Critical_Essay

Critical E ssay G uidelines
Weight: 50%
Deadline: W eek 9
Critical c omponent
The assignment is a critical essay, which means that it cannot consist of a mere summary of the literature but must engage with it critically. You are expected, not o nly t o s how t hat y ou h ave u nderstood t he i deas y ou a re r eading b ut a lso t o demonstrate that you can analyse and evaluate a particular approach or theory or model or perspective. Writing a critical essay does not mean that you have to comment in a negative way on an author or an idea. It means that you evaluate the accuracy, relevance, logical coherence, applicability, etc. of the idea, identifying strengths and weaknesses. You may use a variety or combination of approaches to help you to do this: you may draw on the critiques already put forward by other scholars; you may compare different/competing theories, models or approaches, in order to highlight how they relate to one another and to identify the strengths, shortcomings or implications of a particular one; you may a nalyse e xamples o r a pplications i n o rder t o r each a n a ssessment.
A critical essay is not one based solely on a feeling or a personal opinion; the position y ou t ake a nd t he c laims y ou m ake m ust b e c arefully a nd l ogically a rgued and must be supported with evidence from the literature, from examples, etc. Without logical reasoning and evidence your argument will appear weak and unconvincing.
Choice o f t opic
You are usually required to choose a topic for your essay. You may choose any topic, which are directly relevant to theoretical reflection on software engineering.
Length
You should write no more than 1,000 words. The word length given is a maximum, which must not be exceeded. Where a minimum length is not given, your essay length should normally be between 90% and 100% of the maximum,
(i.e. an essay of 900-­‐1,000 words). You must supply a word count for every assignment.
Structure
Your essay should start with a brief introduction setting out the context of your research and objectives of your critique. It should end with a concluding section that summarises what you believe you have achieved and (if relevant) points to areas that would benefit from expansion or further research. Use headings to structure y our e ssay a nd s ignpost i ts p rogression.
Reference
Make s ure t hat y our b ibliography c onsists o f a n a lphabetically o rdered l ist o f a ll references m entioned i n t he t ext (but o nly t hose m entioned i n t he t ext). R efer t o the G uide t o R eferencing a nd B ibliographic C onventions.。