How to Impress…. with essays

1. How to Impress….with essays

2. 1. Know what is being marked

3. 1. Know what is being marked • Ensure that you are well versed in the RUBRIC (previous slide) • You will be assessed on how well you: • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of legal issues relevant to the question content • Communicate using relevant legal terminology and concepts – content and skill • Refer to relevant examples such as legislation, cases, media, international instruments and documents • Present a sustained, logical and cogesive response

4. 1. Know what is being marked • Ensure also that you are familiar with marking criteria for extended responses attached to assignments • Equally you need to be familiar with Performance Band Descriptors, because it helps to know how to get into the next band.

5. 2. Know how to structure an essay • A lot of students don’t really get what to do when told to follow the introduction, body, conclusion structure. • We will look at the Conclusion, Body Conclusion structure.

6. Introduction (ahh…Conclusion) • Detailed instruction is the key here. It is necessary to unpack for students what a thesis is. • What is a thesis? • The job of paragraph one becomes more transparent. It should: • State their thesis (conclusion) • Preview their evidence

7. Paragraph One • “Modern History is a more relevant subject than Legal Studies.” Discuss

8. Paragraph One • Doing this, you can see quite clearly what taking a position means (in essence you either wholly agree, or disagree with the question) and once taken, how you need to use your evidence to prove your argument.

9. Body • The power of topic sentences. These act as signposts for the marker. They they need to be narrow enough to signal the particular direction the essay is heading in and yet broad enough to signal the particular direction the essay is heading in and yet broad enough to give the students something to unpack and prove in the balance of the paragraph. • The point canvassed in the topic sentence should then be proven/anchored by reference to legislation, cases, media, treaties etc.

10. Body • And to exit the paragraph, the student has a few choices: • Link bck to the main question • Summarise the paragraph’s main thrust • Foreshadow the next paragraph

11. Conclusion • By this stage, the marker will know the line of the argument. The conclusion just needs to: • Restate the thesis (argument) • Review the evidence

12. Why this structure? • The advantages of the this approach • It directly hits the demands of the rubric (avoids an internally contradictory essay that changes argument mid way through) • It forces students to think and plan as they cannot start writing until they cannot start writing until they have formulated their opinion in response to the question • It supports students impressing with strong, opening lines which attack the question

13. 3. Master the language • Subject specific language is vital that students need to write like a LEGAL STUDIES student. This is more than just using case law. This is about writing confidently. • Eg. Legislative change, jurisdiction, indictment, judicial discretion