Guide to spelling, punctuation and grammar

Party in the 1945 election?
Here is a sample paragraph from an essay answer to that assignment:
The experience of the majority of the British people
during the 1930s was undoubtedly a major factor in
their decision to vote for the Labour Party. The Great
Depression of the 1930s, after the Wall Street crash of
1929, had led to mass unemployment in Britain.
With minimal social security available to the mass
of the population, the working classes endured years
of deprivation and struggle to meet the very basic
needs of food, housing and health care. There was
no safety net to fall back onto. Millions lived in
wretched city slums and were seriously
undernourished. The lack of nutritious food meant
many children and old people, in particular,
suffered from ill-health. Free medical care was very
scarce and when the choice was between putting
food on the table or paying the doctor’s bills,
millions had to choose the survival route and
neglect basic health needs. And who was in charge
during this decade of social deprivation? The
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OW TO WRITE ESSAYS

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Conservatives, who were now asking the people who
had endured under their government of the 1930s to
give them once again their trust. The bitter
experience of that decade, however, had not been
forgotten and it would cost the Tory party dearly. 
The first sentence of the paragraph makes an assertion about the impact
of the 1930s on how people voted in the 1945 election. This assertion
has to be backed up with concrete and detailed evidence.
Thus, the second sentence mentions mass unemployment. The third
sentence adds further detail by alluding to the lack of social security and
the key areas of food, housing and health care. The next four sentences
back up this point.
Then, there is a use of a rhetorical question that is answered in the
penultimate sentence of the paragraph. The final sentence of the
paragraph draws a conclusion based on the evidence provided in the
paragraph.
Therefore, the statement made in the key sentence is backed up with
detailed and specific references that are appropriate and relevant.
Whatever the subject area of your essay assignments, it is important to
remember that assertions must be complemented by detail and specific
references.