Reference no: EM132393326 , Length: word count:1000

Task 1 - Summary

A robust opinion is an informed opinion. This means that it is grounded in the scholarship on the particular topic to which we are contributing. It is important that we consider the views of scholars who have expertise and experience on the topic. When considering these views, it is essential that we demonstrate our understanding of them in a clear and concise way. We do this by summarising an author's ideas and the evidence they present to support them. This summary task will provide the opportunity to develop your critical reading skills and your capacity to identify and succinctly express essential ideas relating to Australian society as well as practicing applying scholarly conventions in your written work.

Assessment Requirements - For this assessment task you are required to write a 400 word summary of the reading for Week 3. The reading is: Bastian, B. (2012) Immigration, multiculturalism and the changing face of Australia. In D. Bretherton & N. Balvin (eds). Peace psychology in Australia (pp. 55-70). New York: Springer.

For the summary you will need to provide a brief statement of the author's argument, or what is sometimes referred to as the author's thesis position, and the key points that support this in your own words. This means that you must identity the main point/s that the author is communicating through the reading and the key pieces of information that support this main point. You will need to be very concise in the summary as you only have 400 words to summarise the essence of the reading. Here is a video that takes you through a sample summaryso you can see how it's done.

Structure of the summary -

It is important that you set out your summary of the author's views in an easy to follow way. The recommended structure is:

Introduction - a brief outline of what you will be covering in your summary

• The main topic - what is this reading about?
• The author's thesis - what is the author's position on the main topic?
• Key points - what are the 3 main arguments the author presents that demonstrate this position?

Body - discussion of these 3 key points

• Author's arguments
• Evidence and examples provided to support the arguments
• Author's conclusion

Task 2 - Short answer critical reviews

'All opinions are not equal.' It is important that we are able to critically consider the ideas we encounter. We do this by assessing them objectively by referring to expertise, evidence and examples. This task builds on the skills developed in the summary task by asking you to use the ideas and information found in scholarly sources to critically review the opinions expressed by public figures. This short answer task will provide the opportunity for you to further develop your critical reading skills and your capacity to identify and succinctly express essential ideas relating to Australian society as well as practicing applying scholarly conventions in your written work.

Assessment Description - For this assessment task you are required to complete five short answer critical reviews of the news items provided from week 2 to week 7 (except for week 3). No other sources are necessary. Each short answer critical review should relate to the news item and required reading for the appropriate week and should consist of around 200 words. The total words for the completed task should not exceed 1000 words.

In order to produce brief but accurate critical reviews you will need to comprehend the arguments contained in the news items and the required readings and select the essential points and information. You'll need to identify the topic being discussed in the news item, identify the individual presenting their ideas on the topic, briefly summarise the point of view being presented and then critique this opinion using the ideas and information of a scholar with expertise and experience on the topic in the required reading for the appropriate week. You do not need to summarise the entire required reading, just the author's arguments, evidence and examples that relate specifically to the topic being raised in the news item. Here is a critical review drafting tool which includes an example of a critical review of the week 3 news item and scholarly source to show you how it's done.

Assessment Requirements - You are required to critique the claims made in the news items provided for weeks 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 using the argument, information and examples found in the required readings for those specific weeks. Each short answer critical review should be around 200 words. The news items and required readings are:

Week 2 -

Abbott, T. (2014) Address to the Sydney Institute, 14 November 2014.

Gammage, B. (2011). Fire in 1788: The closest ally. Australian Historical Studies 42(2), 277-288.

Week 4 -

Morrison, S. (2018) On The Australia Day Debate, Sunrise, Channel 7, 24 September 2018.

Grehan, H. (2018) First Nations Politics in a Climate of Refusal, Performance Research, 23:3, pp. 7-12.

Week 5 -

Morrison, S. (2018) Response to Richard Di Natale question without notice, Question Time, Parliament of Australia, 26 November 2018.

Carson, L. (2011) Dilemmas, disasters and deliberative democracy, Griffith Review Edition 32: Wicked Problems, Exquisite Dilemmas, May 2011.

Week 6 -

Turnbull, M and May, T. (2017) Turnbull and May confident of free trade deal, The Guardian, 11 July 2017.

Derek McDougall (2016) Australia and Brexit: Déjà Vu All Over Again? The Round Table, 105:5, 557-572.

Week 7 -

Gillard, J. (2012) In Conversation: Australia in Asian Century White Paper, The Lowy Institute. 21 November 2012.

Johnson, C. et.al. (2010) Australia's Ambivalent Re-imagining of Asia, Australian Journal of Political Science,45:1, 59-74.

Structure of each short answer critical review -

It is important that you set out your critical reviews in an easy to follow way. The recommended structure is:

• The main topic - what is this news article about?
• The speaker's thesis - what is the public figure's position on the main topic?
• The author's argument - what is the author of this week's required reading's main point on this topic?
• Evidence and examples provided to support the author's argument
• Author's conclusion on the topic.

Task 3 - Country Report

A good relationship with its neighbours is essential to ensuring Australia's peace and prosperity. A strong economy requires long term, secure trading partnerships, open access to markets and dynamic investment arrangements. Equally, regional stability requires that Australia maintains effective national security capabilities in partnership with key countries in the region. In order to ensure our international relations are effective, it is essential that Australia's government officials and diplomats make sound, evidence-based foreign policy. A comprehensive knowledge of what happened in the past to influence Australia's present important regional relationships is vital to ensure the implementation of an effective foreign policy for the future. This report task will provide the opportunity to develop your critical reading skills and your capacity to identify and succinctly explain Australia's relations with key countries since 1945, as well as applying scholarly conventions in your written work.

Assessment Requirements - For this task you need to prepare a 1000 word country report on Australia's bi-lateral relationship with either the United States, Japan, China or Indonesia.

For the country report you need to provide a report detailing the most important aspects of Australia's relationship with your chosen country. It is important that you do not write a briefing that is just about the country itself. You will find information on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) website which may provide a general guide of what you might include. However, this is an official source, prepared by the government department responsible for international diplomacy. As such, it will necessarily steer away from controversial issues, or seek to gloss over tensions in the relationship. Discussion on these will be found in the required readings. You may also consult the additional reading resources but this is not essential.

Your report should include details on the following:

1. Economic relationship

2. Strategic relationship

3. Diplomatic relationship

The country report must be written in proper prose form using complete grammatical sentences. Dot points are not acceptable. Your country report must be written in your own words.

Structure of the country report

It is important that you set out your report in an easy to follow way. The recommended structure is:

Introduction - a brief outline of what you will be covering in your country report

The main topic - the importance of this bi-lateral relationship to Australia

The author's thesis - why this bi-lateral relationship is so important to Australia's national interest

Key points -the 3 main arguments the author presents that demonstrate this position?

Body - discussion of these 3 key points

Australia's current economic, strategic and diplomatic relationship with the chosen country in its historical perspective

Evidence and examples from your sources to support the claims

Conclusion - a brief summary of the recommendations for the future

Author's conclusions on what is necessary to ensure the relationship is effective in the future

You are required to include a reference list and cite in the text of the report the author, year and page number/s of the sources where your information and ideas come from. You must use the APA (in-text) referencing system.

Attachment:- Assignment File.rar