Guest Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Hi all, I m doing my U212 . I m understand the topic but dont how to do that. i m really stressed. I really need some advice writing essay as this is my first course with OU. Rinip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gezabel Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Hi all, I m doing my U212 . I m understand the topic but dont how to do that. i m really stressed. I really need some advice writing essay as this is my first course with OU. Rinip Hi Rinki I don't know that I have say welcome! so first of all a very warm welcome to the forum from me Sorry to hear that you are really stressed about your OU course. I haven't done U212 but there are lots of people around on the forum who have. However, in general terms I think you need to take your essay bit by bit. IN all the course I have done with the OU there has been quite detailed guidance for each essay and this clearly states what the essay needs to include. In basic terms your essay needs to have an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. You also need to remember to include references to the course material. When you have decided which option you are going to do (not sure if U212 has a choice for each essay but some courses do) how about making notes of what you intend to include. When you have some idea of what you want to write try staring with the introduction - this really 'sets your stall out' and tells the reader what is going to be in the essay. After the main body, which you should be able to put together after reading the guidance you finish with your conclusion - the golden rule for writing a conclusion is that you do not introduce any new information - you are literally concluding your essay by kind of summarising what you have said. The other thing is that you will have a word count and it can be helpful to divide this up and allow so many words for each section (some courses break the word count down for you) As a rough guide I used to use 10% of the word count for the introduction, 10% for the conclusion and the rest for the main part. Sorry I can't be more specific but hope this helps a bit. If you let us know the essay title and where you are experiencing difficulty perhaps more advice could be offered. Good luck with it all and let us know how it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Thank you ,u r very kind.To be honest i have the plan in my head .funny thing thing i dont know how to wtite in own words. wish i could get a copy of essay then i would understood how the OU students write essay. luv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttercup Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 not done that course but just finished ~E115 and passed and in middle of E243. found this one really hard. You are right an example would be good. My feed back from E115 was not helpful it said i could have written it without doing the course. I find it useful to start with a relevent quote usually from EYFS or course materials then go on from them. We could almost do with another course on writing essays. best of luck Buttercup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gezabel Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 not done that course but just finished ~E115 and passed and in middle of E243. found this one really hard. You are right an example would be good. My feed back from E115 was not helpful it said i could have written it without doing the course. I find it useful to start with a relevent quote usually from EYFS or course materials then go on from them. We could almost do with another course on writing essays. best of luck Buttercup I really don't think there is a 'right' or 'wrong' way to write an essay providing you meet the basic criteria of beginning/middle/end and the content relates to the question. Well done on passing E115 and sorry to hear you are finding E243 tough going. It was one of my favourtie courses but it is very different in style to E115, is there anyting particular you are stuck with? The feedback from E115 I actually think was helpful - sorry to disagree, if a tutor told me I could have written an essay without doing the course it would tell me that I hadn't referred to the course materials sufficiently or hadn't indicated how my new knowledge impacts on my practice but it's irrelevant really as you have finished the course and passed Good luck with the rest of E243, shout if you want any help there are lots of us around who have done this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 Hi rinki, and welcome from me, too I've just finished my studies for now (ooh, what a lovely feeling!) - I did U212 last year - it was easily my favourite course and I was really sad to finish (except for the exam, but we won't think about that!). When did you start it? Geraldine's advice is great, although some people like to finish with the introduction!! I can't imagine doing it that way, but it's whatever works for you. It really is important to remember that new information really SHOULD NOT be appearing in the conclusion! One of my early tutors used to summarise an essay as: "Tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em (intro); tell 'em (main body); then tell 'em again (conclusion)" which sounds silly but is actually what you do! I always found the guidance for each assignment very clear and helpful - and remember, if they say something like 'you may wish to...' they generally mean you SHOULD! So, when you have decided your approach, really unpick the guidance, and make sure you have read the title very carefully, so you really understand what is being asked of you. I remember that in the exam I slightly misread one title, which subtly changed the emphasis required and my marks were significantly lower for that question than the other two. You might want to use an approach some of my fellow students had, of using columns, one for points to make, the other with supporting material from the books, dvds etc. I didn't personally take to that, but some found it very helpful. I tended to jot ideas down, identify supporting references from course materials, which would give me a general 'direction' for the assignment, so I could draft an introduction. Once that was done, I would flesh out the various points, then juggle the order until it flowed well and the conclusion usually seemed to write itself. I always tried to finish with a neat little quote, to round it all off, but that's just me! Geraldine's suggestion for the allocation of the word count is spot on! It's a good idea to keep an eye on your word count, otherwise it's demoralising to realise that you've got to prune several hundred words when you think you've finished!!! Geraldine - yes, U212 offers two options for each assignment and these assignments change with every presentation. I really wished I could have done all the options, they were so interesting. Good luck with the assignment - I'm interested to know the subject, if I'm honest. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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