Step 9: Write an essay proposal - Active Success at Uni

Academic Writing Steps

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By now, you will have a draft thesis (Step 6), a map of your key points (Step 8), and the evidence you plan to use to support your points (Step 7 & Step 8). Now you can prepare a full essay proposal. For this step, you will need to develop the topic sentences for each of the body paragrpahs planned for your essay. You may also need to refine your thesis (Step 6).

The sample essay writer has thought about their thesis some more. They found Kahneman’s argument (Step 4) that the two ideas of happiness are really very different to be very persuasive. So the writer has decided to change their draft thesis a little. Now the writer wants to argue that both ways of understanding happiness are equally true and useful, but in quite different ways. This could be a little challenging as an approach to answering this question, but the writer thinks the argument can be sustained using the evidence from the research (Step 7).

Activity – the parts of an essay proposal

Click on the following sections.

Essay Task Question:

Some argue that happiness is about how a person feels right now. Others think it is about our long-term sense of meaning or purpose. Compare and contrast these positions and explain which is more persuasive.

Thesis Statement:

This essay will argue that the significant contrasts found between these two approaches indicate that they are referring to two quite different things that historically have both been named happiness.

Topic Sentence 1.: Happiness is commonly understood as a feeling like joy or delight that occurs at a particular moment.

Supporting points:
1a) Killingsworth’s research ‘having a lot to do with our moment-to-moment experiences’
1b) Killingsworth: more present in now – more happy
1c) People are happier if they are not mind wandering

Topic Sentence 2.: In contrast, there are studies which explore happiness as a particular quality of memory.

2a) Kahneman’s work with colonoscopy patients.
2b) Nurses in intensive care – happy because of meaningfulness and purpose of job
2c) ‘when confronted with adverse experiences the professionals negotiated their meanings as well as the goals and priorities of their work’ Einarsdottir

Topic Sentence 3.: There are some aspects that these two conceptions of happiness appear to have in common.

3a) Some contributions to happiness are explained by both theories.
3b) Norton: giving gifts makes people happy
3c) Relationships with other people (O’Rourke Cooper & and Gray (2012, p. 139)

Topic Sentence 4.: Contrasts between the two theories are striking.

4a) Experience is different in each position: ‘now’ or constructed as a story
4b) Different actions would be taken: ie: different holiday choices (Kahneman)
4c) Different activity or job choices would be taken according to each position

Topic Sentence 5.: While the similarities between the two concepts are explainable by their common usage for a long time, the differences indicate that there is a significant gap between them.

5a) Kahneman ‘the experiencing self’ and ‘the remembering self’
5b) Nurses in intensive care – happy because of meaningfulness and purpose of job
5c) ‘when confronted with adverse experiences the professionals negotiated their meanings as well as the goals and priorities of their work’ Einarsdottir

Reference list [Website]:

Einarsdottir, J 2012, ‘Happiness in the neonatal intensive care unit: Merits of ethnographic fieldwork’, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Health and Well-being, vol. 7, pp. 1-9.

Kahneman, D 2010, The riddle of experience vs. memory, online video, TED Talks, Longbeach, California, viewed 4 April 2014, <http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory>.

Killingsworth, M 2012, Want to be happier? Stay in the moment, online video, TEDx, Cambridge, Massachusetts, viewed 4 April 2014, <http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_killingsworth_want_to_be_happier_stay_in_the_moment>.

O’Rourke, J, Cooper, M & Gray, C 2012, ‘Is being “smart and well behaved” a recipe for happiness in Western Australian primary schools?’, International Journal of Psychological Studies, vol. 4, no. 3, viewed 4 April 2014, <http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijps/article/view/18622/13153>.