Essay Question Jurgen Habermas’ idea of the public sphere is generally defined as being a space where people enter in order to deliberate and make decisions about society, separate from the state, and on equal footing with one another. However, Nancy Fraser argues that public spheres should be reconsidered as “arenas for the formation and enactment of social identities” (Fraser, 1992). Describe an online space where you find the “formation and enactment of particular social identities” with a specific example. Using the Course Concepts from weeks 1-4, analyse the types of stories being shared, and how they reflect and/or challenge the ideas presented in the quotes above. NB: Students often ask me 'How many references?' or 'How many ideas/examples/....'?. The answer is that we are more interested in the extent to which you justify your claims than in counting how many of any particular item you include. Writing Guide You should present your work as an essay with the following structure: 1. Introduction: Define the key terms and introduce the main ideas (thesis statements) that you are going to explore in your essay. 2. Body Be sure that your paragraphs contain a topic sentence that indicates to the reader the idea you are going to deal with in that paragraph. The rest of the paragraph must draw on the scholarly research to justify your claims. These should also be illustrated using examples of social media communication. Be sure to justify each claim you make by drawing on relevant literature from social media research. Do not simply re-narrate what is happening on social media; analyse the social media communication you’ve identified by using the course concepts. 3. Conclusion Summarise the claims that you dealt with in the essay. The conclusion is different to the introduction in the sense that you can now leverage the outcomes of your analysis/argument (as opposed to simply introducing what you will explore). For further help on essay writing see these resources: https://student.unsw.edu.au/essay-writing-basics https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing . 2 / 3 The Academic skills UNSW team also offer one-on-one consultations for academic writing: https://student.unsw.edu.au/individual-consultations-academic-support How to include a screen capture or diagram in your essay In order to explain your analysis of social media communication, you will need to include diagrams and/or screen captures in your essay. You should present these as figures with captions as follows: Figure 1: An example of a Pokemon Image Macro (source: https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/awv5gr/new_pikachu_meme/) “Learning the material after you finish the exam” Extract 1 : An example of a Reddit comment referring to a meme (source: https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/awv5gr/comment/ehptb3g/? utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_conte nt=share_button) References Please use Harvard format: https://student.unsw.edu.au/harvard-referencing References should only be used to support a particular point that you are trying to make. There is no requirement to use a particular number of references. Marking criteria The table below is the qualitative rubric used as a guide in marking your essay: F P C D HD Expression: The extent to which your writing is fluent, concise, and coherent Incoherent and poorly written. Highly problematic in writing style and/or grammar and structure. Obtrusive errors. Likely to be well outside the word count: either too short, or longwinded. Weaker writing of patchy quality with some obvious errors in referencing style, and/or grammar and/or structure. Close to or within word count. Sound writing style. Adequate structure. Some (less obtrusive) errors in style, grammar, and structure. Within word count. Mature and generally assured academic style of writing that is well structured and that poses few problems for readers. Few errors in style, and grammar. Within word count. Well edited. Exceptionally well- written. Characterised by a sophisticated academic voice with very few (or no) errors in style, grammar, and structure. Within word count. Skilfully edited. Beautifully presented. Argument: The extent to which your argument is clear, logical, and directly answers the question. A poorly discussed argument is likely to be seriously stunted, fragmented, and/or incoherent. Little to no sense of a logical connection to the question. A weak argument with a limited logical connection to the question. Displays some significant gaps in understanding. A relatively thoughtful discussion of a partially developed argument that is marked by some oversights. Some worthwhile connections made to the question. A well-reasoned argument that displays few gaps in thinking. Directly answers the question. An exquisitely developed, thoroughly defended, and fully coherent argument that directly answers the question. Concepts: The extent to which you demonstrated a grasp of key concepts and used them to answer the question. Demonstrates a poor understanding of the key concepts in the question. Demonstrates an understanding of the key concepts in the question but makes some conceptual errors. Demonstrates a good understanding of the key concepts in the question. Demonstrates an excellent understanding of the key concepts in the question Demonstrates a highly sophisticated understanding of the key concepts in the question Special Consideration Special consideration is now centrally handled by UNSW. If you experience illness or misadventure, please consult the following link: https://student.unsw.edu.au/special-consideration
