Higher School Certificate Area of Study Paper 1 Section 1 Reading Area of Study -
The focus of this presentation This presentation addresses not only you but also your teachers. We/they share in the development of your understanding and ability to compose effective, strategic responses. We learn new developments and strategies every time the HSC comes around. Time is limited – two sections to cover. An insight into answering effectively using two scaffold approaches for this section. Writing conceptually for Section II
Discovery…….. the rubric: Know it. What is discovery? What is discovering? How is a discovery experienced as an individual, as a community or society? Consider impact
The philosophy behind this section The philosophy behind this paper is that it is a reading paper. In previous years there was a drift toward assessing student writing rather than their reading comprehension and ability to deconstruct and express meaning. We are back to looking for comprehension not writing excellence . We aren’t talking about fluency or cohesion of the writing, or spelling, punctuation, grammar etc. We are looking for understanding; for what is right. This is a big shift from what has occurred in previous years. As an example students should be able to score 6/6 even if they are a Band 3 English student Detail does not equal length – 10 lines can be comprehensive . Length is not necessarily a predictor of quality.
Section 1: Reading Usually, three or four texts of different types Cartoon • Photograph and article • Feature article • Prose excerpt • Poem • Song • Non-fiction excerpt • The texts will reflect discovery in ways identified in the AOS rubric. They may not be explicit; they may be implied.
Discovery : Students explore the ways in which the concept of discovery is represented in and through Discovery can encompass the experience of discovering something for the first time or rediscovering something that has been lost, forgotten or concealed. Discoveries can be sudden and unexpected, or they can emerge from a process of deliberate and careful planning evoked by curiosity, necessity or wonder. Discoveries can be fresh and intensely meaningful in ways that may be emotional, creative, intellectual, physical and spiritual. : can also be confronting and provocative. :lead us to new worlds and values, stimulate new ideas, and enable us to speculate about future possibilities. Discoveries and discovering can offer new understandings and renewed perceptions of ourselves and others. An individual’s discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according to personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values. The impact of these discoveries can be far reaching and transformative for the individual and for broader society. Discoveries may be questioned or challenged when viewed from different perspectives and their worth may be reassessed over time. The ramifications of particular discoveries may differ for individuals and their worlds. By exploring the concept of discovery, students can understand how texts have the potential to affirm or challenge individuals’ or more widely -held assumptions and beliefs about aspects of human experience and the world.
What does Section 1 look like: Just a reminder……. Text 1 — Short story extract ( a) In what ways is dialogue used to capture the young couple’s reactions to the items they find? 2 Text 2 — Image (b) How does the image represent an individual who values discovered objects? 2 2 Text 3 — Poem (c) Explain how the poem conveys the personal response of the father to his discoveries. 3 3 Text 4 — Nonfiction extract ( d) Analyse how the text portrays the difficulties of discovering ‘what is true and what is false’. 3 Text 1, Text 2, Text 3 and Text 4 — Short story extract, Image, Poem and Nonfiction extract (e) Compare how TWO of the texts represent the significance of curiosity in the process of discovering. 5 End of Question 1
Different approaches to the question : Many students approached each question 1. by dealing with the concept of Discovery in relation to each specific question . This conceptual approach allowed them to analyse and explore how Discovery was represented in each text . 2. Some candidates used textual analysis as an approach to this question. Students used the textual forms and features of each text to support the notion of Discovery with reference to each question.
My concerns re: the Discovery concept approach to the question…. What might happen with student writing using this approach?
Using The Merry-go-Round in the Sea extract. An example of a Discovery text: T ext One: Novel Extract: 3 marks The Merry-Go Round by the Sea a) Explain how the writer captures the perspective of a young boy . Keep it tight and formal. Cite text to support your identification of features and techniques/structural aspects. Target the key verbs of the question – Explain/how/captures/perspective/ (ALARM)
How to answer these reading questions: Scaffolds remind students of the key steps for answers in this section : Try TEEED • Topic statement – answer the question in a statement • Explain/elaborate re: how this presents the ‘perspective’ of the child. • Evidence – features and techniques/structural aspect of the text plus textual quote/evidence and • Evaluative statement linking to the question . • Do this once if the question is worth 2 marks/twice if the question is worth 3 marks. Length of answer 7- 8 lines no more.
Example script: Stow communicates the perspective of the six year old Rob through descriptive language and dialogue. The third person narration establishes the persona’s awareness of his child self. The description of Rob ‘scuffing leaves’ and ‘ hanging his body over the narrow seat’ create vivid images of the antics of a child discovering the joy of a merry go round and communicate the abandoned contentment of the boy. The boy’s frustration when the world does not work a certain way also communicates the simplicity and limitations of a six year old’s perspective. His frustration that he could ‘not achieve more than half a revolution’ and the subsequent emphatic demand, ‘I want a ride!’ repeated despite his mother’s explanation of a need to leave, reflects the childish need for immediate gratification. The perspective of a six year old is shaped through a fusion of dialogue and imagery to convey to the reader Rob Coram’s awakening view of a world less innocent than he realised . Or…
The constant questioning and need for explanation also suggests the childlike need for clarification of the way the world works….Elaboration, evidence, evaluative statement x1 as this question is worth 2 marks. Write about three to four lines . Students may also refer to repetition of questions, imagery, descriptive language, dialogue, characterisation shaped through these elements etc. to convey perspective.
Scaffolds for this section: Write tight, concise responses using a scaffold or pattern for each answer. Two scaffold ideas: TEEED Topic statement – answer the question in a statement • Explain/elaborate re: how this presents the ‘perspective’ of the • child. • Evidence – features and techniques/structural aspect of the text plus textual quote/evidence and Evaluative statement linking to the question . • • Do this once if the question is worth 2 marks/twice if the question is worth 3 marks. Length of answer 7- 8 lines no more.
A scaffold for that last question: TOFEES Top opic se sentence – address the similarities and differences re: the selected texts. Identify the texts. Overview se sentence. Address the question for d/e explicitly. Features – identify two textual features in the first text Evid vidence – give textual examples of these features and say what their … Effect on meaning. Su Summation statement tied to the significance of the text and discovery. Repeat for th the se second text Finish with a cohesive su summation se sentence.
Some observations about Section 1: As the paper proceeds please keep in mind that the texts become more challenging. Examiners are looking for greater sophistication in your answers as the paper progresses. The first question is often a settling in question. Subsequent questions may be worth the same number of marks but you are expected to think and write more critically and insightfully about these later texts. See the short answer section as incremental in terms of each text being more demanding. As you move through the three or four stimulus texts be aware that the ideas, language and conceptual representation of Discovery becomes more complex., Your responses to each questions should reflect that increasingly deep comprehension of these texts and their ideas. The final 5 or 6 mark question where you are asked to compare two of the texts should result in a highly cohesive and insightful, textually-grounded response.
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