GES Essay writing guide (1)
Introduction: How to begin!
This guide presents a brief outline of some of the technical points that must be
observed in essay writing within the School of Geography and Environmental
Science (GES). With the exception of the details concerning footnotes and
referencing (where requirements can vary greatly from subject to subject) the
comments are applicable to essay writing generally.
AIMS
of
essay
Planni
ng an
essay
The value of any essay lies primarily in the thoughts and ideas expressed.
However, the type of essay that we expect from you may be very different to the
essays that you have written during secondary school. The essays required in this
subject are not an exercise in literary expression, nor are they merely a forum for
a loose collection of information. They are a form of communicating knowledge
within which there is a clear line of argument soundly supported by evidence and
appropriate referencing. They test your ability to find, evaluate, synthesise and
communicate information independently. The research required for such an
essay is a significant part of the task, along with the selection and analysis of
relevant information. In addition, you may be surprised (and hopefully
challenged) that there is no ‘correct answer’ - it is the logic and development of
your argument that we are primarily concerned with. SGES expects you to submit
an essay that conforms to its official requirements - for example drawing maps,
citing sources of information and using figures and tables of information - and
hence we have provided a detailed account of what we expect. Please read this
guide and follow its suggestions carefully.
Essays must be well organised and should NOT be written "off the top of your
head". Before starting to write it is essential that you know what you want to write
and how you want to write it. Therefore, always construct a written plan that will
enable you to clearly structure your thoughts and guide your argument and
presentation. The plan should evolve as you find more information, discover new
ideas and evidence, and arrange supporting or conflicting opinions. Your plan/s
will also help you to better balance the size and format of the finished product e.g.
how many words, how many and what types of figures and tables, and what line
of argument should be presented in the various parts of the essay? In addition,
the plan will be the guide for writing your essay drafts.
As your plan takes shape, you will develop a strategy to find the kind of
information necessary for your argument. A good place to start is the
recommended text books for the course or relevant books in the reading list
contained in the course outline. Read any chapters which are relevant to the topic,
and perhaps take note of other relevant sources referenced in the bibliography.
Suggested lecture readings will help (see the Lecture Reading Guide above). Some
texts and collections of readings contain ‘annotated bibliographies’ which
describe the most useful references on various topics.
Lecture
notes
Documentari
es
Films
Internet
Websites
Monash
libraries
Although lecture notes may be a good introduction, they are not suitable for
citation as a source of information for an essay. Do not refer to lecture notes in
the body of your essay or list them in the bibliography. Similarly, we discourage
reference to this subject’s major text because we want you to read more widely.
Home encyclopaedias may also provide you with some initial ideas, but again
please do not rely on these - use the specialised textbooks and journal articles as
the major sources for your essay. Some students may gather ideas about an essay
topic from relevant television or radio documentaries. When listing documentary
material in your bibliography make sure that all the information is provided (ie.
producer, date produced, title, date and name of programme where screened) so
that others could locate the information. As a rule, however, documentary
materials are too general for academic essays except where specific primary
source material is included and cannot be verified elsewhere.
The internet/world wide web may also prove problematic. Some obvious
problems are the lack of verification of data or opinion and the general lack of
dating of material expressed at different sites; the inadequacy or inappropriate
nature of material written for general audiences (e.g. much environmental
information is too superficial for our purposes); the lack of adequate citation of
source materials used; and the cost and time-consuming nature of surfing the net.
Specialist sites (e.g. NGOs and government or semi-government agencies) may be
useful, but be critical of the biases they all contain. If they are used, information
gleaned must be thoroughly cited e.g. with author, detailed web address and date
of contact, etc. As a general rule, the internet is a useful supplement to hardcopy and electronic serials and books, and we would expect that no more than
one-quarter of your references quoted in your essay would come ‘off the net’.
There are numerous libraries at Monash, but the ones that will be of most use to
you for these essays are the Sir Louis Matheson Library and the HargraveAndrew Library. Monash Caulfield, Berwick and Gippsland are also useful for
students with limited access to Clayton. Within these buildings lies a wealth of
information about Geography! Start finding suitable material by using the
magnificent library CATALOGUE - something you can access from on or off the
campus. Go to Appendix A below to learn how to use the library from the comfort
of your computer! And don't forget the library's on-line Geography and
Environmental Science Subject Guide.
Library
shelves
Once you have found a particular book/journal on the shelves, look at the other
books either side of it (i.e. call number), as it is quite likely that they will have
relevant information as well. Remember that you don't have to read the entire
book to find what you need. Look up chapters or the index and then just read the
parts that are of interest!
Journal
s
Journals (or serials) contain useful articles. The advantage of journal articles is
that they are much more specific, current and provide a lot of relevant
information (in contrast to books which are often more general). More
particularly, academic journals are produced by a rigorous peer-review process
which generally ensures more reliable information. Selected key journals are
listed in the GES subject guide (linked above).They are also often listed in your
unit guide and can be searched in the catalogue
Databases
The Library also provides a wide range of on-line databases which index the
journals and provide a very efficient way of finding relevant articles. Databases
are arranged by broad subject and can be found on the databases and electronic
resources page.
Overvie
w
Now that you have begun to explore the information, skim through the rest of the
sections that look useful, jot down the main points, carefully re-read the
important sections, and make more detailed notes. A systematic guide to notetaking is presented below in Appendix B. Remember to fully reference the
material as you go along! That is, write down the exact details of the author, title,
date, call number, etc. Go back to the structure plan of your essay and place your
assembled information roughly into the order which "fills out" the structure.
Decide what material actually contributes to the essay, and discard anything that
doesn't. Remember it is extremely important to answer the question that has
been asked, rather than going off on a tangent. Be critically selective! Now that we
have got you into the library, remember that you will have to go back many times
for references as your plan and draft develops.