Assessment 3
Hsc
INDS20520202220Essay20writing20resources.pptx
Essay Writing Resources Indigenous Peoples and The Environment INDS205
Essay 1
Essay 1
Tips for effective writing
Start writing early —the earlier the better. Starting cuts down on anxiety, beats procrastination, and gives you time to develop your ideas.
Keep the essay question in mind. Don’t lose track of the question or task. Keep a copy in front of you as you draft, edit and work out your argument.
Don’t try to write an essay from beginning to end, especially not in a single sitting. Begin with what you are ready to write—a plan, a few sentences or bullet points. Start with the body and work paragraph by paragraph.
Write the introduction and conclusion after the body. Once you know what your essay is about, then write the introduction and conclusion.
Use 'signpost' words in your writing. Transition signals can help the reader follow the order and flow of your ideas.
Integrate your evidence carefully. Introduce quotations and paraphrases with introductory phrases.
Revise your first draft extensively. Make sure the entire essay flows and that the paragraphs are in a logical order.
Put the essay aside for a few days. This allows you to consider your essay and edit it with a fresh eye
Basics of essay writing https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
Basics of essay writing https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
There are many great guides on how to write an academic essay online.
The UOW Learning co-op has a website specifically to help students with this https://www.uow.edu.au/student/learning-co-op/assessments/essays/
UNSW also has a very good guide to how to write an essay, with a step by step process outlined https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
https://www.uow.edu.au/student/learning-co-op/assessments/essays/
https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
Things to remember
An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence.
An academic essay should answer a question or task.
It should have a thesis statement (answer to the question) and an argument.
It should try to present or discuss something: develop a thesis via a set of closely related points by reasoning and evidence.
An academic essay should include relevant examples, supporting evidence and information from academic texts or credible sources.
Basics of essay writing https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
Basics of essay writing https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
The first step is to find your sources.
The best sources are ones that are academic, peer reviewed, journal articles and books.
You can also use other types of sources (websites, news articles etc)- Yes you can use different types of sources for any INDS assessment. In Indigenous studies, we fully recognize that not all people have equal access to having their ideas and research published in peer-reviewed journals. We also recognize that relying only on information from institutions (like universities) really limits and ignores the lived experiences of many groups of people (people of colour, women, LGBTQI etc). So yes you can definitely use things like YouTube videos, songs, online articles, podcasts etc in your task
Just be sure to also include academic sources as well. So for example, for an essay where you may have 6 sources total, aim for 4 or more academic sources, and then use two or more other sources.
A 2000 word essay usually requires 6 -10 academic sources.
This article talks about how many sources you need depending on what you are writing https://www.timsquirrell.com/blog/2018/2/21/how-many-references-do-you-need-in-an-essay
This website has multiple places to find Indigenous sources https://uow.libguides.com/indigenous-studies
Once you have your sources, you need to read them
This sounds obvious, but one mistake many students make is not actually reading the source they are referring to. This is usually pretty obvious to the marker, especially when what they are saying isn’t actually supported by the source at all.
This video talks about effective ways to read your sources https://www.timsquirrell.com/blog/2018/9/27/new-video-6-tips-to-improve-reading-and-note-taking
As you read your sources, think critically about them and take notes about their key ideas and themes
What is the author trying to convince you about?
Do you agree with them? Why?
Do you disagree with them? Why?
What are some examples of what they are talking about that you can see in the world around you? Or examples of it in other articles you’ve read?
How does what they are writing support your argument? Or does it contradict you?
What evidence are they using to support their argument?
Almost all essays follow this structure
This is where you need to let your reader know what to expect from this essay.
Start your introduction with a strong opening sentence. Please never open your essay with "The oxford dictionary defines racism as XYZ"
Tell the reader what you will be arguing e.g. how you will be answering the essay question
provide "signposts" of what is to come e.g. what will each of your arguments/paragraphs be about
Introduction
This is where the bulk of your essay will be.
You need to break the body of you essay up into paragraphs which develop an argument
Every argument you make needs to be backed up by evidence.
You cannot just say what you think without proving it or supporting it with evidence
evidence is often in the form of research from other academics e.g quotes
Body
The conclusion is just as important as the rest of your essay
You need to re-state to the reader what you have argued/proven
Never introduce NEW information in a conclusion. Only summarize what you have already shown/argued
Conclusion
The main body of your essay is made up of paragraphs
A paragraph is a related group of sentences that develops one main idea. Each paragraph in the body of the essay should contain:
a topic sentence that states the main or controlling idea
supporting sentences to explain and develop the point you’re making
evidence from your reading or an example from the subject area that supports your point
analysis of the implication/significance/impact of the evidence finished off with a critical conclusion you have drawn from the evidence
a concluding sentence that restates your point, analyses the evidence, or acts as a transition to the next paragraph.
Basics of essay writing https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
Basics of essay writing https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics
Reference list
The UOW learning co-op has a guide to how to reference found here https://www.uow.edu.au/student/learning-co-op/referencing-and-citing/
For INDS205, we do not require you to use a specific referencing style.
Having said that, many students find the Author-Date Harvard style of referencing to be the easiest to learn. Info can be found here http://uow.libguides.com/refcite/uowharvard
Example of a reference list (bibliography):
Dolnicar, S, Crouch, GI & Long, P 2008, ‘Environment-friendly tourists: what do we really know about them?’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol.16, no. 2, pp. 197-210.
Example of in-text referencing:
"the Nuer of southern Sudan lacked any..." (Metcalf 2005, p. 184)
"The experience of ..." (Savage, Bagnall & Longhurst 2005, p. 28)
http://uow.libguides.com/refcite/uowharvard
https://www.uow.edu.au/student/learning-co-op/referencing-and-citing/
Your essay should be size 12, Times New Roman, and 1.5 spaced
You must use correct and consistent referencing
You should have the essay question you will be answering at the top of the page
Your pages should be numbered
You should have your name and student number on your essay on the first page
Your reference list should be on a fresh sheet of paper following your essay. It should be in alphabetical order, and should follow the conventions of your referencing style
Formatting
Always capitalize Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Indigenous
Never use the term Aborigine to describe Indigenous people
“Aboriginal people” is a better phrase than “Aboriginals”
Always reference where you got your information from
Turnitin will show us when you have copied you entire essay from your friend who did this subject last year
Even work from overseas universities will show up on Turnitin
Be sure to back up your argument with evidence
Form a critical argument, and write to convince me that you are right
Make sure you are actually answering the essay question, and not just talking about something random.
In INDS subjects, there are some common mistakes that people have made in the past in their essays.
Australian Indigenous Terminology Guide
https://documents.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@wic/documents/doc/uow257281.pdf
Good Luck!
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