Dr Tony Luxon Student Learning Development Centre

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Dr Tony LuxonStudent Learning Development
Centre
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Analysing the Task

• Unpacking the question
• Planning the Essay
• Paragraph Development
• Indicating your Sources in the paper and in your
  reference list/bibliography

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Unpacking the Question

• One of the most important steps in writing an
  assignment is analysing and understanding the
  title itself.
• Topic
• Focus
• Comment

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Identifying the Topic

• Each assignment title contains a topic
• This indicates the overall range of the subject
  matter
• eg., Discuss uses, advantages and dangers of
  performance appraisal.

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Identifying the Focus or Aspect

• This is the angle or point of view on the subject
  matter. What aspect of the subject matter also
  needs to be addressed?
• Addressing the general topic is not sufficient
• Discuss uses, advantages and dangers of
  performance appraisal.

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Identifying the instruction or comment

• Comment or instruction identifies the text-type
• Eg, describe, evaluate, compare, illustrate,
  analyse, etc.
• Discuss uses, advantages and dangers of
  performance appraisal

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Unpacking the Question

• Discuss briefly the roles and duties of the
  auditor in the UK as regards the audit of limited
  companies. Assess how far recent criticism in
  the financial press of the audit profession is
  justified, particularly the extent to which an
  auditor should be held financially responsible
  for wrongdoing that becomes known after financial
  statements have been published

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Comment/Instruction

• Discuss briefly the roles and duties of the
  auditor in the UK as regards the audit of limited
  companies. Assess how far recent criticism in
  the financial press of the audit profession is
  justified, particularly the extent to which an
  auditor should be held financially responsible
  for wrongdoing that becomes known after financial
  statements have been published

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Topic

• Discuss briefly the roles and duties of the
  auditor in the UK as regards the audit of limited
  companies. Assess how far recent criticism in
  the financial press of the audit profession is
  justified, particularly the extent to which an
  auditor should be held financially responsible
  for wrongdoing that becomes known after financial
  statements have been published

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Focus/Aspect

• Discuss briefly the roles and duties of the
  auditor in the UK as regards the audit of limited
  companies. Assess how far recent criticism in
  the financial press of the audit profession is
  justified, particularly the extent to which an
  auditor should be held financially responsible
  for wrongdoing that becomes known after financial
  statements have been published

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Unpacking the Question

• Discuss briefly the roles and duties of the
  auditor in the UK as regards the audit of limited
  companies. Assess how far recent criticism in
  the financial press of the audit profession is
  justified, particularly the extent to which an
  auditor should be held financially responsible
  for wrongdoing that becomes known after financial
  statements have been published

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Planning the Essay Think about

• Introduction general indication of the topic
  and focus of the question
• Main Body How many points how many
  paragraphs/sections? The balance between the
  general topic and the focus?
• Conclusion Keep a summary short, if you are
  going to summarise mainly comment on the focus
  of the question, on the basis of your discussion.
  

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Paragraph Development

• Unity One idea, one paragraph, represented by a
  topic sentence, usually at the beginning of the
  paragraph
• Development
• Use examples or illustrations
• Key Quotations (with comment)
• Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, detail)
• Cite relevant literature
• Define terms, if necessary.
• Evaluate causes and reasons

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Indicate your sources

• You can paraphrase and summarise ideas and
  information that you have discovered, but you
  must indicate the sources of these in your essay
  and in the references at the end.
• Any books, websites etc, must be listed at the
  end of your paper
• Look for guidance on referencing on the
  www.uefap.co.uk website
• Dont forget - indications and evidence of
  effective research will merit marks

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SUMMING UP

• Analyse the question
• Plan your essay around the elements in the
  question
• Decide on the main points you want to make, and
  plan your essay around these
• Decide on your view of the main issues (remember,
  this is not your opinion, it is your view, based
  on the evidence you present in the main body)
• Record your sources as citation in the paper if
  necessary, and in the bibliography at the end of
  your paper (in alphabetical order)

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Choose any two lecture topics from the course and
discuss their relevance to a country or group of
countries of your choice.You should write an
essay of no more than 2,500 words, demonstrating
an appreciation of economic theory and a
thorough knowledge of the country (or countries)
of your choice. This may include brief
discussion of the institutional and political
context, historical material and the state of
the economy. Where appropriate you should try to
incorporate and analyse relevant data to
support your argument, and you should refer to
empirical studies on, or including, the country
(or countries) of your choice.