Creative Writing for Area of Study

Creative writing remains a key aspect of the HSC English exam, I think, because teachers and educational administrators fear that students will do no creative writing unless it is assessed. That said, writing a story for the Area of Study is not like other creative writing. Like the other sections of Paper 1 and Paper 2, there are boxes to tick and hoops to jump through. Here is a checklist of the skills you need to showcase and the elements you need to include.

1. A message about belonging. Your story needs to be more than just about the theme of belonging, it needs to have a message or a moral, almost like a thesis statement for an essay. The difference between a theme and a message is the difference between a statement of fact and a statement of opinion; for example, “belonging” is a theme; but “people can choose where to belong” is a message. If you’re struggling to make the message clear in your story, you can have your character reflect on what s/he has learned about belonging; however, the best way to do it is through
2. Character development. This needs to be shown through the protagonist’s choices and actions. The audience must be able to see that the protagonist’s sense of belonging, or at least their perception of it, is different at the end of the story from what it was at the beginning. To do this you need a clear
3. Structure. The one I suggest is a three act structure (similar to a film).
1. In Act 1 we are introduced to setting and character; we see the protagonist’s everyday normal world and we find out about their sense of belonging or not belonging.
2. At the beginning of Act 2, something happens to draw the protagonist out of that world or to make him/her look at it differently. This is the challenge to their sense of belonging/not belonging. We also see their response to this challenge.
3.  Act 3 is the resolution. Some possible resolutions include the protagonist finding a new sense of belonging, having their sense of belonging reinforced, realising that they belonged all along, or realising that it’s ok to not belong. No matter how good your character or structure, it won’t get you the marks unless you also
4. Use the stimulus, address the question. The stimulus, whether a quote or an image, needs to be central to your story; don’t just refer to it at the beginning and then ignore it as you get on with regurgitating your memorised narrative. You also need to be aware of the question. Sometimes the instruction is to write about a particular aspect of belonging or to write in a particular textual form. You must also
5. Include literary techniques (but don’t overdo them). Dialogue is a common short story technique and there should be some in your story, particularly in action moments. Starting with dialogue generally isn’t a good plan and don’t overdo the “tags,” screamed Mrs Langford tucking her hair behind her ear as she turned once again to write on the whiteboard. One technique I rarely see, which you should be in a position to use, is literary allusion. You’re studying at least four texts (not including related texts) and you’ve no doubt read others. It’s ok to say someone feels as outcast as a replicant on Earth or as sad as a Danish prince. Some other techniques that I’ve seen used effectively are metaphors and similes (used sparingly to reinforce key ideas or images), sensory imagery (what does belonging smell, taste, sound, or feel like?) and extended metaphors or motifs; which should be introduced in your
6. Title. The title should be short. It should foreshadow and it should intrigue. It’s ok to come up with a title as you write and add it last.

Don’t try to do too much in your story. Too many characters, too many events, too large a time span, or to many ideas will derail your story and ruin your time management. Simpler is better.

Read Full Post »

Paper 1 Strategy

A friend of mine, an English teacher, recently said to me (and her class), “In an exam, don’t think; just recall.”

I like this idea but it only works if you’re prepared; not just with your textual knowledge and essay writing skill but with a specific strategy for managing your precious time.

Here’s my suggested strategy for Paper 1.

Tactic	Time (mins)	Count Down Clock
Reading Time
Read the texts in SI	5	2h05m
Read the S1 questions	3	2h02m
Glance at the question in SII & SIII	2	2h
Writing Time
Annotate the texts in SI, underlining quotes and making note of techniques, tone, purpose, and aspects of belongin	5	1h55m
Answer the questions in S1, except for the last one, allow 2 minutes per mark	20	1h35m
Answer the last question in S1, ensuring that it has a clear structure and a strong thesis (like a mini essay)	15	1h20m
Annotate the stimulus and plan your response for SII. Your plan should include your story’s message about belonging and a brief plot outline	5	1h15m
Write your story	35	40m
Annotate the question and plan your response for SIII. Your plan should include a strong thesis and 2 to 4 supporting ideas	5	35m
Write your essay	35	0

Leave each section as its time expires. If you finish another section early you can go back and complete it.

It is worthwhile investing in a countdown timer to keep track of your timing. Don’t trust in your school’s clock alone as exams can be delayed and start at 9.03.45 (or some other random time) that makes keeping track difficult.

Read Full Post »

Trial HSC Feedback

So you’ve done the Trial HSC, your papers have been marked and returned to you. You have moved up or down in the rankings (or you’ve remained static). You’re either joyous or in despair.

What do you do now?

Hold onto those trial papers. Grab a sheet or two of paper and rule up four columns. The first two columns should be skinny, 2-3 cm wide, and the second two should be wide. Title the columns as follows:

1. Section
2. Mark
3. Things I did well
4. Things to improve

Start with Paper 1 Section 1. Write P1S1 in the first column and your mark out of 15 in the second column. Then read over the mark sheet and your paper for comments. List the positives in dot point form in the third column and the negatives in the fourth. It should end up looking something like this:

Section	Mark	Things I did well	Things to improve
P1S1	11	Identifying poetic techniques Answering the question	Using quotes Identifying visual techniques

Rule off that row when you’re done and do the same things for Sections 2 and 3; then start on Paper 2.

When you’ve got comments down for each section, read over your table. Grab a highlighter and highlight any comment that appears more than once. For example, you may not have quoted enough in Section 1, Section 3 and Module C. It can be trickier for Section 2; however, if a Section 1 comment was that you didn’t identify sufficient literary techniques and a Section 2 comment was that you didn’t use enough literary techniques, count that as a double comment because identifying and employing are two sides of the one skill.

Once you’ve finished analysing and highlighting, make a to-do list. This list may include filling in gaps in your summaries and notes, practising a particular skill, or memorising quotes. Example:

To Do

• Memorise more quotes from Hamlet
• Add film techniques to summary of Blade Runner
• Learn more visual techniques
• Practise writing integrated paragraphs

Turn this list into an action plan and plug it into your study schedule.

Monday

• watch youtube clips of Hamlet’s soliloquies, read along
• re-read Mrs Langford’s Blade Runner viewing log and add film techniques to notes

Tuesday

• write 3X ten-minute paragraphs for Belonging, submit to English teacher for feedback
• review list of visual techniques from glossary

ETC

Note: If your Trial HSC papers don’t have much in the way of comments on them, give them to your English teacher or tutor and ask for more detailed feedback.

 

Read Full Post »

Creative Writing Skills – Word Hoard

I found this exercise in the Writing Challenges podcast, which is published by Warwick University. I have adapted it for the specific needs of creative writing in the Area of Study.

Step 1: pick up a Belonging print text. This could be your core text, one of your related texts, a text from a Section I practice or a print stimulus from Section II.

Step 2: close your eyes and point to a word. Copy out the phrase in which the word appears, starting two or three words before and continuing two or three words after. You now have a phrase that is five to seven words in length.

Step 3: using this phrase as a starting point, write for five minutes. Don’t think, don’t plan, don’t worry about spelling, grammar, and punctuation, just write.

Step 4: read over what you have written. Then read it, word for word, backwards. Choose a phrase that, backwards, has one of the following characteristics:

• it has energy;
• it creates a strong image;
• it has never been written before in English;

and underline it. The phrase needs to make some sort of sense. When I did this activity, the phrase I ended up with was, “better plan clock the like” – so I wrote a story about someone called Clock who needed a plan.

Step 5: write a short story that incorporates your phrase. It might be something a character says, or become a description of a place. Try to limit your writing to no more than 40 minutes.

Bonus creative writing tip: The Bronte sisters used to write sitting together in a small room. Each day became a competition to see who could write the most and who could write the best story. Try doing the above exercise with a study buddy and swapping phrases.

Read Full Post »

Studying for the Trials: Summarising for the Area of Study

The HSC is an endurance event and the Trials are the last corner before the finish line. Most students probably have at least one internal assessment (my guess is for Module C) remaining but, for the other modules and the AoS, all that’s left is two exam responses: the Trials and the HSC. Studying at this stage should consist firstly, of making summaries and, secondly, of writing practice responses.

The first part of any summary should be an annotated copy of the module rubric. You can use key words from the rubric or the ETA’s aspects of belonging as subheadings. Choose the ones that are relevant to your texts, but make sure that you have a good range to work with. Under the subheadings, list quotes from your texts (both prescribed and related) with an analysis of the techniques and an explanation of how the quote/technique relate to the aspect of belonging.

For example:

belonging in historical contexts

“beauty” and “truth” in ‘I died for beauty’ by Emily Dickinson are literary allusions to the Romantic poet, John Keats. This connects the persona, who feels isolated from her own context, to a tradition of poets.

“the night of Europe” is Primo Levi’s metaphor for the spread of fascism in his own historical context. He feels isolated because he is Jewish but finds a sense of belonging through his “comradeship” with Sandro. This term is used specifically for its political connotations, as the communist Sandro is an antidote to the otherwise pervasive fascism.

A simpler way to approach this would be:

belonging in historical contexts

‘I died for beauty’ – ED. “beauty” “truth” – literary allusion to Keats. Belonging to poetic tradition.

‘Iron’ – Primo Levi. “night of Europe” – metaphor for fascism. “comradeship” – political connotations. Belonging through friendship.

REMEMBER THAT BELONGING ALWAYS IMPLIES NOT BELONGING

belonging to place

‘I had been hungry all the years’ – ED. “Nature’s dining room” – personifiction – persona feels more at home with nature than in human society.

‘Iron’ – PL.  “a new communion with the earth and sky” – biblical allusion – similar to but also contrasting with ED. Primo and Sandro belong in the mountains, away from the politics.

Even thought the BOS seems to be moving towards specifying ONE related text in the Area of Study response, it is worthwhile having at least TWO thoroughly prepared. Your summary should be around three pages long. The real value of a summary lies in the making of it but it can also be a kind of security blanket, something for you to clutch onto the night before an exam.

Read Full Post »

Answer the Damn Question Part III: Exemplar

One of the most useful things for students to study is an exemplar response, or an answer that received good marks. Recently I have been talking with my students about adding an “extra layer” of explanation to their Section I responses. By this I mean making the link between the technique identified and the effect of the technique explicit. One of my students recently did this really well on a 3 mark question in a practice Section I. I have included the text and the question to give you some context.

The Chosen by David Ireland

Used by permission of the publisher, Random House.

Question: How does the narrator evoke the experience of belonging in the landscape?

The narrator evokes an experience of belonging in the landscape by describing how “she loved to be alone with the fields of grass.” This idea of belonging to the landscape is reinforced with the metaphor of the sky as a “blue ceiling.” This conjures ideas of a house, and of protection, with nature “making her feel at home.” This idea of the landscape being personal and protecting her is continued in the simile, “like an overcoat, which fitted.” As overcoats provide protection from the elements and the “which fitted” add the personal aspect and shows her sense of connection to the landscape.

See how this student has explained the connotations the metaphor of the ceiling and the simile of the overcoat? This is what I mean by the extra layer. It’s the bit between “technique” and “belonging”.

This answer was composed under timed conditions. Thanks to Josh for allowing me to use it.

Read Full Post »

Answer the Damn Question Part II: Annotation

Annotating is very important in Section I of Paper 1. I understand that students don’t want to do it; they have already read the texts, sometimes twice, in their reading time and they want to use all their writing time to compose their answers. To those students who don’t annotate the texts, I have some news:

ANNOTATING THE TEXTS WILL SAVE YOU TIME!

Say you choose to ignore the sage advice on this blog (and probably of your English teacher as well) and leave your Section I texts naked. You will, as you approach each question, be condemned to hunting back through each text for the techniques and quotes you need for your response. You may also waste valuable time agonising over which text or texts to discuss in that all-important final question.

Imagine another student, one who has taken five minutes of her writing time to annotate her texts prior to composing her responses. She may also have deconstructed her exam question booklet so that she can see her texts and questions at the same time, without all that irritating (and time-consuming) flicking back and forth. Her texts are strategically highlighted and each highlighted (or underlined) section has a note eg:

Loneliness by Margaret Taylor
Nightmare town – met = loneliness
The streets silent, dark;
Sabbath empty – bib all
Follow me home;
I walk slowly
And the rain wet stones
Wink under sodium flares
I hear them snigger – pers
As I bend my head to the rain:
I must have walked this road
This endless road – rep
A thousand years – hyp
Yet I never meet a soul
Even the paper scraps
Draw themselves aside
The houses draw up
From the dank gardens – pers
But their prim laces never stir – empty = rein loneliness
Oh God is there no one in this town? – rhet?

She has 35 minutes to complete her answers to this section but she has no need to reread her texts or hunt for quotes and techniques and her choice of texts for the final question is easy: which text has the most unused annotations? Look at this student. Envy her. Hate her. But emulate her. Because if you don’t, her mark will be better than yours.

ANNOTATION: BECAUSE YOU’RE WORTH IT.

Read Full Post »

Answer the Damn Question!

The Reading Section of Paper One is, paradoxically, both the easiest and the hardest part of the HSC English Exam. It is easy because the questions are short and formulaic. It is hard because markers think nothing of giving an answer, worth 2 or even 3 marks, zero. Why is it so easy to both gain and lose marks in this section? What’s the difference between an answer that earns full marks and an answer that earns nothing? The difference, usually, is that one response attacks the question directly and the other dances around it.

Here are some rules that will help you to respond in a direct and mark-winning way.

Rule 1: answer each question in full sentences.

Rule 2: 1 mark = 1 thing.

Rule 3: quote where you can.

Rule 4: don’t repeat yourself (this is important for that tricky final question, where you won’t get the marks if you use the same quote/technique combinations you already mentioned in an earlier question).

Question

How is the making of community shown through the features of a webpage? (2 marks)

Analysing the Question

“how” = techniques or features. This is always the case.

“making of community” is a specific idea related to belonging. It suggests that communities are constructed rather than merely happening. A community might be constructed through kinship, shared sense of place or shared experience.

“features of a webpage” means techniques that are specifically related to a webpage. Webpages are multimodal and interactive; a basic textual or image technique isn’t going to be good enough here.

2 marks = 2 features.

Bad Answer

The colloquialism in the title and the uniformity of the figures in the picture both show belonging.

This response mentions two techniques but neither is specific to a webpage. The answer is not in full sentences, nor is it supported by quotes or specific textual reference. It does not make that all-important connection between the text and the question. I would have no problem giving this response zero.

Good Answer

The link on the left hand side of the page, “Submit Your Story” invites readers of the webpage to interact and help to build the online community by sharing their experiences. This shows that communities can be global networks which are made using technology. The juxtaposition of the story from March 2000 and the image from 1936, both portraying how the shared experience of fighting bushfires can bring people together, shows that communities can be made and strengthened over time.

This response refers to two features that reflect the interactivity and multimodal nature of a webpage. An image or a story, by themselves, are not specific enough but the mix of the two is what makes a webpage multimodal. The effect of each technique is explained using the terms of the question. Specific references are made to the text.

Other features that could have been mentioned:

The colloquialism in the subheading (using the right terminology is important here), “Pitching In,” suggests the importance of a sense of place, which is reinforced in the image.

The juxtaposition of the links at the bottom of the page, “Arrivals” and “Not Welcome” suggests that the making of communities can be problematic when communities with different cultural backgrounds try to blend in a new land.

The prominence of the banner (again, a term specific to a webpage), “People – Making Communities” is reinforced by the text’s size and colour. It suggests that people are the most important elements in the construction of communities and places of belonging, while the number links down the right hand side imply that there are many, many ways to make a community.

Read Full Post »

Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare, and why you should read it.

A study of context can be arduous, particularly for students not enamoured of history; however, an understanding of a text’s context—along with its audience and purpose—is integral to developing an understanding of the text. With modern texts this is easier, the context is similar to your own, but it is much more difficult when it comes to a context that is far removed in either time or space. Elizabethan England is a particularly complex and turbulent context to study but it is also one of the most important because it’s Shakespeare’s.

There is one Shakespeare play in each module of the current Advanced English HSC Syllabus.

Area of Study: As You Like It
Module A: Richard III (with Al Pacino’s Looking For Richard)
Module B: Hamlet
Module C: Julius Caesar

Understanding the political, social and personal context surrounding the plays you study can help you in a number of ways. The texture of the world can influence the texts produced within it. As You Like It can seem simple if you don’t know that the original Rosalind would have been a boy actor, playing a girl who is pretending to be a boy. Hamlet’s delay makes more sense in the context of the religious anxiety of the Reformation. The ghosts and portents that foretell the death of Julius Caesar echo the eclipse that some believe signalled the end of Elizabeth’s reign. The demonisation of Richard III becomes a clear political move when one understands the family relationship between the Tudors and the House of Lancaster.

But how do you learn all this stuff? Enter American author Bill Bryson and his biography of William Shakespeare.

Bill Bryson’s biography of Shakespeare is a comprehensive guide to Shakespeare’s life, Shakespeare’s world and Shakespeare scholarship. Bryson shot to authorial fame with his travel writing about journeys in England, America and Australia. His Shakespeare reads like a travelogue to Elizabethan England. Bryson neatly weaves known facts, supported by historical and literary evidence, with speculation and educated guesses.

The book is structured chronologically, beginning with an introduction to the world into which William Shakespeare was born and ending with the speculation surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays.

Read this book before the Trials. It will strengthen your contextual and scholarly understanding of your Shakespeare text.

Read Full Post »

Dichotomies in Dickinson’s What Mystery Pervades a Well!

‘What Mystery Pervade a Well!’ is one of the more difficult Emily Dickinson poems on the HSC Syllabus. The reductive nature of the Area of Study (where everything must be analysed in terms of what it says about the concept of “belonging”) makes it even more difficult. One way to approach this poem is to think of in terms of dichotomies.

A dichotomy is when something is divided into two opposing halves and, whether you knew the word before or not, I guarantee that you use dichotomies all the time: hot and cold, good and evil, natural and artificial, young and old, male and female.

The two dichotomies that are most useful in ‘What Mystery Pervades a Well!’ (as well as in some of the other Dickinson poems) are natural vs artificial and female vs male. In the poem Dickinson sets up two opposing sides. On the one side are: water and Nature, represented as female and, ultimately, unknowable–this is the “mystery” of the title. On the opposing side are man-made objects such as the well, the domesticated “grass” and “sedge” and traditionally masculine ways of knowing, such as science.

The man-made “well” surrounds the feminine and mysterious “water” but is unable to contain its alienness. The masculine “grass does not appear afraid” but the speaker of the poem is in “awe”. The poem suggests that this is the proper response to Nature. The metaphor is then extended and enlarged. “The sea” takes the place of the “well” and the domesticated “grass” becomes a wilder “sedge”.

The purpose of this masculine/feminine, grass/water dichotomy is made clear in the final stanza of the poem. The speaker of the poem pities the men who try, and fail, to know Nature. These could be scientists or male poets, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson or Henry David Thoreau. They, being male, struggle to approach Nature with the attitude of awe mentioned earlier.

To pity those that know her not
Is helped by the regret
That those who know her, know her less
The nearer her they get.

For another interesting analysis, see the link below.
Poem of the Week at The Guardian

Read Full Post »