How To Write Better Essays

This indispensable guide takes students through each step of the essay writing process, enabling them to tackle written assignments with confidence. Students will develop their ability to analyse complex concepts, evaluate and critically engage with arguments, communicate their ideas clearly and concisely and generate more ideas of their own. Chapters are short and succinct and cover topics such as reading purposefully, note-taking, essay writing in exams and avoiding plagiarism. Packed with practical activities and handy hints which students can apply to their own writing, this is an ideal resource for students looking to improve the quality and clarity of their academic writing. This book will be a source of guidance and inspiration for students of all disciplines and levels who need to write essays as part of their course. New to this Edition: - Brand new chapters on topics such as learning from feedback, finding your voice and using the right vocabulary - Expanded companion website featuring videos, interactive exercises, sample essays and lecturer resources - Exclusive web-only chapter on improving your memory

The wise and witty guide to researching and writing a thesis, by the bestselling author of The Name of the Rose—now published in English for the first time. Learn the art of the thesis from a giant of Italian literature and philosophy—from choosing a topic to organizing a work schedule to writing the final draft. By the time Umberto Eco published his best-selling novel The Name of the Rose, he was one of Italy’s most celebrated intellectuals, a distinguished academic, and the author of influential works on semiotics. Some years before that, Eco published a little book for his students, in which he offered useful advice on all the steps involved in researching and writing a thesis. Since then, it has been translated into 17 languages—and is now for the first time presented in English. Eco’s approach is anything but dry and academic. He not only offers practical advice but also considers larger questions about the value of the thesis-writing exercise in six different parts: • The Definition and Purpose of a Thesis • Choosing the Topic • Conducting the Research • The Work Plan and the Index Cards • Writing the Thesis • The Final Draft Eco advises students how to avoid “thesis neurosis” and he answers the important question “Must You Read Books?” He reminds students “You are not Proust” and “Write everything that comes into your head, but only in the first draft.” Of course, there was no Internet in 1977, but Eco’s index card research system offers important lessons about critical thinking and information curating for students of today who may be burdened by Big Data. Irreverent and often hilarious, How to Write a Thesis is unlike any other writing manual and belongs on the bookshelves of students, teachers, writers, and Eco fans everywhere.

George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

Do ever wish that you could write the perfect university essay? Are you left baffled about where to start? This easy-to-use guide walks you through the nuts and bolts of academic writing, helping you develop your essay-writing skills and achieve higher marks. From identifying the essay type and planning a structure, to honing your research skills, managing your time, finding an essay voice, and referencing correctly, Writing Essays For Dummies shows you how to stay on top of each stage of the essay-writing process, to help you produce a well-crafted and confident final document. Writing Essays For Dummies covers: Part I: Navigating a World of Information Chapter 1: Mapping Your Way: Starting to Write Essays Chapter 2: Identifying the essay type Part II: Researching, Recording and Reformulating Chapter 3: Eyes Down: Academic reading Chapter 4: Researching Online Chapter 5: Note-taking and Organising your Material Chapter 6: Avoiding Plagiarism Part III: Putting Pen to Paper Chapter 7: Writing as a process Chapter 8: Getting Going and Keeping Going Part IV: Mastering Language and Style Chapter 9: Writing with Confidence Chapter 10: Penning the Perfect Paragraph Chapter 11: Finding Your Voice Part V: Tightening Your Structure and Organisation Chapter 12: Preparing the Aperitif: The Introduction Chapter 13: Serving the Main Course: The Essay’s Body Chapter 14: Dishing up Dessert: The Conclusion Chapter 15: Acknowledging Sources of Information Part VI: Finishing with a Flourish: The Final Touches Chapter 16: It’s all in the detail Chapter 17: Perfecting Your Presentation Chapter 18: The afterglow Part VII: Part of Tens

The 20 lessons in this book can be completed in just 20 minutes a day, quickly and easily teaching fundamental essay writing, which is essential on final exams, college entrance exams, and on college application essays.

COLLINS ACADEMIC SKILLS SERIES: WRITING gives you the skills and strategies you need to write well-structured essays, reports and case studies and achieve academic success at university.

“A beautifully written and well-researched cultural criticism as well as an honest memoir” (Los Angeles Review of Books) from the author of the popular New York Times essay, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This,” explores the romantic myths we create and explains how they limit our ability to achieve and sustain intimacy. What really makes love last? Does love ever work the way we say it does in movies and books and Facebook posts? Or does obsessing over those love stories hurt our real-life relationships? When her parents divorced after a twenty-eight year marriage and her own ten-year relationship ended, those were the questions that Mandy Len Catron wanted to answer. In a series of candid, vulnerable, and wise essays that takes a closer look at what it means to love someone, be loved, and how we present our love to the world, “Catron melds science and emotion beautifully into a thoughtful and thought-provoking meditation” (Bookpage). She delves back to 1944, when her grandparents met in a coal mining town in Appalachia, to her own dating life as a professor in Vancouver. She uses biologists’ research into dopamine triggers to ask whether the need to love is an innate human drive. She uses literary theory to show why we prefer certain kinds of love stories. She urges us to question the unwritten scripts we follow in relationships and looks into where those scripts come from. And she tells the story of how she decided to test an experiment that she’d read about—where the goal was to create intimacy between strangers using a list of thirty-six questions—and ended up in the surreal situation of having millions of people following her brand-new relationship. “Perfect fodder for the romantic and the cynic in all of us” (Booklist), How to Fall in Love with Anyone flips the script on love. “Clear-eyed and full of heart, it is mandatory reading for anyone coping with—or curious about—the challenges of contemporary courtship” (The Toronto Star).