Having discussed some of the features which markers will look for in your Essays some guidelines about how to incorporate these features will be summarised.
1.3.1 Analysing the Essay title
Whatever approach you take for preparing and writing your Essay, you will only achieve a successful outcome if you have a clear understanding of what is required from the Essay title. Be sure that you have identified the key concepts and the main questions or issues of the title, and that you are confident that you have correctly interpreted exactly what is required of you.
158 When analysing the title it may be helpful to:-
a. Brainstorm - with the title in front of you, write down any words or sentences, which come into your mind that might be relevant to the topic area. Jot down your ideas and gradually refine them until you have eliminated irrelevancies but covered all the relevant aspects ("mind maps" are often useful in this brainstorming process). At this point, you can begin to identify links, either complementary or contrasting, between the items. This should allow you to develop the themes which will be covered in your Essay3.
b. Starting from a more focused approach, you could pose yourself a series of questions which focus on all aspects of the title. The questions should relate to both the topic under consideration and the implications of those words in the title which indicate how you should approach the work (i.e. "outline", "describe", "evaluate", "discuss" - or any combination of the above).
1.3.2 Conducting the literature search
The content of your Essay will depend heavily on the results of your literature search. Do not forget to put your search plan and decisions as to how you included/excluded the literature in your write-up. The ability to conduct a comprehensive literature search will be most important for the research component of your portfolio. However, you will need to be able to select relevant, appropriate, and up to date material for your Essays. Points you should consider are:
a. Do not select work of peripheral relevance. If you have done a thorough analysis of the Essay title you will rarely select an article that is irrelevant.
b. It is often useful to read a review article/chapter to familiarise yourself with a particular area. However, as noted earlier, this should never be relied on too heavily.
c. Where possible use the most recent references (unless it is important to look at the origins of a theory/therapy). It is poor clinical practice to rely on approaches which have been discredited or which have subsequently evolved. It is, therefore, important to demonstrate your ability to keep up to date with current thinking.
(The selection of material may be at least partially determined by availability. At times it may be necessary to balance the usefulness of an article against the time, energy and cost that will be necessary to obtain it).
1.3.3 Planning your Essay
When working under time pressure it is tempting just to dive into writing, but if you fail to plan, your Essay may well lack structure and focus. A well constructed plan can form the bare bones for your Essay. Such a plan needs only the details to flesh out the final version.
However, not everyone likes to create an Essay from a plan. If you do "dive in" an alternative is to write your Essay and then produce an outline from the Essay you have written. Good use of headings and sub-headings helps to make the structure explicit. Once you have removed the details and obtained a framework of what you have written, you will be in a better position to examine the adequacy of the organisation of your work (and to alter it accordingly). Either way, you may find the following suggestions useful.
3 If the area is one which is very unfamiliar, you may need to carry out some initial background reading and/or talk to someone familiar with the area before you start the brainstorming process.
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a. Note down the key points that you wish to make in your Essay and pick out the references from your reading which back up these key points.
b. As you select your key points, keep the Essay title in front of you.
c. If you have read articles which turned out to be of little relevance to your particular title do not be tempted to include them.
d. Plan to be clear and explicit in the information you provide - do not assume your reader knows all the background.
e. Having chosen the material you intend to use in your Essay, organise it in a way which will bring out the arguments you intend to present, the evidence to support your arguments, and the conclusions you wish to draw. Ideally the information should follow a path/thread which leads logically to the conclusions.
f. Remember that a systematic, concise and clear presentation of your ideas is essential if you are to keep within your word limit and maximise the breadth and depth of your arguments. You can save yourself time by bearing the word limit in mind as you plan your work.
1.3.4 Drafting your Essay
Once you are satisfied with your plan and clear about its structure and the material you intend to include, you are in a position to write a useful first draft.
Essentially, an Essay is in four interrelated parts; introduction, main text, conclusion, and references. The introduction and conclusion should each take up no more than 10% of your words with the other 80% being used for the main text. When drafting your Essay bear in mind the maximum word length is 6,000 words.
Introduction - The purpose of the introduction is to act as a ‘signpost’ to the rest of your Essay. It provides your readers with a ‘map’ which will both prepare them for what to expect and what not to expect. It will also allow the reader to evaluate the extent to which you achieve what you set out to do. It should indicate the scope of your Essay (that is, what issues you intend to address), how you intend to structure it and how the topics will be tackled. If you feel that the Essay title you have chosen is open to interpretation, then you should explain in the introduction how you have interpreted it and why you have made that particular interpretation. It is often helpful to outline your own position in relation to the title, and what in your personal and professional experience draws you to this particular topic. Use of the first person pronoun is encouraged to help you develop your own position in relation to the topic/s under discussion.
You may prefer to write the introduction when you have finished the rest of the Essay once you have a better feel for the issues you have addressed. Alternatively, you may feel that writing the introductory paragraph first, helps you to keep you to the point in the rest of your work.
Main text - It is here that you will deal with each of the key categories you identified at the preparatory and planning stages of your work. As you write the main body of the text you might find some of the following suggestions useful:-
a. Make initial description of the main issues concise to maximise the words available for analysis and discussion. Analysis involves higher cognitive abilities than does description and, therefore, attracts higher marks.
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b. Be sure to establish any connections between the various issues under discussion.
c. It is usually best to select and discuss a few main issues in depth rather than to cover a large number of issues superficially.
d. Avoid pretentious language as well as jargon. You will get your message across more clearly with simple prose. Short sentences usually work better than long sentences.
e. Each paragraph should contain one main idea, clearly stated and supported by evidence and/or argument.
f. Each new paragraph should link to the previous paragraph and the one following in order to provide a logical flow to your work. The use of linking statements between sections is sometimes helpful.
g. Whatever claims or generalisations you put forward, you should back them up with sound arguments and/or evidence which contrasts with, as well as confirms the points you are making. h. As you write constantly reflect on the implications of the sentences and paragraphs you are creating. For example, it is useful to keep asking yourself "what point am I trying to make here?" and "is this point clear from what I have written?". This will stop you straying from the point and will highlight sentences/paragraphs which are unclear. Remember, you need to state your arguments explicitly - do NOT assume that they are "obvious" or are simply going to emerge from the text.
i. If you have been asked to compare certain items, theories, ideas etc., be sure to highlight both similarities and differences and, if possible, draw conclusions about the relative merits of what is being compared.
Conclusion - In this final part of your Essay you should draw together all the main points you have raised in the text and provide a summary, suggestion/s or proposition/s which are based on the arguments you have developed. Be sure to explain the significance of what you are suggesting or proposing (i.e. the practice implications and how the ideas help your practice now, and potentially for the future). At this stage you often need to indicate areas where further study is needed.
The introduction and conclusion are important as they tend to influence the reader’s initial and final impressions of your work. Remember the rule: "Tell them what you are going to say - tell them - tell them what you have said"!
1.3.5 The use of headings and subheadings
As noted previously, your text should follow a well marked path. Ideally, the final sentence of a section or paragraph should both indicate that you are ending one topic and inform your reader about the nature of the topic to follow. This is sometimes difficult to achieve and the appropriate use of subheadings can help. Remember to minimise the number of words in headings. Also, be consistent with your use of headings to make your work looks symmetrical and professional.
a. Main headings are usually centred, in capital letters, and in bold face.
b. At the next level, headings are flush with the left margin, with capital letters on main words which are bold
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d. At lower levels, headings are not in bold and usually underlined or in italics and flush with the left margin.
1.3.6 References
Referencing must follow the APA guidelines. A copy of the manual is in the University Library. 1.4 Review and revision of the first draft
Try to write your first draft early enough to be able to put it on one side for at least twenty-four hours before re-reading and critically assessing it. It follows that you should try to allow time in your schedule for the re-writing of any sections or paragraphs which need to be improved, and for re- phrasing sentences which read awkwardly. As you rethink your Essay, concentrate on the following issues:-
a. The quality of your argument and the organisation of your material b. Spelling, grammar and syntax
c. The elimination of any elements of your Essay which are digressions from the main arguments. d. The possible need to move around paragraphs and sections in order to reorganise your work. e. The possible need for the addition of new material
Note:- It can be useful to read your Essay aloud to make sure that it is unambiguous and makes sense. 1.5 Essay presentation
An Essay which is difficult to read because of poor presentation is bound to leave a poor impression and is likely to have some effect on the mark you receive. When you have completed your final draft, check for the following:-
a. That if using uncommon abbreviations or acronyms, the term is written out in full the first time you use it with the abbreviation or acronym following within brackets.
b. That footnotes are kept to an absolute minimum.
c. Typographical errors - numerous small errors give the impression of carelessness.
d. That you have a front page giving the Essay title, your University Registration Number (URN) in the top right hand corner, the calendar year (i.e. June 2009) and the year of the Programme in which it was written (i.e. Year 1).
e. That you have clearly stated the page length count (the maximum for the PsychD Essays is 16 pages).
f. That each page is numbered and, if possible, has your URN and title at the bottom in case the pages become separated.
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h. That the references are complete and accurate and that they are cited in a consistent manner. Please note your references must be in the same style throughout your portfolio. i. That the first word of each paragraph is indented.
j. That headings are clear and consistently presented. 1.6 Helpful Texts
Hart, C. (2000). Doing a Literature Review. London: Sage.
Lillis, T and North, S. Academic Writing. In S. Potter (Ed). (2006) Doing Postgraduate Research. London Sage.
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