Guide to spelling, punctuation and grammar

Text © Don Shiach 2007
First published in paperback 2007 
First published in electronic form 2007 
ISBN: 978 1 84803 056 5 
Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock, Devon, UK 
Typeset by specialist publishing services ltd, Montgomery, UK 
Cartoons by Phill Burrows 
Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford, UK 
NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good faith for general guidance and no liability can be 
accepted for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying in particular circumstances on statements made in 
the book. The laws and regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should check the current 
position with the relevant authorities before making personal arrangements. 

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CONTENTS
Preface
vii
Introduction
ix
1 Planning Your Essay
1
What are you being asked to do?
1
Making a plan
6
2 The Opening Paragraph
11
‘Waffle’
12
The length of the opening paragraph
15
Useful phrases
16
More opening paragraphs
18
3 The Body of the Essay
26
Paragraphs
26
More examples of paragraphs
30
Continuity
34
The use of close references
38
More about the body of the essay
41
4 The Closing Paragraph
43
Final sentence
45
Further examples of closing paragraphs
45
5 Summary of Essay Structure
50
6 Sample Essay 1: A Discursive Essay
52
v

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7 Sample Essay 2: Literature
61
Essays on literature in examinations
61