Guidelines for Assessment Task 2: Individual Research Paper

January 30, 2023

Guidelines for Assessment Task 2: Individual Research Paper

Prepared by Brett Farmer for ALM304

Introduction

For the second and final assessment exercise, you are required to produce an individual 2000-word research paper on a topic of your own choice and design. The assignment is due at the end of Week 11.

As outlined in the Unit Guide, the parameters for the final assignment are very broad and flexible. Essentially, your assignment can be on any topic that pertains to the concerns of this unit or the academic field of celebrity studies at large. It is up to you to design the topic/research focus for your paper and plan it accordingly.

Why not just tell us what to do?

We believe that by Year 3 you should all be ready and able to design your own assessment projects. Educational research demonstrates overwhelmingly that such a practice is beneficial on many fronts:

Student-led assessment encourages deeper and more active learning
Students develop and hone important professional skills in project-design and management
Students get the opportunity to work on a topic in which they are directly invested
The experience is more engaging and worthwhile for students as researchers and writers

As such, we want to keep the terms of the assignment as open as possible so that you have full scope to pursue your intellectual interests and shape your own projects. This is an opportunity to exercise proactive leadership as scholars and researchers, and acquire vital training for future professional practice. Regardless of what career path you may pursue post-graduation, you will almost inevitably be required to develop some kind of independent research-informed project (eg. media article, business report, grant application, discussion paper, client response, briefing paper, media article, creative pitch). In all these endeavours, you will need to have mastered the ability to independently define a topic, devise a feasible focus area, conduct relevant research, structure your findings, present the material in an appropriate form, and argue your case cogently and effectively.

Are there any rules or boundaries?

While we are keen to encourage independence and flexibility here, basic academic ground rules still apply:

The essay must address a topic or issue germane to this unit and its concerns (in other words, it needs to be on some aspect or feature of celebrity /celebrity studies…don’t go writing an essay on quantum physics, unless it’s something like “Bad Romance: Quantum physics and the stardom of Lady Gaga”––in which case, we will be all ears!)
The essay must be broadly aligned with the conceptual, theoretical and analytic frameworks of the unit (i.e. it must show evidence of engaging with the learning content of the unit in the form of key concepts, theoretical paradigms, readings and so on)
It must be an academic research essay (i.e. it has to be based on and informed by scholarly research)
While different projects will have different research needs, it is expected that essays will include at least 6 scholarly sources as an integral part their research database
You are of course free to use non-scholarly sources as well but the essay needs to be fully grounded in academic research
Essays much show manifest evidence of scholarly research, typically through standard conventions of academic writing (e.g. quotes, references, paraphrase, etc)
Essays can use any citational style as long as these are used consistently and properly
Essays can be formatted in any style but standard academic format protocols should apply (eg. normal font, >12point, >1.5 line spacing, standard margins, etc)
You are free to include images in your paper if you like, but it is not required. If you do, be sure to provide proper citational references for your images
Word length is 2000 words (+/- 10%) excluding bibliography and footnotes

Where and how to start?

Hopefully, most of you will already have a potential essay topic in mind. If not, survey the list of focus areas covered in weekly classes and use these to give you inspiration:

Choose a topic that interests you and develop it as a basis for an essay proposal/plan
Once you have selected a topic, seek out useful scholarly sources and read as widely around the topic area as you can. In the first instance, consult pertinent readings from the unit reading list. These will likely lead you to other sources but be sure to do independent library and journal database searches using appropriate keywords
On the basis of your preliminary reading and research, define a focussed essay topic. Depending on the topic and the kind of essay you want to develop, you can frame the essay topic in various ways. For example, you might want to frame it as:
a question: e.g. “Is the celebrification of politics good for democracy?”, “Are sports celebrities the gods of Australian nationalism?”, “How do Bollywood stars circulate in the transnational Indian diaspora?”, “Is Beyonce really a feminist?” etc
a definition essay: e.g.”Parasocial intimacy and celebrity culture”, “Theorising the African-American rap star”, “The gay icon and its role in GLBTQI subcultures” etc.
a compare-and-contrast: e.g. “Internet celebrity in YouTube and Youku Tudou”, “Gender and sexuality in the star texts of Audrey Hepburn and Anne Hathaway,” “Charismatic authority in Indonesian and Australian political figures” etc.
a case study: e.g. “Donald Trump as celebrity”, “K-pop fandom and Hallyu 2.0”, “Malaysian national identity and reality TV stardom in Akademi Fantasia”, “Beatlemania and 1960s youth culture”, “J.K. Rowlings and the marketing of a literary superstar” etc.
an issue or debate: e.g. “Whitewashing and the racial politics of Hollywood stardom”, “Celebrity diplomacy: For and against”, “Social media and the rise of DIY celebrity”

NB. These are only suggested models. There are many other ways in which you could frame your essay so feel free to exercise authorial and critical creativity here.
Regardless of how you ultimately define your topic, it is important to plan the essay carefully. 2000 words might sound like a lot but it really isn’t, so limit the focus accordingly. Don’t try and cover too much material as you will likely be overwhelmed and end up with an essay that is unfocussed and shallow.
Using your research and reading as a guide, select 4-6 key points that are most relevant/significant/interesting about the topic and mobilise these as the basis for your essay plan. Structure the points so that they flow in a logical progressive sequence. Work through them in turn, devoting 1-2 paragraphs to each point, defining them via appropriate scholarly sources and drawing in salient examples to illustrate.
If you need additional help with essay planning and writing, consult the useful online material on the Deakin website and/or consult the friendly staff and student mentors at Deakin Study Support

How will the assignment be graded?

Because of the variable nature of this exercise, Assignment 2 is not subject to a prescribed marking rubric. Essays will ultimately be assessed on individual merit. Nevertheless, core academic assessment criteria will be used to frame evaluation of all essays. These include but are not limited to:

an explicit and comprehensive engagement with the assignment brief
a well chosen and appropriately framed topic
demonstrated knowledge of concepts, theories and arguments profiled in the unit and/or the field of critical celebrity studies
use of appropriate critical and analytic approaches germane to the unit and its concerns
construction of a clear, progressive argument, analysis and/or reading
evidence of appropriate scholarly research
clarity and fluency of written expression
use of appropriate conventions of academic writing such as referencing, bibliography/filmography, etcetera.

Hopefully, these guidelines will give you a clearer sense of the assignment. Should you still harbour queries or concerns, feel free to take them up with your appointed seminar leader. For on-campus students, time will be allocated in seminars to discuss and workshop essays in the weeks leading up to submission date. Off-campus students are invited to post their queries on the Cloud Discussion Board. Please note that teaching staff are not able to read essay drafts but we can comment on ideas and arguments, help plan overall essay structure and/or orient you to appropriate resources.

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