How to Write an Assignment

Published 13 Sep 2018

Want to score well on your assignments?

University and college lecturers judge students’ understanding of the particular subject by giving different types of written tasks. Reports, essays, term paper, articles, book reviews and research papers. The list can be endless. Additionally, you need to become an expert in various academic standards and formatting styles, but it cannot sound attractive especially when you have tight time limits. What if I told you, that there exist particular tips for making the writing process easier? There are many templates and samples available on the Web, but clear knowledge of the structuring peculiarities and time management is more helpful. You must admit that fulfilling the task together with a step-by-step plan helps to maintain the theme focused. As a result, you will have to do a bit more work to understand the assignment and come up with an appropriate topic. The absence of concrete knowledge on how to write an assignment can lead to losing marks even if a student is subject-proficient.

Create a Concept Map

Undergraduate or postgraduate students find writing academic papers or essays a difficult task as expressing thoughts in written form requires great skills. Want to stay focused on your theme? Use concept mapping for organizing thoughts in a manner which allows them to flow logically and categorizing ideas:

  • Print your general topic in the center
  • Draw a circle around it
  • Brainstorm the ideas related to the central topic
  • Select words and phrases that support the main ideas
  • Circle these words and phrases
  • Connect them to the main topic with a line

The visual representation of the points you wish to make is a powerful tool which allows you to work more efficiently as you will be focused on the central topic and related branches.

Assignment Structuring

Different written assignments come with different instructions and requirements for formatting and layout, but the general structure is the same for all types of them. Writing the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion is a general way to structure the academic text. Being asked to produce a short task? Don’t write headings such as “intro” and “conclusion”.
Writing an OUTLINE before starting to prepare assignments is indeed important as it saves your time and helps you to divide the word count between sections. Determine the purpose of your paper, who your audience is, and develop a thesis statement. A THESIS STATEMENT is a summarizing sentence that presents the central idea of your assignment.

Introduction Writing

Reading the intro helps your potential reader to know in advance what you are going to discuss in the main body. The introduction gives background information on your topic area, outlines the ideas you want to present, and lays out the structure. In the core of it you need to present the overall topic, your point of view and research questions and the end contains the most specific information such as the scope and structure of your paper. Generally, it is about 10% of the final essay and 5-8% of the total number of words. The good introduction contains:

  • Interesting fact or quotation
  • Reason for writing about the topic
  • The main ideas
  • Order in which you will discuss them
  • One or two paragraphs long.

Writing the Body

The body of the assignment serves to demonstrate your knowledge of the topic with providing relevant evidence and analyze the evidence a student has gathered. The information has to be grouped into broad categories except for Arts and Humanities where it is not always recommended. Use the prepared conceptual map in order to know what to write in everybody paragraph. Check the exact requirements with your department. Use a template for creating a BODY PARAGRAPH as it is easier to follow the ready formula with a step-by-step approach:

  • Insert a topic sentence
  • Explain your topic sentence
  • Introduce the evidence
  • Explain the evidence
  • Insert a concluding sentence

Begin the paragraph by making a point, support it by providing with references and research and close the paragraph by linking back to the point you made and linking this to your thesis statement.

Writing the Conclusion

Finally got around to writing the conclusion? It is a final paragraph which summarizes the idea(s) you have discussed in your work which is about 10% of the whole assignment so it should be clear and relatively brief. Make sure that you have answered the raised question as this is your final chance to impress the reader. Conclusion includes three parts:

  • Stating the aim
  • Brief summary of the main points
  • Final comments and forward-looking statement

Avoid including new information and evaluation of the contribution the provided arguments these make to the overall development of this area of knowledge. Remember that even if your assignment is in Math or Physics and the paper doesn’t need a full conclusion, your reader should be informed about the finishing of it. Bring it to the logical end by adding final comments. What are the expectations of your department? Focus on the main aim of the given assignment and check the main words and phrases with the concept map. If you forget the main points of your assignment, the reader will notice this in your conclusion. Give your completed written assignment to your groupmate or friend and let them indicate the negative and positive sides of your paper. Done! However, if you still want to ask us to write my academic essay online – we are willing to help!

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