Writing Assignments

Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice

www.ballarat.edu.au/learningskills

Break down the tasks by isolating any action

What’s the write way? words to help provide clues about what is
required.
One of the main types of assessment used at
tertiary level is the Written Assignment. It is
Some examples of action words are:
essential that students of any discipline be able to
organise and express written ideas in a readable, Analyse break into parts, describe or argue
grammatically correct format, using appropriate Define review and give a precise meaning
style, referencing and layout. Developing practical Compare/Contrast examine for similarities
skills in researching and organising material for and discuss any differences
written submission is important, as your capacity for Criticise put forward supported, contradicting
analytical thought and expression is assessed arguments
through written assignments. Discuss look at reasons for and against
Describe give details using examples to
illustrate
Where do I start? Evaluate look at reasons for and against, draw
conclusions
The following eight steps define a method that can Explain give supported reasons for; interpret
be used for any assignment topic. This method meaning of some phenomenon
can help you use your time efficiently. Justify provide reasons for a decision,
viewpoint
1. Analyse the task - the topic, the question/s Illustrate use examples to clarify the meaning
2. Research - the topic Outline highlight the main features without
3. Skeleton - develop an outline going into detail
(the outline will help you plan your written Summarise present the main ideas in the same
response) format as the original
4. Plan - develop your plan by adding to and/or
reordering your skeleton outline For example:
5. Write - expand your outline The essential role of an advertisement is to
6. Revise - extensively and often enable a consumer to make an informed
7. Reference - as you go, so you don’t leave any choice. Discuss.
of your source material out
8. Review - polish your work To respond to this topic, you need to consider the
following:
Each of these stages takes time. Plan ahead so
you allocate enough time to cover each task. Be Discuss = examine both sides of an argument.
prepared to produce several drafts before You need to present your point of view which is
reaching the final version. There is no substitute supported by authoritative evidence from journal
for getting an early start. articles and books (research).

Define these key words:

1. Analyse the task Advertisement - Different roles?
Advertisement - Different types?
The topic for a written assignment is usually Consumer - Different types?
specific in its requirements, yet allows for a variety
of answers. Some topics may be broad. The Knowing what must be covered allows you to
process of analysing a topic involves breaking generate questions to answer during your
down the question to clarify what is required in research.
your answer.
For more hints on analysing the task and choosing
The process of analysing a topic involves
key words go to the online tutorial ASSIST.
breaking down the question to clarify what is
required in your answer.
The online essay writing tutorial will also help to
structure your essay. Find both tutorials at the
Examine the question closely
Library website at: www.ballarat.edu.au/library
What specific questions are being asked?

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D Writing Assignments: Handout Page 1 of 4

Writing Assignments
Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice
www.ballarat.edu.au/learningskills

2. Research 2nd main point

quote = evidence / support
Once the question is broken down into tasks, you (reference, your notes)
are in a position to start planning your research. quote = evidence / support
Use your questions to guide your reading and (reference, your notes)
help you research more effectively.
It is important to record the source of your
From the previous example, a research question material and notes about why you think the quote
about the core role of an advertisement might be: is relevant. Otherwise it will appear as a list of
What are some of the roles of an advertisement? random quotes and you may not remember how
you were going to use them.
Gather relevant material
Your course materials should provide relevant Build a list of references to be used at the end of
clues. Your lecturers will mark your work, so start your work, or use an online referencing program
by gathering the articles, books and websites they such as RefWorks.
have recommended.
Example of a skeleton outline:
The UB Library website allows you to search the Role of an Advertisement
print collection, online journals and e-books. You
 Make sales
can request items from other UB campus libraries
or from other universities through the BONUS Quote: “Organizations spend billions of dollars on
program. This is a free service for UB students. advertising in order to generate income to pay its
employees.”
Many assignments require information that is peer
(Reference: Gould, M, 2008, p. 14. Your notes:
reviewed. Academic journal articles provide the
most current research. In most databases you can Promoting product to make money rather than
specify only scholarly journals, fulltext and primarily informing.)
timeframes. Quote: “Although most advertising is for commercial
purposes, an increasing amount of advertising
Save PDFs of articles on your USB or email them campaigns are currently being designed to serve
to yourself. It is also a good idea to save or email non-commercial purposes.”
the citation details for every article you download
from a database. This makes referencing your (Tetteh, 2008, p. 87 Mostly to make a profit – make
work easier, as you will already have the sales although move to other purposes.)
reference details you need.  Distract / confuse / amuse
Quote: “The information made available to families
through commercial-style materials challenges the
Need more help with researching? notion of parents making reasoned choices.”
Go to the online tutorial:
(Lubienski, C. 2007 p. 64 Advertising can actually
www.ballarat.edu.au/ASSIST confuse people and impede their ability to make an
informed choice.)
 Create brand personality and loyalty
3. Create a skeleton outline Quote: “Brand personality acts a potent brand
differentiator and offers sustainable competitive
A skeleton outline is a structure that helps you advantage.”
manage your research notes.
(Varaprasdreddy, 2006 p. 42 Makes people want to
For example: be associated with that brand – through advertising
1st main point – generates sales.)

quote = evidence / support  Inform consumer

(reference, your notes) ? (need to do more research)
quote = evidence / support
(reference, your notes)
Continued…

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D Writing Assignments: Handout Page 2 of 4

Writing Assignments
Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice
www.ballarat.edu.au/learningskills

4. Plan 8. Review
Review the information in your skeleton outline As you have put considerable effort into
and check that you have researched all aspects of researching and writing your paper, do not let
your topic. Consolidate your material by grouping poor presentation detract from the content. When
similar issues together. Look for connections preparing your final draft, give some thought to
between all the material you have gathered. Cut the layout of your paper.
out material that doesn’t answer the question! Refer to your course description for details about
margins, spacing and font size.
By doing this you are using your skeleton outline In order to write an academic assignment, you
to create a plan for your assignment. A clear plan need to use formal language. The General Guide
will give direction to your writing, and help keep it for the Presentation of Academic Work contains
relevant to the topic. critical information about reaching acceptable
standards of academic work at UB. It contains
5. Write the assignment advice about academic language styles.

If you don’t already know it, you need to now Always check your work before you submit it,
confirm the format in which your assignment is to including spelling and punctuation – by simply
be written. Reports, essays and literature reviews using the spellcheck function in your computer
each have different specifications. The last page you can reduce penalty marks in every
of this handout demonstrates the structure of an assignment.
essay. For information on the requirements of
other formats, refer to The General Guide for the Look for other handouts in this series that will help
Presentation of Academic Work. you learn the skills of proof-reading:

6. Revise often: time well-spent Editing your writing

Essay-writing checklist
Stay focused and think critically. Keep asking
yourself “Have I answered the question?’ Check
the assessment criteria. Sometimes the marking
allocation indicates which aspect/s of the question Need a starter? For clues on:
you should address in detail.
sentence starters
7. Reference as you go ways to include other writers’ work
Ensure that you are using the correct referencing … download the handout ‘University Speak’
style. Your course description will indicate the from the Academic Study Resources page:
style you should be using, i.e. APA, MLA, Chicago
or Australian style. http://www.ballarat.edu.au/current-students/
learning-and-study/resources/downloads
The UB publication, The General Guide to the
Presentation of Academic Work shows how to cite
your sources in your work to avoid accusations of
plagiarism. The use of material from other authors
is an important part of academic writing and it
must be acknowledged and documented correctly.
Good luck!
Find the General Guide online at:
www.ballarat.edu.au/generalguide

Don’t get caught out by not referencing the source

of your material. Refer to the worksheet ‘Avoiding
Plagiarism’ in this series, or download it from the
Academic Study Resources page:
http://www.ballarat.edu.au/current-
students/learning-and-study/resources

For handy practise in the APA style, try the online

APA tutorial from the above website.
CRICOS Provider No. 00103D Writing Assignments: Handout Page 3 of 4
Writing Assignments
Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice
www.ballarat.edu.au/learningskills

Essay Structure Body paragraphs

Use the main points in your skeleton outline to
develop paragraphs in the body of your essay. If
Essay plan you have one point in each paragraph, you are
From your research (skeleton outline), determine likely to have several paragraphs. Aim to make
the line of argument or viewpoint that you will use the body of your essay approximately 75% of the
in your essay. Work out the main points that will total essay length.
support your viewpoint / line of argument. Check
that you have addressed all aspects of the topic. A main point from your skeleton outline becomes
the topic sentence in your body paragraph:
Introduction
An introduction is like a map of your essay so it Start your body paragraphs with a topic sentence
should show the reader how you are going to which shows the reader what the paragraph is
address the topic. about and how it relates to the main argument of
the essay.
It also introduces you as a writer so it is important
to make a good impression right from the start. Ideally, a topic sentence uses key words from the
Both your line of argument and main points need essay question. It should briefly outline the
to be in your essay introduction. You may also relevance of that paragraph to the overall goal of
need to include some background information and answering the essay question. That is, it should
definitions of key terms (with references). support the main argument or statement of the
essay.
Your introduction can be one paragraph or several,
depending on the essay length (approximately 15% The number of paragraphs depends on the length
of the total length). of the essay. Put word counts on sections so you
don’t go over the word limit.
Narrow focus Background Topic sentence with
main point
Example introduction:
Due to the ubiquitous nature of advertising, on Example paragraph:
average we are exposed to more than 350 While advertising sometimes helps consumers
advertisements a day (Petrov, 2007). Many to make an informed choice, its main role is to
different ploys are used to capture our increase sales. Billions of dollars are spent by
attention including appeals to emotions such businesses in order to “generate income”
as humour as well as associations with sound, (Gould, 2008, p. 14). Sometimes
colour, certain names and terms (Blaiklock, advertisements may address non-commercial
2006; Barrett, 2007; Carrucan, 2009). While concerns but “most advertising is for
advertising is presented in a myriad of commercial purposes” (Tetteh, 2008, p. 87).
forms, this essay will consider primarily Supporting ideas,
television and radio commercials with some examples and references
reference to the internet. It would seem that
regardless of the form of advertising, its
essential role is to make sales. Other roles of Conclusion
an advertisement will also be considered The conclusion of your essay should sum up the
including informing the customer, engendering main points and reconfirm your main argument or
loyalty with brand image and distracting statement.
or confusing customers; however, these roles *Usually one paragraph in length (approximately
tend to be secondary to the main role 10% of the total essay length)
of generating sales. *Don’t include new concepts
Rather than repeating what you have stated in the
Thesis body of your essay, your conclusion needs to set
statement the topic in the wider context again. You can do
Main points this by mentioning broader implications or by
making recommendations for further investigation.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D Writing Assignments: Handout Page 4 of 4