Advanced English

HSC

Presented by:
Emily Tyrrell
 Schedule
First 45 minutes:
Who am I?!
Essay Models
Module A
Module B
Second 45 minutes:
How to Analyse an ORT/Module C
Study Tips
Third 45 minutes:
Improving your analytical language
Improving your creative

2
Hello World

3
 Writing for Each Module

The focus of each of your essays should change according to

the focus of the module
This is HSC questions reflect the demands of the module
Preparing without paying attention to the module is selling yourself short

Moreover, your most complex ideas should be in your analysis

If you have an overcomplicated thesis going into the room, its going to be difficult
to prove both it AND the demands of the question

What did I do?

I didnt prepare a thesis, but instead, used themed paragraphs
I had a variety of paragraphs that I could use for each modules. I would shuffle them
around according to the question that was provided
Quotes were assigned to particular themes. However, I moved them around as
necessary
 Writing for Each Module:
Thesis

Question Interpret the question. This usually means integrating the focus of the
rubric with what you have been provided.

Expand add some extra information if you feel confident enough. Is this question
over looking anything important provided by your texts?
This should not draw the focus away from the question, but instead, supplement it

Texts Introduce your texts

Arguments Introduce your arguments. This can be integrated with introducing

your texts

Link End with a sentence that links back to the question and expansion
 Writing for Each Although texts appear to deal with similar subject
matter, it is context that powerfully affects form
Module: Thesis and values
Module A

Undoubtedly, it is through the form, content and structure of a text that authors
communicate universal values in light of the contextual experiences of their time.
Moreover, one must also consider the influential and egotistical role of the composer
themselves, who through the manipulation of form and values shape the responders
reception of the text. Propagated through the Globe Theatre and mediated by the Tudor
theocracy, Shakespeares Richard III (R3) examines the values of authority, agency and
language in light of both contextual and individual understandings of the empire,
teetering on Enlightenment thought. Whilst Pacino examines the same values in Looking
for Richard (LFR), a comparative study highlights how differing contexts and personas
shape the post-modern concerns of his film. Accordingly, the shape and meaning of a text
is founded upon the values of the audience and composer alike.
 Writing for Each Although texts appear to deal with similar subject
matter, it is context that powerfully affects form
Module: Thesis and values
Module A
WHAT NOT TO DO
The composer has the ultimate say in the creation and manipulation of the text. Context,
therefore, powerfully affects values. Propagated through the Globe Theatre and mediated
by the Tudor theocracy, Shakespeares Richard III (R3) examines the values of authority,
agency and language in light of both contextual and individual understandings of the
empire, teetering on Enlightenment thought. Whilst Pacino examines the same values in
Looking for Richard (LFR), a comparative study highlights how differing contexts and
personas shape the post-modern concerns of his film. Accordingly, the shape and
meaning of a text is founded upon the values of the audience and composer alike.

Whats wrong here?

The question and the expansion have been mixed up. Now, the essay appears to be
based upon something that the student has prepared outside to the room, whilst the
question seems to be tacked onto the end
There is also no meaningful link between these two ideas. They are distinct no
causal link is demonstrated
 Writing for Each Module: The pursuit of individual recognition is an idea
which connects KR3 and LFR. How is this idea
Thesis shaped and reshaped according to context
Module A
A comparative study of individual recognition allows us to glean the enduring importance of
such a concept over time, both within and outside of a text. Indeed, it is not only the
characters themselves that seek adoration and acclaim, but too, the contextual figures they
are based upon, and the authors that mold them. Propagated through the Globe Theatre
and mediated by the moral absolutism and theocracy of Elizabethan England, Shakespeare
insightfully explores the notions of authority, moral agency and language to both reflect and
challenge his time period. Whilst Pacino mediates upon the same values, he revisions them
through the lens of the docu-drama type thing, grounding the text within the individual
recognition so championed by 1996 America. Accordingly, through these texts we may
perceive the continuing pursuit of individual recognition across time, captured within the
works of Pacino and Shakespeare.

How to answer a narrow question:

Broaden the scope of the key terms in the question instead of introducing new ones
- Here, Ive expanded on individual recognition and what type of contexts can
effect it
Remember, your marks are found in analysis. If expanding the question proves too hard,
stick to the simple argument
 Writing for Each Module: Introduction
Module A

Whats different? Whats the same?

The question always takes preference in The general introductions to the texts
the beginning of the introduction
The acknowledgement of the
There may be additional, personal comparative focus of the module
argument if the question allows for it
The values/arguments introduced
The way the importance of the text is
shaded
ie: In the previous example, I
described Richard as being
grounded in individualism
 Writing for Each Module:
Thesis
Module A Module C
The worth of comparing texts The relationship between people
What do we learn from it? and landscape/politics, and how
What values does it highlight? that is represented within texts
Is a text influenced by its context
alone, or responsibility assigned
to the author themselves?

Module B
How does your text display
textual integrity?
The links between ideas,
language and form
 Writing for Each Module: Body

INTERGRATED VS SEMI INTERGRATED VS NOT INTERGRATED?!?

Heres my opinion and reasoning

- Integrated essays are preferable
- They show a higher level of sophistication, as you are arguing concepts fluidly rather than text
- They show heightened control over language
- You can talk about more (ie. Only two concepts in a non-integrated essay which has four
paragraphs, compared to three concepts in an integrated essay of three paragraphs)
- They are easier to study for, as you can prepare themes

Why they might not work for you

- Youve never written in that form before
- You are finding it hard to meaningfully integrate your ORT
- You can ensure you spend equal time on both if they are given their own, separate paragraphs
- You find it hard to talk conceptually
 Writing for Each Module:
Semi Integrated Essays
What it looks like:
The first sentence begins with a theme
This theme does not have to be interpreted similarly between your
two texts
Instead, pick a theme that best suits the question
You could also use a dot point from the syllabus
You go on to analyse your prescribed text in relation to this
theme
Use two quotes (one of which could be a stylistic feature)
Using indenting, you would then go on to show how this is
explored your ORT
Use two quotes, much like the first text
 Writing for Each Module:
Semi Integrated Essays
The experience of discovery may transform personal values because of the
heightened emotional responses they evoke. In turn, this forces us to
reconsider our understanding of values and norms. Bradleys unusual
choice of the non-linear plot line, compiled with the elusive third person
narrator, creates strong dramatic irony. Upon violating the protagonists
trust, death is the only certainty and youre too blind to see that, Bradley
seemingly addresses the audiences own sense of betrayal. It is here that
we are most brutally confronted by the contradictory meaning of historical
fiction.
On the other hand, Heaneys humble first person voice embodies the
innocence of childhood and thus, the process of learning. Though still
charged with emotion, Heaneys intellectual transformation is to different
ends.
 Writing for Each Module:
Semi Integrated Essays
Why?
Appealing to the conceptual study

The flow of your essay

Avoiding rambling and sustaining clarity

Thematic structure
Fantastic for studying
Adds extra evidence to your argument
 Writing for Each Module:
Integrated Essays
What it looks like:
Begin with a theme that builds upon your thesis
Make sure it links to the question
Analyse a quote from your first text
Compare this quote to one from the second text
Reinforce with another quote from the second text
Come to a larger conclusion with a quote from the first text
(which is usually the prescribed text)
The conclusion will reinforce the significance of the paragraphs
theme in relation to your thesis/the question.
 Writing for Each Module:
Integrated Essays
The experience of discovery may transform personal values because of the
heightened emotional responses they evoke. In turn, this forces us to reconsider
our understanding of values and norms. Bradleys unusual choice of the non-linear
plot line, compiled with the the elusive third person narrator, allows him to begin
with a diary entry which conceals authentic documents;. Where Bradleys audience
begins to question the nature of truth so closely interwoven with fiction, Heaney
instead grants solace within childhood curiosity. He begins, as a child, they could
not keep me from the wells, subtly employing the past tense to connote the
retrospective focus. Enhanced by exclusive language, Heaney highlights the
difference between an adults caution and a childs curiosity, implying a greater
understanding of the world around them despite age. When we return to Bradleys
text, we are assured of emotion and knowledges transformative power, contained
so eloquently in the homonym itself, Wrack. Through the ambiguous simile, trust
in maps is like trust in love, little is what it seems, Bradley ingeniously
encapsulates the experience of the book itself that the transformative discovery
of value (or lack of) is based upon our intellectual and emotive responses.
 Writing for Each Module:
Integrated Essays
Why?
It shows a skill and sophistication typical of the Band 6
outcomes
It allows you to contrast the texts directly
There is space for greater development of voice and the
original thesis

CAUTION
Done poorly, integrated essays WILL NOT WORK
Verbose
Time consuming
Confusing
 Writing for Each Module:
Body
Regardless of what style you choose to write in, it is best to organize your
essay according to themes
How to pick themes
What is a theme?
- A theme is an idea that is expressed
through a text. They are commonly Look at past questions. Are themes
universals, and have strong links to the repeated across various questions?
human experience
- IE: Power, Authority, Family, What have you used in previous
assessments? Have they worked, or do
Identify the commonalities in your texts,
they need improvement?
and work towards what makes them so: - Commonly, its not the themes themselves
- ie. An anxious tone is present in both the Wild
Swans at Coole and Easter 1916 by WB Yeats. that lose you marks, but how they are
The theme is not anxiety that would be too expressed
simple. Rather, we look for the reason why - Rather than scrapping themes altogether,
Yeats is anxious. What makes sense for both try and revision them
of these poems is the passage of time. Time
generally, therefore, could form a themed
paragraph.
 Writing for Each Module: Body
The reasons for approaching your essays thematically

Makes it much easier to study for

You can organize quotes according
to the themes
Each quote can be assigned to
more than one theme
These can be easily transferred
to palm cards, tables or flow
charts

You can then transfer these themes

directly into practice essays
You chose the themes that
best expand/build upon/ argue
the question

Studying this way is a meeting point

between wrote learning an essay and
responding on the spot
 Writing for Each Module: Body
Module B
How does the representation of people in Yeats poetry enable the reader to perceive and
understand the challenges these people face?
Moreover, Yeats representations of character enshrine the tension between the self and time. Such
characterizations effectively ensnare both contemporary and contextual audiences in the struggle between
these two dichotomies. Through the immediacy of the occasional poem, described as WH Auden as the serious
reflective poem at one of personal and public interest, Yeats urges our consideration of the brevity of life.
Mimicking his own Taoist beliefs, Yeatss balance of four stressed/unstressed syllables reflect Gregorys
conclusions. Accordingly, the anaphora within In balance with this life, this death perversely accepts the
existentialism of the modern period, and thus appears subsequent to fate or lack there of. Such a nihilism
transcends the bounds of the poem itself, compelling even contemporary audiences to uncover the underlying
meaning of their short lives. Yeats seems to question our relevance amongst an ever progressing history.
Indeed, just as the Airman accepts his mortality, Yeats challenges his audience t do the same. ASC, despite
forming Yeats own curtain call, satiates a reader perhaps searching for greater avail. Here, Yeats, instead
presents the amalgam of the self through poetry to the tests of time. Though reduced to the archetype a 60
year old smiling public man, Yeats employs his own reflective stance to accept his coming demise. Indeed, he
seems to enshrine it within the immortal medium through the metaphor oh great rooted blossomer, are youre
the leaf, the blossom or the bole?. Just as the many parts of the tree make it a living whole, Yeats persona
cannot be separated from its artwork, nor can a single poem be divorced from the entire oeuvre. In doing so,
Yeats balances balances his elderly anxiety regarding legacy and time with the immortality of his great texts.
Thus, the personas of both poems express Yeats own struggle between the self and time allowing us too to
understand of the inevitable struggle we face in an increasingly secular, increasingly hopeless, modern world.
 Writing for Each Module: Body
Module B
Explore how time and place are used in Yeats poetry to shape the readers understanding
of the search for truth.
Moreover, the tension between the self against the continuous nature of time and history results in a
search for truth throughout the oeuvre of Yeats. Through subverting the Grecian myth in Leda and the
Swan, Yeats alludes to the concept of history as a construct. Such is further reiterated through
effective use of form, which juxtaposes the sexual act a shudder in the loins engenders there with
that of the birth of modern tumult, the burning roof and tower/ Agemmennon dead. Therefore, the
medium of poetry unearths the truthful, underlying narrative of conquest which so often dominates
not only national, but female imaginaries. The irregular rhyme scheme juxtaposed to that of a rhyming
couplet in WSC reflects a similar heir of disorientation and uncertainty. Indeed, this is reinforced
through the harsh plosive the bell beat of their wings above my head/Trod with a lighter tread.
Through clever harmony between such sound devices and the positioning of the persona, Yeats
envisions the cyclical imagery of the gyres. We may glean that this struggle and imbalance, therefore,
is one experienced in many times and places. This is further through the allusion to the masculine,
Romantic and tragic pursuit of beauty in the line delight mens eyes. Thus, a younger Yeats places
one as subject to time, rather than as a master of it. Such a truth develops and transforms through the
bodies of Leda, and indeed, Gregory, The peculiar present tense of Irish Airman, in balance with this
life, this death contains the experience of the Airman himself within the poem. Thus, Yeats transcends
the simple eulogy and stead, immortalises his friend and the larger experience of war within the
medium of poetry. Accordingly, the search for truth is one best achieved through the medium of
poetry, particular amongst the many uncertainties of time and place.
 Writing for Each Module: Body
Module B
What does this tell us about Module B?

The module is based around textual integrity. Thus, your argument should be as well
Have at least one quote on form per paragraph
Vary the types of language techniques that you use
Do not focus on one part of the text
A scene by scene approach may work for singular paragraphs. However, the ability to
move throughout the texts in order to explore an idea in its entirety shows a greater
amount of skill
Of all the Modules, this is the one to know inside and out
Last years questions prove that they can prescribe an extremely narrow focus
Academic readings, documentaries discussing information with classmates, constantly writing
and adopting challenging arguments may help you with this
Write against yourself
Write one side of the argument to a question, and then write a second essay that proves
your first wrong
Never stop learning
Why is your text important?
 Writing for Each Module: Body
Module B
What does this tell us generally?

Dont only know quotes that line up with your themes, but the reasons why
they are important in your text
These are largely determined by political, historical and personal
context
This is where academic readings come in handy
Dont simplify the themes
Capitalise on their intricacies! This will show that youve challenged
yourself when forming your argument
Represent them as they are authentically portrayed in your texts
Understand them in light of your own experiences
This will heighten the amount of personal voice in your responses
It will also make you ANGRY , which is good for essay writing.
Practice, Practice, PRACTICE!
You have the advantage of past papers.
I dont trust people who dont write the importance of saying
things for the first time (when it doesnt count).
Advanced English
HSC

Presented by:
Emily Tyrrell
 Module C: Representing People and
Landscapes/Politics
This module requires students to explore various representations of events,
personalities or situations. They evaluate how medium of production, textual form,
perspective and choice of language influence meaning. The study develops
students understanding of the relationships between representation and meaning

Each elective in this module requires the study of one prescribed text offering a
representation of an events, personality or situation. Students are also required to
supplement this study with texts of their own choosing which provide a variety
representations of that event, personality or situation. These texts are to be drawn
from a variety of sources, in a range of genres and media.

Representation:
How a composer
choses to convey an
idea
 Module C: Representing People and
Landscapes/Politics
Exemplar ORT: Act of Union by Seamus Heaney (1975)
Context:
- Ireland has long been in conflict with England
- Ireland presently is separated into North and South. The North is
under British rule, whilst the South is self-governed.
- This too has manifested in conflict between Protestants and
Catholics
- Catholics represent nationalists, and Protestants unionists. This
resulted in the Troubles in the North. The Troubles lasted for 30
years, causing wide scale violence, fear and death
- Heaney was a Catholic, born in the North
- Most of his work was apolitical he refused to be a voice for the
violence
 Module C: Representing People and
Landscapes/Politics
II
I
And I am still imperially
Tonight, a first movement, a pulse,
Male, leaving you with pain,
As if the rain in bogland gathered head
The rending process in the colony,
To slip and flood a bog-burst,
The battering ram, the boom burst from within.
A gash breaking open the ferny bed.
The act sprouted an obstinate fifth column
Your back is a firm line of eastern coast
Whose stance is growing unilateral.
And arms and legs are thrown
His heart beneath your heart is a wardrum
Beyond your gradual hills. I caress
Mustering force. His parasitical
The heaving province where our past has grown.
And ignorant little fists already
I am the tall kingdom over your shoulder
Beat at your borers and I know theyre cocked
That you would neither cajole nor ignore.
At me across the water. No treaty
Conquest is a lie. I grow older
I forsee will salve completely your tracked
Conceding your half-independent shore
And stretchmarked body, the big pain
Within whose boarders now my legacy
That leaves you raw, like opened ground, again
Culminates inexorably.
I
Tonight, a first movement, a pulse,
As if the rain in bogland gathered head Ideas:
To slip and flood a bog-burst, Think: Colonialism, Gaelic ties, birth, identity
A gash breaking open the ferny bed.
Your back is a firm line of eastern coast
And arms and legs are thrown
Beyond your gradual hills. I caress
The heaving province where our past has grown.
I am the tall kingdom over your shoulder
That you would neither cajole nor ignore.
Conquest is a lie. I grow older
Conceding your half-independent shore
Within whose boarders now my legacy
Culminates inexorably.

II
And I am still imperially
Male, leaving you with pain,
The rending process in the colony,
The battering ram, the boom burst from within.
The act sprouted an obstinate fifth column
Whose stance is growing unilateral.
His heart beneath your heart is a wardrum
Mustering force. His parasitical
And ignorant little fists already
Beat at your borers and I know theyre cocked
At me across the water. No treaty
I forsee will salve completely your tracked
And stretchmarked body, the big pain
That leaves you raw, like opened ground, again
Rubric Quote Module C: The Rubric
Individual
Political Rubric
Perspectives Quote
Individual/
Groups
Competing Real
Political Landscape
Perspectives
Individual/
Groups
Shared Within whose boarders now my legacy Remembere
Political Culminates inexorably d Landscape
Perspectives Personification / Sonnet Form
Examines the consequences of colonialism as Individual/ Within whose boarders now my
a shared reality Groups legacy /Culminates inexorably
Imagined Personification + Sonnet
Motivations
Landscape Form
and Actions
Represents both the history and
future of colonialism
allegorically

The impact The

on Individual significance
Lives/Society of
experience
 Module C: Analysis

Politics

Heaney represents the political reality of colonization in Ireland

through personification, and perversion of the sonnet form, within
whose borders my legacy/Culminates inexorably. This allows us to
glean the reality of colonialism as experienced by the sovereign actors.
In turn, we may better understand politics as a process that not only
effects present, but future citizens and their desires. This is suggested
by the fifth column, or the Nationalist movement founded within
Southern Ireland
 Module C: Analysis

Landscape

Heaney plays upon the canonical tradition of representing Ireland as

an assaulted, and thus objectified women through removing any
reference to her being in the line within whose borders my legacy/
Culminates inexorably. The paternalistic persona amalgamates the
physical and imagined body in the allegorically constructed landscape,
continually removing the female and colonized from dialogue, you
would neither cajole or ignore. In turn, he represents the reality of
Northern Irelands experience of colonialism, and the consequent
Republican movement
 Module C: Suggested themes

Landscape Politics
- Identity - Authority
- Memory - Control
- Imagined landscapes vs real - Colonialism
landscapes - Appearance vs Reality
- Collective Imaginary - Political vs Personal
- Ie: Nationalism, Cannonical
traditions
- Colonialism
 Discovery: The Process
An essay plan that I used for every discovery essay I wrote. It can be adapted to any text,
any question and any level of understanding regarding discovery

1. The process of 2. The experience 3. Discovery leads us 4. Discovery is a

discovery begins of discovery is to new cyclical, unending
when original coloured by the understandings of experience
ourselves and
values and whims of
others
knowledge is emotion
challenged

The beginning of the The bulk of the novel, The ending The relationship
novel or the journey What does the between the text and
What motivates Relationships character learn? the audience
the discovery? between Does the What do we
Is the discovery characters character learn?
undertaken Emotional/ change? What are we
willingly? Creative/ Are there motivated to
What is the Intellectual/ questions left reconsider?
context of the Physical/ Spiritual unanswered? Why is the text
protagonist? important?
 Discovery: The Process

The Motivation

Audience
response PIECS

Learning
 Writing for Each Module:
Studying

There are many ways to organise your themes. Ask yourself:

1. What am I most likely to remember?
2. What hasnt worked before?
3. What have I already prepared in class time?
Advanced English
HSC

Presented by:
Emily Tyrrell
 Common mistakes made when
writing
Many English students receive the same feedback from
their teachers. It may include:
1. Clarify your writing
2. Needs more analysis
3. Needs evaluation
4. What does this mean?!?
 1. Clarify your writing

One of the biggest problems students have is explaining

complex ideas in a limited amount of time. How do we fix
this?

Active Voice
Sentence Variation
Nominalisation
1. Clarify your writing
Most simply, this has to be with the
positions of the subject (the actor)
and the object (the thing being
acted upon) in a sentence
Active Voice
The passive voice is formed when
the word that word regularly be the
object is placed in front of the
subject

Eg. Emily presented the lecture
I ate chocolate
She wrote an essay
These are all written in the active voice
because the subject is in front of the
verb
Eg. The lecture was presented by
Emily
The chocolate was eaten by me
An essay was written by her
Or the subject is dropped The lecture
was presented

Clearly, the active sounds more natural, assured and certain

than the passive
1. Clarify your writing
Active Voice
Where is the Passive used?
To sound more sophisticated
Because youre thinking on your feat
Out of habit

What might it look like?

The metaphor has been employed by Yeats in order to inspire realisation
within his audience

The discovery made on behalf of the reader is one charged with emotion

In the landscape, the reader finds a sense of solace

 1. Clarify your writing
Active Voice
The metaphor has been Yeats employs metaphor to
employed by Yeats in order to inspire his audiences
inspire realisation within his realisation of
audience

The discovery made on behalf Accordingly, the readers

of the reader is one charged discovery is charged with
with emotion emotion due to

In the landscape, a sense of The reader finds a sense of

solace is found by the reader solace in the landscape
1. Clarify your writing
Active Voice
Benefits of the Active Voice

It allows you to squeeze more information into a single sentence

Time conscious
Makes every sentence work hard
Decreases the time that you have to spend on analysis + analysis can be tacked
onto the end of the clause

The clause is shorter and simpler, as you are cutting out the filler words
This results in a self assured voice
Sentence Variation 1. Clarify your writing

When you are writing under This obscures the most important
pressure (Ie. In an exam, the night information in your analysis
before an assignment is due) it is That discovery is both within and outside
very easy to write without full stops: of the novel
That this is an active choice of the author
That this still links to the question,
The composer engages the audience despite the complexity of the idea
through clever use of anaphora to
compel their own discovery of the
importance of emotion. This further
proves the pivotal importance of
discovery in both the characters and
readers lives, meaning that discovery is
imparted on the reader too.
 1. Clarify your writing
Sentence Variation
Break your sentences up! Think, when you listen to speech what loses your
attention? The same structures should appear in your own work

The composer engages the audience The composers clever use of

through clever use of anaphora to
compel their own discovery of the
importance of emotion. This further
proves the pivotal importance of
discovery in both the characters and
readers lives, meaning that
discovery is imparted on the reader
too.
anaphora engages the audience.
Clearly, the veracity of emotion
captured within this technique is
pivotal in the characters life.
Accordingly, the audience is
similarly compelled to reconsider
the importance of discovery in their
own lives. Indeed, the text appears
as both a narration and instruction
of the discovery experience.
1. Clarify your writing
Nominalisation
This is where verbs are turned into nouns. It can
make your writing more concise and academic
Can make your language more z It can make your writing sound
concise (once again, making the wordy/ overcomplicated
most of every sentence)

Can sound academic

1. Clarify your writing
Nominalisation
When you should use it
The protagonist discovers that their values and beliefs have been
transformed by this process, and that they now perceive themselves and
others differently.
The protagonists discovery transforms their beliefs and values, mirrored in
the perception of themselves and others

When you shouldnt

Thus, Shakespeare mediates upon the nature of the Machiavellian
Thus, Shakespeare attempts to mediate upon the nature of the
Machiavellian

How do we tell the difference between these two?

Read them out loud
 2. Needs more analysis

When youre finding it difficult to improve in English, try and

understand it in terms of the other subjects that you enjoy

STEM Students: Try and think of it as a formula. In order to form

analysis, as you would an equation, you must include certain
elements
Humanities Students: Think of it in terms of cause and effect, just
as you would when determining the reason for a historical event.
Art Students: Think of the critical framework you use when analysing
artworks. It the same set of tools you use in English
 2. Needs more analysis
Heaney writes in the past tense coupled with exclusive
language, as a child, they could not keep me from the
wells, to signify his return to unique memories of youth. In
doing so, the audience first learns that discovery may be
subject to reinterpretation, particularly if it is grounded in
ones sense of self.

Technique Textual Reference Immediate Effect Effect on audience

- Part one of the - Part Two - Part Three - The answer
formula - The event - Immediate - Long term
- Cause itself consequences significance of
of the event the event
 2. Needs more analysis
Heaney writes in the past tense coupled with exclusive
language, as a child, they could not keep me from the
wells, to signify his return to unique memories of youth. In
doing so, the audience first learns that discovery may be
subject to reinterpretation, particularly if it is grounded in
ones sense of self.

Technique Textual Reference Immediate Effect Audience Effect

What is working The quote What it means for What do we learn from
in this quote to plot progression this? How does it
challenge or affirm the
produce its
question? Can we
meaning understand the
question in a different
light because of it?
 3. Needs evaluation

Heaney writes in the past tense coupled with exclusive

language, as a child, they could not keep me from the
wells, to effectively signify his return to unique memories
of youth. In doing so, Heaney foregrounds that discovery
may be subject to reinterpretation, particularly as it is
foundational to ones sense of self. Indeed, this is
reaffirmed as Heaney distinguishes between his child
hood and present identity.

The following quote would link to this concept. This shows an

evaluation of the concept as intertwined with the text, fulfilling the
needs of both the conceptual and textual study
 4. What does this mean?!

It is very easy for Advanced students to overcomplicate their

essays

Remember:
It is better to have a simple idea and prove it well than to confuse
your essay through complex arguments
Of course, high range Band 6 responses will be presenting complex
ideas. These ideas, however, are generally found in the body of the
essay, rather than the thesis itself
 4. What does this mean?!
Checklist for complexity
Can I understand it if I read it
aloud to myself? If not, simplify
your vocabulary. If you cant do
this whilst maintaining the
same idea, simplify your thesis
Have I proven my thesis in my
paragraphs? If not, it probably
means that the thesis youre
arguing doesnt match the
understanding of the text
How many lines am I spending
on explaining my ideas, as
compared to textual analysis?
Realistically, you should be
spending equal time on your
quotes and ideas (if not, more
time on quotes). Simplify if this
is not the case
Does my thesis allow me to
answer the question? The
question takes priority,
because it is whats in the
marking criteria. There must be
space for the question in your
thesis
 Creative Writing

Your creative is built upon two factors

1. An original idea that explores the concept of discovery
2. Your control over language in a creative context

A response that scores 13/15 will have both of these things

You dont have to master them, but you definitely have to include
them
o Your teachers feedback should indicate which one of these factors
needs more work in order to boost your marks
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
It is pivotal that you come up with your idea with the scope
of the task in mind. That is:
Your main ideas about discovery must be conveyed by the time you
have finished writing
This doesnt have to mean that your plot has concluded
This mean you must consider how much you can write in 40 mins
Around 1000 words is expected
Do not write a draft that is way over the limit. This will leave you
disappointed both immediately after the exam, and when you get your
marks back
This is just your HSC, not your magnum opus
You dont have to write a best seller. Your markers understand that this
is perhaps the first (and last) time students will work on a creative
piece. Take the pressure of yourself when trying to come up with an
idea
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Common complaints
Discovery isnt featured in my piece My idea sounds like everyone
enough else's
- Begin finding your idea by brainstorming - Write from your own experiences, no
from the rubric one else has them!
- If you have already written something, - Write about stories that youre
return to your syllabus. Pick a dot point interested in, rather than what you
that links to your discovery the most. think will earn you marks
Brainstorm how it could be better
incorporated into the plot

I cant adapt it to the stimulus

Lies.
Every stimulus can be adapted to. Its
about knowing your story inside and
out, and practicing adapting before
the actual exam
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Common complaints
4. Do you need to rearrange parts
2. What syllabus idea does of your creative to emphasise the
this link to? stimulus?
3. Is this already present in
your creative? Does it need
to be made clearer?

1. What is the concept

behind this stimulus?
Metaphorically, not literally
5. What are your
options?
I cant adapt it to the stimulus
Lies.
Every stimulus can be adapted to. Its
about knowing your story inside and
out, and practicing adapting before
the actual exam
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Common complaints
Discovery isnt featured in my piece My idea sounds like everyone
enough else's
- Begin finding your idea by brainstorming - Write from your own experiences, no
from the rubric one else has them!
- If you have already written something, - Write about stories that youre
return to your syllabus. Pick a dot point interested in, rather than what you
that links to your discovery the most. think will earn you marks
Brainstorm how it could be better
incorporated into the plot

I cant adapt it to the stimulus

Lies.
Every stimulus can be adapted to. Its
about knowing your story inside and
out, and practicing adapting before
the actual exam
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Common complaints
My idea sounds like everyone
How long have you spent else's
working on this creative? - Write from your own experiences, no
one else has them!
- Write about stories that youre
interested in, rather than what you
Whats the central idea you
think will earn you marks
are trying to convey?
- Is it complex?
- Is it your own
understanding of
discovery?
What perspective is this
Who are your characters based upon? Is your narrative plot written from?
- Are they 2-D or 3-D? or character based? - Write it from another
- Character charts can help you - Simple is best! perspective
colour your characters in
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Common complaints
Discovery isnt featured in my piece
enough Can I adapt this to every piece
- Begin finding your idea by brainstorming of the syllabus?
from the rubric - Yes, even spiritual
- If you have already written something, discoveries!
return to your syllabus. Pick a dot point
that links to your discovery the most. What is the meaning Im trying
Brainstorm how it could be better to convey through this creative
incorporated into the plot - If its not based on
discovery, it needs to
change!

Am I writing for the HSC?

 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Discovery can
Discovery is mean different
inevitable things for
different people

Does the process

of discovering
end?

Discovery can Discovery can be

either challenge experienced
or grant power second hand
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Discovery can Discovery can
Does the Discovery can
be mean different
process of either
Discovery is experienced things for different
discovering challenge or
inevitable second hand
end? people grant power

- Discovery can - How texts have - Based on context

emerge from a - The the potential to - challenge perceptions of
process of experience affirm or ourselves and others
of discovery challenge - Confronting
deliberate
in and assumptions - New worlds, values,
planning, or
through their about the human ideas and possibilities
from curiosity,
engagement experience and - Its worth can be
necessity or
with texts the world challenged
wonder
- Differing ramifications
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Discovery can Discovery can
Does the Discovery can
be mean different
process of either
Discovery is experienced things for different
discovering challenge or
inevitable second hand
end? people grant power

- How texts have the - Based on context

- challenge perceptions of ourselves and
- Discovery can - Discovering/ potential to affirm or others
emerge from a rediscovering challenge - Confronting
process of deliberate - Questioned/ assumptions about - New worlds, values, ideas and possibilities
planning, or from challenged/ the human - Its worth can be challenged
curiosity, necessity or reassessed over time experience and the - Differing ramifications
wonder world

The story
Books/ Both
doesnt have to Both characters
One character Writing has characters and
end with and their
should be their
resolution, nor to be a perspectives
regimented, perspectives
does the central part should change
whilst the other should change
process of of the in different ways
should be naive in different
discovery have
to be complete
creative ways
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Discovery can Discovery can
Does the Discovery can
be mean different
process of either
Discovery is experienced things for different
discovering challenge or
inevitable second hand
end? people grant power

- How texts have the - Based on context

- challenge perceptions of ourselves and
- Discovery can - Discovering/ potential to affirm or others
emerge from a rediscovering challenge - Confronting
process of deliberate - Questioned/ assumptions about - New worlds, values, ideas and possibilities
planning, or from challenged/ the human - Its worth can be challenged
curiosity, necessity or reassessed over time experience and the - Differing ramifications
wonder world
One The story doesnt
character have to end with Both characters
should be Books/Writing Both characters
resolution, nor and their and their
regimented, has to be a
does the process perspectives perspectives
whilst the of discovery have central part of
other should should change in should change in
to be complete the creative different ways
be naive different ways

Daughters own curiosity and love

Characters: Daughter and Education is controlled by She discovers her own voice
learning means that such can
Father Father out of fear never be ocntrolled
through the power of text
 Creative Writing
1) An Original Idea
Discovery can Discovery can
Does the Discovery can
be mean different
process of either
Discovery is experienced things for different
discovering challenge or
inevitable second hand
end? people grant power

- How texts have the - Based on context

- Discovery can - challenge perceptions of ourselves and
- Discovering/ potential to affirm or others
emerge from a
rediscovering challenge - Confronting
process of deliberate
- Questioned/ assumptions about - New worlds, values, ideas and possibilities
planning, or from challenged/ the human - Its worth can be challenged
curiosity, necessity or reassessed over time - Differing ramifications
experience and the
wonder
world
One The story doesnt
character have to end with Both characters
should be Books/Writing Both characters
resolution, nor and their and their
regimented, has to be a
does the process perspectives perspectives
whilst the of discovery have central part of
other should should change in should change in
to be complete the creative different ways
be naive different ways

Daughters own curiosity and love

Characters: Daughter and
Father
Daughter begins with a diary
entry lamenting how she
loves to read, but herself,
cannot write
Education is controlled by
learning means that such can
Father out of fear never be controlled
Next diary entry would give Third part would be from the
perspective of the Father, to show
more context to the girl and her
his fear of discovery and lack
background ocontrol
She discovers her own voice
through the power of text
The last would have the girl
physically discover a text,
which in turn allows her to
understand that she doesn'tt
necessarily have to write in
order to discover/experience
 Creative Writing
2) Control over language in creative context
Creating an authentic character
Your character acts and speaks in a way that we would expect in
real life
Their actions and interactions make sense in the context of the
creative
zCharacters are only present for the sake of progressing a plot
Your writing looks more like description rather than
explanation
Showing not telling imagery, implication
zTelling us a series of events
Writing a narrative, not a recount
The aim of your plot is to communicate an idea
zThe aim of your plot is to tell us what happened
 Creative Writing
2) Control over language in creative context
Using the right words at the right time
Use strong words, rather than an overabundance of adjectives
Only use words you understand. This doesnt mean, however, that
you should restrict your vocabulary
Use of rhetoric devices
Uses original, yet not ridiculous metaphors, similes and imagery
zUses idioms, stereotypes or predictable phrases
Uses dialogue efficiently
When dialogue is used, it is to convey a central part of the story line
Describing speech rather than using explicit speech marks
zDialogue progresses plot, almost as a narration
 Creative Writing
Pulling it all together
What I did
I had to write a creative for extension as an assessment task.
When writing it, I realised it was much better than the one I
had used for the Advanced Half Yearly. So, I adapted the
extension creative for discovery, and used it in Trial.
- Changed the perspective that I was writing in
- Changed the form
- Changed the underlying message of the piece
- Had it marked by various teachers
- Wrote learnt it
- Palm Cards - Listening to it
- As a speech - Adapting it to different questions
 Writing your piece

Language (with help from John Marsden)

You cant speak your own language properly if you dont have
a storehouse of singing things in your mind A.S Byatt

Develop a sensitivity to the clever, the beautiful, the sincere

 Writing your piece
Language (with help from John
Marsden) Remember: control
over language in
the marking
IGNORE: guidelines

Tautologies
- This is one of the greatest cricket
grounds in the world to play cricket
on
- The day began this morning
- Hes been having nightmares at
night about that
Ambiguity
- Talk directly, say what you mean
- Be most wary of this when using
imagery
- However, be wary of the other
extreme: stating the obvious
Confusion
- Mixed metaphors, he was watching
me like I was a hawk
- Double negatives, theyre still not
without no chance
Cliches
- A single tear rolled down her cheek
Obfuscation (using big words where
theyre unnecessary)
Writing your piece

Plot / Body
Develop the idea
Harry is the The Boy Who Lived, granting
Begin with one concept hope to the wizarding world

What is the difference between magic used

Challenge the concept
to conquer, when it always leads to
destruction not only of the self, but of the
community

The prevailing concept is love for one and

Come to a larger other, rather than love of power and oneself.
discovery Harrys life now represents the love of many,
and the true magic of such a communal
cause
Writing your piece

Plot / Body
Conflict
Katniss is caught between protecting her
Have your character immediate family or protecting the good of
caught in a decision the nation

Capital captures Peeta, Katniss is exploited

Have your rising action as a prop. Both the personal and private life
expose the two sides is violated.

Come to a larger There is no such thing as winning, though it

may seem possible in a scenario such as the
discovery
Hunger Games. Living is a balance, however
unfair, and there is never an absolute.
Writing your piece

Plot / Body
Keep the secret
Have your protagonist Nick begins his story as an attempt to figure
begin by chasing an it out himself
ideal

Gatsby is a product of his time, Daisy is the

Suggest various possible epitome of excess, they are all fabricating a
conclusions faade destined to fall

End your story on the

A green light blinking, at the end of the dock
brink of achieving one
 A young writer any writer needs courage, and also
patience. Courage to write from the heart, patience to return
to draft after draft
- Drusilla Modjeska