Essay plan and annotated bibliography

Please note that there are no set questions for the major essay assessment of this course. Rather, students will be required to formulate their own research question. The question must relate to one of the twelve topics covered in this course and should be ‘ or critical’ in nature; i.e. it should provide scope for a critical analysis of the topic and associated issues under consideration, and the development of a cohesive and coherent argument (we will discuss critical questions in the first seminar of the course). The essay plan is designed in part to provide students with the opportunity to develop their skills in formulating research questions.

Students will be required to formulate their own research question and submit this question, along with an essay plan and annotated bibliography, on the 31st of March. Feedback will be provided in order to provide students with adequate time to revise their plans, if necessary, and prepare their essay.

The essay plan will be required to outline the following:

€¢    A clear statement of the course topic to which the proposed research question relates;
€¢    The research question itself;
€¢    A short paragraph outlining the main focus of  the essay and the rationale for posing the stated essay question;
€¢    A brief outline of the proposed essay’s  structure. This need not be too detailed and can be quite general €“ it      should only provide a rough guide of the main issues to be considered or  points to be made in the essay. I am looking for evidence that you have considered the question, and how best this might be approached in a way      that allows you to construct and develop a structured and coherent  argument; and
€¢    An annotated bibliography of sources consulted (see below).

The essay plan and the annotated bibliography will be assessed against the following criteria:
€¢    The ability to formulate a critical’ research  question, one that provides a sound basis for a critical analysis of the   topic, and related issues, under consideration;
€¢    The conformity of the question with one of the  twelve topics covered in the course (questions unrelated to one of the  course topics will not be accepted);
€¢    The ability to establish clear research  parameters (your plan should state what the main focus of the essay will  be); and
€¢    The proposed structure of the essay outlined in the plan
€¢    The quality of the summaries and analysis of sources included as part of the annotated bibliography

Writing an annotated bibliography

The aim of this part of the exercise is to encourage you to begin thinking about the theoretical foundations of your research paper and to begin engaging with the academic literature upon which you will draw in the construction of your core arguments when you write your research paper.

For this part of the assignment, you should research and identify six academic sources that will inform your arguments in your research paper and create a bibliography of those sources. These sources should not be drawn from the Required reading’ listed as in the course outline.

You should then annotate the bibliography with a few lines about why you have chosen each source, what you hope to draw from it, how it fits with the rest of the literature with which you engage and so on.

Guidance on writing an annotated bibliography can be found on the UNSW Learning Centre website athttp://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/annotated_bib.html.

Specifically, your annotated bibliography should:
€¢    Provide the full bibliographic      citation for each source discussed
€¢    Demonstrate the      quality and depth of reading that you have done

And for each text:
€¢    Indicate the content or scope
€¢    Outline the main argument
€¢    Identify any conclusions made by the author/s
€¢    Discuss the relevance  or usefulness of the text for your research
€¢    Point out in what way the text relates to themes or concepts in your course
€¢    State the strengths and limitations of the text
€¢    Present your view or  reaction to the text

Your paper must be uploaded to TurnItIn on Moodle, and a Hard copy is to be submitted to the appropriate assignment box located on the First Floor of the Morven Brown Building by 4pm Tuesday 31th March. You must include proof of submission through TurnItIn, e.g. a screen-shot showing submission is complete or the email you receive acknowledging submission. UNSW provides support for students in using TurnItIn athttps://student.unsw.edu.au/turnitin-support. This webpage includes information on how to generate and interpret originality reports in TurnItIn. Support is also available from the central TurnItIn Help Center at  http://turnitin.com/en_us/support/help-center.

<50
(F)    50-64 (P)
65-74 (C)
75-84 (D)
>85
(HD)

Essay Question
Question does not relate to   one or more of the course topics; is unclear or poorly phrased                             Essay Question
Question clearly relates to   one or more of the course topics; is clearly phrased, concise and ‘
Structure of Proposed Essay
Structure indicated is not   logical and/or does not provide a clear indication of how the question will   be addressed and/or is largely incoherent                             Structure of Proposed Essay
Structure indicated is   coherent and logical and clearly provides a sound basis for properly   addressing the question in a well-developed manner
Choice of material and sources:
Includes largely irrelevant   and/or inappropriate literature                             Choice of material and sources:
Represents an excellent   selection of relevant literature demonstrating significant independent   research.
Engagement with material:
Patchy or misguided   interpretation. Showing little or no understanding of the material.                             Engagement with material:
Shows a sound understanding   with consistent and mature insight.
Quality of analysis:
Shows limited or no effort   to relate sources to research paper. Entirely descriptive.                             Quality of analysis:
Relate sources to research   paper exceptionally well. Avoids description and explains concisely the   relevance of each source.
Style and presentation:
Significant lapses or   disregard for presentational standards and formalities of academic work.                             Style and presentation:
Of excellent or very good   standard with minor lapses at most.

These tick box sections are not weighted equally with regards to your final mark.

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