PO107 – Introduction to Politics
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Essay results
Understanding marks and feedback
Planning your essay
Writing style
Making it better in 1 hour
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Term 2 presentations
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Essay Marks
Tu 15:00
Fr 10:00
TOTAL
10
10
Average marks:
8
Tu 15:00 : 60.9
61.7
: 61.3
Fr 10:00 :
5
TOTAL
3
2
0
Fail
1
0
Third
Lower 2nd Upper 2nd
0
First
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17 point marking scale (http://bit.ly/1gzP4ka)
not the most important thing at this point
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Criticism is difficult to take but helps you improve!
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… as I can tell myself
 "the chapter reflects a (not unproblematic) mix-and-match
approach to discourse theory“
 "at the same time too detailed and defensive (...) and not
detailed (and therefore convincing...) enough"
 "I am not convinced that you actually manage to
successfully create this coherent approach“
(MLitt disseration feedback, St Andrews, 2011)
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Why bother?
 Keeps you focused on the question
 Ensures clarity and consistency of your argument
 Helps you structure the essay in a logical way
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Outline – few bullet points and arguments
Abstract – 150 words summary
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Create idea books, write on walls etc.
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Think of yourself as creative storytellers
clear and sharp style (Hemingway, not Proust)
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… but there are conventions
 Unambiguous attributions (not ‘some authors’)
 Clear distinction between own argument and
literature  don’t worry about using ‘I’
 Make your point clear from the beginning
"On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar
got up at five-thirty in the morning...“
(G.G. Marquéz, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, p. 1)
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Did you answer the question
explicitly?
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Layout – text alignment, page
numbers
Sections
Bibliography – all information,
sorted alphabetically
Typos, non-sensical sentences
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10-12 minutes (will be enforced)
Relating to one of the seminar questions
Based on the core readings (you can go beyond them,
but cannot avoid them)
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Structure
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Introduction (question, problem, readings)
Discussion of the question through the readings
Conclusion (answer the question)
Thinking points for discussion
Use of visual aids is optional