signposting writing essay

It makes sure you get the CREDIT YOU DESERVE: by making your argument as clear as possible, you give yourself the best possible chance of getting all the credit you deserve for the quality of the points you made, and the style with which you strung them together. Using signposting in your essays means adding “signposting words” or phrases to indicate which part of your overall structure you’re in at the moment, making your writing clearer, and easier to understand. The Cambridge-educated memory psychologist & study coach on a mission to help YOU ace your exams. When the reader knows roughly where you are going to go in your essay, it makes it far easier for them to follow along. Take away the signposts, and you need much more concentration to avoid getting lost – whether in reading the essay or when walking the path. For more help becoming a phenomenal essay and exam-answers writer, I am currently accepting clients for 1:1 coaching – read more and get in touch here. Alternatively, you could combine your section numbers with connectives to indicate the flow of your argument. Other times, you might have five or six shorter ones. Signposting will flag the most important parts of an argument, signal transitions, and clarify the stakes of an argument. For a simple list of points, this could be as simple as starting each paragraph with the point number (in words, never a numeral! Here are some examples of connecting signposting words that you can use at the start of a new section to indicate different things: So in action, this might mean you’d use phrases like the following at the start of new paragraphs, or when you move into a new section: “Additionally, third, Europe was seeing considerable militarism…”. Sometimes, a good paragraph might only be a couple of relatively long sentences. To develop a point further, or add to it. Examiners and tutors LOVE it when you use signposting, because: So, how to start incorporating signposting into your essays? Half a million students in 150+ countries follow his advice through this site and the, The Lazy Genius Guide to Student Life – with Kendra Adachi, How to proofread an essay: 12 strategies to power up your checking, Printing & binding a thesis: The ultimate how-to guide. “We need to evaluate three factors when deciding…”, “There are two reasons to support X, and three reasons to support Y.”, “There are three good reasons to …, but one strong reason not to” –, “There were five underlying causes of the First World War: firstly, alliances between different countries; secondly, imperialism, which manifested itself as rivalry to conquer overseas colonies; third, militarism, which meant that investment in military forces was given a high profile by the government; fourth, strong nationalism in Europe, creating strong support for national causes, such as territorial expansion; and fifth, two major crises, which fuelled diplomatic tensions between European powers.”, “This essay will consider the topic under the following 8 headings.”, “First, evidence for … will be put forward.”, “This will lead, third, to examination of…”, “… which will be followed, fourth, by exploration of…”, “First, imperialism, which manifested itself as…”. I’m not a big fan of a hard-and-fast rule about how many sentences a paragraph should contain: some sentences are short, others are long. When you clearly show – or signpost – where you are in your discussion, it makes your essays easier to follow, in the same way that physical signposts along a path make the route easier to follow.

Now take a look at the version of this with signposting – much better. Back to the outbreak of WWI example, if you were going to write a long paragraph (or more) on each of the five reasons, you might set out your “map” as follows: Note the use of the colon / semicolon list sentence structure, in which a full colon “:” introduces a list, and semicolons “;” separate different parts of that list. Signposting should happen in your introduction and throughout your whole essay. ): Even if a reader is going quickly, it will still be obvious where you are in the overall structure of your argument. It’s OK to split the same point over two paragraphs if you need to: your use of signposting will help to keep your essay clear even as you make longer, multi-paragraph points, as the signposting words will always indicate which paragraphs belong to which sections of your overall structure. Here’s a quick toolbox of useful verbs you can use to keep your writing varied when presenting more complex “maps” of this nature: If you’ve given your reader a clear map, this one is simple: you just refer back to the structure you told them you were following, and explain which section number you are moving into as you make each fresh point.

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