1. How to create an enterprising manifesto: assignment support
Presentation by
UWE Library
Learning Services
2017 / 2018

2. Learning outcomes
At the end of the session we hope you will feel more confident about:
Understanding your assignment brief
Organising your thoughts
Drafting, structuring and editing your assignment
Composing a clear introduction and conclusion

3. Starting point: what is the assessment task?
Before you can begin, you need to understand your assessment task
Image from [accessed 12 Oct 2016]. CC0 Public Domain Free for commercial use No attribution required
Assignment planner

4. Types of writer Activity 2
Diver
Plunges into work
Has to start writing before they know what they want to say
Builds up a ‘plan’ by writing
Patchwork
Writes sections at an early stage which then need to be fitted together
Adds links between the sections as they go
Architect
Finds it easy to put thoughts into mind map
Sense of the broad structure before they know what will go in it
Grand Plan
Doesn’t make an outline at all
Has a ‘grand plan’ in their ‘inner mind’
Might have a structure but can’t verbalise it until they start
Exercise adapted from: P. Creme and M.R. Lea. (2008) Writing at University: A Guide for Students. 3rd ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Open University Press.
From: P. Creme and M.R. Lea. (2008) Writing at University: A Guide for Students. 3rd ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Open University Press.

5. Finding focus Problem framing Meeting social and enterprise ideals
Imagination and movement
Resilience and enterprising-self
[Pixabay CC0 Creative Commons Free for commercial use No attribution required ]

6. Organising your thoughts
There are THREE recommended techniques to generate and structure ideas to get started on a plan:
First thoughts / brainstorming
Mind-mapping (see Lynda.com ). UWE has Mindview or ClaroIdeas software
Linear assignment plan

7. Organising your thoughts
Activity 3: First thoughts

8. Linear assignment plan Check out the assignment planner here
1 Title: Creating an enterprising manifesto
2 Introduction: context – manifestos / set out approach
3 Theories of problem framing Q (red)
evidence for approach– notes Q, p.3-5
evidence against approach: Q, p.5
practical application in manifesto
based on critical evaluation of evidence
4 : Imagination and movement R (yellow)
metaphor of ‘flow’ as example of
application
advantages (with evidence)
challenging assumptions (purple)
5 Underlying issues linking application of manifestos to both ‘sub-topics’
6 Conclusions
Linear
assignment
plan
Check out the assignment planner here

9. The rough draft (initial)
Writing and editing: the process
The rough draft (initial)
Working document (better)
Penultimate edit (even better)
The final document (what you hand in)

10. A short video on paragraphing
: Ask Academic Skills at Brunel University

11. Developing a paragraph (SEE)
Statement (S)
Write a topic sentence, linking to the previous paragraph and introducing the specific claim of this paragraph
Evidence (E)
Expand this with more information e.g. examples, quotations, definitions
Compare / contrast / examine opposing ideas / give reasons/causes
Explanation/Evaluation (E)
Evaluate the evidence and draw a conclusion
Link to the next paragraph
Linking words:
Manchester Phrasebank: signalling transition

12. Conclusion elements Some key elements to include: Opening sentence
Summary of key ideas
Recommendations, predictions and opinion
Round off

13. Introduction elements
Some key elements to include:
Background information
Hypothesis or topic
Scope
Outline

14. Referencing You must acknowledge ALL of your sources In-text citations
Reference list / bibliography (at the end of your work)
Referencing webpages:
What referencing style should I use?
Referencing tools
[creative commons – accessed 21 August 2017]

15. Focus postcard: getting started!
Activity 4

16. Manifestos

17. Learning outcomes We hope that you now feel more confident about:
Understanding your assignment title
Organising your thoughts
Revising, editing and structuring your assignment
Composing a clear introduction and conclusion

18. Further help Writing for University workbook
Online advice and tutorials: Writing skills
Assignment planner
Mindview mind mapping software
Books and ebooks: Academic writing
Ask a Librarian

19. Other workshops