History Assignment | Online Homework Help

paper instruction is in additional material. the sources number is a recommend number, not have to be 15 in precise.

Major Research Essay

Nb: THESE TOPICS BELOW ARE NOT PRESCRIPTIVE: IF YOU WISH TO DESIGN YOUR OWN QUESTION PLEASE DISCUSS WITH ME

1. How did the rise of modern mass nationalism and modern social ideologies alter the nation-state system and how did such change influence Australia’s perception of itself and its response to the world?

2. Why did Australia support Britain and France in the Suez crisis of 1956?

3. How did Australia view the changing character of the Commonwealth of Nations? Did it welcome the admission of increasing numbers of Asian and African members and the withdrawal of South Africa? By the early 1960s, what did the Commonwealth mean to Australia?

4. What was Australia’s reaction to Britain’s decision to try to enter the European Common Market? Did the Australians understand the long-term significance of this? To what degree did Britain’s decision initiate an agonising reappraisal of Australia’s relationship to Britain and as a consequence of Australia’s own sense of national identity?

5. To what degree were domestic divisions and dissident demonstrations and conscript resistance a factor in the Australian government’s desire to cut its losses and extricate itself from the war in Vietnam? Did the Australian government simply follow the American lead?

6. How did Australian policy makers and politicians deal with the emotional trauma created by the departure of its ‘great and powerful friends’ from Asia in the late 1960s and early 1970s?

7. In the post-Cold War era has the debate over ‘Continental’ and ‘Forward Defence’ become anachronistic? What role has Australian defence policy and defence forces to play in the new international structure at the beginning of the twenty-first century?

8. Taking either Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Gareth Evans, Paul Keating or John Howard, show to what extent Australia’s foreign policy derives from the world-view of the chief policy-maker?

9. ‘While East Asia is Australia’s region for economic purposes, it is Southeast Asia and the South Pacific which is its region for national security purposes and therefore its first priority.’ Evaluate in the light of the assertion that Australia’s immediate neighbourhood constitutes an ‘arc of instability’.

10. How does public opinion affect Australian government attitudes to international issues? To what extent is Australia’s defence and foreign policy a product of national consensus? To the extent that it is a matter of debate how do you account for the domestic differences?

11. In assessing Australia’s strategic circumstances in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Bali, consider how adequate Australia’s defence capability and appropriations are for meeting the perceived nature and level of threat.

12. Has APEC, Australia’s grand design for regional co-operation, become a ‘white elephant’? In answering this question consider the relative merits of Australia following a bi-lateral rather than a multilateral regional policy.

13. Has economic globalisation increased the importance of foreign trade, investment and tourism in the making of Australia’s foreign policy? If not what has its impact been on Australia’s foreign relations? If so, how has it influenced Australia’s overall response to international relations?

14. ‘Since World War II Indonesia has increasingly taken the place of Japan as the prime source of Australia’s anxieties about Asia.’ Discuss.

15. ‘Australia’s role in assisting East Timor to achieve independence was performed with great diplomatic skill and political wisdom’. Discuss.

16. Did the September 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon mark a new era in international history? How have those dramatic events affected Australia’s foreign and defence policy? In answering these questions consider what is meant by the ‘War on Terrorism’?

17. To what extent have ‘realism’, ‘pragmatism’ and ‘idealism’ been important in the shaping of Australia’s approach to international relations, and to what extent have the Labour and Coalition parties and governments been divided ideologically over this issue?

18. ‘Despite Britain choosing a future in the European Union and in all respects treating Australia as a foreign nation, Australians rejected the proposed republic in 2000 and clung to a British past as a psychological defence against the encroachment of Asian “otherness”’. In discussing this statement consider to what degree Australia’s retention of the British monarch as head of state affects the way it is perceived both in the region and the world at large, and consequently the effect on its foreign policy.

19. ‘The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights embodies Western values and a Western view of the world. Attempts to impose these ideas on other cultures and other peoples is nothing more than a new form of imperialism.’ In discussing this statement analyse the problems for Australia’s human rights diplomacy as it pursues a ‘constructive engagement with Asia’.

20. ‘Immigration policy, including refugee policy, is a critical area of Australia’s foreign and defence concern. It touches on memories of racial discrimination and issues of human rights, social cohesion, national sovereignty and economic well-being.’ Discuss.

ESSAY INSTRUCTIONS/NOTES

The length of your essay must be within 10% of the word count either way. Citations in footnotes and the bibliography are not included in the word count.

You must attach a bibliography to both your essay. Review the Essay Presentation Guide ON THE  HISTORY DEPARTMENT WEBSITE which explains when and how to cite your sources, as well as the Essay Writing Guide. Remember to include references to specific page numbers from your sources in your footnotes. I expect a substantial bibliography that lists primary and secondary sources you have actually used.

How many sources should you include? As a rule of thumb, I expect you to draw on at least ten items (books, chapters from edited books, scholarly articles). This is a major research essay. It stands to reason that in order to construct your essay draft you need to have completed quite a lot of research. The depth and extent of your research is what you are being graded on, in addition to the viability and originality of your project. If you list only a small handful of works (say four or five), I will conclude that you have done minimal research and grade you accordingly. Use your common sense. Six relevant citations is a bare minimum, while at least ten is advisable. Note, however, that the most critical thing I am looking for is not the quantity of your citations but your ability to select appropriate resources. Aim to cite reputable scholarly sources, that is, those published by university presses or in academic journals. To help focus your research, you should conduct library catalogue and database searches. Regard Internet sources with scepticism, unless these are reliable transcripts of primary sources.

How many primary and secondary sources should you cite? That depends on the nature of your project. Some projects will be heavily dependent on primary source material. Others might be more historiographical or conceptual. Either type of project is fine. Ultimately, though, you will need to read as much as necessary for you to answer the question to your satisfaction. Focus on published sources (scholarly books and articles). Regard internet sources with great scepticism unless you are assured of the reliability of the information. You will need to refine your expertise in using the library catalogue, especially regarding database searches for scholarly articles. Do not rely on www.google.com or www.wikipedia.com. The promiscuous use of internet sources will reflect badly on your essay.

In this essay, I expect you to show me (and yourself) what you have learned in the seminars, not just what you have learned over the course of your own research. I expect you to not just describe material from your sources, but to analyse and critically engage with this material. You should put forward your own original argument in your introduction and then compare it to arguments made by other scholars working on your topic (historiography). Make sure to avoid vagueness at all costs and provide as many specifics as possible throughout the essay, whether this be in your descriptions, analyses or argumentation. This tells me that you have read your sources carefully and critically.

Please be sure to state the research question you are addressing and argument you are making (thesis statement) clearly in your introduction. Always try to be as precise as possible in your argumentation, presentation of evidence and analysis, avoiding vagueness at all costs. Address as much as possible the questions and themes we have been discussing in the seminar in relation to the phenomenon you are investigating.

Do not use bullet points. In your introduction, put forward a broad argument and then tell the reader which areas will be the focus of your essay. In your conclusion, tell the reader what additional topics and sources will be included in your final essay. The point of the essay draft is to convince a grader that you have a viable and interesting approach to a question. Sometimes, the marker may be unlikely to know much about the subject you are discussing, or may not have read the books that you are citing. You should thus explain, succinctly but explicitly, the nature of your sources and why they are relevant for your project. You need to place your argument within the context of existing secondary literature relating to your topic. Your aim should be to do more than describe the focus of this literature. Rather, take the time to skim each work so that you can identify major debates in the field, points of agreement and contention among scholars, differences in approach and method, etc. In other words, try to discern what the different schools of thought are on your topic. Where do the historians agree? Where do their views differ?