Exploratory Essay

The 'exploratory essay ', both in its virtues and its problems, demonstrates admirably where your priorities should lie, and how your planning logic should operate.

The question 'Why?' should be the first word on any and every essay plan. With that firmly in mind, let us now look at a 'model' used by many students when planning-sometimes, I fear, on teacher-advice-and consider its limitations. When you sit down to write an essay, you are by now (I hope) armed with the answer 'Why am I doing this task?'; in addition , you've usually got some idea about what you want to say and where you want to get to. You should be aware of such a general 'core' of material even if you're embarking on an ' exploratory essay ' as defined above. (If you're not thus aware, it's almost certain that you're not yet ready to start writing: you need to do some further preliminary reading or thinking.) In view of this, it makes perfect albeit paradoxical sense to say: "The best place to start an essay is in the middle, or even, if you're sure enough of your material and argument, at the end."

Of course, you won't present the essay in this form when you hand it in: that would be ludicrous. But an essay is a complex piece of work: while writing you have to focus on the title, marshal ideas, arrange them attractively, attempt to write crisp, pleasing English, and remain constantly alert to the threads of your argument, remembering what you've said and where you're heading. This adds up to a tough task, especially early in a course. So it is wise to begin where you are at your strongest-in the middle. When you've got some points down on paper, and the shape of your argument begins to unfold, then you can start thinking about your eventual introduction.

This method is what a 'rough draft' ought to be like-a kind of 'scissors-and-paste' job, comprising various sections and sentences which can be properly arranged once they are written down. You can inspect the material at leisure, ' shuffle ' it, strengthen it, and begin to tie it together. At all costs you should try to avoid the commonest type of 'rough draft' that students do-that is, writing the essay in an ' orthodox ' way in pencil or biro, and then copying out a 'neat', almost-word-for-word version to hand in. This is virtually useless, combining two dismal qualities that lack any fringe benefit: you learn nothing between drafts 1 and 2, and it takes a long joyless time.

For the majority of students, the essay or dissertation is the longest, most complex and most ambitious genre they will use, and it is very important to stay as natural and individual as possible when writing it. Just because it is a formal, public and intellectually demanding task does not mean you need to adopt a disguise or hide behind others' views and style. On the contrary: a successful essay reveals something of the writer as well as an argument. It is ultimately a very personal form: you should bear that centrally in mind, and take advantage of it. Naturally, you need to make your language appropriate; but if you follow the many guidelines earlier in this book, there is no reason why your essay style should not be both pleasing and telling.