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1- A Guide To Writing Essays For Politics
These instructions will assist students in preparing and writing essays at University level. Essays are an important part of your University course. They provide the framework within which you can develop your ideas; they are an index of your performance for your tutors, and, for almost all students, they are the means by which your work in the course is assessed. Inadequate preparation means that students begin to write their essays without sufficient material to do the task justice. Essays can also be marred by bad organization and a clumsy handling Essays For Sale of the subject that ruins even the most carefully prepared material.
Format
• Attach and complete a copy of the Politics Department Essay Cover Sheet, available from the Politics Office (Room 404)
• Number all pages except the first.
• Ideally, essays should be word processed and printed on one side of A4 paper with line spacing of at least 1½. There should be a wide margin (about 4cm.) on the left hand side of the page for comments.
Length
The length of the paper should not be your chief consideration. While you should aim to write within the prescribed length, you should Essays For Sale aim at a concise, lucid argument that avoids verbosity and yet provides an adequate coverage of all the relevant aspects of the topic. Rather than write to the exact nominated number of words, use the suggested length of the paper to guide you as to the appropriate depth of argument that you develop. Most tutors will accept a paper that is within 10-15% of the specified length. If your essay is more or less than this, you should probably check with your tutor. An essay of 5,000 words will obviously be expected to contain more detailed discussion Essays For Sale of evidence and to develop a more sophisticated argument than can be done in a short paper of say 2,000 words.
Treatment
1. General
An essay is primarily an exercise in writing, within a prescribed length, a rounded argument, with enough evidence to support it. It should not be primarily a report on the research you have carried out or a merely descriptive account of elements in the essay topic. It should be an exercise in the presentation and critical assessment of factors bearing on a particular issue. The best essays will often take the form of a debate in Essays For Sale which competing positions in respect to a central issue are presented and then assessed and evaluated. Above all your essay should take a side in the debate and take the reader to a clear and concise conclusion after weighing the evidence and considering the alternative positions.
Long pages of description might be highly informative, but contribute nothing to the value of the essay. Description should be complementary to analysis, and aimed at illustrating your line of argument rather than merely detailing facts. State factual material briefly and do no more than allude to matters that are general Essays For Sale knowledge for anyone reasonably familiar with the field.
Nevertheless every essay should contain those facts required to support its central argument or theme: the value of careful empirical research cannot be overstated.
2. The Essay Topic
Make sure before gathering material for your essay that you understand the precise meaning of the set topic. Direct your efforts towards that topic. One of the most common weaknesses in essays is that they fail to answer the question set. Relevance is a cardinal virtue. One page of writing that really seeks to deal with the topic set is better than five Essays For Sale pages that hesitantly skirt around its fringes. A question about the performance of the Howard Government does not call for a discussion of Howard's description of himself as a "cricket tragic". An understanding of the full scope of the topic is also vital: turn it over in your mind and consider deeper meanings. Try to find out all the most significant dimensions and ramifications of the subject. In this way you can avoid narrow and limited interpretations that will limit the scope of your essay.
3. A Point of View
There are two main dangers in the presentation of Essays For Sale opinion in an essay. On the one hand it is wrong to present only one point of view, to display the arguments for only one side of the issue. You can then justifiably be accused of being ignorant of arguments that possibly refute your case. On the other hand you should not merely present the arguments for and against an issue, side by side, without coming to a conclusion. You should strive for a balance between these two extremes. Certainly you should have a point of view, but in the development of your own argument you need Essays For Sale to show an intelligent awareness of conflicting arguments by critically evaluating them.
4. Sources
Reading lists, where they are given out with essay questions, are not intended to be exhaustive. They are a starting point only, and the works listed will be of unequal value. Many other works, some of them of great importance, can be found in the library and on line and you are expected to look for them. The library staff includes a dedicated Politics Research Librarian, but all staff will gladly show you how to use the catalogues and data bases.
Familiarity with the Essays For Sale library is an essential prerequisite for good essay writing.
Where possible you should make use of primary sources, that is, documents contemporary with the time of which you write, or reports of people with first hand experience of events which you are discussing.
Secondary sources, that is, commentaries written by people either without first hand experience or as later critical reflections of first hand experience, are also important. They form, in fact, the bulk of material available to students. But they should not be regarded as the only important source of information.
Articles in periodical journals are also Essays For Sale a valuable source for the latest developments in many fields, particularly on controversial topics. You should use these wherever possible. Do not neglect the valuable electronic data bases that can take you to indexes of journal articles. In particular is it often worth consulting 'Expanded Academic Index' (a link to this can be found in the Barr Smith Library catalogue - search for Expanded Academic Index under title). Similarly, web sites will often have the most up to date information or transcripts of recent speeches. However, you should always exercise great care in using materials from the Essays For Sale internet. Make sure that you can make an informed evaluation of the worth and integrity of the site. Internet sources will generally form a lesser element of essay research by comparison with other sources. When in doubt about the value of internet sources, seek the advice of your tutor.
It is possible to go too far and get bogged down in attempting a too exhaustive piece of research. But essays based on too few sources can hardly be improved by including a padded bibliography. This is rarely successful and always dishonest. However, it must be emphasized that source Essays For Sale material should be approached with a critical spirit rather than being approached as truth. Always be prepared to exercise discrimination and critical judgment in assessing the validity and importance of what you read.
Planning & Organisation
1. An Overall Plan
The most elementary and important step in any writing task is for the writer to formulate an overall plan of what to say before beginning to write. What prompts such an obvious remark is the tendency of many students to defer the writing of their essays until time is too short and panic too overwhelming to enable them to plan Essays For Sale before writing.
2. Preparing the Plan
You may be able to make a tentative plan at the beginning of your work, but if the subject is new to you, you may not be able to begin planning until you are gathering material. A plan will serve as a very useful guide to you in identifying relevant material. That is why it is a mistake to defer planning until you are working on your essay. The important point is that throughout the process you should have an idea of where you are going.
3. A Central Theme
As was emphasized above, you Essays For Sale should try to develop a definite point of view or argument. This point of view should provide the focal point for the organization of your essay. Rather than simply list points in a seemingly random way, engage with the ideas, positions and interpretations of specific authors, and present your ideas and material so as to give the most effective support for your main theme or argument. In the best essays there is a logical progression of ideas to a definite conclusion.
4. Structure
Give some thought to the overall structure of the paper. An essay that is well planned, Essays For Sale has a clear and coherent structure that will be much easier to read and to understand than one that moves randomly through the material. The structure should allow the reader to follow the gradual progression or development of the argument and should take the reader to a conclusion that has naturally emerged from the body of the paper. Your essay will normally include:
1. An introduction that sets out the scope of the essay, establishes the key argument that you will be advancing and 'sets the scene' for the discussion that follows. A good introduction will engage the reader's Essays For Sale attention and show why the topic warrants close investigation. It will contain some necessary background information, a preliminary survey of relevant literature and an explanation of how you plan to deal with the topic. This is where you take a position and outline the central theme that will be argued through the paper. But, at the same time, note that the introduction should not summarise your findings - as these will appear in the conclusion.
2. The body of the essay will normally contain a presentation and discussion of the evidence together with an account of the outcomes of Essays For Sale your research, and the analysis of it. This is where the main development of the argument takes place and where your own interpretation is offered to the reader. Above all, the body of the essay should present a critical analysis of the topic that is based on evidence, statistics, quotations etc. (that are all supported by appropriate referencing - see below), not just a listing of relevant matters or a narrative account of 'what has happened'. The body of the paper should be devoted to an explanation, not a description.
3. A conclusion in which you assess the findings Essays For Sale and, where appropriate, make a series of recommendations that have emerged from the discussion of the evidence in the preceding sections. Avoid the common error of listing recommendations without tying them to your discussion of the evidence.
Style
1. Simplicity & Clarity
Style is a personal matter, but in general a direct, simple style free from mannerisms is best. Above all aim at clarity. Avoid unnecessary jargon and bear in mind that few markers will be greatly impressed when you use a four syllable word where a much simpler word will do. In general:
o Use the active voice (the desk was Essays For Sale covered by books', not 'there were a great many books on the desk'.
o Make positive clear statements (dishonest' not 'not honest')
o Be specific. Do not 'waffle' or use convoluted language.
o Avoid colloquial expressions and non-standard forms.
o Avoid abbreviations ('would not' not 'wouldn't').
Above all, be as clear as you can in all your writing
2. Paragraphs
Paragraphs must be used to indicate a change of subject. Paragraphs that carry on for several pages (or essays that contain only one paragraph) can turn an otherwise good essay into a chaotic jumble and will certainly destroy the reader's interest and patience. Try to develop one point Essays For Sale in each paragraph. A good way to plan your essay is in terms of its paragraphs. Think of each paragraph as developing one aspect of your theme and consider how these paragraphs might be connected to each other. Pay particular attention to the first sentence in each paragraph which should provide a link to earlier discussion.
3. Grammar and Spelling
Marks will not be deducted specifically for errors in grammar and spelling. But spelling mistakes and sloppy grammar may obscure your meaning. They will probably create an impression of careless writing and, if numerous, indicate that the essay was Essays For Sale not proof-read after it was written. It is a good idea to proof-read your essay and make sure that it is understandable. If you find writing difficult, for your first draft use only simple sentences without subordinate clauses and with active verbs. Always allow time to redraft and to improve any piece of written work. Take the time to learn some of the simpler rules of grammar (especially those relating to the use and misuse of apostrophes.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of the work of another writer. It is "literary theft". Plagiarism is specifically Essays For Sale prohibited by the Statutes of the University which state that:
No candidate shall submit for assessment, whether by examination or otherwise, any piece of work which is not entirely the candidate's own, except where either: (a) the use of the words or ideas of others is appropriate and duly acknowledged, or (b) the examiner has given prior permission for joint or collaborative work to be submitted.
Essays plagiarised in whole or in part will not be acceptable and will be given a failing mark or returned without a grade. Not all guilty students may be caught, but those Essays For Sale who are caught will suffer a severe penalty. It is a great mistake to assume, as some students do, that the marker has not read the text book. Further, with modern internet search engines, it is often quite easy to find the source of many examples of plagiarism. Note that you are expected to acknowledge that you have read and understood the rules relating to plagiarism on the essay cover sheet.
Of course you must take facts and ideas from other writers, but you should then rethink those ideas and restate those facts in your own words, Essays For Sale or you should quote your source directly. Slight rearrangements of an author's words or sentences are not acceptable. Rearrangements cannot be cited as direct quotations and must therefore be regarded as plagiarism if they occur persistently. Certain limited deletions and additions are permitted in quotations in the interest of brevity and grammar; but words omitted should be indicated by a series of three spaced dots (or four spaced dots if a sentence or more is omitted), and words inserted or altered in form should be marked by placing them in square brackets. Insertions and alterations should be Essays For Sale kept to an absolute minimum.
Quote passages if you wish as long as you adhere to the rules, and as long as you do not make the quotations too numerous. The bulk of the essay must be in your own words. It must not consist of innumerable quotations strung together by your brief comments. Occasionally students hand in essays without footnotes or bibliography. Such essays are not acceptable and will be returned unmarked.
In order to minimize the time spent on preparing bibliographies and references, students should make sure that, when making notes during their preparatory reading, they include Essays For Sale in their notes all the bibliographic details and the page(s) of any work used. This will eliminate the need to refer to the book a second time in order to check one's source for footnotes and bibliographies.
Minimum Rules for the Correct Citation of References
These instructions are intended to draw to your attention the necessity of adhering to the ordinary rules of scholarship in your essay. For more information see references listed at end. In general, you should:
• Acknowledge all passages that are not of your own composition. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. There are standard ways of Essays For Sale acknowledging sources. Examples in these instructions explain and illustrate these rules. For instance, "short direct prose quotations should be incorporated in the text of the essay and enclosed in quotation marks" and longer quotations should be separated from the rest of the text and indented (by one or two centimetres from the left hand margin). In this case quotation marks are omitted. Simply giving a reference with no quotation marks or without indenting the text for a direct quotation is an example of plagiarism and is unacceptable.
• Give a reference for all factual material that cannot be assumed Essays For Sale to be part of the normal knowledge of a well-informed reader. If much of one section of your essay is based on one source you can indicate this in a single footnote rather than giving a separate reference for each fact.
• Give references for important ideas that are not your own, and for borrowed opinions that need the support of authority, since they are not fully supported by the evidence you offer (or ideas which you do not feel warranted in advancing, or do not wish to acknowledge, as your own).
• Give a reference where it is desirable to Essays For Sale give the reader any other kind of information that does not properly belong in the text, e.g. to indicate cross-references within the essay, or to add secondary or explanatory matter that is not sufficiently important to be incorporated into the body of the essay. Among other things, such references can be used to indicate to the reader (and examiner!) that you have read widely on the topic and that your understanding is broader and more nuanced than may be indicated by the bare text of the essay. However, keep the use of such explanatory footnotes to a Essays For Sale minimum and only use them when they are necessary.
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