Module B is the most traditional of the Advanced English modules. It’s the one where you study the text and look at different interpretations. The key idea here is how the text has been received in different contexts. I suggest organising your summary like this: Key Idea or Theme quote + technique + explanation note [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Literature’
Studying for the Trials: Module B Summary
Posted in HSC English, tagged Cloudstreet, Critical Study, Hamlet, HSC, Literature, Module B, Shakespeare, Tim Winton on August 9, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Related texts for Birthday Letters: A Different Approach, The Fitzgerald Edition
Posted in HSC English, tagged Birthday Letters, conflicting perspectives, F. Scott Fitzgerald, history and memory, HSC, Literature, Module C, nonfiction, novels, poetry, Zelda Fitzgerald on July 1, 2011 | 3 Comments »
The focus of Birthday Letters (or at least the poems selected for study) is on the following personalities, events and situations: Personalities: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and, to a lesser extent, Otto Plath Situations: The marriage between Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath and its subsequent breakdown. Events: Seeing a photograph, eating a peach, destroying an [...]
Getting started with Frankenstein Part 1
Posted in HSC English, tagged Comparative Study, English literature, Frankenstein, HSC, Literature, Mary Shelley, Module A, reading on March 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Preface is key to understanding the context of Frankenstein and Module A has a really strong focus on context. Unfortunately, the ugly edition chosen by the Board of Studies does not deign to include Mary Shelley’s Preface so it might be worthwhile finding another edition. I recommend the one from Vintage and have included [...]
Paradise Lost and (post)Modern Prometheus
Posted in HSC English, tagged Art, Blade Runner, Comparative Study, English literature, film, Frankenstein, HSC, John Milton, Literature, Mary Shelley, Module A, Paradise Lost, poetry, Romanticism, texts in time, William Blake on March 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The epigraph to Frankenstein reads: Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould me Man, did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me?” This is Adam addressing his Creator in Book 10 of Milton’s Paradise Lost. This epic poem has been hugely influential, not just on Frankenstein or the Romantics but also on [...]
Belonging through textual engagement
Posted in HSC English, tagged AoS, Area of Study, belonging, buffy, HSC, Jane Austen, Literature, text on March 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The final aspect of belonging on the ETA list and the one my students have had the most difficulty with is belonging through textual engagement. Like all of the aspects, and the concept of belonging itself, belonging through textual engagement seems ephemeral to the point of meaninglessness. However, if you can master it and apply [...]
Disability and the Possibilities of the Human
Posted in HSC English, tagged Aimee Mullins, Blade Runner, Dan Simmons, Endymion, Frankenstein, HSC, Hyperion, John Keats, Literature, Mary Shelley, Module A, reading, Ridley Scott, science fiction, ted on March 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What does it mean to be human? This is the central question of the comparative study of Frankenstein and Blade Runner in the HSC. Other questions result. How far can we extend our concept of humanity? How inclusive can we be? Will artificial life ever be accepted into the human family? Take a step back. [...]
Tips for Writing the AoS Response
Posted in HSC English, tagged AoS, Area of Study, assessment, belonging, Emily Dickinson, essay, exams, James Joyce, language, Literature, teaching on December 31, 2008 | 5 Comments »
The Area of Study Response, also known as Section 3 of Paper 1, is a particularly strange type of essay. In it, you are asked to synthesise ideas from a range of texts with your own personal response, addressing a specific question or statement, under an umbrella concept: Belonging. It’s not an easy thing to [...]
EX11 Term 3 Project Post 3
Posted in Reading, Teaching, Writing, tagged appropriation, creative writing, English literature, Jane Austen, journal, Literature, Preliminary, reading on August 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
All three of my texts end with a relationship being firmly established. In P&P and B&P, this relationship is a marriage and this has been the goal, if not of the female leads then at least of their mothers, all along. Bridget ends up with her Darcy but, in the modern western tradition (begun, I [...]
EX11 Term 3 Project Post 2
Posted in Reading, Teaching, tagged appropriation, English literature, film, Jane Austen, journal, Literature, Preliminary, reading, texts on July 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
During discussion in class today a student asked, “isn’t that the one where they randomly burst into song?” He was, of course, referring to one of my chosen appropriations, the Bollywood film, Bride and Prejudice (see previous post for an example of a musical number from the film). This got me thinking about the links [...]
