| Hi, Ms Harris. Here we are, talking once again. |
| Well, I'm always willing to help out wherever possible. |
| Is anything troubling you? |
| Well, your advice last week about writing summaries was very useful, |
| and I'm using these summaries a lot in order to prepare my final master's thesis. |
| But you're having problems, right? |
| Yes, I have a few issues to discuss. |
| Obviously I want a good essay, and I want to achieve high marks. |
| But I'm not sure on the best way to start. |
| That's an easy question. |
| Start with a topic, but not one that I necessarily suggest, |
| but one that you want to explore. |
| You'll always write better when doing so on a topic you're interested in, |
| not one imposed upon you by others. |
| Well, I'm interested in management theory. |
| Then pursue that. |
| However, that alone is far too broad. |
| Break it into various current areas of discussion and relevance, |
| then look more carefully at one of them - |
| say, management and cultural differences, |
| or management and motivation, |
| or other aspects, such as the role of salary, group cohesion, or leadership. |
| I would say I'm interested in group cohesion, |
| that is, how people interact in the workplace. |
| Well, that's a start, |
| but you can't then just write planlessly, |
| without defining exactly what you intend to do within the area you've chosen. |
| You'll have to think of a thesis, and this statement could be of several types. |
| Such as what? |
| Oh, you could argue a point, something that you believe in; |
| or discuss an issue, looking at its various perspectives; |
| or critique the opinions of others, pointing out the pitfalls and flaws. |
| The thesis statement will make that very clear because it will say, |
| in simple terms, what you intend to achieve in your essay. |
| I see. And then I can just begin writing, right? |
| Wrong! |
| If your essay is going to be clear, it needs to be logical and organised, |
| and this means you'll need an outline. |
| This could be written as a flowchart, or spider graph, |
| that is, a series of connected lines, |
| but whatever shape the outline takes, |
| there must be a sense of progress, in, more or less, a straight line, towards a goal. |
| And then my essay will be good? |
| With such progression, definitely |
| as long as you do achieve everything that you set out to do, |
| as specified in the beginning, okay? |
| Well, Ms Harris, your advice about essay writing all sounds very useful: |
| solid, and step by step, so I'll certainly follow that. |
| But can you tell me in more general terms, |
| what constitutes the best essay? |
| Oh, there are many aspects to consider, |
| but one of the most important is certainly, original thinking. |
| The best essays are written by people who think for themselves, |
| and not just copy or imitate established views. |
| I think I can do that. |
| But remember, you can't just give a list of unsupported assertions. |
| There needs to be support as well - |
| a chain of logic linking each step in your argument. |
| Right! |
| Yet that alone is not enough. |
| Your argument may be logically sound, but is it practically so? |
| For that, you need examples, from real-life, to illustrate your points or sub-points. |
| I've got lots of examples from my course readings. |
| I suppose I could use them. |
| But remember, whenever you use an example, |
| or facts or figures that are not commonly known, |
| you must give a reference. |
| That's an academic necessity, without which your writing will automatically fail. |
| So, it's necessary to give these. Right. |
| Absolutely! And with that, your essay will be fine, |
| but always ensure that you format it clearly. |
| What do you mean? |
| I mean the practical considerations, |
| as written in the university style guide, |
| such as leaving appropriate margins, |
| using double spacing, Arial font, and so on. |
| You see, your writing must look good, as well as be good. |
| I can certainly do that. |
| And, finally, related to the previous point, |
| you need to respect the number of words required. |
| Your individual lecturers will give you a word-count figure, |
| so follow what they say, making your essay neither too long, nor too short, |
| perhaps 10% either way should be acceptable. |
| 15% was common when I was younger, |
| but it's a lot stricter now, |
| and 20% would be pushing the boundaries just a little too far. |
| I guess I can do all that. Thanks for your advice. |