Writing a BA Essay

Rules and

Guidelines

Yfirlit

• Seminar 1– Rules of the Faculty of

Humanities– The Purpose – The Process– Topic and Definition– Choosing and working

with an advisor– Thesis Proposal– Organization

• Seminar 2– Expository Writing– Academic Discourse– Sources– Outline– Tables and – Final Copy and Editing– Handbooks for Writing

Rules of the Faculty of Humanities concerning BA Essays

• See: http://www.hug.hi.is/page/baritgerd• Goals:

– „Lokaritgerð er ætlað að sýna hæfni nemenda til sjálfstæðra vinnubragða, til skipulegrar úrvinnslu efnis og heimilda, svo og til notkunar fræðilegra hjálpargagna.“

– “The goal of a BA essay is to demonstrate students´ abilities to work independently, to organize and interpret the material and sources

and to utilize academic aids.”

Chosing and working with an advisor

• An advisor should be a member of the permanent staff of the department. Other advisors are assigned by special permission of the department.

• An advisor guides the student in developing a thesis and identifying appropriate sources, and oversees the writing process.

Format and length• Length

– 10 cr. essay: 8.000-10.000 words (20-30 pp)

(2 credits = 1 week of work, 10 cr = 5 weeks.)– 20 cr. essay = 16.000-20.000 words (50-60 pp)

(20 cr. = 10 weeks of work. By special permission only)

• MLA Format • A-4, 3 cm. margins, double spacing• Front page and title page

• Academic discourse - carefully edited• Bibliography - endnotes

Deadlines:

• Deadlines: see current schedule– Turn in one unbound copy for the

second reader

• Turn in 4 copies of bound essay

Grades due: 2-3 weeks after the deadline

The Purpose of BA Essays:• Three fold purpose:

– Training in methodology– Conducting research– The best BA essays are:

• an original contribution to the field• demonstrate independent work• include a good lit. review with the appropriate sources• arguments are logically presented,• is written in clear academic language

• A writer needs to consider the reader (the audience) – Who is the reader (audience) of a BA essay?

The Process: Overview

• Choosing a topic• Choosing an advisor• A plan of writing – an outline• Gathering and analyzing data

– Confer with advisor

• Writing the essay– Advisor reads a draft and gives feedback

• Student revises as often as needed– Content – Organization- Language- Format

• Student turns in final copy

Choosing and defining a topic

• What is the topic of the BA essay?• What is the main thesis?• Usually the thesis answers an academic

question• Topics in the past include:

– The Critical Period Hypothesis and Second Language Acquisition

– English for Specific Purposes– English Influence on North American Icelandic– Objectivity and the Media: The Discourse of Editorials

Choosing and Defining a thesis

Keep in mind:– Confer with the advisor about narrowing the

topic to a thesis– Make sure that the topic/thesis is doable

given the time and resources available• 2 credits = 1 weeks work • Too wide a topic is hard to manage• Too narrow a topic may not be worth doing

The Thesis

• Interest– Main thing is being interested or

curious about a topic?– Best to think about the topic from a

theoretical or research standpoint as a gap in current knowledge, an unanswered question, paradox og fallacy.

Thesis

• Originality– Is this anything new?

• New facts?

• New and unique interpretation, view etc...

– Has someone already written about this? What has been said about this?

– Do a Lit. review.– What will your essay add to current

knowledge?

Originality

• Is not always a new idea but a new way of looking at things, interpreting things…

Choosing and working with an advisor

• Expertise• Good relationship• Independence: Not just

write what the advisor says • The Role of the advisor

– Helps develop the thesis – Advises on methods and

sources – Guides the writing process

The Research Proposal and Development of a Thesis

Defining and developing a thesis:– A research proposal is a short description of

the topic, thesis, research methodology/ approach and main sources

• Length max. 1 page.

– Often the proposal needs to be revised or changed slightly as the writing progresses

Organization• The organization of

the essay must be clear to the reader from the beginning

• Good rule to organize about 80% of the text 26-34 pages)

• More difficult to shorten than lengthening a text.

Organization1. Front page2. Title page3. Abstract4. Index5. Introduction6. Main body of essay (Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4

etc...)• Main body is about 75% of essay

7. Conclusions8. Works cited

Organization

• Organization of Main Body of Essay– Main chapters:

• They should be of equal length. Usually there are 3 - 5 main chapters. Each chapter has about 8-10 pages.

– Sub sections• 2-4 subsections • Common problems: Organization is too

loose or too tight or organization varies by chapters.

Organization

• Chapter titles– Short – Describe the content

• Common mistakes:– Limited content, unclear description, too

few or too many references– Questions as titles– Inadequate description of content– Too much repetition

Organization

• Beginning and end of subsections:– What is the section about?– Consistency in length and importance– Two levels of writing:

Working text,

Introduction can be written after the main text

– End with a descriptive sentence about the content and transition to next section

Examples

• A good beginning of a chapter grabs the reader´s interest. Ex. Posing a question or problem... . Reader is enticed to read more...– Not a good beginning for a main chapter:

• „In the last chapter I talked about bla bla bla”• „ In this chapter I will discuss [title of chapter]• As I said earlier...

• Conclusion of main chapter• Concluding words where the main points made in the

chapter are reiterated in a general way• Transition to next section.