Essay Guidance:
A good essay will have the following features:
• a clear structure, including an introduction and a conclusion
• a clear argument that can be followed through the whole of the text
• good supporting evidence from musical and academic sources
• appropriate use of musical and critical terminology to describe music and ideas
• evidence of your own opinion, including the way that you have used academic sources to inform this
• a clear, academic writing style that does not contain colloquialisms or informal writing
Research and Referencing:
Stella Cottrell, The Study Skills Handbook, 4th. ed. (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) is a book that contains advice, guidance, and self-assessment exercises for academic work. You may find this book useful in preparing this and other assignments throughout your degree. Chapter 6: ‘Core Research Skills’ is of relevance to this particular assignment.
There is not a particular number of sources that you should use in order to gain a high mark for your essay. The best guidance is “as many sources as are needed to support your points”. In general, this should be a mixture of different types of sources:
• some general sources that support your knowledge of ideas and definitions within the topic
• some specific, secondary sources that support your understanding of specific arguments and concepts
• some primary textual sources from which arguments originate
• some primary musical sources (scores, recordings, or performances) that relate to your specific examples.
NB: when dealing with musical sources, make sure you correctly identify and reference the source you are using. Do not reference youtube or IMSLPunless that is the only source of the score or the recording. You need to identify the original source which is most likely to be a paper publication or a CD release, unless that work was created specifically for youtube or IMSLP.
Avoiding Plagiarism:
Good referencing and research practices are important for avoiding plagiarism. You need to give a reference or citation for everything in your work that has been taken from elsewhere. This includes direct quotations (where you use the exact words of the text), summary and précis (where you explain the words of the text into your own words), and terminology, tables and diagrams that you borrow to support your argument. If in doubt, use a reference! You can always ask me about this, too, if you aren’t sure. Showing how you have used sources and the work of others to construct your argument is good academic practice and also shows me the background reading and research that you have undertaken to create your assignment.
Academic Writing Skills:
Stella Cottrell, Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument, 3rd. ed. (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) is a book that contains advice, guidance, and self-assessment exercises for critical thinking, something that will help you with the type of writing that you need to undertake in this essay.