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Contents
Basic information
Reading, participating
and discussing
Basic skills
How to read
Journals
Background on Australia
Course schedule
Tutorials
Course procedures
and assistance
Organising your work
Inclusive language
Help is available
Assessment
Extensions
Review
Essay
Role Play, leaflet and article
Referencing
and bibliographies
Plagiarism
What grades mean
Appeals procedures
Writing essays
Approval forms and
cover sheets
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21
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Course outline
Semester 2 2011
Basic information
This course outline with live web links and updates can be found on
Wattle, where course announcements will be posted.
Course description
money, power, war is about power and its disguises. It deals with
questions of politics and material interests, and identifies economic
power as fundamental to understanding politics in Australia and
globally. We look at
the social forces and arrangements, notably class structures, that
dominate our lives
neoliberal, social democratic and Marxist ideas that justify or explain
political action and policies
institutions, conflicts and struggles that shape these actions and
policies in Australia and internationally
Issues we examine include inequality, racism, economic crisis and war.
No background in political science or political economy is assumed.
We debate and explore current Australian and international issues as
they arise in the media. The overall framework of the course is Marxist.
The course helps students develop individual and collective critical and
analytical skills for understanding discussing, researching, writing and
debating about Australian and international political economy.
Suggestions about the structure and content of the course are welcome.
Convenor:
Dr Rick Kuhn, Haydon-Allen Building room 1215, 6125-3851,
email Rick.Kuhn@anu.edu.au
The best way to arrange a meeting time with Rick is by email. He will
be available for consultation after lectures.
Tutor:
Petra Wilson-Jones, email petra.wilson-jones@anu.edu.au
School Administration Office:
room G41 Haydon-Allen Building, near the Tank, 6125-0482
Course web site: this course outline with updates, web links and other
course material can be found on Wattle.
Mode of delivery: two to three hours of lectures and a one hour tutorial
per week.
Lectures:
10.00 am to noon
9:00 to 11:00 am
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Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, you should be able to
1. demonstrate knowledge of social forces, institutions, conflicts and
struggles involving interactions amongst economic and political
relations that shape life in Australia and/or other countries
2. describe, assess and distinguish amongst neo-liberal, social
democratic and Marxist theories, that justify or explain political
action and policies
3. formulate approaches to researching social issues that are
characterised by interactions between economic and political relations
4. analyse social issues by applying different theories
5. individually and collectively, present written and oral arguments
about the nature of interactions amongst economic and political
relations, specific historical and contemporary forms they have taken
and how people maintain or change them
Generic skills
This course will help develop your skills in
1. critical thinking
2. written and oral communication
3. research
4. teamwork
5. challenging authority
Semester 2 2011
Lectures
library catalogues
databases of articles and other
resources, such as Proquest Factiva,
Ingenta, First Search, Social
Sciences Citation Index. See
http://anulib.anu.edu.au/databases/in
dex.html and Metafind on the
Library home page.
the internet and internet search
engines like
www.google.com/advanced_search
a sense of which sources are reliable
For information about how to acquire
these skills go to the Chifley Library
information deskand/or check out
http://ilp.anu.edu.au.
Strongly
recommended is ILPs Demystifying
Databases course
http://training.anu.edu.au/StudentCours
eDetails.asp?CATALOGUETYPE=ST
UDENT&COURSE=ISCARA.
Tutorials
The tutorial topics are related to the
material in earlier lectures. Attendance
at tutes is voluntary. Sign up for a
tutorial during the first two weeks of the
semester. If you are to get the maximum
benefit out of tutes it is necessary to
attend lectures, do the reading and other
preparation set out for each tute below
and come equipped with questions and
comments about and objections to the
reading and the topic.
Tutorials commence in week 3.
Register for tutes on Wattle
The Reading for tutorials is in the
course textbook or in the virtual brick
(on the courses Wattle site), a few
items are on the web.
The Additional Reading is indicated
for people particularly interested in a
topic or who are writing an essay in the
area. Some of this will be available in
the Library, or on the web.
Come to tutes with clippings from
newspapers or notes from other media
reports on recent items relevant to the
topic.
Role Play
Participation in the Role Play, during
lectures in week 12, is an essential part
of the course. Make arrangements to
ensure you can attend well in advance.
It will only be possible to be properly
involved in the Role Play if you
consistently attend lectures and prepare
for it outside classes. Details of the Role
Play are set out under Tutorial 12
below. There is a Role Play
participation
component
in
the
assessment for the course.
Discussion
All participants in the course are
expected to help maintain a friendly
atmosphere in which people are
encouraged to contribute. This applies
to lectures, tutes and Role Play. For this
reason sexist, homophobic and racist
comments or personal attacks on people
doing the course (as opposed to the
criticisms of ideas, theories or
statements) are not acceptable. The
section on inclusive language on page
21 below provides more guidelines.
How to read
The points below are questions you
should probably have in mind when you
read anything at all (including
newspapers, books, graffiti, journals,
paintings, TV shows and especially web
sites), but certainly anything you read in
association with this course.
The text itself
What is the author trying to say? That
is, what is the logic of her/his
argument?
This
is
crucial
to
understanding the text as a whole, rather
than just bits and pieces of it.
What are the main steps or subsidiary
arguments in the overall case, ie how is
Semester 2 2011
Books
Text
Kuhn, Rick (ed.) Class and struggle in
Australia Pearson, Frenchs Forest
2005
Recommended
Ollman, Bertell How to take an exam
and remake the world Black Rose,
Montral 2001 Chifley LC191.O44,
for advice about exams and about how
society works.
Stilwell, Frank Political economy: the
contest of economic ideas Oxford
University Press, Melbourne 2006
Chifley HB90.S75 useful introduction
to different approaches to political
economy, especially for those
interested in mainstream economics.
Also worth a read
Callinicos, Alex The revolutionary
ideas of Karl Marx Bookmarks,
London, Chifley HX39.5 .C23 1996 a
very good introduction to Marxism.
Awareness
In both lectures and tutes some
awareness of current developments in
theories but especially ideologies and
issues will be necessary. Newspapers
Journals
To get a feel for rival approaches to the
subject matter of the course, check out
some of the following journals:
Rightish
Agenda on-line through ANU library
Australian Economic Review on-line
through ANU library
The economist on-line through ANU
library
IPA Review on-line through ANU
library
Policy
www.cis.org.au/publications/policymagazine and somewhat on-line
through ANU library
Quadrant and on-line through ANU
library
Features, columns and editorials in the
daily press, as above.
Middle of the road or varied
Australian journal of political science
on-line through ANU library
Australian review of public affairs
www.australianreview.net
Economic and labour relations review
on-line through ANU library
Eureka Street on-line through ANU
library
Journal of industrial relations on-line
through ANU library
Semester 2 2011
Course schedule
Week 1 (25 July)
There are no tutes in week 1!
register for tutes in Wattle
The Reading for tutorials is in the course
textbook or in the virtual brick (on the courses
Wattle site), a few items are on the web.
Lecture 1 Overview of Course
Lecture 2 Politics and music
Tutorial 1 No tutorial in week 1
Week 2 (1 August)
There are no tutes in week 2!
register for tutes in Wattle
Lecture 3 Capitalism and class
Lecture 4 The politics of language and essay
writing
Week 7 (5 September)
BEGIN ESSAY RESEARCH,
especially for annotated bibliography
Lecture 13 Womens oppression and the family
Lecture 14 Marxist politics
Tutorial 7 Trade unions
Week 3 (8 August)
Lecture 15 Racism
Week 9 (3 October)
SUBMIT ESSAY by
Lecture 18 no lecture
Tutorial 4 Class
Lecture 19 Imperialism
Tutorial 10 Racism
Tutorials
Tutorial 1
No tutorial in week 1
Reading
Diamond, Jared Why do some
societies make disastrous decisions?
Edge 28 April 2003
www.edge.org/3rd_culture/diamond03/
diamond_index.html
Ollman, Bertell What is political
science? What should it be? New
political science, 22 (4), 2000, pp. 553562,
www.nyu.edu/projects/ollman/docs/wh
at_poly_sci.php
25 July
register for tutes in Wattle
Tutorial 2
1 August
Begin work on book review
See Assessment section, on page 22,
for details about book review; and
sections on referencing on page 28 and
plagiarism on page 29.
no tutorial in week 2
register for tutes in Wattle
Tutorial 3
8 August
Additional Reading
Sparrow, Jeff The workers flag is
deepest green: class struggles and the
environment in Rick Kuhn (ed.) Class
and struggle in Australia Pearson,
Frenchs Forest 2005 pp. 195-212
Foster, John Bellamy The ecology of
destruction Monthly review February
2007, 58 (9) pp. 1-14
Burkett, Paul Capitalism, nature and
the class struggle in Alfredo SaadFilho (ed.) Anti-capitalism: a Marxist
introduction Pluto, London 2003 pp.
106-166, Chifley HB501.A642
Lohmann, Larry Carbon trading: a
critical conversation on climate
change, privatisation ad power
Development dialogue 48, September
2006
www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/DD2006_48_ca
rbon_trading/carbon_trading_web.pdf
Jones, Peter Saving the planet or
selling off the atmosphere? Emissions
trading, capital accumulation and the
carbon rent Marxist interventions 1,
Semester 2 2011
2009,
www.anu.edu.au/polsci/mi/1/mi1jones.
pdf
Monbiot, George Heat: how to stop the
planet burning Penguin, London 2006,
Hancock QC981.8.G56 M639
Carbon Trade Watch, including many
useful publications critical of emissions
trading schemes
www.carbontradewatch.org
Tutorial 4
15 August
Class
What do the readings mean by class?
Is it a useful concept? Is there a ruling
class? Where do you fit into the class
structure? What are the implications of
class power for our lives?
How can the Wilkinson and Marmot
piece be related to social class?
What are the differences between Clark
and Lipsets and a Marxist conception
of class?
We will also discuss note-taking and
writing book reviews, references and
plagiarism.
Key concepts: forces of production,
relations of production, power,
working class, capitalist class, middle
class, class consciousness, bias,
objectivity, stratification.
Reading
Kuhn, Rick Introduction in Rick
Kuhn (ed.) Class and struggle in
Australia Pearson, Frenchs Forest 2005
pp. 1-20
Pietsch, Sam To have and to hold on
to: wealth, power and the capitalist
class in Rick Kuhn (ed.) Class and
struggle in Australia pp. 21-38
10
Tutorial 5
22 August
Additional Reading
Callinicos, Alex Marxism and the
national question in Chris Bambery
(ed.) Scotland: class and nation
Bookmarks, London 1999 pp. 37-48
Chifley HN398.S3 S368
Eddy, John What are the origins of
Australias national identity? in Frank
Castles Australia compared: people,
policies and politics Allen and Unwin,
Sydney 1991 pp. 17-37
Hobsbawm, Eric Nations and
nationalism since 1780 Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge 1991
Chifley JC311.H577 1990
Wellings, Ben Crown and Country:
empire and nation in Australian
nationalism, 1788-1999 Journal of
Australian colonial history 5, 2004 pp,
148-170
Lewis, Tom Marxism and nationalism
part 1 and part 2 International socialist
review 13 and 14, August-September
and October-November 2000
www.isreview.org/issues/13/marxism_
nationalism_part1.shtml and
www.isreview.org/issues/14/marxism_
nationalism_part2.shtml
Bryan, Dick and Michael Rafferty The
nation as an economic unit in Dick
Bryan and Michael Rafferty The global
economy in Australia Allen & Unwin,
Sydney 1999 pp. 34-60
McQueen, Humphrey A new Britannia
Penguin, Ringwood 1986 especially the
chapters Nationalists and Racists
Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger
(eds) The Invention of tradition
Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge 1983
Anderson, Benedict Imagined
communities Verso, London 1992
Chifley JC311.A53
Semester 2 2011
11
Additional Reading
Keen, Steve Why neoclassical
economics is dead East Asia forum, 30
May 2009,
www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/05/30/wh
y-neoclassical-economics-is-dead/
Friedman, Milton The methodology of
positive economics Essays in positive
economics University of Chicago Press,
Chicago 1970 (1953) pp. 3-43
members.shaw.ca/compilerpress1/Anno
%20Friedman%20Positive.htm argues
that unrealistic assumptions dont
matter
Keen, Steve Madness in their method
in George Argyrous and Frank Stilwell
Economics as a social science:
readings in political economy Pluto
Australia, North Melbourne 2003 pp.
140-145 Chifley HC605.E46 a concise
critique of Friedmans position
Tutorial 6
29 August
12
Tutorial 7
5 September
Trade unions
How much do workers have in common
with their bosses? Has the day of trade
unions passed?
Whose interests does the industrial
relations system serve?
If you were working would you join a
union? Why/why not?
We will also discuss essay writing and
structure.
Key concepts: working class, trade
union bureaucracy, reformism,
coercive unionism.
Reading
Fieldes, Diane From exploitation to
resistance and revolt: the working
class in Rick Kuhn (ed.) Class and
struggle in Australia Pearson, Frenchs
Forest 2005 pp. 56-70
Bramble, Tom Labour movement
leadership in Rick Kuhn (ed.) Class
and struggle in Australia Pearson,
Frenchs Forest 2005 p. 74-89
Why you should join your union
even if its pissweak Socialist
Alternative 26 May 1998 p. 20
Baird, Charles W. Hayek on labour
unions H. R. Nicholls Society
www.hrnicholls.com.au/articles/hrnbaird1.pdf
Resources at the Australian Council of
Trade Unions Join a union site
Semester 2 2011
www.unionsaustralia.com.au/ on the
web
For information about the current
industrial relations system in Australia
see the following on the web
Preparing for the Fair Work Act
Employment matters-special edition
Piper Alderman, March 2009 especially
the first page,
http://s2.webtemplate.com.au/bridgehe
ad/PiperAlderman/media/files/4429.pdf
Australian Council of Trade Unions
Fact sheeets 7 September 2009.
Additional Reading
Bramble, Tom War on the waterfront
Brisbane Defend Our Unions
Committee October 1998
www.takver.com/wharfie/wotw.htm
Bramble, Tom Trade unionism in
Australia 1967-2007: from flood to ebb
tide Cambridge University Press,
Melbourne 2008
Hayek, Friedrich The trade unions and
Britains economic decline 1980s
unemployment and the unions Hobart
Papers 87, Institute of Economic
Affairs, London 1980 pp. 49-58
Chifley HB34.I57
Other material hostile to unions on the
H. R. Nicholls Society site
www.hrnicholls.com.au
Coates, David Labour power and
international competitiveness Socialist
Register 1999 Merlin, London 2000
Fairbrother, Peter Trade unions at the
crossroads Mansell, London 2000
Chifley HD6664 .F23 2000
Peetz, David Unions in a contrary
world: the future of the Australian
trade union movement Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge 1998
Chifley HD6892 .P44 1998
13
14
Tutorial 8
26 September
Marxist economics
What are the assumptions of the labour
theory of value? How plausible are
they? Does this matter, so long as its
predictions are accurate? What
determines the value of a commodity?
What is the distinction between labour
and labour power? What are profits?
Whose interests does Marxist
economics serve?
How have Marxist economists
responded to the global economic crisis
since 2007? (You will need to do some
additional research and reading to
answer this).
Key concepts: use value, exchange
value, value, socially necessary labour
time, labour power, surplus value, rate
of profit, rate of surplus value/rate of
exploitation.
Reading
Smith, David and Evans Phil Marxs
Kapital for beginners Pantheon, New
York 1982
Green, Peter The basic ideas of Marxist
economics Socialist Workers Party
1986
Conway, D. A farewell to Marx
Penguin, Harmondsworth 1987 pp. 82114
Tutorial 9
3 October
SUBMIT essay by
1.00 pm Wednesday 5 October
late marks will then be deducted
Semester 2 2011
15
www.barbarapocock.com.au/document
s/havingalife.pdf
Fausto-Sterling, Anne Myths of gender:
biological theories about women and
men Basic Books, New York 1992
Hancock QP81.5.F38 1985
Tutorial 10
10 October
Racism
What are common ideas about how
racism arises and what can be done
about it? How convincing are these
ideas?
What are the main priorities for
government Indigenous policies
advocated in the pieces by Armstrong,
Rudd, Pholi, Black and Richards, and
Hughes and Warin? How do they
account for the situation of Indigenous
people in Australia? Outline the
differences and similarities amongst
them?
Key concepts: racism, White Australia,
multiculturalism, self-determination.
Reading
First check out this summary of the
situation of Indigenous people in
Australia on the web: Overview
Steering Committee for the Review
Overcoming Indigenous disadvantage:
key indicators 2009. Report
Productivity Commission, Melbourne
2009
www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenous/
keyindicators2009 (lots of pages, but
not a lot of words on each, check it out
on the web)
Armstrong, Mick Aborigines:
problems of race and in Rick Kuhn
(ed.) Class and struggle in Australia
16
Additional Reading
General
Markus, Andrew Race: John Howard
and the remaking of Australia Allen &
Unwin, St Leonards 2001 Menzies
DU120.M372 2001
Anti-Aboriginal racism
Evans, Raymond and Bill Thorpe The
Massacre of Australian History,
Overland 163, Winter 2001
National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol
Committee Bridges and barriers
Tutorial 11
17 October
Semester 2 2011
17
Tutorial 12
24 October
Role Play
during lectures in week 12
Attendance at and participation in the
Role Play is a required part of the
course.
The Role Play is in many ways a
culmination of the course, which
provides an opportunity to exercise
the skills and understanding you
have developed during the semester.
Participation in the Role Play
involves production (individually or
in groups) of leaflets, preparation
outside class time for your
contribution to the debate and
contributing to the debate during the
Role Play itself.
During the Role Play, keep these
focus questions in mind:
what are the main positions?
what assumptions are they based
on?
18
Semester 2 2011
19
20
Tutorial 13
31 October
SUBMIT ROLE PLAY ARTICLE
by 1.00 pm Thursday 4 November
late marks will then be deducted
Semester 2 2011
21
Inclusive language
You are encouraged to be precise in
your speech and writing. For example,
when you mean the male sex then
man may be the appropriate term, but
not if the human species as a whole is
meant. Referring to a male person as
he is fine but not if the person
referred to could be female.
Help is available
The Academic Skills and Learning
Centre (ground floor Pauline Griffin
Building, phone 6125-2972),
https://academicskills.anu.edu.au, can
help you improve your ability to meet
the requirements of university study,
including note taking, essay writing,
English language skills and
understanding what teachers want.
The Counselling Service (Counselling
Centre & Health Services Building,
next to Sports Union, 6125-2442) is
22
Assessment
The second examiner for this course is
John Minns. Assessment items will
not be accepted for marking more
than two weeks after their due dates.
Your final mark will be weighted
within the limits indicated to maximise
the outcome. The following is proposed
as assessment for this course:
Book review (1 000 words)
Submit review 1.00 pm Wednesday
31 August
Weighting Min 25% Max 35%
Essay (2 000 words)
Submit by 1.00 pm Wednesday 5
October
Weighting Min 50% Max 60%
Role Play, including
400 word leaflet, submit by start of
Role Play during lectures in week 12
600 word Role Play article, submit
by 1.00 pm Thursday 4 November
Weighting Min 15% Max 25%
Learning outcomes
Each assessment item will assess all
the learning outcomes on page 2 of
this course outline
Book review
1 000
words,
due
1.00
pm
Wednesday 31 August.
Marks will then be deducted at the
rate of 2% per working day or part
thereof.
Around five of the best reviews will be
published in the Australian review of
political economy, www.anu.edu.au/
polsci/arpe/. Some of the best reviews
from previous years are on this site.
Checklists
It will be much easier to write your
review if you take notes and/or
annotate your copy (if you own it!) as
you read. If you are reviewing an edited
collection, provide an overview of its
main concerns and chapter topics, then
focus on one or two particularly
significant chapters.
See the section on Writing essays on
page 32.
Your review should
be of an approved book.
be based on research notes which
must be available for submission to
the examiner if required. Should you
be unable to provide your research
notes when required, the essay may
be given a mark of zero.
give the reader a clear indication of
what the book is about.
include a brief summary of the
structure of the book and its overall
argument.
try to place the book in context: is it
written in a particular tradition or
from
a
particular
theoretical
perspective, does it support/refute/
ignore arguments made by other
writers on this topic?
Semester 2 2011
23
24
Essay/Project
2 000 words due 1.00 pm Wednesday
5 October
Marks will then be deducted at the
rate of 2% per working day or part
thereof.
Topic
A good essay is a well-organised
argument, it is not a series of facts,
descriptions or quotations. The point of
any essay is not just to show the
amount of information you know about
a particular topic, but to develop and
demonstrate your ability to think
critically, for example, by assessing
other peoples arguments, applying
theories, explaining developments,
comparing arguments or empirical
material and using empirical material to
support your own arguments. Bear
these considerations in mind both when
you select your essay question and
when you answer it. See the section on
Writing essays below.
Checklists
Your essay should
be on an approved topic.
be on a topic distinct from that dealt
with in the book you reviewed.
be based on research notes which
must be available for submission to
the examiner if required. Should you
be unable to provide your research
notes when required, the essay may
be given a mark of zero.
make use material beyond references
in this course outline.
have footnotes and a bibliography
using the format indicated in the
section
Referencing
and
bibliographies below. Marks will
be
deducted
for
inadequate
Semester 2 2011
25
26
Semester 2 2011
Checklists
The article should
be based on notes which must be
available for submission to the
examiner if required. Should you be
unable to provide your notes when
required, the article may be given a
mark of zero.
be written for a specific newspaper
or magazine, in an appropriate style.
comply with the ANU Code of
Practice for Student Academic
Integrity
27
http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/co
de_of_practice_for_student_academi
c_integrity/policy.
where appropriate, address the
following questions about the Role
Play:
what were the main positions?
what assumptions were they
based on?
what theoretical positions did
they draw on?
what were the actual alliances in
the meeting, what alliances were
possible?
with whose interests were the
different positions compatible?
what was the outcome of the
meeting and its implications?
28
http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/co
de_of_practice_for_student_academi
c_integrity/policy.
have a hard copy or electronic backups of the essay.
safely store the notes you used in
preparing the essay.
Submission
Submit the essay through the School
essay slot, outside the School Office,
Haydon-Allen room G41. The Schools
administrative staff keeps a record of
essays etc received. So if it goes
missing you are covered. For this
reason do not submit essays direct to
Rick or your tutor and certainly not
under office doors.
AS the final piece of assessment, Role
Play articles will be returned after the
release of final results for the semester.
They will be treated like exam scripts
ie no comments.
Semester 2 2011
capitalist system: being also a theory of
crises, Pluto Press, London, 1992, p. 37.
6. ibid., pp. 87-93.
29
30
Really
A system of allocating marks to
students work that
1. trains students to follow often
abitrary instructions in return for
rewards (that forshadow wages) in
preparation for doing the same in
the labour market.
2. adjusts students expectations about
their capacities and likely
remuneration when they enter the
full-time labour market.
3. provides, when aggregated,
employers with indications of the
kind of skills prospective employees
have.
Officially
High Distinction (Above 80)
Work of exceptional quality
showing a command of subject
matter and appreciation of issues
Has a clearly formulated argument
which is developed throughout the
work
Engages the question or topic
throughout the assignment
Demonstrates wide reading of
relevant literature
Very well expressed
High level of intellectual work
Credit (60-69)
Work of good quality showing an
understanding of subject matter and
appreciation of main issues though
possibly with some lapses and
inadequacies
Has an argument which may not be
fully sustained throughout the essay
and is possibly marred by minor
weaknesses
Fair range of reading
Well prepared and presented
Expression may need improvement
in places
Solid intellectual work
Distinction (70-79)
Work of high quality showing
strong grasp of subject matter and
appreciation of major issues though
not necessarily of the finer points
Has a clear argument which may not
be fully sustained throughout the
work
Masters most of the concepts and
issues raised by the question
Shows diligent research
Clearly expressed
Pass (50-59)
Work of fair quality showing
awareness of the main issues in the
question but has difficulty framing a
relevant response
Argument may be weak
Takes a factual approach and does
not attempt to interpret the findings
Modest level of research
Written expression and scholarly
conventions need improvement
Competent intellectual work
Fail (Below 50)
Work of poor quality
A lack of understanding or
misconception of the issues and
concepts raised in the question
No clear argument is presented
Insufficient grasp of the relevance
and interrelatedness of the material
being presented
Poorly researched
Expression that is difficult to
understand
Semester 2 2011
Appeals procedures
If you genuinely believe you have
received an inappropriate or incorrect
result, there are steps you can take to
have that result reviewed. This must be
done within 30 working days of the
formal notification of results. Your first
point of contact should always be your
tutor or the course convenor.See
http://cass.anu.edu.au/currentstudents/rules-and-policies/appeals.
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32
Writing Essays
In practice it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate out the form of an essay from its content.
You may have the best, most original ideas but be unable to convey them to a reader. Essay
writing is an exercise in communication. It has some peculiarities, like references and a focus on
the specified topic, but shares features with other forms of communication.
Essays are or should be arguments which address the essay question. Telling a story may be
entertaining but it is not enough. You need to make a case for a particular position and organise
subarguments, evidence, references etc to persuade the reader of the correctness of your analysis.
In particular it is necessary to think carefully about the structure of your argument:
what is the overall argument, i.e. what do you want people to conclude from the essay (it
should be possible to summarise this in a couple of sentences at most)?
what is the structure of your argument, the logic of your case? Have you made these clear to
the reader by providing sign-posts.
which points, examples, quotations should come first, in what order should they all go?
is there a need for empirical evidence to support your argument and the assertions that
constitute it?
If you want to convince the person reading your essay of the correctness of the case you make,
you will need to conduct research. This will provide you with additional arguments and evidence
and enable you to refer the reader to the sources of these for more details and so they can be
checked. So you should not confine your research to just a couple of articles or books on the
reading list. Your essay will be stronger if you present well founded and supported arguments
and evidence which are the product of your independent reading.
Think about your prose style. The way you put together your phrases, sentences and paragraphs
makes a difference to how easy your argument is to understand. To get into practice, try
analysing the styles of different authors you have to read in this and other courses. Which ones
are the easiest to understand? Why? How do they do it? For particularly lucid prose read, for
example, some George Orwell (Homage to Catalonia), Lytton Strachey (Eminent Victorians).
Orwells Politics and the English Language in Inside the Whale and Other Essays Penguin
Harmondsworth 1966 is an excellent guide to clear writing. It is on the web at
http://eserver.org/theory/politics-and-english-lang.txt.
If you are not sure about referencing, preparing bibliographies or the spelling of a word then
look it up or check the right procedure. Dictionaries are not hard to find. The Australian bible
for the correct use of abbreviations, punctuation, referencing, bibliographies etc. is the Style
manual for authors, editors and printers 6th edition Wiley, Brisbane 2002, available at the
information desk, Chifley Library.
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How to Read
The points below are questions you should probably have in mind when you read
anything at all (including newspapers, books, graffiti, journals, paintings, TV
shows and especially web sites), but certainly anything you read in association
with this course.
The text itself
What is the author trying to say? That is, what is the logic of her/his argument?
This is crucial to understanding the text as a whole, rather than just bits and
pieces of it.
What are the main steps or subsidiary arguments in the overall case, ie how is it
organised and structured to generate its conclusions?
How are the arguments supported in terms of evidence, logic, examples,
emotional appeal?
What sort of style is used?
Context
Why is the author making her/his case and why in this way? What are his/her
material interests and background?
Where and when was the text originally published?
What is/was the audience(s)?
In what tradition(s) does the author stand ie who are/were her/his sources and
authorities in terms of the kind of arguments, the way they are made, what
supports them. Who are her/his opponents inside or outside this tradition?
What knowledge, politics, orientation, experience does the author assume his/her
audience has? And what does the author consider to be irrelevant that others
may consider relevant to the argument? Why? Is the author asking the right
questions?
That is, what can you tell about the text from what isnt there?
Reliability
Is the information in the text likely to be accurate and reliable? Are there
references to sources? Are assertions backed up with serious arguments and
information?
Is the source more useful for its account of particular facts and developments or
because it is evidence of the specific standpoint/position of a political actor or
both?
These questions are particularly important for web sources, including Wikipedia,
which like is not an appropriate authority for academic writing. Nor are nonspecialist dictionaries.
Self-consciousness
What assumptions/theories are you bringing to the text? How do they influence
your answers to the above questions?
Critical assessment
The questions above may help to provide a basis for making critical assessments
of the texts originality, strengths, weaknesses, implications, persuasiveness,
applicability, acceptability etc.