how to write masters assignment

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How to Write Excellent Graduate-Level Papers

“How to Write Excellent Graduate-Level Papers” brought to you by the Student Academic Success Center (SASC) at UNE.

Becoming a better writer – the process

Breaking a writing project down into phases helps with motivation as well as managing your time and workload effectively. The phases of the process – prewriting, drafting, revision, and editing – are described below. Each step allows you to focus your energy in a particular way, with it all adding up to a more thoughtful, clear piece of writing.

The phases don’t have to be done in a set, linear order, if that’s not effective for you. If you like to write some rough draft paragraphs first, then go back and do a post-draft outline or revise those paragraphs before continuing, that’s fine. The key is to make sure each part of the process is done thoroughly before you consider your paper finished.

Let’s start with using prewriting to get the process rolling:

Using various prewriting strategies can help you avoid procrastinating and start a draft on the right track. You aren’t under pressure to develop a paper yet – this is about unlocking the flow of ideas. Play around with some of these strategies to find ones that work best for you:

• Tap into your curiosity

When you’re faced with an assignment, spend some time simply wondering about the topic. What intrigues you? Why should you and others in your profession care about it? Come up with a couple of relevant questions that you want to explore. Then consider which questions are most meaningful to you personally and professionally—and why? This can be done on paper, in conversation with someone else, or internally.

• Relate the assignment to your profession

Think about why the assignment is important to your field of study and work as a health professional, a social worker, an educator, etc. Making your assignment as personally and professionally relevant as possible helps with generating the motivation to start writing and keeping the momentum through the process. View this as an opportunity to learn useful information.

• Use the assignment itself as an outline

Copy the assignment and paste it into a new document. Break it apart visually by adding line spaces and/or tabs. This will help you more easily identify key concepts which need to be explained and verbs that indicate critical thinking is required (e.g., analyze, compare, evaluate). Create a rough outline using parts of the assignment as headings for different sections of the paper.

Similarly, you could annotate the assignment by marking up the key words and concepts and making little notes in the margins about what to add or how sections or ideas might tie together.

• Leverage what you already know, and then research with a purpose

Another very helpful strategy is to identify key concepts in the assignment description, then brainstorm what you already know about them based on the class readings or videos. Next, make a list of questions you still have about the concepts and overall topic. These will help drive the additional research needed to fill in your gaps of knowledge and locate credible evidence to support your explanations.

Having those questions makes researching more efficient because you have a purpose for reading: you’re looking for pieces of information rather than simply reading articles.

Read more: Faculty Spotlight: Lori Rand, Writing Specialist at SASC

The drafting phase involves determining your focus and starting to develop paragraph ideas within a structure. Keep a copy of the assignment on your draft as you write. Clarify the point of your paper – what is the main question that the assignment asking you to answer?

Think of a draft as packaging ideas into paragraphs that all relate to the paper’s main focus, as summed up in the thesis statement. For clarity, try to keep each paragraph focused on one idea at a time. However, because this phase is about getting thoughts down, and thoughts often jump around, drafting tends to be messy. That’s okay! The next step, revision, is where you really improve the writing.

In this phase, you can work on improving how you are guiding your reader through your thinking. Your reader will understand your ideas more easily if they are clearly focused, well-developed with specific evidence (correctly cited), and nicely organized.

Two strategies to guide you through revision include SASC’s Revision Checklist and Post-draft Outline, found here under Writing Resources. A writing appointment is also a great way to learn about and practice revision skills.

Editing is the final, polishing phase; it involves correcting sentence-level issues and technical aspects, such as word choice and grammar. Readers pick up these issues quickly because they can be the most obvious. Carelessness with grammar or word choice can lead to misunderstandings and make your writing seem unprofessional.

Trust the process

As mentioned earlier, the writing process is not necessarily a linear, step-by-step approach; it’s recursive, so it’s highly likely you’ll move back and forth between phases as you figure out your focus and organization of ideas.

Using this process gets easier with practice, and it works well in any writing situations, not just for graduate school assignments and scholarly papers.

Once you develop the most efficient method for your learning style, not only will you get faster, you will produce better academic papers.

Book an appointment

The SASC can help with all phases of the writing process via an Online Writing Support Appointment.  Visit the Online Student page for more details about writing support and resources.

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Taught postgraduates

• Studying at Masters' level
• Research at Masters' level
• Introduction

Knowing where you are going

A focused approach to your evidence, accuracy and awareness of complexity, useful links for taught postgraduates.

• Study Advice Helping students to achieve study success with guides, video tutorials, seminars and one-to-one advice sessions.
• Maths Support A guide to Maths Support resources which may help if you're finding any mathematical or statistical topic difficult during the transition to University study.

• Studying for a Masters Degree Advice on studying for a Masters degree from Postgrad.com
• Writing a dissertation An overview of the dissertation writing process from the Royal Literary Fund
• How to write a literature review A guide to writing literature reviews from the Royal Literary Fund
• Doing your literature review (video) Watch this brief video tutorial for more on the topic.
• Doing your literature review (transcript) Read along while watching the video tutorial.
• Dissertations and major projects LibGuide Expert guidance on planning, researching and writing dissertations and major projects.
• Academic writing LibGuide Guide to what you need to know about writing appropriately and correctly for UK higher education, including information on effective proof-reading.
• Literature reviews LibGuide Expert guidance on selecting, reading and writing about texts for literature reviews.
• Advanced referencing and academic integrity guidance Guidance on higher-level referencing and working with academic integrity.

The guidance on this page shows some of the key features of writing at Masters level.  

Good planning and structuring are vital when writing longer assignments, both for you as a writer, and for your reader. They give your ideas a logical shape and guide you and your reader clearly to the conclusions you want to make.

When writing your assignments or dissertation, you are leading your reader through a research 'journey' - showing them what topic you decided to explore and why; who has explored it before and what they found out; how you explored it and what you found out; what did your discoveries tell you about your topic?; and what did that lead you to conclude?

The shape of the journey that you write about in your assignment will probably look quite different to the journey you personally took when you researched the topic. Research journeys tend to have many detours into interesting areas that are not directly relevant, but which help build understanding and context and give an original angle to your arguments.

The final journey you write up in your assignment should be a lot more direct and clear. You need to digest and sift through your reading and research, and be selective. You will need to write a first draft to get the general shape of your journey on paper. This will help you identify what you really want to say and give you a clearer idea of where you are headed in your journey. Then you need to redraft to make sure everything is relevant and contributes to getting you to your destination. 

You don't have to refer to each piece of evidence in the same depth. Sometimes you need to show that you understand the wider context of the issue, and a short summary of the key issue and key researchers is all that is needed.

For example:

A significant amount of reading and in-depth understanding of the field is demonstrated in those sentences above. The summary maps out the state of current research and the positions taken by the key researchers.

Sometimes you need to go into greater depth and refer to some sources in more detail in order to interrogate the methods and stand points expressed by these researchers. For example:

 Even in this more analytical piece of writing, only the relevant points of the study and the theory are mentioned briefly - but you need a confident and thorough understanding to refer to them so concisely.

• Academic Phrasebank More examples of academic writing style and ways of referring to sources.
• Guide to citing references Includes guidance on why, when and how to use references correctly in your academic writing.

If English is not your first language, there is more specialised support and advice available: See the International Study and Language Institute website for more details (link below).

At Masters level you can't get away with writing about something that you only vaguely understand, or squeezing in a theory in the hope it will gain extra marks - your markers will be able to tell, and this does not demonstrate the accuracy or professionalism of a researcher.

Imagine you write the sentence: "Freudian psychoanalysis demonstrates how our personalities are developed from our childhood experiences."

At Masters level, the word 'demonstrates' becomes very loaded and potentially inaccurate. This is because at Masters level you are expected to interrogate the assumptions, boundaries, and way in which knowledge is constructed in your subject. With this in mind, the sentence above raises a lot of contextual questions: To what extent could Freud's theory of psychoanalysis really be said to 'demonstrate' the origins of our personalities? What part of Freud's many theories are you referring to when you write 'psychoanalysis'? What about the developments in psychoanalysis that have happened since Freud, and the many arguments against his theories? Your writing needs to take these questions into account, and at least be aware of them, even if you don't address all of them.

Don't just stop at discussing the pros and cons of a debate; academics rarely agree on interpretations of theories or ideas, so academic knowledge is more like a complex network of views than two clear sides.

• International Study and Language Institute Courses and resources to support the learning of English as a second language.
• << Previous: Research at Masters' level
• Last Updated: Jan 29, 2024 11:24 AM
• URL: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/masters

5 tips on writing better university assignments

Lecturer in Student Learning and Communication Development, University of Sydney

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Alexandra Garcia 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.

University of Sydney provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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University life comes with its share of challenges. One of these is writing longer assignments that require higher information, communication and critical thinking skills than what you might have been used to in high school. Here are five tips to help you get ahead.

1. Use all available sources of information

Beyond instructions and deadlines, lecturers make available an increasing number of resources. But students often overlook these.

For example, to understand how your assignment will be graded, you can examine the rubric . This is a chart indicating what you need to do to obtain a high distinction, a credit or a pass, as well as the course objectives – also known as “learning outcomes”.

Other resources include lecture recordings, reading lists, sample assignments and discussion boards. All this information is usually put together in an online platform called a learning management system (LMS). Examples include Blackboard , Moodle , Canvas and iLearn . Research shows students who use their LMS more frequently tend to obtain higher final grades.

If after scrolling through your LMS you still have questions about your assignment, you can check your lecturer’s consultation hours.

2. Take referencing seriously

Plagiarism – using somebody else’s words or ideas without attribution – is a serious offence at university. It is a form of cheating.

In many cases, though, students are unaware they have cheated. They are simply not familiar with referencing styles – such as APA , Harvard , Vancouver , Chicago , etc – or lack the skills to put the information from their sources into their own words.

To avoid making this mistake, you may approach your university’s library, which is likely to offer face-to-face workshops or online resources on referencing. Academic support units may also help with paraphrasing.

You can also use referencing management software, such as EndNote or Mendeley . You can then store your sources, retrieve citations and create reference lists with only a few clicks. For undergraduate students, Zotero has been recommended as it seems to be more user-friendly.

Using this kind of software will certainly save you time searching for and formatting references. However, you still need to become familiar with the citation style in your discipline and revise the formatting accordingly.

3. Plan before you write

If you were to build a house, you wouldn’t start by laying bricks at random. You’d start with a blueprint. Likewise, writing an academic paper requires careful planning: you need to decide the number of sections, their organisation, and the information and sources you will include in each.

Research shows students who prepare detailed outlines produce higher-quality texts. Planning will not only help you get better grades, but will also reduce the time you spend staring blankly at the screen thinking about what to write next.

During the planning stage, using programs like OneNote from Microsoft Office or Outline for Mac can make the task easier as they allow you to organise information in tabs. These bits of information can be easily rearranged for later drafting. Navigating through the tabs is also easier than scrolling through a long Word file.

4. Choose the right words

Which of these sentences is more appropriate for an assignment?

a. “This paper talks about why the planet is getting hotter”, or b. “This paper examines the causes of climate change”.

The written language used at university is more formal and technical than the language you normally use in social media or while chatting with your friends. Academic words tend to be longer and their meaning is also more precise. “Climate change” implies more than just the planet “getting hotter”.

To find the right words, you can use SkELL , which shows you the words that appear more frequently, with your search entry categorised grammatically. For example, if you enter “paper”, it will tell you it is often the subject of verbs such as “present”, “describe”, “examine” and “discuss”.

Another option is the Writefull app, which does a similar job without having to use an online browser.

5. Edit and proofread

If you’re typing the last paragraph of the assignment ten minutes before the deadline, you will be missing a very important step in the writing process: editing and proofreading your text. A 2018 study found a group of university students did significantly better in a test after incorporating the process of planning, drafting and editing in their writing.

You probably already know to check the spelling of a word if it appears underlined in red. You may even use a grammar checker such as Grammarly . However, no software to date can detect every error and it is not uncommon to be given inaccurate suggestions.

So, in addition to your choice of proofreader, you need to improve and expand your grammar knowledge. Check with the academic support services at your university if they offer any relevant courses.

Written communication is a skill that requires effort and dedication. That’s why universities are investing in support services – face-to-face workshops, individual consultations, and online courses – to help students in this process. You can also take advantage of a wide range of web-based resources such as spell checkers, vocabulary tools and referencing software – many of them free.

Improving your written communication will help you succeed at university and beyond.

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• Writing tips
• Essay writing
• Student assessment

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How to write a Master's Essay

In view of writing a master’s essay, if academic writing is strange to you or you have never done it before, the prospect of choosing a topic, researching on it, and writing an academic essay can be daunting.

While some imagine that they can take their undergraduate-level writing skills and turn them into a magic wand to ace master’s level assignments, sometimes it doesn’t just cut it. A master’s level essay, for instance, requires a deeper level of independent reasoning, which is best achieved through the tips that we’ve tested, applied, and scored better grades ourselves.

Writing a master’s level assignment follows a step-by-step approach that commences from understanding the assignment to submitting the assignment. Each step is very significant, so try and take some of your time to skim through.

However, if at this point all you want is master’s essay writing help, you can trust our experienced essay writers. They are well-versed in research, writing, and polishing graduate-level assignments.

Undergraduate essay writing vs. Master’s Essay Writing

This guide can be used as an academic essay writing bible for postgraduates. We have refined everything to help you draft, craft, and revise essays at that level when completing your Master’s degree.

We intend to make you write outstanding master’s level essays that meet the expectations of your professors. Remember, when writing your essays, you should draw intellectual findings from texts written by authority researchers in your field, primary data gathered and manipulated by yourself, and logical reasoning.

Besides that, you also need to ensure that your writing demonstrates a high level of mastery, dominance, and intellectual acuity.  Here are some things your essay should portray to differentiate it from undergraduate level work:

1. Show mastery

At the graduate level, it is vital that your writing demonstrated mastery of your subject. For this reason, ensure that you have contextualized the topic and arguments as you meticulously reference scholarly academic sources. In addition, refer to theoretical propositions, paradigms, norms, and themes within your chosen discipline.

2. Let the scope of your paper be known off the bat

It is also helpful that you define and delineate the scope of your graduate paper early enough. While a thesis statement ideally does this, your introduction should conclusively point out your position given the topic or subject area.

A well-defined scope shows that you’ve mastered your academic writing and possess appropriate knowledge in the field – it announces your mastery. Therefore, you must contextualize a given idea when defining your scope.

3. Display independence of thought

Although you need to ensure that your graduate essay has a flow of ideas and demonstrates proficiency, you can only achieve that through the lucid description, evaluation, arguments, and analysis. Doing so shows that you can interpret, understand, critique, and present issues from a peculiar perspective.

As you put your fingers to the keys to write that piece, ensure that you challenge any assumptions and explain the rationale for your stance.

4. Use conceptual thinking and critical reasoning.

While the temptation of critiquing academic literature might creep in, avoid the temptation. Instead, ensure that your arguments are well-interpreted, devoid of bias, and show genuine conceptual engagement from the word go.

5. Have a compelling conclusion

When making claims – persuasive or argumentative, ensure that you draw plausible conclusions. There is no reason to write an entire essay, only to realize later that it is not balanced and ideas are stiff. Instead, by weighing evidence, you can analyze the arguments, develop and defend your position. Then, once you can read your master’s level essay and convince yourself you have nailed it – your audience will be convinced too.

6. Maintain substantial originality/authenticity

As a rule of thumb, you are supposed to acknowledge your sources. Therefore, when writing a graduate and postgraduate essay, you need to display your field knowledge.

One way of doing so is through reading and reporting what is written. You can also achieve the same through evaluating and criticizing, where appropriate.

You can cite publications in your field through summarizing or direct quotations, which entails acknowledging the sources by providing in-text citations and references or bibliography at the end of your assignment.

Although citing and referencing is both arbitrary and complex, it makes you develop better arguments and avoid plagiarism. On the other hand, you do not want to present another person’s work as your own because it is not helpful, you need to develop your conclusion based on research, and it is against the academic regulations.

In as far as master’s level essay is concerned, avoid:

• Changing some sentences off a text while maintaining vocabulary and structure of the original text
• Paraphrasing ideas but mixing original content from a text
• Using phrases or quotes of a text because they are sound
• Using an argumentative organization of an author because it seems plausible
• Direct copying of content from a source
• Making small changes to a paragraph drawn from a source
• Fixing phrases from a source and piecing them to make an argument

Any of the above revokes the authenticity and originality of your essay. Some of the verbs you can use when reporting the findings or ideas from authors include: claim, speculate, hold, opine, assume, assert, comment, contend, suggest, discuss, report, note, argue, state, show, demonstrate, refute, point out, and many other essay and assignment words and phrases as we have outlined elsewhere in our blog.

At the undergrad level, you scored top grades on essays due to evidence of genuine originality. On the other hand, at a master’s level, you must routinely show originality. It is a means of showing academic perspicacity. Therefore, ensure that you present ideas as per the academic norms.

7. Display excellent research skills

Your academic paper must demonstrate that you researched well. When writing a master’s essay, ensure that you support the arguments with recent research. Maintain using recent sources unless you need primary research conducted in the past for relevance. Sometimes trends do change, and referencing old studies could lead to inaccurate conclusions.

You can extend your scope of reading beyond the list provided by your lecturers. Find scholarly sources that support or refute your arguments and incorporate them as well.

8. Maintain all the academic standards

Academic writing has its conventions : always strive to achieve them. Use the appropriate tone, language, and referencing style. If a paper requires that you use Harvard, APA, MLA, and Chicago/Turabian format, stick to the tenets of each citation.

9. Observe the 3 Cs

When writing your essay, stick to the 3 Cs: clarity, conciseness, and consistency. Ensure that your main points in the essay are clear. Ensure that you use the concise presentation of ideas instead of using long run-on sentences that make no sense. Avoid fillers and keep your writing as simple as possible. If possible, you can use headings and subheadings but maintain academic conventions.

10. Immaculate organization and presentation

Although trivial, a disorganized and poorly presented essay can cost you your grades. Therefore, ensure that you demonstrate professionalism by maintaining a good flow from introduction to conclusion.

Balance ideas in your paragraphs by maintaining each idea per paragraph. Use transition words to knit together the various paragraphs and maintain flow. You can as well use signal words to make your essay academically sound.

11. Strong editing and proofreading skills

Finally, after all, is said and done, edited and proofread, the essay scores better grades than that which is hurriedly submitted. Check for all the punctuation mechanistic, grammatical, and spelling mistakes. Although basic, such errors can cost you big time. A linguistically sound master’s essay will score the best grades; that’s a given. You can use editors and proofreaders to polish your essay if you are not confident.

Step-by-step process of writing a master’s level essay (assignment)

In a nutshell, while writing a graduate-level essay essentially follows the steps you took during your undergraduate, you need to go the extra mile to convince your professor to give you top grades. The process begins by reading the instructions, internalizing them, researching and drafting, and finally editing and submitting. Below is a detailed step-by-step process to write your Master’s, MBA, or Ph.D. essay and get a good grade.

Step 1 – Understand the instructions.

It would help if you commenced writing the essay by understanding the instructions for the assignment. To do so, read the prompt, rubric, and any accompanying material from your instructor. The assignment description files have everything you will need. If something is not clear, you are always encouraged to ask your instructor early enough before the deadline. In most cases, the class announcements will have clarifications for various assignments. While reading the instructions, identify the verbs, key terms, and referencing instructions.

Step 2 – Create an outline or plan.

With the description decoded, you must take your time to get immersed into your paper. Of course, by now, you have settled for a topic or made a selection of the question that your essay or paper is going to handle.

Therefore, you need to decide what your main argument, the paper's focus, will be about. With this information, you then create a preliminary thesis statement. You need to ask yourself:

• What are my main ideas in this paper?
• How do these ideas support my main argument or the thesis statement?

Doing this helps contextualize research, determine the scope of your paper, and know what to put where in your essay.

Along with the thesis, plan on the type of hook you will integrate into the introduction to enthuse your audience to want to read your essay. 

It would help if you then created an outline for your essay, noting down the main points that fall in your essay's introduction, body, and conclusion. Note that, as you become skilled in academic writing, you might often get the temptation of ignoring the planning aspect and going straight to looking for resources for your paper. When such happens, overcome it and do the step.

Step 3 – Come up with a thesis statement.

When creating the preliminary essay or research paper plan, you already have a preliminary thesis statement. Therefore, you only need to polish it to define the scope and direction of your paper strongly.

Remember, a strong thesis statement gives your readers and yourself clear scope of what you are discussing in the paper. For instance, if you are writing about why a certain municipality should eliminate feral cats from the arboretum, you need to identify the ethical method to be used and justifiable reasons for the method.

To write a great thesis statement, think about how you would describe the paper to a layperson or total stranger in one or two sentences. If you have a hard time doing so, you probably need to revisit and refine the thesis.

Step 4 – Research your topic.

As you advance through writing your essay, you need to determine the type of essay that you’ll be writing. For example, is it expository , argumentative , persuasive, analytical, narrative , compare and contrast , or descriptive?

Understanding the type of paper you are writing further helps you know the resources to use when supporting or refuting your stance/arguments. Some papers require gathering and analyzing primary data; make sure you have factored in that one too.

You can then look for books, journal articles, policy briefs, statistical data, newspapers, blogs, legislation, white papers, conference proceedings, periodicals, government documents, and organizational publications. Understand what is scholarly and non-scholarly when searching for sources to use. Also, understand whether a source is primary, secondary, or tertiary and determine its suitability for your paper.

You can begin your search in Google, then proceed to Google Scholar, institutional database, and specialized databases, in that order. This enables you to understand your research, add to your outline to refine it further, and develop better arguments.

Step 5 – Refine your outline.

Now that you’ve gathered the correct data and organized the references using either Word Document or online referencing tools like Citation Machine, BibMe, Citefast, or citethisforme, you need to finalize your outline.

You will be adding flesh to it using the new information from your thinking and research. As you fill in the outline, ensure consistency and sound logic, and flow in your plan from sentence to paragraph level.

Remember, academic paragraphing demands that you discuss only one idea per paragraph. You should also have topic sentences, conclusion sentences, and supporting facts. You also have to use transitions.

Step 6 – Revisit the research.

You then need to double-check your research resources to determine if they still support the thesis. For example, if you rephrased and changed the thesis statement, you need to do further research. As you do this, ensure that your paper is flowing well. Do not mix ideas in the name of filling the pages; this might affect your grades.

Step 7 – Write the first draft.

With the refined outline, you can start writing the first draft of your essay. But, first, ensure that you have all the information needed to organize the flow of your paper.

As you write the paper at this point, do not perfect it so much for later. A draft is supposed to be what its name is, a piece that will be refined later.

Most of your time will be spent drafting the paper. Be wary of writers’ block because it is at this point that it creeps into you uninvited.

Step 8 – Be wary of writer’s block (plan well).

Now, everybody suffers writers’ block when they are working on a paper. How each person handles theirs is what differs. However, when you realize that writer’s block has affected you:

• Take a break from writing. You can do other things like walking, riding a bike, taking a nap, or swimming to relieve the thought and pressure of a paper.
• Manage your time well so that you do not stress over a last-minute essay.
• Check whether you have sufficient information or too much information and come up with a strategy.
• Seek help from a trustworthy writing website – one where you and the writer work hand-in-hand.
• Listen to music
• Brainstorm on how to improve your writing
• Spend time with people who bring the best out of you
• Brew some coffee
• Ask help from your writing center; they can help you get relevant material

The goal is to stay focused. Any way you can achieve these counts at the end of the day.

Step 9 – Revise the draft.

With the preliminary draft in place, you need to revise and edit it to make it a final draft. Here, you should check:

• Flow of ideas
• Logic and arguments

This means that you will be mostly rewriting, rewording, paraphrasing, and adding as well as deleting sections. As you revise, ask yourself:

• Is the essay answering the questions in the prompt?
• Do I meet the higher band in the essay rubric?
• Does the paper require a major revision such as deleting, moving, reworking, or paraphrasing a section?
• Does the content support the thesis statement?
• Is there a logical flow in the paper?
• Is the paper grammatically sound?
• Are the paragraphs logical?
• Does each paragraph maintain only one idea?
• Is the work well-cited?
• Are all the direct quotes balanced and cited?

Step 10 – Edit your Draft

You need to edit the paper for a top grade. Otherwise, all the effort will be in vain. Here are some things to do when editing your master’s essay:

• Highlight the thesis statement. It is either the last sentence or the last two sentences.
• Check whether the topic sentences of each paragraph support, expand, or explain the thesis statement.
• Review the assignment instructions and determine whether your written piece meets the requirements.
• Sparingly use direct quotations. For example, for a 1000-words essay, you can use one or two direct quotes. However, use parenthetical citations as they show your level of analysis and critical thinking.
• Ensure that the in-text citations are consistent with your chosen formatting style.
• Ensure that the cover page follows the chosen format.
• Make use of spell-checker and grammar checkers to refine the arguments and maintain flow.
• Reword all the sentences that begin with there is; there are, this is, it is, they are… etc. Reword these sentences to make them begin with a stronger subject. For example, “There are five critical factors to consider” can be better stated as “Five important factors require consideration.” The second sentence is stronger because it has a specific subject and verb. Some sentences cannot be reworded, so leave those as they are.
• Edit random paragraphs in the paper to focus on what is actually on the page versus what you think is there.
• Read each paragraph aloud. You will be surprised how many minor errors you can catch with this method of self-editing. For example,  errors like mistyping “form” instead of “from” or “hen” instead of “then” are easier to find when you read out loud.

When editing the paper, focus on the thesis, purpose, audience, organization and flow, ideas (examples, citations, and evidence), sentence structuring, punctuation, word choice, spelling, and grammar.

Step 11 – Prepare the Final Draft

Now that everything is in its rightful place, you need to do the last ritual before submitting the paper.

• Create a relevant cover page for your essay
• Compare the final essay against your outline or essay plan
• Check if the changes you made still make the paper relevant to the instructions
• Fix all the minor errors
• Read the paper loud
• Allow someone to revise, edit, and proofread your paper. Gradecrest has the best editing and proofreading services .
• Ensure that the paper reflects your understanding and knowledge of the subject matter

Step 12 – Submit the Right Assignment

Countercheck your assignment to ensure that the instructions are followed. Also, check that every detail is covered as per the rubric. For example, your personal information should be on the first page, as per your recommended cover page and format.

If everything is okay, click on the submit button. Most institutions have integrated plagiarism checkers to check every submission. If you wrote your essay from scratch or had help from an expert, you need not worry about plagiarism. Otherwise, avoid pre-written essays as they are full of plagiarism.

There you go, sit back, relax, and wait for that good grade.

Parting Shot

Writing a master’s essay is not a walk in the park. At first, it might seem like a distant idea, but soon as you master the steps above, you can even write an 8-page essay in a day. It is possible; our expert essay writers do this when you pay them to write your essays.

Now, we hope that these insights will enable you to perfect your essay writing skills. You can as well check our general essay writing guide for details we probably missed in this guide.

Otherwise, if you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Gradecrest is a professional writing service that provides original model papers. We offer personalized services along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references. See our Terms of Use Page for proper details.

While Sandel argues that pursuing perfection through genetic engineering would decrease our sense of humility, he claims that the sense of solidarity we would lose is also important.

This thesis summarizes several points in Sandel’s argument, but it does not make a claim about how we should understand his argument. A reader who read Sandel’s argument would not also need to read an essay based on this descriptive thesis.  

Broad thesis (arguable, but difficult to support with evidence) 

Michael Sandel’s arguments about genetic engineering do not take into consideration all the relevant issues.

This is an arguable claim because it would be possible to argue against it by saying that Michael Sandel’s arguments do take all of the relevant issues into consideration. But the claim is too broad. Because the thesis does not specify which “issues” it is focused on—or why it matters if they are considered—readers won’t know what the rest of the essay will argue, and the writer won’t know what to focus on. If there is a particular issue that Sandel does not address, then a more specific version of the thesis would include that issue—hand an explanation of why it is important.  

Arguable thesis with analytical claim 

While Sandel argues persuasively that our instinct to “remake” (54) ourselves into something ever more perfect is a problem, his belief that we can always draw a line between what is medically necessary and what makes us simply “better than well” (51) is less convincing.

This is an arguable analytical claim. To argue for this claim, the essay writer will need to show how evidence from the article itself points to this interpretation. It’s also a reasonable scope for a thesis because it can be supported with evidence available in the text and is neither too broad nor too narrow.  

Arguable thesis with normative claim 

Given Sandel’s argument against genetic enhancement, we should not allow parents to decide on using Human Growth Hormone for their children.

This thesis tells us what we should do about a particular issue discussed in Sandel’s article, but it does not tell us how we should understand Sandel’s argument.  

Questions to ask about your thesis 

• Is the thesis truly arguable? Does it speak to a genuine dilemma in the source, or would most readers automatically agree with it?  
• Is the thesis too obvious? Again, would most or all readers agree with it without needing to see your argument?  
• Is the thesis complex enough to require a whole essay's worth of argument?  
• Is the thesis supportable with evidence from the text rather than with generalizations or outside research?  
• Would anyone want to read a paper in which this thesis was developed? That is, can you explain what this paper is adding to our understanding of a problem, question, or topic?
• picture_as_pdf Thesis

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 principle 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 . 

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How to Write a Perfect Assignment: Step-By-Step Guide

Table of contents

• 1 How to Structure an Assignment?
• 2.1 The research part
• 2.2 Planning your text
• 2.3 Writing major parts
• 3 Expert Tips for your Writing Assignment
• 4 Will I succeed with my assignments?
• 5 Conclusion

How to Structure an Assignment?

To cope with assignments, you should familiarize yourself with the tips on formatting and presenting assignments or any written paper, which are given below. It is worth paying attention to the content of the paper, making it structured and understandable so that ideas are not lost and thoughts do not refute each other.

If the topic is free or you can choose from the given list — be sure to choose the one you understand best. Especially if that could affect your semester score or scholarship. It is important to select an  engaging title that is contextualized within your topic. A topic that should captivate you or at least give you a general sense of what is needed there. It’s easier to dwell upon what interests you, so the process goes faster.

To construct an assignment structure, use outlines. These are pieces of text that relate to your topic. It can be ideas, quotes, all your thoughts, or disparate arguments. Type in everything that you think about. Separate thoughts scattered across the sheets of Word will help in the next step.

Then it is time to form the text. At this stage, you have to form a coherent story from separate pieces, where each new thought reinforces the previous one, and one idea smoothly flows into another.

Main Steps of Assignment Writing

These are steps to take to get a worthy paper. If you complete these step-by-step, your text will be among the most exemplary ones.

The research part

If the topic is unique and no one has written about it yet, look at materials close to this topic to gain thoughts about it. You should feel that you are ready to express your thoughts. Also, while reading, get acquainted with the format of the articles, study the details, collect material for your thoughts, and accumulate different points of view for your article. Be careful at this stage, as the process can help you develop your ideas. If you are already struggling here, pay for assignment to be done , and it will be processed in a split second via special services. These services are especially helpful when the deadline is near as they guarantee fast delivery of high-quality papers on any subject.

If you use Google to search for material for your assignment, you will, of course, find a lot of information very quickly. Still, the databases available on your library’s website will give you the clearest and most reliable facts that satisfy your teacher or professor. Be sure you copy the addresses of all the web pages you will use when composing your paper, so you don’t lose them. You can use them later in your bibliography if you add a bit of description! Select resources and extract quotes from them that you can use while working. At this stage, you may also create a  request for late assignment if you realize the paper requires a lot of effort and is time-consuming. This way, you’ll have a backup plan if something goes wrong.

Planning your text

Assemble a layout. It may be appropriate to use the structure of the paper of some outstanding scientists in your field and argue it in one of the parts. As the planning progresses, you can add suggestions that come to mind. If you use citations that require footnotes, and if you use single spacing throughout the paper and double spacing at the end, it will take you a very long time to make sure that all the citations are on the exact pages you specified! Add a reference list or bibliography. If you haven’t already done so, don’t put off writing an essay until the last day. It will be more difficult to do later as you will be stressed out because of time pressure.

Writing major parts

It happens that there is simply no mood or strength to get started and zero thoughts. In that case, postpone this process for 2-3 hours, and, perhaps, soon, you will be able to start with renewed vigor. Writing essays is a great (albeit controversial) way to improve your skills. This experience will not be forgotten. It will certainly come in handy and bring many benefits in the future. Do your best here because asking for an extension is not always possible, so you probably won’t have time to redo it later. And the quality of this part defines the success of the whole paper.

Writing the major part does not mean the matter is finished. To review the text, make sure that the ideas of the introduction and conclusion coincide because such a discrepancy is the first thing that will catch the reader’s eye and can spoil the impression. Add or remove anything from your intro to edit it to fit the entire paper. Also, check your spelling and grammar to ensure there are no typos or draft comments. Check the sources of your quotes so that your it is honest and does not violate any rules. And do not forget the formatting rules.

with the right tips and guidance, it can be easier than it looks. To make the process even more straightforward, students can also use an assignment service to get the job done. This way they can get professional assistance and make sure that their assignments are up to the mark. At PapersOwl, we provide a professional writing service where students can order custom-made assignments that meet their exact requirements.

Expert Tips for your Writing Assignment

Want to write like a pro? Here’s what you should consider:

• Save the document! Send the finished document by email to yourself so you have a backup copy in case your computer crashes.
• Don’t wait until the last minute to complete a list of citations or a bibliography after the paper is finished. It will be much longer and more difficult, so add to them as you go.
• If you find a lot of information on the topic of your search, then arrange it in a separate paragraph.
• If possible, choose a topic that you know and are interested in.
• Believe in yourself! If you set yourself up well and use your limited time wisely, you will be able to deliver the paper on time.
• Do not copy information directly from the Internet without citing them.

Writing assignments is a tedious and time-consuming process. It requires a lot of research and hard work to produce a quality paper. However, if you are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty understanding the concept, you may want to consider getting accounting homework help online . Professional experts can assist you in understanding how to complete your assignment effectively. PapersOwl.com offers expert help from highly qualified and experienced writers who can provide you with the homework help you need.

Will I succeed with my assignments?

Anyone can learn how to be good at writing: follow simple rules of creating the structure and be creative where it is appropriate. At one moment, you will need some additional study tools, study support, or solid study tips. And you can easily get help in writing assignments or any other work. This is especially useful since the strategy of learning how to write an assignment can take more time than a student has.

Therefore all students are happy that there is an option to  order your paper at a professional service to pass all the courses perfectly and sleep still at night. You can also find the sample of the assignment there to check if you are on the same page and if not — focus on your papers more diligently.

So, in the times of studies online, the desire and skill to research and write may be lost. Planning your assignment carefully and presenting arguments step-by-step is necessary to succeed with your homework. When going through your references, note the questions that appear and answer them, building your text. Create a cover page, proofread the whole text, and take care of formatting. Feel free to use these rules for passing your next assignments.

When it comes to writing an assignment, it can be overwhelming and stressful, but Papersowl is here to make it easier for you. With a range of helpful resources available, Papersowl can assist you in creating high-quality written work, regardless of whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing draft. From conducting research to creating an outline, and from proofreading to formatting, the team at Papersowl has the expertise to guide you through the entire writing process and ensure that your assignment meets all the necessary requirements.

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Writing Assignments

Kate Derrington; Cristy Bartlett; and Sarah Irvine

Introduction

Assignments are a common method of assessment at university and require careful planning and good quality research. Developing critical thinking and writing skills are also necessary to demonstrate your ability to understand and apply information about your topic.  It is not uncommon to be unsure about the processes of writing assignments at university.

• You may be returning to study after a break
• You may have come from an exam based assessment system and never written an assignment before
• Maybe you have written assignments but would like to improve your processes and strategies

This chapter has a collection of resources that will provide you with the skills and strategies to understand assignment requirements and effectively plan, research, write and edit your assignments.  It begins with an explanation of how to analyse an assignment task and start putting your ideas together.  It continues by breaking down the components of academic writing and exploring the elements you will need to master in your written assignments. This is followed by a discussion of paraphrasing and synthesis, and how you can use these strategies to create a strong, written argument. The chapter concludes with useful checklists for editing and proofreading to help you get the best possible mark for your work.

Task Analysis and Deconstructing an Assignment

It is important that before you begin researching and writing your assignments you spend sufficient time understanding all the requirements. This will help make your research process more efficient and effective. Check your subject information such as task sheets, criteria sheets and any additional information that may be in your subject portal online. Seek clarification from your lecturer or tutor if you are still unsure about how to begin your assignments.

The task sheet typically provides key information about an assessment including the assignment question. It can be helpful to scan this document for topic, task and limiting words to ensure that you fully understand the concepts you are required to research, how to approach the assignment, and the scope of the task you have been set. These words can typically be found in your assignment question and are outlined in more detail in the two tables below (see Table 19.1 and Table 19.2 ).

Table 19.1 Parts of an Assignment Question

Make sure you have a clear understanding of what the task word requires you to address.

Table 19.2 Task words

The criteria sheet , also known as the marking sheet or rubric, is another important document to look at before you begin your assignment. The criteria sheet outlines how your assignment will be marked and should be used as a checklist to make sure you have included all the information required.

The task or criteria sheet will also include the:

• Word limit (or word count)
• Referencing style and research expectations
• Formatting requirements

Task analysis and criteria sheets are also discussed in the chapter Managing Assessments for a more detailed discussion on task analysis, criteria sheets, and marking rubrics.

Preparing your ideas

Brainstorm or concept map:  List possible ideas to address each part of the assignment task based on what you already know about the topic from lectures and weekly readings.

Finding appropriate information: Learn how to find scholarly information for your assignments which is

See the chapter Working With Information for a more detailed explanation .

What is academic writing?

Academic writing tone and style.

Many of the assessment pieces you prepare will require an academic writing style.  This is sometimes called ‘academic tone’ or ‘academic voice’.  This section will help you to identify what is required when you are writing academically (see Table 19.3 ). The best way to understand what academic writing looks like, is to read broadly in your discipline area.  Look at how your course readings, or scholarly sources, are written. This will help you identify the language of your discipline field, as well as how other writers structure their work.

Table 19.3 Comparison of academic and non-academic writing

Thesis statements.

Essays are a common form of assessment that you will likely encounter during your university studies. You should apply an academic tone and style when writing an essay, just as you would in in your other assessment pieces. One of the most important steps in writing an essay is constructing your thesis statement.  A thesis statement tells the reader the purpose, argument or direction you will take to answer your assignment question. A thesis statement may not be relevant for some questions, if you are unsure check with your lecturer. The thesis statement:

• Directly  relates to the task .  Your thesis statement may even contain some of the key words or synonyms from the task description.
• Does more than restate the question.
• Is specific and uses precise language.
• Let’s your reader know your position or the main argument that you will support with evidence throughout your assignment.
• The subject is the key content area you will be covering.
• The contention is the position you are taking in relation to the chosen content.

Your thesis statement helps you to structure your essay.  It plays a part in each key section: introduction, body and conclusion.

Planning your assignment structure

When planning and drafting assignments, it is important to consider the structure of your writing. Academic writing should have clear and logical structure and incorporate academic research to support your ideas.  It can be hard to get started and at first you may feel nervous about the size of the task, this is normal. If you break your assignment into smaller pieces, it will seem more manageable as you can approach the task in sections. Refer to your brainstorm or plan. These ideas should guide your research and will also inform what you write in your draft. It is sometimes easier to draft your assignment using the 2-3-1 approach, that is, write the body paragraphs first followed by the conclusion and finally the introduction.

Writing introductions and conclusions

Clear and purposeful introductions and conclusions in assignments are fundamental to effective academic writing. Your introduction should tell the reader what is going to be covered and how you intend to approach this. Your conclusion should summarise your argument or discussion and signal to the reader that you have come to a conclusion with a final statement.  These tips below are based on the requirements usually needed for an essay assignment, however, they can be applied to other assignment types.

Writing introductions

Most writing at university will require a strong and logically structured introduction. An effective introduction should provide some background or context for your assignment, clearly state your thesis and include the key points you will cover in the body of the essay in order to prove your thesis.

Usually, your introduction is approximately 10% of your total assignment word count. It is much easier to write your introduction once you have drafted your body paragraphs and conclusion, as you know what your assignment is going to be about. An effective introduction needs to inform your reader by establishing what the paper is about and provide four basic things:

• A brief background or overview of your assignment topic
• A thesis statement (see section above)
• An outline of your essay structure
• An indication of any parameters or scope that will/ will not be covered, e.g. From an Australian perspective.

The below example demonstrates the four different elements of an introductory paragraph.

1) Information technology is having significant effects on the communication of individuals and organisations in different professions. 2) This essay will discuss the impact of information technology on the communication of health professionals.   3)  First, the provision of information technology for the educational needs of nurses will be discussed.  4)  This will be followed by an explanation of the significant effects that information technology can have on the role of general practitioner in the area of public health.  5)  Considerations will then be made regarding the lack of knowledge about the potential of computers among hospital administrators and nursing executives.  6)   The final section will explore how information technology assists health professionals in the delivery of services in rural areas .  7)  It will be argued that information technology has significant potential to improve health care and medical education, but health professionals are reluctant to use it.

1 Brief background/ overview | 2 Indicates the scope of what will be covered |   3-6 Outline of the main ideas (structure) | 7 The thesis statement

Note : The examples in this document are taken from the University of Canberra and used under a CC-BY-SA-3.0 licence.

Writing conclusions

You should aim to end your assignments with a strong conclusion. Your conclusion should restate your thesis and summarise the key points you have used to prove this thesis. Finish with a key point as a final impactful statement.  Similar to your introduction, your conclusion should be approximately 10% of the total assignment word length. If your assessment task asks you to make recommendations, you may need to allocate more words to the conclusion or add a separate recommendations section before the conclusion. Use the checklist below to check your conclusion is doing the right job.

Conclusion checklist 

• Have you referred to the assignment question and restated your argument (or thesis statement), as outlined in the introduction?
• Have you pulled together all the threads of your essay into a logical ending and given it a sense of unity?
• Have you presented implications or recommendations in your conclusion? (if required by your task).
• Have you added to the overall quality and impact of your essay? This is your final statement about this topic; thus, a key take-away point can make a great impact on the reader.
• Remember, do not add any new material or direct quotes in your conclusion.

This below example demonstrates the different elements of a concluding paragraph.

1) It is evident, therefore, that not only do employees need to be trained for working in the Australian multicultural workplace, but managers also need to be trained.  2)  Managers must ensure that effective in-house training programs are provided for migrant workers, so that they become more familiar with the English language, Australian communication norms and the Australian work culture.  3)  In addition, Australian native English speakers need to be made aware of the differing cultural values of their workmates; particularly the different forms of non-verbal communication used by other cultures.  4)  Furthermore, all employees must be provided with clear and detailed guidelines about company expectations.  5)  Above all, in order to minimise communication problems and to maintain an atmosphere of tolerance, understanding and cooperation in the multicultural workplace, managers need to have an effective knowledge about their employees. This will help employers understand how their employee’s social conditioning affects their beliefs about work. It will develop their communication skills to develop confidence and self-esteem among diverse work groups. 6) The culturally diverse Australian workplace may never be completely free of communication problems, however,   further studies to identify potential problems and solutions, as well as better training in cross cultural communication for managers and employees,   should result in a much more understanding and cooperative environment. 

1  Reference to thesis statement – In this essay the writer has taken the position that training is required for both employees and employers . | 2-5 Structure overview – Here the writer pulls together the main ideas in the essay. | 6  Final summary statement that is based on the evidence.

Note: The examples in this document are taken from the University of Canberra and used under a CC-BY-SA-3.0 licence.

Writing paragraphs

Paragraph writing is a key skill that enables you to incorporate your academic research into your written work.  Each paragraph should have its own clearly identified topic sentence or main idea which relates to the argument or point (thesis) you are developing.  This idea should then be explained by additional sentences which you have paraphrased from good quality sources and referenced according to the recommended guidelines of your subject (see the chapter Working with Information ). Paragraphs are characterised by increasing specificity; that is, they move from the general to the specific, increasingly refining the reader’s understanding. A common structure for paragraphs in academic writing is as follows.

Topic Sentence 

This is the main idea of the paragraph and should relate to the overall issue or purpose of your assignment is addressing. Often it will be expressed as an assertion or claim which supports the overall argument or purpose of your writing.

Explanation/ Elaboration

The main idea must have its meaning explained and elaborated upon. Think critically, do not just describe the idea.

These explanations must include evidence to support your main idea. This information should be paraphrased and referenced according to the appropriate referencing style of your course.

Concluding sentence (critical thinking)

This should explain why the topic of the paragraph is relevant to the assignment question and link to the following paragraph.

Use the checklist below to check your paragraphs are clear and well formed.

Paragraph checklist

• Does your paragraph have a clear main idea?
• Is everything in the paragraph related to this main idea?
• Is the main idea adequately developed and explained?
• Do your sentences run together smoothly?
• Have you included evidence to support your ideas?
• Have you concluded the paragraph by connecting it to your overall topic?

Writing sentences

Make sure all the sentences in your paragraphs make sense. Each sentence must contain a verb to be a complete sentence. Avoid sentence fragments . These are incomplete sentences or ideas that are unfinished and create confusion for your reader. Avoid also run on sentences . This happens when you join two ideas or clauses without using the appropriate punctuation. This also confuses your meaning (See the chapter English Language Foundations for examples and further explanation).

Use transitions (linking words and phrases) to connect your ideas between paragraphs and make your writing flow. The order that you structure the ideas in your assignment should reflect the structure you have outlined in your introduction. Refer to transition words table in the chapter English Language Foundations.

Paraphrasing and Synthesising

Paraphrasing and synthesising are powerful tools that you can use to support the main idea of a paragraph. It is likely that you will regularly use these skills at university to incorporate evidence into explanatory sentences and strengthen your essay. It is important to paraphrase and synthesise because:

• Paraphrasing is regarded more highly at university than direct quoting.
• Paraphrasing can also help you better understand the material.
• Paraphrasing and synthesising demonstrate you have understood what you have read through your ability to summarise and combine arguments from the literature using your own words.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is changing the writing of another author into your words while retaining the original meaning. You must acknowledge the original author as the source of the information in your citation. Follow the steps in this table to help you build your skills in paraphrasing (see Table 19.4 ).

Table 19.4 Paraphrasing techniques

Example of paraphrasing.

Please note that these examples and in text citations are for instructional purposes only.

Original text

Health care professionals   assist people often when they are at their most  vulnerable . To provide the best care and understand their needs, workers must demonstrate good communication skills .  They must develop patient trust and provide empathy   to effectively work with patients who are experiencing a variety of situations including those who may be suffering from trauma or violence, physical or mental illness or substance abuse (French & Saunders, 2018).

Poor quality paraphrase example

This is a poor example of paraphrasing. Some synonyms have been used and the order of a few words changed within the sentences however the colours of the sentences indicate that the paragraph follows the same structure as the original text.

Health care sector workers are often responsible for vulnerable  patients.   To understand patients and deliver good service , they need to be excellent communicators .  They must establish patient rapport and show empathy if they are to successfully care for patients from a variety of backgrounds  and with different medical, psychological and social needs (French & Saunders, 2018).

A good quality paraphrase example

This example demonstrates a better quality paraphrase. The author has demonstrated more understanding of the overall concept in the text by using the keywords as the basis to reconstruct the paragraph. Note how the blocks of colour have been broken up to see how much the structure has changed from the original text.

Empathetic   communication is a vital skill for health care workers.   Professionals in these fields   are often responsible for patients with complex medical, psychological and social needs. Empathetic   communication assists in building rapport and gaining the necessary trust   to assist these vulnerable patients  by providing appropriate supportive care (French & Saunders, 2018).

The good quality paraphrase example demonstrates understanding of the overall concept in the text by using key words as the basis to reconstruct the paragraph.  Note how the blocks of colour have been broken up, which indicates how much the structure has changed from the original text.

What is synthesising?

Synthesising means to bring together more than one source of information to strengthen your argument. Once you have learnt how to paraphrase the ideas of one source at a time, you can consider adding additional sources to support your argument. Synthesis demonstrates your understanding and ability to show connections between multiple pieces of evidence to support your ideas and is a more advanced academic thinking and writing skill.

Follow the steps in this table to improve your synthesis techniques (see Table 19.5 ).

Table 19.5 Synthesising techniques

Example of synthesis

There is a relationship between academic procrastination and mental health outcomes.  Procrastination has been found to have a negative effect on students’ well-being (Balkis, & Duru, 2016). Yerdelen, McCaffrey, and Klassens’ (2016) research results suggested that there was a positive association between procrastination and anxiety. This was corroborated by Custer’s (2018) findings which indicated that students with higher levels of procrastination also reported greater levels of the anxiety. Therefore, it could be argued that procrastination is an ineffective learning strategy that leads to increased levels of distress.

Topic sentence | Statements using paraphrased evidence | Critical thinking (student voice) | Concluding statement – linking to topic sentence

This example demonstrates a simple synthesis. The author has developed a paragraph with one central theme and included explanatory sentences complete with in-text citations from multiple sources. Note how the blocks of colour have been used to illustrate the paragraph structure and synthesis (i.e., statements using paraphrased evidence from several sources). A more complex synthesis may include more than one citation per sentence.

Creating an argument

What does this mean.

Throughout your university studies, you may be asked to ‘argue’ a particular point or position in your writing. You may already be familiar with the idea of an argument, which in general terms means to have a disagreement with someone. Similarly, in academic writing, if you are asked to create an argument, this means you are asked to have a position on a particular topic, and then justify your position using evidence.

What skills do you need to create an argument?

In order to create a good and effective argument, you need to be able to:

• Read critically to find evidence
• Plan your argument
• Think and write critically throughout your paper to enhance your argument

For tips on how to read and write critically, refer to the chapter Thinking for more information. A formula for developing a strong argument is presented below.

A formula for a good argument

What does an argument look like?

As can be seen from the figure above, including evidence is a key element of a good argument. While this may seem like a straightforward task, it can be difficult to think of wording to express your argument. The table below provides examples of how you can illustrate your argument in academic writing (see Table 19.6 ).

Table 19.6 Argument

Editing and proofreading (reviewing).

Once you have finished writing your first draft it is recommended that you spend time revising your work.  Proofreading and editing are two different stages of the revision process.

• Editing considers the overall focus or bigger picture of the assignment
• Proofreading considers the finer details

As can be seen in the figure above there are four main areas that you should review during the editing phase of the revision process. The main things to consider when editing include content, structure, style, and sources. It is important to check that all the content relates to the assignment task, the structure is appropriate for the purposes of the assignment, the writing is academic in style, and that sources have been adequately acknowledged. Use the checklist below when editing your work.

Editing checklist

• Have I answered the question accurately?
• Do I have enough credible, scholarly supporting evidence?
• Is my writing tone objective and formal enough or have I used emotive and informal language?
• Have I written in the third person not the first person?
• Do I have appropriate in-text citations for all my information?
• Have I included the full details for all my in-text citations in my reference list?

There are also several key things to look out for during the proofreading phase of the revision process. In this stage it is important to check your work for word choice, grammar and spelling, punctuation and referencing errors. It can be easy to mis-type words like ‘from’ and ‘form’ or mix up words like ‘trail’ and ‘trial’ when writing about research, apply American rather than Australian spelling, include unnecessary commas or incorrectly format your references list. The checklist below is a useful guide that you can use when proofreading your work.

Proofreading checklist

• Is my spelling and grammar accurate?
•  Are they complete?
• Do they all make sense?
• Do they only contain only one idea?
• Do the different elements (subject, verb, nouns, pronouns) within my sentences agree?
• Are my sentences too long and complicated?
• Do they contain only one idea per sentence?
• Is my writing concise? Take out words that do not add meaning to your sentences.
• Have I used appropriate discipline specific language but avoided words I don’t know or understand that could possibly be out of context?
• Have I avoided discriminatory language and colloquial expressions (slang)?
• Is my referencing formatted correctly according to my assignment guidelines? (for more information on referencing refer to the Managing Assessment feedback section).

This chapter has examined the experience of writing assignments.  It began by focusing on how to read and break down an assignment question, then highlighted the key components of essays. Next, it examined some techniques for paraphrasing and summarising, and how to build an argument. It concluded with a discussion on planning and structuring your assignment and giving it that essential polish with editing and proof-reading. Combining these skills and practising them, can greatly improve your success with this very common form of assessment.

• Academic writing requires clear and logical structure, critical thinking and the use of credible scholarly sources.
• A thesis statement is important as it tells the reader the position or argument you have adopted in your assignment. Not all assignments will require a thesis statement.
• Spending time analysing your task and planning your structure before you start to write your assignment is time well spent.
• Information you use in your assignment should come from credible scholarly sources such as textbooks and peer reviewed journals. This information needs to be paraphrased and referenced appropriately.
• Paraphrasing means putting something into your own words and synthesising means to bring together several ideas from sources.
• Creating an argument is a four step process and can be applied to all types of academic writing.
• Editing and proofreading are two separate processes.

Academic Skills Centre. (2013). Writing an introduction and conclusion . University of Canberra, accessed 13 August, 2013, http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills/writing/conclusions

Balkis, M., & Duru, E. (2016). Procrastination, self-regulation failure, academic life satisfaction, and affective well-being: underregulation or misregulation form. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 31 (3), 439-459.

Custer, N. (2018). Test anxiety and academic procrastination among prelicensure nursing students. Nursing education perspectives, 39 (3), 162-163.

Yerdelen, S., McCaffrey, A., & Klassen, R. M. (2016). Longitudinal examination of procrastination and anxiety, and their relation to self-efficacy for self-regulated learning: Latent growth curve modeling. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 16 (1).

Writing Assignments Copyright © 2021 by Kate Derrington; Cristy Bartlett; and Sarah Irvine is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Understanding Writing Assignments

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How to Decipher the Paper Assignment

Many instructors write their assignment prompts differently. By following a few steps, you can better understand the requirements for the assignment. The best way, as always, is to ask the instructor about anything confusing.

• Read the prompt the entire way through once. This gives you an overall view of what is going on.
• Underline or circle the portions that you absolutely must know. This information may include due date, research (source) requirements, page length, and format (MLA, APA, CMS).
• Underline or circle important phrases. You should know your instructor at least a little by now - what phrases do they use in class? Does he repeatedly say a specific word? If these are in the prompt, you know the instructor wants you to use them in the assignment.
• Think about how you will address the prompt. The prompt contains clues on how to write the assignment. Your instructor will often describe the ideas they want discussed either in questions, in bullet points, or in the text of the prompt. Think about each of these sentences and number them so that you can write a paragraph or section of your essay on that portion if necessary.
• Rank ideas in descending order, from most important to least important. Instructors may include more questions or talking points than you can cover in your assignment, so rank them in the order you think is more important. One area of the prompt may be more interesting to you than another.
• Ask your instructor questions if you have any.

After you are finished with these steps, ask yourself the following:

• What is the purpose of this assignment? Is my purpose to provide information without forming an argument, to construct an argument based on research, or analyze a poem and discuss its imagery?
• Who is my audience? Is my instructor my only audience? Who else might read this? Will it be posted online? What are my readers' needs and expectations?
• What resources do I need to begin work? Do I need to conduct literature (hermeneutic or historical) research, or do I need to review important literature on the topic and then conduct empirical research, such as a survey or an observation? How many sources are required?
• Who - beyond my instructor - can I contact to help me if I have questions? Do you have a writing lab or student service center that offers tutorials in writing?

(Notes on prompts made in blue )

Poster or Song Analysis: Poster or Song? Poster!

Goals : To systematically consider the rhetorical choices made in either a poster or a song. She says that all the time.

Things to Consider: ah- talking points

• how the poster addresses its audience and is affected by context I'll do this first - 1.
• general layout, use of color, contours of light and shade, etc.
• use of contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity C.A.R.P. They say that, too. I'll do this third - 3.
• the point of view the viewer is invited to take, poses of figures in the poster, etc. any text that may be present
• possible cultural ramifications or social issues that have bearing I'll cover this second - 2.
• ethical implications
• how the poster affects us emotionally, or what mood it evokes
• the poster's implicit argument and its effectiveness said that was important in class, so I'll discuss this last - 4.
• how the song addresses its audience
• lyrics: how they rhyme, repeat, what they say
• use of music, tempo, different instruments
• possible cultural ramifications or social issues that have bearing
• emotional effects
• the implicit argument and its effectiveness

These thinking points are not a step-by-step guideline on how to write your paper; instead, they are various means through which you can approach the subject. I do expect to see at least a few of them addressed, and there are other aspects that may be pertinent to your choice that have not been included in these lists. You will want to find a central idea and base your argument around that. Additionally, you must include a copy of the poster or song that you are working with. Really important!

I will be your audience. This is a formal paper, and you should use academic conventions throughout.

Length: 4 pages Format: Typed, double-spaced, 10-12 point Times New Roman, 1 inch margins I need to remember the format stuff. I messed this up last time =(

Academic Argument Essay

5-7 pages, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins.

Minimum of five cited sources: 3 must be from academic journals or books

• Design Plan due: Thurs. 10/19
• Rough Draft due: Monday 10/30
• Final Draft due: Thurs. 11/9

Remember this! I missed the deadline last time

The design plan is simply a statement of purpose, as described on pages 40-41 of the book, and an outline. The outline may be formal, as we discussed in class, or a printout of an Open Mind project. It must be a minimum of 1 page typed information, plus 1 page outline.

This project is an expansion of your opinion editorial. While you should avoid repeating any of your exact phrases from Project 2, you may reuse some of the same ideas. Your topic should be similar. You must use research to support your position, and you must also demonstrate a fairly thorough knowledge of any opposing position(s). 2 things to do - my position and the opposite.

Your essay should begin with an introduction that encapsulates your topic and indicates 1 the general trajectory of your argument. You need to have a discernable thesis that appears early in your paper. Your conclusion should restate the thesis in different words, 2 and then draw some additional meaningful analysis out of the developments of your argument. Think of this as a "so what" factor. What are some implications for the future, relating to your topic? What does all this (what you have argued) mean for society, or for the section of it to which your argument pertains? A good conclusion moves outside the topic in the paper and deals with a larger issue.

You should spend at least one paragraph acknowledging and describing the opposing position in a manner that is respectful and honestly representative of the opposition’s 3 views. The counterargument does not need to occur in a certain area, but generally begins or ends your argument. Asserting and attempting to prove each aspect of your argument’s structure should comprise the majority of your paper. Ask yourself what your argument assumes and what must be proven in order to validate your claims. Then go step-by-step, paragraph-by-paragraph, addressing each facet of your position. Most important part!

Finally, pay attention to readability . Just because this is a research paper does not mean that it has to be boring. Use examples and allow your opinion to show through word choice and tone. Proofread before you turn in the paper. Your audience is generally the academic community and specifically me, as a representative of that community. Ok, They want this to be easy to read, to contain examples I find, and they want it to be grammatically correct. I can visit the tutoring center if I get stuck, or I can email the OWL Email Tutors short questions if I have any more problems.

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How to Write an Effective Assignment

At their base, all assignment prompts function a bit like a magnifying glass—they allow a student to isolate, focus on, inspect, and interact with some portion of your course material through a fixed lens of your choosing.

The Key Components of an Effective Assignment Prompt

All assignments, from ungraded formative response papers all the way up to a capstone assignment, should include the following components to ensure that students and teachers understand not only the learning objective of the assignment, but also the discrete steps which they will need to follow in order to complete it successfully:

• Preamble.  This situates the assignment within the context of the course, reminding students of what they have been working on in anticipation of the assignment and how that work has prepared them to succeed at it. 
• Justification and Purpose.  This explains why the particular type or genre of assignment you’ve chosen (e.g., lab report, policy memo, problem set, or personal reflection) is the best way for you and your students to measure how well they’ve met the learning objectives associated with this segment of the course.
• Mission.  This explains the assignment in broad brush strokes, giving students a general sense of the project you are setting before them. It often gives students guidance on the evidence or data they should be working with, as well as helping them imagine the audience their work should be aimed at.  
• Tasks.  This outlines what students are supposed to do at a more granular level: for example, how to start, where to look, how to ask for help, etc. If written well, this part of the assignment prompt ought to function as a kind of "process" rubric for students, helping them to decide for themselves whether they are completing the assignment successfully.
• Submission format.  This tells students, in appropriate detail, which stylistic conventions they should observe and how to submit their work. For example, should the assignment be a five-page paper written in APA format and saved as a .docx file? Should it be uploaded to the course website? Is it due by Tuesday at 5:00pm?

For illustrations of these five components in action, visit our gallery of annotated assignment prompts .

For advice about creative assignments (e.g. podcasts, film projects, visual and performing art projects, etc.), visit our  Guidance on Non-Traditional Forms of Assessment .

For specific advice on different genres of assignment, click below:

Response Papers

Problem sets, source analyses, final exams, concept maps, research papers, oral presentations, poster presentations.

• Learner-Centered Design
• Putting Evidence at the Center
• What Should Students Learn?
• Start with the Capstone
• Gallery of Annotated Assignment Prompts
• Scaffolding: Using Frequency and Sequencing Intentionally
• Curating Content: The Virtue of Modules
• Syllabus Design
• Catalogue Materials
• Making a Course Presentation Video
• Teaching Teams
• In the Classroom
• Getting Feedback
• Equitable & Inclusive Teaching
• Advising and Mentoring
• Teaching and Your Career
• Teaching Remotely
• Tools and Platforms
• The Science of Learning
• Bok Publications
• Other Resources Around Campus

Writing Masters Level Assignments

A Master’s degree is critically different from a Bachelor’s degree. Though similar on some, Master’s degree will involve a lot of different aspects than a Bachelor’s.

At Master’s level you could be studying one of the many specialised courses offered by Robert Kennedy College, as MBA International Health Management , LLM – Master of Law International Business Law  , MBA Leading Innovation and Change or Master of Science Project Management .

Taught Master’s are usually modular in form, featuring a range of optional modules the student can choose from, with a final dissertation at the end of the course, usually produced over the final semester.

Writing assignments at Master’s level

You must use language appropriate to the academic environment, and a coherent and strong structure to your work is essential. Assignments will be longer at Master’s level, even for unassessed pieces of work. Do not be overwhelmed by larger word counts. Remember, you made a large step up in intensity of work from school to university, so another step-up is well within your capabilities.

Clarity is important. Do not use over-elaborate vocabulary and grammar just because you think you have to. It is more important to be understood.

Time management is crucial for the Master’s student – with a heavier workload you will find that a good weekly plan, and a firm grasp of deadlines, is essential. This is especially true with the dissertation which will be the longest assignment you will have done yet at university, usually covering a period of several months. It is important to set yourself deadlines for drafts.

Here are the various aspects of writing skills that Master’s students should be concentrating on in order to succeed.

THE MASTERS LEVEL

One of the first things most Master’s students notice once they have started is how much more intense a Master’s degree is than an undergraduate degree. It is a less passive experience; you will not be guided as much by the lecturers, and will be expected to think for yourself more.

Master’s requires a new way of approaching academic work, all the groundwork has been done at undergraduate level. Let’s look at the features of a Master’s more closely.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

A Master’s degree is geared towards the delivery of a piece of original research. For research Master’s students this will be your primary focus. For those doing taught Master’s this will form part of all aspects of your degree, not just the final dissertation.

In your original research you should also aim for originality where possible. You are being asked to look at your subject in a fresh and innovative way, and finding a new or underdeveloped area of your subject, or a new way of looking at an established area, will help you gain better marks.

Master’s are not exercises in description. You will need to find a theoretical basis for your work. Many Master’s will run modules on the subject of theory, it is advisable to attend all available classes on the subject of theory as it will help you to form an idea of the theory which surrounds your subject. Theory forms a useful framework to hang your research on.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Another important part of Master’s writing is critical analysis. A critical analysis is one which assesses the quality and usefulness of the sources which you are using in your assignments. This process involves considering all aspects of the source and its contents.

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Do you offer TOTALLY ONLINE bachelors and//or, MASTERS DEGREES? I live//work full time in CHINA so campus based studies are not possible for me… THANKS FOR YOUR TIME Krissttovvv in SHENZHEN, China

Hello S Krissttovvv, We offer Online Masters Programmes. There is one week compulsory residency that you have to attend either in Zurich or UK; rest all the course is conducted Online.

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Thank you for your interest. We offer a 100% Online BA (Hons) Business Administration through an exclusive partnership with the University of Cumbria, UK. You can also chat LIVE on WhatsApp with one of our Education Advisors for more information about the programme, the application process, and details on discounts we might offer at this time.

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Study Support: Assignment Planning

• Using the Library
• Online Resources
• Study Preparation
• Skills Assessment
• Learning Approaches
• Digital Literacy

Assignment Planning

• Academic Writing
• Critical Thinking
• Presentation Skills
• Referencing & Citing
• Academic Research
• Academic Reading
• Evaluating Resources
• Taking Notes
• Managing Your Time
• Exam Preparation
• Mental Health
• Stress Management
• Reading 4 Pleasure

Introduction to Planning your Assignment

During your studies you will be required to submit assignments which may include essays, reports and reflective writing. It is important that you spend time planning your assignment before you begin to write your first draft which will help to ensure that you answer the question and meet the assessment criteria.  This section will provide you with information regarding understanding the assignment question, managing your time, searching for relevant academic research and writing an assignment plan.

Your programme will require your assignments to be structured and formatted in a particular way.  You should always follow any instructions or guidance that you have been issued with, if you are unsure, please contact your Personal Tutor or Student Support Officer for advice.

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• Assignment Question
• Time Management

It is important that you read the assignment question several times to ensure that you fully understand what you are being asked to do and avoid losing valuable marks.

Some students find it helpful to highlight the keywords in the assignment task including any verbs such as Assess and Evaluate.   

The Impact that the use of Electri c C ars has on the  Environment

Also carefully read the assessment criteria, find out what the word count is, the referencing style that you need to use and how the assignment needs to be presented.

If you are unsure about what you are being asked to do you need to speak to your lecturer or tutor.

It is important that you plan when you will be able to work on an assignment to ensure that you make the most of the time available and hand your work in on time. You could use an online calendar to help you manage your time and the assignment writing process can be divided into the following steps:

• Understand the assignment question
• Search for information
• Plan the assignment
• Write the first draft of the assignment
• Edit assignment
• Proofread assignment
• Submit assignment

Further information is also available from the Managing your Time page.

This stage involves searching for print and online sources that will provide you with the information that you need. You could start by thinking about what you already know about the subject.  A useful starting point could be your lecture notes and the module reading list. 

The  Online Library  website provides you with access to different resources that you can search to find both print and online resources.

Further information is available from the Academic Research section.

Assignment Plan

After you have read and made notes on the different sources the next stage is to create an assignment plan. It is important that you check the assessment criteria and the word count which will help you you to identify topics that you may need to research further.  

Most assignments follow the structure displayed in the table below:

• Assignment Plan Template

Generative AI Online Videos

The following online videos will provide you with information regarding using Generative AI tools in your assignments:

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How to write a graduate-level essay

Understand the assignment, 1. identify the verbs in the instructions, 2. identify the key terms, 3. consider the practical instructions for the assignment, 4. consider all this information within the framework of the expectations for academic writing.

• 2. Create a preliminary document plan
• 3. Draft your thesis statement
• 4a. Become familiar with the information landscape
• 4b. Select the appropriate search tool
• 4c. Develop effective searches
• 4d. Beyond keyword searching
• 4e. Find statistical information
• 4f. Evaluate the resources you find
• 4g. Read, absorb, and organize the information you find
• 5. Finalize your document plan
• 6. Double-check your research
• 7. Start writing the first draft
• 8. Overcome writer's block
• 9. Revise the draft
• 10. Edit the draft
• 11. Prepare the final version
• 12. Submit the assignment

Assignment descriptions usually contain a lot of information. Often, there is a preamble that establishes the context for the assignment, the actual directions, and then suggested areas of consideration or additional information. As you write more essays, you will develop the skill of understanding what is being asked of you, but when you're first writing papers, deciphering the instructions can sometimes be challenging. To help you break the assignment down, please try the following steps:

Image credit: Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

What are you being asked to do? For example, are you supposed to analyze, consider, compare, reflect, argue, or explain? Identify the verbs in the assignment description, which will help you to determine the type of paper you have to write, such as a personal reflective piece or an analytical or argumentative essay. For more information on how to identify the type of essay your professor expects, as well as information on four essay types, please see Essays .

You have identified the verbs, but now you need to know what you're going to do with those action words. For example, are you supposed to analyze a theory? Apply a philosophy? Compare ideas? Reflect on an experience? Argue a stance? Explain a position?

The assignment description will provide keywords as cues for the direction you should take. Focus on those key words to assist you with developing the framework of what you need to deliver.

• How many words/pages are expected?
• Are there specific expectations regarding formatting and referencing sources, such as the  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association ?
• How many resources should you refer to in your paper? Should they be course texts, or should you be using other research? Are you restricted to scholarly literature, or can you also use popular sources?
• What is the deadline for your assignment? For help with budgeting your time to complete the assignment, check out the Assignment Calculator   as well as  I Never Have Enough Time in the Anxiety About Writing guide.
• Has your instructor provided the learning outcomes for the assignment? Use the description(s) of the outcomes to give you direction in your writing process.

If you're new to academic writing, or it's been a while since you've been in school, please look at Qualities of Academic Writing, which is a section of the Introduction to Academic Writing video.

Want more information?

Visit Examples on the next page of this guide to view two practical examples of how these steps can help to break down an assignment question to its essential elements.

If you're still unclear about the assignment expectations, please speak with your professor.

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