Your essay is almost due and all you have is an essay topic with a few brief instructions. If you're lucky, you may have had a tutorial on some basic essay techniques, but that's it! No-one has really told you what's expected, what you lose and gain grades on, and how much effort or time you are expected to put in. This text will help to clarify all of these matters.

Essays involve a lot of detective work. Think of yourself as an academic detective who has to solve the puzzle of the essay topic that confronts you. You are to find the relevant facts, motives and logical explanations of the topic under investigation. In your quest for understanding and explanation, you have to put aside any personal views you may have about a topic, and leave no stones unturned. In the course of your investigation of an essay topic you will uncover much information and often conflicting explanations or theories. Being an academic detective means that you look upon the evidence gathered with a ‘critical eye’ and accept nothing on blind faith. To ensure that you take nothing for granted and properly evaluate the information you uncover, do as Sherlock Holmes would do, and keep the following detective questions in mind:

• Is the information you have found relevant to the topic?
• Is your information up to date?
• Do you have supporting evidence for any claims made?
• What explanations support the evidence collected?
• Do alternative or conflicting explanations and evidence exist?

The work of an academic detective is something you learn by doing, but you can also learn basic skills and tips from those who have gone before you. So, let this tutorial be your guide to the secret methods of the academic detective; your ‘sidekick’ that helps your investigation along by clarifying how to find, analyze and organize the information you need to answer an essay question.