Be Clear About Your Structure
The key to writing a good essay is establishing an appropriate, logical and efficient structure.
A good essay should move from general theoretical concerns to conclusions about the specific question at hand. It should flow something like this:
- Introduction and definition of terms
- General theoretical introduction
- Development of specific theoretical framework that you will focus on
- Introduction of data and method
- Initial analysis of data and identification of key questions
- Discussion of key questions with reference to theoretical framework
- Conclusions and identification of questions for further research
The following is a very good example of an essay structure used by a student in this course:
Discuss the professional field of journalism and its prescribed code of ethics with reference to the Cash for Comment Inquiry and 2UE radio presenter John Laws declaration, “I don’t pretend to be a journalist. I’m an entertainer. There isn’t a hook for ethics” (in Johnson, 2000:16).
1. Introduction
2. Professionalism & Ethics
2.1 Journalists’ Code of Ethics
2.2 Broadcasting Services Act 1992 & the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice
3. Cash for Comment: Case Summary
3.1 Panel Findings
3.2 New Conditions of License
4. Is Laws a ‘Journalist’?
5. Professional Responsibility in Talkback Radio
5.1 Which Genre is Talkback Radio?
5.2 The Power of Talkback Radio
5.3 Talkback Radio & Professional Accountability
6. Further Reflection: Addressing Ethical Gaps
7. Conclusion
8. References
Follow Your Question And Define Your Terms
A well-formulated question should include some of the key theoretical terms that you will explore and will implicitly point to ways of organising your data.
One of my students last year wrote an essay exploring some of the professional consequences for journalists and government PR officials raised by recent controversies in Britain. They used a key quote from the Phillis report into government communications to formulate their question.
How do the current ‘cultural, structural and behavioral issues’ affecting government communications in Britain, as identified by the Interim Phillis Report, challenge traditional models of government media relations?
Those three terms – cultural/structural/behavioral – and the specific way they had been elaborated in the published report, provided a structure to anlayse a very complex set of issues.
The key role of a structure or typology, such as the one this student identified from Phillis, is to provide a framework that enables you to:
- Organize your data
- Identify discrete issues or approaches
- Establish relationships and conflicts between these different elements
