2.

Brainstorm your ideas

Before you can determine what points you want to make in your essay, you need to do some
brainstorming and some research to make sure you have a good idea of all the issues relevant to
your topic; only then can you select the most important ones.
Its likely that, from your readings, lectures and tutorials, you will have a fair idea of the ground you
need to cover, so you can probably start to brainstorm straight away, before you even set foot in a
library. The first thing to do, then, is think:

What are the various issues/problems that characterise your topic?

What theories or examples of research relate to your topic?

What questions arise when thinking about your topic?

What tricky or contentious terms need to be defined within your topic area?

Many students find that, initially, some sort of spray diagram orhelps them to think out the many
facets of their topic. This, in turn, can help them decide which area they need to focus on to make
their analysis sufficiently deep. At this stage, try not to think about what your essay will look like.
Rather, concentrate on teasing out every possible angle of discussion so you can make conscious
choices about what to include in the final piece.