How to write an essay,

how to write an essay-report

Elena Pierazzo

1

Essays

• Most common type of assessment

• Given topic

• Given length

– Word counts: exactly the required length

– 5% grace, after than 2 points for each 5% up to 50%, then 3 points for each further 5%

– Bibliography excluded

– Notes (foot, end) included

– Title included

2

Essay

• Present a topic

• Discuss literature

• Adopt a particular point of view

• Present some conclusions

3

School A&H marking criteria

Parameters

• Understanding: the topic, the point of view

• Selection and coverage: the references,

the bibliography

• Structure: the organisation of the

argument

4

Understanding

• A: Authoritative, full understanding of all the issues with originality in analysis

• B: Independent, critical evaluation of full range of theories with some evidence of originality

• C: Some capacity to reflect critically but with no significant evidence of originality.

• F+: Lack of understanding and focus

• F: Shows almost no insight into the

• problem or topic

5

Selection and Coverage

• A: Full range of sources used selectively to support argument

• B: Complex work and concepts presented, key texts used effectively

• C: Sound knowledge base of primary and

• secondary sources

• F+: Limited sources

• F: Irrelevant sources and/or out of date sources

6

Structure

• A: Coherent and compelling argument well presented

• B: Argument concise and explicit

• C: The argument is developed but lacks fluency

• F+: Argument not fully developed and lacks structure

• F: Argument not developed, confused and incoherent

7

More details: The A range

• A++ (90-100) Strikingly insightful, displaying, for example: publishable quality, outstanding research potential, highest originality and independent thought, outstanding ability to make informed judgement, highest professional standards of writing and presentation.

• A+ (80-89) Insightful, displays, for example, excellent research potential, very high originality, possibly of publishable quality, professional standards of writing and presentation.

• A (70-79) Excellent; displays, for example, high levels of originality, accuracy, evidence of the potential to undertake research, the ability to analyse primary sources critically, very good standards of writing and presentation

8

More details: the B range

• B+ (65-69) Approaching excellence in

some areas, evidence of the potential to

undertake research

• B (60-64) Well developed relevant

argument, good degree of accuracy and

technical competence

9

More details: the C range

• (55-59) approaching merit, sound degree

of competency but incomplete argument,

contains some inaccuracies

• (50-54) broadly satisfactory, narrow

argument, contains inaccuracies

10

More details: the Fail range

• F+ (40-49) patchy overall knowledge,

presentational weakness, little evidence of

independent thought

• F (0-39) fundamental mistakes,

poor/unacceptable presentation

11

What makes a good essay?

• Critical thinking/analysis

• Cogency of argument

• Quality of written style

• Clarity of layout and argument

• Component parts link together

• Explore further than the obvious – push boundaries

• Focus on what is really important

• Need for effective communication

• Something that YOU are interested in

Finding information

• Reading books and articles, and taking notes

• Searching catalogues in libraries– Subjects, keywords, authors that have written

something interesting

– Google scholars/books

• In the library, shelves are often organised by topic– So always check the books on the same shelf as

the one you were looking for

• Skimming books for information– Enables you to cover much more ground

Collecting and managing notes,

quotations, references

• Volume of notes does NOT = quality of notes

• Develop easy shorthand for common words

• Notebooks

• Software– Desktop

• Endnote

• BiblDesk

• Pliny

– Web based• Zotero

• L and many others

Skimming books

• Try to make your reading effective – Most of the time you don’t need to read every

word

• Look in:– TOC

– Titles of chapters

– Indices

– Subtitles

– Images and tables

– Few words at the beginning of a paragraphL

Time management

• Check the deadline

• When applicable: agree the topic with your

teacher

• Distribute time for reading and collecting

materials and notes, writing, proofreading

16

1 month = 7 working days

What???

Writing

• Limitations of space

• Concise writing

• What is central to my argument?

• What can be omitted?

• Check word limits

Writing: your Outline

• Literature Review

• Methodology

• A set of interrelated questions

• Clear structure

– Divide into sections and sub-sections

– Aids clarity and readability

• Make the direction clear from start

Footnotes

• Avoid multiplication: if you have more than one quotation from the same page try to group them

• Be concise! Footnotes are difficult to read and are often ignored

• Use inline reference (Smith 2009:34) and reserve footnotes for digression1

1. A similar approach has been discussed by Tupman2009, p. 34, with the difference that here Tupmansuggests thatL

Outline

• Divide your essays into sections and assign a

given number of words to each section

• The largest part of the essay (50% or more)

should discuss the main topic of the essay

• Leave space for conclusions

• You don’t need to include the outline in your

essay, but a description of the methodology is

appropriate

21

4000 words’ essay: an example

breakdown

• Introduction: 400 words (10%)

• Methodology: 400 words (10%)

• Central argument: 2600 words (65%)

– Sub argument 1: 500 words

– Sub argument 2: 800 words

– Sub argument 3: 1400 words

• Conclusions: 600 words (15%)

22

Title

• Read the title and the rubric carefully: that

will avoid ‘rubric infringement’

• When you think you have finished, read

the title again: does the content respond to

the title?

– Can help to check every paragraph and think

‘how does this respond to the title?’

– If it doesn’t, then delete it!

23

Writing a report

Document and Reflect

• Description of a practical piece of work:

software development, survey, interview,

mock-up, internship

• Reflections on your choices, reflections on

the methodology, reflections on the results

24

Structure

• Introduction: what you have done, what was requested

• Methodology: How you have done it

• Results: what have you obtained

• Discussion: critical evaluation of the methodology and of the results, limits of your work

• Conclusions: what you have learned, what would you do differently next time

25

Example: Internship

Introduction

I have done my internship at the National

Theatre from 23-10-2012 until the 4-12-

2012.

The National Theatre is a cultural institution

thatL

26

Methodology

My role in during the internship was to

digitise and store videos of past plays. To do

that I had to use a software calledL. Then I

had to add metadata, which where similar

the the standard NISO (Library of Congress

2009)L

27

Results

At the end of my internship I had managed

to digitise 3,500 videos, all of which have

been uploaded to the internet. These videos

have been made available to the public to

download, and in particular to schools,

fulfilling the mission of the National Theatre

to produce a wide impact in the society

28

Discussion

Digitised content plays a fundamental role in

the mandate of public cultural institutions.

Involving the general public by making this

material available is fundamental, as remarked

by Branson 2007L

Working in a team has been a rewarding

experience, though with some drawbacks due

to the difficulty of having regular meetingsL

29

Conclusions

The experience at the National Theatre has

been extremely useful, not only because I

have been able to see in practice the issues

we have discussed in class, but also

because I felt that my contribution,

reenforced by the knowledge acquired in

class, has been valuable.

30

SOME GENERAL TIPS

31

Grammar and spelling

• Avoid using contracted forms: academic writing is formal

• You can use the first person (I think, my opinion is), when you really want to make a statement, otherwise use the impersonal/passive form

• Use UK or US spelling, but don’t mix them

• Use –ize or –ise but not mix them

• “Its” and “it’s” are not the same thing!

32

Gender issues

• A “user” is not “he”

• Use “his/her” “he/she” “him/her”

• Or use the plural “their” “them”

– But, if you do this then make sure everything

that goes with it is plural as well!

‘The user finds it very effective to do their job’

‘The users find it very effective to do their

jobs’

33

Watch your language!

• No matter what, ask someone to re-read it,

in particular if this person does not know

the argument

• Make sure your proof-reader is a native

speaker

• READ ALOUD

• READ ALOUD

34

Think!

35

Format

• Help us to read you!

• Use at least a 12pt font

• 1.5 or double spacing

• Give a title and a progressive number to

any image, graphs, table

36

Copyright

• Most images on the web are protected by

copyright: be careful!

• Declare the source of your images and

check the terms of use

• If you are the owner of the copyright, then

declare it and add to it a licence or

copyright statement (Creative Commons,

for instance)

37

Exercise

• Read the contributions from the issue of

2001 of Nature (411, 521)

• Outline an essay of 2500 words on the

following topic : “The role of freely

available scientific articles in the

advancement of science”

38