Length: 2,500 words

You are strongly advised to

Divide your assignment into three parts – introduction, body and conclusion;

Have a plan before writing your lines of arguments;

Identify and define the key terms;

In cases when you need to summarize or paraphrase the course material, always try to ensure that you do so in your own words, and provide footnotes in cases where you have incorporated ideas and/or figures from the course text, reference readings, articles or newspapers;

Formulate your own ideas; and

Support/illustrate your arguments with relevant examples and data.

A good structure contains the following elements:

Division of your essay into three parts — introduction, content and conclusion;

A coherent and logical argument supported by relevant evidence

To do this, you should:

Interpret and understand the question, and keep looking back to it to stop yourself from straying too far from the main topic;

plan your essay beforehand so that you are more likely to be able to adhere to a structure throughout the essay.

Clarity

Ideas and arguments should be presented clearly. Terms should be used precisely, and specialized terms should be defined explicitly where necessary. It is essential that you write as if you are explaining your arguments to someone who is not totally familiar with the topic. Do not take it for granted that your instructor already knows everything you are going to say.