UNCC100 AT2 – Writing Guide

David Schütz
Australian Catholic University

Analysis and Evaluation

UNCC100 Assessment Task Two (AT2) is described in detail on pages 9 to 13 of the Unit Outline:
https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/09971913-d105-4174-bd70-06505a4a089f/22/UNCC100-UnitOutline-
201860.pdf

AT2 is intended to enable you to acquire, apply and demonstrate the skills of the second Learning Objective
for UNCC100, i.e. to

analyse and evaluate the principles of CST in order to write an argument that shows how issues
relating to the dignity of the human person and the realisation of the common good may be
addressed by you in your professional practice (i.e. the degree program you are studying) now and
in the future.

Secondly, you must make sure your paper does what the task description in the Unit Outline requires you to
do, i.e. to

write an Op-Ed (opinion-editorial) that allows you to demonstrate an understanding of how issues
relating to the dignity of the human person and the realisation of the common good may be
addressed by you in your professional practice now and in the future.

Thirdly, the Unit Outline provides you with the “rubric” (or directions) which the tutors must use to grade
your paper. This is given to you in the Unit Outline because it lets you know exactly how you will be assessed.
The rubric indicates that you must:

1. Provide a clear and accurate definition and coherent account of human dignity (10 marks)
2. Provide a clear and accurate definition and coherent account of the common good (10 marks)
3. Provide a clear and coherent account of [your chosen] issue in relation to [your] degree program
(10 marks)
4. Provide a clear and coherent account of professional practice, in response to [your chosen]
issue, now and in the future, that relates to the dignity of the human person and the realisation
of the common good
5. Present all information clearly and coherently in a highly engaging style without errors in
grammar, capitalisation, punctuation and spelling (5 marks)
6. Provide accurate information about all sources used [i.e. with referencing in the appropriate
style] (5 marks)

I’ve highlighted the verbs in these three descriptions of AT2 so that you can have a broad overall view of the
task before you.

Some specific points:

With regard to the principles of Human Dignity and the Common Good, note that you are required to give a
clear and accurate definition of both. These definitions can be sourced from the reading resources for the
Unit or – even better – it can be in your own words drawing upon these resources. Either way, you need to
reference the source of your definition or the ideas contained in your definition. The reason for the
definition of these principles in your Op-Ed is that
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 • you cannot assume that your reader knows what these principles are
• by including definitions you show me you know what they mean, and
• if you know what they mean, then your article will use the concept in the correct way.

Do not just assert that your chosen issue is a challenge to the common good because it sounds like a “bad
thing”. Analyse the situation and demonstrate exactly how it is detrimental to the common good/human
dignity.

Pay attention to the feedback I gave you in Assignment One: If I indicated any weakness in your definition
of Human Dignity or the Common Good in Assignment One, make sure you don’t repeat these mistakes in
Assignment Two!

The phrase that keeps reappearing in the rubric is “a coherent account”. You have to give “a coherent
account” of every aspect of the topic, including the CST Principles, your chosen issue, your profession, and
the way all these combine to indicate how you might address the issue at hand. Since AT2 is aimed at
fulfilling the requirements for Learning Objective 2, it is important to note that in order to give “a coherent
account” you need to “analyse and evaluate” each of these aspects and their interrelation. Such “analysing
and evaluating” goes beyond merely describing the problem (see Bloom’s Taxonomy triangle – AT2 is batting
for the higher levels of learning).

For example, it is tempting to quote many statistics relating to your issue and think that by this you are doing
an "analysis". In fact that is just a statistical description. If you give statistics, you must interpret and analyse
them and apply them to your situation in order to make a point about your issue.

Next, it is vitally important that choose your issue from the list in the Unit Description. You must choose
only one of these. You may not choose any other issue not listed here. (Just being clear about that! )

• the stigma attached to mental health (or other related health issues)
• violence directed towards, or threats “on the job” to, paramedics, teachers, nurses, social workers
etc.
• failure to provide a “living wage” for low-income Australian families
• lack of equal and equitable educational opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people
• social media and “social discord” (the role of the arts, humanities, sciences, education etc)
• “doping” in sports
• unethical behaviour by the banks/ financial institutions
• treating refugees or asylum seekers like “common criminals”
• challenges faced by rural and remote communities (the role of the arts, humanities, sciences,
education etc)
• “Gaslighting”

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 • Unfair or unethical pricing (margins)

You have to choose an issue which has a clear connection to the degree program you are undertaking. You
must explicitly address the challenges that you might face with this issue in achieving the common good and
human dignity in your professional practice. This is an essential aspect of the assessment task and cannot be
omitted. You must explicitly name your profession, and not leave it to inference on the basis of the topic. I
strongly suggest that you do not leave the discussion of the relationship of your chosen issue to your
professional practice until the end of your Op-Ed. Introduce this theme in the very first paragraph and make
it your focus throughout your Opinion Piece as you discuss your chosen issue.

Things a critical analysis and evaluation of a situation could address:

• What are the key facts of the issue (not limited to statistics)?
• What are the key social/ethical aspects of the issue?
• What are the causes that led to this situation?
• Who are the stakeholders? Who is affected?
• What consequences arise from the issue?
• What rights are being affected?
• Who has obligations and duties to do something about the situation?
• How do the Catholic Social Thought principles (especially Human Dignity and the Common Good)
highlight problems?
• What happens if you consider “the other side” of the argument?
• Etc.
If you use these questions to analyse your issue, you can’t possibly go wrong.

Don’t make vague assertions: Support all your claims with references. Give examples to illustrate your point.

Clear focus: Some of the issues are quite “big”. Carefully consider limiting the instance of your chosen issue
to specific examples that you can adequately treat in the limited space of your paper. If you have to deal
with too many facets and variables, your analysis and evaluation will be thin and shallow and your account
will not be “coherent”. You will struggle to be able to address concrete details and examples. So whichever
topic you chose from the list, keep your focus narrow. Identify a specific and clear aspect of the challenge –
and do not lose that focus!

Advocacy: In the last tutorial for UNCC100, the principle of Advocacy is introduced. This is a good line to
follow in terms of how to address issues that challenge the common good and human dignity professionally.
Think of examples of advocacy related to your issue, and the importance of giving a voice to those who are
being silenced. Simply by speaking up on behalf of a group or an individual suffering injustice we make a
powerful affirmation of their worth and of our solidarity with them.

Other Catholic Social Teaching Principles: But don’t stop there: use the other relevant CST principles to help
you analyse the challenges that your chosen issue presents for the attainment of the Common Good.
Including them may make your account of the issue more “coherent”! Consider every principle that may be
relevant to your issue:

• Subsidiarity,
• Preferential Option for the Poor,
• Promotion of Peace,
• Participation,
• Stewardship of Creation,
• Global Solidarity,
• Universal Destination of Goods.
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When discussing these principles in the Op-Ed, simply call them “the principle of…”. You do not have to
specify that they are specifically Catholic Social Thought principles.

Other systems of ethical thought: UNCC100 also introduced a number of other systems of thought,
including: The Golden Rule, Ubuntu, The Good Life, the Virtues, Human Rights. Use each of these as
appropriate to support your argument, but don’t lose focus on Human Dignity and the Common Good.
Remember: if you refer to any of these systems, you have to give at least a basic definition for your reader to
know what you are talking about.

Specific Points on Human Dignity and the Common Good

You need to give a clear and accurate definition of both Human Dignity and the Common Good, AND you
need to apply these definitions directly to the issue you have chosen.

• Don’t just tell me good things that people can do and assume that what you are telling me answers
the question “What can we do to aid the common good/human dignity?”

• Don’t just tell me bad things that people do and assume that what you are telling me answers the
question “What is happening that undermines the common good/human dignity”

To help you be specific, keep in mind how the Second Vatican Council (1965) defined the Common Good in
“Gaudium et Spes” §26.1 (cf.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vatii_const_19651207_gaudium
-et-spes_en.html)

“the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members
relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfilment”.

Also think about the social conditions which the Catechism of the Catholic Church §1925 (cf.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM) outlines as necessary for the Common Good:

“The common good consists of three essential elements:

respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of the person;
prosperity, or the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of society;
the peace and security of the group and of its members.”

With regard to Human Dignity: It is essential in Assignment Two that your analysis and evaluation addresses
the principle of Human Dignity. There can be no justice without respect for Human Dignity. It is the number
one CST Principle and it is joined at the hip to the CST Principle of the Common Good. Some questions:

• What is the basis for human dignity? What is its foundation?

• Is human dignity something connected to our human nature or is it based in our actions?
• What happens when human dignity is dismissed or denied?

Note that in Catholic Social Thought, Human Dignity is NOT a “feeling”. It is the objective and real value that
each and every human being has whether they know it or not, and whether others recognise it or not. This
real equality of dignity of every human being carries with it the moral imperative that the dignity of each be
recognised by all. The four “IN” words (innate, inherent, inalienable and infinite) tell us that this dignity is not
granted or imposed or gained from some external source from outside, but is “IN” us. While it may indeed

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help individuals to KNOW that they have this dignity, Human Dignity is not the same thing as a “feeling of
self-worth”.

Be especially careful not to use words of “feeling” or “sense” in reference to Human Dignity. Compare these
ways of thinking:

I want to FEEL valued I want to BE valued

You should FEEL respected You should BE respected
Refugees should FEEL welcomed Refugees should BE welcomed
People should FEEL included People should BE included
You should have a SENSE of your own dignity You HAVE an infinite dignity
If you have a SENSE of self-respect, others All human beings HAVE equal dignity and
will have to respect you rights which must be respected
Women should FEEL safe Women should BE safe

Style and writing

Double spacing: Although it isn't an ACU requirement, it makes it a lot easier for me to mark your papers on
Turnitin if you use double spacing and reasonably wide margins. This is just so that I have room to place
comments on your papers in a way that is not confused or confusing.

Fonts and Columns: Please do not use unusual fonts. Furthermore, nothing is gained in marks by using
columns in newspaper style – it just makes it hard to mark your work in Turnitin.

Grammar and expression: This is a vast subject, but I have one suggestion: read your Op-Ed aloud to
someone else before you submit it. You will soon discover whether what you have written makes sense or
not when you do this. If style and writing is an area with which you have difficulty, do not put off your visit to
the Academic Skills unit to fix this problem now. It will only become a greater liability as you go on in your
studies and career if this isn’t fixed now.

Op-Ed Style: Do not forget that for Assignment Two you are writing what is, in essence, a newspaper article.
A suggested general piece on what it means to write in the style of an Op-Ed may be found here:
https://styleguide.duke.edu/toolkits/writing-media/how-to-write-an-op-ed-article/
Remember that your audience is general and will not have an understanding of Catholic Social Thought or
your degree program or profession. Part of the exercise is to help you put your argument in terms that the
person in the street would understand. Try not to use jargon (eg. specialised terms associated with your
profession or with Catholic Social Thought); if you do, you need to explain what the term means. This
naturally applies to a term like “Subsidiarity” or “Preferential Option for the Poor”.

Be convincing: An Op-Ed needs to convince the reader of your (single) point. If you make a statement in the
article which raises more questions than it answers, there is a problem with your style and - very possibly -
with the level of your analysis. You need to think a lot about what you are trying to say and say it in the most
concise and convincing way you can.

Don’t serve up platitudes: Google’s dictionary defines a platitude as “a remark or statement, especially one
with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.” An example of a
platitude is the following statement: “The way we treat refugees is against the Common Good”. In a 1st Year
University subject, you need to go beyond such platitudes. You need to think deeply about the matter you
are presenting and not simply restate the bl--ding obvious (excuse my language!). As a (future) professional,
you should have unique insights into the role of your profession that mere mortals do not have!

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Opening and closing paragraphs: The opening paragraph should make it very clear what your issue is (i.e.
precisely state the challenge to the common good and human dignity which you are addressing). You should
make your point of view very clear (i.e. state clearly how this issue is a challenge to your stated professional
community). The closing paragraph should sum up the paper by restating the issue and summarising how
you will address it as a profession in the light of the principles of the Common Good and Human Dignity.

***Do not introduce new material in your final paragraph.***

References

Support each claim with a reference: If you make any claim at all in your text, you need to back it up with a
reference. You should use a wide range of sources. Do not rely on only one source or even on several sources
from the same author or organisation.

Correspondence between “in-text references” and “Reference list”: If you reference an item in the text, it
must have a corresponding reference in your Reference list. You must reference it in the same way (eg. if you
have referenced it by author in the text, you must reference it by the same author in the list) so that in-text
citations can be easily matched with the full citation in the Reference list. Equally important, do not
reference any source in the Reference list for which there is not a corresponding “in-text” reference. The
reference list is not a Bibliography. If you have used a source to prepare for your article but have not
referenced that source in your article, do not include it in your reference list. The exception to this is the
Chicago referencing style.

How many references should you use? Enough. You must support ALL the claims you make in your piece.
Using only a few references indicates that you have not done much background reading and preparation for
your assignment.

Referencing style: You have the choice of using any one of the six different referencing styles used at ACU.
For this reason, could you please name the style you are using in square brackets [ ] after the heading
"References" at the top of your reference list, eg.

References [APA6]

Or

References [Harvard].

This isn’t an ACU style requirement, but it will help me mark your paper.

Choose your style and stick to it! Make sure you know your chosen referencing style well. Style guides can
be found on LEO under the Academic Skills section. Work with this guide in front of you and consult it for
each item to ensure you are following the correct format. If you have any difficulty finding or using this
information, please contact the Academic Skills unit on first floor of the Mary Glowrey Building.

Some additional points:

1) Make sure you have the correct author. Most sources have an author, even if not clearly stated.
Especially look on websites for a personal author responsible for the material you are referencing.
Even in the absence of a personal author, there will often be a corporate author (which may be the
same as the organisation that publishes the website you are using). Only ever cite a source by title
alone if there is no identifiable author.

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 2) Cite the correct date for the work. On web pages this may be the copyright date at the bottom. Also
for web pages, you will often find the name of the publisher (sometimes the author) in conjunction
with this copyright date.

3) Correctly and accurately cite the title of the work you are using.

4) If you are citing a source you found on the internet, give the URL. Check whether your chosen style
requires you to put the date you retrieved this source. If not, don’t include the date of retrieval in
your citation.

Reference Sources to use for Assignment 2:

1) In the first place, your Op-Ed will use primary sources that are specifically and directly related to
informing and supporting your claims about the issue you have chosen from the list. You will discover
these through your own research, e.g. published studies, newspaper/news-site reports, other
opinion pieces etc.

2) Use the list of “Additional Readings for Assignment Two” on the LEO page for UNCC100 under
Assessment. All these resources are online, and direct links are provided in the list.

3) You must refer to the readings, articles and videos in the LEO modules in your definition and
,account of Human Dignity and the Common Good if you wish to get more than a pass for these
aspects of your work. By using the Module materials as sources for your Op-E, you demonstrate that
you have related your argument to the issues dealt with in the UNCC100 unit.

4) You can use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as an additional resource.

5) Finally, you could use other sources of Catholic Social Thought, such as the Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of the Church
(http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justp
eace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html). Use the search function in your browser to find
sections relating to the issue or principle you have chosen to address.

How to reference the Modules on LEO:

Whatever referencing style you use, the following applies to referencing the UNCC100 Modules:

1) The author is Australian Catholic University (you can abbreviate this to ACU in the in-text references)

2) The date for the LEO Modules is the copyright date at the bottom of the web page you are
referencing.

3) The title you give in your references should be more specific than simply the name of the whole
module. Each module is very extensive, so please be more specific. Treat each separate chapter in
the module as a separate resource. For instance, if you use something from the page “UNCC100
Module 3.1. Dignity of the Human Person”, use that as the title of your source instead of the more
general “UNCC100 Module 3: The history and principles of Catholic Social Thought”.

4) Give the URL of the Module web page you are referencing (e.g. the URL for “UNCC100 Module 3.1
Dignity of the Human Person” is https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-

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 118b46d203d4/29/M3-HistoryAndPrinciplesCST.html# )

5) You will naturally end up with several references to the Modules, each with the same author (ACU)
and perhaps with the same date (e.g. 2019). This will become confusing when you use in-text
references – you can’t use (ACU, 2019) for each citation.

Some referencing styles allow for you to make a distinction between references with the same
author and date, eg. APA 6th Edition allows you to differentiate between two sources which both
have ACU as their corporate author and which were both written in 2019.

Imagine you have two citations, one from module 3.1 Dignity of the Human Person and the other
from 4.1 The Common Good. APA6 allows you to cite these as

Australian Catholic University (2019a). 3.1 Dignity of the Human Person. Retrieved from
https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/29/M3-
HistoryAndPrinciplesCST.html#
• corresponding in-text reference would be (ACU, 2019a)

Australian Catholic University (2019b). 4.1 The Common Good. Retrieved from
https://leocontent.acu.edu.au/file/8e8cfd0c-0c07-4862-92c1-118b46d203d4/29/M4-
HumanFlourishingCG.html#
• corresponding in-text reference would be (ACU, 2019b)