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DP1 - Semester 2 Outline Submission
What does every essay need to include? The following are basic expectations for every EE...the goal by the end of DP1 is to make sure you have a clear outline for your essay. You know what you want to do, you have 2-3 clear things that you want to talk about for your body paragraph, and hopefully, the most important part - you have your "answer" to your RQ.
What does every essay need to include? The following are basic expectations for every EE...the goal by the end of DP1 is to make sure you have a clear outline for your essay. You know what you want to do, you have 2-3 clear things that you want to talk about for your body paragraph, and hopefully, the most important part - you have your "answer" to your RQ.
Introduction
Introduction
Introduce your research question, provide some background, justify your choice of topic and methodology.
Some subjects may benefit from a literature review here, while others might leave that for the main body.
The longer your introduction is, the shorter your body... Some subjects and topics require more from their introductions, so look at high-scoring samples from your subject to serve as a reference.
Main Body
Main Body
Think of the body as several sections, rather than just one.
You are free to have sub-sections and sub-headings throughout your EE, but don't overdo it. We have had students in the past have so many sub-headings where they needed to have two pages for their table of contents. I understand the need or desire to explain everything well, but that is probably over-doing it.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As the name implies, this section comes at the very end of the essay.
This is also where the bulk of your actual conclusion -- your answer to your RQ -- will be found.
Conclusions are a good place to back up your argument, discuss limitations, maybe even present an opposing view, and tie things up with a nice, pretty bow. At the same time, there should be enough words left to make sure that you can throughly explain how to eventually got to your answer.
What else could be included? (Varies from subject to subject)
What else could be included? (Varies from subject to subject)
If you're wondering what to do with your research, do your work with a literature review in mind. Think of it as a smaller research task within the larger task of the EE itself.
Take notes, annotate, reflect on what you read!
Literature Review
Literature Review
A literature review is an overview, or a "survey" of sources on a topic. These sources tend to be academic or scholarly, but may also be opinion-based, editorial, or something else depending on what is appropriate for your subject and topic. ALL subjects can benefit from some type of literature review.
Sources may cover a range of times (ideally emphasizing more recent sources over older ones, though older works of a particular significance are often excellent inclusions.)
You should aim to synthesize what you find -- look for common ideas, conclusions, themes, debates and disagreements, etc.
Be judicious in the sources you choose -- if you've read ten journal articles, you shouldn't write about all ten specifically in your review. Which ones are most relevant to your RQ? Which help set up your argument? Which ones provide an interesting or important contrast?
A well-executed literature review can help your score in Criteria A, B, and C.
UNC Chapel Hill: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/literature-reviews/
Sciences: Hypotheses?
Sciences: Hypotheses?
In many science essays, there is an expectation that one or more hypothesis is introduced, explained, and justified (and then revisited throughout the essay.)
This will likely be a part of your introduction, though it can also be something that bridges the gap between your introduction and the main body of the essay.
Remember to make use of your sources, evaluate claims, and justify the choices you make.
Economics: Theory
Economics: Theory
All Economics essays need a clear link to Economic theory. This should be explicit (something that you write about specifically) rather than being assumed or implied.
Consider what you learned in class. Did you have to learn how to graph a certain idea? Well, that means you need to adapt a graph for your topic, too.
Sciences: Experiment Methods
Sciences: Experiment Methods
You have to explain your set-up and JUSTIFY the choices that you make! This must be done explicitly inside the EE (relevant to Crit. A in particular.)
All Subjects: Perspectives
All Subjects: Perspectives
The most important thing for every subject is to know that there is a DIFFERENCE OF OPINION found in your topic. Nothing is settled, nothing is already set. You need to show that there are two sides to this equation, and that you know and understand both sides. Famous academic X says this about my topic? Well, here is famous academic Y who thinks otherwise. And now that I know both sides, I can now see which side is the better idea.
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