2. Paul Stocks. Centre for English Language & Academic Writing.
Concepts and Methods
Paul Stocks.
Centre for English Language & Academic Writing.

3. Concepts and Methods Engaging with source material:
-the rationale (why?)
-footnoting and compiling a bibliography (how?)

4. Discussion Question:
Why do your lecturers place such emphasis on you referring to and quoting from source material in your essays?

5. Discussion Question: Why use source material?
To show what you’ve been reading:
Have you read a range of opinion and views on the topic?
How well have you understood the arguments being put forward?
To show your ability to evaluate and think critically:
Are you able to weigh up the relative strengths of the competing opinions? (NB Historians are supposed to be good at this –it’s a key transferable skill!)
To support your own views + conclusions:
Your opinion on its own is easy to disagree with.
Your informed opinion, having taken into account a wide range of views and with support from respected historians, is much harder to knock down.

6. Concepts and Methods
Incorporating source material into your work is therefore crucial.
However it’s equally vital that sources are properly referenced, both in the essay (footnotes) and at the end of the essay (bibliography)
This is non-negotiable!
Failure to reference properly can lead to accusations of plagiarism, and even disciplinary measures.

7. The process of essay writing
-Define the task
-Generate content
-Organise
-Draft
-Review
-Redraft

8. Defining the task Deconstruct the essay title –what exactly are you
being asked to do? What would you need to include in a
good answer?
Useful questions to consider are:
What learning / knowledge do I need to demonstrate?
Who are the key thinkers I should refer to?
What are the key primary sources I should draw from?
Are there any key concepts or terms I need to define?
How many parts to the essay?
What choices can I make?

9. Defining the task Did female travellers define ‘the Other’ in ways
Practice by looking at this title:
Did female travellers define ‘the Other’ in ways
different to men?
What learning / knowledge do I need to demonstrate?
Who are the key thinkers I should refer to?
Are there any key concepts or terms I need to define?
What are the key primary sources I should draw from?
How many parts to the essay?
What choices can I make?

10. Discussion: Your seminar task
Now consider the title from your seminar title:
Has the ‘Eurocentric debate’ reached a dead-
end?
What learning / knowledge do I need to demonstrate?
Who are the key thinkers I should refer to?
Are there any key concepts or terms I need to define?
What are the key primary sources I should draw from?
How many parts to the essay?
What choices can I make?

11. How to reference: Bibliography
The bibliography is the list of all source material you have referred to in preparation for the essay.
These may include books, journal articles, websites and primary sources.
It does not include lectures. Don’t quote directly from lectures; instead use the further reading list related to that lecture to find suitable support for your points.
Compile the bibliography as you go while researching the essay: get into the habit taking down the bibliographical details of a source as soon as you open it.
The finished bibliography should have the sources arranged into alphabetical order in three lists: primary sources, secondary sources and internet sources.

12. Examples: What type of publication are these?
Blackfoot, Emery. Chance encounters. (Boston: Serendipity Press, 1987.)
Smith, John, George Jackson, Humphrey Little and Stanley Black. How
to Fry an Egg. Boston: Serendipity Press, 1972.
Le Goff, Jaques, “A Coronation Program for the Age of St Louis: The
Ordo of 1256”in Coronations: Medieval and Early Modern Monarchic
Ritual, ed. J.M. Bak, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990) pp
Banks, William. "A Secret Meeting in Boise." Midwestern Political
Review 6 (1958): pp
“The Song of Lewes”, in Medieval England, : A Reader, ed. E.
Amt, (Toronto: Broadview Press, 2001), pp

13. Examples: What type of publication are these?
Book, single author:
Blackfoot, Emery. Chance encounters. (Boston: Serendipity Press, 1987.)
Surname First name Title -in italics Place of pub. Publisher Year of pub.
Book, multiple authors:
Smith, John, George Jackson, Humphrey Little and Stanley Black. How
to Fry an Egg. Boston: Serendipity Press, 1972.
Article in an edited collection:
Le Goff, Jaques, “A Coronation Program for the Age of St Louis: The
Ordo of 1256” in Coronations: Medieval and Early Modern Monarchic
Ritual, ed. J.M. Bak, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990) pp.
46-57.
Note: It’s the title of the whole collection that goes in brackets

14. Examples: What type of publication are these?
Academic Journal article
Banks, William. "A Secret Meeting in Boise." Midwestern Political
Review 6 (1958): pp
Note: the journal title goes in italics. Remember to include the volume + number
Primary Source in a Collection
“The Song of Lewes”, in Medieval England, : A Reader, ed. E.
Amt, (Toronto: Broadview Press, 2001), pp
Again the title of the collection is what goes in italics
Website
Jewett, Sarah Orne The country of the pointed firs [online].
New York: Columbia University, Academic Information Systems,
Bartleby Library, 1996 [cited 16 October 1997]. Available from
World Wide Web: (
Note: The ‘cited’ date refers to the date you found the source

15. Footnotes:
Footnoting is easy with MS Word or other word processing software: eg in Word, click ‘insert’ – ‘reference’ – ‘footnote’ and take it from there. The software will keep track of all the numbering.
The first footnote is similar to the bibliography entry:
Emery Blackfoot, Chance Encounters (Boston: Serendipity Press, 1987). P. 24
Note that you should include the page number
After that, if you quote from the same book, it’s much simpler:
Blackfoot, Chance encounters 102.
author title page

16. And finally…
Do not, repeat NOT use Wikipedia as an academic source!

17. Centre for English Language and Academic Writing
Weekly writing classes for non-native speakers
One-to-one tutorials with Fellow of the Royal Literary Society
Come to the CELAW office to book a tutorial
Drop-in tutorials in the library
No need to book in advance
2nd floor library
Mon-Thurs, 4pm
Friday, 12:30pm

18. Centre for English Language and Academic Writing
Front page of the VLE (learn.gold)
click on ‘Academic Language’
Resources, advice and activities to help improve academic skills, including writing.

19. Contact:
Centre for English Language and Academic Writing Goldsmiths, University of London New Cross London SE14 6NW
Tel: +44 (0) / 7763 Fax: +44 (0)