Look I am bloody desperate so you edumecated lot need to help me!!

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

Restarted my OU degree last year after a long break. I stopped when DD got sick and it took me four years to get back on with it.
So last year was ok. I managed to get an average pass. It was a subject I am very familar with so was able to wing it to some extent.

I am on a new course and its hard and I have an essay to write and I am totally stuck.

I KNOW you cant write my essay for me and I dont do want you to but could you just help me please?
I know you all went to university and are all clever and I left school when I was 15 (sob sob) and whilst you lot were living it up getting your degrees I was paying taxes so in a way you all actually owe me (ok ok I am getting desperate now).

I am a week late because I had flu last week and I really want to get started but I am stuck as the stuckest thing you can think of.

Please give me some advice (apart from get off MNs). And no snarkiness, I will refuse to engage, just helpful, wise and academic advice from you brillant women.

Structure, tips, whatever you can think of please, please, please, please.

I can usually write quite okish but this is a Law based course and its all new to me.

The essay titlel (for information, I am honestly NOT trying to get anyone to do it for me) is 'The Law Supports Social Work Values - Discuss'

Look on the gscc website to find out what their social work values are and you can base your essay around unpicking them.

Write a plan. Sit and decide if you think it does or not, and make a list of about four points each way, for and against so to speak. Then make a list - introduction, point one, two, three, four, conclusion. Make a couple of notes about the salient points for each paragraph. Then start to write - you don't have to start at the beginning, start with the paragraph you think will come easiest. Then when it's all written, read it aloud. Go through and move bits about and fix the spelling and stuff, then read it aloud again. Then go and make a cuppa, and come back and read it aloud again. Fix what needs fixing and make sure your references are perfect.
Are you expected to include case law or principles? you need to look them up if so. And whatever you do DON't copy so much as one word off the internet, do it all in your own words and reference everything you so much as glance at in passing.

I have done that bit.
I am thinking of how to illustrate the tensions (IMO) that exsist between them and what can actually happen in Law i.e. MH act.
I need to ref to the HRA as well.

It all seems hopeless at the moment. I just dont feel clever enough. I have very little confidence in my academic abilities and I think doing a law based course has made that chip on my shoulder that much bigger.

okay. you know the basic information about this subject i suspect. you're just panicking. what you need to do is get yourself a cuppa and then go into a quiet room where your notes and laptop are.

then brainstorm. get a large piece of paper and in the middle write "the law supports social work values" from that do offshoots for the main social work values and then for each of them add brief notes about how the law does, or does not, support them.

your first paragraph will be an introduction to the discussion, and your final paragraph will be a conclusion of what you have writted.

the bits in between should cover each of the values that your brainstorm uncovers.

hope this helps.

you may also find it helpful to put on some gentle orchestral/classical music in the background.

Have you tried setting a timer for 10 minutes & just starting to write, without worrying too much about whether it makes sense? I always find that this is a good way out of writer's block.

Also, a very wise history teacher once told me that the answer to any essay question is "yes, but...". So you write your intro, write about the arguments in favour of the proposition, then the arguments against, and then summarise your conclusions. It's a structure that has never failed me yet.

I will have a bit more of a think & come back later.

Extra points for using case law Pom.

Thanks for those excellent tips.

perhaps you could call your tutor or contact for some reassurance?

you CAN do this

1. Read question and answer it. Make a clear statement of your argument in the introduction and set out how you are going to back this argument up.

"This essay will argue that .....It will use x,y,z to illustrate/ backup the argument.

1. Sometimes it's worth having a par contextualising gs things but don't bang on explaining theory etc too long ( remember your tutor already knows this stuff, you need to stick to the point and just use theory to back up your argument.

1. Try to think creatively and make some original points, remember to challenge your own argument and think critically about what you are being asked to learn.

By the way am a lowly undergraduate but got decent marks last year. Just remember the first TMA is a nightmare but you will get better and better.

Thank you Cheer and Honey.
I luffs you all.

Its helping. I can do this cant I?
God I feel so stupid atm

Not sure I am the best person to respond as did science which means I'm very nearly illiterate, was rubbish at essay writing and spent most of my time at Uni drinking and smoking your taxes!

Intro: say what you are going to say in a few sentences but remember to also mention opposite of what you think (for balance)

Main bit: say it again but with evidence (quote books, papers etc). Also if you are saying yes the law supports sosial work values remember to also include some stuff about how it doesn't always to show balance (or split personality) or visa versa if saying no.

End bit: Say it again but with some sort of wishful comment about the future.

Hope this helps until someone who knows what they are talking about responds.

I don't have any advice about actually doing it (as I am the world's biggest procrastinator) but do speak to your tutor if you're feeling really stuck/panicked. My DP is an OU lecturer and he is frequently asked for help in this kind of situation and he'd hate to think of someone really worrying about an assignment of any kind if he could help.

It all seems hopeless at the moment. I just dont feel clever enough.

MrsDV, you are the wisest person on MN, this is not beyond you.

I know Norman, I always panic a bit but this just seems like its not for the likes of me (pathetic).

Its LAW ffs, how can I do law?

possibly taking a break will help, go and do something else for half an hour or so and then come back to it.

of course you can do it....if you can survive MN then you can handle a teeny weeny little essay....where's that fighting spirit?

That just made me laugh Honey.
Wise?

You can do it, of course you can :)

Agree with brainstorming and doing a diagram thingy.

Remember that you don't have to do a yes or no conclusion, you can decide that in certain situations law does support social work and in others it doesn't that sort of thing can help with word count ime

Write/type stuff as you think of it, you can organise it into something more coherent later.

Good luck

1. Formulate the title as a question; your essay is the answer to the question. Writing the question out in front of you on a flashcard as you work helps to keep everything relevant.

1. Structure: Tell them what you are going to say; say it; tell them you've said it.

Of course you can do this! You can do it and do it well- you know this stuff; you just need to apply it.

I might do some cleaning.
I HAVE to get this done by Friday. I want to go on that march thingy on Saturday.
I have spent all afternoon trying to write stuff.
My biggest problem is that if something is not infront of me I cant remember it. I have to keep switching backwards and forwards and it gets confusing.

My concentration is still quite poor. Its since losing DD, I find it hard to read and take stuff in. I am better than I used to be but its why its taken me so long to get back to my degree. I even had my eyes tested because I thought it might be that but my eyes are fine.

I digress - you see! I am trying to get you all off the point

MrsDV, my mum did a law degree in her mid forties, it's really hard. She nearly packed it in a dozen times, she walked out of several exams, and she did take an extended break from it for a while.

She didn't believe she could do it, and I spent most of my teenage years coaching her through it, trying to persuade her that she was clever enough. And I was right. She got there in the end, and so will you!

I M a science undergraduate. I am getting excellent marks. I failed all my science GCSE's.

This is not beyond you. Don't let it beat you.

Ok. Here is a plan.
I am going to go away and sort kids, dinner, stuff for tomorrow out.
I am going to come back to this about 7.30 and look at what I have done already.
I am going to do a plan and look at the tips on this thread.
Then I am going to write at least 1000 words.
Then I can come back to it tomorrow evening and sort it out some more.
PLEASE keep posting any tips you can think of. They are really helping me and I am very grateful indeed.

Can you make notes as you read? Highlight important points to keep your concentration up?

I'm a major procrastinator. I find short, sharp bursts are effective - and frequent breaks/rewards. :) Believe me, a timer is your friend.

And remember, the perfect is the enemy of the good. Just get something down on paper, anything. I'm often surprised when I read it back because it's better than I expected.

And yes, wise, have thought so for years :)

You are nice honey

Note taking is my downfall. I never learnt how to do it properly. Thats my next skill. I learnt mindmaps last year, I will tackle notes this year.

I have a timer, i use it for housework (thats a whole other story). I think I will put it to use.

FOCUS!

Well done Norman. Gosh - science. You must be well brainy!

Right, I am now using this thread as an excuse. I will come back about 9.30 and let you know how I have got on.
Blimey I have used MN to get me through pregnancy, labour and now a flipping essay/degree - what next I wonder.