Writing a BA Essay

1. Writing a BA Essay Rules and Guidelines

2. 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 Yfirlit

3. 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.”

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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?

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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?

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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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.

17. Organization • Front page • Title page • Abstract • Index • Introduction • Main body of essay (Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4 etc...) • Main body is about 75% of essay • Conclusions • Works cited

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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.