What is an essay?

Below are some notes to help you understand what’s required in an academic essay. For
detailed help and information try the following useful internet sites:
Advice on writing a paper from the HKBU Library History subject guide
https://hkbu.libguides.com/c.php?g=915686&p=6599769
An example of a UK university essay help website: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-writing/essays
The Internet Grammar of English http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/home.htm

====================================================================== Sample essay:

Is Mickey Mouse Dead?

− - Politics of Representation in Cartoons –

− (Is your title appropriate for the content or does it just sound cool? A cool title for a lousy essay will
not make a difference. Keep it simple and do this last– worry about other things first)

Astu Dent, BA Cross-Cultural Studies, Year 1

(write your name, programme and year on each page

in case the essay gets detached from the report sheet).

X words (excluding bibliography)

An essay begins with an introduction - here it starts with an arresting quotation, to support the introduction
in your own words which follows. The introduction tells the reader what is your research question, how you
interpret the question and how you intend to go about answering it.)

"The Mouse has not been seen for thirty years, and everyone in LA knows why."1 (numbered footnote
after final stop gives source of your quotation)
Claims that Mickey Mouse is dead have appeared in two recent books on modern cinema 2 (footnote to
substantiate your claim that these claims have appeared). The question 'is Mickey Mouse dead?' raises
two complex questions. Firstly, did Mickey Mouse ever live, and secondly, if so, is he now deceased? In
this essay I will address the question of whether Mickey Mouse ever lived, and then, if necessary,
confront the issue of whether he is now dead.

1
Skeard 2003, 4.
2
Trapp 1996, 56; Hisker 1996, 4.
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(The main part of the essay should then be your argument which follows from the introduction. It should
bring together whatever facts are necessary to the argument; evidence in support of all sides of the
argument; and an evaluation of this evidence, with references to the debate so far in relevant books and
articles such as those recommended by your tutors. Above all, this part of the essay should show that you
have read thoroughly and thought deeply about the topic.)

Most scholars up to the mid-1990’s agreed with De Ville3 that Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character, not a
real animal … (footnote reference to De Ville to show where De Ville says this) however, the debate has
recently been re-ignited by reports from France, Japan and the USA that Mickey Mouse has been seen ‘in
the flesh’ embracing tourists (and so on…)

(After the argument. which should occupy 80-90% of the essay. comes your conclusion. This should review
what you’ve said, state the conclusions you have reached and perhaps suggest the wider implications of the
debate or the importance of the issues raised. E.g.:
In conclusion, the overwhelming weight of evidence reviewed here suggests that ‘Mickey Mouse’ refers
primarily to the cartoon character created by Walt Disney early in his career and only secondarily to
representations of that character by actors. Mickey Mouse, then, is not alive, but neither has he died.
This clearly has consequences for our understanding of other similar characters, Donald Duck and Goofy
for instance, and anticipates future discussions of their status.

Fig. 1 Damien Hirst, Mickey, 2012, household gloss on canvas, 182.9

by 105.4 cm., private collection. Photographed by Prudence Cuming
Associates. Source: Damien Hirst official site,
http://www.damienhirst.com/news/2022/mickey (accessed
October 3, 2022).

3
See for example De Ville 1975, 101.
2
Each image should be captioned. Details of paintings, drawing, prints, sculptures, objects, etc. should be listed in the
following order: ]

Figure Number,

Artist (where known),

Title (in Italics),

Date,

Materials,

Size,

Collection or location,

Image source; for example:

Fig. 1: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew, 1599-1600, oil on canvas, 3.2 by 3.4 m, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi
dei Francesi, Rome.

Fig. 2: Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504, marble, approx. 4.09 m high, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence.

It should be noted that the citations of paintings/sculptures/architecture/ ceramics/furniture/jewellery, etc., often do

not fall into a standard format and that the above can only be used as a guideline. In practice, you should give your
reader as much information as possible, and necessary, to enable them to find the original image/object, should they
want to, without overloading them.

For some objects or types of art the artist may be unknown: here, simply omit the name of the artist. Similarly, a
particular item may not have a formal title: in such cases, include a brief description of the item.

Fig. 1: Plaque with ten rows of Buddhas seated in the Earth-touching posture, Burma, 12th-13th c., terracotta, 21.5 cm,
British Museum, London.

If you have reproduced an image from any source other than your own phone camera photographing an object in
your collection, it is essential to acknowledge your source. This is done through the addition of the standard
information about the publication or online resource:

Fig. 1: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew, 1599-1600, oil on canvas, 3.2 x 3.4 m., Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei
Francesi, Rome. From: Schneider 2001, 45 (list the full publication details in the bibliography).

Fig. 2: Gopal Ghose, Red Hill, 1947, watercolour on paper, 34 x 22 cm, British Museum, London. From: British Museum
Collection Database, http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx [accessed 18
August 2009].

(The Bibliography then lists the sources you have consulted in alphabetical order by author. Remember to
underline or italicise book titles and to include the publisher and year of publication.

3
Bibliography (on a separate page):
De Ville, Cruella. Memoirs of a Dalmatian Childhood. London: Macmillan, 1975.
Hisker, Walt. Scratchings on Film. Los Angeles: Auteur Press, 1996.
Skeard, Ian. “Demise of a Rodent,” Newsmonth 465 (2003): 4-5.
Trapp, Morris, ed., Famouse* Cinema Characters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

*before submitting your essay, proof read for mistakes and mis-spellings!

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 ESSAY CHECKLIST
Use this list of strengths/weaknesses as a checklist while planning, writing and before submitting your essay.

Strengths
Content

[ ] Answers the question set

[ ] More analysis than description

[ ] Questioning, critical approach

[ ] Covers main points adequately

[ ] Arguments/points clearly made

[ ] Arguments/assertions supported by evidence/examples/quotations
[ ] Full references given
[ ] Appropriate bibliography
[ ] Interesting/original thinking

Structure
[ ] Well planned/ structured answer

Presentation
[ ] Word-processed or typed/legible writing
[ ] Accurate spelling, good punctuation
[ ] Right length
[ ] Wide margins and space between lines for tutor’s comments

[ ] Bibliography correctly set out (alphabetically, by author + title, publisher, date)

===================================================================================

Weaknesses
Content

[ ] Does not answer the question set

[ ] Non-questioning, uncritical approach

[ ] Little evidence of reading/research

[ ] Arguments/points unclear

[ ] More description than analysis

[ ] Misses out important points.

[ ] Lack of evidence/examples/quotations to support your arguments

[ ] Quotations/examples given, but they do not support your arguments

[ ] Lacking or inappropriate footnotes/endnotes/references

[ ] Lacking or inappropriate bibliography

[ ] Failure to acknowledge the words and ideas of others (plagiarism?)

[ ] Some factual inaccuracies

5
Structure
[ ] Little or no apparent plan/structure
[ ] Too much 'padding' (discussion/description which is not essential to your argument)

Presentation
[ ] Several spelling errors
[ ] Punctuation errors
[ ] Incomplete sentences
[ ] Writing difficult to read
[ ] Answer too short/too long
[ ] Inadequate margin for markers comments
[ ] Written on both sides of paper

6
SOAS Faculty of Arts & Humanities – Guide to referencing essays

I know this is tedious but if you don't do it from the beginning you will not sleep the night before the deadline.

There are hundreds of different styles of referencing – most journals and book publishers have their own preferred
styles, most of which are variants of the two ‘basic’ systems described below. Use whichever style you prefer in your
essay, or as advised by your tutor, but having chosen a style stick to it for that essay - do not mix styles!

1. THE ‘HARVARD’ SYSTEM

The Harvard system is widely used in social sciences like anthropology, sociology and economics but increasingly
elsewhere. In this system, references to secondary sources are made by showing AUTHOR, date of publication : page
number (if necessary), in brackets in the main body of the text. The full title of the work referenced is then listed once
in the bibliography at the end. Where an author has published more than one work cited in the same year, the
convention is to add lower case letters to the date, 1999a, 1999b etc. For example, a Harvard-referenced text might
read:

While there is general agreement that there was a reduction in economic activity after the 1965 crisis (Byng
1999b: 145), the political causes of economic stagnation are more controversial (Joshi and Little 1987: 371-8).

THE ‘HARVARD’ BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works should be listed alphabetically by surname of author, then date, as follows. The examples below cover most of
the types of publication you are likely to encounter. Use italics for titles of works, and single quote marks for titles of
articles or chapters within works.

Anonymous (n.d., 1976?) Economic Stagnation! You all are responsible! ➢ Undated anonymous
(Pamphlet, 13pp.) Calcutta: Free Radicals Collective pamphlet – give all available
details
Byng, Howard (1998) ‘The political causes of economic ➢ Chapter in edited work –
stagnation’ in Joshi and Little (1998) pp.340-360 pagination shown here, but
see Joshi and Little 1998 for
publication details
Byng, Howard (1999a) ‘Crisis Economics’ in Smith (1999) ➢ Article by Byng in
Vol.3, p.322 Encyclopedia edited by
Smith (see below)
Byng, Howard (1999b) Reappraising Economics London: ➢ Single-author Book
Macmillan

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Byng, Howard (2000) ‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ ➢ E-text (include as much

http://www.berkeley.econ-info.discuss.byng08.html detail as necessary to

(contribution to on-line forum, dated 21 January, consulted 5 Nov 2003) pinpoint the date and
context)

Joshi, Vijay and Dirk Little, (1987) ‘Indian Macroeconomics Policies’ ➢ Journal article
Economic and Political Monthly 15:4, pp.368-380

Joshi, Vijay and Dirk Little, eds. (1998) The Causes of Economic Stagnation, ➢ Edited book. Included here
Auckland: Kiwi Press because of Byng (1998)
above
Marr, Kurt (1988) The Coming Economic Crisis London: Highgate Press ➢ Republished work (original
(1893) publication date shown in
brackets)
Smith, Harold, ed. (1999) Encyclopedia of Economics, New York: Paladin ➢ Encyclopedia. Included here
because of Byng (1999a)
above

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2. THE ‘HUMANITIES’ STYLE

The ‘humanities’ style of referencing shown here is common in History, Religion, Art etc., books and journals. It puts
all the reference information, including full publication details when a work is first mentioned, in numbered footnotes
(at the foot of the page) or endnotes (at the end of the text). If noted again, a work is generally referred to by an
abbreviated title of your choosing. Use footnotes or endnotes, but not both. A Humanities style bibliography is similar
to the ‘Harvard’ style bibliography except that the date normally goes at the end of the reference, is not in brackets
and no letters are added to the date to distinguish different works by an author in the same year. E.g.:
Harvard style: Byng, Howard (1999b) Reappraising World Music, London: Macmillan
Humanities style: Byng, Howard, Reappraising World Music, London: Macmillan, 1999

In essays etc. submitted to the Arts & Humanities Faculty you must always include a standard bibliography at the end,
whether or not you have provided full publication details elsewhere in a footnote/endnote.

Sample Endnotes or footnotes (Humanities style)

1. James A. Beckford, ‘The restoration of “power” to the sociology of religion’, in Thomas Robbins (ed.), Church-
State Relations, New York: Transaction Publishers 1987, pp.13-37.
2. The use of ideal types in this context is of course problematic. I hope to address this issue in a separate
publication.
3. Allan G. Grapard, ‘Problematic representations in the study of Japanese Religions’, Religion 21:4 (1991)
pp.389-96.
4. Beckford, ‘Restoration’, p.21.
5. Ibid., p.23.
6. Akiko Yoshimoto, Religious Uprisings, Princeton: Princeton University Press 1998
7. Grapard ‘Problematic representations’, p.392.
8. Yoshimoto Uprisings, p.302.

Comments on the sample endnotes.

n.1: This is the first mention in the notes of the work by Beckford, so full publication details are given. The title
of the article is shown in single quote marks; “power” therefore gets double quote marks, even if originally it
only had single quote marks. The book title is shown in italics (or underlined if you’re handwriting or can’t type
italics). The full details of authors/editors, place, publisher and publication date (followed by the page nos.) are
given. Note the use of commas and colons to separate different elements. (Sample endnotes 4 and 5 show how
the same article is referred to subsequently.)

n.2: This kind of note is an aside; something the writer wants to tell the reader which does not fit in the text
(probably because it adds little to the argument). As a rule, avoid such notes. If something is important, put it in
the main text, if it is not important, leave it out!

9
Cut, cut, cut! English works best with short sentences!

n.3: In this case the work in which the article appears is a journal so the journal title is shown in italics. ‘21:4’
means ‘Volume 21, issue (or number) 4’.

n.4: Even though only one work by Beckford has been cited, more of Beckford’s publications may be cited later,
so an abbreviated reference: Beckford ‘Restoration’ is used here to avoid any confusion. It is up to you to
abbreviate so that the reference is recognisable and unambiguous, but keep it minimal. Don’t repeat the full
publication details except in the Bibliography at the end.

n.5: If two successive notes refer to exactly the same work you can use ‘ ibid.’ (meaning ‘same as previous’) in
the second work. Avoid using ‘op. cit.’ (‘the work cited [earlier]’) in notes as this often leads to confusion.

n.6: A straightforward book reference (so the book title is in italics).

n.7: An abbreviated reference to an article cited earlier.

n.8: An abbreviated reference to a book mentioned earlier (so the book title is in italics).

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 Plagiarism
Students are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination of the University of
London must be expressed in your own words and incorporate your own ideas and judgements. Also, you must not
submit the same work for assessment more than once. Plagiarism - that is the presentation of another person's
thoughts or words as though they were your own - must be avoided, with particular care taken in course-work and
essays and reports written in your own time. Direct quotations from the published or unpublished work of others
must always be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source
must be provided in the proper form. Remember that a series of short quotations from several different sources, if
not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as a single unacknowledged long quotation from a
single source. Equally, if you summarise another person's ideas or judgements, you must refer to that person in your
text, and include the work in your bibliography. You are also committing plagiarism if you employ or use another
person to write work for you - in whole or part - which you then pass off as your own. Failure to observe these rules
may result in an allegation of cheating. You should therefore consult your tutor if you are in any doubt about what is
permissible. School Regulations state that plagiarism constitutes an examination offence. The penalties for plagiarism
can be very severe.

Faculty of Arts & Humanities, September 2003

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