I am feeling very virtuous today. I have been to uni and handed in my essay! It was due this Friday 14 December, and I finished mine last night, so I could submit it 4 days early. I hate working right up to a deadline, so I planned to get it completed early, in case there was any illness or upset to delay completion.
I have been thinking about the purpose of the under-graduate essay. Lots of people complain that they get fed up of reading other people's opinions, and want to write their own thoughts in their essay. The conclusion that I have drawn about this is that you only get to write your own opinion at doctorate level. Under-grads are meant to write their essay with the purpose of creating an informed opinion of their own. Opinion means "personal view, not necessarily based on fact". By reading widely around your subject, you are able to gain enough knowledge, hopefully, based on quite a lot of fact and well reasoned conclusions, so you gain an informed opinion. Under-grads spend 3 years assimilating a lot of knowledge, none of which is original thought. The knowledge acquired is new to the student, but is not new in the wider educational establishment. Lots of students want to write their own views, because they think their own thoughts are more interesting, but really we do not need to re-invent the wheel. Just read what has already been written!
If we continue with further studies, a Masters is, I think, a more specialised and narrow field of study, but still does not require original thought. It is narrower than previous studies, so needs a greater depth of analysis to enable it being a higher qualification. It is only a Doctorate where original research and design needs to take place. I'm a long way off that.
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