How to write essays?

I am currently writing an essay on a comparison between 2 punk bands. Its quite difficult and Im only half way through including the footnotes! How sad. Anyway, I thought I would write how Im writing it for a bit of a break. Decide on which title out of the choices. Think about what books/articles there are you could use. Do you have enough research to back up your own opinions. First I do all the research. I write down all the interesting quotes i find in journal articles, magazines, books and listen to a lot of recordings. I put these all in a file so I can go back to them later. I write it all out by hand as reading it in my ...

If I answer the question, how to write a good essay perhaps someone will let me know how to do well in an exam? I could get a first for all most every essay I write, but its thirds all the way in exams. In my course we often get an essay guide but the actual topic of the essay can be choosen with those guidelines. In this instance I pick my topic very early on. I base my choice on these three things, in this order - Something that fits the criterai well, Something that I can get plenty of information on, but that is specific enough to fit the word count, Something that interests me. Once I have picked my topic I try and stick it out, ...

I wrote this advice for my students, who are undergraduates doing philosophy/politics. I think most of it would be useful for any humanity/essay-based subject, particularly in the first half, while the latter suggests argumentative techniques - though I guess some of them could be employed in history, some literature studies, etc. 1. Writing Essays (the basics) Philosophy essays generally require you to develop a line of argument. It isn’t enough simply to report what other people have said – you need to take a stance on the question (though it needn’t be an extreme one, sometimes fence sitting is ok). Think carefully about what the ...