Sample analyses of essay topics – 247
Relate the theories (‘ideas’) to the evidence from Australia,
New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Relate it also to some evidence
not from this region. Which idea (or combination of ideas) does this
evidence give strongest support to?
2.3
The shapes of some possible answers
All
Of the various ideas put forward to account for the existence of
mountains, plate tectonics has no rival. The evidence from the study of
both uplift and mountain building in Australia, New Zealand and Papua
New Guinea gives complete support to that from elsewhere in confirming
the plate tectonic hypothesis. The reasons are . . .
None
The evidence from the study of both uplift and mountain building in
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, like that from elsewhere,
offers no support to the ideas of plate tectonics. The things that this
theory cannot explain are . . . It is other ideas, namely . . . , that can
explain these phenomena.
Some
There are five fairly clear variables to be considered in thinking of
possible shapes for a discussion of this topic – plate tectonic theory; other theories; uplift and mountain building; the evidence from
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea (this is a complex
variable which it might be possible to break down into a number of
‘subvariables’, since the geological information on these three countries might not all point to the same conclusions); evidence from other
parts of the world. Therefore, like the topic from film studies considered above, there will be many ways in which the variables can, in
principle, be combined. Here is just one example of a possible shape
for the answer:
Relate the theories (‘ideas’) to the evidence from Australia,
New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Relate it also to some evidence
not from this region. Which idea (or combination of ideas) does this
evidence give strongest support to?
2.3
The shapes of some possible answers
All
Of the various ideas put forward to account for the existence of
mountains, plate tectonics has no rival. The evidence from the study of
both uplift and mountain building in Australia, New Zealand and Papua
New Guinea gives complete support to that from elsewhere in confirming
the plate tectonic hypothesis. The reasons are . . .
None
The evidence from the study of both uplift and mountain building in
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, like that from elsewhere,
offers no support to the ideas of plate tectonics. The things that this
theory cannot explain are . . . It is other ideas, namely . . . , that can
explain these phenomena.
Some
There are five fairly clear variables to be considered in thinking of
possible shapes for a discussion of this topic – plate tectonic theory; other theories; uplift and mountain building; the evidence from
Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea (this is a complex
variable which it might be possible to break down into a number of
‘subvariables’, since the geological information on these three countries might not all point to the same conclusions); evidence from other
parts of the world. Therefore, like the topic from film studies considered above, there will be many ways in which the variables can, in
principle, be combined. Here is just one example of a possible shape
for the answer: