What is good writing?

1.3.1 Reading guide

2 What does an essay look like?

2.1 A lack of insight?

One of the curious things about learning to write essays is that you are seldom offered much insight into what you might be setting out to produce. You know only too well what your essays look like and what your tutor says about them, but you don't know what else you might have done. For instance, you have very little idea what other people's essays are like and what comments they get back. Perhaps you are told your essay ought to be ‘more structured’ or ‘less subjective’, but how are you supposed to know what a more structured or a more objective essay would look like? Your tutor passes judgement on your essay by comparing it with lots of others, whereas you only get to see your own.