Academic Essay | Course Paper

ACADEMIC ESSAY

WRITING

For students at Charles Darwin University

A resource to

assist tutors

working with

Indigenous

students

Table of Contents

The academic world 3

Critical thinking 4

Preparing to write an essay 6

Unpacking the essay question 6

Looking at the marking rubric 7

Understanding a Brainstorm of the essay topic 8

Developing a Taxonomy for the essay topic 9

Academic essay structure 10

A word on academic language 10

Writing a thesis statement 11

Writing an introduction 12

A note on using headings 12

Writing a paragraph 13

Essay: An annotated example 14

Referencing 20

In-text referencing 20

Appendix 1: Analytical essay 21

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Jamie Pomfrett for providing original materials for this

guide. Thanks also to Jamie, Debra Dank and David McClay PhD

for reviewing this document.

Lesley MacGibbon PhD

ACIKE Staff Development

Charles Darwin University

Purpose of this

booklet

This booklet aims to provide

resources to tutors who

work with Indigenous

students at Charles Darwin

University. It is intended to

provide you with

information and exercises to

assist you to scaffold

students to be successful in

their university studies. We

focus on writing academic

essays, because this is a skill

student’s need in most

university courses, and is a

skill that can be transferred

to assessments in other

units.

We know that students

bring a wide range of skills

and life experiences to the

university setting. What we

hope to do is to assist you,

as tutor, to build on the

students’ existing skills and

knowledge, with

transferrable skills that will

enable them to succeed at

university. Our philosophy

aligns with the old proverb:

“Give a man a fish and you

feed him for a day, but

teach him to fish, you feed

him for life.”

2

Exercise: Rules of the game

Ask your student which sport they play or follow. On paper or

whiteboard draw up two columns. In one column list the

rules of the game as the student identifies them. In the other

column, list the rules of writing academic essays. Get the

student to help to identify these if they can. Your completed

list might look something like this:

Rules of soccer(football)

Rules of essay writing

You cannot pick up the ball

unless you are goalie.

You must analyse the

question carefully to make

sure you answer what is

asked.

You can head the ball in

the air.

You must use formal

academic English – not slang

or txt language.

You must play within the

lines of the field.

You cannot just write your

opinion. You must back

everything you write with

evidence (what other people

have written).

You cannot physically push

or shove players on the

other team.

Different lecturers may have

different rules about what

academic language is – you

will need to check with them.

Games are usually 45 mins

each half.

You must reference where

you got your information

from.

You must obey the Referee

even if you don’t agree

with him or her.

There are particular forms of

referencing you must use.

You need to stay onside.

You must not copy other

people’s work (plagiarism).

You must wear shin guards

to protect your ankles.

You need to write in

paragraphs- start with an

introduction and finish with a

conclusion.

The Academic World

The ‘academic world’ and

the ‘real world’ are not the

same.

Levin (2004) explains that

the ‘academic world’ and

the ‘real world’ are not the

same, and students need to

learn the differences

between these worlds.

The real world is where we

experience our lives – we

live and work, raise children,

play or watch sport, spend

time with family and friends

and interact with the

natural world. A lot of what

we know about the real

world is from our

experiences.

The academic world on the

other hand is one of

theories, explanations, ideas

and critiques. We can’t

experience them the same

way as we experience the

real world, through seeing,

hearing, touching, tasting,

smelling. In the academic

world we learn from what is

spoken, or more often

written, about the world.

This means that in the

academic world you learn at

second hand, from what

other people have written,

rather than from your own

experience. Levin (2004, p

5) argues that:

“The culture of higher

education in the Western

world is very much a culture

of the written world”. 3

Exercise: Critical thinking 1

1. Show your students a standard

bottle of water – or show the picture

of a bottle of water, and ask them to

describe this.

When describing they should just tell

you what they see –

it is a clear plastic bottle

the label says it is ‘spring’ water

it has a white cap

etc

2. Ask your students to think critically

about this bottle of water. You

might need to ask them the question

“So what? This is a bottle of water,

what else do we know about bottled

water?”

The students should be able to come

up with things that might include:

It costs $4 for a bottle of

water this size from the

supermarket

Plastic bottles like this are a

problem in landfill

At home we drink bottled

water because our tap water

tastes bad

Bottled water isn’t any

better than the water that

comes from our taps

We don’t take bottled water

when we go country because

then we drink from the

spring

Critical thinking

Students often have trouble

understanding what we

mean by “critical thinking”.

It is worthwhile spending

some time exploring ideas

around critical thinking, and

the difference between

description and analysis or

critical thinking. We have

found the following

exercises to be very helpful.

4

Exercise: Critical thinking 2

Ask your student to imagine that where they live has just been struck by

a cyclone. Describe what they might see: List their descriptions on the

left-hand column. Then ask them to imagine that they are the civil

defence wardens for their neighbourhood. Get them to think critically

about what they described, and write what they identify when thinking

critically. For example:

Cyclone: description

Cyclone: critical thinking

The houses seem to be

OK, but garages and

sheds have been blown

down.

Are there any injured people in

the houses?

Are any of the buildings in

danger of falling down and

injuring people?

Some of the streets are

flooded.

It looks as though the

water is up to one metre

deep.

Are there people who have

been cut off by the water that

need rescuing?

Is there still fresh water coming

from the taps?

What type of vehicle is needed

to get through the flooding?

There are trees blown

down over roads and

power lines.

Are any of the power lines still

active?

Are they a danger to anyone?

Is there any power in the

neighbourhood?

Are the roads accessible, or are

they blocked to traffic by live

power lines or fallen trees?

Etc

Why do we need critical

thinking?

Students often ask why they

need to develop critical

thinking and why they need

to demonstrate it in an

essay. Most jobs require

people to be able to think

critically, and essay writing

is one way that the

university can see that

students are developing

critical thinking. In many

jobs people are required to

write reports that will guide

the action of others – for

example in nursing, and

critical thinking is required

to do this.

5

Unpacking the essay question

Usually the essay question will have some direction words that give clues

about what is wanted in the essay (Rolls & Wignell 2013). These words

may be “describe”, “explain”, “argue”, “discuss”, “critique” etc.

Describe: Write about the facts, process or event. Write in a systematic

order, and emphasise the most important points. You are not expected to

explain or interpret.

Explain: You will need to analyse, not simply describe or summarise. You

need to focus on the ‘why’ or ‘how’ of a particular issue, to clarify reasons,

causes and effects.

Argue: If you are asked to argue, you need to systematically support or

reject a point of view by presenting evidence. You also need to show that

you are aware of the opposing point of view.

Discuss: You present a point of view. This will include both description

and interpretation. Your opinion should be supported by argument and

evidence from other writings.

Critique: A critique is where you identify and discuss both the positive

and negative aspects of a topic.

Compare and contrast: Find the similarities and differences between two

or more ideas, events or interpretations.

Examples of essay questions:

NAPLAN (The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) is a

feature of education in all Australian Primary schools. Describe NAPLAN

and discuss why it is so controversial.

Critically analyse the key concepts of working cross-culturally, specifically

in regards to effective communication and the impact on your work

practice.

Outline and analyse the key components of a framework for health

professionals to engage in effective and respectful communication with

Indigenous peoples, especially in regards to the delivery of health

services. Describe how this could potentially be viewed as part of a

strategy across a number of levels to systematically lift the cultural

competency of mainstream health services.

PREPARING TO

WRITE AN ESSAY

Unpacking the essay

question

Work with the student to

analyse and decipher the

question.

What does the lecturer want

in the essay?

Even if you think that the

lecturer has set a silly

question, it is what the

student must answer.

Help the student unpack the

question.

6

Example of a marking rubric

In the following example of a rubric, what are the three aspects of the essay

that the lecturer considers most important? Where should the student put

most effort? How important is text organisation and essay structure?

points

For maximum points essay must

Text

organisation

and essay

structure

5

Introduction: Must have clear thesis statement aligned

to body of essay

5

Body of essay: Must be well structured, have cohesive

Looking at the

marking rubric

In most units at Charles

Darwin University, a

marking guide or marking

rubric is provided.

Go over this with your

students because it usually

gives a clear picture of what

the lecturer is looking for in

the essay. It assigns

percentages of the marks for

particular things.

Many students believe that

having an essay free of

5

Conclusion: Must include clear summary of key points

Content

Answers the question: Ideas must be well presented and

Critical thinking: Shows high level of critical analysis, and

Quality of

evidence

Research: Ideas supported by credible and relevant

sources.