Writing
Workshop 2
Leah Burns
Leah.Burns@griffith.edu.au
Phone: 37353649
What we are going
to do today
•Last workshop: focus on minor assignment
•Focus more on the major assignment
•Develop strategies for editing the
assignments
•Discuss the sample minor assignment
Writing and
Editing the
Assignments
Editing
the Minor Assignment
Writing the Assignment
• Introduction
• Body (made up of paragraphs, and
may include a map or figures)
• Conclusion or summary
• A list of references
• Appendix?
Does the Introduction:
•
•
•
•
•
Clearly indicate the topic?
State the aim of the assignment?
Identify limits or scope?
Outline the structure of the essay?
Explicitly state your thesis, argument
or position?
Does each paragraph:
• Contain one main idea? Is it clearly
stated in the sentence topic?
• Contain a concluding sentence? Does
it link the point of the paragraph to
the argument?
Does the conclusion only:
• Restate the argument?
• Reiterate all the main points used in
developing the argument?
In addition to the above:
• Is the argument developed clearly
throughout the assignment?
• Does the evidence used clearly
support the argument?
• Have I acknowledged all sources of
information?
• Does the reference list include all intext references?
And
• Have I checked expression, spelling
and punctuation?
• Is the essay the required length
(word count)?
• Have I checked the assignment
guidelines, including assessment
criteria?
Your Major
Assignment Topic
Selecting a topic
• This should be discussed and agreed to with
your supervisors at Volda
• It should be neither too big (common
mistake) or too small
• It is your own choice, but you may find it
easier if it relates to your main area of study
• It should be appropriate to your travel and
experiences here
• Resource material should be readily available
The Major Assignment
• Should be about 8000 words in length
• Research Proposal submitted
September 22
• Progress Report is due October 20
• Draft (4000 words) due November 17
• Essay due December 10
Turn the Major
Assignment topic
into questions
Primary question
First turn your topic into a main
(primary) question
Secondary Questions
• In order to answer the primary
question, you will also need to
consider other questions
• Descriptive questions
– where? when? who? what?
• Analytical questions
– how? why? and to what extent?
Example of an
Assignment Topic
‘Discuss how indigenous Australians
are displayed through the Australian
media’
Primary Question
How are indigenous Australians
portrayed in the Australian media?
Secondary Questions
• Descriptive
– What are the media sources?
– Who are the indigenous people?
– How are they portrayed?
• Analytical
– Why are they portrayed like this?
– To what extent are these
portrays uniform across media
sources? If there are
differences, why are there
differences?
Brainstorming
• Think about the answers you already
have to your questions
• As you reflect on the topic, you
might find more questions that need
to be asked
• It may help to use a concept map or
another form of graphic organiser to
organise your thoughts
•
These questions can now be used
as the basis for your research
Structure is important
•
•
•
•
Title/Cover Page
Index (Table of Contents)
Introduction
Body (Paragraphs organised under
subheadings)
• Conclusion or summary
• A list of references (minimum of 1012 sources)
• Appendix
Submission
• Expect to prepare several drafts,
but the main one is due to your
supervisor in Volda on 17 November
• Proof read final drafts carefully
• Take advantage of offers by others
(supervisors, friends, parents) to
read your drafts
• Final due date is 10 December
Assessment
• All assignments are to be submitted
electronically to your supervisors in
Volda and copies will be forwarded to
the assessor from Griffith
• The Griffith person will then assess
each assignment before they leave
Brisbane for Volda in early January 2011
•
The Griffith person will then prepare
notes for discussion with your Volda
supervisor and the viva voce with
each student
• In researching your work, make use
of the fact that you are in Australia
• Enjoy the process :-)