Essay Writing Guidelines and FAQ

Dr Hannes Opelz Dr Alexandra Lukes

What is an essay?A piece of prose writing…… discussing a specific topic;… producing an organized, coherent

argument based on a plan; … expressing an original/individual

viewpoint on the topic under discussion.

Things to avoid:Being off subject—i.e. discussing a topic not

related to the one proposed by the essay question.Writing a chaotic essay—i.e. a piece of writing

in which the elements of your argument are not logically linked (1) to each other or (2) to the topic.

Engage in plagiarism—i.e. using someone’s ideas, words, or texts, without duly acknowledging them and therefore implying said ideas are your own.

Sample essay question‘Beckett est essentiellement tragique’ (Eugène Ionesco). Discuss this comment, with reference to En attendant Godot.

PreliminariesConsider the wording of the title carefully.Look up terms which are unclear.Consider the structure of the question:

Quotation (Ionesco) + Question (discussion + specifies the work to be discussed: En attendant Godot).

Analysis of the quotation:‘Beckett est essentiellement tragique’ (Eugène Ionesco). Try to situate the quotation: find out more about its

author In this case: the French-Romanian playwright Eugène

Ionesco, a contemporary of Beckett’s.A statement: ask yourself whether you agree or not.Analyse the structure:

‘Beckett…’: reflects the general nature of the statement—not a specific work by Beckett, but his work as a whole;

‘…est essentiellement’: there may be room for other elements (comic, for instance);

‘…tragique’: the term is being used in its generic, dramatic sense.

Analysis of the question: Discuss this comment, with reference to En attendant

Godot ‘Discuss this comment…’:

It’s an open question; It does not suggest a specific structure (as do, for instance, the

expressions: ‘compare and contrast…’; ‘do you agree…?’; ‘to what extent…’);

Possible ways to structure your essay: Conform to the statement: ‘Godot is essentially tragic because…’ Disagree with it: ‘Godot is not essentially tragic because…’ Offer a dialectical response: ‘On the one hand, yes…; on the other

hand, no…; in conclusion, …’

‘…with reference to En attendant Godot’: Need to focus on this particular play (citing specific passages); Address the text in full (Act 1 and Act 2).

Before planning your essay

Re-read the work As you re-read, focus on the issues raised by the essay

title.Take notes

Earmark possible quotations (i.e. your primary sources) to illustrate points later.

Sources Use relevant secondary sources (when available) to

back up your claims. Always clearly acknowledge your sources in the text of

your essay (footnotes).

Essay PlanOrganising your argument Introduction Conclusion Tips

Organising your argument Draw up a plan that identifies the main points

you will discuss:You will need to explain /develop each point and

illustrate them with a reference / quotation:A primary source (En attendant Godot);A relevant secondary source (where available):

Another play by Beckett; Literary criticism on the play or on Beckett (e.g. Michael

Worton, Martin Esslin, etc.); Drama more generally (for instance, texts quoted in the

Critical Texts Anthology: Aristotle, Molière, Voltaire, Artaud, Ionesco, etc.).

Organising your argument (cont’d)

You will have room for 3 or 4 main points in the essay: Establish priorities and be selective; Refer only to material that is relevant.

A plan will help you with presenting your case concisely and persuasively.

Most important aspect of an essay: produce a rigorous and coherent argument.

Order your points to follow on logically from one another: Each paragraph should deal with a single idea.

Introduction Demonstrate that you have understood the question:

For instance, begin with a brief analysis of the topic/question. Demonstrate how you have understood the question:

In this case, acknowledge the generic stakes of the question. Outline briefly—in a tentative way (i.e. raising questions):

What the stakes/issues are; What your argument will consist in; How your claims will be made:

You agree with Ionesco’s statement. You disagree with Ionesco’s statement. The status of genre in Beckett cannot be decided in the terms of

Ionesco’s statement.

Briefly announce the plan of the essay.

Conclusion Briefly summarise the points made.

Clearly reflect the stakes / issues set out in the introduction: Do not simply repeat the introduction.

State the conclusions reached through your analysis (at this stage, you may adopt a more assertive tone).

Open up the discussion: Indicate relevant questions / issues your explorations

have thrown up. Indicate where you might logically go from here (if you

had more time and space).

Tips Make sure you are answering the question, avoiding

being off topic.Always back up your claims with evidence, using

relevant primary and, where available, secondary sources.

Avoid being too personal in your expression (‘I feel/think that this play is about…’, ‘reading the play, I felt/thought that…’, etc.).

Be analytical: avoid describing the text (remember: your reader already knows the text). Always ask not just ‘What does the author say?’ but ‘How?’ and ‘Why?’.

Tips (cont’d)Where possible and relevant, introduce different

viewpoints and show how your own viewpoint can be defended against others.

Help your reader: as you finish one point or embark on a new one, you may sum up briefly what it has brought to your argument and where the discussion is going next.

Always proofread your essay when you are done, making sure that the essay is free of any grammatical mistakes or infelicities.

Do not forget to add a short bibliography at the end of your essay, listing your sources (primary and secondary), in alphabetical order.

Presentation of Written Work Layout:

Word-processed, font (Arial or Times New Roman) size 12; Double-spaced; Each paragraph indented one inch from the margin.

Quotations: Place quotations in inverted commas (‘…’ or “…”); All quotations from poetry or verse drama and those over four lines long from prose

should be started on a new line and indented (i.e. set in an inch from the margin). Citations:

Indicate the precise source of the quotation in a footnote (following footnoting format given below);

At first citation give full bibliographical details; at subsequent mention please quote only author name and work title followed by page number of quotation.

Bibliography: List all works consulted (primary and secondary sources); Place texts in alphabetical order of author’s last name.

CitationsBooks:

Author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication + page number(s) of quotation:e.g. Jean-Paul Sartre, Qu’est-ce que la littérature?

(Paris: Gallimard, 1948), p. 16.

Articles:Author, title, journal (volume, number), date, page

range + page number(s) of quotation:e.g. Michael Holquist, ‘Nonsense and Modernism’,

Yale French Studies, 96 (1999), 100–17 (pp. 100–01).

Chapter in book: Author, title, name of editor(s), book title, place of

publication, publisher, date, chapter, page range + page number(s) of quotation:e.g. Roman Jakobson, ‘On Linguistic Aspects of Translation’,

In L. Venuti (ed.), The Translation Studies Reader (New York: Routledge, 2000), chap. 8, pp. 113–18 (p. 115).

Online Journal Articles and Databases: Author, title, journal, date, web address, date of access:

E.g. Kent Bach, ‘Performatives’, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2001), http://www.rep.routledge.com [accessed 10 December 2012].

BibliographySame referencing system as footnotes, BUT

reverse author’s last and first name: e.g. Sartre, Jean-Paul, Qu’est-ce que la littérature?

(Paris: Gallimard, 1948).

Notes Most of the information used above is taken from the ‘JF Guidelines

to Essay and Commentary Writing’ which is available on Blackboard at: http://mymodule.tcd.ie

You can find past exam papers at the following address: http://www.tcd.ie/Local/Exam_Papers/index.html

Searching for secondary sources: TCD Library The following electronic databases (access through Library website

under ‘Databases and Ebooks’): Jstor: http://stella.catalogue.tcd.ie/iii/encore/record/C__Rb12703766?lang=

eng Project MUSE:

http://stella.catalogue.tcd.ie/iii/encore/record/C__Rb13094028?lang=eng MLA International Bibliography:

http://stella.catalogue.tcd.ie/iii/encore/record/C__Rb12703777?lang=eng

Examples of Secondary Sources on JF Texts Studied

Beckett Esslin, Martin, The Theater of the Absurd (New York: Vintage Books, 2004). Worton, Michael, ‘Waiting for Godot and Endgame: Theatre as Text’ in John Pilling (ed.) The

Cambridge Companion to Beckett (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), Ch. 4, pp. 67–87.

Reza Carroll, Noël, ‘Friendship and Yasmina Reza’s Art’, Philosophy and Literature, 26.1 (April 2012),

199–206. Hellerstein, Nina, ‘Entretien avec Yasmina Reza’, The French Review, 75.5 (April 2002), 944–54.

Resnais Caruth, Kathy, ‘Literature and the Enactment of Memory’ in Unclaimed Experience: Trauma,

Narrative, History (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), Ch. 2, pp. 25–56. Monaco, James, Alain Resnais (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979).

Haneke

Celik, Ipek, ‘“I wanted you to be present”: Guilt and the History of Violence in Michael Haneke’s Caché’, Cinema Journal, 50.1 (Fall 2010), 59–80.

Grundmann, Roy, ed., A Companion to Michael Haneke (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010).

Exam sample