I don't believe we should be setting students work during this time for various (probably/hopefully obvious) reasons.

But as a graduate teaching assistant I have to prepare my students for the work our uni is setting.

So: thread on ESSAY WRITING (feel free to share etc!) 1/

I included some advice on essay writing in my previous teaching thread; I will try not to repeat myself here, but for these more specifically exam & question-based essay points, see from here until end of this previous thread:
https://twitter.com/EHopeDoherty/status/1240670967929679873
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I will also say that I personally continue to find academic writing difficult, & clarity of expression is something I will probably always struggle with. Take comfort that teachers & friends are probably having similar experiences with written communication. 3/

PLAN OUT YOUR ARGUMENT. The plan should be informed by the scholarship you've read & your own thoughts when reading the text(s), & of course the quotations you want to use for close reading/analysis. For exams this process is going to be rushed - but practice detailed plans. 4/

Making detailed plans means planning the whole essay sentence-by sentence in note form. Be careful to state at each point what you want to achieve with an analysis of a quotation or engagement with a scholar's view. You can take these points almost verbatim into the essay 5/

as signposts. An error I made at UG (& still often do pre-edit) is to assume that a collection of evidence (criticism, quotations, analysis) automatically communicates the argument. It doesn't. You need to state the argument clearly & say why evidence supports it throughout. 6/

Planning can be laborious & tedious especially for short essays (~2000 words) but getting into the habit of making detailed plans will help enormously when writing dissertations & completing longer postgrad projects. It's advice I wish I'd followed earlier! 7/

It's always tempting to just launch into writing prose especially when excited about a particular text or idea. You can absolutely still do this - but do it as part of the essay planning process, not as the essay itself. Write a freeflowing piece & then shape it into a plan 8/

if you are finding that writing is an important step in refining your thoughts. You might also plan first, write the essay, then edit it carefully: pause at each sentence & ask 'What did I mean by this? Am I communicating it clearly? If not, what is unclear? How can I fix it?' 9/

This is also the stage in which you can re-structure your ideas - you could ask if two paragraphs might be edited together to highlight parallel moments in different texts, contrasts or similarities between quotations, for example. Ask if the structure is helping the argument 10/

i.e. 'Am I leading the reader logically through my ideas? Will their comprehension of my argument be helped by the structure? Do I clearly introduce my ideas, then build on them through the course of the essay?'
All of these questions depend on careful planning & editing. 11/

But INCLUDE YOUR DOUBTS & UNANSWERED QUESTIONS IN YOUR ESSAY. Don't edit them out. Plan around them/ include them in the plan. Don't be afraid to offer alternative explanations & comment on the effect & purpose of ambiguity.
See my previous comment: https://twitter.com/EHopeDoherty/status/1240678377440370690
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It's possible to have a clear argument that also has the confidence to include counterarguments. Say why these are helpful to your own argument - can you say why your argument is more likely than others? Can you say it's difficult to tell, & posit why that might be? 13/

Again, including counterarguments & alternative ways of thinking in order to balance an essay relies on clear written expression (& careful planning!) otherwise can risk incoherence as a whole. Don't be put off by this - the answer is to make sure the writing is clear. 14/

A-LEVEL POINT, EVIDENCE, EXPLAIN & LINK IS STILL USEFUL. It's a good way to make sure you're signposting & clarifying arguments. However the difference at uni is that you can augment or rearrange these; some explanation may be required before a quotation, for example... 15/

And your evidence/explain might turn into two or three paragraphs instead of just one. Some scholars prefer to write a section on background before launching into literary analysis; some prefer to intersperse context and criticism throughout. Work out what's best & do that 16/

And you can vary this within an essay and/or between essays too - if you want to draw on a particular historical event or idea for your essay, you will need to devote space to that before literary analysis; different topics will require different essay structures. 17/

This might sound daunting but in reality it shouldn't take too long to decide how to structure your work - plan carefully, & always ask what your reader needs to make your ideas most accessible. Getting into the habit of thinking this through will make it quicker in the exam. 18/

Many students worry about how to achieve a scholarly/academic style - my advice there would be not to worry about it. If your ideas are clearly communicated & well-supported with evidence from the text(s), style will come automatically. 19/

Here's a list of resources I put together at the start of the year for help with academic writing. Some of these are specific to Durham & some not available during the pandemic but some are online & still accessible. Most staff including me are still reachable via email. 20/

Here is another excerpt from this document regarding plagiarism & keeping track of which ideas are yours - this is necessary right back to the note-taking stage & it's important to include citations (at least the names of scholars) in your essay plans. 21/

READ EACH OTHERS' WORK - AGAIN! Please please please make a group (via Facebook, WhatsApp, email etc) where you can chat to each other during this difficult time, read each others' essays, talk through some concerns etc. It will really help. 22/

It actually took two of my coursemates when I was in first year to tell me that my essay writing was difficult to understand. This prepared me for tutors giving me similar feedback & ultimately enabled me to begin understanding how I would go about clarifying my writing. 23/

Learning how to CHOOSE IDEAS is another thing to practice through planning. Although you might have made notes relating to different themes, or read an amazing critical study that you want to include, not everything is going to fit into your essay. 24/

Instead of abbreviating ideas into short phrases that you are trying to fit in but can't devote a whole section to (which I used to do, but which also makes writing unclear) just save them for later. Explore them for a dissertation, in further years, or in postgrad work. 25/

Make detailed notes & maybe highlight the ones you like but that didn't fit into your essay. Pick the two or three most relevant ideas and keep the rest for later. This helps keep the essay focused & makes room for developing everything in a full way. 26/

I think that's all for now but I'll continue adding on bits as they occur to me - if you have a recommendation please add it to the thread! 27/