Define & Clarify your topic

1. Breaking down the topic Define & Clarify your topic

2. Breaking down the question The place of women in Australian families has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Feminist theory in particular has provided a lens through which examine and understand what those changes have been for contemporary families. Discuss. • Long opening statements can make a question look more complicated. • Breaking down a question can help identify the important facets of the question.

3. Breaking down the question The place of women in Australian families has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Feminist theory in particular has provided a lens through which examine and understand what those changes have been for contemporary families. Discuss. • Action words – telling you what to do • Discuss, evaluate, describe, analyse • Opinion words – what is your opinion on the topic • Necessity, value, role, requirement • Description words – to make the topic clearer for you • Good, bad, large, small, small, difficult, many • You are left with keywords and concepts • List as many alternative terms you can use a thesaurus

4. Breaking down the question The place of women in Australian families has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Feminist theory in particular has provided a lens through which examineand understandwhat those changes have been for contemporary families. Discuss. • Action words – telling you what to do • Discuss, evaluate, describe, analyse • Opinion words – what is your opinion on the topic • Necessity, value, role, requirement • Description words – to make the topic clearer for you • Good, bad, large, small, small, difficult, many • You are left with keywords and concepts • List as many alternative terms you can use a thesaurus

5. Breaking down the question The place of women in Australian families has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Feminist theory in particular has provided a lens through which examine and understand what those changes have been for contemporary families. Discuss. • Action words – telling you what to do • Discuss, evaluate, describe, analyse • Opinion words – what is your opinion on the topic • Necessity, value, role, requirement • Description words – to make the topic clearer for you • Good, bad, large, small, small, difficult, many • You are left with keywords and concepts • List as many alternative terms you can use a thesaurus

6. Breaking down the question The place of women in Australian families has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Feminist theory in particular has provided a lens through which examine and understand what those changes have been for contemporary families. Discuss. • Action words – telling you what to do. • Discuss, evaluate, describe, analyse. • Opinion words – what is your opinion on the topic. • Necessity, value, role, requirement. • Description words – to make the topic clearer for you. • Good, bad, large, small, small, difficult, many. • You are left with keywords and concepts. • List as many alternative terms you can use a thesaurus

7. Breaking down the question The place of women in Australian families has changed significantly in the last 50 years. Feminist theory in particular has provided a lens through which examine and understand what those changes have been for contemporary families. Discuss. Women Woman Female Australia Australian Family Home Household Feminist theory Feminism Women’s movement Women’s rights Equal rights Gender studies Change Metamorphose Transformation Alteration Modification Revolution

8. Action Words • Action words will be commonly known and used words • However, in an academic setting, they are giving you very precise instructions. • For example: • Outline and Summarise sound the same, but they are instructions for slightly different outcomes. • The next slide has a list of action words.

9. List of Action Words Analyse - break into parts and describe or argue. Define - review and give a precise meaning. Compare/Contrast - examine for similarities and discuss any differences. Criticise - put forward supported, contradicting arguments. Discuss - look at reasons for and against. Describe - give details using examples to illustrate. Evaluate - look at reasons for and against, draw conclusions. Explain - give supported reasons for; interpret meaning of some phenomenon. Justify - provide reasons for a decision, viewpoint. Illustrate - use examples to clarify the meaning. Outline - highlight main features without going into detail. Summarise - present main ideas in the same format as the original.