Writingessays

Writing Essays

An essay written for a university course serves two main purposes:

First, writing is an excellent way of learning—writing is thinking, and as you write you formulate your ideas. You will develop and practise several intellectual skills that will prove invaluable to you throughout your university career:

• the ability to synthesize information from a variety of sources;
• the ability to analyse the significance of primary source material;
• the ability to make appropriate use of secondary source material (e.g., summarizing the research that has been done on a topic, placing it in context, and noting similarities to and differences from other writers’ presentations);
• the habit of documenting, carefully and honestly, the sources of your information and ideas; and
• the ability to develop a cogent, balanced, and well-supported

These skills can be developed by essay writing, and they will serve you well in every area of your life.

Second, an essay enables your instructor to assess your ability to explain the subject in a lucid and cogent fashion, to integrate the different types of material covered, to analyse events or themes and place them in a comprehensible order.