Examinations and Presentation of Essays and Assignments

• Examinations
• Written work
• Identification
• Presentation
• How to write an essay
• Useful resources for writing essays

Examinations

Formal written examinations are not normally returned but students who wish to see their marked paper may do so, although they will not be permitted to take it away. (The Academic Board has recommended that examination papers 'which involve the repeated use of the same material in successive examinations may continue to be kept confidential'.)

The use of Spanish dictionaries is not normally permitted in any examination or class test for the language courses SPAN1601, 1602, 2601, 2602, 3601 or 3602. In some cases you may be told by your tutor that you have permission to use a dictionary in a specific examination but you should not take this as applying to other examinations in the same or other units. When dictionaries are permitted clear instructions will be given but it is your own responsibility to ensure you bring a dictionary to the class concerned.

If you have a mobile phone with you in any class test or examination please ensure that it is switched off and placed in your bag or under your desk. Do not pick up your phone during an examination, even to look at the time, as you may be open to charges of academic misconduct.

Written Work

An essay or assignment is not merely a form of assessment - it is a valuable part of a progressive teaching/learning process and its potential can be realised only if it is handed in when it is due, giving time for careful correction, annotation and discussion before the student proceeds to the next stage of the unit. The experience of completing each assignment given, and the feedback received in the form of comments and discussion, allow for the progressive increase in the student's knowledge and improvement in working techniques.

Identification

All exercises, assignments and essays should bear the following identification at the top of the first page:

• Student's full name
• Unit name or code (e.g. ‘Introductory Spanish 1’ or ‘SPAN 1601’)
• Name of teacher
• Title (if any)

NOTE: Students are advised, in their own interests, to keep a photocopy of all assignments handed in. It is also very important to keep back-up copies of any computer files at each stage of your work.

Tutors will indicate when and where each piece of assessment should be handed in. Normally, assessments will be handed directly to the tutor in class.

Students may also submit pieces of assessment to the School of Languages and Cultures administration office. Any pieces of assessment handed in over the counter will be stamped with the date, and placed in the relevant staff member's pigeon hole.

Students should not use any other method of handing in work. We take no responsibility for assessments that are not submitted either as indicated by the tutor or to the School Office.

Each assessment should also have attached with it a completed and signed SLC coversheet. This coversheet MUST be attached to all pieces of assessment or it may not be marked. Coversheets can be found at the School of Languages and Cultures administration office or downloaded here.

Presentation

• Clear setting out and legibility are essential.
• Write on one side of the paper only, with double spacing.
• Typewritten/printed work is now standard. Only submit handwritten work if absolutely essential, and do not write in pencil.
• Leave ample margins (for comments).
• Pin or staple your sheets together securely at the top left-hand corner.
• Attach a School of Languages cover sheet (see above)

How to write an essay

An essay is an exercise in fact-finding, thinking and planning, rather than the expression of subjective, emotional responses. You should undertake it in several stages:

• Understand the subject
  Are you clear about the sense and implications of all words in the topic? It is a bad fault to misunderstand the subject through not having thought sufficiently about it, and to avoid the issues raised in the question by, for example, writing around them.

• Locate the problem
  Every good essay presents a problem, discusses it, and, if possible, solves it.

• Gather evidence
  This could be of two kinds, textual – derived from a particular text under discussion, or factual – from general reference works (histories of literature, encyclopedias, bibliographies, etc.). Take full and careful notes, in whatever form seems most suitable; as you size up the problems to be tackled, you should become progressively more selective in your note taking. Don't forget to write down the sources of all references or quotations, in as full a form as possible, and always be clear which parts of your notes are direct quotations from the texts you have read and which are comments written in your own words.

• Establish an opinion
  While you are still gathering the facts, you should consider the various hypotheses that might solve your problem, and adopt the most likely one. Normally, in the course of your reading and thinking, one line of thought will recommend itself rather than another, but you should not allow this to cause you to ignore evidence that would destroy your hypothesis. If you are given a quotation to comment on, ask: is it true? Remember that we are expecting you to be critical and analytical. At this stage, discussions with fellow students may be of great help.

• Plan the layout
  The problem that you have isolated (and, if possible, solved) in the four previous stages will become basic to the layout of your essay, and give it unity. Your Introduction should contain definitions of key-terms and of your assumptions and methods (to make sure you and your reader are on the same wave-length), a reformulation of the subject (including a statement of the problem that it involves), and an explanation of the divisions of your argument that will make up the main body of your essay.

The Middle Section (or main body) consists of a series of arguments and proofs forming a logical progression to a conclusion. This progression can be indicated to the reader using ‘signposts’: summarising sentences at the end of sections to show what you have just discussed, and indications at the start of sections to tell the reader where your argument is going next. Note that the order of presentation will rarely be the order in which the points were thought of originally. There must be no irrelevancies; eliminate everything not absolutely necessary to your line of argument, and choose carefully among the facts available to you. Avoid repeating yourself (unless you have a good reason for taking up a point mentioned earlier).

Your Conclusion should not be disproportionately brief (in relation to your Introduction) and could consist of two steps: your conclusion proper, in which you recapitulate your original proposition, and the steps of your argument, and give the sum of your results; and then, in a few lines, an estimate of the general significance of your results and analysis. On occasion you might identify unsolved problems in the topic, and indicate further avenues of research. The Conclusion is not the place to introduce new ideas, but nor should it simply repeat things that you have already said. Instead, you will use it to synthesise ideas and highlight the most important point(s) in your analysis.

• Write your draft
  Aim for clarity and simplicity. Avoid clumsy expressions, exclamations, over-complicated prose and vocabulary and inappropriate use of colloquialisms. Do not hesitate to modify your original plan if it is not proving workable. Indicate footnotes roughly in the margin. Then rewrite your Introduction and Conclusion (the two most important sections).

• Write (or type) your final version
  Footnotes should be either at the foot of the relevant page or grouped together and numbered at the end of the essay (endnotes). Strive for even greater clarity in the style; and finally, add a bibliography (a list of works consulted, whether these are books, articles, webpages or other sources). Check carefully for spelling errors before submitting the essay.

Useful resources for writing essays

• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, New York, Modern Language Association [latest edition].
• Hook, Lucyle, and Gavar, Mary V., The Research Paper, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1963.
• Anderson, Jonathan et al., Thesis and Assignment Writing, Sydney, John Wiley, 1970.
• The University of Sydney Library is great resource for books etc on how to write essays.
• Note that the Learning Assistance Centre (Level 7 in New Education Building) runs a range of day and evening courses covering such areas as essay writing and giving oral presentations. These courses are very popular and early booking is advised. For more information phone +61 2 9351-3853.