These questions are each based on a different one of the weekly themes from the module. However, there is a lot of crossover between the topics as well. You can mix and match the various weekly materials to the question you selected as you see fit. Your aim should be to construct a convincing and balanced argument (position/hypothesis) that is informed by a selection of relevant material from the course but also some additional sources as well as your own – informed – opinion. Importantly, your argument should be clarified through reference to real-world examples. These can be contemporary or from some moment in history.
Sources
The expectation is that you will have at least six academic sources in your paper (this is usually bare minimum expected of you), though you may have many more. An essay will very likely do poorly if claims made in it are not supported through references to secondary readings. You are encouraged to engage in depth with a few (two or three) of your sources, quoting from them – perhaps even at length if it seems sensible – and taking a critical stance on the writer’s ideas. You might take inspiration from the sources, use some details but discard others in order to better frame your analysis of examples; you might simply disagree, based on a specific detail in their writing, or some new event that has recontextualised their work. The majority of your sources will be provided to give your essay context, show that you are well-informed on a topic, or to give weight to a passing observation. These sources can be engaged with less precisely.
Structure
Don’t forget that an essay is about balance: having a clear structure, a developed position on a topic and interesting examples is much more important than showing us you’ve read everything on the course; that being said, in order to make your argument make sense, you’ll need to draw on secondary materials just to communicate what you mean by certain words, or how you’ve understood some of the specific terms.
Near the beginning of your essay, you should include a sentence summarising your position. Try to make this as precise as you can. While a phrase like ‘the purpose of this paper…’ or ‘my aim in this essay…’ is fine, avoid claims like, ‘…is to explore the many ways this question can be answered’. It’s often better to pick a specific, smaller angle and try to argue it convincingly, than to give an overview. You’re better off telling your reader that because the topic is broad, you’re choosing to focus on something specific, and then discussing that specific thing in depth.
You can break up your essay using subtitles, if you feel that this will be helpful for the reader.
Content
Try, if you can, to also provide an overview of the essay itself within your introduction where you tell me the structure of the paper, and what the purpose of each segment is.
Please include a section where you clear up the definitions of any important terms you might be using, or that should be cleared from the questions themselves, with reference to relevant material from the course (a short ‘lit review’).
In the main body of your paper (not the intro, definitions or conclusion sections) you should aim to use one to three examples to allow you to fully unpack your ideas, while avoiding the temptation of trying to cover too much with too few words. Depth is almost always preferable to breadth here.
Don’t assume the examiner is familiar with what you’re talking about. Examples should be described in meticulous detail before making clear to your reader what the significance of those details are in reference to – in the first instance – the definitions you’ve provided – and in the second instance – your argument as an answer to the question.
You don’t need to include a section on methodology.