Task Description Assessment type: Individually written essay Weighting: This assessment accounts for
Task Description
Assessment type: Individually written essay
Weighting: This assessment accounts for 45% of your final grade.
Due date: The assessment is due in Friday 7th June, 2019 Week 12 at 11:55 PM AEST.
There is a late deduction of 2.25 points per day after the due date.
Length: The essay must be between 1500-2000 words in length.
Cover sheet: The assessment must include a cover page that contains your name, student
number, resident campus, assessment title, and lecturer and/or tutor.
Format: The essay format should be 1.5 spacing and 12 point font; Times New
Roman. As this assessment is an essay you must write in fully formed
paragraphs. You should not use headings or bullet points.
References: The assessment must include 10 academic references. You must use the APA
reference style.
Task: This assessment is designed with two goals in minds. Throughout your time
at CQU you will be required to write literature reviews. This assessment will
help understand how to identify and interpret the different parts of this
written academic communication genre. In addition, you are required to
present your knowledge in an essay. As we discussed in the lecture,
academic essays are a particular communication genre that is different from
other written academic communication genre, such as a report. This
assessment provides you with an understanding of how to write academic
essays in the future.
For this essay you must choose to write about any one of the weekly articles
listed on the unit Moodle page. You may not write about articles not listed
on the unit Moodle site. The essay must address the following areas:
Identify and describe the topic of the research article,
Identify and describe the question(s)/problem(s)/issue(s) that the
article addresses,
Discuss the significance of question(s)/problem(s)/issue(s),
Describe major findings/conclusions, and
Discuss the significance of the findings for future communication
research or management communication practices.
Other: Given all students will do the same assessment, plagiarism will be monitored
to ensure that your submitted work is original and not purchased or copied
from other students. Where assessments are found to be similar, penalties
may apply in accord with University policy.
Essay Outline: The following information is designed to help you structure your essay. This
information is for instructional purposes only. When you write your essay,
you will write it using fully formed paragraphs. You will not include sectional
headings/numbers. The essay structure provided below is general in nature
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Assessment Three: Individually Written Essay
and could be applied to other essays that you write during your time at
CQU.
The first paragraph that you write is an introductory paragraph. An
introductory paragraph should follow the following format.
I. Introductory paragraph:
a. Opening statement(s) that introduce the topic of the essay.
b. Statements that establish the importance or significance of the
topic (Think about how the content of the essay will positively
impact or influence the reader).
c. A preview of the structure of the essay
d. A thesis statement—think about the point or main argument
that you wish to make.
e. A transition statement that indicates that you have finished the
introductory paragraph and are about to start discussing the
body of the essay.
The body of the essay contains body paragraphs. The body paragraphs are
designed to advance or explain your thesis statement. You should include as
many body paragraphs as logically necessary. Please remember each body
paragraph should include only one topic. There are five areas that you need
to cover for this essay, so it would seem logical that you would minimally
include five different body paragraphs. The body paragraphs should follow
the following structure.
II. Body paragraph: main point 1
a. Clearly articulated topic sentence (should support the thesis
statement)
b. A statement explaining, describing, defining, illustrating or
supporting (may include direct or indirect references based
upon relevant and credible academic sources)
c. A statement explaining, describing, defining, illustrating or
supporting (may include direct or indirect references based
upon relevant and credible academic sources)
d. A statement explaining, describing, defining, illustrating or
supporting (may include direct or indirect references based
upon relevant and credible academic sources)
e. Transitional statement pointing the reader to the next point of
discussion.
III. Body paragraph: main point 2 (see above paragraph structure)
IV. Body paragraph: main point 3
The conclusion ‘wraps up’ the essay—it reminds the audience about what
they have just read. The conclusion is not complicated in structure, but it is
very important because it is the last part of the essay that a reader reads.
This means that this paragraph is the last opportunity to make your case for
quality or cogency of your work. Generally speaking, conclusions that are
illogical or partial would suggest that the preceding information is illogical or
partial. The conclusion must reflect the following structure.
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BUSN20017: EFFECTIVE BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Assessment Three: Individually Written Essay
V. Concluding paragraph
a. Restate your thesis
b. Summarize your main points—in doing so you should
demonstrate how these points support and advance your thesis.
c. Close with a broad capstone statement that provides a call for
action/recommendation/predation/evaluation). Given that this
specific essay asks you to review and evaluate an academic
article, it seems logical that the capstone statement for this
essay would be evaluative—that is the statement makes a value
judgment about the article that you have written about.
