Planning your

assignment

Charmaine Botha
Learning Skills Advisor
Monash South Africa
Learning Skills Advisors Librarians
Charmaine Botha Sibusisiwe Mgquba
Focus: Focus
Health Sciences, Social Sciences, FP Health Sciences, Social Sciences, FP
& HDR & HDR
Tel: 011 950 4455 Tel. 011 950 4150
charmaine.botha@monash.edu Sibusisiwe.mgquba@monash.edu

John Small Linda Mbonambi

Focus Focus
Bus Eco, IT, HDR & FP Bus Eco, IT, HDR & FP
Tel: 011 950 4248 Tel: 011 950 4032
John.small@monash.edu Linda.mbonambi@monash.edu

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What do we want to achieve with an
academic essay?
Demonstrate
to your lecturer that you are able to:
Embark on an inquiry / research analyse
question
Find Information / do research
Evaluate and Analyse the information
Organize the information
Apply the information to answer the question
Communicate (specific format) your knowledge
(written/oral)
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Its like being a lawyer presenting a case
in court:

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 Assignment
AZA 1366
MAJOR ESSAY QUESTIONS: CHOOSE ONE (Word Limit: 1,250)

The high rate of divorce in modern societies,

notwithstanding, marriage still remains a highly valued social
institution". Discuss this assertion using appropriate
sociological theory and evidence.

What is alternative medicine? What types of health problems

has biomedicine not been very effective in tackling? Why do
you think this is the case?

Using illustrative examples, discuss how contemporary

family and household structures have become more diverse

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 Introductory Readings:
See reading list

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 Presentation requirements:
Academic essay format, Harvard referencing
Structure of the Essay
Orients reader with proper introduction by outlining
objectives of essay.
Ends with a conclusion that is derived from the argument
and information discussed in the body of paper.
Descriptive headings
Reference list
Easy to read, fluent, appropriate style, correct grammar &
spelling, adequate length, and good editing.

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 Begin by identifying the key concepts
e.g. the topic/content areas
Identify the directive words e.g.
analyse, discuss, etc.
Note any limitations e.g. scope, time
period, field of study, area
Format of the assignment (essay,
report, review, poster, annotated bib etc)
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 Analysing your question
"The high rate of divorce in modern societies,
notwithstanding, marriage still remains a highly
valued social institution". Discuss this assertion
using appropriate sociological theory and
evidence.
What is alternative medicine? What types of health
problems has biomedicine not been very effective
in tackling? Why do you think this is the case?
Using illustrative examples, discuss how
contemporary family and household structures
have become more diverse
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 Plan your argument
Once you have analysed the topic and read your starting
reference, you will need to construct a rough plan. This
allows you to put down YOUR academic (not personal)
ideas and opinions (to be verified through research)
Mind-mapping usually works well here, as well as
discussing the topic with your fellow students. (but STOP
here so as not to fall into a collusion trap)
Some students prefer to make a plan before researching,
some after.
However, it is important to remain flexible, as your
knowledge of the topic and opinion on it may change as
you read more.
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 The high rate of divorce in
modern societies,
notwithstanding,
marriage still remains a highly
valued social institution".
Discuss this assertion using
appropriate sociological theory Using
and evidence appropriate
sociological
marriage theory and
still
remains a evidence
highly discuss What?
valued
social Who?
institution Why?
When
Where?
How?

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 What is alternative medicine?
What types of health problems
has biomedicine not been very
effective in tackling? Why do you
think this is the case
Using
appropriate
sociological
*alternative theory and
medicine evidence
*Biomedicine discuss What?
not effective Who?
Why?
When
Where?
How?

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 Using illustrative examples,
discuss how contemporary Using
family and household structures appropriate
have become more diverse sociological
theory and
evidence
Diversity of
contemporary
family and What?
discuss Using
household Who?
structures illustrative
Why? examples
When
Where?
How?

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 Find Witnesses (resources)
Once you have identified the content area you will need to
examine, you will need to consider what kinds of resources are
required (books, journals, websites, statistics, etc.) and set about
acquiring them.
Look at your reading list, use the reference lists of these books
and journals, and identify what will be required.
Remember you will need to evaluate the worth of these
resources, so read critically.
Decide what kind of supporting information will be necessary,
and set about organising your resources to achieve your goal.
Often books are good for big picture information, while journals
are often good for supporting details.

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 RESOURCES:
The minimum required number is nine reading materials.
Consistent and accurate use of referencing style (Harvard).
Appropriate use of quotes, proper spelling of authors names,
and correct in-text referencing.
Correct use of primary & secondary resources.
Comprehensive and proper listing (alphabetical order) of
references at the end of Essay.

Key points to consider in choosing your sources include:

1. The authority and qualification of the authors/internet sites.
2. The scope and main purpose of the texts/articles.
3. The relevance of the selected work to your essay
4. The weakness/limitation of the selected work (in relation to
your essay).
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 Resource Name
Library resources
Keywords Results Comments
SEARCH
SA Library Main key concept (e.g.) Physical Book(s) in SA libarary SA has limited books in this area
at least one or two versus large
Physical Books number of students (lecturer
Electronic Books needs to reserve)

Do a secondary search within the book of

Everyone can use the same e-
E-Books your sub-key concept
book at the same time

DATA BASES Keywords Results Comments

Main key concept(e.g.)
(S) > Journal articles / Books/ Articles relevant to
SA e Publications Theses/ Web pages SA and Africa
(F) > available
Families and
Society Collection
(E) > Main key concept (e.g.) Examples of relevant articles in Large number of
Expanded journals and other resources as articles available
Academic ASAP well (these are interdisciplinary international
(S) > databases)
Sociological
Abstracts
(G) > Main key concept (e.g.) Examples of relevant articles in Large number of articles
Google Scholar journals and other resources as available international
(Monash) well (these are interdisciplinary
databases)

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Finding Resources General Search:
Type in key concepts
to do a general
search under the
Monash SA, e-book
or Online Articles tab

Finding a specific Database:

Chose letter on the A-Z list:
(or according to subject):
Expanded Academic
ASAP
Sociological Abstracts
Families and Society
Collection
SAe Publications

Using Lib Guides: Select

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Psychology
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 Possible key words for search:
(Play around and try alternatives)
Use Advance search option where available

Topic 2
alternative medicine
Topic 1 biomedicine effective
marriage biomedicine ineffective /failed
social institution
OR
Value
Topic 3
Importance
contemporary family structures
contemporary household structures
Diverse families
diversity 18
 The essay/report structure
Can be seen as a diamond with the introduction and conclusion at the top and bottom and the
body paragraphs fitting into the middle of the diamond in a series of smaller diamond shapes.

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 Body paragraphs
Paragraph element Purpose

1. Topic This sentence starts by referring to the thesis/your

Sentence argument. It continues to include the main point of this
paragraph (your voice)
2. Additional This explains further the point made in the topic sentence.
Information (your voice)

3. Evidence These are essential to justify your point. Your evidence

sentences comes from your research and may include examples,
data, quotes, statistics, graphics and illustrations. All
supporting evidence must be from authoritative sources and
cited in your essay. (quote or paraphrase reference voice)
4. Concluding Again, this sentence links the main thesis of the essay with
sentence the main point of the paragraph. (your voice) and links to
the next paragraph

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 Acknowledging your resources:
Citing and referencing
NB NB NB : if you cite and reference correctly, you will not plagiarize
Ways to cite and reference:
1. MANUALLY (DO the library on-line tutorial 15minutes):
http://resources.lib.monash.edu.au/learning-objects/test/apa-quick-guide/
http://monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/citing/
2. Using MICRO-SOFT WORD REFERENCING (but you still need to have
the manual referencing background knowledge)
3. Using ENDNOTE (but you still need to have the manual referencing
background knowledge)
Referencing resources: Monash Shared (S:)
S:\UG-Subjects\Shared\Library\Charmaine Learning
skills\Referencing\APA Psychology 2015
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 Writing your essay
For more assistance on
writing or
communicating your
findings, contact a
learning skills advisor
in the library

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