Sibling Relationships.
Outlines the issues and/or position you are arguing for (the thesis). Grade depends on how clearly and completely the argument is outlined.
Relevance and understanding
All information in your essay should be relevant to the question you have been asked. There should be examples that clearly illustrate a theory, model or approach to
understanding problem solving and thinking.
Discussion and Critique
You should include a clear discussion often where two or more opposing approaches, theories or pieces of evidence are evaluated. You should include a critique
supported by citations.
You should draw the threads of your argument together here and link back to what you said you would do in the Introduction. By the end of the Discussion you will have
answered the question posed in the essay title.
ADVICE The aim of the essay is to apply what you have learned in lectures and in your readings to everyday life. The essay should therefore explain and critique
various theories you have come across and illustrate them. There are many topics and concepts to choose from within each essay question. Don’t include too many of
these otherwise your essay will be just a kind of list. Only using a couple, on the other hand, won’t allow you to show off how much you know. I don’t want to specify
too much here since it is up to you how you tackle the question.
Your introduction should set out how you will be tackling the essay question – i.e., your thesis – what you are arguing for. You should NOT provide a list saying
“First I will discuss A then I will talk about B, then I will go on to discuss C, etc”. The reader should know in advance what you are arguing for – you should not be
trying to keep it as a big surprise for the reader at the end of the essay.
Most typical comments from previous years:
• Most comments referred to aspects that were poorly written and unclear.
• Next came the use of examples: some did not seem to relate well to the theories being discussed or how they related was not made clear.
• The thread of the argument gets lost – there is no flow to the argument so the reader can’t follow where the essay is going.
• In-text references aren’t in the Reference section and vice versa.
• No evidence of any research having been carried out to write the essay.
• Lots of theories but very little use of examples to illustrate them or lots of examples and very little theory.
• Make sure that by the end of the essay you have clearly answered the essay question.
FEEDBACK You will receive feedback based on the University’s 2Q system. That is, there will be comments about the extent to which you met the criteria for the
essay and what you could do to improve. At the same time, there will be a detailed indication on the Turnitin Grademark rubric about how well you have done in each
part of the essay based on the general criteria above. The rubric is for guidance and feedback – it does NOT indicate accurately what your overall grade will be. The
rubric contains typical comments and ways to improve so the contents of a particular highlighted box may not directly apply to what you have written. The 2Q comments
should make that clear.
SUPPORT Staff have office hours to provide students with support and clarification of feedback. If you have queries about the assignments please make use of them.
Outlines the issues and/or position you are arguing for (the thesis). Grade depends on how clearly and completely the argument is outlined.
There is no introduction. There is no real introduction (no clear thesis to be argued). There is an Introduction but you need to focus more on
outlining the issues to be discussed and indicate the line of argument you are going to take. The Introduction to your essay is generally fine but try to focus more
on outlining the issues to be discussed and indicate the line of argument you are going to take. The Introduction is good. You manage indicate the line of
argument you are going to take. An excellent introduction. It is succinct and expounds your argument very clearly.
BODY OF ESSAY
Relevance and understanding
All information in your essay should be relevant to the question you have been asked. There should be examples that clearly illustrate a theory, model or approach to
understanding problem solving and thinking. No evidence of understanding OR irrelevant OR essay is so unclear as to mask evidence of any understanding. Mostly
made up of material that is not obviously relevant or made relevant; relevant material missing; and/or there is little evidence of understanding. Evidence that:
• some aspects of the topic have not been clearly understood, or parts are irrelevant, or
• examples do not illustrate the concepts or theories discussed, or
• relatively superficial discussion of theories or concepts, or
• areas where the writing is unclear. The body of the essay is mostly relevant to the question and there is evidence that the topic has been understood.
There may still be irrelevant parts or areas where the writing is unclear. The body of the essay is generally accurate, well informed and relevant showing the
topic has been understood. An excellent essay showing clarity of argument & expression and illustrated well with examples
The body of the essay is highly relevant to the question and a discursive/evaluative element makes it clear that the topic has been understood.
BODY OF ESSAY
Discussion and Critique
You should include a clear discussion often where two or more opposing approaches, theories or pieces of evidence are evaluated. You should include a critique
supported by citations. There is no structured argument. There is no evidence of criticism or discussion of the topic. You must include and compare relevant
details of experimental evidence, as well as discussion and critique. Need to include or expand on and compare details of evidence. There is some evidence of
criticism and/or discussion of the topic. It needs to show more development of the arguments or
expand on the evidence presented. It has a good structure and is generally clearly presented.
Improve by including some of the following – critique from primary sources, more experimental details, greater comparison of theories. Excellent integration of a
range of evidence and with critical evaluation.
CONCLUSION
You should draw the threads of your argument together here and link back to what you said you would do in the Introduction. By the end of the Discussion you will have
answered the question posed in the essay title. There is no obvious conclusion. There is little that constitutes a conclusion. No real answer to the
question/topic posed in the essay title The conclusion is rather weak. Make sure it reflects what you said you were going to do in the Introduction (the thesis).
Your conclusion is fine but try to make sure it draws your argument together and reflects what you said you were going to do in the Introduction (the thesis). Your
conclusion is good and provides an answer to the essay question. An excellent conclusion. You draw together conflicts and diverse material to present a unified
conclusion.
CITATIONS AND REFERENCES.
You should include citations for all information. Each citation should have a corresponding reference in the reference section. The Reference section should not have
references that were not cited in the text. Very poor referencing or Citations and References have been almost entirely omitted. See: You have included some
citations and referencing but you either have a lot of information with no citations or have not used APA formatting correctly. Your referencing needs improving. See
Your referencing is generally fine but there are some glitches. Your referencing is generally good with few errors although there are some minor ones. You
demonstrate a range of background reading. Well done. You have used a range of relevant primary sources and your referencing is excellent.
ENGLISH (spelling, grammar, paragraph structure, punctuation).
Your essay should be written in grammatical English allowing a clear flow of argument the reader can readily understand. The English is very hard to follow
making the essay often very difficult to understand. Please seek help from the Professional and Academic Development Team to help improve. Spelling, grammar
and/or paragraphing are poor. Please seek help from the Professional and Academic Development Team to help improve. You need to work on aspects of English
expression. Make sure you check spellings, punctuation, grammar and argument structure (e.g. paragraphing). You could seek help from the Professional and Academic
Development Team to help improve. Your English expression is generally fine but there are some errors or clumsy expressions here and there. Could be improved by
better proof-reading and editing. English expression is generally good with only a few glitches. Your English expression is excellent.





