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As an undergraduate student at university, you will prob- Primary research occurs when you yourself make some
ably be expected to do some writing in most of your observations on an experiment, survey or study, as is
courses. Even if the course doesn’t require you to submit expected in science lab courses as well as in some social sci-
a paper, it may require you to write an essay examination. ence and humanities research courses. But even those pa-
Therefore, an important part of learning at university pers produced from primary research will usually involve
includes becoming familiar with the structure of an es- the use of some kind of secondary research to discuss how
say as well as achieving the level of competence in writ- your results compare to those of experts in the field.
ing expected by university professors. Writing skills are
emphasized in assignments at university because writing is
an essential tool for communication in the working world;
What Is an Essay?
these assignments help you to develop the critical thinking
The term essay is used broadly for many different kinds of
and writing skills that will be important even after gradu-
papers. Essentially, an essay is a written document which
ation.
discusses, explains, analyzes, interprets or evaluates a topic
in an organized and coherent manner. The terminology
Some students believe that writing ability is evaluated only
used to refer to an assignment and the requirements for
in courses within English departments. This isn’t true at
length, level of analysis, and amount of research vary not
the University of Guelph, where all faculty are directed by
only between disciplines but also between courses within
Senate to grade not only the content of the assignment but
a discipline. Following are some examples of terminology
also “the student’s ability to use correctly and effectively
which may be used in various disciplines.
the language appropriate to the assignment.” What this
means is that no matter how well-chosen your topic, how
In an introductory English literature course, you may be asked
well-researched your information, how innovative your
to write a literary essay or literary analysis which inter-
ideas, or how brilliant your understanding of the mate-
prets a poem, short story or novel, and which uses only that
rial, your grade will suffer if you cannot convey all that to
piece of work and your own ideas as your sources. In more
a reader through a well-organized, clearly written paper.
advanced English courses you may also be using the published
Writing is an expression of your thoughts. If your writ-
opinions of other critics to support and expand your interpre-
ing isn’t clear, a professor will assume that your thinking
tation.
wasn’t clear on that topic either.
An assignment which asks you to do some library research to
Written assignments in university can vary in length from
write about a topic may be referred to as an essay, a paper, a
a one-page essay question on an examination to a 20- or
research essay, a research paper, a term assignment, or
30-page research paper. They can also vary in the level of
a term paper. The terminology is not necessarily consistent: a
analysis as well as in the amount and type of research
term paper may tend to be a longer paper written in advanced
required. You may be asked simply to describe a process or
courses, but not necessarily. You may be assigned a specific
event, or to analyze or evaluate how and why that process
topic or asked to choose your own from subjects relevant to the
or event occurs. Some assignments will require you to read
course; the assignment will require you to read up on a specific
and discuss a single work assigned to you, while others
topic, using either books or journal articles, and to integrate
will require you to conduct some kind of library research
those sources to inform or persuade a reader.
to find out about your topic and to bring together in your
paper information from a variety of sources. This is called
An assignment requiring a literature review or research
secondary research, and requires you to learn to properly
review may be asking you to choose a specific topic and then
acknowledge your research sources when you write. (See
to read journal articles written by experts about their own
other handouts in the Fastfacts series: Using Quotations
research. In this kind of paper you will be summarizing and
in your Essay, APA Referencing Style, MLA Referencing
comparing the results of research conducted on that topic. In
Style, CBE Referencing Style, and Chicago Referencing
some advanced courses you may also be required to do some
Style.
critical evaluation of the kind and quality of research being
Writing Services
The Learning Commons, 1st Floor, Library
www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca
writing@uoguelph.ca
(519) 824-4120 ext. 53632
3.