Theory, Notes on Essay Writing, #2

Following on from last weeks lecture, my conclusions from this lecture was to always use paintings as examples, but instead of using diagrams within text, it is advised that paintings pictures illustrations etc should all be placed at the end of the essay as A4 Size images.

Just for a recap, the title and the problem statement should contain [the concept or idea], "in", [a body of work], "and", [your own names' practice].

Shape of the Essay

Essays should have a separate title page, nothing fancy but just details of the writer the title of the document and the institution to which it belongs. Furthermore chapters should be referenced properly through the contents page. I should be aiming for approximately 1000 words per chapter but of course this could vary between save 500 to 2 or 3000 words per chapter maximum.

Introduction
As a rough template for the essay start off with an introduction of approximately 500 words which should outline your argument. This is not about your body of work, it is an argument which focuses on what and why. Within this introduction do not include brief histories or biographies here within it

Content - Chapters 1,2, etc, with individual chapter titles("Look for puzzles in what is going on externally in culture" and then relate that into your own work).

         Choices of quotes;

• A good quote expresses an idea or significant thought, by somebody who has a professional status.
• A bad quote offers opinion or anecdote and often given by non-qualified individual with little or no status in an academic sense.
• A good quote integrates meaning into the paragraph.
• A bad quote leads nowhere at all, or is placed at the end, which suggests to the reader that there is more information to come, but does not deliver anything.

          Illustrations.

• Coming back to the subject of illustrations within the text, by inserting these it can skew the text layout and the picture is likely to be small. 
• However if the pictures are placed at the end of the essay and the reader can refer back and forth to the diagrams and return to their point within the reading of the passage more easily.
• Place illustrations at the end of the essay, but reference them after the bibliography within an entirely separate list. 
• Include what type of illustration it is, and what medium it was originally created with, for example as it painting? Sculpture? Video? Etc.

Conclusion(s)
Equally a conclusion at the end of the essay should be approximately 500 words as well. This is the flip, or opposite of the introduction. Pick out the best bits of your essay and say why each of those are important. Do not end up on `from some of the person, and certainly do not bring in new information into the conclusion this is wrong. A conclusion is exactly that, it is a closing.

Referencing & Bibliographies
The bibliography should have between 20 to 30 items for a 6000 word essay. My research should actually include 40 to 60 references, but obviously some of this read information will be un-used.

• An index of illustrations should be separate from the bibliography
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• With regards to referencing and the bibliography (for quotes and ideas), you should put in here everything that you have demonstrably used. If you have made a quote but not contained it within "quotation marks" then this is plagiarism!  Your essay will be rejected!
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• Equally, do not put an item into the bibliography that isn't referenced within your essay. 
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• All the sources should be broadly academic and there should be approximately 25 of them, (not including the illustrations in the count).

References should have their titles enough alphabetic order, with the second line indented. The name of the book should be italicised.