Section 1. Introduction
It is a good idea to write your introduction and conclusion last, after you have written the other sections of the essay (at this point you will have a clearer picture of the essay as a whole).
In the introduction you should explain which topics you are exploring, what you have looked at or investigated, what methods of research you have used, and what key ideas (theories or concepts) you have examined.
It is also positive reflect on your research process and journey: why were you drawn to a particular topic, image, object or idea?
Section 2. Reflection on Practice
In this section of the essay, you will reflect on your own area of practice. How do the themes and ideas that we have explored on this project relate to your own practice as an emerging artist, designer, or media or communication professional? You may wish to include visuals in this section.
Are there connections between your work on your BA and the ideas you have explored on this unit?
Section 3. Conceptual Framework
In this section of the essay, you review texts and key ideas drawn from the Reading List and from our classes.
You should include a discussion of between (approximately) 5 and 8 academic texts focused on aspects of masculinities, gender and/or men’s style-fashion-dress: these texts can be taken from the Reading List. Summarise the key points that the author has made, and based on your own research and experience, assess how valid these arguments are.
Explain any important technical terms or key ideas the author has used.
If you agree with the authors whose work you have read, explain why. If you disagree, explain what is missing from their work.
Section 4. Visual Analysis and/or Object Analysis (guideline 750 to 1000 words)
This is an important section of the essay, where you give a detailed, in-depth interpretation of between 2 and 4 examples. These can be of images, or objects (or a mixture of the two). You can choose images or objects created by someone else, or that you have created yourself: they can be contemporary or historical. Include images in this section of the essay.
Begin by giving a detailed description of the image or object:
What does it look like? How is it composed or made? What does it feature?
What is the medium, fabric or material? Do you recognise its genre or type? Do you know who created it? When and where was it made?
After describing your image or object, you should explain its meaning and significance. What does this image or object tell us about the culture and society in which it was made? If you made the image or object in question – what were your intentions? If someone else designed or made this image or object, what do you think their intentions were? You are welcome to speculate.
What does this object or image tell us about a particular type of masculinity, or about the culture of menswear? Does it tell us anything else about gender, class, ethnic or racialised identity, or about anything else?
Section 5. (optional) Primary Research Continued
This is an optional section that you can choose to include if you have conducted any other types of research that you haven’t discussed in the previous section: for example, autoethnography, focus groups or interviews.
What did you find out by doing this research?
Section 6. Conclusion
In this final section of the essay, you explain what you have learned by doing your reading and research.
You should answer the essay question “How do the examples that you have selected communicate ideas about masculinities and gender?”
Summarise what you learnt from your readings – which ideas from your readings did you find most persuasive or useful?
Summarise your object or image analysis (and any other research that you have done), and tell us what this research taught you: did it teach you something about masculinities, gender, or fashion? Did it teach you something else entirely – if so, what?
Discuss any ways in which this project has changed your attitudes or approach to your practice as an emerging artist, designer, or media or communication professional.