Academic Writing Skills

Page 1

Read the Question

The 4 key steps in working out what the question is asking and how to answer it are:

Step 1: What is the question asking, and what are the most important parts of the essay title?

Is mental health illness among children and young adults in the UK an epidemic?

Step 2: Are there any words or concepts that I don’t understand?

I would need to formally define what an epidemic is.

Step 3: What are my initial thoughts, ideas and questions?

I think I know what an epidemic is but need to formally define it. Also, I am aware that there is a high suicide and ill mental health rate in young people and need to look at statistics for the UK, as well as reasons why.

Step 4: What is the word count and what criteria am I expected to meet in this essay?

Read the word count and see how specific you need to be in order to stay within it.

Researching

Initial Quick Overview

Only use Wikipedia as a starting point for knowledge, not as a listed source in your bibliography. Anyone can edit the information so it isn't credible.

Use News websites like BBC or The Guardian

Use Official documents at n