AHIS10003 Chap.14 Building the Research Essay
Building the Research Essay
The research essay is worth 50%, twice the weight of either other task, and it falls in week 7 rather than at the end of semester. The brief calls it a problem-solving exercise and wants you independent twice over, in the argument you frame and in the research you go and find: open by naming a problem, then attempt a solution of your own that pushes past the set readings.
It is 2,000 words, due Friday 18 September 2026 at 23:59, and requires a minimum of eight authoritative references beyond the weekly readings, at least two of them refereed. Questions are published through the Assignments tab by week 4, and you may devise your own after consulting your tutor before commencing research.
This chapter covers what a problem actually is, the two rubric criteria that change, and the illustrations apparatus.
What this chapter covers
- 01
The brief: 2,000 words, 50%, due 18 September 2026
- 02
Two dates that decide this essay, and neither is the due date
- 03
The same nine criteria as the first essay, with two rewritten
- 04
Setting the parameters of the essay rather than introducing an artwork
- 05
Flagging which part of the argument is your own idea
- 06
The reference bands, and why the stated minimum sits mid-scale
- 07
What a problem looks like: six recurring shapes
- 08
Reading for friction rather than for information
- 09
Stating a problem as a question with more than one defensible answer
- 10
Saying what evidence would settle it
- 11
Figure numbers in the body, numbered illustrations, and the list of figures
- 12
Three separate lists, and why merging them costs marks
- 13
Writing on a set work while going beyond the lectures
Building an independent question out of two readings
- 1Reject the weak response, which is to summarise both and place the truth somewhere in between.
- 2Name the disagreement and diagnose why it is unresolved, which here is that both sides argue from subject matter.
- 2Propose evidence neither account uses, and say how it would be traced.
- 1State what follows if the argument succeeds, and mark your own contribution.
Key terms
- Problem-solving exercise
- The brief's own description of this task: identify a problem and attempt an independent solution that extends upon existing readings.
- Independence
- Evidence of your own formulation in both the argument and the research, which the rubric's top introduction band asks you to flag explicitly.
- Authoritative reference
- A source meeting the scholarly markers, counted towards the minimum of eight required beyond Readings Online.
- Refereed article
- A peer-reviewed article. At least two of the eight must be of this kind.
- Parameters of the essay
- What the research essay's introduction must set, prompted by the rubric as who, what, when, where and possibly why.
- Figure number
- The in-body reference to a reproduced image, given in the subject's own example as artist and title followed by year and fig. number in parentheses.
Building the Research Essay FAQ
When do I actually start this essay?
In week 4, when the questions are published, not in week 6. The essay is due in week 7, so the working window is roughly three weeks, and if you intend to write your own question the consultation with your tutor has to happen before you begin researching. A topic chosen in week 4 and thought about in the background produces a different essay from one chosen in week 6.
How is the research essay's rubric different from the first essay's?
Only two of the nine criteria change. The introduction criterion asks you to set the parameters of the essay rather than to introduce a focus artwork, and to state clearly which part of the argument is your own idea. The research criterion asks for eight or more authoritative references including at least two refereed articles, rather than for two scholarly references. The other seven are worded identically.
Is eight references enough?
It meets the stated minimum. The rubric's research bands place seven to eight in the solidly-researched band and reserve the top band for over ten, so planning for eleven rather than eight moves you up the scale. Both numbers are published by the subject; reading them together is our observation rather than a statement the subject makes in one place.
Can I write about one of the twenty set works?
Yes. The brief permits it and does not require it, provided your research and discussion go beyond and extend upon the content of the lectures and tutorials. Demonstrate that rather than asserting it: let the bibliography show sources beyond Readings Online, ask a question the lecture did not answer, and say in one clause what the existing account establishes and where your essay departs from it.
What exactly do I need for the images?
Three things. Figure numbers in the body of the essay. A series of numbered illustrations, included in or at the end. And a numbered list of illustrations with the fields in the subject's order: artist's name, title in italics, year created, medium, measurements, collection whereabouts and collection name. The list of figures is not the bibliography and does not follow the bibliography's format.
Exam move
Treat the first week as a search for friction rather than for information: when two sources disagree, or when one asserts something the object does not obviously support, write the disagreement down in one sentence. That sentence is your candidate problem.
Then check it against three tests before you commit: does it have more than one defensible answer, can you name the evidence that would settle it, and can you reach that evidence. Build the bibliography from week 4 and aim above ten rather than at eight, and capture the six list-of-figures fields at the moment you download each image.
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