Aboriginal cultures
Assignment 1: Reflective paper
While a variety of factors have shaped the diversity of Indigenous Australian philosophy and practices across the Australian continent, one of the central characteristics of the Aboriginal worldview is the concept of the ‘Dreaming’. Outline some of the key aspects of this belief system and reflect on this in
comparison to your own worldview.
comparison to your own worldview.
In this assignment you are being asked to give a brief overview of some of the central characteristics of the Dreaming worldview from the course resources (Description with support from the course/readings). The second part of the paper provides an opportunity to reflect on this in comparison to your own worldview. This should also be related to an understanding of your own social and cultural worldviews (E.g. Anglo-Australian/western/other) and also including the influences of the wider globalising trends impacting on all of us. (Please include references to support this aspect of the topic from wider resources).
*** Note: Please place the essay topic at the beginning of your paper and do not rewrite the essay topic in your own words as this often changes the focus and runs the risk of not answering the question properly.
ANALYSING THE QUESTION: Carefully analyse the question, noting the different sections to be addressed:
1) Introduction: Please address the key aspects of the task in your introductory statement
2) Diversity ... across the Australian continent, (best dealt with briefly in your introduction)
3) 3 or 4 key elements of The Dreaming (Descriptive)
4) Reflection in comparison to your own worldview (with reference to similarities and differences, Anglo-Australian and global Eurocentric views)
REFLECTIVE WRITING:
• Is a record of the development of your thoughts about your learning within a course
• A reflective account of your own observations and interpretations of your experiences and reading that allows you to understand them better
• An analytical process in which you record your ideas, and those presented in your reading
• Kind of academic writing where you insert yourself and your personal reflections on the learning
• Ask yourself:
• What did I learn? What insights did I gain? How or why was this significant for me?
• What aspects of my learning do I want to focus on?
• How can I apply my theoretical knowledge to this situation?
• Have my assumptions and perspectives changed as a result of this experience? How?
• How can I apply what I have learned to my life or future career?
· As much as possible please use the course resources to support your description and discussion.
· How many references for a 750 word essay? 4-6 references.
· Which references are the best for this essay? All references from Weeks 1-3 are suitable, but Watson, Grieves, Edwards (Chapters 1 & 2), Stanner, Bird-Rose, Mowaljarlai and Dodson are very appropriate.
· Please use the Harvard Referencing System, or if you use another referencing system please use it consistently (See the Harvard Referencing Guide in the Learnonline resources).
· Provide a reference list in alphabetical order by author at the end of your essay.
· Are there penalties for going over the word length? Not really or only if you waffle or repeat yourself. However, try to stay within the word count of about 10% over if you can.
· Always use a capital A for Aboriginal, and for Indigenous Australians, as these are names of specific cultural groups; you don’t have to capitalise 'people'.
· Please use a capital T and D when referring to The Dreaming, it's a literary convention, like The Bible, or The Koran and demonstrates your knowledge on these issues.
· Please, present your essay in 1.5 or 2 line spacing.
· Please upload the paper to Gradebook (Please note you do not need to include a cover sheet as Gradebook automatically does this for you).
· Remember to use your spell checking software, and proof read the paper carefully before submitting your essay.
LANGUAGE:
- Make sure that you have read and understood the notes on language use; either Terminology or Language use, both of these documents are under the Assessments tab on the course home page (However, terminology is always changing (E.g. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders now use First Peoples to describe themselves) so as much as possible please look for the most appropriate terms in the specific areas mentioned in the language notes.
- Always use a capital A for Aboriginal or Aborigines or Indigenous Australians, and The Dreaming, as these are proper nouns. It is grammatically correct to capitalise these words; not doing so is disrespectful.
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