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TAKING NOTES FROM BOOKS AND ARTICLES IN STUDY OR RESEARCH SETTINGS
• When making notes from your textbook or other material in a study setting,
take special note of headings and topic sentences. These will help you structure
your notes.
• When taking notes from a book or article for research purposes, always take
down the title, author, the date of publication, the publisher and the page numbers from which you made notes. This is crucial when you use your notes later for assignments, as you will have to write citations and references. (See the section ‘Citing sources’.)
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS SUCH AS ESSAYS
During your university career you will be presented with a number of assignments. assignments may take different forms, such as essays, problem-solving assignments and reports. each of these needs to be approached in a different way.
HOW TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR ANSWER IN YOUR ESSAY
one of the most common mistakes that students make when writing an essay is that they don’t answer the question. You may be able to write on the topic and may thoroughly engage with the information that you have researched, but this does not necessarily mean that you are answering the question.
To make sure you answer the question you must understand it. Read and re-read the question, taking note of specific words that tell you how to answer it. highlight these key words. There are also other words that identify what information must be in your answer. Circle these words.
PLAN WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE
There is usually a large amount of material that needs to be carefully organised before you begin writing your essay. an effective way is to draw a spider diagram or a mind map of what you need to answer and the information you need to provide in your essay.
WHY BOTHER TO PLAN?
Planning your essay ensures that you include all the information that you are required to provide. It also helps you write an essay with a clear argument and a logical structure. In addition, planning ensures that you make consistent connections throughout the essay between the information you provide and the question that was asked.
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