Organizing written content
Some assignments, like lab reports or case studies, have a set format, and these will typically be explained in your course materials.
You'll need to devise your own organizational scheme for the remaining assignments. read more...
Your plan may be influenced by:
the task's question. For instance, it might list topics or use language like "compare and contrast."
the topic at hand, which may suggest a structure based on time, process, or place
your understanding of the subject. For instance, problem/solution, pro/con, or sub-topics in descending order of importance
the format of other texts in your field that you have read. Take note of the organization and sequencing of the information. To avoid plagiarism, be sure to adjust the structure to your needs.
The most popular type of academic writing is the essay. Every essay follows the same fundamental three-part structure: introduction, main body, and conclusion—just like the majority of the texts you write at university. The main body, however, can be organized in a variety of ways.
To create a quality essay:
determine whether an analytical, persuasive, or critical essay is required of you.
Your paragraphs and main body should be organized clearly.
use suitable referencing
speak in academic jargon.
Reports
Reports typically have an introduction, body, and conclusion, following the same basic format as essays. However, because the term "report" is used to refer to a wide variety of texts and purposes in various disciplines, the main body structure can vary significantly.
Learn as much as you can about the expected report type.
How to design your building
There are numerous approaches to creating a structure for your work. Try some of the tactics listed below if you're unsure of how to approach the situation.
Take notes as you read your sources and afterward, and begin formulating ways to group the concepts and information. For instance:
Search for patterns, themes, similarities, differences, or other ways to categorize and separate the ideas under headings. This may cover benefits, drawbacks, causes, effects, issues, problems, and possible theories or solutions.
To mark themes or categories of information in your readings or notes, use colored highlighters or symbols.
add notes to a document using cut and paste
Put your readings or notes into piles by hand.
Once you have a general idea of the major issues, it's a good idea to come up with a few different possible structures for your assignment. Do this in outline form before you begin writing because an outline is much easier to restructure than a partially completed essay. For instance:
Make some flowcharts, mind maps, or tree diagrams illustrating the concepts, information, and sources that would go under each heading.
Remove concepts and facts or references that don't support your main argument as well as those that aren't relevant to the subject at hand.
Create some tables to show how each theory or reading relates to each heading if you have a lot of information, such as for a thesis or dissertation (this is frequently referred to as a "synthesis grid").
Plan how many paragraphs you'll need, their respective topic headings, and the dot points for all the information and sources you'll need.
Try out a few potential structures before settling on the best one.
You'll eventually have a strategy that is thorough enough for you to begin writing. You will be aware of the concepts that belong in each section and, ideally, each paragraph. Additionally, you'll be able to locate supporting information for those ideas in your notes and identify its sources.
Consider trying a different method of grouping and organizing your information if you're having trouble planning the structure of your assignment. read more
Clarifying the structure
If it's simple to understand the structure and how everything fits together, your writing will be easy to read and logical. There are several ways to accomplish this.
Show the reader what structure to anticipate at the conclusion of the introduction.
Utilize headings and subheadings to distinctly identify the sections (if these are acceptable for your discipline and assignment type).
Use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph's main idea to the reader and to make references to the introduction and/or headings and subheadings.
Display the relationships between the sentences. Each sentence should begin with a reference to the topic sentence or a sentence that came before it.
To demonstrate the structure of relationships between ideas, use conjunctions and linking words. The conjunctions but, similarly, in contrast, for this reason, as a result, and moreover are examples of conjunctions. read more
