Study Skills Renee Lockwood

1. Study SkillsRenee Lockwood

2. Study Skills: Content of today’s tutorial • The take-home exam • Assessment and Essay writing skills • How to fail • How to improve your grade (expression, content, referencing, presentation, writing style) • Essay structure (2000 word essay) • Researching • Hand back early feedback assessments • Looking at essay questions (if time)

3. Take Home Exam • Emailed the exam questions on the morning of Friday 14 December. • Exams due Monday 17 BEFORE 5pm. • They must be handed in to Carole Cusack’s office. • Word Limit 1000 words (not including references) • You will be given six quotes from six different primary texts. You will not be told which ones, or given any information about them. • You must choose FOUR only. • For each of these, you will write a concise account of what the text is (date, language, history), and then try to identify what seems to you its most important contributions to the history of religion. • Answers must be properly referenced. Include a minimum of FOUR references per question. • Include a bibliography. • Word limit strictly adhered to. This means 250 words per question. • Each answer (one paragraph) must include an introductory sentence and a concluding sentence.

4. Discussion questions • During your academic career, what have been the most challenging assessments for you? Why? • What part of essay writing do you find the most challenging? • What feedback about your writing have you received? How has your writing changed as a result (if at all)? • What do you think are the easiest ways to fail an assessment? • What does a good essay look like?

5. How to fail • Do not adhere to the word limit. • Show no signs of research. • Do not adequately answer the question. • Plagiarise. • Reference poorly and do not include a bibliography.

6. Improving your grade:Expression • Write at least one draft; never hand in your first draft! • Read and re-read your work. Read it aloud. • Read as many academic sources as you can. • Keep your sentences short and concise. • Don’t begin paragraphs with direct quotes. • Don’t repeat words: "Inequalities are present in modern societies, in both domestic societies and global societies. These inequalities will always be part of society."

7. Avoiding repetition Too many repeated words: "Inequalities are present in modern societies, in both domestic societies and global societies. These inequalities will always be part of society." Better phrasing: “Social inequalities exist both domestically and globally, and will always be present.”

8. Improving your grade:Content • Highlightthe key words in the question before you begin to answer it. • Only include information that supports your thesis and directly answers the question. • Don’t use words from the thesaurus unless you are sure of the meaning!

9. Improving your grade:Referencing • Reference all ideas, theories and quotes. • Your referencing style must be consistent. • Choose a style you feel comfortable with. • Do not reference textbooks or encyclopaedias. • Always include page numbers when referencing, especially for direct quotes. • Your bibliography must be ordered alphabetically. • The references in your essay must be consistent with the references in your bibliography.

10. How to reference tutorials

11. Improving your grade:Presentation • Do not submit work without a cover sheet. • Indicate clearly which question you are answering. • Always double space your work. • Note: "pp. 2-14" = pages plural. "p.2" = one page

12. Improving your grade:Writing style • Never use contractions in academic writing (don't, won't etc). • Link your sentences and paragraphs together so they flow logically. • Use linking words: Thus, however, to conclude...

13. Improving your grade:Essay Structure INTRODUCTION: general to specific (roughly 150 - 200 words) - background information, introduction to the topic. - Outline the main points - thesis statement (answer to the question) ESSAY BODY (roughly 1600 - 1700 words) - Discuss the three main points, developing them with examples and evidence. - Each paragraph should discuss one primary topic only. Main point 1 (expanded in 3 paragraphs of 150 - 200 words each) Main point 2 (expanded in 3 paragraphs of 150 - 200 words each) Main point 3 (expanded in 3 paragraphs of 150 - 200 words each) CONCLUSION (roughly 150 - 200 words) - Summarise main points and thesis statement - Concluding statement

14. Essay Writing • All forms of academic writing needs a clear introduction that restates the question and a conclusion that is a‘mirror’, not repeating the introduction, but pulling together the strands of your argument. • Paragraphs should be roughly 10 lines and explore one or two ideas in detail. Three line paragraphs cause your prose to be disjointed and your argument to lose momentum. There should be clear links between paragraphs. • Quotes are best from primary (rather than secondary) sources and should be used as ‘knock-down’ evidence to demonstrate your argument. • Academic writing should engage in description only when necessary. It is an exercise in argument and analysis. • The balance between theory/method and empirical data must be monitored. • Criticism of scholars must be more than ‘I disagree with X’. You have to explain how you disagree with them and why this is a valid position to take. • All answers should be carefully proof-read before submission. If you’re not sure ask a friend to help. The most important issue is consistency; referencing should all be in the same format, and language should be sober and formal. • All academic work requires research. Research from your unit reader is fine but independent research is better. Use only academically reputable websites.

15. Early Feedback Assignment Referencing the Bible: Bibliography: The edition comes first (then include place of publication, publisher and date according to chosen referencing style) • Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. If you are including the name of an editor, identify them clearly with “(ed.)” They are NOT the author! • Good News Bible. Susan Lightly, (ed.) Birmingham: Liturgical Publications, 1954. DO NOT list chapters of the bible in the bibliography.

16. Early Feedback Assignment Citing the Bible in your work: In text citation (examples): The Bible enumerates these virtues: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:1 New International Version). In 1 Cor. 13:1 (New International Version), the Bible states that of the three virtues of love, faith, and hope, love is the greatest. “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” (NIV, James 1.19). Footnote citation (example): An interesting reference was made to the picking of corn on the Sabbath.8 8 Matthew 12:1-8. • Do NOT put the editor’s name in the citation. They didn’t author it! • This is a guide for all primary source religious texts. Just make sure the editor or translator is identified as such with “(trans.)” or “(ed.)”.

17. Referencing • When citing a work (footnotes or in text), always put page numbers. This is especially important after a quote.  • Do NOT put page numbers in your bibliography, unless it is for a journal article or book chapter. • Correct usage of spaces, full stops, commas = all vital for full marks.