Topic

Topic You might think you’re too good for Point, Evidence, Explain. How are you going to relate your argument to the existing literature? Make sure you know their arguments reasonably well and have armed yourself with flexible quotes from their work. If you can, familiarise yourself with the people who think they’re wrong and awful. Figure out if there are arguments which are unresolved and see if you can make a contribution towards resolving them. Identify some of the future areas for research that your paper opens up. For more information, check out thishandouton developing a logical argument. Provide background information on your topic, country case, political context, etc. Ask your professor or TA to recommend articles or authors on the topic. This is best when you have a wider variety or personal choice on the topic. If you are found guilty of plagiarism you can fail the assignment or the class, or be suspended or expelled from university. It could even affect your chances of getting into a grad program, as it remains on your record, and you are required to give an explanation as to what happened . The point is, good citation is really important. You shouldn’t take the risk of being caught of plagiarism and you should give other academics due credit for their work. However, don’t just ramble on and on, repeating the same arguments in different ways to fill-up space. The most important thing to remember after selecting your preferred citation style is that in-text citation must match the work cited list. Citation style also has to be consistent throughout the paper (i.e. you cannot go from APA to MLA). If you use sourcing engines to make your references, always double check their accuracy. Plagiarism is the most serious academic offence. You don’t want to get penalised because you didn’t reference your readings properly after you’ve put in all that effort to make sure that your arguments are founded in the literature. If the reading list is really short, you’ll need to go beyond it. Look through the reference lists of the papers and books you’ve just read. Mark out a few of the most promising-looking readings. Finally, check your essay for any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, relevancy or other editing. Examine your essay from a reader’s perspective and make changes accordingly. You can give suggestions, state limitations and scope of your approach in the concluding paragraph. Try to conclude the main points in a different way than stated in the body of the essay. Make sure that you do not deviate from the central idea and theme of the topic. State the central idea of the topic in a concise way. The first line of the paragraph should be able to capture the attention of the examiner in the first reading. When the assignment says between 6-8 pages, it is better to do 8 than 6. When you have such limited number of pages, you need space to develop your argument. Conclude your essay by restating the main idea in different words. Restate the strongest points of your essay that support your main idea. It summarizes or restates the main idea of the essay. You want to leave the reader with a sense that your essay is complete. List the points that develop the main idea of your essay. If I’m reading it, I want to know within literally five seconds what you’re trying to convince me of. Ninety nine percent of the structure of your essay is exactly the same as you learned in secondary school. List questions or clarifications you might have, and ask them ahead of time. Meeting your professor or TA to discuss the assignment, present your outline or ideas, and brainstorm different ways to approach it, will really improve the quality of your work. See what concepts are used or what lecture topic this falls under, and look over your notes and readings. A student can access this book in the same way that they access a personal tutor. State the most valuable and impactful point just after the introductory paragraph. Organize and develop the various aspects and points of the essay in a logical sequence.