Developing and expressing your own ideas
How can you do this?
The way to do this is to look at the evidence you have collected in your research for the essay – quotes, theories etc. then you need to explain the implications of this evidence for the essay question. You can then start making judgements that will lead you to develop a cogent thesis.
If you do not do this, essays become boring exercises in expressing other people's ideas. To avoid this you need to relate your own arguments and ideas to the research material. Say what you think about them and why you think this. Do you agree or disagree with the ideas, or with just some of them. How do the ideas and theories you have research relate to each other? How do they relate to what you do in your working or everyday life? By thinking about your own ideas, you should quickly learn the importance of maintaining the distinction between other people's ideas and your own.
This statement from the university tutor explains how important it is to use referencing to help you express your own ideas: “Once students have clearly set out another person's ideas, they can then ask: So what? Why is this significant? How does this help answer the question? In short, proper referencing can be yet another means to challenge and encourage students to think for themselves.”
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