Task 4. Rights and Freedoms article 

Our final task is a student choice essay (800 words).

Select a question from the R & F topic to examine.

Propose a ‘reasoned historical argument’, a question that invites an investigation into more than one point of view.

Example questions:

  1. 'The Australian federal government was very supportive of Land Rights for Indigenous people'. Discuss

  2. 'The Wik decision did not do enough to provide justice for dispossessed Indigenous Australians'. Discuss

  3. The forced removal of children affected multiple generations of Indigenous families in Australia. Discuss

  4. Why did the 1967 Referendum receive such overwhelming public support?

You are required to:

  • apply the skills of historical inquiry to evaluate sources

  • develop a reasoned historical argument, based on analysis and interpretation of evidence from at least three sources

  • draw conclusions supported by evidence

  • use subject-specific language

  • appropriately acknowledge the sources used

Essay plans

Land rights

Wik decision

Stolen children

Referendum

Essay Guide: Writing paragraphs

The body of the essay is where you fully develop your argument.

Each body paragraph should contain one key idea or claim (Focus area), which is supported by relevant examples and evidence from the body of scholarly work on your topic (i.e. academic books and journal articles).

Body paragraphs - The TEEL structure

Topic: Begin EACH  new paragraph with a clear and precise topic sentence that refers directly to the content of the paragraph. The topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph is about, or its main idea

Explain: Explain what you mean in greater detail.

Evidence: Provide evidence to support your idea or claim. To do this, refer to your research. This may include: case studies, statistics, documentary evidence, academic books or journal articles. Remember that all evidence will require appropriate citation.

Link: Summarise the main idea of the paragraph, and make clear how this paragraph supports your overall argument. The linking sentence links one paragraph to the next.

Essay Guide: Referencing Guidelines

When do you need an endnote/ footnote?

  • Quotes

  • Paraphrasing

  • Facts and figures

  • Images 

How to footnote

  1. The first time you footnote a book, article or document you need to list it in full as follows:

  2. Jones, E., A collection of inappropriate remarks made in the History classroom, Penguin, 2024, p.34

  3. If you quote from Inappropriate Remarks as your next quote you don’t write out the whole author/title again you simply use the abbreviation ibid., p#

  4. If you quote from the same source, same page it is simply ibid.

  5. If your next quote is from a different source, you need to write out full reference: author surname, initials, title in italics, publisher, year of publication, page number.

  6. If your next quote is again from Inappropriate Remarks, you simply put the author’s name and initials and the abbreviation op.cit., p#

Footnote samples

Jones, E., A collection of inappropriate remarks made in the History classroom, Penguin, 2024, p.34

ibid.

ibid., p.38

McKenzie, C.M., Please don't make me go back in there. A classroom memoir, Featherhead, 2019, p.11

Jones, E., op.cit., p.59

Example reference list

Bibliography:

Aub.edu.lb.libguides.com. (2020). LibGuides: Lebanese Civil War: 1975-1991: Home. [online] Available at: https://aub.edu.lb.libguides.com/LebaneseCivilWar.

Badran, T., 2008. The Lebanese Civil War. MERIA: Middle East Review of International Affairs, 12(2), pp.MERIA: Middle East Review of International Affairs, June 2008, Vol.12(2).

Crawford, M. & Army Command General Staff Coll Fort Leavenworth KS School Of Advanced Military Studies, 2010. Civil War and Intervention: Lessons Remembered From the Lebanese Civil War and the U.S. Response.