Academic Writing

Hello!

Not at all sure where this is meant to go however for this scholarship entry we have to answer the question from a Law stance:

Is stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving family a crime?

However, it is my stance that we cannot deduce anything from the question without actually gaining context, would this be okay in an academic piece of writing, or does a strong opinion on either side have to be clear and evident throughout?

The difference between GCSE (I'm 14) and actual academic writing scares me, wish we did more of it earlier...also the fact that this is for an 100% scholarship also makes me more uncertain

Academic writing is what you do at undergrad level and beyond, in preparation for writing research papers etc. Don't get yourself in a twangle about it here.

It doesn't matter whether you firmly take a side, or if you explain that it depends on the context. So you have three options, yes, no, or 'maybe, it depends'. The trick is to pick one, and stick with it. Build a structure around one clear argument.

So either you take the position that the law is always right (but maybe the punishment is contextual?), or that law is 'for the guidance of wise men, and the blind obedience of fools', or you bring in all the pro's and con's of both and decide it's contextual. Just make sure you introduce your argument, argue it in a series of clear examples, acknowledge the counter arguments, but conclude with why you think your argument is the strongest.

Hello!

Not at all sure where this is meant to go however for this scholarship entry we have to answer the question from a Law stance:

Is stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving family a crime?

However, it is my stance that we cannot deduce anything from the question without actually gaining context, would this be okay in an academic piece of writing, or does a strong opinion on either side have to be clear and evident throughout?

The difference between GCSE (I'm 14) and actual academic writing scares me, wish we did more of it earlier...also the fact that this is for an 100% scholarship also makes me more uncertain

Tbh I think they've given you as much context as you need -- it seems more of an ethics question rather than one to be judged against the law. If they gave you a contextualised scenario where it was clear that a crime had been committed, everyone would return the same judgement which would be pointless. A more nuanced approach might be to consider whether it is a moral crime -- i.e., 'stealing' obviously suggests a crime in a legal sense, but the question here is ethical.

I would say to read up on some of the philosophical issues at play here (an A-Level textbook might be handy? JSTOR could be? not sure), and obviously cite past cases/ precedents/ legal issues etc. Keep in mind that this question is likely to be well-traversed, so an original stance will be refreshing for the reader.

Attaching an example competition entry here. It should be useful in demonstrating a direct, concise style, as well as engagement with different theories that he/ she read up on. Could be useful to replicate their introduction and define/ contextualise a 'crime'?

https://newn.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Chau-Sharon.pdf

Finally, remember that they won't be expecting a undergrad level essay (or even anything near it) from a GCSE student. If you show them that you've read around the question, considered and engaged with (and, ideally, rejected) certain views, that should be half the battle. Gd luck

Thank you for the attached links - it was an idea I had (that wasn't fully fleshed out) so it's good to know I'm going in a recommended/hopeful path. Also looking back, I now see that philosophy isn't a category for 13-15 which means I can reach into it, thank you for this as well as I was panicking on how ti stick directly to law as opposed to mention ethics and philosophy

I only have 500 words, but I was hoping to discuss the different set of rules society has and how they would be considered crimes against that (religion, general moral codes, the actual law) would that be relevant to the question?

Do you know anywhere I can access A-Level textbooks for free, I doubt Google Scholar would have a free copy?