5004essay2.docx
Students are required to write a short essay (750 words) on an economic topic if their choice with the general public or a professional audience in mind.1 The essay will developed in two phases, with an initial draft submitted for tutor and peer review, and a final version submitted in the last week of the course. Students are encouraged to select an essay topic and format that best fits their personal and professional interests. The potential subject matter is broad, and can coincide with earlier topics in the course (e.g., from one of the three earlier assessments). The potential format is also flexible – students could pretend they are writing an intelligent blog post, an op-ed for the newspaper, or a briefing or memo in a business setting. The core requirement is that the essay use economic reasoning and argumentation to make its main points (especially, that there be a main argument to the essay), and that it be written in a style accessible to a non-specialist audience. Hence there is more room for creativity in style and content than for the academic essay. In particular, students are encouraged to use techniques to catch and maintain a reader’s attention and convey ideas in an accessible way. The final submission will be capped at 750 words, excluding literature references. Students are again expected to follow the Chicago style with author-date format for citations.
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