PLEASE NOTE THAT EXAM BOARD SPECIFICATIONS DIFFER AND YOU SHOULD ALWAYS CONSULT THEIR REGULATIONS OR GET ADVICE FROM YOUR TEACHER WHEN WRITING WORK FOR SUBMISSION

As part of your AS Level you will have to research and write essays throughout the course as well as a single piece of coursework for Ethics. These general notes are to help you succeed in what can be a very difficult academic activity.

Once you have your question be sure you understand it - what are the main issues you're going to be looking at? What are the main theories and who are the main writers in this area. Try to sketch out a mind map based on the question and all the things you've done in class which relate to that question. Add more details, names theories etc, so that you build up a picture of the kinds of area your research should go into.

Once you've done this go to your notes, articles provided in class and a textbook (such as Palmer) and see if you already have relevant information. Make a note of pages where you can see what looks like useful information.

When you're searching to see if a book has useful material use the contents page and index, if it has one, for the key words, themes and authors you have identified as useful.

Now check the libraries at your disposal in school and out side for books which mention the authors or theories you are looking form information about. If it is about an ethical issue you may also want to look for news stories. Remember that most libraries hold back issues of the main papers.

RSWeb contains many links to many useful websites, theories and Ethical issues as well as links to other websites with biblical, ethical and philosophical information so this is also a good resource but remember to always make a note of the web page address when you copy information.

Once you have gathered a good range of sources you can begin to read through relevant bits making notes on what you want to use in your essay. Few people are able to go straight from reading the sources to writing the essay and while this stage may seem a waste of time in fact it familiarises yourself with the subject matter so you can be selective in how you want to use the material.

Once you have a good understanding of the main issues and areas of debate the question is referring to, you need to decide how you're going to structure your essay. You could follow a linear pattern that means progressively building an argument in a specific direction. This sort of structure is more difficult to write but makes for a very coherent and well-reasoned piece of writing. It may be broken into stages as the main issues are worked through in turn but on the whole each paragraph is connected to the next in some logical way. On the other hand you may choose a more modular approach where different aspects of the essay are treated in their own separate sections with a section at the end tying it all together. Some subjects require this kind of approach because they have different unrelated parts that you have to draw together. Be careful to ensure you are reasoning through the debate rather than simply listing different ideas. If you're not sure, have a look of articles of about the same length in Dialogue or other magazines and see how the author has approached the topic.

Now you're ready to plan out your essay. Decide the main line of argument, the order in which you'll address the different points. You will need an Introduction to explain the question, how you are answering it and the main points you expect to discuss. This prepares the reader for what's coming in the main body. You will also need a conclusion to round off your discussion, re-highlighting the main points you have discovered and showing you understand the reasons for the different views expressed in the essay. In between you may have two or three sections to deal with the various parts of your discussion.

You will refer to and quote from a variety of authors and sources in your essay. You may report the views of a scholar without actually writing his or her words verbatim. You may repeat a scholar's view word for word. In both cases we recommend that you give a full reference.

The first time you mention a book or article you use the following style:

For a Website - Author's Name, Web Page Name (WEBSITE NAME: http:www address)
For a Book - Author's Name, Book name (PUBLISHER: Place, Year), page number(s)
For an Article - Author's Name, Article name in Journal/Magazine/Newspaper (Number, Year), page number(s)

Afterwards you use the shorter form, only mentioning the Authors name and the year he or she published the work.

If the book has many authors and a general editor, the editor's name must be mentioned as well as the writer of the chapter you are referring to.

At the end of the essay you must have a bibliography containing all articles, books and internet sites you've used. It should be laid out as follows in alphabetical order by the authors surname:

For a Website - Author's Name, Web Page Name (WEBSITE NAME: http://www address)
For a Book - Author's Name, Book name (PUBLISHER: Place, Year), page number(s)
For an Article - Author's Name, Article name in Journal/Magazine/Newspaper (Number, Year), page number(s)

You will need to show a full knowledge and understanding of the topic, having considered the important areas of the subject. You will need to show a diversity of opinions with full references. You will need to demonstrate an ability to evaluate differing positions identifying their relationships to each other and their weaknesses and strengths. You will need to show that you can structure the argument, reason through the discussion using appropriate religious, philosophical and theological language where appropriate. You will need to round off with a conclusion that shows you understand the reasons for the different views expressed.