The Wollotuka Institute

The following tips are designed to help with your essay writing
1. Be careful you don’t plagiarize. Plagiarism means taking material from another source and not acknowledging that source. Cut and paste can contribute to plagiarism.

2. Research: explore material on your topic by reading at least five different sources. Makes notes along the way to help you retrieve information for your essay. Utilize the internet and university data bases for information.
3. Critical Analysis: the information and data you have gathered and think about its importance to your chosen topic.
4. Write a draft of your bibliography or reference list. This is very important and will be used in marking criteria to assess your work.
5. Words: Essays are about putting words together. Be careful about your selection, spelling and punctuation of words. Words are the key to clarity so take your time and consider. Use capital letters for Aboriginal people…not aborigines, aboriginal…same for Indigenous not indigenous.
6. Outline and Draft: Organize your ideas into an outline that structures your essay. For each paragraph write a sentence which you can expand on when you start writing your essay.

Structure

7. Introduction: should state the purpose of the essay and focus. Keep it clear and to the point. For example…’This essay will focus on the Stolen Generation and the impact of government legislation’…tell the reader what the essay is about in the opening sentence.
8. Body Paragraphs: Each paragraph should express an idea that supports your general essay aim, topic and argument. Remember to use your own words rather than too many long quotes. And remember reference where you are getting your information.
9. Quotes less than three lines in the paragraph…longer than three lines indent and single space…no need to use apostrophes for longer quotes
10. Conclusion: Sum up the ideas expressed in each paragraph…. For example… ‘this essay has discussed the impacts of frontier contact and its impact on Aboriginal people’
11. How many references?…as a rule of thumb no less than five reference sources should be cited in your essay.
12. Harvard Referencing Style *when using websites acknowledge the http address, date accessed, author, title and year. This is an example (Smith, 1995,21)
13. Stick closely to the word limit
All the best regards Greg