Skip to content
Skip to main content

About this free course

Download this course

Share this free course

English: skills for learning
English: skills for learning

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

4.4 Presenting your paragraphs

As you have seen so far, when writing an essay a main concern should be clarity. This is achieved by clearly introducing and structuring the paragraphs, moving from general information to specific details and dealing with only one point at a time.

In the next activity you will learn that presentation also helps to produce a clear answer that tutors can easily follow.

Activity 14

Timing: Allow 5 minutes

Figure 11 contains visual representations of three possible ways to present an essay (A, B, C). Match each one to the tutor feedback below.

  1. This is a well-presented essay. Each paragraph develops one point and is clearly separate from the others.
  2. This essay is difficult to follow. It develops many points but these are not easy to identify as the essay is presented as one unbroken chunk of text.
  3. This essay deals with several issues but only one or two sentences are used to develop each point. In some cases explanations are provided in a separate short paragraph. This makes the text difficult to read.
Visual representations of different types of essay
Figure 11 Visual representations of different types of essay

Note the appropriate numbers in the box below before comparing your answers with mine.

To use this interactive functionality a free OU account is required. Sign in or register.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

Answer

A: 2

B: 3

C: 1

Comment

The way in which an essay is presented can help readers to clearly see its organisation and identify each point easily. If all points are merged into one long paragraph or if the supporting sentences are presented separately, readers will find it very difficult to follow.