In this task you will engage with cultural debates about understandings of Australians at war. You are not being asked to produce a ‘correct’ answer. You are being asked to identify the key features of the debate, the context that gave rise to it, and the arguments presented by stakeholders. You should form a conclusion with your own argument, based on evidence, in response to the question.
You will be marked on your articulation of the claims presented by those engaged in the debate, your awareness of the reasons the debate has arisen, your capacity to weigh evidence, and the strength of your argument.
In no more than 1000 words indicate the parameters of the debate, and what stakeholders have had to say about it. What do they argue and what evidence do they use to support their arguments? How useful is this evidence? Identify key points in the debate and structure your essay around these.
Also consider why this debate arose. What does it tell us about the way that war is remembered, understood, memorialised or narrated? What values are at stake? Can this debate tell us something about Australian national identity?
