Structure of text

Organising the response in an appropriate way

• Is the text organised in a way best suited to the task you were given?
• Is the introduction appropriate to the type of assignment text?
• Does each section develop a specific point - with explanations and examples as appropriate - and are the points linked to provide a logical flow of ideas?
• Are your claims supported by evidence which you have critically evaluated?
• Does the conclusion follow from the rest of the text?

Planning your writing

Before you start writing you should have an idea of what the assignment requires of you.

• Stages in planning assignments gives you an outline of the key stages in planning an assignment, with video extracts offering tips from students.
• Understanding the question tells you how to identify key words and phrases in a question. Includes activities and video extract with tutor tips.

Overarching structure of your assignment

The following links take you to webpages that help you understand what the overarching structure of your assignment should look like.

• Types of assignment discusses the basic format for different assignment types: essays, reports and short-answer assignments.
• Dividing your work into paragraphs has a useful activity on arranging paragraphs.

Linking ideas into a logical flow

It is important to indicate the relationship between different points and ideas in your assignments. The following activities from the University of Southampton allow you to explore how to link your ideas in a logical and flowing way.

• Creating cohesion in your writing
• Expressing causality and sentence structure
• Structures for expressing purpose

• Using linking words is an engaging activity demonstrating how you might use linking words in your writing.