Assignment 2B: Essay Plan
Word/time limit: As this task is an essay plan, there is no absolute word limit, although a
minimum of approximately 500 words is required (1–2 pages for the plan plus the bibliography).
Weighting: 15%
Due date: 5pm AEDT Monday 1 January (Week 7)
After you have read this information, head over to the Assignment 2B Q&A
(https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/discussion_topics/789915) discussion
board to ask any questions and see what your peers are saying about this assignment.
Assignment overview
This assignment requires you to write an essay plan that will form the framework for
Assignment 3: Research essay
(https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46947) due later in the unit. The plan should include an outline of the topics that will be covered in the essay and where in the essay each topic will be located. You will receive feedback on your essay plan in time to help you complete your final research essay. The purpose of the task is to introduce you to the practice of essay writing at the tertiary level, to help you get started early on building a research base of relevant sources, and to encourage you to think carefully about how you will structure your essay to appropriately address the question.
This assignment supports unit learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Assignment details
This assignment forms the background research and planning for Assignment 3:
Research Essay (https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46947)
. You will develop your thesis statement i.e. the question to be addressed, and plan for your essay which should:
provide a clear outline of the arguments you intend to make in your research essay detail how you will structure your essay 12/25/23, 6:18 PM Assignment 2B: Essay plan
https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46946 2/10 identify key findings from the sources you have researched and read from your annotated bibliography
provide a brief outline of some of the key articles you will draw on to complete the essay. Take a look at the Assignment criteria for more detail on how your essay plan will be assessed. Keep it handy as you build your plan.
Your essay plan must include the following: proposed title thesis statement 6–8 topic sentences at least one reference per topic sentence bibliography.
Here is a suggested approach for your essay plan:
Step 1: Brainstorm some ideas
Brainstorming involves writing down as many different ideas, theories and examples that relate to your chosen offence as possible. You have already completed some preliminary research into your topic as part of your annotated bibliography, so there should be lots of ideas floating around your head already. Don’t rule anything out at this stage. You are not submitting these ideas—the point here is to get as many different ideas down as possible.
Step 2: Select key points
Select those ideas that best illustrate how you think of and understand your topic. Pick those that seem the most relevant and important in explaining your chosen offence.
You may also wish to reread the instructions for Assignment 3: Research essay (https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46947) again to make sure you don’t miss any key elements from your plan.
Step 3: Write a thesis statement
A thesis statement is a very short (1–2 sentences) description of what your essay is about. It will summarise in a nutshell what you are arguing in your essay. For example:
‘This essay will argue that the best theory for explaining car theft is strain theory’.
https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46946 3/10
Remember the KIS principle: keep it simple.
Step 4: Outline argument
Identify the main points that will comprise your argument and start arranging these ideas into a coherent narrative. These should include what your offence is, a bit of context about its prevalence in Australia, which theories you will be discussing, and how it relates to your chosen offence. All of these points should be relevant to the thesis statement.
Step 5: Build your essay plan with A3 in mind
Structurally you should include in A3: an introduction, three to five main points, and a conclusion.
Your essay plan should be divided into 6–8 topic sentences. These will form the basis
of your paragraph structure for A3.
A paragraph usually ranges from 180–250 words. The A3 research essay is 2000 words, so your essay should comprise 8–10 paragraphs, plus bibliography. Your 6 – 8 topic sentences in A2B will be good preparation for A3. Map your main points to each paragraph and identify what each paragraph will cover. For example:
1. Introduction (200 words)
2. Body paragraph 1 (250 words)
3. Body paragraph 2 (250 words)
4. Body paragraph 3 (250 words)
5. Body paragraph 4 (250 words)
6. Body paragraph 5 (250 words)
7. Body paragraph 6 (250 words)
8. Conclusion (200 words)
Bibliography
Step 6: Create topic sentences
12/25/23, 6:18 PM Assignment 2B: Essay plan
https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46946 4/10
Use your main points to write topic sentences for each body paragraph. Topic sentences are statements of the main ideas that you intend to explain in your essay. They are the claims that support your argument, and usually are used as the opening sentence in each paragraph. The purpose of the remainder of the paragraph is to back up and elaborate on the topic sentence.
Here are some example topic sentences:
‘Car theft results in significant costs to the Australian public’.
‘Certain communities are more vulnerable to car theft than others’.
‘Explaining car theft requires an understanding of structural theories of crime’.
‘Unemployment has a strong influence on rates of car theft’.
‘Strain theory is better than other theories for a variety of reasons’.
Step 7: Indicate what sources you will use
Following each topic sentence, briefly indicate what research you are going to use to demonstrate your point. Include a reference to at least one scholarly source.
Look at these examples:
Topic sentence: car theft results in significant costs to the Australian public.
Evidence/research: to demonstrate this point, I plan to use a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013) outlining the value of cars stolen in Australia in 2012.
Topic sentence: explaining car theft requires an understanding of structural theories of crime.
Evidence/research: reference Merton’s strain theory as outlined by White & Perrone (2012) and Peterson et al (2006).
Step 8: Bibliography
List each reference in the bibliography. Make sure you use APA 7 style. Your eLA will give you feedback so if you practise now it will help you achieve a higher mark for your final submission.
Notes
https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46946 5/10
Important things to remember:
Include research you have found yourself—references from the reading list will not be counted.
Use APA 7 formatting for your bibliography.
You can extend beyond journal articles and books in your source selection—statistics from reputable sources are acceptable, particularly when outlining the dimensions of your topic. Feel free to include the sources from your annotated bibliography.
You are not beholden to the ideas you present. The purpose of this assignment is to get you thinking methodically about your topic. Your ideas will probably change as you start writing and researching in depth.
That being said, this is also an opportunity to get feedback about your plan and proposed approach to the topic. Also, you are being assessed, so submit something worthwhile.
Research and referencing
Research is required for this assignment.
Referencing will be in APA 7th edition style (APA 7).
Select the icon for some helpful resources, these can be found on 0.4 Assignments and support. (https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/pages/0-dot-4-assignments-and-support)
Supporting resources
The following resources will assist you with completing this assignment:
https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46946 7/10
The Essay writing section of the Academic writing and presenting (https://studenthub.swinburneonline.edu.au/academic-writing-and-presenting) page in the
Student Hub provides useful tips on how to plan, structure and write your essay.
This link to the APA 7th edition style guide
(https://www.swinburne.edu.au/library/search/referencing-guides/apa-style-guide/)
provides helpful information. The APA 7 Referencing Tool
(https://commons.swinburne.edu.au/file/438e3851-5c67-45f9-b9cb8e34be5c075b/1/referencing_tool.html) provides helpful guidance on referencing in APA style.
Submission details overview
This assignment will be submitted through Canvas. When you are ready to submit your assignment, select the ‘Start Assignment’ button at the top of this page. You will be taken to the ‘File Upload’ tab where you can choose your file or submit your URL.
Please note: When you submit your assignment through Canvas, you are also submitting the assignment through Turnitin, which is a text-matching service that compares your work with an international database of information sources. You will need to agree to using it. Once you have submitted your assignment, select ‘Submission Details’ on the right of your screen to view your originality report if you haven’t already done so.
Please allow a 24-hour turnaround for an originality report to be generated. See the ‘Turnitin originality report’ area of the Academic practice (https://studenthub.swinburneonline.edu.au/academic-practice) page in the Study Resources
section of the Student Hub for several guides to assist with the submission process. Resubmissions after the due date without prior approval from your Unit Coordinator may not be marked.
Assignment support
Don’t forget that in addition to your eLAs who provide discipline-specific content advice, you can access the 24/7 draft writing service from Studiosity.
If you need assistance with academic feedback on a draft of your assignment task, see Assignment support: Studiosity.
Assignment criteria
1. Understanding of topic.
2. Appropriate use of research and selection of sources.
https://swinburneonline.instructure.com/courses/4920/assignments/46946 8/10
3. Essay plan structure, referencing and bibliography.
