2014_language_analysis_exam_practice.pdf |
id___bel_prompts.doc |
wuthering_heights_revision.pdf |
wuthering_heights_essay_topics.pdf |
i_for_isobel_topics.pdf |
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The following articles contain some great tips for preparing for your exams (trial and real).
Read through them and take note of some of the strategies you think would be helpful for you - then put them into practice! What the teachers say http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/vce-exam-tips-what-the-teachers-say-20131029-2wdz9.html Tips from top students http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/students/vcetipsenglish.pdf Why using big words can make you look dumber http://www.vcestudyguides.com/using-big-words-can-make-you-look-dumber English exam tips http://www.tsfx.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/VCE-Tip-9-2015-EnglishEAL-Exam-Advice-FINAL.pdf PROMPT - "It is hard to know who we are when we feel that we don not belong"
Implications: - that a sense of belonging helps to inform our identity - that a sense of belonging is necessary in order to form a strong sense of self THINGS THAT IMPRESSED
THINGS TO WORK ON
TOPIC 1
- discuss interplay between love and vengeance - must not oversimplify - Heathcliff’s desire for revenge stems from multiple factors - consider multiple characters - love and vengeance appear to be opposite emotions. What other opposites, contrasts and contradictions does Bronte present? Explore the deeper implications. TOPIC 2 - needed to address whether or not Catherine was a monster - not enough to simply discuss whether or not Heathcliff was a monster - blaming Heathcliff’s behaviour/character traits entirely on Catherine’s rejection is oversimplifying - must look at other factors: Hindley’s treatment, innate “devilish” traits, environment, impact of class restraints THINGS THAT IMPRESSED
TO CONTINUE TO WORK ON
The assessor who marked your trial exams has put together an Examiners' Report with a lot of useful feedback - please take the time to have a read of this! It has a lot of useful pointers to help you improve your responses and guide your revision. The examiner has also compiled some Language Analysis samples from the exam. These have been annotated to show the features the Examiner is looking for. It would be really worthwhile to print and read these thoroughly and use them as a guide for practice pieces. The third document below is the Exam questions booklet itself. Feel free to use this for further practice - perhaps attempt a different text response essay topic or revise your language analysis?
Things that impressed
- Links between articles- common views/purpose - Good use of meta language: satirical tone, cynicism, sarcasm, authoritative - spotting links to other texts- effects of the Finding Nemo references Things to work on - keeping it specific. People still spoke generally about appeals to authority/expertise and inclusive language (image). Zoom in on language used - paragraph length. Short is ok. - if describing an element of the article, ensure you go on to examine effects of what you describe - giving examples to support ALL interpretations - dot point plan paragraphs- need to know what you want to say, not just the FLAPC of the articles Avoid -"sparks the reader" do you mean positions? Encourages? Causes? Pressures? Leads? Inclines? Persuades? Sways? Pushes? Prompts? Build a bank of vocab for this. "Only when we challenge ourselves will we find where we belong."
Explore the implications: - that finding where we belong requires us to challenge ourselves, ie: it's hard. - belonging is not something that occurs without our efforts - belonging is not "natural" or innate- it requires work - if we do not face challenges, we can not find belonging - tension between identity and belonging- we must challenge our identity/ identity is challenged when we seek belonging - challenging ourselves may mean exploring our ideas of our own identity, breaking free of stereotypes, expectations or personal beliefs, going against what is the accepted norm, stepping out of our comfort zone etc - the prompt required you to address the idea of challenging oneself- it was not enough to discuss only challenges posed by society or others. An example from Skin of challenging oneself in order to belong, would be when Sandra leaves her family to live with Petrus. In doing so, she steps away from what she knows and decides to do something which may be difficult, in order to achieve a place of belonging. Form an overall opinion in response to the prompt- do not simply agree or disagree, but incorporate some of the implications. Eg. Belonging is not something that simply happens to us- it is something we must work to forge for ourselves. This process will naturally challenge our ideas about our own identity and may cause our self-perceptions to change. Yet without undergoing these challenging processes, we may never find a place of true belonging. THINGS THAT IMPRESSED: - great range of quotes used - broad definition of "challenging oneself" - good references to extra texts studied in class - going from the broad to the specific within a paragraph - building paragraphs around arguments and ideas, and using specific examples to illustrate them THINGS THAT WOULD IMPRESS EVEN MORE: - going beyond quotes. Try exploring some of the texts/authors/theories that these quotes come from! - doing some further reading/viewing - broaden your bank of references and examples IMPORTANT REVISION/ THINGS TO DO NEXT TIME: * ensure you have a clear opinion in response to the topic- not just examples that prove the prompt or reasons why the prompt is true. * plan your pars to ensure you have a clear main idea, supporting evidence and examples. USE TEEL. * maintain clear links to the prompt and to your opinion in all pars SPELLING/ GRAMMAR/ PHRASES - in which - Afrikaaner = noun. A person belonging to this Dutch-descended ethnic group is called an Afrikaaner. - Afrikaans = adjective. A person is described as "being" Afrikaans. Also the name of the language. Sandra Laing is Afrikaans; she is an Afrikaaner. - woman/women Read Wuthering HeightsWuthering Heights is a challenging novel to read, but with a bit of perseverance it opens up into a wonderfully rich text with fascinating ideas to explore about love, relationships, psychology, revenge, hatred, passion, families and fate. The two things you need to do in order to get the best understanding of the text you can are:
Refer to the Wuthering Heights page for some resources to help you get your head around the text. Explore resources like Sparknotes, Cliffsnotes, and Shmoop - summaries, chapter and character analysis and explanation of key terms will help you immensely. Watching a film version will help you get a sense of the setting and the atmosphere Bronte was aiming to create. NOTE: be careful with the way films represent characters and adapt the story line. Ensure you refer closely to the novel for your understanding of plot and characters. As you read:
Language analysis taskComplete the Practice SAC and submit in our first lesson next term.
Some considerations for Context Writing:
PURPOSE - this is the driver of your piece. It must be central to your writing. - if you are wanting to “raise awareness” of an issue, might you also want to dispel some myth? Or attack some stereotypes? Or challenge some assumptions? - Do you want your audience to DO anything in response to your piece? Even if that thing is just to think differently? SKIN - will discussing Skin detract from the purpose and message of your piece? If you’re going to have to explain the film to your audience, then it is probably not the best example. - do you absolutely have to refer to Skin directly? - What are the big ideas of Skin? What is Anthony Fabian’s message and purpose? Draw on these rather than using the film as a direct example. SPEECHES - Why? - Could you take out the “good morning ladies and gentlemen” and it would be a good essay? Then do that. - a good speech MUST have a strong structure. Choosing a speech format DOE NOT get you off the hook when it comes to the need for clear topic sentences and a strong line of discussion - in fact, these must be even CLEARER, because your audience is LISTENING! - you are never going to be called upon to speak to an audience “about identity and belonging”. - Think of a title or topic for your speech. Eg. “The power of stereotypes.” Or “Challenging Islamophobia.” This will help to give your speech a more realistic purpose, message and aim. Avoid topics and messages along the lines of “The importance of being yourself.” Leave that to Disney. THE BENEFITS OF ESSAYS - can use argumentative, formal and academic language, which we are all familiar with from text response writing - familiar structure - non-specific audience - your audience is “the examiner" THERE ARE 7 BILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. AND 99 PERCENT OF VCE STUDENTS WILL MENTION THIS. Due Friday 5 June
Read/watch the Andrew Solomon Speech titled "How the worst moments in our lives make us who we are", posted on the Identity and Belonging page of the website. Complete the questions. Due Tuesday 9 June Respond to the prompt: “We need to connect with others to discover who we are.” Complete a statement of your form, audience, purpose/message, context and language. |
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