Essay Plan

Task Information
The essay plan is designed to provide you with the opportunity to develop your skills in planning and constructing essays. The essay plan should be 1200 words (+/- 10%) and is due on 27 June at 23:30. You can submit your essay plan via the Turnitin link on Moodle.

Information on Essay questions, the Marking rubric that we use to grade essay plans, and the Turnitin link for submission can all be found on Moodle under Assessments.

The essay plan should outline the following:

A clear statement of the essay question you have chosen;
Your thesis (i.e. what you plan to argue);
A short paragraph outlining the main empirical and theoretical focus of the essay;
An outline of the proposed essays structure (i.e. what each paragraph/ section will discuss); and
An Annotated Bibliography of the most useful sources you have consulted (atleast two sources).
Explaining the annotated bibliography

The aim of the annotated bibliography is to encourage you to begin thinking about the theoretical foundations of your research paper and to begin engaging with the academic literature upon which you will draw in the construction of your core arguments when you write your research paper. For this assignment, you should research and identify 2 academic sources that will inform your arguments in your research essay and create a bibliography of those sources. These sources should NOT be drawn from the Required reading listed as in the course outline.

You should then annotate the bibliography with a few lines about why you have chosen each source, what you hope to draw from it, how it fits with the rest of the literature with which you engage and so on.

Specifically, your annotated bibliography should, for each text:

Provide the full bibliographic citation for each source discussed, using the Schools referencing guide.
Outline the main argument
Identify any conclusions made by the author/s
Discuss the relevance or usefulness of the text for your research
Point out in what way the text relates to themes or concepts in your course
State the strengths and limitations of the text
Present your view or reaction to the text
An example of the outline of your Essay plan is provided below:

Essay plan outline example

Essay question (+/- 50 words)
My thesis / what I plan to argue (+/- 250 words)
Empirical and theoretical focus of the essay (+/- 250 words)
Essay structure (+/- 50 words)
Annotated bibliography
5.1. Article/book chapter/book 1 (+/- 300 words)

5.2. Article/book chapter/book 2 (+/- 300 words)

Essay Questions
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

– Explain how, why, and to what extent ‘the state’, ‘peace’ and ‘prosperity’ are contested concepts.
– When (and how) is a state responsible for growth and development? Ensure you draw on examples.
– Drawing on examples, compare and contrast the Western and developing world experience of state-formation, paying close attention to the roles of violence, bureaucracy, and institutions.
– Does democracy cause peace or vice-versa? Discuss. Ensure you draw on examples.
– Does Democracy help bring about prosperity? Discuss. Ensure you draw on examples.
– Can order help bring about peace and prosperity? Drawing on examples, critically examine the roles of institutions therein.
– Describe the attributes of the developmental state and explain how these attributes led to highly successful economic development in what some scholars refer to as newly industrialized countries (NICs). Ensure you draw on examples.
– Is a ‘strong’ state necessary to bring about growth, development, and peace? For this essay, draw on a case-study of your choosing.
– Drawing on two countries of your choosing, critically examine why, how, and when external intervention strategiesaid and/or militarycan be harmful to peace and prosperity.

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