how to write the perfect essay
TRANSCRIPT
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Some important stepsSome important steps
(1)Chooseatopicthatinterestsyou,and,potentially,raisessomeinterestingquestions.
Someexamples/suggestions:
E.g.:ifyouchoosetowriteonPyramids considerfocusonHOWtheywerebuilt involves thinkingaboutwhatkindofEgyptiantechnologywasavailable andallows outocontrastvarioustheories onhowthe actuallymanagedtobuildthathighup.
IfyouwriteonWomen,considercontrastingEgyptianwomensstatus asEgyptianwomenweregenerallybetteroffthanfemalesinotherancientsocieties(ortodebunkthistheory...)
IfyouwriteonFunerarybeliefs,youmaywanttooutlinetheirdevelopment overtime,orinvestigate whatfunerarypracticestellusaboutthebeliefsystem underlyingthem( e.g.thedeceasedisbelievedtostillbeincontactwithhisfamil or inversel howsuchabeliefsystem (asevincedin,forexample,mummification) translates into actual
cultic
practice
(
e.g.
offering
cult,
letters
to
the
dead)
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(2) Set up a Work Plan
Choosingthetopic isalreadyamajorstepinthisprocess!
Next,thinkaboutapotentialThesisstatement,oraparticularquestion
.
JotdownnotesonyourMethodology:howdoyouplantoapproachthetopic?
Areyougoingtoexaminebothsidesofadebatedissue,forexample,orpursueoneinterpretationthroughout, mentioningdivergingviews
onlyontheside?
ThisisessentiallyPart1ofyourFirstAssignment!ThisisessentiallyPart1ofyourFirstAssignment!Ti : it is ALWAYS useful to discuss diver in o inions of scholars
becauseit
a)Allowsyoutoviewtheevidencefromallsides,
b)Clarifiesyourownthoughts astowhatinterpretationyoufindmoreconv nc ng,an
c)Presentsyouasascholarwhoknowsherstufftothereader.
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(3) What are your(3) What are your primaryprimary(!) sources?(!) sources?
Therearemillionsofnonegyptologistsouttherewhoarefascinatedwith
Egypt theyarefreetopublishtheiropinionsontheweb(orinbooks),andmaybegetmoreofthesame Speculative,populardiscussions
ofE tianculture.
Asauniversitystudent,youshouldalwaysstrivetobackyourclaimsup
with facts
, .
!!!EssayswithalargeportionofEgyptianmaterialsciteddo
asagenera ru e e er an ose a ono
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(4) and secondary sources?(4) and secondary sources?
Compileyourbibliography,ofatleast5items otherthanthecoursenotes.
Generalentryarticlesinencyclopedias arefine,butyoushouldnotrely
onthementirely.
Asstatedbefore:exerciseextremecautionwithweb a es:ideall onl usetheminsupportofevidenceyouhavegleanedfromthebooks,andsparingly.
Only
use
web
pages
that
are
listed/have
links
in
one
of
the
web
sites
citedinyourcoursenotes. (btw:itisvery easytocheckwhetherparticularstatementshave
beencopieddirectlyfromawebsite!; Turnitin makesiteveneasier...)
Brieflyoutlinehowthedifferentitemsinyourbibliographyrelatetoyourtopic,i.e.insupportofwhichpointyouhopetouse eachindividualitem:thismayallowyoutonarrowdowntheitemsinyourlist,ortorealizethatyouneedmoreinaparticulararea.
This
is
part
2
of
your
First
AssignmentThis
is
part
2
of
your
First
Assignment
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(5) Citation format(5) Citation format
Youareexpectedtocreditallsourcesyouhaveutilizedinyourresarchunacknowledgeduse ofthewordsorideasofothersinanyformconstitutesplagiarism penalized
(
University
guide
lines
under
http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/adviceandinyourCourseNotes,pp.xxxiii)
Your al habeticall or anized biblio ra h shouldlooksomethin likethis:
Books:
Aldred,C.,EgyptianArt.London:ThamesandHudson,1980
Articlesineditedvolumes:
Allen,J.P.,ThenaturalphilosophyofAkhenaten,inW.K.Simpson(ed.),ReligionandPhilosophyinAncientEgypt,12835.
a e gypto og ca tu es . ew aven: a e n vers ty ress,JournalArticles:
Baines,J.,Practicalreligionandpiety,JournalofEgyptianArchaeology73(1987),7998
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Citation in body of textCitation in body of text
Generallyfollowthefollowingformat:
,
e.g. (Butzer,1976:15)
provides.1
Whencitingthesamesourcetwice,repeateitherthefullcitation,orgive
anabbreviatedversion:2
Whencitingwebpages,give
Author,siteaddress(includingpage),anddate whereavailable.
1 K.W.Butzer,EarlyHydraulicCivilization inEgypt(Chicago,1976),132
Butzer,EarlyHydraulicCivilization,15
KG1
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Slide 7
KG1 UofT user, 10/28/2005
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6 Other st le uestions6 Other st le uestions
Layout
910pages+atitlepage,bibliography,andillustrations
Mar ins:1inchoneitherside
Font:12point,doublespaced
(Sub)Headings ifyouwant
!!!TheEnglishmustbecomprehensible!!!
useyourcollegewritinglabs!
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(7) Structure(7) Structure
Titlepage (notcounted) Introduction
missionorthesisstatement,sourcesyouuse
Discussion
Conclusion
summingupyourprincipalpoints relatebacktointroduction.
Bibliography
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GradingCriteriaGradingCriteria
forNMC101YarebasedonthegradingstatementfromtheArtsandSciencescalendar
Anumberofspecificelements:
. . .wordsoftheoriginalexactly(inquotationmarks),andsummariesshouldbeprecise.
2.Research.Essaysshouldbebasedonreputableanduptodateacademicsourcessuchasscholarlybooksandarticlesfromscholarlyjournals.Studentsareexpectedtoconsulta
.
3.Primarysources.Studentsshouldalsotrytoworkdirectlyfromsuchprimarysourcesastranslationsofancienttexts,plansorrepresentationsofbuildings,andpicturesofreliefs,
statuaryetc.
4.Documentation.Essaysmustindicatethesourcesoftheirinformationandideas,usingastandardsystemoffootnotes,endnotesorparentheticalreferences.Allreferencesshouldincludepagenumbers.Undocumenteduseofthewordsorideasofothersconstitutesplagiarism.
5.Thesis.Theessayshouldhaveaclearlydefinedscopeandpurposeexplainedatthebeginningandcarriedoutthroughouttheessay.
6.Originality.Essaysshouldaimatanalysingthematerialclearlyandcogently,presentingitinanewordifferentwa brin in to etherdiver entmaterialfromdifferentsources elaboratingonthesourcespresented,andmakingdistinctionsbetweenvalidandnonvalidarguments.
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A cou le of eneral rules/hints:A cou le of eneral rules/hints:
journalarticles)
Backupallyourclaimsandimportantstatementswithcitationsofsources.
UseiWRITE at http://iwrite.utoronto.ca Useyourstudentnumberasloginandpasswordoncesetup
AlsorefertotheEssayinstructionsinyourCourseNotes,wheresomemore
Happy Draf t ing!Happy Draf t ing!