Please give me some encouragement

[Ilovr]

Am I unreasonable for thinking that I can pull off a 1500 word essay in two days. I realized that I'm a slow writer and I struggle to tackle essays in a way that says time. I'm post graduate in psychology. Any tips and encouragement is welcome 😢

Break it down into chunks. Do you have a structure for your essay?

"kohlbergs theory of moral development posits a stage based progression in moral reasoning" Critically evaluate this statement and substantiate your discussion with contemporary research and provide examples for each of the stages.

That's my topic

If you've done all your research, of course it's do-able.

Chat gpt, tell it to include references from your course and some unusual ones, tell it to sound like it’s not from chat gpt.

Then go through it and make sure you change a at least each paragraphs with some words that are your own. OR pick another AI platform to put it, in its own words.

I’ve Done this loads and not been detected.

And they say AI is dumbing down the population 🙄

This.

You're not going into it cold I imagine, so it's just a case of getting your thoughts down on paper. Or screen I imagine it will be these days.

Posting and replying on here isn't going to get it done.

How things have changed since my uni days.

Yeah don’t do that.

I second Chat GPT you will have to edit it thoroughly though OP . Good Luck

1,500 words? That’s not very long really, you can definitely do it. One of the best things I found about studying psychology was the short essays (compared to friends doing things like history).

To critically evaluate you need both sides. So you need evidence backing up, and being critical of the theory. So that’s a basic structure - intro explaining the theory with examples of the stages, paragraphs in favour, paragraphs against, conclusion.

As an aside, that’s a terribly worded question because the statement is a fact, and presumably not what you’re actually being asked to evaluate.

Using ChatGPT to write an essay is like using Google to win a pub quiz.

ADHDer here who spent university and all of school doing this. I pulled off writing my thesis in this timeframe so it's definitely doable. Here's what I would do:
Gather supplies - food/snacks/drinks/stationary
Break down the essay - you'll need your introduction and summary but these can be written at the end so don't worry about those straight away. Instead consider what main arguments you want to make. If this is something you've discussed in class, get your lecture notes and see what they've written, design around that.
Find your sources - critically analyse means you need to understand the impact of what they say not just people who support or disagree with their argument. Look at your suggested reading. You don't need to read everything but try to find some good points they make and consider how you can put it into a flowing argument.

Write a first draft of these paragraphs if you can. Don't worry too much about getting everything perfect, this is your brain dump of what you've read. If you have a printer print this out and critique it with a read pen. If not, take a break then go back and read what you've written.

Now put it together, rework or even create a new final draft, now create your summary and introduction. If you have time, review this at least one last time.

Make sure you keep a note of where you sourced things from as you go along (comments in word can help with this) so doing your sources at the end is easier.

Any questions please feel free to reach out. You got this!!!

I agree. Cheating your way to an award, takes away its value.

Don’t use Chat GPT, you’ll never have the true pride of passing in my opinion.

Break down your essay into sections/headings/points/references etc

Aim to complete one “section”, have a break, go for a walk, do the next section etc

Absolutely do not take this advice. I'm an SU academic advice caseworker and I can assure you it is a terrible idea.

You can absolutely do this. Break it down into sections and just do your best.

I have no idea what this theory is but most likely it has a number of principles or theory.

Could you try breaking it down like this.

Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Agreement that agree with the statement and cite sources
Part 3: Agreement that disagree with statement and cite sources
Part 4: Summary of parts 2 & 3 (I.e.while X & Y are very pro theory for these key reasons, it must be noted thst A & B outline the shortcomings/limitations
Part 5: Own opinion - while it is a very good foundation for moral whatever, I believe that if it was extended to include list shortcomings it would be a full comprehensive theory if extended or adjusted for list shortcomings, it could be a fully comprehensive- basis. Even better if you can suggest other theories that may be a better basis etc. In conclusion, it goes a long way but has limitations. I consider X theory to be a better basis or an amalganation of this theory and another would be the ideal theory etc.

Use a mix of the theories you've studied on the course and theories you have discovered in your own research.

I wrote a 1000 word report at work today in about 2 hours and that included coffee breaks and chatting to a colleague. With an essay you will want to tweak and edit, but two days seems loads of time.
Bullet point your sections, write a draft, go back and reference properly, edit a bit while you do, then do a final edit.

Yes, you can easily do this. Make yourself write 100 words and then stop (if you want) for a short break. Do this 15 times - don't worry if your 100 words aren't perfect - trying for perfection first time slows you down -,just get something written and once you have the draft, you can keep editing it until you're happy with the quality.

Tip: get off Mumsnet!

Encouragement: I should think a 1,500-word essay is eminently doable in two days.

You can do it! I don't know the subject but it's not a huge word count and it sounds like the second half will cover a lot of it. I think I'd be inclined to start there, building your evidence for the stages through the examples. They add up to your evidence for it being stage based, and whatever holes you end up with can be used for the counterargument. Then write your assessment of the extent to which it is stage based off that. Or something.

You need a timetable. So for example

8am-9am write structure and bullet key points
9-9.15 coffee break
9.15-10.30 write intro (xx words)
10.30-10.45 walk around the block and snack
10.45-11.45 background reading for discussion

etc etc…

if you fall behind here you are supposed to be, don’t panic, just wriggle the timeline around to get it all in.

This is awful advice.

1500 words in 2 days is more than doable, OP, and you definitely don't need to cheat. Get your structure mapped out first and then break the writing into chunks.

Good luck!

Just write it then.

You can do it OP!
Don't use AI.
Several posters have provided excellent advise on steps to take. Pick something that suits you and then just start.
Once you start you'll gain momentum and then it will be done.
Good luck!