Australian Indigenous Politics

Formal academic essays are assessed in terms of:

1. The quality, relevance, comprehensiveness and criticality of information provided. A good essay will make use of the information provided in the course lectures and readings. We want to see you demonstrate your understanding of the key issues we have presented and discussed. Information should be fully referenced to scholarship. (DO NOT to reference lectures or tutorial sheets – find information in published sources instead).

2. The structure provided to support the reader’s understanding of this information. A formal academic essay will have an introduction, a body of argument in respect of textual evidence, and a conclusion. A good essay will start with a clear statement of position relevant to the question, will be structured coherently around a logical sequence of discussion points that challenge and ultimately support this position, and which lead to a point of conclusion.

3. The quality of the language and the writing style: grammar, expression, flow. The language used should be formal in style: not emotive, capitalised names, correct spelling…

How to write a good essay:

· Keep key Course themes and aims (frequently listed at the start of each lecture and summarised in the final lecture) in mind as you prepare your response. You don’t need to agree with any of the claims we have made in this Course, but you do need to justify your point of view.

· Most of the questions ask you to take a position and to argue for it by developing an argument around a chain of evidence referenced to scholarly sources.

· Know your position before you start writing

· Know how you can argue for it

· Make a plan of your argument before you start, including what evidence you can use

· Structure your discussion so that each paragraph connects directly back to the question and argues a point in favour of your position.

· It is crucial to plan your essay properly BEFORE you start writing. You should know EXACTLY what you want to argue in response to the question, and what you will conclude, before you begin writing. Prepare an essay plan with your argument outline set out in dot-points. These will help you to maintain a coherent structure.

· You need to JUSTIFY each point you make by citing textual evidence, properly referenced.

· Make sure that your essay is COHERENT and does what you say it will do. A common error for students to make is to state a position at the outset, change their minds during the essay, and end up concluding a different thesis. Stay on track with your argument, and make sure your conclusion matches the position expressed in the intro.

An example Essay Plan:

To what extent will Australia have achieved postcolonial Reconciliation when we have ‘closed the gap’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples’ equal opportunities to health, education and employment? (n.b. this is NOT one of the set questions!) Before I start writing I need to know my position: I think ‘closing the gap’ by ensuring all citizens have equal access to health, education and employment is an important aspect of Reconciliation; but I think Reconciliation further involves recognising and respecting the political and civil right of peoples to self-determination. In its current form, Closing the Gap does not adequately recognise Indigenous self-determination and so is limited as a tool for Reconciliation

Intro: 1. Indicate the thesis statement & focus of the essay (and define key terms): Reconciliation is not only about addressing Indigenous disadvantage by securing equal enjoyment of citizenship and socio-economic rights, but also is about recognising and valuing cultural difference as an aspect of self-determination. 2. Outline essay structure: this essay will begin by outlining the ‘closing the gap’ policy. It will then assess whether ‘closing the gap’ satisfies the criteria for Reconciliation identified by Pat Dodson in his work for the Australian Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. 3. State position/thesis statement: I will argue that closing the gap is an important aspect of equal citizenship. However, formal equality is not in itself sufficient for recognising and supporting cultural difference and Indigenous self-determination, which is the key issue Reconciliation must address.

Body: Be a good guide for your reader – help them to follow your argument with topic sentences. Organise the essay into sections, using paragraphs presenting points of argument, (which will be justified throughout and meticulously supported by textual evidence). Each point should begin with a topic sentence, which connects the point back to the question. Use shift words to structure major shifts in focus: While, However, Although…

1. Addressing Indigenous disadvantage is important for a process of reconciliation, which seeks to ensure equal enjoyment of all citizens to health, education and employment.

Points of argument (or paragraphs) in this section will discuss how Closing the Gap is important in addressing Indigenous disadvantage in health and life expectancy; in access to formal education; and in employment. Topic sentences will structure each paragraph around these points.

2. ‘Shift: However, Reconciliation involves more than simply bringing unity to divided people by instituting formal equality understood in terms of a non-Indigenous standard. It also requires a respect for cultural difference and self-determination. Self-determination is the right to define oneself and live one’s life according to ones’ own beliefs and values, and not according to values and beliefs imposed by others…

3. In Australia, cultural differences influence non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples’ self-determination:

Paragraphs in this section will discuss how cultural differences influence what it means to be healthy (for Indigenous people – must include connection to Country, exercise of cultural values, and extended family living); cultural differences exist in ideas of what a good education will consist of (for Indigenous people – might include learning in Aboriginal Language, lessons about cultural respect and knowledge of Indigenous law and beliefs…); and cultural differences exist in ideas of what valuable employment means (for Indigenous people, often includes caring for country as well as contributing to the formal economy). …

4. ‘Closing the Gap’ does not adequately recognise these cultural differences because it assumes a non-Indigenous standard of achievement and set of values. Paragraphs will provide evidence and references to support this claim.

5. All points of fact supported by Harvard Referencing, including page numbers when given.

Conclusion : restate original thesis, indicating how you have supported it: This essay has shown…Therefore it can be seen how CTG is a limited tool for Reconciliation, which in fact requires both the formal equality of opportunity aimed for in CTG, but coupled with – and indeed framed by - a respect for cultural differences.