Monthly Archives: November 2017

Study on the go

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by Sara (Student Blogger: BA Hons Linguistics)

It’s getting to that time in the term when some of us are planning to venture home to visit parents, nans, boyfriends and cats. You’ve been at university for 5 weeks and you’re starting to feel homesick or maybe you’re planning a trip to visit a friend for a weekend in a different city (I just hope it’s not York you’re betraying us with). If the idea of a couple of days away from studying worries you then have a look at these tips for making the most of your available study time even when you’re away from Lancaster.

  1. Trains and coaches – depending on your destination, you could be facing several hours on a train or coach. If the idea of that makes you groan, look at it instead as a golden opportunity to catch up on some reading or lectures. Requesting a seat in the quiet carriage of a train can mean you get hours of quiet study time and if you opt for a seat by a table and a charging socket, the possibilities are endless! You’ll come back from your trip feeling ahead instead of behind and you won’t feel guilty for spending some time away from the library (as lovely as it is).
  2. Snacks – study snacks in general are always a good idea. Take some little things with you on a long journey to keep you awake and focused if you’re planning on some hard-core uni work. Food and drinks on trains can be super expensive so opt for healthy and filling snacks from home. My personal favourites are dried mango and Eat Natural bars.
  3. Split up your time – it’s still important to take breaks. If you’re changing trains, allocate one train to things like listening to music or catching up on Stranger Things so that you don’t feel you have to keep working during every second of your weekend off.
  4. Audiobooks – if you are travelling via some mode of transportation that doesn’t allow you to lay all your colour-coded folders out, opt for listening instead of reading. There are some brilliant books out there that could help prop up your knowledge of what you’ve been working on in a more relaxing way. These usually belong to the pop-science genre, so they are aimed at a general audience and you won’t have to concentrate too hard. Hearing a difficult concept explained to a layman may help to clarify things you’re struggling with.
  5. If you are driving home and can’t make use of the journey, try to get ahead in the week before your trip so you aren’t stressed at the weekend.

Remember, life is about balance. You can keep on top of your work on the way to and from fun distractions even if the prospect doesn’t seem very appealing because you would rather just sleep on the train instead. If you’re on the 5:38 to London Euston, this is understandable, but trying to utilise this time can really help you out with regards to your state of mind, stress and enjoying your time away. Come Monday morning you won’t feel like you’re going off the rails. You’ll feel right on track.

Tips and Tricks for Essay Writing

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by Ruth (Student Blogger: BA Hons History)

Writing essays are never easy. And unfortunately it’s not something you can just master overnight.

Writing essays takes time, practice and a lot of persistence. (Plus, caffeine administered in large dosages). Essays are a scary mix of references, structure and technique, which often changes from department to subject to lecturer.

In the first term, especially, essays can seem like this mystical skill only a few chosen ones seem to possess. It does take a while, as even in my second year I’m still figuring the whole treacherous path of essays out.

But my aim here is to break down some murky areas of essays writing that confused me when I first started.

  1. There is no such thing as starting too early.

Many problems start because of one simple thing. A lack of time. Although I’m aware I am repeating the advice given to me countless times through school and now uni. I now get it. The biggest favour you could do yourself and your essay is starting early. It gives you enough time to plan and figure out not just your essay but the paragraphs and its structure. Planning is key to giving all your different ideas a chance to formulate and specifically order them, so your essay doesn’t just become a stream of consciousness. Try a mind map or brain dump to get your first ideas flowing. Then move on to a more structured plan of what will be in your introduction, main body and conclusion. Starting early lets deadlines and sources not overwhelm you, in turn making your essay better.

2. Referencing

Now this word might not strike fear into you now, but give it a few months and referencing could become the bane of your life. BUT, it shouldn’t be. Getting over that fear of referencing and what it means when using source material in your essay is something that can be learned. Also, check with your department on what specific referencing system they use such as Harvard systems. After this, you can then move on to creating examples of how books, journals and sources need to be structured in the referencing list. Also as I’m writing an essay I have my list of references and then when I cite them in my writing I can refer to the information that I need to include, for example the surname and the year. It means you are reducing the mistakes you could make, as you know the first one is accurate.

3. Technique

Technique is often mostly found in structure. Getting the key structure in your paragraph is key. Look at the question, and answer it. Make your point, then provide the evidence, often through paraphrasing source ideas or including the occasional quote and offer some explanation or comments. It’s the classic point, evidence, explanation. However, I have to point out here that there are times when this doesn’t work, and there are many exceptions to this rule. But if you are really stuck at where to begin this a good basic structure to start with. You can then move on to make sure you are analysing the sources in a critical way, using it to support and push your point on further.

This blog post could go on a lot further exploring different essays structures and the key, crucial tips for each department. But that would be an endless post, especially as there are books written by experts tackling the specific issues. They can be found all over the library, so if you need more help head there, as well as your learning developers who are there to support you. Also, keep your eyes peeled for writing workshops that are aimed towards ironing out any problems you have with your essay!

 

Making notes [with style]

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by Melissa (Student Blogger: MA English Literature)

Now, I am sure that any student practising university level study will be fully aware of the importance of approaching texts critically, and that memory is an imperfect accomplice when it comes to recording valuable thoughts, so for this post I have spoken to students about how they like to accessorize their reading with notes.

FOR THE FASHONISTAS…

[pretty post-it notes, coloured biros, bookmarks, highlighter pens]

If you’re style-sensitive and looking to make an impact, you might want to use your motivation as an opportunity to colour co-ordinate your thoughts.

Pretty post-it notes will add colour to boring black-white pages, but also look neat, scholarly, and catch your attention when flicking for the correct page mid-seminar. Post-it notes will also prevent you from damaging your book if you plan to resell when your course is finished, or if you’ve been borrowing from the library.

If you’re not planning to resell/ return your book, you may want to invest in some coloured biros or highlighters. I use red, green, blue and black biros to help me categorize my thoughts. For example, black underline reminds me of impending doom, red reminds me of war and harm, blue is an emotional colour, and green is for nature and happiness. I’m a literature student, but students from any subject can adapt colour coding to their advantage; one colour for quotes you find interesting, and another for quotes you want to use in an upcoming essay.

FOR THE STUDENT ON THE GO…

[dog ears, biros, accompanying note book]

Perhaps you’re a student who is too busy for bits of paper and multi-coloured pens. The ‘student on the go’ can emulate the eye-grabbing quirks of post-it notes by folding the corners of pages to point to particular lines or passages, and scribble their thoughts on said corners or margins. Folding corners makes a clear indent in the book to remind you there is something interesting there, and is much quicker than post-its. The student on the go may want to carry around an accompanying note book in case their thoughts exceed the margins.

FOR THE I.T. SAVVY…

[digital notes, ctrl+F alternative to page numbers]

If you’re using digital texts such as kindles or online pdfs, you will have a slightly harder time annotating your texts directly unless you sink money into a printer. On the other hand, setting up a word document for making digital notes will make them harder to lose, and you’ll never worry about failing to read your own handwriting. For searching through digital texts, it is imperative that you locate the ‘find’ function on whatever device you’re using (‘ctrl+F’ for Windows PCs) so that you can find the context of any quotes you’ve recorded at a moment’s notice.

EXAMS COMING UP?

[single sided A4, working on condensing, highlighter pens]

If you’ve got exams coming up, you might want to adopt an alternative method of note making, such as writing your notes out on single sided paper with the intention of sticking them on your walls. If you struggle condensing your notes into a reasonable amount, highlighter pens are an essential tool for marking out what you need to focus on. Don’t forget the underline and highlighter tools on Microsoft Word if your typing your notes.

CONCLUDING STATEMENTS –

I use a variety of these methods to help streamline my own learning process, so don’t be afraid to try out new things to find what works best for you! If you’re not sure what exactly you should be making notes on, you might find what you’re looking for here – http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/studyblog/2017/11/10/close-reading/

 

Close reading

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by Melissa (Student Blogger: MA English Literature)

Reading as a student, or as a scholar, is not necessarily as obvious a skill as we might first think. It certainly doesn’t mean reading lots of difficult texts, or peppering said texts with highlighters and post-it notes (though these are often involved in the process). Scholarly reading is about making sure that you are getting the most out of your learning.

TIPS

Firstly, I’m going to look at how we read the text.

This often starts with creating an environment that is right for you. Different students will tackle this in different ways; I like to stay at home where I have quick access to a tea pot and kettle, however, some people will find the temptation to slack off a little too intensely when working alone. If this sounds like you, you may benefit from studying in the library. Working at the library has the benefits of providing you with a work friendly atmosphere as well as significant resources. If, like me, you worry about spending money on snacks while studying away from home, you may want to pack a banana or energy bar to keep you going.

Being able to concentrate on your work is fairly important if you want to connect with your text. One good way to check you have understood is to try to summarise what each paragraph has tried to communicate to you, and maybe make a note in the margins to remind you later.

Your tutor may have set you some focused questions. These questions are a good way of helping you to engage with the text, and it’s a technique you can apply to yourself. You can question a text based on its themes, or even your own expectations.

The next step is to see whether the text agrees with or challenges you. You don’t need to write a formal response, running these questions through your mind will be enough to form good habits.

One good question to ask yourself is where does this text exist in lieu of other discourses. This can be relating to texts on your course, the past decade, or just in relation to anything you have read that you think has relevance.

This exercise is all about considering the text as more than just a standalone thought, but as a response, and part of a greater whole in literature.

Another good question; how reliable is this text. What is the context of it, and how will this have affected the author? Could the author be biased, and how will this affect your ability to use this source? For example, when in need of a word definition, the Oxford English Dictionary is far more reliable than a quick Google search, but as a scholar, you should also be asking yourself what version of the OED you are using, and whether it is up to date.

Sticking to the topic of bias, you will also have your own biases. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, we all have them, but they are things we should be aware of. Keeping check of your own biases will help you to maintain an open mind when encountering a theory you are unfamiliar with, and help you to avoid forcing a theoretical perspective that may not lend itself to the text you are currently studying. This gives you the opportunity to consider other (potentially better) alternatives.

CONCLUSION

Understanding methodology, or knowing how to read as a student, will be extremely useful to your university studies. It is not something that comes easily and is unlikely to score you A’s immediately. What it will do, however, is help you employ good working habits to gradually achieve a stronger connection with your course than you might have otherwise.Good luck, and comment your own experiences below!