2010 Course outline and Introduction VCE English Unit 1 2010 Course outline and Introduction

VCE ENGLISH 1 & 2 Course Overview Three Areas of Study (AOS) Reading & Responding (Text Study) Creating & Presenting (Context) Using Language to Persuade (Issue) This information is explained in detail in the Course Information booklet handed out in Orientation Week. VCE ENGLISH 1 & 2

Reading & Responding “Reading & Responding” is what you will know as a “text study” In Unit 1, the text study will focus on Scott Anderson’s novel Triage; in Unit 2, a film text: Brilliant Lies In this study, you will need to focus on four aspects of the way a novel works: Characters and themes Cultural influences evident in the text The way a writer shapes the text (and why) How a novel may be perceived and understood differently by different readers

About the Context The “Context” is Area of Study 2 of the VCE English course. It is known as “Creating and Presenting” In Unit 1, the aim of the study is to create a collection of 3 pieces of writing; in Unit 2, one extended piece. The pieces should be directly related to the defining “context” or focus. In Unit 1, this will be “The Future”; Unit 2, Altruism. The process for developing pieces of writing will involve working from text to your own writing. You should aim to develop your writing, exploring the “Context” using different styles and genres depending on the purpose and audience – and your favorite styles and topics! One of the pieces you write will be an exposition under time-constraints (ie: an exam-style timed essay). You will also construct a (PowerPoint) about an extra text – film, novel ... Although we will work through a number of specific exercises in class, you are encouraged to undertake your own investigation of text/writing associated with this study. Explore! Find! Consider! You will find , of course, to draft and revise your writing outside class time. Respond … REACT!

Future perfect: Gattaca We will begin Unit 1’s Context with a look at Andrew Nichols’ intriguing film. Nichols wrote and directed it. utopia?dystopia? totalitarianism love social/political control best of the best thought control/self control rivalry  W O R D S 

Context Unit 2 ... later The Context for Unit 2 will focus on Altruism The core text will be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You will need to read the novel well beforehand (you’ll start this during the last few weeks of term 2.) Start with two things: A question: what IS altruism? And some real people: WHO are altruists?

The Context outcomes … UNIT 1: Three pieces that you develop, from your own impetus, or from exercise begun in class. One timed exposition. This will be set as an in-class exercise, just before the exam. You will be expected to discuss a prompt related to Gattaca’s vision for the future. UNIT 2: In Unit 2, the Outcome will be one piece of extended writing, and a second written in the exam. For Units 1 & 2, your teacher may require you to cover one ‘extra text’ presentation, related to another film (or other text) that you read in relation to the Context. Your aim will be to connect this text to the core text and explore how it extends your understanding or ideas

Using Language to Persuade The “issue” Focuses on a study of the ways that the writers present views on events not so much to convey information as to create (usually)emotional responses which can mould the points of view readers hold. This IS the assumption from which this study proceeds: every media article has a “slant” or an “agenda” … Your task is to discern, from the way language is used, what it is. In Semester 1, this study will proceed through the Issue Book. The Outcome will be a series of exercises from “The English Book” culminating in an analysis of selected media texts. In Semester 2, the study will culminate in a persuasive oral presentation of a point of view (yours!) on an issue in the Australian media