To get some extra knowledge on the form, here is a good list of the pros and cons for discursive writing!
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
- Has the capacity to be incredibly personal; you can write and explore your own genuine thoughts, opinions and life experiences rather than those that simply look good in an essay. - The intended writing style is one that reflects your own personal voice - not as an author of a story or as an essayist, but your voice as a person. This means that you have the freedom to write both formally and informally, figuratively and factually. It’s up to you! - You can leave it open-ended. | - The amount of freedom you have in this text type can be intimidating. It’s hard to know whether or not you’re doing it right! - This text type is relatively new in the syllabus so you may not have had as much practice in writing it as you would have had with the other types. - I anticipate that, like imaginative writing, this one will also be marked rather subjectively. |
At Art of Smart Education our expert English Tutors can support you with Discursive Writing with tailored tutoring in your home or online.
While there is no single formula or “quick fix” to get a Band 6, there are certain steps you can take to increase your chances!
That said, you won’t jump from a Band 2 to a Band 6 overnight so be prepared to invest time and effort to achieve a Band 6-level result, or as close to it as you can get.
Discursive writing can be tricky. Our tutors here at Art of Smart can help you boost your marks with expert tips and tricks! Check out the K-12 English support we can provide in Parramatta , and all across Sydney!
Let’s start by revisiting the marking criteria for Module C: The Craft of Writing:
So, how might these criteria apply to a discursive piece of writing?
Criterion | How can I address this? |
---|---|
This requires you to use language in a way that addresses what the question is asking you to do, so a good place to start is by breaking down the question itself. Ensure you have read the question carefully. , underlining all key words. Only move on from reading over the question once you are 100% sure you understand it inside out. | |
In a discursive piece of writing, you’ll be expected to write using your own personal voice – not your voice as the author of a story, or your voice as an essayist – your voice as a person. This is what your reader will be expecting and thus, this is what you should aim for to achieve. Momentarily forget everything you know about regular essay writing and let your own voice flow through onto the page, in a way that is authentically you. |
This will ultimately depend on the question so ensure you read it carefully.
Likely, you will be asked to explore a key idea or concern from one of your prescribed texts — either from Module C or another module.
You may take this literally, exploring the idea as it is presented in the prescribed text or instead, you can think laterally and consider how this idea applies to the real world, occasionally bringing in the text — or a related text — as examples.
Note that many of the key ideas and concerns encountered in your prescribed texts are quite broad and malleable , so you can twist them in any way you want.
Tip: Manipulate the Question As the focus here is on unleashing your own personal voice as a writer, it helps to be writing about something you a) are genuinely interested in and b) know a bit about. Manipulate the question as is necessary. Example You might decide to write about power — as it is a key concern in the prescribed text for the Common Module, Nineteen Eighty Four (Orwell) . Power lends itself quite easily to politics but what if you don’t want to talk about politics? Instead, you might write about the psychological power of manipulation or the importance of individual empowerment. As the marking criteria for Module C explicitly ask for language crafted to “address the demands of the question” , it is imperative that whatever you do end up writing about is something that can be related to the question — by both yourself and your marker.
Here are some of our favourite pieces of discursive writing!
You can also trawl through newspapers, magazines and blogs for great examples of discursive writing:
Tip : Also check out TED talks , many of which take on a discursive style and all of which are available to view online for free . Most talks uploaded on TED’s official site also have a transcript so you can not only follow along, but also take note of how the speaker uses language to create meaning. Check out the 20 Most-Watched TED Talks !
While discursive writing is not wedded to a formal structure, it helps to plan things out before you start writing. This can help to avoid confusion or a lack of clarity in your writing.
You’ll want to follow a logical, sequential structure:
Introduction – Catch your reader’s attention and introduce them to your topic – whether explicitly or implicitly.
Body – Several paragraphs in which you explore your topic in greater detail. These can be of varying lengths and the number of paragraphs is up to you.
Conclusion – Sum up your discussion and end on a reflective, thought-provoking note.
Planning your response beforehand — even if it’s some dot points crammed into the corner of the page — allows you to think deeply about how to best organise and present your ideas. For each paragraph, plan what its focus will be and which pieces of evidence you will include.
Evidence is crucial in a discursive response as it adds legitimacy to your discussion and helps to build authenticity.
You may include, but are not limited to, the following types of evidence:
You can but you are not required to. This entirely depends on the nature of the question and how you prefer to answer it.
If you want your response to be focussed on texts, then some analysis may be helpful.
If you’re focussing on broader ideas or phenomena however, perhaps ease up on the techniques for now.
You might be thinking: Module C seems all a bit… unstructured ?
Ironically, if you think that, you’re on the right train of thought! You’ve actually understood the form excellently. It’s natural to find discursive writing a little unfamiliar, considering you’re much more used to writing in a highly-structured essay style.
Discursive writing is deliberately exploratory and personal in nature. Great discursive writer Annie Dillard sums up the form well, noting that discursive writing has “ a structure that arises from the materials and best contains them ”. The discursive writing style is highly personal and effectively you can dictate your own structure.
However, don’t let this freak you out! You can in fact use the vagueness of this form to your advantage.
Authors use literary techniques for a reason. They provide an interesting, more meaningful way of getting ideas across than just stating things outright.
Consider this example from our old mate, William Shakespeare:
“I will speak daggers to her but use none” (Hamlet, Hamlet , Act 3 Scene 2) Cool, right? Shakespeare uses a great metaphor of daggers to convey the sharp hostility Hamlet plans to convey in speaking to his mother. Can’t get enough of it. Let’s consider the same line without any techniques : I’ll speak rudely to her but I won’t actually do anything to physically harm her.
Look, it gets the meaning across and it’s nice and direct but let’s be real — it’s boring. The daggers metaphor captures our imagination and gets us thinking whereas the rewritten, metaphor-less line simply tells us what Hamlet is planning to do, no more.
Slightly random Hamlet analysis aside, techniques such as metaphors will help bring your writing voice to life — and will sure as heck engage your reader, if used correctly.
When reading your prescribed texts, take note of techniques you personally find meaningful. Not just the techniques your teacher tells you to find meaningful but ones that you actually like yourself.
Experiment with these techniques in your own writing. Loved the dagger metaphor we learnt about from Hamlet just now? Have a go at writing your own metaphor to describe the way someone speaks to another . And so on, and so forth.
Don’t just focus on your prescribed texts either. If you’re keen on a Band 6 for HSC English, you should already be engaging in regular wide reading. As you do this, take note of any cool techniques you happen upon, and have a go at creating your own.
Here’s the absolute minimum set of techniques you should be including your discursive writing: Varying sentence structure: write like you’re a human, not a robot! Tone : depending on the formality or informality of the piece, the ultimate aim is to get them so immersed that they don’t feel like they’re reading at all! Nuance: Add in some information that goes against your argument, then disprove it — this actually makes the reader trust your opinion! Here are some fancier techniques you can include to secure that Band 6: A running symbol: especially in more creative pieces, this reminds the reader of your point of view. The symbol should evolve as your point of view evolves Hero’s Journey: to get your reader rooting for your side, implement the hero’s journey. Write your piece as if you’re telling a story: add a call to adventure, challenges and a transformation in your discursive writing! Imagery : Want your reader to feel like they’re not reading? Get them imagining the physical surroundings of your discursive text!
You’ll likely already be doing something similar to this in your classwork for Module C.
If you don’t know your techniques well, check out our handy dandy glossary !
You can write in first or third person for discursive writing however first person is recommended as it allows you to craft a much more authentic and engaging personal voice.
Think of discursive writing almost as an extended, slightly-more-structured stream of consciousness. You’re exploring and bouncing between your thoughts on a particular topic, and doing so through a voice that is inherently and unashamedly yours.
While third person is not necessarily wrong , it runs the risk of your discursive writing reading more like a persuasive essay.
Even if you’re following the best advice on how to write a piece of discursive writing, it’s likely that you’ll struggle to accurately reflect on the quality of your work. You’ve probably heard this before: “HSC English is super subjective.” To a certain extent, this is true!
That’s why we recommend getting personalised guidance from an HSC English tutor who knows the syllabus inside and out. They can point you in the right direction and decipher your teacher’s feedback with you! That way, you’ll be able to move forward knowing that you’re doing the right things.
In previous HSC exams, it was common practice for students to write and perfect a creative writing story, memorise that story word for word, and use it in the exam — adapting when necessary — in the hopes of a Band 6.
It seems to be heading this way with the imaginative writing component of Craft of Writing, with many students already writing and revising a story to be kept as their “safety net”.
While this can have benefits for imaginative writing, it might not play out so well for discursive writing.
The fluidity of discursive writing means that your structure and content are likely to depend almost entirely on what’s asked in the question. As you can’t predict the question, logically it is also difficult to pre-prepare a response.
Rather than rote-learning a discursive piece, it is much wiser to instead practise a range of different Module C questions using a discursive form. Have your teacher — or a tutor — read over your discursive writings and either rewrite them using their feedback, or write new responses, keeping the feedback in mind (or you can also do both).
After all, you might not even be asked to write discursively in the exam! All that time spent memorising for nothing… (same goes for imaginative writing, just sayin’…)
If you’ve already been on the lookout for practice questions, you can find a bunch in this article !
Now that you’re a little more familiar with discursive writing, here’s a practice question:
“I pay no attention to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings” — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Use this quote as a stimulus for a piece of discursive writing that expresses your perspective about a significant concern or idea that you have engaged with in ONE of your prescribed texts from Module C.
Have a go at this question and get feedback from your HSC English teacher and/or tutor.
And in the meantime — you can have a look at our monster list of Module C practice questions so you can practise your discursive writing!
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We can help you master discursive writing and ace your upcoming HSC English assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home, online or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!
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The final aspect of the English Paper 2 exam includes a reflection statement. This statement can range anywhere between 5 to 10 marks (out of 20), so it is crucial that students understand and complete this component to the best of their abilities. Reflection statements seek to provide analytical explanation behind students’ writing, and rationalise the creative choices made in conjunction with the exam stimulus. A reflection takes place after students complete their imaginative, discursive or persuasive writing.
Below are TutorTime’s essential components to writing a Band 6 reflection:
1. Rationale behind storyline and isolation of key techniques
Your reflection should begin with a brief explanation of why you chose the storyline of your piece. For example, if you complete an imaginative writing piece, your reflection could begin with: “I chose to write from the perspective of a teenage boy to interrogate the subconscious familial tensions that emerge when parents divorce”. However, do not spend too much time analysing your piece, and instead focus on the techniques that you included. For example, if your imaginative has a motif, you should mention this to the marker and explain why you chose to do so. Do not be afraid to quote your piece in your reflection.
2. Response to stimulus
Reflections must clearly outline how your writing piece thoroughly responds to the exam stimuli. For example, if the exam stimulus was a picture of a chessboard, you may want to write about how you used the technique of stichomythic dialogue to emulate the fast-moving discussion of a game of chess, or how the motif of ‘moves and countermoves’ was repeated throughout your writing. You must inform the marker that you have acknowledge and responded to the stimuli given. Do not be subtle in your inclusion of the stimulus.
3. Integration of Mod C text/s
Finally, your reflection should include the ways in which your writing has drawn from your Module C texts. For example, you may have been inspired by Nam Le’s conversational tone and use of flashbacks, or Margaret Atwood’s use of satire and intertextuality. Make it obvious to the marker that the ‘Craft of Writing’ prescribed texts have heavily influenced your own writing. Provide quotes and examples from your Mod C texts to substantiate this.
To learn more about how to write the perfect Mod C reflection, book a TutorTime tutor today!
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Writing discursive essays is a common task that can be encountered in high school and college environments. Mastering the nuances of writing them will be a lot easier with this guide. Our team has prepared recommendations that cover the basics of discursive essays and their format. Additionally, you will find some helpful tips about improving your work. Let’s get started!
💎 developing a discursive writing style, 📎 references, 🧐 discursive writing: definition & purpose.
Discursive essays are different from the argumentative and persuasive papers you might be used to. Discursive writing allows students to investigate various topics in depth and present different opinions on particular issues. Creating one involves gathering, reading, and assessing supportive evidence. As with other academic papers, discursive ones are built around a thesis statement that outlines the arguments.
Unlike other paper genres like persuasive essays , discursive essays are scarce on personal thoughts. They favor an unbiased look at the subject through the lens of facts and statistics. You can use them to discuss issues related to social norms, the economy, political movements, technology, and similar subjects. Whatever you write about, ensure you methodically cover every side of the issue.
Students often confuse these essay types, so we’ve decided to help you understand the difference. These descriptions will show you how to identify the purpose and tone of these papers and choose the appropriate one to match your writing goals.
🤔 Argumentative | 🧐 Discursive |
---|---|
present supporting evidence and disprove opposing claims. | serve as an analysis of the subject from different points of view. |
If your professor tasks you with this kind of assignment, you have a couple of ways to approach it. As we’ve mentioned before, there are several types of discursive essays. This segment of our article goes into some detail about each of them.
If you get to write a discursive essay on any subject you wish, this is the right segment for you. Here, we provide several pressing, engaging, and diverse topics for your work.
You may be tempted to write right away after choosing the appropriate topic for your discursive essay. However, before you do this, get acquainted with this paper’s format. Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide for each section of the work.
Crafting a compelling intro is the foundation of a successful discursive essay. This section outlines the essential elements and strategies to grab the audience’s attention. Read it to master the art of engaging intros.
The body paragraphs offer a platform for in-depth analysis and presentation of multiple perspectives. The ones in discursive essays have distinctive characteristics that distinguish them from other papers.
This section will show you how to restate your main points, complete your arguments, and leave a lasting impression .
You’re one step closer to writing your perfect essay. We recommend practicing to ensure that you triumph over these academic tasks. Follow our tips, and you will see the quality of your papers reach new heights.
✅ Be straightforward | Try using simple words and phrases whenever possible. This way, you’ll be less likely to make mistakes. It also helps people unfamiliar with the topic to understand it better. |
✅ Cut down on long sentences | When writing papers, stick to shorter sentence structures. If you see lengthy ones, cut them down into two or more. There’s no need to chop up every single one – do this when necessary. Practice and you’ll see better which sentences to separate or keep as they are. |
✅ Clear the clutter | Everybody sometimes writes words, phrases, or sentences that don’t add more information to the paper. Or they make the same remarks several times in the text. If the meaning doesn’t change with their removal, it’s best to exclude them. |
✅ Experiment with sentence structure | Sticking to the same sentence structure throughout the text makes it dull and uninteresting. If you want to impact readers, change things from time to time. |
✅ Rely on an active voice | Try writing in an , as it’s more direct and requires fewer words than its passive counterpart. This makes papers easier to follow and comprehend. You’ll also avoid wordiness. |
✅ Write in a formal tone | As essays are academic tasks, you should write in a formal tone. Avoid colloquialisms, slang, and other devices not associated with this style. Remember to write in the third person. |
✅ Stick to familiar vocabulary | When , you will come across new words and phrases. Never use them if you don’t fully comprehend their meaning. Instead, stick to the terms and phrases you’re sure of. |
We thank you for your attention. Hopefully, you’ve found the guide helpful. If you need any more ideas for your discursive essay, you can create one using our topic generator !
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Home / Blog / How To Write A Discursive Essay ?
It’s undoubtedly a crucial point when a student has been allotted with an assignment by the professor, and as soon he opens up the file, it’s a discursive essay task. The first thing that strikes the students’ mind is, what is a discursive essay & how can it be completed.
So without further ado, let’s dig deep into the facts and find out what it takes to write a discursive essay.
Discursive essay writing is the most common essay writing task given to the students when they are in their colleges. Like any other college assignment, for discursive essay writing, students also feel repugnance towards it.
However, if we keep all these dislikings at a distance and take a minute to think, discursive essay writing is not as bad as the generic perception goes by. Interestingly, writing a discursive essay involves a deep discussion on the given topic. Students need to figure out their argument based on the given topic, the supporting arguments surrounding it, counter-arguments to establish the supporting points, etc. so you see, it’s not really a cakewalk to search and present for and against reasons. It requires a lot of research on the internet, figuring out the best ones that permit both time and topic, hence an impactful presentation of discussing both sides of the viewpoints.
Before we go further, let’s figure out how to write is a discursive essay.
A discursive essay is divided into two types- Opinion Essay and For and Against Essay. However, the basic structure of putting all your thoughts in the conventional introduction-body-conclusion structure is the same, no matter what type you are writing on.
While writing an opinion essay is all about stating a personalized opinion about the given topic, students can start writing it by narrowing down the topic in order to find succinct augments and reasons to counter those. It’s simple, if you haven’t narrowed down your topic, you will simply puzzle yourself to find out arguments and to decide how many of those should be enough to put in your essay. Whatever they do, opinions and thoughts should be presented and followed by supporting data, examples, and statistics. The conclusion should incorporate the writer’s opinion in a gist.
On the other hand, as it comes to writing for and against essay, the readers should be provided with supporting and opposing arguments with details. The objective to write this type of essay is to present a well-balanced opinion of the writer, what he has in mind about the chosen topic. A balanced reflection on the topic should be stated again only in the conclusion.
Now, whatever the style you have got to write your essay in, the students should keep in mind that the writing style should pursue an impersonal tone. Yes, assignment writing is often synonymous with formal writing, but with the discursive essay, you can go with informal writing techniques. You have to think critically for more in-depth aspects when reviewing all viewpoints and aspects of discursive essay writing.
Like all academic essay assignments, a discursive essay paper starts with an introduction and ends with a conclusion.
So how to start? Like always, give the readers a hook. Some interesting fact about the topic always interests the readers in reading on till the end. Declaring some problem and its causes is also a good way to start writing the introduction of the discursive essay. You can always provide a short explanation of the problem you have selected in the introduction. You may use quotations and rhetorical questions in the introduction. Show your readers both sides of the arguments and sum up.
Pro tip: start the introduction paragraph with an impactful issue sentence.
The next step of discursive essay writing is to compose the body paragraphs. Here are some pointers to remember while working on a discursive essay:
Well, as you have almost done with writing the hardest part of your discursive essay, lets us focus on the concluding paragraphs. The conclusion is nothing fancy, except, it would have all your thoughts jotted down.
Also, do not forget the golden rule of drafting an essay conclusion . Add the summary of the main points, specifying in the body paragraphs. Try putting in findings backed up with data. Remember: it should be in line with your evidence stated in the body paragraphs. Don't repeat findings, just summarize them.
Keep the conclusion short. The length should not exceed more than a paragraph.
Pick and choose any of the essay topics to practice how to write a discursive essay. Follow the structuring rules given above. Also, if you are looking for a discursive essay example, the internet is loaded with tons of samples. Do some research, and you will definitely be good to go. A little research on the internet will help you a long way.
Discursive essay templates, format , and samples are available on the internet. There are also a number of online academic help service providers who write essay papers on behalf of the students.
Contact essayhack.io, and you can get comprehensive assistance in writing a discursive essay here. The one-stop destination to curb your entire essay writing issues, we have housed PhD-qualified and extremely professional academic writers write assignments on your behalf.
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So, you need to accomplish your discursive essay writing. The typical questions most students ask are: How do you write it? What is discursive essay?
A discursive essay is an academic paper that involves a discussion on a particular topic. It is usually assigned to college students. You may be required to write a paper wherein you have to do one of the following:
Don’t panic!
Check out the tips from Custom-writing.org experts below. They will assist you in discursive writing and encourage you to examine essay examples. Moreover, in this article, you’ll also learn about different types of discursive essay, and its introduction, main body, and conclusion structure.
First of all, let’s figure out what the discursive essay is.
You may think it’s similar to the argumentative essay. Yes, but there’s a difference between them in the structure and purpose of these two types of assignments:
Purpose | To provide a reliable and unbiased assessment of an issue. Nevertheless, your discursive writing does not have to be completely neutral. You should write it using the facts and research reports to present both sides of the issue. | To persuade the reader in your position, providing supporting evidence. This essay type relies on thorough research so that the author can both convince and educate the reader. However, the result should be less passionate and more concise than that of a . |
Structure | Its style is more impersonal and formal in comparison with other assignment types: | Its style is general for essays as the reader should understand what you stand for |
We will take a detailed look at how to structure a discursive essay later, and now let’s find out what are the types of this assignment.
Keep reading!
You have to think more critically and more in-depth when reviewing all viewpoints and aspects of discursive writing. Check these three main types of essay writing:
Well, it’s time to talk about the structure of a discursive essay. Like most of the assignments, a discursive paper starts with an introduction and ends with a conclusion:
The first question you may ask is how to start a discursive essay introduction. Simple!
You may be wondering…
Is there something I should avoid in my discursive essay introduction?
Yes. No stereotypes and generalizations, please!
The next step under formal essay writing you should take is to compose the body.
There are a few points you should remember:
Well, you’ve almost finished your writing. Now you should focus on the last section. Keep reading, and you will learn how to write a conclusion for a discursive essay.
Keep it short. Your conclusion length should not exceed one paragraph.
Do you want more discursive essay writing tips? Fine! Just check them below:
Well, now you know what discursive essay means, what are its main types, and how to structure it.
Good luck with your discussions and discursive essays! Be sure to check out the articles on our blog for more academic wisdom. By the way, on the Custom-Writing website, you may find the best essay topics for your academic writing.
And don’t forget to share your opinion in the comments below.
You might also be interested in:
There is no one definitely correct answer to this question. Like any other essay, the text should have a clear structure with an introduction, body, and conclusion. The most important thing is that the overall book needs to be cohesive, persuasive, and exciting to read.
An example of a step by step guide is:
1. Take a closer look at the topic, think about the points to cover.
2. Choose the most relevant points and compose the Body of the essay.
3. Add an appropriate Introduction and Conclusion.
To write a good conclusion, you need to have the rest of the essay finished. Does the body of your essay present well-structured points? Great, then see what you can conclude based on that. If possible, make a connection between the introduction and the conclusion.
To ensure that your essay has a perfect structure, start with creating an outline. Based on such a plan, you can present your points step by step. Your text should have a relevant introduction, several points in the main body (with examples), and a logical conclusion.
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Elizabeth H. Bradley and Jonathon S. Kahn ask if the breakdown of dialogue on campus is in part a reflection of how we teach.
By Elizabeth H. Bradley and Jonathon S. Kahn
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A new academic year is set to begin after what was one of the most tumultuous years on college campuses since the Vietnam War–era protests. Depending on one’s perspective, higher education institutions have emerged as sites of protest against a disturbing foreign conflict rife with humanitarian crises; they have been dangerous hotbeds of radicalism threatening Jewish community members; or they have been testing grounds for the limits of free speech in the 21st century. From our vantage point, as the president and a faculty member at a small liberal arts college, all can be true, and it is precisely the legitimacy of multiple perspectives that has made life on campus this past year so difficult and demanding.
We can’t sugarcoat it, because we live it: The breakdown of dialogue on college campuses is real. The irony that liberal arts institutions of higher education are struggling to navigate diverse perspectives is not lost on us. Institutions of higher education insist that navigating differences is core to their work. Mission statements aplenty claim that being able to engage multiple viewpoints represents a central educational value. That so many colleges and universities are grappling with their most basic and central educational commitments should give pause.
It pushes us to ask a question that has largely gone unasked: Is a breakdown in how we now educate partially to blame for the current breakdown on campuses? In other words, is it us?
Current tumult has obscured a crucial organizing tenet of higher education: to be always in pursuit of greater understanding. It is cliché, perhaps. But in these toughest of days, we found ourselves thinking about the deeper implications of being “in pursuit.” To pursue understanding is to conceive of knowledge building as requiring continuous seeking, revising and questioning. Such an approach to learning is desperately needed today not only because it fosters curiosity (which it does) but also because it staves off absolutist impulses to deride and silence others’ views, impulses we have seen firsthand.
Consider, for example, a tremendously difficult class one of us co-taught on the history of blackface performances and minstrel practices during the early part of the 20th century at what was then our all-women’s college. Since the course dealt with deeply racist practices, the understandable desire to singularly condemn the college’s history was palpable. Indeed, at the start of the class, many students, most of whom were white, described their motivations for taking the class primarily in terms of exposing the college’s racist past. “Critique” was the language they spoke, which they took to mean uncovering the college’s blameworthy history, denouncing the practices they were studying and confirming their own absolutes about race and hypocrisy at elite institutions more broadly. They described their attachment to the institution as tenuous. It was clear that, to their thinking, college was a place to have an educational experience and receive a degree, while the notion that they might develop a sense of fidelity or obligation to a college with a racist history, or develop a complex understanding of a condemned practice, was an anathema.
But something different happened. What unfolded over the course of the semester was an exercise in the pursuit of understanding. If the students began the course convinced about the racist motivations of their counterparts in the early 20th century, their research complicated those assumptions. They learned that all-women performances of blackface at that time were quite rare, and so what was happening on campus then represented something distinct. Their inquiries led them to consider the transition from 19th-century Victorian models of white womanhood to newer formulations in the early 20th century that came to be known as first-wave feminism. They began to ask: Is it possible that these blackface performances contributed to this transition? Did commitments to feminism and gender equality at that time actually reinforce persistent racial inequalities? How is it possible that these young women could have genuinely believed they were pursuing a form of self-liberation through racist tropes and performances?
Their answers to these questions went in many directions, and none of them excused the racism of this time. But instead of vilifying these earlier students and refusing to understand perspectives different from their own, our students began to see their predecessors as flawed and complicated with multiple motivations; these included a daring to do what men were doing in an attempt to articulate their own desires for equality. Again, our students did not excuse these practices or the women who participated in them as much as they began to understand their behavior as sitting in a complex network of forces, a condition that may very well mark the human experience. Crucially in the final sets of class meetings, the students began to wonder about themselves as similarly flawed and circumscribed by social forces of which they may not be fully aware.
The effects of this insight on the students’ relationships to the institution were significant. They began to see the college in the early 20th century as a context in which young white women, many of whom were from the middle classes, were struggling to craft a self during a tumultuous time of changing norms. The parallels became obvious. The students began to understand that they too sit in cross-pressured contexts in which they are haltingly and fallibly trying to make sense of themselves in their own turbulent times.
We do not want to overstate the effects of the class; however, the experience gave students a profound encounter with the power of epistemic humility, an acknowledgement of the necessity of curiosity, nuance, uncertainty and multiple perspectives needed for building knowledge. That encounter expanded the students’ capacity to understand—and even have empathy for—a broader range of experiences and perspectives, a necessary condition for engaging the pluralism possible on a college campus.
The question facing higher education today is how to build these types of experiences. The good news is that this doesn’t require fancy lab equipment or other expensive infrastructure. It does require three basic elements—instructors committed to giving their students an experience of novel inquiry, primary sources and time. When faculty make clear that the entire purpose of the class is for students to figure out what they think, students begin to understand the power of question asking. From there, any question—from the teacher, their classmates and themselves—feels exploratory and enticing.
Primary sources—original documents or images—are vital because they cry out for multiple interpretations, functioning like a ball-and-socket joint around which students’ thoughts, ideas and questions can begin to turn. Critically, all this takes time. Students need time to trust that the instructor genuinely wants them to go on a journey of their own. And the meanings of images and texts surface slowly, yielding only to the student’s patience and persistence to ask questions from multiple perspectives.
At the end of the 19th century, William James insisted that education required “the habit of always seeing an alternative, of not taking the usual for granted, of making conventionalities fluid again, of imagining foreign states of mind.” In the 20th century, W. E. B. Du Bois worried about the dangers of education reinforcing “the overwhelming sense of the I, and the consequent forgetting of the Thou.” And in the 21st century, the feminist literary theorist Rita Felski asks , “Why—even as we extol multiplicity, difference, hybridity … are we so hyperarticulate about our adversaries?”
All three circle around the same idea. To be always in the pursuit of greater understanding is to confess that we have more to learn. It is to conceive of education as a process of relationship building between our own perspectives and experiences not our own. Without this, our relationships with those with different experiences risk becoming brittle and unsustainable. Unable to contain a community’s multitudes, we resort to excising—canceling—those whom we cannot countenance. The pursuit of understanding requires the opposite.
Today’s campuses need to develop and be given greater latitude for this version of learning. We know from experience that this process is messy, and we need to allow for that messiness, knowing that exploration, mistakes and missteps are all part of learning. We must resist the temptation to drop the “in pursuit” and focus only on the “understanding,” as if learning amounts to nothing more than the dogmatic piling up of facts.
The pursuit of understanding emphasizes the dynamics of learning, which necessarily expands our abilities to comprehend a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Most importantly, the pursuit of understanding pushes us to ask what sort of human each of us wants to be in relation to others. Our future together relies on being forever in pursuit.
Elizabeth H. Bradley is the president of Vassar College and a professor of science, technology and society, and of political science. She is deeply engaged with research on the performance and quality of higher education institutions in the U.S. Jonathon S. Kahn is a professor of religion and the former director of engaged pluralism at Vassar College. He works at the intersection of race, religious ethics and politics.
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Pro-Con Essays: Purpose: Evaluating the pros and cons of a given issue. Structure: The essay presents the positive aspects (pros) and negative aspects (cons) of the topic. It aims to provide a balanced assessment and may conclude with a recommendation or a summary of the most compelling points. Exploratory Essays:
Nervous about the English Advanced Module C question? Not sure about how to respond to a creative task and a reflection? Don't worry in this post, we share a Matrix student's Band 6 response to a discursive essay and reflection task. Read the essay and then download the annotated essay and reflection statement.
A discursive essay is a form of critical essay that attempts to provide the reader with a balanced argument on a topic, supported by evidence. ... thoroughly to present more than one perspective and should check their own biases and assumptions through critical reflection (see Chapter 30). Unlike persuasive writing, the writer does not need to ...
3. For and against essay. Write it as a debate with opposing opinions. Describe each viewpoint objectively, presenting facts. Set the stage for the problem in your discursive essay intro. Explore reasons, examples, and facts in the main body. Conclude with your opinion on the matter.
Clear Introduction: Start with a concise introduction that provides context and grabs the reader's attention. Clearly state your thesis or main argument. Well-structured Paragraphs: Divide your essay into paragraphs that focus on specific points. Each paragraph should present a new idea or support a previous one.
The assessment task being written about. The level of English you're taking (Advanced or Extension) What your marking criteria says! Reflection statements will generally be between 300 and 800 words, likely hanging around the 400-word mark. However, for English Extension 2, your reflection statement is 1500 words long.
Reflective writing is very different from the discursive style that you may be used to. It is written in the first person, examines personal experiences and is not limited to academic evidence. Unless you have experience with reflective practice, your first attempt(s) at reflective writing may feel very uncomfortable.
Discursive (adj) [dis-ker-siv]: talking or writing about things that are not highly organized. moving from topic to topic without order. passing aimlessly from one topic to another. SYNONYMS: rambling, digressive, erratic, long-winded. Think of discursive as a BLEND of expository and argumentative because it uses elements from both:
Mod A - Plath and Hughes. Mod B - King Henry IV Part I. Discursive Mod C - 'Human Bookshelf. Discursive Reflection - Gwen Harwood's Father and Child. Discursive Reflection - Geraldine Brooks' A Home In Fiction. Mod C Imaginative - Cold Connotations. Imaginative Reflection - Name Le's Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and ...
topics in the course of a long discursive essay. (See Student Activity 1 based on the Merriam Webster Dictionary) So a discursive essay is not as much 'rambling' as it is 'graceful'; the 'rambling' is more about the exploratory nature of the form, meandering and 'touching on a few topics'. The twentieth century essayist Narayan ...
How To Write A Band 6 Module C Discursive Essay (New Syllabus) Don't know what a discursive essay is? Do you know what the differences between a discursive and persuasive essay are? Don't worry. In this article, we explain what discursive writing for Year 12 Module C: The Craft of Writing is and give you a step-by-step process for writing a ...
Resource Description. Persuasive/discursive article (hybrid) with reflection, written for an assessment task. Techniques and ideas based on my prescribed texts: Noel Pearson's speech "A Eulogy for Gough Whitlam", Nam Le's short story "Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice", and Siri Hustvedt's discursive essay "Eight Days in a Corset"
The Academic Writing Guide (AWG) is designed to familiarise you with the process of writing a discursive essay. A discursive essay is a genre of writing that requires you to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner. Once you have decided on your position your ...
Tip #4: Get Personalised Feedback on Your Work. Even if you're following the best advice on how to write a piece of discursive writing, it's likely that you'll struggle to accurately reflect on the quality of your work. You've probably heard this before: "HSC English is super subjective.".
A reflection takes place after students complete their imaginative, discursive or persuasive writing. Below are TutorTime's essential components to writing a Band 6 reflection: 1. Rationale behind storyline and isolation of key techniques. Your reflection should begin with a brief explanation of why you chose the storyline of your piece.
Pick your words carefully to leave a lasting impact. Introduce your thesis statement. In a sentence or two, describe the paper's main idea and how you will disclose it later. Trim it down and edit until the statement perfectly encapsulates the core of your writing. Describe what the essay will be about.
Everything students should know about writing discursive essays. Visit essayhack.io, and get comprehensive assistance in writing a discursive essay here. ... A balanced reflection on the topic should be stated again only in the conclusion. Now, whatever the style you have got to write your essay in, the students should keep in mind that the ...
A discursive essay presents both sides of an argument, then states your stance. The goal. The goal of a discursive essay is to present a balanced and objective analysis of both sides of the argument. (Keep in mind that, in some cases, you may need to examine three or more positions as topics may be more nuanced than basic for-or-against ...
Discursive essay + reflection. Discursive + reflection. Subject. Advanced English. 723 Documents. Students shared 723 documents in this course. Degree • Grade HSC • 12. School Sydney Secondary College. Academic year: 2023/2024. Uploaded by: Anonymous Student.
HOW TO WRITE A DISCURSIVE W/ REFLECTION DISCURSIVE Introduction 1. Rhetorical Questions that are used to convey a sense of speculation and mention both sides of the issue. 2. Some use of first-person narrative voice and some use of an inclusive second-person narrative voice to engage the responder. 3. A movement from reactions to a question towards a clarification of key ideas (from a ...
Start with an introduction to the topic. Discuss each essay question in a single paragraph. Begin each paragraph with a powerful issue sentence. Paragraphs with one point usually followed by a counterpoint paragraph. Its style is general for essays as the reader should understand what you stand for.
15 Found helpful • 2 Pages • Essays / Projects • Year: Pre-2021. This piece, titled 'Seclusion is a Swinging Pendulum', explores the idea of isolation and how it is seen in our world today. There is also a reflection segment where I relate the decisions I made to the Module C 'Craft of Writing' section of the English Advanced course.
Reflective essays are essays in which the writer looks back on, or reflects upon, his or her experiences and how they caused personal change. Reflective essays involve self-reflection. Typically ...
Elizabeth H. Bradley and Jonathon S. Kahn ask if the breakdown of dialogue on campus is in part a reflection of how we teach. A new academic year is set to begin after what was one of the most tumultuous years on college campuses since the Vietnam War-era protests. Depending on one's perspective, higher education institutions have emerged as sites of protest against a disturbing foreign ...