University of Malawi

Department of Political & Administrative Studies

HINTS ON WRITING ESSAYS

Essay assignments are some of the commonest ways of assessing your performance in
the Political and Administrative Studies Department. An essay can be described as a
well researched and logically structured answer to a particular question. Patrick
Dunleavy describes essay writing as "the central focus of degree work in the
humanities and the non-technical social sciences". Some of the reasons why essay
assignments are mostly used for assessment purposes is that they give you the:
 ability to thoroughly research a topic;
 ease to construct an argument in an academically acceptable manner,
 capability to fully understand the subject content;
 opportunity to articulate your ideas in a relatively extended manner.
Essays also help lecturers to ably assess students in:
 the degree of logic, clarity and comprehensiveness in reasoning.
 the degree of insight in the topic - the extent to which the theory and practice
are understood as well as integrated.
 scientific objectivity and critical disposition in dealing with all sources.
Thus you need to understand on how to write essays so as to excel in your studies.

Where to start
The first thing for you to do is to fully understand the title/question of the essay. Most
students start writing or conducting research without fully understanding the
question/topic hence they end up writing a large chunk of irrelevant material. You
need to pay special attention to the key concepts in the essay title or question because
they act like guiding posts. The following are the benefits of understanding the
question:
 the topic/question will clearly point the direction and scope to be taken. In fact
almost every aspect of the essay title needs to be addressed in you paper.
 the exercise of analysing the title helps you see what is wanted as well as
which concepts and arguments to use.

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  helps you to evaluate what you already know as well as what you need to
know from other resources (i.e. books, journals, etc). This means you need to
conduct research in the library and other relevant areas.

Common problems with students’ essays

 the inability to undertake a comparative literature study or inability to
identify and access appropriate sources and undertake research, e. g.
appropriate books, articles, government publications, subject journals and
newspaper articles (Don’t quote lecture notes!!!);
 poor arrangement of the contents in logically related sections
 The lack of skills to interpret, and mutually compare and combine different
sources and the researcher’s own opinion and interpretation to present the
fundamentals in a logically related sequence.
 poor writing skills/ sentence construction /logic/coherence and reasoning ;
 spelling mistakes/ typing errors/ untidy presentation.
 faulty use of the reference system, quotation and recognition of sources in
the text and source list;
 lack of supplementary matter like appropriate, diagrams, tables and
statistics;
 and the greatest problem of all – plagiarism.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious academic offence- irrespective of the fact that it was
deliberately committed or not. According to the University of Malawi, (Rules and
Regulations Governing Examinations Appendix D, Ref:1/12/3/7/1), plagiarism is
defined as “the deliberate use of any outside source without proper
acknowledgement… Plagiarism also means paraphrasing from such sources.” For
further details on how to avoid plagiarism you can check several web sites including:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
(Please note that ignorance is no defence)

Similarly, also note that unreported collaboration on written assignments, false data
submitted or false citation, and theft of another student’s paper is another serious

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academic offence in the University of Malawi that can lead to expulsion from the
university (see Rules and Regulations Governing Examinations appendix D,
Ref:1/12/3/7/1).

Instructional Verbs
A good interpretation of the essay largely depends on a proper understanding of the
instructional verbs. Below are examples of instructional verbs that may appear in the
essay question:

Instructional Explanation
Verb
1 Analyse Separate an argument, a theory, or a claim into its elements or
component parts; to trace the causes of a particular event; to reveal
the general principle underlying phenomena
2 Compare Look for similarities and differences between two or more things,
problems or arguments. Perhaps, although not always, reach a
conclusion about which you think is preferable
3 Contrast Set in opposition to each other two or more things, problems or
arguments in order to identify clearly their differences and their
individual characteristics
4 Criticise Identify the weaknesses of certain theories, opinions or claims and
give judgement about their merit.
5 Describe Give a detailed or graphic account (usually in a narrative manner)
while keeping to the facts or write about a topic in detail.
6 Discuss Investigate or examine; sift through the arguments and the evidence
used to support them giving reasons for and against both sides
7 Evaluate Make an appraisal of the worth of something or argument in the
light of their truth or usefulness.
8 Explain Make plain; interpret and account for the occurrence of a particular
event by giving the causes (also need to give reasons why an event
occurred)
9 Illustrate Explain or clarify something by use of diagrams, figures or specific
examples
10 Justify Show adequate grounds for a decision or a conclusion by supporting
it with sufficient evidence and argument.
11 State Outline briefly and clearly the facts of the situation or a side of an
argument. This doesn’t call for argument or discussion, just the
presentation of the facts or the arguments.
12 Summarise State the main ideas briefly omitting the details and examples
13 Trace Outline the stages in the development of a particular issue or the
history of a topic
From: Greetham, B (2001) How to Write Better Essays. Palgrave: New York

Structure of an Essay
An essay normally has the following:
 Introduction

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  Body or Content
 Conclusion
 Reference or Bibliography
It is recommended that your essay assignments should use the Times New Roman font
style, size 12 with 1.5 spacing.

Introduction
The introduction is the first paragraph of the essay and it explains the main problem
or argument as you see it. Within this introduction you need to say how you intend to
handle this main problem. Specifically, it explains to the reader what to expect, and
what to look for. More importantly, the introduction should attract a reader’s
attention.

Body
Concerning the body of an essay, know that:
 The body is the largest part of the essay and it is composed of several
paragraphs.
 As you develop the paragraph, always show evidence of investigation by
citing the source of the ideas that are not yours. In this case prove your points
continually by using specific examples and quotations. Directly quoted words,
phrases or sentences should be bracketed in inverted commas. A quotation of
more than three lines should be indented.
 However, avoid “apeism”- just repeating or quoting what some books (or your
lecture notes) say – your analysis is critical. You get more marks for analysis
rather than description (or quotes) of the issues.
 Quote material only if it supports your argument and show why/how the quote
supports your argument. You may also quote with the intention of critiquing
that particular quote.
 Depending on the preference of your lecturer, the body (or the whole essay)
may have several sub-headings.

Also note that you are writing to a scholarly and critical mind hence your arguments
shouldn’t be shallow but of higher quality which address the subject matter. Support

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your arguments with evidence and demonstrate awareness of counter arguments or
perspectives. Address other views and explain why or how you don’t agree with them.
Writing is an art which must be made appealing but not at the expense of arguments.
Be imaginative in your presentation so that the points raised are not mundane.

Conclusion
The conclusion is the last paragraph of your work. The purpose is to:
 summarise you main points, while leaving the specific examples
 restate the main idea of the paper or if necessary, make recommendations

Reference
There are various ways of referencing: whether in text (within the essay) and end
references (the list compiled at the end of the essay) that show the materials
consulted. Examples include Harvard, MLA and APA. Harvard style is the most
widely used by publishers and other universities – PAS Department encourages you to
use Harvard style. Below is a table showing an example of how to use the Harvard
style:

In text referencing
Type of in text referencing Example
Book, Book chapter, Journal (i)- One author: Mkandawire (2000:20). This means that
article, Newspaper and you have used the material authored by Mkandawire, his/her
Internet article, work of the year 2000 on page 20.
Government (institutional) (ii)-Two authors: Lennox and Durkheim (2007:12)
publications (iii)-Three or more authors: Kamanga et al (2005:6)
(iv)- Articles that do not have an author should have the
name of the institution or company cited e.g.
Government of Malawi (1998:14)
Centre for Social Research (1999:10)

Note that where the author has been cited in another work,
the citation is as follows: Jones (in Dzimbiri 2004: 4)

Footnotes (at the end of a section or chapter) contain only substantive comments
which cannot be included in the main body of the text and must be used only in
exceptional cases.

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End references (the list compiled at the end of the essay)1
Type of reference Example of reference
Book Heinz, Edward (2000) A History of Baked Beans, London: Arnold.

Book chapter Johnson, Sarah (1998a) ‘The Cornflake in History’ in Norman

Jennings (ed.) Food for Thought, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press.

Article in journal Johnson, Sarah (1998b) ‘Deconstructing the premillennial diet:

Special K and postmodernism’, Cultural Studies 11, 1: 32–
44.Explanation: This means that an article by Sarah Johnson called
‘Deconstructing the pre-millennial diet: Special K and postmodernism’
was published in the journal Cultural Studies, volume 11, number 1, on
pages 32 to 44. This issue of the journal was published in 1998. The piece
is listed here as ‘(1998b)’ since it’s the second of two articles by Sarah
Johnson, which we are referring to, published in 1998.

Article in newspaper Ratner, Clifford (2000) ‘Magazine sparks love feud’, Independent,
10 October 2000, Thursday Review section: 14.
Article from the internet Wherever possible, identify the author, so you can have
a reference like this: Lennon, Tony (2004), ‘The BBC’s Future’, at
http://keywords.dsvr.co.uk/freepress/body.phtml?catego
ry=&id=742 (accessed: 14 August 2004).
Always state the date you visited the site. If you can’t
state the author, have a reference like this: BBCi (2000) ‘Radical
autumn shake-up’, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10276.htm
(accessed: 8
December 2000).
Accessed from: www.theory.org.uk/david/essaywriting.pdf on 28th February 2007

For more details, the internet has several guides on how to use the Harvard style. One
example of the website you can check is:
http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/ref_guides/harvard.htm

Please note:
 a good essay is a product of several drafts and a reflection of commitment and
motivation. Don’t write one draft and think that you have done a good job!!!
 plan carefully so that you submit your essay on time.

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Note that these have to be arranged in an alphabetical order starting with the surnames of the authors.