Good Writing

The main parts of an essay are:

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• An introduction​

• A series of body paragraphs

• A conclusion​

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​We will be learning about these one by one.

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Subject | Subject

Good Writing

​Introductions

​There are three parts to your introduction:

​The acronym CAT will help you remember these parts

​Introductions

​Context Sentence(s)

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Your first sentence or two need to contextualise the topic you are writing about. You can do this in a few different ways, but usually you will begin with a general statement about the topic. Here’s an example:

​"The reign of Akhenaten is one of the most fiercely debated periods in the history of New Kingdom Egypt"​

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​Introductions

​Arguments

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Now that you have made a start with a context sentence, you’ll need to preview the arguments that you will be advancing (presenting) through the body of your essay, as well as any opposing arguments that you will discuss. At this point you don’t need to go into any detail, just give the reader an idea of what you’ll be discussing later on. This section will also help you to structure your essay: you will use each of your arguments as the basis for a paragraph in the body.

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​Introductions

Arguments

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​Here’s an example of previewing arguments for the question "Assess Akhenaten’s motives for the transfer of the capital to Akhetaten."

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​"A number of likely candidate motives have been proposed. Firstly, Akhenaten may have had a genuine religious desire to found a new city entirely devoted to the worship of one god, Aten. Another plausible motivation was the political goal of challenging the growing power of the priests of Amun, who had been accumulating substantial wealth and influence throughout the New Kingdom."

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​WRITING PARAGRAPHS

​Some aspects of academic writing are common to all assignments and writing situations. All kinds of academic writing contain paragraphs that must have clear structure, logical organisation and a smooth flow of information within and between paragraphs. Formal language is required when writing paragraphs.

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The rule is usually one main idea per paragraph. Paragraphs may be long or short, but in academic texts, such as essays, paragraphs of about 100-200 words are quite common.

​WRITING PARAGRAPHS

​WRITING PARAGRAPHS

​Many academic paragraphs share the following structure:

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• A topic sentence

• ​Background information

• Evidence

• Reasoning

• ​Link