Essay Writing
DEPARTMENT OF ITALIAN
A GUIDE TO ESSAY WRITING
As a student following a degree programme involving the study of Italian you will have a variety of ways of expressing yourself during the four years of study. These include: writing in Italian on a variety of topics and in a variety of forms and registers; conversation in Italian including short presentations on a variety of topics; seminar contributions in both Italian and English in the form of personal presentations and interventions; and essay writing, both assessed (including examination essays) and 'non-assessed '. In an assessed essay, the mark is determined by two markers and contributes to your overall mark for the module. A 'non-assessed ' essay is marked by the tutor for the module and its mark does not contribute to your overall mark for the module. This booklet is about essay writing in English for literature and culture modules taken in the Italian Department. All the recommendations made are valid equally for assessed and 'non-assessed ' essays, except where specifically indicated. Examination essays, commentaries and dissertations are discussed in separate sections (sections 17–19).
The writing of an essay provides an opportunity for you to communicate your ideas in an ordered and engaging way. There is no one way in which to write an essay. Writing, whether a story, poem or essay, is an intensely personal experience and there are probably as many ways of writing essays as there are people who write them. It is for you to decide how best to combine thinking, reading, note-taking, and writing in order to produce an essay which successfully communicates your understanding of a topic. The more you work on essay writing the greater will be your understanding of your own mental processes, and such knowledge will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.
1. Choosing the topic
Usually you will be given a list of questions from which to choose. Although there are opportunities for
A GUIDE TO ESSAY WRITING
As a student following a degree programme involving the study of Italian you will have a variety of ways of expressing yourself during the four years of study. These include: writing in Italian on a variety of topics and in a variety of forms and registers; conversation in Italian including short presentations on a variety of topics; seminar contributions in both Italian and English in the form of personal presentations and interventions; and essay writing, both assessed (including examination essays) and 'non-assessed '. In an assessed essay, the mark is determined by two markers and contributes to your overall mark for the module. A 'non-assessed ' essay is marked by the tutor for the module and its mark does not contribute to your overall mark for the module. This booklet is about essay writing in English for literature and culture modules taken in the Italian Department. All the recommendations made are valid equally for assessed and 'non-assessed ' essays, except where specifically indicated. Examination essays, commentaries and dissertations are discussed in separate sections (sections 17–19).
The writing of an essay provides an opportunity for you to communicate your ideas in an ordered and engaging way. There is no one way in which to write an essay. Writing, whether a story, poem or essay, is an intensely personal experience and there are probably as many ways of writing essays as there are people who write them. It is for you to decide how best to combine thinking, reading, note-taking, and writing in order to produce an essay which successfully communicates your understanding of a topic. The more you work on essay writing the greater will be your understanding of your own mental processes, and such knowledge will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.
1. Choosing the topic
Usually you will be given a list of questions from which to choose. Although there are opportunities for
References: e.g. Università di Roma, La Sapienza, ‘Basili’ (Banca dati sugli Scrittori Immigrati in Lingua Italiana). Online: http://cisadu2.let.uniroma1.it/basili/ (14th September 2000).