Marking done!

I've finished marking all your long essays at last. I'll post them back to you with comments via the platform and email (it's a trousers and suspenders thing) to you today. Some first impressions (rapid fire because I've got to go to a lecture in 5 minutes):

1. average mark is 62 which is quite high--particularly for a first effort. (American students refer to your Handbook if you haven't already familiarized with the differences between US and British marking systems. There's a marking table there which lays it all out plainly(!). As a rule of thumb add 20 percent.)
2. Thesis statement--as I've mentioned before I think this is the key to any essay. It's the essay's answer to the question and plan for proving it all rolled into one. It should be short, pointed, accurate, significant (ie., it shouldn't provoke me to ask 'so what?'), and engaging all at once. It should also be elegantly worded. Overall, I think more concentration on this is order in most cases. It's hard to get it perfect, admittedly.
3. Subsections and sign-posting--A few of you have employed subsections in order to break up your argument and make it more easy to follow. Good idea! It is sometimes hard to follow an argument not because what it says is inaccurate or uninteresting but because it is unclear why a point is being made here, in this manner and sequence and how it is contributing to the overall thrust of the paper. Usually the author has an understanding of that but sometimes it is unconscious or for whatever reason not evident to the reader. Try to signpost more effectively (withuot overdoing it!) by cross-referencing.
4. I'd like to see more use of journals! I note that a few of you have drawn on The Journal of Cold War History but there's much more available to you in the form of journal literature. Start using it too. Go to the Library website and browse the electronic journals there (you can search alphabetically--long but worthwhile-- or by subject area). Then look at the databases. Try using the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences to search for articles on a topic, for example. There are other tools to use but that's a good start. You MUST start exploring all the options available to you in terms of research. Books are wonderful things but they are not enough on their own. Do we need to have a discussion thread on this? I think so, perhaps. It's going to get more important in future. I'll start one on the platform.

I'll do a 'best of' compilation later. Must go teach non-digital students now!