How I wrote 1st class essays at Cambridge University (how to write the best essay)

Summary

In this educational video, Shane, a qualified doctor and Neuroscience supervisor at Cambridge University, shares a proven formula for writing top-scoring scientific essays. He breaks down the process into five parts, emphasizing the importance of a well-structured essay with a clear introduction, a main body focused on three key points supported by scientific evidence, and a conclusion that summarizes the argument. Shane also highlights the value of diagrams and active subheadings for clarity and engagement, aiming to help students achieve first-class essays.

Takeaways

• 📚 The script provides a formula for writing the best scientific essay, which has consistently earned top marks at university.
• 🏆 The speaker, Shane, is a qualified doctor and Neuroscience supervisor at Cambridge University, offering credibility to the advice given.
• 📝 The essay structure should include an introduction, main body, and conclusion, each serving a specific purpose in the argument.
• 🔑 The introduction should define key concepts and outline the essay's coverage and argument, capturing the reader's attention from the start.
• 🔍 In the main body, focus on three key points, providing scientific evidence and critically analyzing it, then relating it back to the question.
• 📈 Use diagrams and active subheadings to enhance the main body, making the essay more accessible and visually appealing to examiners.
• 📝 The conclusion should summarize the argument, bringing it to a mature end and providing a final verdict, similar to a more developed introduction.
• 📖 The essay should be well-planned, with an outline in the introduction that sets expectations for the reader and examiner.
• 📊 Critical analysis is key; not only should evidence be provided, but its validity, reliability, and potential for improvement should be discussed.
• 📚 The script emphasizes the importance of understanding the question, knowing what's important, and how to structure an essay for maximum impact.
• 🎓 The advice is aimed at achieving high marks in scientific essays, suggesting that following this formula can lead to success in academic writing.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is about how to write the best scientific essay, with a focus on structure and content.

Who is the presenter of the video?

The presenter of the video is Shane, a recently qualified doctor and Neuroscience supervisor at Cambridge University.

What are the five parts of the video?

The video is split into five parts: a general overview of essay structure, a deeper dive into the introduction, the main body, the conclusion, and a worked example.

What is the foolproof formula mentioned for writing the best essay?

The foolproof formula for writing the best essay includes having a clear introduction, a well-structured main body with three key points, and a conclusion that summarizes the argument.

What are the key components of an essay introduction according to the video?

The key components of an essay introduction are defining the important concepts and outlining what the essay will cover and the argument it will present.

What is an example of a past exam question from Cambridge University used in the video?

The example exam question used in the video is 'Discuss the extent to which humans use negative feedback and feed forward mechanisms to control movement.'

What are the three key concepts identified in the example exam question?

The three key concepts identified in the example exam question are negative feedback, feed forward, and movement.

How should the main body of the essay be structured?

The main body of the essay should be structured around three key points, with each point having a paragraph dedicated to it, including the key point, supporting scientific evidence, critical analysis, and a relation back to the question.

What is the purpose of using diagrams in the main body of the essay?

Diagrams in the main body of the essay serve to convey a lot of information quickly to the examiner, showing that the writer understands the topic and making it easier for the examiner to assess the essay.

What are active subheadings and how do they benefit the essay?

Active subheadings are sentences that summarize the whole paragraph and are placed at the beginning, underlined. They benefit the essay by quickly conveying the main focus of the paragraph to the examiner and reader.

What should the conclusion of the essay do?

The conclusion of the essay should summarize the whole argument, bring it to a nice end, and provide a verdict, essentially reflecting on the evidence and analysis presented in the main body.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Mastering Scientific Essay Writing

This paragraph introduces the video's purpose: to share a formula for writing top-scoring scientific essays, as experienced by the speaker, a qualified doctor and Neuroscience supervisor at Cambridge University. The speaker, Shane, outlines the video's structure, which includes an overview of essay structure, detailed discussion of the introduction, main body, and conclusion, and emphasizes the importance of following this structure for essay success.

05:01

🔍 Structuring the Introduction

The speaker delves into the importance of the introduction in an essay, highlighting it as the gateway to the argument. The paragraph explains the need to define key concepts and outline the essay's coverage and argument. Using a neuroscience exam question as an example, Shane illustrates how to identify and define keywords, such as 'negative feedback,' 'feed forward,' and 'movement,' and the significance of movement in the context of the question. The introduction should set expectations for the reader and examiner about the essay's direction and main points.

📝 Crafting the Main Body

The main body of the essay is discussed as a critical component that requires careful planning and focus on three key points. Shane advises using the first sentence of each paragraph to state the key point clearly and succinctly. Following this, scientific evidence should be presented to support the point, and a critical analysis of the evidence's validity and reliability should be included. The paragraph should conclude by relating the evidence back to the essay's question, creating a 'sandwich' structure of point, evidence, analysis, and relation. Diagrams and active subheadings are suggested as effective tools to enhance the main body and convey information efficiently.

📉 Analyzing and Enhancing the Main Body

Continuing the discussion on the main body, Shane emphasizes the importance of critically analyzing the scientific evidence presented. This involves evaluating the study's validity, reliability, potential confounding factors, and possibilities for improvement. The paragraph also suggests practical tips for improving the essay, such as using diagrams for quick information conveyance and active subheadings to summarize and underline the paragraph's focus, making the essay more accessible for examiners.

🏁 Concluding the Essay

The conclusion of the essay is portrayed as the culmination of the argument, requiring a summary of the entire discussion and a final verdict. Shane explains that the conclusion should reflect the maturity and depth of the analysis conducted in the main body, providing a rounded response that assumes the reader's familiarity with the detailed evidence. Using the example of human movement control mechanisms, the conclusion ties together the use of feed forward for rapid movements and negative feedback for automatic and refining movements, showcasing how to end an essay effectively.

Keywords

💡Essay

An essay is a short piece of writing on a particular subject, often written for academic purposes. In the context of the video, the essay is a scientific one, which requires a structured approach to present and analyze information. The script emphasizes the importance of a well-structured essay for achieving high marks.

💡Structure

Structure refers to the organization of the content in a logical and coherent manner. The video script outlines a foolproof formula for essay writing, emphasizing the need for a clear structure consisting of an introduction, main body, and conclusion to effectively convey the argument.

💡Introduction

The introduction is the opening section of an essay that sets the stage for the argument. It is crucial for capturing the reader's attention. The script advises defining key concepts and outlining the essay's coverage in the introduction to provide a roadmap for the reader.

💡Main Body

The main body is the central part of the essay where the core arguments and supporting evidence are presented. The script suggests focusing on three key points, each elaborated in a separate paragraph, to maintain clarity and avoid losing the reader in details.

💡Conclusion

The conclusion is the final part of an essay that summarizes the argument and provides a verdict. It should bring the whole essay together and leave a lasting impression on the reader. The script illustrates how to effectively conclude by reiterating the main points and offering a mature response.

💡Key Concepts

Key concepts are the fundamental ideas or terms central to the essay's topic. The script uses 'negative feedback,' 'feed forward,' and 'movement' as examples, emphasizing the need to define these concepts clearly to establish a solid foundation for the essay.

💡Critical Analysis

Critical analysis involves evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of evidence or arguments. The script advises critically analyzing the scientific evidence presented in the main body of the essay to demonstrate a deeper understanding and to strengthen the argument.

💡Scientific Evidence

Scientific evidence refers to data or findings from research that support an argument. The script highlights the importance of providing scientific evidence in the main body of the essay to substantiate the key points made in each paragraph.

💡Diagrams

Diagrams are visual representations of information that can aid understanding. The script suggests using diagrams in the main body of the essay to quickly convey complex information and to help the examiner grasp the concepts more efficiently.

💡Active Subheadings

Active subheadings are descriptive titles that summarize the content of a paragraph. The script recommends using active subheadings in the main body to give the examiner a quick overview of the paragraph's focus, enhancing the essay's clarity.

💡Verdict

A verdict is a conclusion or decision on a matter of fact. In the context of the essay, the script describes the verdict as the final statement in the conclusion that encapsulates the overall message and provides a definitive stance on the topic.

Highlights

A foolproof formula for writing the best essay is introduced, which has consistently achieved top marks.

The video is divided into five parts to cover essay structure, introduction, main body, and conclusion.

The structure of an essay should include an introduction, main body, and conclusion for clarity and impact.

Introductions should define key concepts and outline the essay's coverage to engage the reader.

An example from a Cambridge University exam question is used to illustrate defining key concepts in an introduction.

The importance of defining concepts like 'negative feedback', 'feed forward', and 'movement' is emphasized.

Outlining the essay's argument and key points in the introduction is crucial for setting reader expectations.

The main body of the essay should focus on three key points, each supported by scientific evidence.

Each paragraph in the main body should start with a clear statement of the key point.

Providing and critically analyzing scientific evidence strengthens the essay's argument.

Relating the evidence back to the question in each paragraph is essential for coherence.

Diagrams can be a quick and effective way to convey complex information in the main body.

Active subheadings can help to quickly communicate the purpose of each paragraph to the examiner.

The conclusion should summarize the argument, provide a verdict, and assume reader understanding of details.

An example conclusion ties together the use of feed forward and negative feedback mechanisms in movement control.

The video offers a worked example to demonstrate the application of the essay writing formula.

A call to action encourages viewers to like, subscribe, and share the video for those who may find it useful.

Transcripts

now this is a fantastic formula for

writing the best essay it's got me a

first every single year at University

and this is what I see time and time

again in students who score the highest

marks

hey guys welcome back to the channel if

you're new here my name's Shane and I'm

a recently qualified doctor and

Neuroscience supervisor at Cambridge

University and today we're going to talk

about how to write the best scientific

essay and we're going to be going

through a worked example so I'm going to

split this video up into five parts

firstly I'll give a general overview of

the structure of an essay then I'm going

to dive in a bit deeper and talk about

the introduction the main body and the

conclusion now this is a fantastic

foolproof formula to writing the best

essay so trust me if you follow this

structure you're going to do

fantastically

so how should you structure your essay

to make it fantastic well you need to

have an introduction where you define

the key Concepts and outline what you're

going to be covering secondly you need

the main body where you essentially talk

about your main points present

supporting scientific evidence

critically Analyze That evidence and

then relating it back to the question

then finally you should end with a

conclusion which essentially draws up

the whole argument into a summary and

gives a nice verdict now let's dive in a

bit deeper and look at each of these

sections in turn

right so let's start with the

introduction the introduction is

essentially a Gateway into your argument

it's what has the most attention from

the reader so you need to grab that

right from the beginning so how can you

achieve that with your introduction well

you need to firstly Define Concepts that

are important in your essay so let's use

an actual example past exam question

from Cambridge University so the example

I've chosen is this discuss the extent

to which humans use negative feedback

and feed forward mechanisms to control

movement and this was from a

neuroscience paper back in 2012. so what

are the keywords there well the keywords

for me would be negative feedback feed

forward and movement so once you've read

the question and decided what the key

concepts are you need to now Define them

so in my introduction I would say Okay

negative feedback is something like an

automatic response to restore a change

from a set value then for feed forward I

might say something like it provides a

mechanism to predict future changes and

responses based on current sensory input

now movement is a bit tricky because

there's no point in just defining

movement as is because well everyone

knows what movement is what you can do

is Define the importance of movement why

is it important well for that you can

say something like movement is required

for survival by allowing us to run away

from predators and run towards our prey

so defining the key Concepts in such a

way immediately tells the reader you

know what this person knows what's going

on they can decide what's important in

the question and they know what those

features are so after you've defined the

key Concepts move on and outline what

your essay is going to cover and what

your argument is going to be now a lot

of students end up skipping this part

because they feel like they're just

going to repeat themselves later in the

essay however don't do that always

outline what you're going to cover to

set the examiner and the reader up to

essentially know what to expect so for

this example what would I write well I

would use one sentence to convey my main

message and the second sentence to

essentially talk about the key points

I'm going to cover that's going to lead

me or lead the examiner to that final

overall message so how would that look

in this example well sentence one where

you're conveying that overall message

might look like this feed forward is

used for Rapid movement and negative

feedback is used for slower automatic

movement so that's your overall message

and in sentence two you're going to tell

the reader or the examiner this is how

I'm going to get to that overall message

so the key points you're going to cover

you might say the essay will cover

movements utilizing feed forward

mechanisms negative feedback and those

utilizing both so definitely in your

introduction Define the key Concepts and

outline what your overall message is

going to be and what key points you're

going to cover

now let's talk about the main body this

can be very tricky for a lot of people

because they often end up overlooking

the big picture and the general ideas

and get lost in the nitty-gritty details

this again is why it's important to plan

and already outline the key points in

the introduction so for the main body my

advice would be to stick to three key

points select your best three key points

and focus on just that and devote one

paragraph for each key point so what's

the best way to structure each of these

paragraphs then well use the first

sentence of the paragraph to convey the

key point so as an example it might look

like this feed forward mechanism is key

for Rapid movement very short very

Snappy tells the examiner this is

exactly what this paragraph is going to

be about then in the second sentence

provide important scientific evidence

that backs up the point that you've just

made so that might look like this this

is shown by its importance in vestibular

ocular reflexes where the eyes move

equal and opposite to the head by

predicting the change needed so not only

have you just made the key points where

you've also batted up with scientific

evidence to add substance to that point

however don't stop at that go further in

your third sentence critically analyze

that piece of evidence essentially talk

about how good was that study that led

to that evidence is it valid is it

reliable were there any confounding

factors and importantly could it be

improved and the final sentence of your

paragraph you should always relate back

to the question so that might look like

this this therefore shows feed forward

mechanisms are utilized widely in Rapid

movements so think of the first and last

sentences as the bread of your sandwich

and the scientific evidence and the

critical analysis as the filling within

your sandwich this is one of the best

formulas for getting the top high marks

within your essays examiners are going

to love that you know evidence to

support your point and they're going to

love it even more when you actually

critically analyze that piece of

evidence two easy things that you can do

within the main body to actually spice

it up is use diagrams a lot of people

are scared of using diagrams because

they think you know what it's going to

take up a lot of time or it's not going

to be assessed as well as if I'd written

a good sentence that's just not true

diagrams can be very easy and quick they

convey a lot of information very quickly

to The Examiner because you have to

think that these people are mocking so

many essays in a day and they just want

to just quickly go through everything

and if they can see that you know what

this person has shown this diagram

therefore I'm pretty sure that they

understand what's going on here they're

much more likely to give you the mark

and move on to the next paragraph so for

example with negative feedback in that

paragraph that I'm talking about it I

might include a diagram rather than

going into detail in terms of how

negative feedback Works another good

thing that you can do within the main

body is using active subheadings so what

are active subheadings active

subheadings are essentially just a

sentence that summarizes your whole

paragraph by putting that right at the

beginning underlining it essentially

tells the examiner this is exactly what

the paragraph is going to be about that

again this is exactly like the diagram

in conveying a lot of information to the

examiner and the reader very quickly

right so now let's move on to the final

aspect of the essay which is the

conclusion so the conclusion has to

summarize your whole argument bring it

to a nice end and then give a verdict

it's essentially a grown-up version of

the introduction because if you think

about it in your introduction you're

just saying okay these are the key

points I'm going to be making then in

your main body you essentially spend all

your time flushing it out providing

evidence analyzing it and then now in

your conclusion you can finally give a

mature well-rounded response that

actually can assume that the reader has

read all the detail and evidence and you

can pretty much go to the Crux of the

problem and end it nicely so for example

in conclusion the evidence presented

suggests that humans utilize both feed

forward and negative feedback mechanisms

to control movement but for different

aspects feed forward for Rapid movement

where time delays of negative feedback

will be too costly and negative feedback

for automatic movements and for refining

movements right so there you have it

that was a worked example on how to

write the best scientific essay and

hopefully you get guys now have a very

good formula for writing those first

class essays if you've enjoyed this

video please give me a like and smash

that subscribe button and please do

share with anyone you think is going to

find this useful but that's it for me

for today and I'll see you guys next

time