Welcome to SMIRK Unit
6 - Planning your work


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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Why plan?

Throughout your life you will need to write e-mails, letters, web pages, blogs, essays and reports. Your written communication method and degree of fomality will depend on who you are writing to, and why. Your Learning Development Centre can give you additonal infomation with examples.

Essays and reports

What are essays?
Essays are "a short literary composition on a single subject”.

(Collins New English Dictionary (1997). London : HarperCollins, p. 253)
Quill and parchment

What are reports?
Reports "give an account of the results of an investigation”.

(Collins New English Dictionary (1997). London : HarperCollins, p. 655)

Essays and reports are formal methods of communication and require attention to detail and a good writing style. The guidance given in this section is general and not subject specific. You should always check the guidelines in your module handbook for detailed specifications for your subject. You'll find them on GCULearn.

There are 5 stages in preparing written assignments:

  1. interpreting the task (for a refresher see Understanding the question)
  2. finding information (for a refresher see Finding Information)
  3. planning and structuring your work
  4. writing
  5. proof reading and revision
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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

Selecting your evidence

Recycling binOnce you have worked out what you are being asked to do and have found relevant and good quality information, you will need to make sense of all the data. Go through all the material and be brutal in rejecting unnecessary or irrelevant information. 
Only select the data that will help you answer the question. It can be disappointing to discard material you have gathered, but your lecturer only wants you to include material that is relevant. Pick out the central themes and concentrate on these.

This video from Dr Jane McKay, HLS LDC will help get you started.

smiley cat iconHint: Go through your notes and highlight relevant material in green. Highlight in red any material that can be discarded and highlight in yellow anything you are unsure of. Now you have a clearer idea of what you should include.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

Structuring your work

Essays and reports are designed to inform the reader about a certain topic. So you need to make sure that you don't confuse your reader by not having a logical structure. 
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Remember that your work should have an introduction, middle and conclusion. Your essay or report should flow from section to section. There should be logical links between each paragraph or section. Therefore plan your structure carefully. Put your arguments in order and consider if they make sense. There are lots of different ways to do this:

If your order fails to flow then re-order the points. The following pages will give you some suggestions.

smiley cat iconTop tip: If the suggestions on the following pages don't work for your topic, then consider using the frameworks created by Stella Cottrell. These act as an excellent outline for what you should consider for an argumentative essay and a compare and contrast essay.

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Cottrell, S., 2008. The study skills handbook. 3rd ed. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, p. 187 and p. 190 - level 3 of the Saltire Centre shelved at 378.170281 COT.

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Creative Commons Licence
SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

 

Essay structure

essayEssays are a piece of discursive work and often have no formal layout in terms of heading and sub-headings. However, this does not mean that essays should not have a logical structure. The format for an essay can vary by school, so always check your module guide! (It is on GCULearn).

Before you start, watch this vidcast by Angela Shapiro, ADT EBE.
 
EBE also have some pages on structuring and planning your assignment. As with reports, you need an introduction, middle and conclusion:

A good introduction:

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

The main body

Here is a helpful video from Dr Jane McKay, HLS LDC.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

The main body

The main body builds on your argument and should contain evidence and examples that support your ideas.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

Paragraphs

Here is a helpful video on paragraphs from Dr Jane McKay. HLS LDC.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

The conclusion

Good conclusions:


References: You should provide a list of all the authors you have cited in your essay.

More help is available from your Learning Development Centre.

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SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

Report structure

pile of print imageReports are designed to be read quickly and easily. Often only parts of a report are read in detail. Reports vary from essays as they have a more formal layout and normally use numbering, headings and sub-headings to indicate sections. The format for a report can vary by school, so always check your module guide! (It is on GCULearn). Reports often include:

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Creative Commons Licence
SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/

Writing a report

This vidcast has been created by Angela Shapiro, EBE LDC. Is describes how to write a final year technical report. Bear in mind that any examples will refer to EBE courses.

Want to know more? - we have more detailed pages on technical writing later in this section. More help is available from your Learning Development Centre.

Now that you have a structure, read our section on writing your assignment to make sure that you fill it with the best quality content.

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Creative Commons Licence
SMIRK by Imperial College, Loughborough University and the University of Worcester, modified by Marion Kelt Glasgow Caledonian University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/library/SMILE/