Mid-Term Essay: Modalities, Description and Evaluation Criteria

Submission deadline: Friday 11 November 2022, before 18:00.

Description of the assignment:

The Mid-term Essay counts towards 20% of your final grade.

Submission modalities:
Submit via the Canvas submission tool (Assignments > Mid-term essay).

DO NOT SEND US ESSAYS VIA E-MAIL! Make sure to try and upload the essay in time so that you
still have time to contact us in case of technical difficulties.

Only submit in .pdf or .doc (Microsoft Word) format.1

Respect the word count: 1000 – 1250 words (excluding references and bibliography).

Name the file according to this template: Last Name_ First Name_Mid-termessay (for example:
Vekemans_Charlotte_Mid-termessay)

Your essay should have a readable font size (so 11 or 12 pt); please choose a formal simple font
such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri.

There is no need to include a title page, you can add the title and your name in a header.

We will check all essays for plagiarism. We will explain how to avoid plagiarism in the class of 14
October. Plagiarism is taken extremely seriously both at VUB and UGent. Penalties range from
getting a zero on the essay, to being excluded from the entire exam period for all courses
(blatant or repeat cases can lead to expulsion from the university). For further information on
plagiarism procedures, review the exam regulations for the current academic year:
https://www.vub.be/en/regulations

Description of the First Essay Assignment:

The objective of the first essay assignment is expository. As we discussed in class, expository writing
is oriented towards (among other things) showing, clarifying, analyzing, situating, narrating,
describing, explaining, understanding, and sense-making. It is the mode of writing in which one
(among other things):
• Presents or “lays out” an idea, a situation or a problem;
• Puts forward and elaborates on the terms of a debate;
• Seeks to convey significance or meaning;
• Explains how to do something (e.g., how to tie one’s shoes or work with statistics);
• Tells others what one knows (e.g., when answering an exam question);

1
If you don’t have Microsoft Word installed: you can get the 365 Office via VUB or UGent for free:
https://helpdesk.ugent.be/office365/en/
 • Presents an account of what happened and why (e.g., cause and effect analysis or a lab
report); and/or
• Outlines the state of knowledge about a given theme or problem (i.e., a literature review or
review essay).
The topic or theme of your expository essay should be derived from the following question:
“What is at stake in struggles centered on recognition?”
By “derived from,” we mean that once you have an idea of what recognition means in a
social/political-scientific context, you need to relate it to a specific situation, debate or conflict
where recognition is an issue. In other words, your essay should not be a general answer to the
question as it is posed above. Rather, your essay should show what’s at stake in a specific struggle
centered on recognition. Notice that the exercise is set up in such a way as to encourage you to
explore the links between theory and case study. In stressing the problem of recognition, you are
taking a theoretical position and using theory to highlight a particular aspect of the struggle that you
choose to write about. At the same time, your case study might provide insights into the efficacy and
relevance of recognition theory.
Please pay careful attention to the question: it does not ask you to tell your readers what
recognition is or what it means, but rather why it matters to people (“What is at stake…”). You need
to present or illustrate the problem of “recognition” as it manifests itself in your chosen case and
give your readers a good sense of why recognition is a crucial and contentious feature of social and
political life. In other words, you want your readers to see the problem clearly and to show them
why it matters. What is it that people are struggling for? Why are some people against (or suspicious
of) the struggle? Why is it that different people see the problem differently? How do those
differences express themselves in the public arena? And what have others said about the issue that
concerns you? Besides a clear picture of the issue and its significance, your essay should leave
readers with a sense of the main perspectives and arguments related to the problem you chose to
write about.
You are free to work on a case or situation that you care about or find interesting. Just make sure
that there is a connection to the broader question. You can also draw on your personal experience
and knowledge. For example, if you have had an experience that you think illustrates what is at stake
in recognition theory, you might use it as an “entry point” into the topic/theme of your essay (e.g.,
you might provide an anecdote to make the problem “real” for your readers). But please note that
the essay should not be about you or what you think. If you do build personal experience/knowledge
into your account, be judicious with it—use it only where it clearly advances the goals of your essay.
The goal of the essay is to put forward and support its thesis statement (the main point that you
want your readers to take with them from your essay). The thesis statement needs to be supported
by more than just your personal experience/knowledge.
On a related note: Remember that the point is not to demonstrate how much you know about the
topic, but to clarify the issue and to connect readers to facts, evidence and reasons that will
encourage them to care about it and take time to reflect on different points of view. Have you heard
the old saying that “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” A good essay leads
its readers to water. A great essay makes its readers thirsty.

Evaluation Criteria:
• Your essay should address the theme of the assignment (see the description);

• Your essay should demonstrate your ability to provide an informed, balanced account of the
issues or problems that underpin the question (in other words, it should be expository!);
 • Your essay should have a clear structure, including a clear statement of the problem, thesis
questions, and a thesis statement.
• Your thesis statement should be elaborated in the body of your essay, and affirmed in its
conclusion;
• Each paragraph should advance and adequately develop a single, “controlling” idea. In other
words, you need to respect the principles of unity and development (see chapters two and
three in From Thought to Theme; unity and development will also be discussed in detail in
class).
• Paragraphs should follow one another in a logical and coherent fashion, and should
contribute something meaningful to the overall purpose of the essay. In other words, each
paragraph of the essay should meaningfully contribute to and support the thesis statement;
• Citations should be noted in the text and linked to a bibliography (or “works cited”). Follow
and apply “APA” guidelines;
• Your essay should be submitted conform the submission guidelines posted on Canvas;
• Your essay should demonstrate your ability to narrow down or define the issue in a way that
makes it amenable to effective treatment in the required word count (1000 - 1250 words,
excluding references and bibliography).
• We won’t be overly picky about grammar and punctuation, but you do need to demonstrate
that you are capable of presenting and expressing your thoughts coherently, and you will be
penalized if your essay shows signs of sloppiness (i.e., lack of attention or effort) or if your
grammar is so poor that it gets in the way of what you want to say. If your essay suggests a
lack of basic English writing skills (or lack of English language competence), we might refer
you to places where you can get extra help with basic skills

Feedback:

On Friday 18th November we will organize a feedback session in Ghent. This session is not obligatory,
more specific details on the room and time will be announced via Canvas and in class. There will be a
collective session to go over general feedback, and you will also have a chance to look at your essay
and get individual feedback from the person who graded it. Via the announcement in Canvas, you will
have to subscribe to a specific time slot for the individual feedback organized in small groups.