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.

1.2 Linking the introduction to the assignment question

A good introduction aims to show the reader that the essay will provide a relevant answer to the assignment question. To achieve this, the introduction should link back to the question. This is done by writing a paragraph that deals with all the key content mentioned in the assignment question. This is reinforced by the use of words (or their synonyms) mentioned in the question.

In the next activities you will look again at Fred’s essay, which you worked with in Week 4, to see how his paragraphs are linked and how they work together to answer the assignment question. If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you download the file [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] that has been provided and print it out, as you may find it helpful to be able to highlight, underline or annotate portions of the text.

Activity _unit6.1.2 Activity 2

Timing: Allow approximately 5 minutes

Reread the assignment question Fred had to answer. The key content words have been highlighted in bold italic and numbers have been added to link the words to a specific topic in Fred’s essay.

Extract _unit6.1.1 Assignment question

Why is it important for carers [1] to recognise the differences [2] between public [3] and private [4] spaces? Your answer should refer to care [1] provided in hospital [5], residential [6] and domestic [7] settings.

Now look at the introduction to Fred’s essay. Identify all the words Fred uses that relate to each specific theme. You can do this in any way you wish: by highlighting or underlining in different colours or otherwise adding numbers to a paper copy of the essay. Two numbers have already been placed for you. When you have finished compare your answer with mine.

Extract _unit6.1.2 Essay introduction

People consider their home their own private space [4] which they are able to control and keep separate from any public spaces [3] in which they live or work. However, should their circumstances change, and they find themselves in need of care, this private area may be encroached or they may have to spend time in a public space. This can be an uncomfortable experience whether care is delivered in public places such as hospitals or in residential and domestic environments. The ability to determine the differences between public and private spaces is therefore essential for those who wish to be skilled and effective carers as it affects the quality of their work in all care contexts. This essay will consider the differences between public and private spaces and how these can affect the behaviour of both carers and those receiving care in hospital, residential and private homes.

Answer

The word(s) in bold italic are the key words that link to each topic. The numbers indicate which topic the highlighted word(s) relates to.

Extract _unit6.1.3 Essay introduction

People consider their home their own private space [4] which they are able to control and keep separate from any public spaces [3] in which they live or work. However, should their circumstances change, and they find themselves in need of care [1], this private area [4] may be encroached or they may have to spend time in a public space [3]. This can be an uncomfortable experience whether care [1] is delivered in public places [3] such as hospitals [5] or in residential [6] and domestic environments [7]. The ability to determine the differences [2] between public [3] and private spaces [4] is therefore essential for those who wish to be skilled and effective carers [1] as it affects the quality of their work in all care [1] contexts. This essay will consider the differences [2] between public [3] and private spaces [4] and how these can affect the behaviour of both carers [1] and those receiving care [1] in hospital [5], residential [6] and private [4] homes [7].

If you chose to use colour to visualise this activity you can see the same information in this PDF: Week 5 Activity 2 answer.

Discussion

It is important to use the first paragraph to introduce the key themes that will be covered in the essay. This helps readers to follow the student’s reasoning and reassures them that the answer is relevant to the assignment question.