18/03/2015
How to Decode your
Assignment Instructions
Writing Centre and Study Skills Support, Faculty
of Arts
[email protected]
Dr Jillian Schedneck
[email protected]
Outline
• Going over the typical way assignments are
given at university
• The details of your assignment instructions
• Examples of assignment questions and
instructions
• Helpful links to help with decoding assignment
instructions
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Your assignment instructions
The requirements will vary from course to course
Most important: The question
Sometimes you will have one question and other
times you will have lots of options.
Choose strategically.
Your assignment instructions
Also important:
The further instructions
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Word count
Sources, number and referencing style
How and when to submit it
Marking criteria / rubric
Any further tips about what to include in your
essay / assignment
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Your assignment instructions
Most of the information about your assignment
should be in your course guide, so look there first.
Sometimes you will receive another handout, which
should also be posted on your MyUni for that
course (usually under the heading Assignments).
If it doubt, listen to the discussion about the
assignment in lectures and tutorials, and then if you
still have questions unanswered, ask you tutor.
Your assignment instructions
All of these precise instructions can be hard to get
used to.
Your tutors want you to follow the instructions
exactly, while also writing in your own academic
voice and expressing your own reasoned opinion.
The good news: your tutors / lecturers are not
trying to trick you. The instructions state exactly
what they want to read in your essay.
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Your assignment question
In the Arts faculty, your assignment questions
are generally asking you to make an ARGUMENT.
In other faculties, you are generally being asked
to do a number of things, most of which include
explaining.
Arts of Engagement essay example
Free speech (freedom of expression) is an end in itself. It is a good in itself
(the rights argument). Is it?
Mill’s approach does not take account of any right to privacy. Does privacy
trump free speech? Consider the Monis (2013) case or other practical
examples to debate this problem.
Snowden, Manning and Assange leaked security information. Does national
security override free speech?
Should ‘offensive’ speech be subject to regulation? Use examples to debate
the question.
Should the Racial Vilification Act be reformed on the grounds of upholding
free speech, as is currently claimed by the Abbott government?
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Arts of Engagement essay instructions:
From the course guide:
Note that some of these topics require you to choose a
contemporary or historical examples, which may be
Australian-based or based elsewhere or international in
orientation. Depending on the topic you may need to
employ media or other less scholarly sources. You should
still use scholarly sources for most of your research and
as the grounds for your argumentation. Also do
remember that you are expected to go beyond the
provided Set and Additional Readings.
Arts of Engagement essay instructions
Essay: 1,500 words, Mark 30%; due Friday 12noon by second week of
mid-semester break, 24th April
Research Essays in this course are focussed upon argumentation
(rather than mere opinion) using a range of relevant texts and
particularly scholarly texts. A section of one of the lectures will attend
to research essay writing. Additionally Resources are provided in
MyUNI to assist with essay writing as well as practical guidance. There
are also other step by step tutorials within the Academic Skills
Resources course in MyUNI, such as Essay Writing Basics and Making
an Argument.
There will also be discussion and practical activities concerning essay
writing in the seminar program.
Your tutor will be able to assist you with advice on the presentation of
essays and with ways to improve your writing skills. If you think that
your written work would benefit from further assistance, contact the
ARTs Faculty based Study Skills Team.
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Arts of Engagement essay instructions
You should feel free to discuss the exact style and format of any written work
with your tutor.
All essays must be submitted electronically as Turnitin Assignments on
MYUNI. Be sure to keep a copy of your essay. The submission of the essay
includes a declaration concerning the authenticity of your work and your
understanding of the University’s policies and procedures on plagiarism.
Essays that do not include appropriate citation of sources in Harvard style
and a full bibliography may not be accepted. Your bibliography should
consist mostly of scholarly sources as in the Annotated Bibliography.
You will receive feedback (including comments and a marking rubric) via
MyUNI as well as an overall mark for the Annotated Bibliography and
Individual Research Essay, which is worth 40% of the total marks. You can
find out how to submit your assignment on Turnitin and how to find your
feedback and grade in Resources tutorials provided in MyUNI.
GSSA question example
Question: Connell writes that ‘gender must be
understood as a social structure. It is not an
expression of biology, nor a fixed dichotomy in
human life or character. It is a pattern in our social
arrangements’ (2009: 10). What do you think
Connell means by this statement and can you give
two examples to support your argument?
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GSSA assignment instructions
To do this assignment, you should read carefully the
readings by Connell and Cranny-Francis et al. at
from Week One and reflect upon the lectures. Use
newspapers or other media as examples to support
your discussion. Your answer should be in the form
of an essay with an introduction and a conclusion,
not just questions and answers.
GSSA assignment instructions
You are expected to reference your work using the
Harvard system, and a bibliography of works used
should be attached on a separate page. For this
assignment it is sufficient to list only the first two
articles in your reader, but you may refer to further
readings if you wish. Also list any media articles that
you have used.
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GSSA assignment instructions
We are using this first assignment to get you thinking about
the key concepts in this course, but you will also be learning
how to write in an academic style and how to reference your
work. You will thus be assessed according to four main
criteria:
1- The complexity of your argument (i.e. you must have (i.e.
you must have an argument and it needs to go beyond a
‘yes’ or ‘no’ approach to address the question of why gender
should be understood as a social structure)
2- The way you have supported this answer or argument
with reference to Connell and Cranny-Francis et al.
3- The way you have supported your answer with your two
chosen examples
4- Presentation (referencing, bibliography, style)
Classics Question
• Question: Compare and contrast these two primary
source excerpts (below) in the way that they represent
the character of Odysseus. Try to account for the
essential differences between these two
representations.
• You should concentrate on the actual excerpts although
you will need to refer to some secondary sources to place
these primary sources in context (see Hints on Reading
Primary Sources below). This is particularly true of the
excerpt from the Philoctetes and some material has been
placed on MyUni to help you understand the context of
this play. Remember that any secondary sources you use
must be cited.
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Your assignment question
http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Student%20servic
es/Student%20Learning%20Development%20Service/Doc
uments/Albany/Brochures/Assignment%20Writing/Under
standing%20Essay%20Questions.pdf
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/understandingassignments/
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/general/
essay/essay-topic/2.xml
Analysing an Essay Question - The University of Sydney
Common problems with essays
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Lack of argument
Introduction too long and complicated
Content goes off topic
Lack of structure or organisation
Paragraphs are either too long or too short
Evidence used within body paragraphs are not
clearly explained
• Missing topic sentences
• Missing conclusion sentences to paragraphs
(summary sentences to end each paragraph)
• Lack of conclusion
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Academic Skills Resources course in
your MyUni under ‘Other Courses’
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Essay Writing Basics
Making an Argument
Using Sources
Paragraph Writing
Considering your Audience
Grammar Basics
Advanced Grammar: Cohesion
Final Tips:
• Think of each essay as series of one
paragraph units rather than 1500 to 2500
words in total (which can be overwhelming)
• Write
research
write
• If you’re having trouble, ask for an
extension. The worst that can happen is
that your tutor says “no.”
• Hand SOMETHING in. Your essay draft is
probably better than you think.
• Your tutors and lecturers WANT YOU TO DO
WELL.
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There is help!
Study Skills Support: Napier G60,
email [email protected]
to make an appointment
Academic Skills Resources: MyUni
course with online
tutorials for writing essays
English for Uni:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/english
-for-uni/
Writing Centre: Hub Level 3
Writing Centre learning guides:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/writing
centre/learning_guides
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