How to write an essay (p.3)

Introduction

After all the analysis, the evaluation, the writing and the rewriting that you will have done in pursuit of an excellent answer, there is one, final question that you will need to ponder.

Does my essay answer the question?

It is the most PAINFUL question you can ask yourself in academic essay writing, especially if its at 11:12PM before the 11:59PM deadline.

To avoid this situation at least more often than not, here's an initial tactic for making sure it does.

Mirroring

A great way to get to grips with the question you need to answer is by doing something I call mirroring. This technique emerged from the countless memories I have of a teacher or professor telling me they couldn't clearly identify my answer to an essay question. It is now an exercise I do with clients all the time. For myself, and for those I share this strategy with today, it WORKS.

The strategy is very simple.

Frame your answer to the question with the wording of the question.

So, with the question we've been working with:

"To what extent does Sartre's claim that 'existence precedes essence' succeed in grounding human freedom?"

The mirrored answer would be the following:

”Sartre’s claim that ‘existence precedes essence’ succeeds in grounding human freedom to [some] extent. This is because…”

Obvious right?

But so often when we're working with a question, we take a different starting point. We start with discussing Sartre’s claim and before you know we’ve forgotten to address the question. So using this strategy when you start the process of crafting your answer will do wonders for accuracy and focus.

Cross-check

Now, after all is said and done, and its starting to look like you have an essay, there is a second step that you need to take (especially if you did not do the above). This technique is called the cross-check.

When we first started this essay writing guide, I mentioned that there is a hidden claim within every question. When you have finished your essay, it is vital you go back to that claim, and that question, and verify that what you have provided is an answer.

This is because what can happen when we write an essay (especially without mirroring) is something like the following: Research the topic in the question, identify some aspects of the topics that we are especially interested in, make some insights, write about the topic and then the insights, form some conclusions, read over those conclusions, form some paragraphs, draft and redraft some paragraphs into a structure, find ourselves with an essay.

The problem is that in all the excitement we might've forgotten about the question. It might be that what we've produced is an excellent and insightful essay on the aspects of the topic that we were most interested in, but with exactly nothing that provides an answer to the question.

So, as a last step to our inquiry (and hopefully with more than 30 minutes before it's overdue), it is imperative that we consider whether we’ve answered the question

Answering the Question

To do this, we take the question, and match it to our conclusion.

The question: To what extent does Sartre's claim that 'existence precedes essence' succeed in grounding human freedom?

The conclusion: Sartre’s claim is an enlightening way of understanding and defining the nature of human freedom, and while it is a claim that has many challenges, will remain as an excellent philosophical account of human freedom.

Not bad right?

This is very common conclusion, and appeals to a classic format:

1. Discuss the subject in the question and communicate your respect for it

2. Acknowledge the debate and the various positions

3. Reassert the sentiment of the question as a conclusion

   
   

Not bad, but academically, not great.

Why?

This approach risks imprecision, ambiguity, and no clear answer.

What the above question is really after is a weighted conclusion about the success of the claim in grounding human freedom. In other words, is it successful, unsuccessful, or does it depend?

So let's try again:

The question: To what extent does Sartre's claim that 'existence precedes essence' succeed in grounding human freedom?

The conclusion: ”In conclusion, Sartre’s claim that human 'existence precedes essence' is successful ground for human freedom. As outlined, the extent of its success is contingent on the validity of the argument for the existence of God, as well as the validity of the philosophical perspective that underpins the claim. Given we have shown that the argument for the existence of God is invalid, and philosophical perspective is valid, the claim is successful to a great extent, and is testament to the insight within Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy.”

As you can see, the second answer speaks to the success-condition of the question, namely the success of the claim in functioning as ground for human freedom, and the extent to which this is true.

So long as the arguments that were put forward in the essay were as strong as they sound in the conclusion, this is a very good answer to the question.

If your conclusion looks more like the first one - work back through your essay, paragraph-by-paragraph, and see which ones do and don't answer the question.

If you started by using the mirroring technique, it is unlikely you'll have to do this, but otherwise, you might need to.

Make the answer obvious

The overarching point in this article, the point that the above techniques will help you achieve, is to make the answer obvious. This is what you need to keep in mind the whole way through, past mirroring and cross-checking, and towards the ideas you convey, the structure you place them in and the words you use to describe them.

This is a lot, but once you appreciate its importance, will be something you do automatically.

Why?

Consider the examiner for a moment.

Think about how many essays they might have read that morning, that day, that week. I have heard some horror stories from markers about the sheer numbers they need to get through. If your essay is confusing, and your answer is hard to find, the examiner will not try and look for it.

So make it obvious. Create an essay that is easy to read, and you’ll have an answer that is easy to identify. Use the above techniques, and you'll have an answer that is easy to identify, and an essay that is easy to read.

With that, you'll be happy, your examiner will be happy, and your grades will be happy.

Conclusion

If you made it from Part One to Three, thank you and I hope you have enjoyed the series! This is only the start of the guide to essay writing, so be sure to look out for its evolution. If you're yet to read the other parts, you can find them below.

For now, I will leave you with that - I have my own essay to write.

See you at the next one,

Sam @ BFD Tutors