ASSIGNMENT: 2500-word essay (word count excludes bibliography)
Essay Marking Criteria
It is essential that your essay is informed by appropriate academic sources. The word limit is important – not only because it should not be exceeded, but because the recommended length provides sufficient space for you to aspire to a more complex (and well informed) investigation. If your essay falls short of the set word limit it may be because it is not sufficiently informed by theory or does not engage with the topic to the depth required. Make use of the readings provided in the course reader.
In respect of the final grade, essays will be expected to demonstrate an appropriate level of competence in the following areas:
- Depth of understanding and application of a breadth of research material
- An ability to analyse, synthesise, argue and communicate conclusions
- An awareness of, and an ability to judge, the theoretical, methodological and/or other debates central to the chosen area of television studies.
These are the criteria upon which your essay will be marked:
- Have you demonstrated that you understand the concepts that form the core of the module?
- Have you constructed a convincing argument of your own, written in your own words and supported by appropriate evidence?
- Have you developed a suitable range of ideas relevant to your topic and given due balance and weight to the different aspects of the question?
- Have you researched your topic well and made full use of the library, the short loan section, journal articles and possibly industry periodicals?
- Have you referenced the sources of the ideas you have used accurately, fully and intelligently?
- Are all of your sources included in your bibliography?
- Have you made perceptive and well-integrated use of your own textual examples and analysed these in an appropriately sophisticated way?
- Is your essay clearly written, well-structured and presented, and free from grammatical, spelling and proof-reading errors?
ASSIGNMENT ADVICE
‘What can I do to present my work in the best possible manner and raise the standard of my assignments?’
There are some basic rules, which students can follow to enhance the quality and the readability of their assignments. While some students are already well-versed in writing and presentation techniques, others are advised to consult the following as an ‘assignment checklist’:
- Always use a word processor. Handwrite assignments only if there is no alternative. If you have to handwrite, then do it as clearly as you possibly can, observing all the procedures set out below. Use only one side of A4 paper, indent your paragraphs and leave a left-hand side margin for tutor’s comments.
- Always include a bibliography. There should be no instance where a student does not have to research written (and often programme) material outside of that offered in lectures and seminars. Tutors are most interested in the academic books and articles you have read and expect several sources to be used for each essay. There are rules for setting out a bibliography (which academics have learned to follow) and which should be faithfully adhered to rather than creatively adapted by you.
- Provide source details for all ideas and statements in your essay that were not conceived and written by you. This is extremely important because otherwise you can risk a charge of plagiarism. Plagiarism means using material, which you did not write and presenting it as if it were your own. It could involve as little as one line of your essay and still qualify as plagiarism. Academics regard plagiarism as a very serious offence and if they find any in your essay can be expected, at the very least, to deduct marks. At the worst, plagiarism can result in a nil grade for the essay. When using another person’s ideas by way of a quote or paraphrase (including those of your lecturers), it is important to be scrupulously accurate as a gesture of respect to the person whose idea or statement it was. As another mark of respect, all quotations should be prefaced by the name of the author (for example ‘According to David McQueen,’ or ‘As suggested/observed/noted/argued by Christine Geraghty’). Footnote or endnote references are only complete with the inclusion of a raised small-sized number (best placed at the end of the sentence) which refers the reader to a later reference as to the exact text, chapter and pages used in a section of your essay.
- Always keep a copy of the finished essay. It is your responsibility to submit the essay on time and in the event of loss, to make a new copy available to your tutor.
- All writing should be double-spaced. This means leaving an empty line between the lines of your own writing and becomes important when a tutor is marking your work and advising you (by writing on your essay itself) how to improve your writing. In respect of script size, you should use a 12 point font for the main essay text and a 10 point font for footnote/endnote details.
- Eliminate errors of a technical nature by being extremely thorough. Proofread your essay drafts with extreme care several times, preferably allowing an interval of several hours between the initial writing of your essay and any subsequent re-drafting of it. Common writing or technical errors include: 1) sentences that are too long; 2) sentences that are incomplete because a full stop has been inappropriately placed between two interdependent phrases; 3) sentences that have been badly structured or over-burdened by descriptive words; 4) the use of abbreviated terms (ie. eg. etc.) none of which are appropriate in essays; 5) paragraphing errors; and 6) spelling and grammatical errors. Another problem that some students have is the tendency to use a register (or style of language) that is more appropriate to everyday conversation than to academic writing. Academic writing is classed as a ‘formal language situation’ and a formal register is always the safest one to use, irrespective of the essay topic.