Take a look at some of the essays written by our expert academics
We want our customers to feel confident that they're getting the standard of work they need. Take a minute to look through some essay examples, and you'll see why Oxbridge Essays is so many students' first choice.
- Undergraduate level: Master's
- Subject: Nursing
- Type: Critical review
- Grade: 1st
Critically appraise the attached research article: 'Meeting the needs of Minority Ethnic Patients.' Joseph D Cortis 2004 Journal of advanced Nursing 48 (1), 51‐58
The critical appraisal of the study by Cortis (2004) begins with a description of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Checklist for Qualitative Research (Lockwood et al. 2015). A checklist tool was used for appraisal because this provides a structured way of considering every possible aspect of the study which could be influenced by bias, and forces the user to think about whether the methodology, philosophy and protocols used by the study match up in the best way possible to lead to meet the aim identified. The use of the JBI tool is justified against other common tools (Hannes et al. 2010) such as the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP 2014) tool from Oxford, although the person using the tool has a great deal of freedom to interpret the individual elements as they wish, so these tools can only ever provide a useful framework for the writer's own thinking. Given more space in the essay, a longer discussion could be had about the relative merits of appraisal tools and the purpose of appraisal within the context of clinical research.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: International Relations
- Type: Coursework
- Grade: 1st
Pick a contemporary inter-state conflict between a Western state (i.e., the U.K., U.S., Canada) and a non-Western state and critically assess two competing explanations to the question ‘why do we fight?'
The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, culminating with the final withdrawal of American troops in 2011, has had far-reaching consequences for the Middle East, resulting in regime change in Iraq, the outbreak of sectarian violence, regional instability, and arguably, the rise of extremist group Da’esh (Islamic State in Syria and the Levant), which now threatens the future of Iraq’s neighbours, particularly Syria (Fawcett, 2013). The result of the invasion, which was ostensibly aimed at the removal of a hostile regime and its replacement by a more pliant, liberal-democratic government, has severely impaired American interests in the Middle East, dragging the country through a damaging, expensive and prolonged war, and exponentially increasing popular hostility to the United States throughout the region, a factor which has proved to be a powerful recruitment tool for extremist terrorist groups (Isakhan, 2015). The question remains, therefore: why did the United States choose to go to war with Iraq in 2003?
Download- Undergraduate level: Master's
- Subject: Marketing
- Type: Report
- Grade: 1st
Compare and contrast the stores of two luxury brands, Burberry and Prada
The utility of brand identity in modern enterprise is quickly evolving beyond the push-based advertising agenda of a fragmented and geographically distributed brand (Delgado-Ballester and Munuera-Aleman, 2005). As marketers identify and employ compelling messages in the definition and architecture of their brand identity, consumers are challenged to assess, interpret, and engage with these innovative characteristics (Loureiro et al., 2014). For luxury fashion retailers, the brand identity is a composite of both the marketing enterprise and the retail experience, aligning consumer perceptions with a robust and transparent spectrum of identifying characteristics that unify the brand message and identity (Gentile et al., 2007). In an effort to differentiate in the highly competitive luxury marketplace, retailers are increasingly relying upon a range of aesthetic and identity-specific characteristics within their retail outlets to manifest a unique and compelling experience (Maxwell, 2016). The following sections will compare and contrast the retail outlet strategies of two market leading luxury brands, Burberry and Prada, in order to identify particular traits and characteristics that are conducive to competitive advantage and demand-enhancing outcomes.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: 2:1
What role does the thesis that virtue is knowledge play in the Meno? Is the thesis paradoxical?
In this essay we will discuss the notion that virtue is knowledge. We will do this by following Plato's own route into the discussion - a refutation of Meno's misconception of knowledge. The argument Plato provides to this end gives us crucial contextual information and allows us to see how Plato derives his doctrine that virtue is knowledge. We will look at the terms Plato uses to define virtuous and non-virtuous actions and analyse the connotations these held for him. I will then provide an exposition of the traditional formulation of the platonic 'moral paradox' before arguing that this paradox only exists if one misinterprets Plato's own text. 1. Desire for the good Plato's Meno focuses on the issue of virtue - its nature and its properties. During the dialogue several definitions of virtue are discussed. However, the definition that seems to be settled upon entails the doctrine that virtue is knowledge. This definition is proposed as a response to Meno's suggestion that virtue is a term encompassing two elements: firstly that virtue is the desire for good things and secondly that it is the ability to obtain good things. By way of answer, Socrates suggests that, in fact, everyone desires the good. As virtue is not present in all men, virtue cannot be the desire for good things. Socrates' argument for […]
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: International Relations
- Type: Coursework
- Grade: 2:1
Think Tank Policy Task
Since the turn of the millennium states that can be regarded as ideological challengers to the neoliberal democratic model of the West such as China and Russia have invested significant sums and given significant strategic attention to propagating a positive media image of themselves, both by establishing English language news organisations and by investing in existing Western media outlets. So successful has Russia’s media push been that William Davies, Director of the Ukraine Communications Task Force at the U.S. State Department, commented that the U.S. has fallen far behind in terms of capabilities (Powell, 2014), and despite the social media platform being inaccessible in mainland China, Chinese state media CCTV has amassed 25 million likes on Facebook, second only to the BBC for news outlets (Ohlberg, 2016).
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Presentation
- Grade: 2:2
Aristotle’s Political Philosophy
This presentation provides an overview of Aristotle’s contributions to political theory, offering a summary of his key ideas, with mention of key critiques and contemporary implications of Aristotle’s theories for politics today. Focusing largely on ideas put forward in ‘The Politics’, I look deeper into Aristotle’s key notions of the city-state, systems of government, equality and slavery, and the possible application of these to modern society (Aristotle and Rackham, 1932).
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Biology
- Type: Critical review
- Grade: 2:2
Tau or Amyloid? A critical review of their contribution to the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the leading causes of age-related dementia in the world, affecting all ethnicities and communities. In the absence of effective therapy, the rate of dementia is predicted to increase four-fold by the middle of this century in developed societies, owing to increased life expectancies (James et al, 2015). The diagnosis of AD was first published by Dr. Alois Alzheimer (Maurer et al, 1997), based on his diagnosis of his 51-year-old patient, Auguste D. Post-mortem histological examination of the patient’s brain revealed the presence neuritic plaques consisting of dystrophic axons and dendrites which contained paired helical filaments (PHF), and star-shaped, extracellular deposits of amyloid fibrils, characteristic of the disease (Dickson, 1997).
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: International Relations
- Type: Presentation
- Grade: TBC
Mary Kaldor’s ‘New Wars’
Mary Kaldor’s book New and Old Wars was first published in 1999, and has been described as “a cornerstone text with an extraordinary intellectual impact”.1 Kaldor wrote New and Old Wars in the context of an important academic debate about whether the nature of warfare was changing in the 21st century. A number of terms have been used to conceptualise the changing nature of war, including ‘wars among the people’, ‘hybrid wars’, ‘privatised wars’, and ‘post-modern wars’2 – but Kaldor’s popularisation of the term ‘New Wars’ proved most compelling. Kaldor herself was heavily influenced by her experiences as a researcher and activist in Bosnia, one of the most ferocious of the ‘new’ wars that sprang up in the aftermath of the Cold War.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Business Studies
- Type: Report
- Grade: TBC
Elecdyne: Globalization as Growth Strategy
Elecdyne is a Japanese SME that has its headquarters in Tokyo. The organization was established in 1990 with a total employee count of 5 and now it has more than 100 staff members on its payroll. In terms of product portfolio, Elecdyne manufactures and sells different types of electronic equipment that include – Televisions, CD Players, DVD Players, MP3 Players and other hi-fi equipment. In order to produce these offerings, the company utilizes the technology that is licensed from other multinational corporations.
Download- Undergraduate level: Master's
- Subject: English Literature
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Examine the role of appetite and consumption in Sir Gowther and Havelok the Dane
To date there has been only a limited amount of scholarly research into the topics of appetite and consumption in late medieval romance literature. The principal research outputs have been from Aaron Hostetter, whose PhD thesis entitled Politics of Eating and article entitled “Food, Sovereignty and Social Order in Havelok the Dane” represent the only sustained studies of these topics. These publications consider appetite and consumption in both texts under study in the essay, Havelok the Dane and Sir Gowther (the former in both works, the latter in his PhD thesis only), and they thus represent an integral aspect of the essay’s approach to the topic. Works as significant as these are necessarily incorporated throughout the essay written here, although at all stages Hostetter’s ideas are engaged with in the writing; while most are accepted some are challenged or rejected, and other models proposed.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Biology
- Type: Critical review
- Grade: TBC
Three day versus five day treatment with amoxicillin for non-severe pneumonia in young children: a multicentre randomised controlled trial
Evidence based medicine seeks to incorporate the best scientific research into clinical practice. It is therefore necessary to evaluate clinical trials using readily available tools. The research for this essay was focussed on the trial in question and the clinical background [1]. All scientific terms used in the appraisal tool were explained at the point of use in the essay.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Discuss Kant’s claim that the antinomies are a refutation of transcendental realism
In this essay I will argue that Kant is correct in his claim that the antimonies are a refutation of transcendental realism. In order to do this, I will begin, in section one, by introducing transcendental realism. In section two I briefly analyse its rival theory, transcendental idealism in order to explore the differences between the two theses and thus arrive at a more complete understanding of transcendental realism. My third section discusses the role of the antimonies – I here demonstrate how Kant attempts to use them in his refutation of transcendental realism. Section four introduces criticism of the antimonies apparent success in the role Kant sets out for them. I argue against these in order to conclude that Kant’s claim is, in fact, correct.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Film Studies
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
‘When attraction turns to obsession, moral certainty to ambiguity, and the clear light of day to the murk of corrupted night, then we are in the world of the “noir” movie’
The term film noir was coined by Nino Frank in 1946, a French film critic who identified a new trend in the Hollywood crime field. In this new ‘genre’ of cinema, emphasis was place on criminal psychology, violence, misogyny and the breaching of a previously steadfast moral system. Reasons for why film noir emerged are vast and varied. Some believe that with the advent of World War II, a new mood took over America and its media. An atmosphere of disillusion and a sense of foreboding set in, giving many 1940’s films “a dark quality that derived as much from the characters depiction as from the cinematographer’s art”1. Boundaries were pushed and challenged between fantasy and reality, and the lines between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ were blurred. Others think that due to the high crime rate that overtook American communities2, alongside the emergence of the vastly popular detective crime thriller novel (labelled by James Naremore as ‘hard-boiled writers’3), there was enough scope and interest for both filmmakers and viewers to make film noir popular.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
What conditions does Plato expect a good definition to meet? Is he right to impose them?
In this essay we will be discussing the conditions Plato requires a definition to meet in his dialogue Meno. We will analyse the reasons for Plato placing a great importance upon the definition of terms before going on to try and set out these conditions in a clear manner. We shall then examine whether his conditions lead to a successful definition or if they are actually self-defeating and actually lead to the proposition that a great many terms are indefinable.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Film Studies
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
'Childhood is a problematic category in the modern world because so many social values are founded on it'
Throughout history there have been questions about childhood, its role in society, and the consequential implications for the adult world. Childhood provides the foundation for adulthood, it is a period of growth, learning, and integration into the experienced, working world. Moreover, childhood lays the groundwork for future generations; good morals and skills must be passed down descendants, to ensure smooth running of the world when the present rulers and workers pass away.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Film Studies
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Consider strategies used by any realist film director to instil a sense of authenticity in their films
Lynne Ramsay was born in Glasgow in 1969. She graduated in photography from Napier University in Edinburgh, and then attended the National Film and Theatre School, where she studied cinematography, followed by a directing course. A major icon of the 21st century, her films are beacons of reality in a world where “true voices of dissent are seldom heard these days”1. Ratcatcher (1999) is set in 1973 Glasgow during the Scottish national garbage strike. The main character, Jamie Gillespie (played by William Eadie), is a 12-year old growing up on an estate that looks increasingly wretched. James inadvertently causes his pal to drown in the local canal, and he flees the scene, apparently unseen. The film ultimately examines the fragility of evolving as a human being. The characters are observed moving from adolescence to adulthood, and in doing so their world becomes darker, and more tainted, as it does for James.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: English Literature
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
“Social novels have their purpose written clearly on them like a motto, and they hold to it perseveringly”. Discuss whether you think this is an adequate account of nineteenth-century novels you have studied
Dickens’ Bleak House and Eliot’s Middlemarch (1871) are two Victorian novels very different in tone, in structure (noting in particular Dickens’ introductory use of a double-narrative) and, ultimately, in purpose. Both these novels however, despite these differences, incorporate very prominent aspects of reality for a reader living in the nineteenth century, whether it addresses a particular historical event, as is the case of Eliot, writing in 1869 – 40 years after the First Reform Bill of 1829, or in the present day misery of the London slums and brutally powerful world of the Chancery system, themes that Dickens ardently explores and vividly encapsulates through his work. Each novelist makes a poignant comment on the socio-political order of living, and the realities for the individual and interdependent communities existing within the social infrastructure. Yet how far does each novelist go to maintaining their individual purposes, the personal goals they set out to achieve through the writing of two such successful novels? In order to answer this question it is necessary to first analyse the purposes that are perceivable from the novels themselves.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: English Literature
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
“The fact that animation operates primarily within the realm of fantasy and for a child audience, does not mean it is innocent of cultural politics”. Discuss
Walt Disney was born in 1901 and started his animation career in the 1920s. His films have had a profound impact the world over, being immensely popular with children and ambiguous with critics. Bell states, “It would not be an exaggeration to assert that Disney was a radical film-maker who changed our way of viewing fairy tales, and that his revolutionary technical means capitalised on American innocence and utopianism to reinforce the social and political status quo.”2 Disney worked to promote American idealism, to provide a source of entertainment, to educate children, and ultimately to make money in the process. Disney stated that, “I think of a child’s mind as a blank book. During the first years of his life, much will be written on the pages. The quality of that writing will affect his life profoundly.”3 Disney thus realised that his films exercised considerable influence on the child’s viewing of the world, their hopes, dreams, thoughts and expectations. For this, and public expectation that he will educate children about good morals and the realities of life, Disney has been debated and criticised over and over again.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: English Literature
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
“The search for something outside the self, some goal or new truth, so often in the fin-de-siècle period becomes a search within the self – with potentially devastating results.” Consider in the light of two works
The term Fin-de-Siècle is generally used to describe a period of European history between 1890-1910. Literally meaning “the end of a Century”, the period was one of much turmoil, anxiety and pessimism about the receding present and the approach of a new era. With Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) causing revolutionary scientific thinking, religion was in serious decline; as Nietzsche radically claimed, “God is dead…we have killed him – you and I”.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Sociology
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Is biology destiny? Discuss with reference to the development of a gender identity
For many decades, the nature-nurture debate has continued to appear in scientific, religious and educational studies. The controversial topic has raised many questions about how a child’s gender identity is formed. Most theorists do not see biological nature and the rearing environment as independent of each other; rather, the interaction between these components in order to create a gender identity is stressed. The degree of importance that is placed on either biology or environment, however, differs, and provides the basis for much of the continuing research into this topical area.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Political Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Can Punishment be Justified by its Communicative Function?
In this essay we will analyse the concept of punishment. We will examine the nature of justice and its use in our society before going on to apply this notion of justice to punishment specifically. I will introduce some of the problems associated with attempting to justify the level of punishment we employ through our criminal law system. In Section Two we will examine several theories of justified punishment before examining, in our third section, the problems associated with these theories. Section Four is devoted to an analysis of punishment’s communicative function and the view that it is possible to justify punishment of wrongdoers through this function alone. In the fifth section of this essay I will point out some problems with this justification and with the issue of justification in general before going on, in our final section, to propose some qualification of our predisposition to punish wrongdoers based on functions of punishment largely ignored in the literature.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Political Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
The Deductive-Nomological Model of Explanation
In this essay I will propose the view that Hemple’s Deductive-Nomological model of explanation correctly captures and explicates the role of scientific explanation. In order to do this I will begin by introducing the role of explanation in science. In my second section I will present the Deductive-Nomological model. My third section will link explanation with prediction as a consequence of the model. In my final section I will propose several potential problems with Hemple’s model before proposing a slightly altered thesis that better deals with the problems encountered.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: History
- Type: Model exam answer
- Grade: TBC
'The role of Special Forces: Chindits, Commandos, Paras, LRDG, SAS - Do the results justify the expense?'
In the world’s present state Special Forces are necessary for preparedness and justify their expense. It is important to emphasise that the possible results justify the expense, though such units have not always been successful in the past. There will always be a need for an outlying group, soldiers capable of exercising less conventional, less predictable tactics in military engagements. We cannot know what specific difficulties will be presented in future engagements. We must therefore prepare accordingly. It is certainly true that Special Forces groups have not always lived up to expectations. Consider, for example, the Chindits. While highly esteemed and respected, they are sometimes critiqued for having been under-prepared for the tasks set, and how much they might have contributed to the success of operations is sometimes questioned. These are certainly sound criticisms and if we look at direct results, there are some situations in which the costs of training, developing, and supplying a special operations unit may appear to be unjustifiable. However, we cannot always predict success or failure no matter how well-prepared we might suppose a group to be. I would argue, nevertheless, that some of the indirect results of a Special Forces group justify their maintenance and expense.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Finance
- Type: Essay plan
- Grade: TBC
High Frequency Trading
This section should begin the essay by providing a simple background on high frequency trading (HFT) and explain why this investigation is interesting. The introduction should then briefly describe how the paper is organised and how each subsequent section contributes to the overall narrative.
Download- Undergraduate level: Master's
- Subject: Education
- Type: Presentation
- Grade: TBC
Preparing international masters students for a computer‐based summative assessment
hank you for attending our research presentation. In this session, we will be providing you with an update on our ongoing research project on the topic of summative assessment and e-learning. My name is Jane Smith and I work at the University of Sheffield in the Department of Education. I would also like to introduce my collaborative partner, Richard Jones, who is head of the E-learning Development Team at UCL.
Download- Undergraduate level: Master's
- Subject: History
- Type: Essay plan
- Grade: TBC
'Have historians overstated the cultural impact of the Black Death?'
The introduction to this essay will first outline the principle aspects of the period under scrutiny, briefly describing how “the Great Pestilence” (as it was then known) spread globally, its immediate effects, and the manner of its representation in contemporary literature and art. It will then establish the extent of historical debate on the impact of the ‘Black Death’ (as it came to be called only from the seventeenth century) on the contemporary populace on the regions under consideration (Herlihy, 1994). Whilst nineteenth century historians emphasised the extensive cultural and economic effects of the black death, viewing at the most decisive event of the later medieval period (Carpentier, 1962), in the twentieth century scholars instead moderated this view, arguing that in many ways the impact was limited, and that cultural and social change in the wake of the Black Death instead responded to broader pressures (Siraisi, 1982).
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Possible Worlds
In this essay I will propose modal realism as the correct thesis to utilise in our understanding of modal terms. In order to do this I shall being, in section one by introducing the theory itself. In section two I will argue for the utility and accuracy of this doctrine. In section three I will present some commonly presented objections to modal realism, discounting many of these and accepting one of them. I will then present a popular alternative to modal realism, ersatz modal realism, which seeks to avoid the problems I accepted in section three. In section four I will discount this rival theory on the basis of the additional problems it creates and thus propose that modal realism is the most viable account of modalism even if it comes at a price.
Download- Undergraduate level: Master's
- Subject: Psychology
- Type: Coursework
- Grade: TBC
Regression analysis on hypnosis data
Testing normal distribution of variables can be completed by relying on two methods – a statistical or a graphical one. Statistical, or objective, testing of normality is accomplished through the use of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test. However, such a statistical test is best to be used when sample sizes are either very small or very large. The current sample consisted of 165 participants, thus making it a moderate sample size for which the Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test may not be particularly informative. Thus, the choice was to rely on the graphical assessment of normality, which can be accomplished by looking at histograms and Q-Q plots. This subjective assessment of normality revealed that all variables, except Hypnotic Susceptibility and General Health, show a rather perfect bell-shaped curve on the histogram, with all data points falling closely to the “ideal” diagonal line on the Q-Q plot. Hypnotic Susceptibility seems to be slightly positively skewed, and General Health slightly negatively skewed. Yet, this skewedness and slight deviation from the diagonal line on the Q-Q plot seems just too low for these variables to affect the accuracy of the regression analysis.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Truth
In this essay I will present the view that the minimalist conception of truth is the most accurate and unproblematic of the theories I have come across. In order to display this, in section one I will present the most intuitive of the theories of truth, the Correspondence Theory, before arguing against it in section two. In my third section I will demonstrate how Correspondence Theory evolved into the Coherence Theory of Truth. In my fourth section I will argue that this thesis is also flawed, before presenting, in section five, the Minimalist Theory. I will discuss this in detail, in so doing proposing several problems for it and arguing that it overcomes these. In my final section I will present a criticism designed to show the theory to be inherently flawed, before arguing that this criticism fails and minimalism survives.
Download- Undergraduate level: Undergraduate
- Subject: Philosophy
- Type: Essay
- Grade: TBC
Colour
In this essay I will present the view that there exists a real distinction between properties such as colour, sound and temperature – as we perceive them – and properties such as shape, size and motion. I will also present the view that properties of the former class type may be reduced to properties of the second class type. In order to do this I will be focussing upon the properties of colour and shape. In section one I will set out the distinction between the two types of properties or qualities. In section two I will examine the ontological implication of such a distinction. My third section presents a more detailed theory of colour – the physicalist theory – and introduces the notion of reducing secondary qualities – such as colour – to primary qualities – such as shape. In section four I examine some difficulties facing this doctrine before discarding these criticisms and the attempted reformulations of the physicalist theory and returning to accept the original theory in my final section.
Download
