​​Essay
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​​Purpose ​🎯​ 

​​Essays are major form of assessment at university. Through essays you develop your understanding of discipline specific content, strengthen your critical thinking, and your ability to translate that thinking into a persuasive written form. 
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​​Essay Prompt ​✏️​ 

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  • ​​Discuss how Foucauldian notions of power function in the film ‘The Sapphires’, making reference to key discourses and binary oppositions within the film.
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​​In your Essay, you must: 
  • ​​Use at least 5 academic sources to support your arguments
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​​Additional Information ​📚​ 

​​To help you complete this task successfully, the following resources are provided:
  • ​​Marking Rubric — refer to this to understand how you will be assessed 
  • ​​Checklist: How to write an Essay — use this to help you complete the task
  • ​​Example: Essay — review this to see a completed example of the task
  • ​​Library Search Tips — use this guide to search for resources
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​​Checklist: How to write an Essay ​✅​ 

​​Copy and paste this checklist into your Notes. Check off each step as you complete it.
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​​Step 1: Task Understanding
  • ​​Read the Instructions and Checklist carefully 
  • ​​Read the Marking Rubric carefully
  • ​​Carefully analyse the Essay question:
  • ​​Check the meaning of every word using a generalist or specialist dictionary 
  • ​​Identify key words and identify their function:
  • ​​Directive words will tell you what you are required to do, e.g. “analyse” means divide into parts or elements to discover the nature of something
  • ​​Content words establish the general focus of the question and define the subject are, e.g. Discuss the development of French opera
  • ​​Limiting words limit the scope of the topic, making the question more manageable, e.g. Discuss two perspectives…
  • ​​Once you understand the meaning of the question, rephrase it in your own words 
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​​Step 2: Topic Research
  • ​​Library Search 
  • ​​Identify a set of potentially useful resources — ie. sources that will help you answer your question
  • ​​Survey, skim, and scan to find the relevant articles, and parts of articles
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​​Step 3: Critical Reading
  • ​​As you read each resource, jot down notes using this framework (adapted from Marshall and Rowland (2006)):
  • ​​Author’s purpose: why has the author written the material? 
  • ​​Author’s approach: what are the author’s assumptions in writing this material (are there any biases)?
  • ​​Author’s content: what are the main ideas or arguments? How do they develop these ideas or arguments? What evidence, examples or explanations are used to support the arguments, findings or conclusions?
  • ​​Tip: as you read, make reference notes of any sources
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​​Step 4: Essay Plan 
  • ​​Use this structure to plan your Essay:
  • ​​Introduction: this is where you explain what your Essay will be about and what you will be arguing
  • ​​Clarify how you intend to interpret or limit the question
  • ​​Provide a clear and brief overview of your argument and the main supporting points