essay. Make notes as you research and organise these into key points. Use these as the basis for your bullet points. (Reference the source for your notes as you go — this will make referencing your essay later much easier.)

Once you have your bullet list essay outline, you can start writing — one bullet point at a time. This makes essay writing more manageable than trying to think about the whole piece at once. If you struggle to expand on a bullet point, you probably need to do more research. The good news? You only need to focus your research on this missing bit of information.

You don't need to tackle your bullet points in order. It's usually best to focus on whichever one you have the most information for or are in the mood to write about. You can go back and fill the gaps in any earlier bullet points later, once you’ve made some progress with the rest of your essay and built some momentum. (Mildly interesting fact: professional writers use "TK" as a placeholder for missing information. If you use a similar method, you can go back and search for "TK" once you've finished your first draft, then tackle each missing item one at a time until your essay draft is complete.

Keep writing and editing separate

Don't worry about word count or try to edit your essay while writing your first draft. Your first goal is to expand on each bullet point until you get all the way through your essay. The quality of writing in your first draft doesn't matter. What matters at the start is momentum. You can fix the word count by adding or removing words and tightening up your writing so it reads well after you've finished your first draft.

Once your first draft is written, you're ready to proofread and edit it. It's usually helpful to put your first draft aside for a few hours (ideally overnight) once you've finished it and come back to it with fresh eyes to edit it. you have two goals for this stage: 1. Edit for clarity 2. Edit for wordcount Go through it sentence by sentence and ask yourself these questions: · Have I said what I wanted to say? · Does it make sense? · Is this the best way to say it? If you are under your word count, look for areas where you can give more detail to improve the clarity or strength of your argument. If you are over your word count, look for places where you have repeated yourself or are over-explaining things. Also, look for ways you can restructure sentences to make them shorter. This can be challenging. It's usually easier to add words than cut them, but there should be parts of your first draft that are the written equivalent of "thinking aloud." You can often cut many words by focusing on these areas and turning whole paragraphs into single sentences. Similarly, long, complicated sentences can often be split into two or three simple short sentences that improve clarity and reduce your total wordcount.

Do the details last

Add references and formatting at the end. It's much quicker to write and edit your first draft if you don't worry about formatting and referencing at this early stage. Once you've edited for clarity and length, read back through your essay one final time, and format your text and add references as you go. Once you get to the end of this final pass, you are done.

You can (kind of) apply this approach to non-essay projects. Outline a project plan first before you get stuck in. If you plan well and make your decisions on paper before you start to execute your project, you're less likely to run into unforeseen problems part-way through and you should get a better finished project with less effort and stress as a result.

Student essentials: essay writing

-

Item Type: Authored book -->
Creators: Fuggle, S.
Publisher: Crimson Publishing
Place of Publication: Richmond
Date: 2011
ISBN: 9781844552733
Divisions: >
Record created by:
Date Added: 09 Oct 2015 10:40
Last Modified: 09 Jun 2017 13:36
URI:

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Views per month over past year

View more statistics

Downloads per month over past year

  • Information
  • Submit amendment (on-campus access only)

Nottingham Trent University Burton Street Nottingham NG1 4BU +44 (0)115 941 8418

  • Get directions

Quick links

  • Online payment
  • Student Services
  • Accommodation
  • Academic Schools
  • Fees and funding
  • Students' Union
  • Job vacancies
  • Short courses

Connect with us

Keep up to date with all things NTU

Facebook icon

Search for a member of staff

Student sat writing at a table. Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels

Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

  • Writing essays in science subjects
  • Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
  • Writing extended essays and dissertations
  • Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

  • Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principal tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

  • Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
  • References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

  • Approaching different types of essay questions  
  • Structuring your essay  
  • Writing an introduction  
  • Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
  • Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

  • The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
  • Explanation of the focus of your work.
  • Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
  • List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

Systems & Services

Access Student Self Service

  • Student Self Service
  • Self Service guide
  • Registration guide
  • Libraries search
  • OXCORT - see TMS
  • GSS - see Student Self Service
  • The Careers Service
  • Oxford University Sport
  • Online store
  • Gardens, Libraries and Museums
  • Researchers Skills Toolkit
  • LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com)
  • Access Guide
  • Lecture Lists
  • Exam Papers (OXAM)
  • Oxford Talks

Latest student news

new twitter x logo

CAN'T FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR?

Try our extensive database of FAQs or submit your own question...

Ask a question

The study of English is usually divided into English literature and English language, though some courses allow students to integrate modules from both disciplines. In English literature courses, students will explore texts from early history through to modern fiction. Language students will learn about how words can have different meanings and their impact on communication.

Literature in English

English ba hons ucas code q300, english ba hons.

  • 104 UCAS Points
  • 3 years course

English and Film & TV BA Hons UCAS Code QP33

English and film & tv ba hons, english and history ba hons ucas code qv31, english and history ba hons, english and philosophy ba hons ucas code vq53, english and philosophy ba hons, english and media ba hons ucas code pq33, english and media ba hons, linguistics, linguistics and philosophy ba hons ucas code vq51, linguistics and philosophy ba hons, linguistics and media ba hons ucas code pq31, linguistics and media ba hons, history and linguistics ba hons ucas code qv11, history and linguistics ba hons, english studies, english with secondary education (qts) ba hons ucas code q301, english with secondary education (qts) ba hons.

  • 120 UCAS Points

Creative Writing

Creative writing ba hons ucas code w800, creative writing ba hons, english language, english language and linguistics ba hons ucas code q311, english language and linguistics ba hons.

  • 4 years course

English Language and Linguistics BA Hons UCAS Code Q310

1.877.974.8398

Toronto: 416.222.5225         Vancouver: 604.757.5246
                    

  • How We Work
  • Our Writers
  • Why We're #1
  • First Time Customers
  • Get to Know us
  • Quick Essay Guide
  • Customized Writing Services
  • Premium Essay Writing Service
  • Thesis & Dissertation
  • Editing Services
  • Application Essay Services
  • Distance Ed. Custom Writing
  • Application Writing
  • Are Essay Writing Services Right for Me?
  • How to Get the Most Out of Essay Experts
  • FAQ Complete
  • Refer a Friend
  • Student Partner Discount
  • FREE Thesis Evaluation

Trent University is known for its unusual structure of having several largely independent colleges within the university, operating with their own student governments, residence halls, and other amenities. Further, tenure-track professors are based in both the main Petersborough campus as well as the secondary Oshawa campus. Like most liberal arts schools, Trent offers a wide variety of undergraduate majors, including, biology, computer information systems, cultural studies, English, environmental & resource studies, history, psychology, sociology, women's studies, and business administration. Trent is best known for its Native Studies program through the First Nations House of Learning, the oldest in the country and one of the most respected. Native Studies are offered at the undergraduate through the doctoral level and are open to indigenous and non-indigenous students alike.

Student life at Trent is in large measure the story of Trent's athletics, which cover a wide range of varsity sports. First among them is the Trent rowing team, the pride of the university. The men's lacrosse team is also well-respected, and recently women's volleyball was promoted to the varsity level. Among the many activities enjoyed by students outside of athletics are social interest groups, newspapers, theatre groups, religious groups, political chapters, and academic societies. The school also has a student-run emergency first response team that offers first aid services to students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

Peterborough essay writing service is open 7 days a week for all students in the Peterborough area.












4936 Yonge St., Unit 130
Toronto, Ontario, M2N 6S3, Canada

.

Dissertation and thesis support

The NTU Library offers support for undertaking dissertation, research projects, and theses work across all levels of study.

Find support by level of study

Undergraduate dissertation / final year research project, postgraduate masters dissertation / research project, phd or professional doctorate thesis.

A dissertation is an academic report that has a large word limit (5,000 - 10,000 words). It can be the biggest piece of writing you undertake during your undergraduate degree. You may be asked to select a topic to focus on and this may also require choosing a certain type of methodology or undertaking a literature review. We recommend the following material to help get you started.

Books and literature

  • Take a look at our resource list of suggested titles focussing on dissertations and theses.

Useful links

  • Writing an undergraduate dissertation (Royal Literary Fund)
  • Literature reviews (an interactive presentation about what a literature review is, and how to go about writing one).

Further help

  • Attend  one of our workshops about dissertation research, literature reviews, proofreading, etc.
  • Book an appointment to talk to a member of staff.
  • Talk with your dissertation or research project supervisor.

A masters degree usually has some sort of extended individual project. It typically involves a high word count (between 12,000 and 20,000 words). The structure is similar to an undergraduate dissertation, but you will be expected to investigate your topic in greater detail, and develop your research methodology skills further. The following resources will help you get started.

  • Biggam, J., 2015.   Succeeding with  your master's dissertation: a step-by-step handbook. 3rd ed.  Maidenhead: McGraw Hill.
  • Hart, C., 2005.   Doing your masters dissertation: realizing your potential as a social scientist. London: Sage.
  • Jesson, J., Matheson, L., Lacey, F. M., 2011.   Doing your literature review: traditional and systematic techniques .  London: Sage.
  • Murray, L., and Lawrence, B., 2000.  Practitioner-based enquiry: principles for postgraduate research .  London: Falmer Press.
  • Parija, S. C., and Kate, V., 2018.  Thesis writing for Master's and PhD Program .  Singapore: Springer Nature.
  • Wallace, M., and Wray, A., 2016.   Critical reading and writing for postgraduates .  3rd ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
  • plus many more available via  Library OneSearch about dissertations, research methods, literature reviews, etc.
  • Dissertation Guide (Royal Literary Fund)
  • Attend  one of our workshops about search skills, literature reviews, proofreading, etc.

Undertaking a thesis at postgraduate research level requires you to conduct a literature review and original research. The NTU Doctorate Plus programme supports you throughout this process. Take a look at our  Research Students page to see what help is available.

You can also consult the  Researcher Development Brochure to see the full range of workshops available to postgraduate researchers, including guidance for academic writing, research methodologies, and practical support for working with long documents.

  • Churchill, H. & Sanders, T., 2007.  Getting your PhD : a practical insider's guide . London: SAGE.
  • Dunleavy, P., 2003. Authoring a PhD : how to plan, draft, write, and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation.  Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Hayton, J., 2015.  PhD : an uncommon guide to research, writing & PhD life . James Hayton PhD: James Hayton.
  • Lee, N.-J., 2009.  Achieving your professional doctorate . Maidenhead: Open University Press.
  • Murray, R., 2016.  How to write a thesis.4th ed . Maidenhead: Open University Press.
  • Phillips, E. and Pugh, D., 2015.  How to get a PhD: a handbook for students and their supervisors. 6th ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
  • plus many more available via  Library OneSearch about research methods, literature reviews, etc.
  • Theses by previous NTU research students – view these online in the thesis collection in  IRep .
  • Research Development Gateway – this NOW learning room provides a wide range of resources to support your skills development as you undertake your thesis.
  • Attend one of our workshops for more advice on getting started with your literature review, keeping up-to-date and managing your references.
  • Book an appointment with your  Research Support Librarian .
  • Talk with your supervisory team.

The University of Nottingham homepage

Studying at university

  • Being organised
  • Free study planner
  • Searching for information
  • Reading and evaluating information
  • Referencing
  • Laboratory reports and lab books
  • Dissertations, projects and theses
  • Reflective writing
  • Book reviews
  • Notes and other writing tasks
  • Strategies for writing
  • Developing as a writer
  • Assessment and feedback

People who can help

An essay is a piece of academic writing which makes an evidenced argument in response to a question or series of questions. Some essays aim to prove something by developing a case, by reasoning, using examples and by taking a position. Essays may also involve providing clear explanations about a topic and allow you to demonstrate your understanding. In many cases, writing essays will involve gathering examples and evidence, and involves carrying out some initial research and reading.

Sometimes you will be assigned an essay question; in other cases, you will be given a topic and it is up to you to identify the possible questions you will seek to address in your essay.

At university, you will therefore usually be expected to read more widely and support your essay argument by referring to a more diverse range of sources and evidence.  Good essays will still need to meet important criteria that you have probably encountered at school and college: essays should be appropriately presented, clearly structured, and should demonstrate they have been proofread to check for clarity of expression and to minimise errors.  However, you will also be expected to follow academic conventions on how to reference existing research from books and journals as well as other appropriate sources.  You will need to engage critically with what has been written on the subject so that you explain the significance and importance of issues and examples.  You may also need to discuss the consequences and purposes of theories, methods and analyses presented by existing scholarship beyond identifying what has been said or done. 

For many students, writing essays at university may be difficult to begin with and it is very important to pay attention and try and respond to any feedback you receive.

Starting an essay

The first thing you should do is to read any guidance your school has provided and make sure you understand how your essay will be assessed. Pay particular attention to any assessment criteria or marking sheets, as well as any feedback you've been given previously.

  • Identify the question(s) to be addressed
  • Develop your thinking and reading to note down some initial ideas and thoughts
  • Don't become fixed in your early ideas: remain open minded, as you may wish to change your perspective as you read more
  • Consider the arguments against your view - how could you defend or rebut alternative positions
  • Begin to think of the structure of your essay and the sequence you wish to introduce points. Work towards sketching out an outline of how these points can be linked together
  • Start writing - some students find they can refine their ideas by trying to express them in written form
  • Be prepared to re-draft your work before final submission
  • Where possible, give yourself time to put the essay aside for a day or two and come back to it during the drafting phases. Seeing it with fresh eyes will be particularly useful when re-considering the structure and placing of paragraphs.
  • Try asking friends to read your draft work. It can be very difficult after repeated reading to see your own mistakes.  Alternatively, use text-speech software such as TextHelp Read&Write (available on the UoN network) to read the text aloud to you.
  • When you have a fairly complete and well-organised draft, revise sentences, with special attention to transitions, checking that a reader will be able to follow the sequences of ideas within and between sentences and between paragraphs.

Points to remember

Check that when you are starting work on your essay and reading materials and sources, make a clear note of the bibliographic details (e.g. author, date, title, publisher etc.) as you will need this information to accurately complete any citation of references and list of sources or bibliography.  Harvard is often used in many schools, but check and follow the recommended system of the School or department offering the module.

Before submission, proofread the final copy checking for grammar and spelling mistakes. You might find it helpful to print out your essay and make notes on the hard copy.

Structuring your essay

Your structure should embody a basic plan necessary to write an essay relevant to the title.

It will need an introduction, a main body and a conclusion (or summing up at the end). However beyond this basic structure, it is likely that your school can provide more detailed guidance.

Introductions

Introductions are like an itinerary or road-map for your reader.  They will usually identify what specific questions or issues you are tackling in the essay (the focus) and indicate how you will work through answering the question/title you are writing about (the method or theory applied). 

It can help to think of the introduction to an essay being around 10% of the total word count.  For a short essay of 1500 words, it may be just a single paragraph of approximately 150 words.  For longer essays, you may need to set the scene of the topic first, so it may be two or three paragraphs in length.

The paragraphs in the main body develop your argument or response to the essay title, using examples to explore the different aspects of the question.  Think about how each paragraph builds up the argument and use connecting words and phrases to link together the paragraphs.  In some departments, you may be encouraged to use headings for the different sections, but check this with your assignment guidelines or tutors. 

Conclusions

The conclusion will indicate the overall themes and summarise the key points you have raised in the essay, identifying how this has addressed the question.  It can help to think of the conclusion as being around 5-10% of the total word count.  For a short essay of 1500 words, it may be a single paragraph of approximately 100-150 words.  For longer essays, the conclusion may be a couple of paragraphs long. The conclusion is where you summarise and synthesize the significance or importance of the key evidence and examples you have discussed.

Remember to not include any new ideas or information in your conclusion.

Proofreading

Many students find it easier to proofread from the printed page rather than a computer screen, but do think about using technology to support your proofreading process.  Text-to-speech software such as TextHelp Read&Write can read text aloud to you, highlighting each word as it reads, and can help identify homophones along with a range of other proofreading support strategies. Read&Write is available on the UoN network. 

  • Check paragraphing for length, transitional links, and internal coherence
  • Check word choice - use a dictionary to check accurate meanings
  • Review your style and check for clarity - reading aloud can often help
  • incomplete sentences
  • missing or mis-used punctuation 
  • possessives (The dog's bone or the two dogs' bone)
  • matching verbs and subjects (plural or singular).
  • Check spelling and typing for possible errors. Run a spell checker, but remember if your mis-spelling actually spells another real word it often won't identify these.

Evaluating your essay

When finishing an essay you should check it against the marking criteria provided by your school. Here are some useful questions to ask yourself:

  • Did you give a brief introduction that provides any indication of the overall flow of your essay?
  • Did you use a logical progression of concepts and information using subheadings, if appropriate, for the main body?
  • Did you include too little information?  You will need detail, or specifics and examples.
  • Did you include too much?  You often don't need more than one or two examples to make a point; you need to make theories, issues or arguments clear, but not verbose. Make sure you keep within the word limit set for the essay.
  • If appropriate to your discipline, did you use clearly labelled diagrams, figures, or images that are referred to in the body of the text? (Diagrams are not free-standing items and are of benefit only when they highlight key points or mechanisms.)
  • Did you write clearly and unambiguously? Keep your sentence construction simple, and avoid overlong sentences. Punctuate correctly.
  • Did you give a brief concluding paragraph to round off your essay?
  • Did you acknowledge your sources using the appropriate referencing system?

Studying in the Mathematical Sciences building

Further reading

  • Creative and critical thinking

Preparing for assessment

  • Using feedback

Reading and interpreting sources and data

  • Finding sources
  • Reading strategies
  • Citing, referencing and bibliographies

Practical strategies for managing writing

  • Preparation and planning
  • Technical advice on writing
  • Choosing your words and improving your writing
  • Writing critically
  • Referencing and bibliographies 

more from Academic Support study resources 

Talk to someone in your school or a specialist support service

Studying Effectively

Kings Meadow Campus Lenton Lane Nottingham, NG7 2NR

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5151 fax: +44 (0) 115 951 3666 Contact us

Legal information

  • Terms and conditions
  • Posting rules
  • Accessibility
  • Freedom of information
  • Charity gateway
  • Cookie policy

Connect with the University of Nottingham through social media and our blogs .

Find us on Facebook

A Memoir of My Former Self: Hilary Mantel’s final book is a reminder of the many stories she still had to tell

trent university essay writing

Associate Professor of Postcolonial and Global Literatures, Nottingham Trent University

Disclosure statement

Jenni Ramone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Nottingham Trent University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

View all partners

Black and white photo of young Mantel

In A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing , Hilary Mantel writes: “There is no failed writing, only work pending.” She’s referring to the 97 notebooks that she kept in a wooden box. Mantel promised: “There is nothing I won’t say, only what I haven’t said yet.”

These words were written in 2016, just after her epic novel of the French Revolution, A Place of Greater Safety , was published. After that, Mantel released the third and final book in her Wolf Hall trilogy , a series that earned her two Booker prizes.

But what Mantel hasn’t said “yet” is precisely the problem. The author suffered a stroke and died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2022. Reflecting on her death, her admirer and peer Margaret Atwood asked : “What might she have written next? I don’t know, but I will miss it.”

A Memoir of My Former Self celebrates the breadth of Mantel’s reading interests and the precision of her voice. The book is a selection of her writing for journals, newspapers and public lectures, published together for the first time. One section is dedicated to film reviews and another to book reviews, each of which were a voluminous part of Mantel’s output.

Her 1997 Reith lectures on history, art and literature are an important inclusion. Other pieces concern Mantel’s childhood, family and marriage, her health and physical life, her career and public life, and her reflections on religion, society, politics, education, place and art. Reading and writing form the spine of every piece.

The cover of A Memoir of My Former Self with a photo of Mantel.

The book discloses the lifelong physical and psychological impact of her endometriosis , intensified since doctors misdiagnosed her pain as hysteria and depression. Her feminism , evident throughout the collection (not least in her discussion of Hillary Clinton), evolved as a direct response to her medical experience .

The short pieces reveal careful and expansive reading, wit, intellect and daring. But above all, they share secrets – Mantel’s own, alongside those of the writers, historical figures, books, events and places that she describes.

The life of a writer

A Memoir of My Former Self positions Mantel at the centre of her nonfiction writing. Perhaps the only person who rivals her for our attention is Jane Austen, who she often allows to take centre stage, mentioning Austen and her works throughout the book.

Mantel’s main essay on Austen addresses her novels, life, family, juvenilia, the few letters and portraits that remain, and several biographies. In just 13 pages, Mantel reveals the complex material circumstances that Austen navigated and their impact on her writing.

She approaches Austen’s archive with objectivity and scholarship, and the result is twofold: a desire to reread Austen, and a deep regret that the book Mantel was working on will never be completed. Provocation was to be a humorous adaptation drawing on Austen’s full catalogue of works, but focused on Mary Bennett, the least prominent sister in Pride and Prejudice.

Hilary Mantel wearing red.

For Mantel, the writer’s life is a promiscuous one – with so many other lives to pursue and so little time for the task. This book leaves the reader certain that her imagination and resources would never have been exhausted.

Mantel’s Booker-winning historical novels assembled period worlds with something of the Victorian novel’s attention to detail. Groups came together to witness iconic historical events, such as the beheadings of queens and royal courtiers. But instead of the overburdened, maximalist interiors of 19th-century realism, Mantel’s histories were sparse and sharp. A well-placed wooden chest evokes a time, a carefully chosen meal reveals the substance of a person.

Atwood describes the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, Wolf Hall, as authentic yet contemporary : “If Cromwell had had a phone Mantel could hack, you’d scarcely be brought closer to the inner wheels and cogs of his bloody-minded and bloody-handed machinations.”

Hilary Mantel sat at the desk she wrote at in her home in East Devon.

Obituaries remarked on the wealth of writing that Mantel produced. Her work is far-reaching and genre-crossing. It has been described as “ guarded, intimate ”, with “ sly wit ”, “ deceptive indirection ” and “ slow subtlety ”. It is “ mischievous ”, “ bleakly comic and politically astute ”. For me, her writing is boundless , breathtaking, and conveyed with immense clarity .

Actor Ben Miles played Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. He and Mantel became good friends and worked on a picture book together.

Speaking to the Guardian , Miles suggested that Mantel’s novels had the power to reveal worlds that were historically and culturally distant as if they were within effortless reach. Her worlds felt at once intimate, sensory, funny and horrific.

This sense of closeness is what many readers will hope to experience by reading A Memoir of My Former Self – and they will not be disappointed.

trent university essay writing

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here .

  • Hilary Mantel
  • Book reviews
  • Give me perspective

trent university essay writing

Educational Designer

trent university essay writing

Lecturer, Small Animal Clinical Studies (Primary Care)

trent university essay writing

Organizational Behaviour – Assistant / Associate Professor (Tenure-Track)

trent university essay writing

Apply for State Library of Queensland's next round of research opportunities

trent university essay writing

Associate Professor, Psychology

Home

  • Peterborough

A student studying on the floor

Academic Skills

Reach your new best with academic skills..

We offer online resources, workshops, and individual appointments to support your efforts to improve and refine your skills for success at university.

  • Explore online resources on writing, citation, study skills, time management, and more.
  • Bring questions or work to an appointment
  • Learn about upcoming events or workshops

Introducing Academic Skills 

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) at Trent

The 2024 3MT® (Three-Minute Thesis) is on Thursday April 18 at 7:00 pm. The event is taking place at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre at 140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough (under the clock tower).

Please join us as we cheer on Trent’s 3MT competitors and learn about their research in just three minutes with one slide.

Student writing on laptop in a library

Workshops and Events for Graduate Students

As a graduate student, you are likely facing new academic challenges. The ideas about which you are reading, thinking, and writing are becoming increasingly complex, yet you need to find clear, concise, and engaging ways to express them.

Man sitting on large books and holding laptop while pointing to background with lightbulb, graphs and mindmaps.

Level Up: Resources for Upper-Year Students

This guide offers you new strategies to level up your organizational, learning, and writing skills to meet the demands of upper-year courses.

A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Knowledge at Wharton Podcast

What does your writing style say about you, july 23, 2024 • 15 min listen.

Wharton’s Jonah Berger explains how writing style can predict future success.

A person writing in a notebook

Listen to the podcast.

Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger discusses his published study, “ Topography of Thought ,” which was co-authored with Olivier Toubia , business professor at Columbia Business School. The paper examines how someone’s writing style can be indicative of their future success, and where generative AI might come into the picture.

Read an edited transcript below.

Studying How Successful People Think

Angie Basiouny: Give us an overview of this paper by way of explaining your title. What is topography of thought?

Jonah Berger: I don’t have to tell you that we all use language all the time. We write emails, make presentations, and submit job applications. We use language all the time. And language, in some sense, is a fingerprint. It reveals or reflects things about the people who produce it. You can predict how extraverted someone is, for example, based on the words they use.

But beyond the individual words people use, might the pattern of ideas they put out there, the way they organize their ideas, reveal something interesting about them and their likelihood of future success?”

I think it’s important to talk about what I mean about the pattern of ideas. When someone talks about something, they can cover a small amount of ground or a large amount of ground. If you ask someone about their work history, for example, they can talk about a variety of things they’ve done or a smaller set of things they’ve done. They can cover a lot of ground or a little bit of ground.

If you want to use an analogy here, you can almost think about going for a run. Someone can go for a run and go all the way around the city, or they can go for the same number of miles, but just go around the block a number of times. In both cases, they did the same distance, but they covered more ground in one than the other. So, one way we express ideas is the amount of ground we cover. We cover more ground with our ideas, or less. We can talk about more ideas, more topics, more themes, more things that are disparate from one another, or things that are related to one another.

But it’s not just that. It’s also the speed with which we move between adjoining ideas. Imagine a movie. It can cover more or less ground across the course of the movie, but it can also move faster or slower between ideas. If a movie has one scene, for example, that’s at the beginning of a wedding, if the next scene is the later part in a wedding, that’s related to the first part. Different things may happen, but it’s pretty closely related. But if you jump from a wedding to an action scene, that would be really different sorts of ideas. They’re not very related. They’re moving further across those two points.

We wondered if these two ideas, how much ground someone covers, and how quickly they move between ideas, might tell us something about their likelihood of future success.

Basiouny: You’re not talking about the length of the piece of writing. You’re not talking about whether it’s a 500-word essay or 1,000-word essay. It’s really about how they use that space to move through their ideas. Correct?

Berger: Yes, great point. It’s not about the length. It’s about the ground covered. Are they covering a lot of ground in their hundred or thousand words, whatever it is? Or are they covering less ground? Someone talking about their vacation could share 1,000 words, but they could use those words to talk just about the food they ate, or also to talk about the sights they saw and the places they visited.  The former would cover less ground while the latter would cover more.

Basiouny: How did you go about studying this?

Berger: The same ideas can be applied to any type of content, but here we looked at college applications. In other work we’ve looked at online reviews, and in related work we looked at books, movies, and TV shows.

We took 40,000 college application essays from a variety of folks who were applying to school, and we looked at what they wrote and the topography of thought of what they wrote — how much ground they covered in that essay. Again, similar length, but how much ground they covered, and how quickly they moved between ideas. And we looked at their future success. How well did they do in school? What was their GPA once they got there? We were interested in seeing whether, not just the individual words they use, but the way they express ideas might that reveal something or predict how likely they are to be successful in the future.

The Essay Writing Style That’s Linked to Greater Success

Basiouny: What did you find?

Berger: We found two very important things. First, covering more ground, that notion of covering a broad range of things in the same amount of length, was linked to greater success. But doing so while moving rather slowly, was also important.

Think about the numbers arrayed on a circular clock. You could cover a lot of ground by moving in a circle, (e.g., going from 12 to 1 to 2 to 3 to 4) or by traversing the same ground but going from like 12 to 6 to 1 to 7 to 3 to 11. You’ve covered the same amount of ground, but you’ve taken a much longer route between each individual point.

What we found is that folks who are successful in school are able to blend these two things that might seem mutually exclusive. It might seem like covering a lot of ground requires moving really quickly between points to get there. But folks that end up doing well in school figure out a way to cover that ground really efficiently. They’re able to do so by moving slowly between these points, and they don’t have to take a lot of big jumps along the way.

Basiouny: In this paper, you controlled for some socioeconomic factors. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Berger: Yes, so someone could wonder, “OK, so you’ve found that people did well in school, and you’re using writing as a way to indicate how they think. But does it indicate something else?” Maybe it’s just that people who do better on the SAT also have higher grades and also tend to write a certain way. Maybe it’s that people who have parents who are more educated tend to write a certain way and also do better in school. Or maybe people who have parents who are more educated can afford to pay for an essay consultant who helps them write a certain way and also helps them do better in school.

So, we controlled for a variety of different things. We controlled for what they wrote about. Maybe certain types of people tend to write about certain types of things, rather than other types of things. Maybe it’s not about how they write, it’s about what they wrote about — the topics or themes they discussed. No, it wasn’t that.

Maybe it’s parents’ education. No, we controlled for that. Maybe it’s SAT scores. No, we can control for that. What this suggests is that the topography of thought goes beyond things related to just socioeconomic factors or family background. It’s not just that people who might have had wealthier families, for example, tend to write a certain way or have application consultants and do better in school because they get tutoring. No, it really suggests that writing reveals something about the way we think, which can reveal or predict our likelihood of being successful in the future.

Implications Beyond College Essay Writing

Basiouny: There are other critical forms of writing that we do every day in business, like cover letters, resumes, a press release, communications to the C-suite. Can you take this research and translate it into a business context?

Berger: What I find fascinating about these ideas is yes, we looked at the case of college application essays, but it doesn’t have to be only about application essays. These same ideas should apply more broadly to a variety of contexts, whether it’s a cover letter that someone writes, whether it’s an online review that someone puts together, whether it’s the emails they write at the office — all these things provide insight into who people are and what they’re likely to do in the future. I think on a previous episode that you had me on, I talked about a paper I loved recently, where they can tell whether someone is going to default on the loan or not by the language they use in their application. Similarly, you can predict whether someone is going to get promoted or fired or leave a job for a better opportunity elsewhere based on the language they use in their email.

Most of this work that I just mentioned is using individual words, but I think what our work suggests beyond the individual words someone used, you can get insight into who they are, how they think, and how well they’re going to do in the future, based on the pattern of ideas that they have or their topography of thought.

Basiouny: As a manager, it gives you an indication of how they might move through their physical work or their knowledge work, right?

Berger: Yes, one thing we’re looking at right now is, as people learn more, does that change the way their topography of thought looks? Obviously, as we gain more knowledge in a given domain, we may talk differently. We may think about ideas differently. One thought we have is, “Hey, if people who are able to cover a lot of ground really efficiently by moving slowly between points, how did they get there? Are they naturally that way?” Probably not. They may have gained more knowledge along the way that allows them to represent their ideas differently.

One thing we’re doing right now is looking at online forums where people write multiple reviews over time. Someone, for example, might write hundreds of wine reviews over the years. They’ve learned more about wine years later. We’re looking at how do they represent ideas differently as they gain knowledge? And that may help us understand why people who represent ideas certain ways end up doing better.

Humans Still Write Better than ChatGPT and Gen AI — For Now

Basiouny: ChatGPT and artificial intelligence have entered the conversation. People have access to these free tools that can help them perfect their cover letters and written business communication. How does this change things? We can’t really tell how good someone’s topography of thought is if they have an AI-assisted piece of writing. What do we do?

Berger: Yes, so I’d say a couple of things. I agree with much of what you said, except one word. I’m not sure they allow you to “perfect” your writing. At least at the moment. What they do is allow you to write something pretty good quickly and easily. You give it a prompt, and it produces content that’s pretty interesting, does a pretty good job of doing something that might have been difficult for you to do.

And to a degree it uses your own content somehow. Like you could say, “Take my CV and use it to put together a cover letter based on my past experiences.” So that is based on you, and someone else’s might look different, to the degree that their CV is different, but I wouldn’t say it necessarily perfects anything. At least at the moment.

Certainly, tools like ChatGPT and others have made the production of content much easier, and I can imagine a time down the road where we do use them for many tasks, rather than writing ourselves. But I still think there is a lot to be understood about how language reflects the people that produce it and how to write more effective content, based on understanding what makes language impactful.

More From Knowledge at Wharton

trent university essay writing

Vera Bradley CEO: Company Rebrands Need to Reset the Brand Health

trent university essay writing

Ciara Dilley, VP of Marketing for Global Brands at PepsiCo

trent university essay writing

Marketplace Dignity: The Hidden Driver of Customer Engagement

Looking for more insights.

Sign up to stay informed about our latest article releases.

COMMENTS

  1. How to Write an Essay

    Topic too broad: Essays topics or questions must be focused and contained enough that they can be examined with depth and complexity. 5-paragraph model is too general or simplistic: The 5-paragraph essays works to prove a single point with three examples or to examine three unrelated points within the same topic.

  2. Drafting the English Essay

    To write good English essays, you must take the time to do this. Sample Body Paragraph. This body paragraph is a sample only. Its content is not to be reproduced in whole or part. Use of the ideas or words in this essay is an act of plagiarism, which is subject to academic integrity policy at Trent University and other academic institutions.

  3. Writing the English Essay

    An English essay is an organized and analytical discussion and interpretation of a work or works of literature in English. There are many approaches to writing the English essay, but most start with you closely and actively reading, responding to and thinking about the text (s) being written about. You, the reader and essay writer, must ask and ...

  4. Academic writing

    The resources in this section will help you to plan and structure your writing to help articulate your thinking and improve your communication skills whilst at university. For more information about academic writing please see the following guides: Key resources for academic writing. Argumentation in academic writing. Using English for Academic ...

  5. Library Guides: Write In Time: 4. Writing

    Writing at the University of Toronto. Guides include: Planning and Organizing; Using Sources (e.g. paraphrasing); Style and Editing ... Trent University. Grammar & Clear Writing. Academic Skills Centre, Trent University. ... Writing Essays: a guide for students in English and the humanities by Richard Marggraf Turley. ISBN: 0415230136 ...

  6. Developing students academic skills

    Academic writing, including structuring an essay; Maths and stats, including averages, algebra Excel, SPSS, and Minitab; Examples of embedded sessions from 2018/19: Conducting a literature review - MSc Molecular Microbiology; Conclusions, limitations, recommendations - MA/MSc Creative Technologies

  7. Essay writing tips @ Nottingham Trent Students' Union

    Essay writing summary. 1. Start your essay by making a bullet point outline. This will break your essay into manageable bite-sized chunks. Your outline will expand and get reordered as you do your research. 2. Once you're happy with your bullet point essay outline, write your first draft by expanding on each point.

  8. Thinking it Through: A Practical Guide to Academic Essay Writing

    Get Textbooks on Google Play. Rent and save from the world's largest eBookstore. Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone.

  9. Creative Writing BA (Hons)

    This practice-based and industry-focused course - one of the ten best in the UK according to The Times Good University Guide 2024 - will introduce you to the intricacies of writing, including plot, characterisation and narrative study, and will equip you with work-ready skills for the many writing and writing-related industries.. You will develop your skills and talent as a writer through ...

  10. Student essentials: essay writing

    Fuggle, S. ORCID: 0000-0001-9688-9593, 2011. Student essentials: essay writing. Richmond: Crimson Publishing. ISBN 9781844552733 Full text not available from this ...

  11. How to Write in University

    Effectively Integrating Evidence. Creating Coherence (or Flow) Writing an Introduction. Writing a Conclusion. Organized, Clear, and Analytical Writing University-level writing should be organized, clear, and analytical. The following guides provide direction on different types of writing assignments and strategies for writing.

  12. Essay and dissertation writing skills

    A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.. Short videos to support your essay writing skills. There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing ...

  13. Nottingham Trent University (NTU) English Courses

    English The study of English is usually divided into English literature and English language, though some courses allow students to integrate modules from both disciplines.

  14. Essay Writing Service

    Peterborough Essay Writing Help - Trent University. Trent University is a liberal arts university established in 1964 under the Trent University Act of 1962-63. The school originated in the efforts of local citizens to create a university to serve the Trent Valley. The university is divided into separate colleges: Champlain, Lady Eaton ...

  15. Essay Writing Tips

    lecture about essay writing and structure lecture essay writing tips planning from mind map to detailed plan essay planner available: this resource helps. Skip to document. ... Nottingham Trent University. 40 Documents. Go to course. 15. Seminar on the Adversarial system. Criminology & Criminal Justice 100% (1) 1. Seminar 3.

  16. Libraries and Learning Resources

    Library OneSearch Pro. The full range of sophisticated Library OneSearch tools and services, for more targeted research. Go to Library OneSearch Pro. What is Library OneSearch Pro best for? USING YOUR OWN DEVICE?: The library is piloting three new browser extensions that allow you to access library services and resources wherever you are online.

  17. APA 7 Style: Formatting Guidelines

    APA 7 (2020) accepts the use of a wider range of fonts than previous editions. Use a consistent font throughout the paper. While the size of the font in the text of the paper should confirm to one of the options below, figures may include a smaller or larger font size as needed. Font options include: Times New Roman (12-point) Calibri (11-point ...

  18. Dissertation and thesis support

    A dissertation is an academic report that has a large word limit (5,000 - 10,000 words). It can be the biggest piece of writing you undertake during your undergraduate degree. You may be asked to select a topic to focus on and this may also require choosing a certain type of methodology or undertaking a literature review. ... Nottingham Trent ...

  19. Essays

    Essays. An essay is a piece of academic writing which makes an evidenced argument in response to a question or series of questions. Some essays aim to prove something by developing a case, by reasoning, using examples and by taking a position. Essays may also involve providing clear explanations about a topic and allow you to demonstrate your ...

  20. How to Write Academic Reviews

    Read each section of a text carefully and write down two things: 1) the main point or idea, and 2) its function in the text. In other words, write down what each section says and what it does. This will help you to see how the author develops their argument and uses evidence for support.

  21. A Memoir of My Former Self: Hilary Mantel's final book is a reminder of

    Nottingham Trent University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK. ... Mantel's main essay on Austen addresses her novels, life, family, juvenilia, the few letters and portraits ...

  22. Academic Skills

    This guide offers you new strategies to level up your organizational, learning, and writing skills to meet the demands of upper-year courses. The Trent University experience is life-changing, career-boosting and transformational on every level. Challenge the way you think at Ontario's #1 undergraduate university, located in Peterborough and ...

  23. What Does Your Writing Style Say About You?

    Wharton's Jonah Berger explains how writing style can predict future success, based on a study on over 40,000 college application essays.