Academic Essay Writing 
ACADEMIC ESSAY
WRITING
For students at Charles Darwin University
A resource to assist tutors working with
Indigenous
students
Table of Contents
Purpose of this booklet This booklet aims to provide resources to tutors who work with Indigenous students at Charles Darwin
University. It is intended to provide you with information and exercises to assist you to scaffold students to be successful in their university studies. We focus on writing academic essays, because this is a skill student’s need in most university courses, and is a skill that can be transferred to assessments in other units. We know that students bring a wide range of skills and life experiences to the university setting. What we hope to do is to assist you, as tutor, to build on the students’ existing skills and knowledge, with transferrable skills that will enable them to succeed at university. Our philosophy aligns with the old proverb:
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach him to fish, you feed him for life.”
The academic world
3
Critical thinking
4
Preparing to write an essay
6
Unpacking the essay question
6
Looking at the marking rubric
7
Understanding a Brainstorm of the essay topic
8
Developing a Taxonomy for the essay topic
9
Academic essay structure
10
A word on academic language
10
Writing a thesis statement
11
Writing an introduction
12
A note on using headings
12
Writing a paragraph
13
Essay: An annotated example
14
Referencing
20
In-text referencing
20
Appendix 1: Analytical essay
21
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Jamie Pomfrett for providing original materials for this guide. Thanks also to Jamie, Debra Dank and David McClay PhD for reviewing this document.
Lesley MacGibbon PhD
ACIKE Staff Development
Charles Darwin University
2
The Academic World
The ‘academic world’ and the ‘real world’ are not the same. Levin (2004) explains that the ‘academic world’ and the ‘real world’ are not the same, and students need to learn the
WRITING
For students at Charles Darwin University
A resource to assist tutors working with
Indigenous
students
Table of Contents
Purpose of this booklet This booklet aims to provide resources to tutors who work with Indigenous students at Charles Darwin
University. It is intended to provide you with information and exercises to assist you to scaffold students to be successful in their university studies. We focus on writing academic essays, because this is a skill student’s need in most university courses, and is a skill that can be transferred to assessments in other units. We know that students bring a wide range of skills and life experiences to the university setting. What we hope to do is to assist you, as tutor, to build on the students’ existing skills and knowledge, with transferrable skills that will enable them to succeed at university. Our philosophy aligns with the old proverb:
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach him to fish, you feed him for life.”
The academic world
3
Critical thinking
4
Preparing to write an essay
6
Unpacking the essay question
6
Looking at the marking rubric
7
Understanding a Brainstorm of the essay topic
8
Developing a Taxonomy for the essay topic
9
Academic essay structure
10
A word on academic language
10
Writing a thesis statement
11
Writing an introduction
12
A note on using headings
12
Writing a paragraph
13
Essay: An annotated example
14
Referencing
20
In-text referencing
20
Appendix 1: Analytical essay
21
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Jamie Pomfrett for providing original materials for this guide. Thanks also to Jamie, Debra Dank and David McClay PhD for reviewing this document.
Lesley MacGibbon PhD
ACIKE Staff Development
Charles Darwin University
2
The Academic World
The ‘academic world’ and the ‘real world’ are not the same. Levin (2004) explains that the ‘academic world’ and the ‘real world’ are not the same, and students need to learn the