Knowledge base

An argumentative academic essay requires your own position, supporting reasons and critical engagement with sources. Collecting a few definitions and adding ‘in my opinion’ is not enough. Readers should see the problem you are examining, why you take a particular position and how you address serious objections. The instruction… An argumentative academic essay requires your own position, supporting reasons and critical engagement with sources. Collecting a few definitions and adding ‘in my opinion’ is not enough. Readers should see the problem you are examining, why you take a particular position and how you address serious objections. ‘Write an essay’ leaves considerable freedom, but it does not mean anything goes. First, check what kind of text has been assigned. This guide covers argumentative university essays. An interpretative, reflective or literary essay may have a different structure. We will move from a broad topic to a thesis statement, an outline and a sample paragraph. In an argumentative essay, you organise material around a problem and your own reasoning. A seminar paper may primarily present a particular subject, although it can also include analysis. A summary reproduces the main content of another text. These labels are used in different ways, so your lecturer’s instructions matter more than a ready-made template found online. Check the verbs in the assignment: ‘compare’, ‘evaluate’, ‘interpret’, ‘justify’ or ‘present’. Comparing two positions requires criteria for comparison. Evaluation requires an explanation of the basis on which you judge one approach better. Simply describing authors’ views fulfils neither task. The University of Warsaw’s Academic Writing I syllabus links argumentative writing with thesis statements, constructing arguments, counterargument and working with sources. It illustrates an academic approach to writing skills; it is not a rulebook applying to every university. The topic identifies an area, while the thesis statement expresses a position that needs supporting reasons. ‘The academic library’ is a topic. ‘Libraries are necessary’ is too general a claim to guide a short essay effectively. Narrowing the problem helps you choose arguments and leave out digressions. Topic: organising space in an academic library. Question: should one reading room allow both silent work…

A bachelor’s or master’s thesis defence presentation should show what you did, why you chose that approach and what you found. You do not need to put every chapter on the slides. First, check your programme’s time limit and presentation rules, then choose material that makes your contribution clear. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis defence presentation should show what you did, why you chose that approach and what you found. You do not need to put every chapter on the slides. First, check your programme’s time limit and presentation rules, then choose material that makes your contribution clear. Gather the final thesis text, presentation requirements and any university template. Check the time limit, permitted file format and required title-slide details. A presentation may form part of the examination, but whether and how it is used depends on your programme’s rules. A general guide cannot replace them. On a separate sheet, write one sentence: ‘In my thesis, I examined, compared or developed…’. Complete it in your own words. If this is difficult, return to the aim and conclusion. The sentence will help distinguish essential information from details you can leave out of a short talk. Piotr Wasylczyk’s guide treats presentation preparation as choosing a purpose, organising material, design and delivery. This division is a reminder that finishing the file does not complete the preparation: you still need to rehearse how you will present it. Below is an original six-slide outline for a talk with an illustrative seven-minute limit. This is not a required structure or compulsory slide count. If your faculty expects a different arrangement, follow the rules provided. Include the title, author and details required by your university. In your talk, identify the thesis problem. Do not read the entire title page aloud or start with a long story about choosing your degree programme. Show the main question and the limits of the work. Explain what you analysed and what lay outside the scope. For an empirical thesis, you can identify the most important research question; you do not need to reproduce the complete list of specific objectives. Present the…

When checking a bachelor’s or master’s thesis before submission, start with its substance and completeness. First, check that you address the aim and provide material supporting your conclusions. Then review sources, language and file layout. This order avoids polishing paragraphs that still need restructuring. When checking a bachelor’s or master’s thesis before submission, start with its substance and completeness. First, check that you address the aim and provide material supporting your conclusions. Then review sources, language and file layout. This order avoids polishing paragraphs that still need restructuring. A thesis audit is a structured diagnosis: what needs improvement, why and where to start. Receiving a list of comments does not mean the document has been revised. When commissioning a check, agree whether it covers assessment of specified areas, comments on the text or subsequent revisions as well. Keep a copy of the document. Gather the current university guidelines, approved outline, supervisor feedback and material underlying the analysis. Record the name of the file to be checked. If some chapters are in other documents, combine them or state their order unambiguously. Note unresolved issues separately: a missing source, an unclear comment or calculations awaiting verification. These are easy to miss once draft markers have disappeared from the finished file. Also mark the sections already accepted so the revision plan respects earlier agreements. Open the introduction, contents page and conclusion side by side. Write one sentence stating what the thesis was meant to establish. Then identify the passage giving the answer. If you must search across several disconnected places, the argument may need reorganising. A theoretical, review-based or design-based thesis also needs a clear outcome. Do not add a survey merely to make it resemble empirical research. Check whether your approach to comparing sources, analysing a case or evaluating a solution can answer the questions posed. For chapters that repeat content or head in different directions, use the guide to organising your thesis structure. The final check is primarily about identifying these problems and prioritising them. Not every problem needs the same response. The original example below illustrates how to organise comments….

A bachelor’s or master’s thesis conclusion should address the thesis aim and questions using what has already been presented. Select the main findings, explain their significance for the problem examined and define the limits of your answer. Do not replace the conclusion with a list of chapters or a statement that ‘the aim has been achieved’. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis conclusion should address the thesis aim and questions using what has already been presented. Select the main findings, explain their significance for the problem examined and define the limits of your answer. Do not replace the conclusion with a list of chapters or a statement that ‘the aim has been achieved’. After writing the final chapter, you may feel that everything has already been said. The conclusion, however, brings together answers scattered throughout the thesis. Readers should see what your examination of the topic has established without having to go through the description of every table and source again. First, check the guidelines and what you have agreed with your supervisor. The conclusion may have its own structure, and specific conclusions are sometimes presented separately. The outline below helps organise your content but does not replace the rules that apply to your thesis. Not every point needs a separate subsection. A few well-connected paragraphs may be enough. Length depends on the complexity of the work and the requirements. Do not expand this final section simply because it takes up more pages in someone else’s document. Return to the aim and questions set out in your introduction. For each one, note the answer and where its supporting evidence appears. This might be a comparison of documents, a literature analysis, a research finding or an evaluation of a project that has been developed. If you cannot identify a basis for a statement, it is still an idea rather than a conclusion from your thesis. Prepare a working note with four brief entries: This is a working tool, not a ready-made conclusion format. Use it to write a coherent text. Select findings that address the problem instead of repeating every interesting detail…