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Guide-to-writing-essay

Guide-to-writing-essay
Guide-to-writing-essay

Guidelines on writing an essay

1.What is required?

Many courses of this programme require student to write a 2500-4000 word essay. Normally the essay is assessed by your teacher in summative marks. What we are looking for (i.e. what we will assess) in your essay is a focused examination of a theme arising from the course, based on a critical review of relevant literature presented in a scholarly fashion.

? A focused examination of a theme arising from the course. You may be free to choose what theme to examine, however within two

constraints. First, this theme must reflect the aims and substantive

focus of the course. The second constraint is that the theme you

choose must be sufficiently narrow in focus that it can manageably be explored in some depth, given the time and word limit available to

you. It is a good idea to seek the advice of your course organiser

when deciding what to write your essay on.

?The essay should demonstrate that you have understood and engaged in the relevant literature. The course reading list should provide

pointers to the core literature in your area, but further reading may be required. You should normally do a search in the library and, if stuck, seek the advice of relevant staff.

? A critical review of the relevant literature means that you analyse ideas or information relevant to your theme or subject. Critique does not

necessarily mean criticism; but it does mean you approach everything you read with an open mind and a degree of scepticism. You want to ask; are the author’s claims valid? Do they support or conflict with

other claims? What are the implications? Also, what connections may we legitimately draw between different bodies of literature?

?Critical analysis requires the marshalling of evidence and measured argument. This is central to good scholarship. There is no place for

unsupported assertions or prejudice. Always ‘unpack’ your

arguments fully (i.e. leaving no gaps in the logic and explanation).

?Try to develop an argument out of your analysis of the literature. The essay should be structured to allow an orderly progression in the

treatment of the theme. Your position should emerge from this

treatment in a clear stepwise fashion. (NB There is no requirement for originality!)

?You should follow all the conventional canons of scholarship. As well as being appropriately analytical, this means you must acknowledge

accurately the sources of all ideas and information which you make use of – whether or not you are making a direct quotation. Always cite the source (including the page numbers) where it is used in the text, and provide full bibliographic details in a list of references at the end.

When the idea or information is your own, make this explicit in the text

(e.g.: in my experience …, I would argue that …)

?Adopt an appropriate writing style. This will generally be a measured analytical style and sometimes descriptive, but never journalistic or

poetic. Be reasonably formal in your language, not conversational or sensational. Above all, be clear! Avoid over-complicated language

and constructions – complex ideas and phenomena are best captured in simple terms and phrases. And be precise in your choice of words – make sure they convey as accurately as possible what you actually

mean. This applies not only to terminology, but also to the

construction of your argument. (Note, for example, the difference

between ‘the evidence demonstrates that…’ and ‘the evidence suggests that…’)

?Smart presentation matters! Assessed work should be typed 1.5 or double spaced with a minimum 2.5 cm margin on all sides. You should have a title page including the paper and course title, plus your name, word count and the date submitted. Make effective use of section

headings as appropriate (see below). Always use a spell check and

proof read for grammar. All coursework should be submitted with an appropriate Assignment/Assessment submission form, which can be

downloaded from WebCT.

2.The Process

Producing a piece of academic work is an iterative process rather than a linear one, but there are key benchmarks along the way. Planning is vital if you are to get the most out of the time and resources available to you, so it is a good idea to recognise each element of the process and develop the best way for you of approaching the task.

?Scan read relevant literature around the broad area of interest. The aim here is to develop your ideas and narrow your focus and, in the

process, to identify key items of literature.

?Define the focus and scope of your paper. This will involve identifying the questions or theme(s) and topic(s) you will examine. It is

important that there are clear limits to your paper – so that it is

manageable and you know when you have finished!

?Produce an outline for the paper, identify your main section headings and which literature you want to use in each section. You should have

a rough plan for the order and time you are going to take on each

section.

?In-depth reading and reflection is central. Work through your key literature developing your critique and your argument. Effective note taking is essential here to ‘do justice’ to the authors whose work you

use so be sure you have really understood the material. Also keep a clear record of bibliographical sources and page numbers for individual ideas or items of information.

?Write, usually section by section. But always think before you write.

It can be useful to draw up quite a detailed outline of each section as you come to it, clarifying in your own mind the evidence and sources you plan to use and the argument which you want to build from the

material. Often one’s analysis develops further in the course of

writing.

?Allow enough time at the end to review and refine. Pay particular attention to your introduction and conclusion, as well as general clarity including ‘sign posts’ (see below).

3.Structure and Organisation

3.2 Sections and subheadings

All academic work must have ‘a beginning, a middle and an end’. Whilst the ‘middle’ will necessarily vary, there are fairly clear prescriptions about the introduction and conclusion.

Introduction – must include:

i a clear statement of the aims, focus and scope of the paper

ii an explanation of why your theme is interesting (which may be based on the literature or on issues in the world ‘out there’)

iii an account of how you tackle the theme, including an outline of the p aper.

Substantive body

It is vital that you organise your material into sections – this avoids unnecessary repetition and allows you to progress your argument. There will normally be two strands running through the body of your paper in a step-wise fashion: the topic or theme, and your analysis of it plus any ensuing argumentation. Either or both can be used as ‘pegs’ for a structure. The number of sections and sub sections you use (never go beyond sub-sub sections) will depend on the complexity of the material. As a rule of thumb, no section should be less than two paragraphs or more than three pages.

Conclusion – has two requirements:

i summ arise your argument. This is your opportunity to draw together

the threads of your argument and tell the reader what conclusions they should take away from your treatment of the literature. Don’t simply tell us that you looked at x, y and z topics. Never introduce new

substantive material in a conclusion.

ii reflect on the implications of your case, returning explicitly to the aims etc of your paper and the reasons for your interest in the theme. At

this stage you are allowed to ‘take off the blinkers’ and comment on

related but wider themes – be they practical or theoretical. Where

appropriate you may finish a paper by pointing to areas which, on the basis of your paper, warrant future research.

3.2 Paragraphs and sentences

Paragraphs are discrete bodies of text of a manageable length (usually 100-250 words). They are a very important means of organising how we present ideas and information. Always use one paragraph to address one substantive element – an idea, topic or piece(s) of literature. Know in advance what will be the focus or role of each paragraph, and signal clearly to the reader what this is (often but not always by the first sentence). Avoid unnecessary repetition: if the paragraph has done its job, you should never need to do more than cross refer to it in a few words later on in the paper.

Sentences convey a single idea or piece of information. There should be a clear progression or relationship between sentences in a paragraph. Grammatically, all sentences must have a verb. Sentences should be

‘breath length’ or be punctuated to indicate where a breath may be taken. Short sentences, without too many clauses, are generally better for comprehension. (30 words is a reasonable maximum; 10-15 a good norm).

3.3 ‘Signposting’ or ‘flagging’

It is in your interest to ensure maximum comprehension of what you write: the most brilliant ideas are worth nothing unless communicated effectively. 'Flagging’ sentences or paragraphs are conventionally used to guide the reader through your paper, in the following places:

?provide an outline of the paper in your introduction

?indicate clearly at the beginning of each main section what it is about

?either here or at the end of the previous main section, explain how the material or ideas you are about to address links to what precedes. (It is sometimes necessary to refer back to the main theme of the paper).

?Summarise the argument so far at key junctures in the paper, eg at the end of large sections

?Draw together the threads of all your argument in the conclusion.

4.Bibliography, Citations and Notes

4.1 Bibliography

All references must be listed (alphabetically by author’s name) at the end of your paper. These references must contain full bibliographical information, ie:

?for books: author(s), date, title, place of publication and publisher

?for articles in books also: title and pages of articles, editors of books

?for articles in journals: author(s), date, title of article, title of journal, volume, number and pages.

?for e-journal articles: URLs should be italicised and placed within brackets. It would be good practice to specify when was the last date when all of the cited links were last accessed. When an article available in printed form is cited reference should always be made to the printed source.

Adopt one of the conventional styles for presenting and punctuating bibliographies (e.g. taken from a journal in the field or your reading lists) and follow it consistently. Note that all styles differentiate between titles of articles (which are in quotes or bare) and titles of journals and books (which are in italics or underlined). If you are using Harvard style (see below), place the year of publication in brackets immediately after the author’s name.

4.2 Citations

Citations to reference material must be made in the text right next to the idea or item of information that you have obtained from the particular source(s). There are two alternative ways of citing your sources. The easiest, and increasingly popular in the social sciences, is the ‘Harvard style’ whereby you write the author and the publication, plus page number(s), all in brackets, in the body of the text eg (Smith, 1998, 3). Alternatively, footnotes may be used with a superscript number appearing in the text and the references at the bottom of the pages. Do not use end notes in assessed work. Note that a bracketed citation must be placed inside a sentence (typically), while a footnote number must be placed after any punctuation.

4.3 Notes

Notes may be used, as appropriate, to add text which is relevant to your theme but sufficiently tangential that its inclusion in the body of the text would detract from the development of your case. Notes are most commonly used to indicate links with other bodies of literature, or other parts of your paper; to explain an argument or technicality; or to provide background information, eg on a particular author or piece of work, which helps to explain why they reach particular conclusions. Notes are not required in essays, and should be used sparingly. Again, in assessed work they should appear at the bottom of the page and not at the end of the paper.

NB: The main library has produced booklets on the writings of essays and dissertations, and there are numerous publications you can consult on the topic. See, for example, a recent Open University book entitled A Guide to Learning Independently.

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