Aquinas College of Higher Studies

Department of English
Diploma in English Language and Literature

Assessment
Intermediate Level Composition
Diploma in English Language and Literature
Essay Writing

This assessment carries 20% marks

Words limit: 1500 words

1. A growing number of people are now using social media to meet new people and socialize.
Some experts say the technology has brought people closer while others have argued
people are lonelier than ever before – Discuss both arguments and provide your opinion.
2. How do movies or television influence people's behaviour? Use reasons and specific
examples to support your answer. Use specific reasons and examples to support your
opinion.
3. Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people
live? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
4. What changes do you think the 21st century will bring? Use examples and details in your
answer.
5. The importance of teaching conventional skills to young people in the age of the internet.
6. Are today’s schools effectively preparing pupils for life in the real world?

GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS

 Make an essay outline with a table of contents for your essay so you know exactly what
needs to be included in your essay.
 Start the introduction to provide a background to the topic you are aiming to investigate.
 Write the main body, and provide arguments and statements to base your opinion on.
 End with the conclusion.
Aquinas College of Higher Studies
Department of English
Diploma in English Language and Literature

MAJOR FORMATTING ELEMENTS TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE STUDENT

You are expected to follow the instructions given below to

1. Font
Times New Roman 12-point for paragraphs

2. Line Spacing
Double-space text. An alternative is Single-space text.

3. Margins
One-inch margins all around. Use your word-processing software to add a header that will
appear at the top of every page that includes the running head and the page number. The header
appears within the top margin, not below it.
An alternative (if the report is to be enclosed in a binder) is to increase the left side margin to 1½
or 2 inches so that the tight binding will not make it difficult to read.
Aquinas College of Higher Studies
Department of English
Diploma in English Language and Literature

Instructions for students about Plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

Stealing another’s expression of an idea or work without permission and/or proper

attribution is considered plagiarism. This specifically includes copying large parts or the
entirety of someone else’s work while pretending that it is one’s own work, copying small
parts of someone else’s work under fair use without proper attribution (that is, missing
quotation marks and missing, misleading or wrong citation), grossly copying ideas or the
narrative of another work without attributing the origin of the ideas or narrative, re-using
images or photos without permission, etc.

Cite while you write

To avoid missing citations, make sure to insert citations while you are writing your paper.
If you put your paper aside for a few days, you may forget where you found a particular
piece of information or from where you copied a quote.

Use Short quotations

Make sure you don’t quote entire paragraphs. Limit quotations to one or two key sentences.
Further, limit the total number of quotations in your paper to just a few. Lots of quotations
make your text harder to read.

Apply skills of paraphrasing and summarizing

You may use the above skills that are taught to you when using the information that you
have researched and try your very best to acknowledge the sources at the end of your report.

Consequences of Plagiarism

The consequences of plagiarism depend on the seriousness and persistence of the offense,
on par with the Faculty policy, please note that all assignments will be strictly marked and
the originality of the submissions will be checked through a software to detect the
plagiarism.
Aquinas College of Higher Studies
Department of English
Diploma in English Language and Literature

The consequences of plagiarism at the faculty level may include the following:

 You could fail the assignment.

 You could receive a lower grade or a failing grade in the course.

Use the following table to establish the basic mark for the essay.

Actual
Markable element of the report Possible mark
mark

Introduction 10

Background 15

Main body 50

Conclusions 10

Language 5

Presentation 5

Structure 5

mark total (A) 100

Mark 20%
Aquinas College of Higher Studies
Department of English
Diploma in English Language and Literature

Submission

The report should be submitted through MS Team platform.