To help in the preparation of participation in the Tutorial and to enhance your critical analysis skills, students are required to submit a briefing paper during the semester. The briefing paper is designed to further develop your reading and critical analysis skills through an attempt at identifying and explaining a puzzle/problem that lies behind the question you will choose to address and succinctly stating the main positions in relation to your question; they must not simply be summaries of different works. You will be expected to have engaged primarily with the required readings for your chosen topic. You may undertake some of your own independent research but, only if directly relevant (not essential). The briefing paper should include the following elements:
(a) Address a specific question (use one of the “Briefing Paper Questions” marked in the either Week 5 or 6 of the unit guide – Choose carefully as you cannot write your essay on the same question as your briefing paper).
(b) Attempt to give the reader a sense of the puzzle or problem or the ‘tension’ in this question.
(c) Explain why the question is significant. How does the
question you have devised relate to the topic for that weeks(s) and the broader debates
dealt within the course?
(d) Give a brief overview of the key issues (theoretical/practical) and identify the main author/s and their positions in relation to the question. If there is a debate over these key issues, explain what this debate is: who are the key authors and what are their core propositions?
(e) Pose 2 supplementary questions that logically follow from your critical analysis.
(f) Each briefing paper should be a maximum of 500 words (+/- 10%) excluding the bibliography. The bibliography should be positioned at the end of your paper. If you do not follow these guidelines, your paper will not be marked and you will be given a zero (0).
Further information will be provided in the first week of Lectures and Tutorials. An example of a briefing paper will be posted on iLearn.