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Robert Cutillo

Modules, TMA, and the Bristol Prize.

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Well, after months of thinking, I've finally decided on my next modules for October: Exploring Languages and Cultures and English for Academic Purposes Online. I'm very much looking forward to them both.

I've begun note-taking for my next TMA, but it's not going so well. I've been through all the study materials but not made as many notes as I did on previous assignments. I think I'll go through everything again tomorrow.

I submitted a short story to the Bristol Prize a while ago but unfortunately didn't make the longlist. Ah well. I thought it was a good story, too. Around 2,000 people entered and only 40 were chosen for the longlist. Perhaps I shouldn't be too disheartened.

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Robert Cutillo

Method for Planning Essays and Revisiting James Joyce

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In my last TMA, to plan my essay, I decided to begin by writing out the question and then answering it with as few words as possible. Then I used the answer to plot out my plan. It so happened there were about four answers to the question, and so these answers provided me with a topic for each paragraph. The final essay was better than anything I've written so far; it was much easier to read than my last one. Hopefully, this will improve my chances of getting a good mark. Regardless of the result, I will still stick with this approach.

I've decided to reread A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and I'd forgotten how well it was written. It's quite depressing actually, reading something written so well and then trying to write something of your own. I wonder if James Joyce was ever intimidated by other writers?

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Robert Cutillo

Assignment Methods and Paragraph Structuring

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Edited by Robert Cutillo, Sunday, 17 Jun 2018, 13:14

For the latest assignment, I decided to do what I said I was going to do a few posts ago about note-taking: use my own words. And it's worked out OK so far. Next to each note, I wrote the page number. After I had all my notes, it was just a matter of arranging the most relevant ones into a plan. After that I went back through the module book, typed out all the potential quotes I might need, and printed them out. It's worked very well. So far I have written 800 words of the 1,500-word essay in no time at all. So for anyone reading this, this might be a good method to use when writing essays.

Something that has been letting me down a little in my assignments is the structuring of my paragraphs. Luckily, my tutor posted a word document on the forums explaining how we should structure them. First, introduce what the topic of the paragraph. Second, provide the evidence. And third, explain your interpretation of the evidence. If the paragraph is very long, then you could also offer a conclusion. It's been fantastic to have that resource. As a result, this current assignment is coming along nicely. Whether I'm demonstrating that I possess enough knowledge about the topic is another matter.

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