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WRIT1001 – Assessment Task Overview

(Short Writing Tasks)

In WRIT1001 you submit four short writing tasks corresponding to different aspects of the writing process. These tasks will be submitted throughout the semester as you build toward the completion of an argumentative academic essay. The final essay will conduct a rhetorical analysis of a topic that is relevant to you and where methods of analysis from the field of rhetoric and writing studies can help build an original argument about communication on the topic. In a sense, all essays in WRIT1001 answer the same question: how has rhetoric been used in arguments about the topic you have chosen? To produce a high quality response to this topic, the short writing tasks guide you through the writing process so that, in total, you:

• identify various scholarly and/or non-scholarly viewpoints on your topic and analyse those opinions using rhetorical concepts and terms
• refer to (and accurately cite) academic sources related to your topic AND related to rhetoric
• create your own argument that is supported by a rhetorical analysis of the topic
• use academic sources (both related to your topic AND to rhetoric) to support your claims and define key terms
• write and present your argument in a style (formality, tone, complexity, layout, etc) that is suitable for an academic reader with general knowledge about your topic and a special interest in the study of rhetoric

Because the Short Writing Tasks build to the Final Essay, within WRIT1001 you can re-use research and writing submitted for the Short Writing Tasks. You cannot re-use writing you have completed for any other course in WRIT1001. Equally, you cannot re-use writing completed in WRIT1001 for any other course.

Following academic conventions, for all assessments submitted in WRIT1001 you should reference and cite all sources you refer to in your submission. Students should follow APA or MLA style guidelines for citation, referencing, and formatting. See: https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476096 (Library’s APA guide)
or

https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476342 (Library’s MLA guide.
Detailed information on both APA and MLA referencing can also be found via the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/

Marking is de-identified – please ensure that you do not include your name in your submission or in the file name of your submission.

If you have any difficulties completing or submitting an assessment, reach out to your tutor or the coordinator for help. In Summer School, you can apply by email directly to your tutor for a Simple Extension of two working days. You can also use the Special Consideration system to apply for longer extensions or special arrangements: https://sydney.edu.au/students/special-consideration.html

The remainder of this document contains detailed instructions and marking criteria for the four Short Writing Tasks (SWTs) and the Final Essay. The final page of the document includes grade descriptors (ie, typical features of work at each grade level).

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Assessment Instructions

Short Writing Task 1: Proposal Task

DUE (online via Canvas): due Friday 27 March, 04:59pm (WEEK 5);
WEIGHTING: marked out of 10, worth 10% of your overall grade for the unit

LATE WORK: late work is penalised 5% (0.5/10) per calendar day and will not be assessed if submitted more than 10 working days after the due date

LENGTH: 500 words, reference list not included

INSTRUCTIONS:

The goal of this task is to introduce and propose how you will investigate the topic of your final essay. HINT – you will use rhetorical concepts to investigate opinions or arguments on the topic. In order to pass this task, your proposal must:

• describe the topic and identify at least two views on the issue. These views should be attributed to a person or text.
• define a rhetorical concept that you could use to evaluate viewpoints and stances on the topic.

Note – You might use concepts such as the rhetorical situation, rhetorical appeals, rhetorical fallacies, canons of rhetoric, branches of rhetoric. Or you might use single components of these concepts (eg, ethos, pathos, logos, slippery slope fallacies, scare tactics, invention, arrangement, Rogerian argumentation, deliberative / epideictic / forensic rhetoric, etc).

• explain why your analysis will be of interest to an academic reader with general knowledge about your topic and a special interest in the study of rhetoric.
• cite three or more sources including at least one academic source relating to the study of rhetoric. On a separate page at the end of your SWT1 you must include a Reference list or Works Cited list for all sources mentioned in the submission. You should follow APA or MLA style requirements.

MARKING CRITERIA

This unit uses standards-based assessment for award of assessment marks. Your assessments will be evaluated solely on the basis of your individual performance. See the Appendix for information on the Interpretation of Grades.

RELEVANCE

This task develops skills that are important to your future studies and work. For example, before you develop a response to an academic question, you first consider different opinions on the topic. SWT1 highlights how different kinds of research are suited to different disciplines or subject areas. In professional settings you may be called upon to propose a response to a problem.