Stage 1: The pre-plan: interpreting and limiting the scope of a topic

Once you have selected an essay topic, and before you develop a full essay plan, you need to do a pre-plan—that is, some basic preparatory work. The pre-plan involves interpreting the question and doing some preliminary reading on the topic to develop a basic understanding of the issues your essay should cover. Your lecture notes, textbook or prescribed reading list are the best places to start. At this stage, don't read extensively; leave this until after you have an essay plan.The pre-plan involves three interrelated parts: command words, keywords and essay scope.

Command words

Essay questions will often have command words, such as ‘discuss’, ‘compare’ or ‘analyse’, which direct the approach you should take to the topic. For example:

• Discuss the socioeconomic status of indigenous people in two countries.

Note that some essay questions will limit or direct you to specific areas. As the above example shows, not only are you asked to discuss the topic, but you are directed and limited to two countries. However, a word of caution is necessary here. While most command words are quite straightforward, sometimes they are used inconsistently, whereby some lecturers may have different things in mind when they use words such as ‘discuss’, ‘compare’ or ‘analyse’. If in doubt, check with your lecturer or tutor about what the essay is expected to cover.

Keywords

Keywords refer to concepts, authors and theories relevant to a particular academic discipline. The next part of the pre-plan stage is to highlight, circle or underline any keywords in the essay topic which need to be defined and explained. For example, the following terms may appear in humanities and social science essays:

• class
• cultural capital
• ethnocentrism
• modernity
• post-feminism
• sexual division of labour.

To find out what these keywords mean, start with a discipline dictionary, which is a specialised dictionary that defines keywords—concepts, theories and sometimes the ideas of key authors—for a particular discipline. For example, there are dictionaries for the disciplines of economics, education, sociology, literature, politics and psychology, to name only a few.

Try to stick to the discipline dictionaries for defining keywords and avoid using literal definitions of words from English dictionaries such as the Oxford or Macquarie dictionaries. The reason for this is that you need to understand how the particular discipline defines the keywords, because often they have more complex and specific meanings than standard dictionaries allow. For example, an English dictionary definition of the words ‘cultural capital’ could define ‘cultural’ (social customs and values governing human behaviour) and ‘capital’ (a sum of money saved). However, such a definition would be incorrect, as it ignores the meaning of the phrase within the disciplines of sociology, education and cultural studies. Cultural capital is a concept that refers to the possession of valued cultural attributes that can act like an economic asset which bestows social status and provides access to various social privileges.

While discipline dictionaries are helpful, your understanding shouldn't be based on these alone, as the meanings of specific terms are often subject to debate and are more complex than a few lines in a dictionary can allow. Introductory texts are also a good place to start to give you a basic understanding of keywords.

Essay scope: Who, what, where, when and why/how

Once you have defined and understood your command words and keywords, it is important that you use these words as a guide to your research and reading. You may find that there is so much information or so many issues involved in the essay topic that it is impossible for you to cover them all adequately within the word limit you are given. In such cases, without changing the meaning of the essay topic, it maybeacceptableforyoutonarrowthescopeofwhatyou will cover in the essay. For example, this may mean concentrating on issues that apply to one country only, or comparing two opposing theories. However, always check with your lecturer or tutor that this is acceptable.To keep your academic detective work on the right track, you need to clarify the scope of your essay topic by addressing ‘who, what, where, when and why/how’ questions, such as:

• Who: Who is your intended audience?
• What: How detailed does your information need to be?
• Where: Do you need to make comparisons between regions or countries?
• When: Do you need to address historical and/or current issues?
• Why/how: Are explanations required?

Unless directed otherwise, an essential feature of all your essays is to address the ‘why’ or ‘how’ question. Your ability to explain why or how something exists is where you will gain higher marks. Answering ‘why’ or ‘how’ questions requires you to analyse your material.

One of the key ways to determine the scope of your essay is to ensure that your essays contain the information, debates and theories that are relevant to the subject and discipline you are studying. For example, if you are doing sociology and psychology subjects, don't try to rehash your psychology material for your sociology essay unless it is particularly relevant. While many topics cross over discipline boundaries, it is much simpler to stick to identified books and journal articles within the one discipline. Here is a simple rule to follow: if it is a politics subject, use politics texts; if it is an economics subject, use economics texts. In other words, always write for your intended audience. This will ensure that you have covered the material that is relevant to the topic. Note that if you are undertaking interdisciplinary studies, you should have a clear understanding of the literature and issues you are meant to address in your essay.