Student Sample Paper: Critical Essay

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Double Line Spacing on

Title page and throughout

document

Select a font that is easy to read,

such as,

Times New Roman

or Arial (other fonts are also

accepted)

Size 12 is recommended

Page numbers:

* Top right corner on every page

* Title page has number 1

* Use “Insert, Page Numbers” on

Word to format page numbers

This sample student paper is a critical essay writing task which demonstrates the

requirements for APA 7

edition referencing style.

The guidelines and comments have been colour-coded:

Formatting requirements - blue

Academic writing and addressing the task - red

Referencing guidelines - yellow

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Student Sample Paper: Critical Essay

Margins:

2.54 cm

on all

sides of

page

How to introduce an

acronym for an author

within an in-text citation

Use a ; to combine 2 in-text citations

and present them in alphabetical order.

The writer introduces scholarly

and peer reviewed literature to

support and provide evidence of

environmental factors impacting

on language development.

The first theorist is introduced

with explicit connection to the

overall purpose of the essay.

Topic Sentence: This body

paragraph topic sentence

clearly states the topic and

central idea of the paragraph

(language development).

Paragraphs:

Left-aligned and indented

Introductory Paragraph:

A clearly structured

introduction outlines general

statements about the topic

(language) and provides

background information to

orient the reader (link to

communication).

This sentence clearly

articulates the scope of the essay

and begins to introduce the lens

(theory) the topic of language

acquisition will be explored.

Both of these,

1 & 2, need to

relate directly to literacy learning.

3 This sentence clearly

articulates the scope of the essay

and begins to introduce the lens

(theory) that will be used.

4 This sentence further outlines

the specific theories being

examined throughout the essay.

5 This sentence introduces a

position (thesis) in regard to

language (factors influence

language acquisition throughout

school years) and the direction

the essay will cover in each body

paragraph 1) home environment

influences 2) school

environment influences.

“Outline” and “Describe” are the task words for this

assignment. For further information, see the Writing

Guide on the JCU Library page:

https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/writing/writing1

Any questions stated, means that you

need to answer this question.

Literature is

paraphrased

with citation

For the 2nd and subsequent mentions of these

references, they can be streamlined by referencing

using the first author’s surname and et.al or the

NIDCD acronym, as in these examples.

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Scholarly evidence is used to

explore limitations of Skinner’s

behaviourist theory pertaining to

language acquistion.

Numbers up to nine are written

out in full, and numerals are used

from 10 onwards.

The word they refers to the subject

of the preceeding sentence, being

children. Using cohesive devices

like this is a way of helping the

reader follow the train of logic. It

is not necessary to constantly

repeat the word children.

However, the word they continues

to be used repetitively throughout

this paragraph. The word they is a

personal pronoun that could be re-

worded more academically in this

context.

This is an example of a

referencing error:

The reference is out of

order in the reference list,

and also uses an acronym

that has not been

introduced.

Body Paragraphs:

1 Each paragraph in the body

of the essay should start with a

Topic Sentence. Its purpose is

to clearly states the topic and

central idea of the paragraph.

2, 3 & 4. These sentences

explore what was stated in the

topic sentence, and provide

evidence and examples.

Relevant references must

always be cited.

5 The last sentence provides a

concluding statement and links

the paragraph to the next

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This sentence demonstrates clear

articulation of the connection

between home and school

environments influencing language

acquistion.

This connective is used to link

ideas, and aid with the progression

of the logical argument.

Avoid using non peer

reviewed references, unless

explicitly stated by the

assessment criteria.

Semi-colons ( ; ) are used in this

sentence because they are listing

separate items. The ; indicates that

the ideas are both independent and

related.

Numbers up to nine are written

out in full, and numerals are used

from 10 onwards.

This connective is used to link

ideas, and aid with the progression

of the logical argument.

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This connective is used to highight

an alternative perspective from

what has been stated in the

paragraph so far.

This operates as the second

supporting sentence in the

paragraph, which takes the idea

introduced in the topic

sentence in a slightly different

direction.

The idea is then further

developed by the use of an

intext paraphrase and citation

from the literature.

Discretion needs to be used

when citing references more

than 5 to 10 years as most

assessments stipulate currency.

Supporting sentence adds to

the idea introduced by the

topic sentence.

This body paragraph and topic

sentence transitions to another

factor.

These two paragraphs could

benefit from a linking sentence.

A concluding sentence would

improve this paragraph.

This sentence is an excellent

example of using scholarly

evidence to reinforce the topic

sentence, in this case how home

environment factors shape

language development.

Topic sentence:

Instroducing a new idea

This sentence clearly outlines a

balanced argument – both

positive and negative factors

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This connective is

used as a link

between the ideas of

one paragraph to the

next.

This is a long sentence and

could be rephrased as two

separate sentences for

improved readability.

This is an example of an

acronym that is properly

introduced the first time

it is used.

Paraphrased idea which

extends the original thought

and provides evidence in the

form of a citation.

The second sentence provides

a statement to support the

Topic sentence

Topic sentence introduces the

new idea of literacy in

schools.

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Conclusions sum up ideas that have been

raised in the body of an essay so they

generally do not include new information

or in-text citations.

Always consult your tutor/lecturer if you

are considering using referenced

information in your conclusion. Some

disciplines and individual assessment

tasks will permit and others will not.

Conclusion:

A clear conclusion restates the

overall position, reiterates the

important evidence supporting

this position, and outlines the

significance. They do not

provide any new ideas or

information.

This sentence echoes the

thesis sentence in the

introductory paragraph by

discussing the links between

home and language.

This sentence does the same,

but in regards to school and

language.

The last sentence discusses

the significance and purpose of

the thesis position.

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Name of the webpage

should be in italics. In

these five examples the

italicised words would be:

Household use of

information

technology, Australia

English

General capabilities

Children’s peer

relationships have

enormous influence

Talking point: The first

stop for information on

children’s

communication

An excellent feature of this

reference list is that the author

uses a variety of scholarly

sources such as books and

journal articles, as well as

credible websites such as

Australian Bureau of Statistics

and Australian Curriculum.

Not required

Heading should be

centered and in bold

Reference List:

* Start list on a new page

* Alphabetical order

* Double spacing

* Use a hanging indent - this can

be done by highlighting the list

and pressing Control T (PC) or

Command T (Mac).

Find out how to correctly

reference in APA style with

http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apa

The correct reference here would be:

Australian Bureau of Statistice. (2016). Household use of

information technology, Australia (No. 8146.0).

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]f/mf/8146.0

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Name of the webpage should be

in italics.

This reference is placed

incorrectly and should be in

alphabetical order.

Perfect location information for a

book published outside of USA

Perfect location information for a

book published within USA

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The essay selects accurate, relevant content from two theoretical perspectives.

Evidence from text:

This essay will discuss the stages of language development and the related theories of Burrhus

Skinner and Noam Chomsky. It will also discuss the factors within our home and school

environments that influence our language development, and how these, in turn, affect our

language and literacy learning throughout our schooling years.

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Definition: To synthesize is to combine (a number of things) into a

coherent whole; draw together ideas (similar and sometimes

contradictory ideas of others)

Example in the text:

Noam Chomsky argues that Skinner’s behaviourism theory does not account for this,

and that reinforcement methods are not the most crucial aspect to a child’s language

acquisition (Bjorklund & Causey 2017; Nagel & Scholes, 2016). Chomsky

instead believes that humans are wired with a language acquisition device in our

brain that allows us to successfully develop language at a fast rate right from when we

are born (Emmitt et al., 2015; Nagel & Scholes, 2016)

Always pay attention to the kinds of

information sources that an essay task

allows. This essay uses excellent journals

articles, books and credible websites.

High quality assignments are thoroughly

edited. You can edit your work at a whole

text, paragraph and sentence level with our

editing cards.

Structuring logical sentences and cohesive

paragraphs is important. To understand

academic language demands visit:

https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/writing

Each assessment task has specific generic

essay features and requirements.

Guidelines for writing a critical essay can be

found on the JCU website

However, it is vital to carefully check the

subject specific requirements outlined in the

task description and the marking criteria

included in the subject outline.