AREA OF STUDY: DISCOVERY
Area of Study and texts for the common content of Standard and Advanced coursesThe Area of Study must be considered in the context of the relevant description in the syllabus and the course objectives, outcomes and content. (Refer to the English Stage 6 Syllabus, pp 29, 32–35 and pp 46, 49–52.)
Area of Study 2015–18(The Area of Study will be reviewed for the 2019 HSC.)
In the Area of Study, students explore and examine relationships between language and text, and interrelationships among texts. They examine closely the individual qualities of texts while considering the texts’ relationships to the wider context of the Area of Study. They synthesise ideas to clarify meaning and develop new meanings. They take into account whether aspects such as context, purpose and register, text structures, stylistic features, grammatical features and vocabulary are appropriate to the particular text.
Area of Study 2015–18: Standard and AdvancedArea of Study: DiscoveryThis Area of Study requires students to explore the ways in which the concept of discovery is represented in and through texts.
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. They can also be confronting and provocative. They can 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. Through composing and responding to a wide range of texts, students may make discoveries about people, relationships, societies, places and events and generate new ideas. By synthesising perspectives, students may deepen their understanding of the concept of discovery. Students consider the ways composers may invite them to experience discovery through their texts and explore how the process of discovering is represented using a variety of language modes, forms and features.
In their responses and compositions, students examine, question, and reflect and speculate on:
- their own experiences of discovery
- the experience of discovery in and through their engagement with texts
- assumptions underlying various representations of the concept of discovery
- how the concept of discovery is conveyed through the representations of people, relationships, societies, places, events and ideas that they encounter in the prescribed text and other related texts of their own choosing
- how the composer’s choice of language modes, forms, features and structure shapes representations of discovery and discovering
- the ways in which exploring the concept of discovery may broaden and deepen their understanding of themselves and their world.
Prose fiction (pf) or nonfiction (nf)
- Bradley, James, Wrack (pf)
- Chopin, Kate, The Awakening (pf)
- Winch, Tara June, Swallow the Air (pf)
- Bryson, Bill, A Short History of Nearly Everything (nf)
- Guevara, Ernesto ‘Che’, The Motorcycle Diaries (nf)
Drama (d) or film (f) or Shakespearean drama (S)
- Gow, Michael, Away (d)
- Harrison, Jane, Rainbow’s End from Cleven, Vivienne et al, Contemporary Indigenous Plays (d)
- Lee, Ang, Life of Pi (f)
- Shakespeare, William, The Tempest (d/S*)
How To Ace HSC Belonging Section 1 – Area Of Study
There are three sections in the HSC English (Standard and Advanced) Exam Paper 1.
Section I: Unseen Texts
Section II: Creative Writing
Section III: Extended Response
All three sections are worth 15 marks, and so it is ideal that you spend an equal amount of time on each. Often students struggle with Section I, as they are not able to prepare responses in the same way as they can for Section II and III.
This blog post is designed to help you understand Section I, and to prepare you for the types of questions you can expect.
How to Effectively Write about the Area of Study.
It is important to have a clear understanding of the AOS concept in your mind before you enter the exam. It is also useful to think of synonyms so that you are able to effectively discuss the concept without sounding repetitive.
Here is an example:
Belonging: is to be related or connected, to fit a specified environment and not be out of place. Our personal sense of belonging is linked to our self-esteem and differing expectations and responsibilities over time can affect our level of connectedness with family, friends and peers.
For the exam, you will have to read and view a number of unseen texts. You will then be required to answer a number of questions designed to test your understanding of the concept of belonging. It is essential when answering the questions that you align your information with the criteria, and reflect on how the composer has shaped your understanding of belonging.
SAMPLE PAPER 1 QUESTIONS
Below are the questions from the 2013 HSC exam. Note that in this paper there is one question per text, each worth a different amount of marks, and that the last question requires you to analyse TWO of the texts.
Text one — Image
(a) Describe how a sense of disconnection is created in the image. (2 marks)
Text two — Poem
(b) Why is the ‘creased photograph’ important to the speaker and his sense of identity? (2 marks)
Text three — Memoir extract
(c) How do the writer’s memories of childhood reveal the challenges of family life? (3 marks)
Text four — Prose extract
(d) Explain how the author creates a strong sense of inclusion and exclusion in the extract. (3 marks)
Texts one, two, three and four — Image, Poem, Memoir extract and Prose extract
(e) Analyse how TWO of these texts portray the complex emotions resulting from a desire for connection. (5 marks)
Helpful Tips
When discussing textual features:
- Identify the feature
- Provide an example of the feature
- Explain the impact of the feature
- Extrapolate by discussing why the composer used the feature
- (approximately 5 marks, 12-15 lines)
- 5 marks:
- Fluent expression, constant link to concept, clear statement
- 4 techniques [2 per text] (3 brief examples) - Refer to language features and structures.
- Compare and contrast the language features and details of the texts, clearly indicating why the text you have selected effectively represents belonging.
- For each paragraph
- Explain techniques and how they support the composer’s aim/purpose.
- Refer to explicit examples
- Link paragraph to syllabus concepts/question - Evaluate texts in terms of:
- Textual integrity – how well language techniques work together to support the purpose of the text.
- Sophistication of ideas (presentation of multiple perspectives etc). - Make sure there is a close parallel between technique & composer’s feelings (about belonging) or purpose or audience.
- Choose techniques and examples carefully to support your argument and always link to the concept.
Below is a list of useful techniques for analysing a visual text.
Techniques for Analysing a Visual Text (AOS Paper 1)
Angle: See framing.
Body language and gaze: Facial expressions, gestures, stance or position – can convey the attitude, feelings or personality of the individual shown. Take note of the direction of the subject’s eyes.
Composition: What is included is deliberately placed (also applies to what is omitted). Consider all inclusions and omissions e.g. surroundings, objects, clothing etc.
Colour, hue and tone: In black & white images examine the use of contrast, light and darkness. In a colour image, colours are used to signify feelings and evoke a response. E.g. Red = passion, anger, hell, vitality, etc. blue = peace, harmony or coldness.
Contrast: The arrangement of opposite elements (light and dark, large and small, rough and smooth) to create interest, excitement or drama.
Framing:The same camera shots and angles relevant to film. Close ups, extreme close ups, medium shots, long shots, tilted up or down shots etc.
Omissions: What has been deliberately left out.
Orientation, Point of view: Relates to framing and angle: is the responder positioned above the image (looking down), below or at eye level?
Positioning: Consider which objects have been placed in the foreground, middle ground or background.
Rule of thirds: Divide an image into thirds from the top and sides and look at the placement of people and/or objects. An object in the top third is usually empowered whereas anything in the bottom third is disempowered.
Salience:The part that your eyes are first drawn to in the visual. Colour, image and layout determine what the salient image is.
Symbolism: The use of an image to represent one or more (often complex) ideas.
Vectors: The line that our eyes take when looking at a visual. Composers deliberately direct our reading path through the vectors. E.g. If all of the subjects are tall, long and upright our eyes follow straight vectors that lead to the top of the frame. This could make the subject seem powerful or inflexible.
Below is an example of a response to a visual text, utilising some of the techniques listed in the table above.
Example: ‘Lost’ by Frederick McCubbin, 1887
This painting presents ideas of belonging to place, specifically the Australian landscape, through feelings of vulnerability. It comes from the Gold Rush period, when interest in the local landscape was growing, as it was new and unique to European eyes. ‘Lost’ invites a visually sensory experience of this landscape in which much of the interpretation of the girl in the painting is left to the responder. One of the key techniques employed in the centring of the young girl; the blue of her dress almost blends into, as though adopting, the colour of the landscape, which has been foregrounded. Colour has also been effectively utilised, as areas of the canvas appear abstracted and flecks of colour are layered over each other. Hence ‘Lost’ encapsulates both the fascination with belonging to this new place as well as fears of being swallowed by it.
Techniques for Analysing a Written Text (AOS Paper 1)
Allegory: Story with a double meaning: one primary (on the surface) and one secondary.
Alliteration: Repetition of consonants at the start of words or in a sentence or phrase.
Allusion: See intertexuality.
Cliché: An over-used, common expression.
Consonance: Repetition of consonants throughout a sentence or phrase.
Contrast: Paradox, antithesis, oxymoron, juxtaposition, contrast in description etc.
Didactic: Any text that instructs the reader or is obviously delivering a moral message.
Disjunction: A conjunction (e.g. ‘but’ or ‘yet’) that dramatically interrupts rhythm of sentence.
Ellipsis: A dramatic pause (…) creates tension or suggests words can’t be spoken.
Emotive language: Words that stir the readers’ emotions.
Enjambment: A poetic technique, when a sentence or phrase runs over more than one line (or stanza). This assists the flow of a poem.
Euphemism: Mild expression used to replace a harsh one.
Exclamation: Exclamatory sentence ending in ! to convey high emotion.
Form: Purpose and features of a text influence its construction and will suggest its structure.
Figurative language & sound devices:
Metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, simile, personification, assonance, alliteration, consonance, onomatopoeia, etc. These devices have a powerful impact as they work on our senses to strengthen the subject matter of the text.
Fractured/truncated sentences: Incomplete sentences used to increase tension or urgency, or reflect the way people speak to each other.
Gaps & silences: What is not said; whose voice isn’t heard and whose voice dominates?
Humour: Incongruity, parody, satire, exaggeration, irony, puns etc. used to lighten the overall tone.
Icons: A single person, object or image that represents complex ideas and feelings.
Imagery: Vivid pictures created by words. Reader visualises character/setting clearly.
Imperative Voice: Forceful use of the verb at the start of sentence or phrase.
Intertextuality: A text makes a reference to other texts, may be explicit, implied or inferred.
Irony: Gap between what is said and what is meant.
Juxtaposition: Layering images/scenes to have a dramatic impact.
Level of usage of language: Slang, colloquial, informal or formal.
Linear: Sequential – in chronological order (as in narrative structure)
Metaphor: Comparison of 2 objects where one becomes another – adds further layers of meaning about object being compared.
Modality: The force the words are delivered at. High modality = forceful. Low modality = gentle.
Non-linear: Non-sequential narrative, events do not occur in chronological order.
Onomatopoeia: A word that echoes the sound it represents. Reader hears what is happening.
Parody: Conscious imitation for a satiric purpose.
Person: 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
Personification: Human characteristic given to a non-human object. Inanimate objects take on a life.
Perspective: A particular way of looking at individuals, issues, events, texts, facts etc.
Plosive consonants: Harsh sounds in a sentence or phrase.
Repetition: Of words or syntax (order of words) for emphasis or persuasion.
Representation: How a composer conveys meaning through textual features.
Satire: Composition which ridicules in a scornful & humorous way.
Setting: Location of a story – internal and external.
Sibilance: Repetition of ‘s’ – can sounds melodious & sweet or cold & icy.
Simile: Comparison of 2 objects using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Symbolism: When an object represents one or more (often complex) ideas.
Syntax – sentence structure: Short, simple sentences or truncated sentences create tension, haste or urgency; compound or complex sentences are slower, often feature in formal texts.
Tense: Present, past, future (events are predicted).
Theme: Message or moral of a story – makes us ponder bigger issues in life.
Tone: The way composer or character feels – conveyed by word choice.
Word choice or Diction: Emotive, forceful, factual, descriptive, blunt, graphic, disturbing, informative etc. E.g. use of forceful verbs ‘insist’ & ‘demand’ can be very persuasive.
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MODULE A: DISTINCTIVELY VISUAL - SHOEHORN SONATA