Write Critically and conduct research

[alex96stefan]

Hello!
I apllied to photography course at the University of Northampton, Uk, and they asked me to provide a portfolio and an essay.
THe part with the portfolio was easy, but the part with the essay..... not that good

"You are asked to provide a range of images (approximately 20 – 30 in total) that summarise your interest and experiences with photography and visual arts, as well as an essay or written piece of work as evidence of your ability to conduct research and write critically."

I don't know about what to write in the essay. I have never heard about this.
If you guys know something about it, pleas tell me.

 

[Overread]

They want you to display the ability to write about a subject that you've researched yourself (which is a lot of what happens at university - you get subject and must research and write about it). The critical element is being able to take the information you find and produce a conclusion based upon the evidence you find.

So you'd need to pick a topic, research it, present your findings and draw a conclusion.

If what you've written above is all they say then the essay doesn't have to be in the subject area, its helpful if it is but chances are at this stage they just want to see evidence of your writing.

If you want to gain extra points you want to display a skill at referencing - look up "harvard referencing" and you'll find lots of sites with details. It's pretty simple (and chances are at present you'd mostly be referencing websites or maybe a book or two if you have access - there are some free journals but they are harder to find).
Basically referencing is giving details on the source of a particular bit of information that you find and present in your essay - a bibliography at the back lists the full reference and then just after the bit of information in the essay you leave a citation (author surname and date of publication) which the reader can use to then find that bit of work in the bibliography.


As always if you're confused write back and ask for further clarification from the university and I'm sure they'll be happy to provide more detailed information.

 

[alex96stefan]

They want you to display the ability to write about a subject that you've researched yourself (which is a lot of what happens at university - you get subject and must research and write about it). The critical element is being able to take the information you find and produce a conclusion based upon the evidence you find.

So you'd need to pick a topic, research it, present your findings and draw a conclusion.

If what you've written above is all they say then the essay doesn't have to be in the subject area, its helpful if it is but chances are at this stage they just want to see evidence of your writing.

If you want to gain extra points you want to display a skill at referencing - look up "harvard referencing" and you'll find lots of sites with details. It's pretty simple (and chances are at present you'd mostly be referencing websites or maybe a book or two if you have access - there are some free journals but they are harder to find).
Basically referencing is giving details on the source of a particular bit of information that you find and present in your essay - a bibliography at the back lists the full reference and then just after the bit of information in the essay you leave a citation (author surname and date of publication) which the reader can use to then find that bit of work in the bibliography.


As always if you're confused write back and ask for further clarification from the university and I'm sure they'll be happy to provide more detailed information.

Thank you very much for your great answer.