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How to Write a 1st-Class Essay

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How to Write a 1st-Class Essay

Whilst an obvious statement, the truth remains that essays are qualitative in nature. This means that there are no hard, quantitative measures or boxes that you can tick to ensure that you get a 1st. Each essay tends to carry with it a slightly different marking scheme and individual lecturers vary in terms of what they are looking for. That said, there are a number of criteria that, if met, will increase your chances of getting a top grade. This article aims to discuss these criteria.

Creating a Platform for Getting a 1st
Before your work will be considered for a 1st, it must meet all the elements necessary to achieve a strong 2:1. Such criteria refer to the essay's structure, argument, referencing and presentation.

Structure and Argument
An essay is essentially linear because the author can only provide a single idea at a time. Without such logic the essay will lack the coherence and focus that is required to deliver an argument, which is essentially a collection (or series) of ideas. The essay's structure must be unique to the argument that is being made and/or the question that is being answered. In practical terms, a well-structured essay involves three components; an introduction, main body and conclusion.

The purpose of the introduction is twofold: first, it needs to attract the reader's attention in a way that ensures that they read on. This may be a choice quotation summing up the essence of your argument or acting as a suitable launch pad for your ideas. Second, it must tell the reader what your essay is about and how (the structure through which) you are going to try to convince them of your argument. Stylistically, an introduction should always be succinct.

Following the introduction is the main body of the essay, which should be structured in terms of a number of paragraphs each of which includes an introductory sentence, the key point(s) trying to be conveyed, supporting material and concluding sentence. This will be the longest part of your essay and should contain as many paragraphs as are required to support the main argument that you are trying to put forward. Broadly, the structure of the body of the essay should be designed in such a way as to address the "what, how and why" of the question/theme that is being examined. Elizabeth Abrams (2006) from the Writing Centre at Harvard University provides some evidence of this method:

The "What?" This is the first question that the reader is expecting: What evidence addresses the question at hand? Answering this question requires you to examine the evidence for your claims, arguing to what extent these claims might be true. For example, if you are trying to make the case for the adoption of relationship marketing practices within firms, you may draw on a quote such as: "Defensive marketing recognizes...the effects of customer satisfaction and customer retention on market share and profitability by emphasising that marketing resources may be better spent keeping existing customers than attracting new ones" (Rust and Zahorik, 1993: 196). You may also want to discuss the work of Reichheld (1996) who suggests that a 5 per cent increase in customer retention could result in increased profitability of between 25 and 95 per cent. Typically, this section should be included towards the start of your essay, ideally after the introduction. It will be an important section where you will have the chance to report your thoughts. That said, the section should not be more than a third of your completed essay or it will lack balance and may appear to be no more than a summary or description.

The "How?" A reader will also want to know whether the claims that you are making are generic or relate only to certain isolated cases; in other words, to what extent your comments can be generalised: How do your arguments stand up to the challenge of a counter-argument? Drawing again on the relationship marketing example, you may want to discuss the work of East (2000) and Payne (2000) who argue that the positive effects of relationship marketing are not homogenous across industries. For example, Grossman (1998) and Berry (2000) suggest that industries, to benefit most from customer retention, will be those whose customer acquisition costs are highest, including banks, credit card and insurance companies, as opposed to industries with relatively small acquisition costs where high investment in customer retention could exceed customer acquisition costs, such as some FMCG retailing companies. An essay should typically include at least one paragraph discussing the "how", questioning and critiquing your own arguments. This section would normally follow the "what" although if the essay is designed to be a critique rather than address a specific question, such counter-arguments may appear throughout the essay.

The "Why?" Whilst the "why" should typically be written within the main body of your essay, it is worth mentioning the readership and scope of your paper in the introduction. To not address the "why", will leave your essay either unfinished and without a clear objective. Indeed, an essay should be targeted towards the reader. Therefore, it is important to understand who your reader is and what interest they may have in your claims. If not, your claims and arguments may be relevant to nobody else but you. Rather, you must address why your interpretation of the material will be of significance or relevance to others, especially those people that you expect to read your work. This also reflects the wider generalisability of your claims, as well as finding a place within the literature where it can be comfortably situated.

A strong argument must also avoid a number of structural flaws. Many essays can take on a descriptive format in which the main arguments are simply summarised or described. Such arguments lack the focus and criticality required to act as a platform to achieve a 1st-class grade. Criticality is a central tenet of a strong essay and demonstrates self-reflection on the material that has been read (Yale, 2006). Using the example of relationships marketing employed above, you may choose to highlight criticisms attributed to the approach. For example, it receives criticism for a lack of agreeable definitions (Harker, 1999; Dann and Dann, 2001) and parameters (Gummesson, 1994; Sheth and Parvatiyar, 2000), which leaves the field broad and difficult to pin down (Grnroos, 1994; O'Malley and Tynan, 2000; Moller and Halinen, 2000). Further critics state that research to date has been selective in its promotion (Mitchell, 1997; Chaston, 1998; O'Malley and Tynan, 2000), that relationship marketing represents more of a pseudo as opposed to authentic, two-way communication (Barnes, 1994; Buttle, 1996; Blois, 1997; Mattson, 1997; Palmer, 1998; Fournier et al., 1998), that it can be corrupt and economically inefficient rather than advantageous (Palmer, 1998; Gummesson, 1999; Sheth and Sisodia, 1999; Palmer, 2001) and simply that practicing the theory can be very difficult (Fournier et al., 1998).

Other typical faults include lacking a strong theoretical basis/adequate referencing or simply making generalisations rather than providing a focused argument. Added to this, essays must not include hollow statements; those without a theoretical and/or empirical base. The certain way not to achieve an adequate platform is to fail to address the research question directly; instead, you simply skirt around the edges.

Finally, an essay must make some concluding remarks. However, what is expected in a conclusion varies. Sometimes a conclusion may include a restatement or a summary of the main arguments that have been made in the essay. For example, in writing about relationship marketing, you may choose to highlight the arguments for and against its use, as well as state the industries in which its application would be more suited, before finally making a statement of its utility based on your initial arguments. Alternatively, some lecturers simply want this section to act as a final commentary representing the essence of the work. Again, in writing about relationship marketing, you may choose to simply state that, based on your arguments, your initial view that relationship marketing plays a significant role in customer retention for firms within the Financial Services sector has been confirmed. In most cases, a conclusion provides both of these functions, a summary of the work and an opportunity to give some final commentary.

Presentation and Referencing
Essays need what linguists call a "voice" or style. This means that the reader should be in no doubt what perspective the author brings to the topic because of the way in which the argument has been structured. However, this does not mean that the author's voice should be overbearing, flippant or colloquial in nature. A scholarly tone must be maintained and the essay must be balanced. Presentation is also aided by the use of short paragraphs that clearly lead on from those laid before. Referencing should be thorough, accurate and the essay should be completely your own work. Poor referencing is the easiest way to lose marks. To ensure this does not happen, refer to your own University's referencing guide. After all, there are numerous 'official' referencing styles and the only one you need to be concerned with is that deemed appropriate by the people marking your work. Finally, accurate referencing is not only important to stop you losing marks, but to protect yourself from plagiarism. Therefore, if you quote even a few words from someone else's work, use quotation marks and give them credit. At the same time, if you build your argument on something that you read, make sure you state this clearly.

Writing 1st-Class Work
Meeting the above criteria will enable you to establish a strong platform from which a 1st-class piece of work is within your grasp. However, to achieve a 1st, a number of criteria set your work apart from the rest. Typically, such differentiation involves originality, clarity, imagination, depth of reading and style.

When discussing originality as a tenet of 1st-class academic writing, Andrew Roberts (2006) of Middlesex University comments that: "Originality does not just mean that the student is thinking for herself. Originality is applied to an argument that is even more interesting than interesting." Originality reflects the way that you have thought about a particular issue and your ability to express your opinions in a confident and clear manner. As Roberts (2006) suggests: "It is analogous to learning a language. A superb speaker and writer in a foreign language might still think in her own language, but a first-class linguist would think, maybe even dream, in the foreign language." Nonetheless, you should remember that, as the saying goes, you are probably 'standing on the shoulders of giants', and therefore should be modest in your claims of originality.

If originality is to come to the fore, a 1st-class essay must demonstrate real clarity in the way that ideas are communicated to the reader. Such clarity can be supported by an interesting writing style that entices the reader to move from paragraph to paragraph, keen to see your argument develop. Integrating into your work imaginative phrases and perspectives on existing themes or new examples that can illustrate existing evidence in a new light will help to highlight the originality of your work. Drawing parallels to your ideas from other fields can also bring your argument to life. Added to this, depth of reading is another central ingredient to achieving a 1st because people who are marking your work look for a more comprehensive, expert understanding and examination of the subject matter. This shows that your work is neither superficial nor based simply on a number of key texts that have been paraphrased.

At the same time, there are a number of 'trade secrets' to top academic writing that can only be developed over time. In many instances, different techniques have been adopted by different academics. Stanford's (2006) Writing Centre provides a very useful resource in helping to unlock this black box through its 'How I Write' series, a collection of conversations with published academics in which the "habits, idiosyncrasies, techniques, trade secrets, hidden anxieties, and delights" within their writing are uncovered. If you are dedicated to achieving a 1st-class grade, this would be a good place to start.

Concluding Remarks
There is no steadfast way of writing a 1st-class essay. The qualitative nature of essays and the marking system at universities mean that it is impossible to know or guarantee that you will achieve a top grade. Despite this, there are two principles that must be followed if such a grade it to be achieved: first, if your work does not have the building blocks for a 1st-class essay - a fluid structure, strong argument, accurate referencing and clear presentation of ideas - it will not even be considered for a 1st. Second, only then, with the addition of originality, clarity, imagination, depth of reading and an enticing style can you achieve that often illusive grade. As a final tip, it is also important to bear in mind your course learning outcomes and goals, which you are likely to be assessed against. In this respect, it never hurts to visit your tutor when planning your essay to ensure that you are on the right track.

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