Machine derived contents note: Preface -- Sources of extracts used in the text -- 1. Introduction -- Part I. Reflection and Research: 2. Reflection: asking questions and proposing answers -- 3. Interpretation: reading and taking notes -- Part II. The Dynamics of an Essay: 4. Openings -- 5. Middles -- 6. Endings -- Part III. Language: 7. You, your language and your material -- 8. Analytical language I: sentences -- 9. Analytical language 2: rhetorical strategies -- 10. Cohesion and texture -- 11. Conventions of academic writing -- Appendices -- Index