Academic Writing

I've just finished the 8:15am Zoom with Peter Thomas about writing structure and it was super helpful. So, I'm going to summarise what I've learnt before I forget!

Basically, for a conventional academic essay, you need to:

'Tell them what you're going to say, say it, and then tell them what you said.'

I kind of already knew this from school but, it's been so long since I've had to actually write anything important, it was good to be reminded.

Below is the structure that we are encouraged to use on the BAPP programme; it is 'theme-based'.

INTRODUCTION (10% of the whole essay)
- What? (What's the topic?, What's the focus?)
- Why? (Why is it relevant to you/the reader?)
- How? (How have you done the research? How are you going to present the research?)

CONTEXT
- Define key themes
- Give background on your examples

ANALYSIS
- Theme A (Example 1/2/3)
- Theme B (Example 1/2/3)
- Theme C (Example 1/2/3)

CONCLUSION
- What have you found?
- Why is this interesting?

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As our word count is only 2,500 words, we could also use a selective version of this structure:

INTRODUCTION 

CONTEXT

ANALYSIS
- Theme A (Example 1)
- Theme B (Example 2)
- Theme C (Example 3)

CONCLUSION

This gives the chance to go more in depth with each example.

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This is how I understand this structure linking to our 'critical reflection on positioning practices and learning' essay...

INTRODUCTION 
- What is my practice?
- Why is it relevant for me to reflect on my learning?
- How have I done the research? How am I going to present the research?

CONTEXT
- Define the 3 lenses
- Give background on my areas of learning

ANALYSIS
- Lens 1 (Areas of Learning 1/2/3)
- Lens 2 (Areas of Learning 1/2/3)
- Lens 3 (Areas of Learning 1/2/3)

(Or selective version, depending on my research)

CONCLUSION
- What have I found about my practice through my areas of learning?
- Why is this interesting to me/to others?

I have just booked onto the 'Understanding Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism' class next week, so will write a summary post of what I learn from that too. 

Overall I'm feeling a lot less stressed now that I understand the structure because I LOVE STRUCTURE. Now I just have to find answers to all of these questions! Well, not answers. There are no answers.