Model Answers
What is a model answer?
You may well be familiar with the term ‘model answer’ because model answers are commonly given by tutors to show a student exactly how a topic might be addressed. You will have seen them frequently in text books and study guides which try to help you with your structure and understanding.
However, the problem is that a model answer given to you by your tutor or which you buy in a general study guide will not address the exact question you have been given to write about, nor will it give you advice on referencing in the specific referencing that you have to use, or how to use evidence really effectively in your essay, or how to research your topic.
A custom model answer will do all of these things which is why it is the best study guide that you can buy.
What makes a custom model answer different?
The difference between a model answer in general and a custom model answer is in that key word custom. This is because when you have a custom model answer in front of you it addresses exactly the question you are writing about in the way you need to write it.
So, unlike a general model answer a custom model answer will have:
- custom guidance on finding the key words in your question
- custom guidance on how to structure your essay
- custom guidance on referencing
- custom guidance on using evidence
- custom guidance on research
- custom guidance on compiling your bibliography.
No general essay guide can give you any of this which is what makes it different.
Why might I need a model answer?
When you begin a course of study, it may well be assumed that you know all about writing an essay and perhaps you do but on the other hand perhaps you don’t – it is very unlikely that anyone will try to discover which one is the case for you.
These days, universities have a much higher ratio of students to tutors which means that even more than was always the case in the university environment, time is short and you are unlikely to get much, if any, one-on-one time with your tutor. This means, that if you are not sure about an aspect of essay writing, then you are likely to feel lost. In addition, it is very difficult to ask for help when you feel that everyone else knows how to do what you don’t!
So, think of a model answer as the tutorial you are basically not going to get; the tutorial you can go back to; the tutorial that is there at 3.00am when you’ve forgotten every idea you ever had about writing essays of any kind - the perfect tutorial, in fact: this tutorial only exists in your dreams and in a model answer!
There are other reasons why you might need a model answer, too:
- you might need a model answer for help with structure
- you might need a model answer for help with focus
- you might need a model answer for help with ideas
- you might need a model answer for help with evidence
- you might need a model answer for help with research
- you might need a model answer for help with using evidence
- you might need a model answer for help with a specific topic
- you might need a model answer for help with a specific style.
All of these problems can be addressed by means of effective use of a model answer.
How can a model answer help me?
A model answer can help you by showing you exactly how your essay should be researched and written. You might not know how to approach an essay question but the expert writers who produce model answers do.
When you commission a model answer, you tell the writer exactly what your requirements are:
- your model answer title
- your model answer word count
- your model answer grade
- your model answer referencing style
- your model answer delivery time.
All of these will be strictly adhered to in the research and writing of your model answer so from a mere set of ingredients you are provided with the perfect dish! Using this model answer as your guide, you can see exactly how you should research and write your own essay and this means that you will also have a guide for the future.
In addition, the model answer is unique to you so that unlike a general essay guide, your own model answer will address the questions you need answering.
A model answer shows you by example how to get your own essay right!
Is using a model answer cheating?
It depends very much on how you use it. If you print it off, attach your name and hand it in then ‘yes’, it is cheating because you are passing someone else’s work off as your own. Then again, that would be true whether you were using a model essay given to you by a tutor or an essay guide, or even if you were ‘borrowing’ work from a friend.
Rules on plagiarism don’t just apply to model answers, they apply to any time that you use someone else’s work as yours so there is really no difference between getting advice on your essay from a friend or a text book and getting help from a custom written model answer – except the custom written model answer will be of more help!
Everything is down to you in this respect as the model answer itself isn’t the cheat - you are if you use it in the wrong way.
However, used correctly, there is no better study aid than the model answer because it gives you the perfect model template to follow, with exactly the right help you need to enable you to research and write your own model essay.
