L.O.1 examine and practise the language skills and strategies necessary to write university essays, focussing on aspects such as style and tone of academic writing, analysing essay topics  L.O.2 plan and apply strategies of structuring an essay such as paraphrasing, in text citations, referencing and thus avoid plagiarism  L.O.3 analyse and integrate data into a written text; practise and apply reading strategies and skills enabling students to read academic texts resourcefully.

Length – 1500 words

Weightage – 40% (Outline = 50 marks, Essay write-up = 50 marks)

ASSESSMENT TASK 1: DESCRIPTION Plan and write an essay of about 1500 words (excluding citations, and reference list), which uses only the research material provided in the Assignment Pack on LearnJCU to address the topic. This assignment requires you to apply your knowledge of essay structure and demonstrate your ability to incorporate research material into an academic argument, as discussed in lectorials. Along with effective academic style and essay structure, you will be assessed on your ability to analyse and synthesise research, rather than your ability to undertake research. Begin by analysing the question and defining all terms within it. Read the material provided to decide how you will answer. Plan an essay that addresses all aspects of the question, and which uses the material to support your answer, either by direct quote, or by paraphrase or summary. You are not required to use all the material; in fact, please do not. You should consider the material in its entirety, then select at least five sources that support the points you want to make. When you express your opinion, make sure it is supported with evidence from one or more of the sources. Before you begin to plan your essay, read all the source material thoroughly. Use a good dictionary or Google to look up words or ideas that you do not understand, not for further research, but for clarification. Add and locate one original text (not given in the Reading Pack) to support your argument. Ensure you do not rely too heavily on a single source. Your aim is to present a balanced and well-organised synthesis of sources relevant to your thesis. You need to quote selectively, and paraphrase and summarise strategically. You need to make quotes part of your own sentence structures (while indicating a source’s words with quotation marks), introduce paraphrases or summaries with the source’s name, and ensure that all quotes, paraphrases and summaries support points of your own. The essay should be a logical argument. Begin with an introduction that gives background, states your thesis and outlines paragraph topics. Ensure each paragraph has a theme sentence and develops a single aspect of your argument. Finish with a conclusion that summarises the principal points, and restates the thesis more specifically and in new words. The essay should be written in appropriate academic style. Your essay should conform to the structural and linguistic requirements outlined in the lectorial handouts. Quotes and citations should be smoothly introduced, properly punctuated, and correctly cited in APA style. Include an APA style reference list at the end of your essay on a separate page. Follow the citation methods outlined in the Library guide on APA formatting:http://libguides.jcu.edu.au/c.php?g=162333. Please be aware that the sources provided in the Assignment Pack are not necessarily written in APA style. You will need to change them to conform to the conventions of APA. Refer to the assessment criteria below for this assignment, and edit your assignment carefully to be sure it addresses these criteria. Use 12-point Times New Roman font and double space with appropriate margins. All work will be submitted electronically via Dropbox on LearnJCU