An Introduction to Writing at Master's Level

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The Writing Development Centre
Robinson Library
An introduction to writing at
Master’s level
Contact: wdc@ncl.ac.uk

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Part One: What is a Master’s and what is expected of
Master’s students?

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Session outline
 Clarifying expectations of Master’s level study: what is the
‘step up’?
 Identifying strategies to help make the transition and
manage your workload
 Focusing on critical reading and writing techniques

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What is expected of Master’s students?
Working in pairs, consider the following:
 What is a Master’s for?
 How do you think a Master’s will differ from an
undergraduate degree?

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What is a Master’s for?
 Preparation to enter a profession: academic research (PhD
study), industry, business, etc.
 To understand how knowledge is constructed in your
subject (and how you might contribute to this)
 To understand and evaluate the relationships between
theory and practice in your discipline

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How does a Master’s differ?
 Differs in many ways
 Not just a continuation of undergraduate study: not just a
case of ‘more of the same’

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 Greater level of criticality
 Evaluate the extent to which theories can be mapped onto reality
 How is knowledge constructed in your subject? What do we know?
How do we know it? How sure are we that we know it? What don’t
we know?
 Identifying gaps in the existing research and setting your own
research questions in order to address them.

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 Identity
 Becoming an independent researcher
 Moving towards a professional identity
 Training to become a researcher/practitioner: your work may be
read differently. Higher expectations re. referencing, avoiding
plagiarism and accurate writing?
 Becoming part of an academic community
 Discussing ideas with fellow researchers (including your tutors!)
 Different working relationships with tutors?

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 Intensity and workload
 PGT courses are often the most demanding and intense, and have
the steepest learning curve
 May involve adjusting to a new teaching and learning style
 More reading and research
 Multiple assessment deadlines

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Smoothing the transition: useful strategies
 Creating a planner with an overview of the year
 Avoiding spending too much time on one assignment
 Never too early to start thinking about your dissertation:
keep an ideas file
 Give yourself time to adjust

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Part Two: Focusing on Criticality

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Why is being critical important?
Example tutor comments on Master’s level assignments:
 “Too descriptive”
 “More analysis needed”
 “Needs less description, more critique”
 “This is descriptive rather than analytical”
 “You have told me what the theory is rather than how you evaluate
it”

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Defining criticality
 Skim the questions on your handouts
 Focus on the question most appropriate to your discipline
and consider the following:
 What are students being asked to do?
 How are they being encouraged to demonstrate criticality? What
does this even mean?!

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Defining criticality
Briefly describe a method for measuring
the hardness of a metal. To which
important engineering property does
the hardness relate? What are the
advantages of the hardness test?
Compare and contrast two
abstract works of your choice in
terms of their form and
significance.
Critically assess the claim that civil
servants, and not politicians, drive the
integration process in the Commission
and Council of Ministers.
What is heritage and, if you
believe in preserving it, who
should pay?

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What does being ‘critical’ mean?
 Not just describing theories, but considering how they can be
applied (and the implications of applying them)
 Considering the relationship between theory and practice
 Not just learning or presenting information but ‘doing something
with it’: selecting, ranking, comparing, evaluating
 Having a particular stance or viewpoint; developing arguments
 Justifying and/or supporting this viewpoint: explanations,
reasons, evidence
 Engaging in existing critical/theoretical debates, rather than just
reporting them
 Being objective: being critical does not mean being negative
 Asking questions: not taking information sources at ‘face value’

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Reading critically
 Use the extract on your handouts as a starting point or
‘trigger’
 List all of the critical questions it is useful to ask of your
source material: think about every stage of the reading
process

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Critical Questions
 Stage One: being selective and getting focused
 Is this relevant?
 What am I looking to get from this?
 Stage Two: establishing credibility
 Who is the author?
 What is their background?
 Where was this text published?

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Critical Questions
 Stage Three: identifying the text’s aims and objectives
 What is the purpose of this text?
 Who is the target audience?

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Critical Questions
 Stage Four: looking beyond the information presented
 What is the text’s main claims?
 How are they argued?
 Are there any gaps, leaps in logic, and/or inconsistencies?
 How is evidence used and interpreted?
 Are the conclusions consistent with the evidence presented?

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Critical Questions
 Stage Five: Your own agenda
 How are you going to use this source?
 How does it fit into your own work?

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Writing critically
 What does critical writing look like?
 How can we signal criticality in our writing?

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Writing critically: editing for
criticality
Skim the extracts on your handouts (both taken from the
same essay)
Is this writer sufficiently critical? Think about their use of
language, as well as the points they make. Are there any
points that could be developed? If so, how might they
develop these?

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Editing for criticality: looking for the
‘gaps’
 Reviewing your own work is not just about checking for
spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors
 Writing is dialogue not monologue
 Have you answered all of your reader’s questions?

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Summary
 Critical reading is about asking questions
 Critical writing is about anticipating and addressing
readers’ questions

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Develop your academic skills
 Take effective notes
 Think critically
 Interpret essay questions
 Understand assessment
criteria
 Read efficiently
 Argue convincingly
 Plan assignments
 Manage your time
 Express ideas confidently
• Revise effectively
• Critically review literature
• Structure essays
• Use drafting & editing
techniques
• Make the most of lectures
& seminars
• Manage your dissertation
or PhD thesis
• Avoid plagiarism
• Improve your exam
technique

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Level 2, Robinson Library
Undergraduate - Masters - PhD
Our team of expert tutors offers:
- Individual tutorials
- Workshops
- Online resources
Visit us online to book: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/
HASS – SAgE - FMS

An Introduction to Writing at Master's Level

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