Why do tutors ask students to Write essays? · ESSAY WRITING SKILLS@LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY...
Transcript of Why do tutors ask students to Write essays? · ESSAY WRITING SKILLS@LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY...
ESSAYWRITING
SKILLS@LIBRARYTHE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Why do tutors askstudents to Write essays?
tutors ask students to write essays to:• learn about the topic• to show their understanding• to clarify their own thinking• to get a grade that leads to a qualification.
• Thinkingaboutthequestion• Gatheringinformationandideas• Organisingyourideas• Gettingsomethingonpaper• Writingafirstdraft• Reviewinginthelightoffeedback/reflection• Producingafinaldraft
staGes oF WritinG
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interPretinG your assiGnMent
What are you beinG asked to do?
Allassignmentquestionscanbebrokenupintothefollowingcomponents:
the instructional verbsThesewordsshowyoutheapproachtotake.It’simportanttointerpretthesewordsproperly.
the topicThisclarifiesthecontextofthediscussionyou’llneedtoconstruct.
the specific aspect of the topicThishelpsyoutonarrowdownyourtopic.
restrictions imposed on the topicThiswilllimityourdiscussion.
Theinstructionalverbsinyoursetquestionwilldeterminethetypeofwritingyouareabouttoundertake.
discuss• Investigateorexaminebyargument• Siftthroughevidenceandgivereasonsforandagainst
assess• Decideontheimportanceofandgivereasonsfor
evaluate• Makeanappraisaloftheworthofsomething• Youcanmakeyourownvaluejudgementsbutbackthemupwithargumentandjustification
understandinG the Question
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the Question MatriX
Aquestionmatrixcanhelpyoutobreakdownthequestionyouareansweringby:• definingterms• determininghowthetermsrelatetothequestion• decidingwhatthetermsare.
“identify and discuss barriers preventing effective global action on climate change”
Whatisthedefinitionofclimatechange?
Whatismeantbyeffectiveaction?
Whatismeantby‘barrier’inthiscontext?
WhatdoIwanttofocusoninterms
ofglobal?
What’sthetimescale?
What[important]actionsarethere?
Whatarethebarriers?
Howdoesthisrelatetothemodule?
Howisanactiondeemedeffectivewith
regardstoclimatechange?
Who/whatarecreatingthebarriers?(Doesthis
haveanyimpact?)
Isitgovernments,multinationals,
everyone?
CLiMateChanGe
[eFFeCtiVe]aCtion barriers GLobaL
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the Question MatriX teMPLate
essay titLe
terMs terMs terMs terMs
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s-M-a-r-t obJeCtiVes
Agreatwaytostartplanningyourtimeiswithsmartobjectives.WhencreatingaS-M-A-R-Tactionplanaskyourselfwhetheryourtasksare:
specific• Aretheyclearlyidentifiable,oraretheyvague?
Measurable• Whatareyoursuccesscriteria?Ifyourgoalsarenotmeasurable,howwillyouknowwhen
you’veachievedthem?
action-orientated• Whatareyourgoalsandhowwillyouachievethem?
realistic• Arethey“do-able”?Aretheyachievablegiventhelimitedtimeandresourcesyouhave?
time-bound• Haveyousetadeadline?Canyousaywhatneedstobedone,bywhom,andbywhattime?
PLanninG your tiMeFor your assiGnMent
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s-M-a-r-t obJeCtiVes
Example-Readandmakenotesonmainsettext(PearceandTurner,1990)forclimatechangeessay:
“Identifyanddiscussbarrierspreventingeffectiveglobalactiononclimatechange”
specific• IwillreadChapter11‘Pollution-ControlPolicyinMixedEconomies’tonight
Measurable• Iwillhavecoveredonesubstantiveelementofthistopic
action-orientated• IwilltakeCornell-stylenotes(see‘Note-Making’guide),identifykeyevidenceanddataon
post-itsandproduceamind-map
realistic• Onechapterisokbecauseit’sdensematerialandIneedtogettosleepearlytobereadyformy
workshifttomorrow
time-bound• Iwillstartat6pmandfinishby9pm
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First draFt
CreatinG a draFt FroM your PLan
Focus• Makesureyoufocusonyourassignmentquestionandhowyou’veinterpretedit
Core ideas• Writeoutyourcentralideaandmainlineofreasoning
headings• Writeoutyourheadingsandsub-headingsfromyourplan
ideas• Addthecontentanddevelopthetopicideaofeachparagraph
the big picture• Useyourplan• Keepreferringbacktothebigpictureandthelinksyoumadebetweenyourideas• Makesureyouanswerthequestion
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struCture
introduCtion 5%
ConCLusion 10%
Main body 85%
your introduction tells the reader how you will answer the question. your introduction should:• commentonthetitleortopicoftheessay• defineorexplainanydifficultorambiguoustermsinthetitle• directthereaderbystatingwhichaspectsofthetopicyouintendtocoverandwhy.
your conclusion should:• re-stateyourarguments• re-stateyourpoints• havenonewevidence• provethatyouhaveansweredthewholequestion• makerecommendationsifapplicable.Somethinkyoushouldwriteadraftfirstsoyouknowwhereyouaregoing,andre-writeitwhenyou’refinished.
answer the question! answer in a chain of paragraphs that build and present a case. each paragraph should contain 1 big idea and should:• introducetheidea• defineanyconcepts• offeranargument• offeranddiscussevidence• makeafinalpoint.the reader is asking you - and in your writing you should answer - the following questions:• whatisthisparagraphabout?• whatexactlyisthat?• whatisyourargumentonthis(inrelationtothequestion)?• whatisyourevidence?• whatdoesitmean?• whatisthefinalpoint(inrelationtothequestion)?
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eXaMPLe tyPes oF essays - disCursiVe
“Discusswhatarethemostlikelycausesofasthmainchildren”,topic-causalfactorsofchildhood-diagnosedasthma.
introduCtion 5%
ConCLusion 10%
Main body 85%
• Definition-whatisasthma?• Howitismeasuredinpopulations(incidenceandprevalence)?• Scopeofessay(i.e.childrenare15yearsandyounger,trendssince1976,globalstudiesand
databutfocuspredominantlyonEurope)
• Identificationofoveralltrendsorpatternsandthelikelihoodofanyparticularissueasasignificantcausalfactor,givingexplanationsandpossiblefutureimplications
• Comprehensiveandbroadidentificationanddiscussionofdifferentpotentialcausalfactorsandcorrelatingevidence
• Genetic/health• Dietandnutrition• Wealth/poverty• Environment/pollution• Homeandlifestyle• Psychological
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eXaMPLe tyPes oF essays - anaLytiCaL
“Whyhastherebeenanincreaseintheprevalenceofasthmainchildren?”,topic-causalfactorsofchildhood-diagnosedasthma.
introduCtion 5%
ConCLusion 10%
Main body 85%
• Definitionofasthmaandhowitismeasured• Briefoverviewofcurrentglobaltrendsinprevalence• Scopeofessay(i.e.concentrationonenvironmentalcausalfactors,particularlyfocusingon
dieselexhaustpollution,studies/dataused)
• Summaryofthedataandfindingsandtowhatextenttheyrevealthecauseofchildasthmaprevalence,highlightingthereplicationofcorrelationglobally,butalsowherefurtherresearchisrequired
• Identificationanddiscussionofdatatrends• Descriptionoftrends• Comparisonwithglobalincidenceandprevalence• Mostlikelycausalfactors-e.g.environmental• Dataontrafficdensityandpositivecorrelations• Identificationofanycontraryevidenceoralternativeexplanations
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eXaMPLe tyPes oF essays - eVaLuatiVe
“Towhatextentisitlikelythattrafficpollutionisasignificantcauseofasthmainchildren?”,topic-causalfactorsofchildhood-diagnosedasthma.
introduCtion 5%
ConCLusion 10%
Main body 85%
• Definitionofchildhoodasthma• Scopeofessay(globalstudies)
• Repetitionofsignificantcorrelativeevidence• Provenlinksbetweenpollutionandasthma• Isfurtherresearchrequiredtoshowthatitwasthis,ratherthanothersignificantfactors-e.g.
geographicallocation,effectsofpovertyandlifestyle...
• Briefdiscussionofmostlikelycausesofasthma• Briefdescriptionofcomponentsoftrafficpollutionlinkedtoasthma–particulatematterand
dieselexhaust–andwhythesecauseproblems• Analysisofthedatacorrelatingtrafficpollutionandasthma,statingtowhatextentthisis
sufficientandidentifyinganygaps• Examinationofcollectionmethods(ieselfreporting)andlikelihoodofbias• Alternativepossibleexplanations–e.g.hygienehypothesis,geographical,poverty,
malnutrition...
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introduCinG: assertion, eVidenCe and reasoninG
assertion
eVidenCe
reasoninG
Goodparagraphstructureincludesacombinationof:• statement,claimorassertion• evidenceorinformationwhichsupportsandgivesvaliditytotheassertion• reason,logic,justificationfortheassertion.
Goodparagraphsweavethesethreeelementstogethertocreateawell-structuredargument,expressedinaparagraph.ThisisanexampleofagoodparagraphfromaBusinessStudent,using…
Firstly,studentswithexperienceofapplyingforworkplacementsarelikelytomakemoreeffectiveapplicationsfortheirgraduatecareerjobsbecausetheyhavealreadyhadanopportunitytobecomefamiliarwiththeprocess...
...assuggestedbytheHighFliersarticle:“studentsapplyingforworkplacementsintheirfirstorsecondyearatuniversityareselectedthroughaverysimilarrecruitmentprocesstothatusedtorecruitgraduates”(HighFliers,TheGraduateMarket2015,p.23)...
...TheexperiencegainedwhilstapplyingforinternshipswouldbebeneficialwhenapplyingforanentrylevelgraduatejobastheywouldhavehadexperienceinbothinterviewsandwritingCVs,andthereforehadtheopportunitytopractiseandhonetheseskills.
WritinG in ParaGraPhs
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restate your Main arGuMent
siGniFiCanCe
Link your ideas
LiMitations and Further sCoPe
Yourconclusionshouldtakeupwhereyourintroductionleftofftobringyourargumentsandideasinfullcircle.Theconclusiontoyouressayisthelasttimeyouhaveachancetoimpressyourselfuponthereaderandpersuadethemofyourideas.Itisthereforeimportantto:
• Reiterateyourmainideawithevidencesupportingyourargument.• Don’tjustsummarisewhatyou’vewritteninthemainbody,useapersuasivetonetoargueyour
thesis.
• Thinkabouttheimportanceofyourfindings,andifitindicatesfurtherinvestigation.
• Thisisyourchancetolinkallofyourideasnowthatyouhavepresentedthereaderwithallthetopicinformation.
• Don’taddanynewideashere.
• Mentionanylimitationsyouhadtoapply,andtakeintoconsiderationhowfurtherscopecouldintroducedifferentfactors.
ConCLusions
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Good PraCtiCe
LanGuaGe
ForMat
reFerenCinG
• Planforrevising,editingandproofreading• Knowyourweaknesses• Useyourfeedbackfrompreviousassignments• Createalistofcommonerrors• Printoutyourworkwithdoublespacingandusecolour• Checkfordifferentthingsandproofreadforonethingatatimee.g.language,format,references
• Grammarandspelling• Punctuation• Abbreviations• BritishvsAmericanEnglish• Discriminatorylanguage
• Layout• Numbering• Labels• Fontsize• Spaces• Pagenumbers
• Makesureyou’reusingtherightstyle• Foreverycitation,isthereareference?• Foreveryreference,isthereacitation?
reVisinG, editinGand ProoFreadinG
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