Finding it difficult to structure your essays? Wondering if a Power Hours workshop might help but unsure which one to attend? Wondering if there are other, perhaps better, suitable resources?
Power Hours
Start by having a look at the Power Hour material on Vision and make your choice of workshop from there.
- Sign into Vision
- Go to My Organisations > Power Hours Workshops > Edinburgh Campus > Academic Writing
- Explore Style in Academic Writing and Essay writing: Planning for Success
Supporting material for most Power Hour workshops is available online and can be accessed as shown above.
Textbooks
Might you find a textbook useful? For essay writing, I’d recommend
- Essential Study Skills by Burns and Sinfield
- The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell
- The Study Skills Toolkit for Students with Dyslexia by Monica Gribben is a useful resource for all students, not just those with dyslexia. I really liked the section on structure in an essay.
All three are listed in the Information, Research and Study Skills guide. This guide has lots of tabs, that are worth exploring.
If you’re campus-based, the library may have copies of these books.
Skills4StudyCampus
If you’d find an online resources useful, try Skills4StudyCampus
You need to register before you can use this resource but it’s quick and easy to do. Just follow the instructions on the web page.
Skill in structuring an essay can only be developed with practice. Seek opportunities to build up your skills by allowing adequate time to write draft after draft of an essay until the work you hand in for assessment is as good as you can reasonably manage.
One-to-one appointments
You may also find it helpful to have one-to-one feedback on your writing, especially on your structure.
The Academic English Unit is offering this service – details at One-to-one Academic Skills consultations
Appointments can either be face-to-face or via Skype, according to your location.
