1. SAETA Refresher Course 2017
External Assessment
English Literary Studies

2. External Assessment: Comparative Text Study
Comparison of two texts: one shared, one independently chosen
Critical essay of a maximum of 1500 words
Worth 15%
Flexibility in task design
Many and various ways to pair texts
Similarities and differences
Collected by courier 27 September (week 10, term 3); teacher marks submitted online on this day

3. Focus Area: Comparison
Argument must be driven by comparison
Relying on connectives only, won’t cut the mustard!
Explore both similarities and differences
Build the comparative element into the question

4. Ideas for teaching comparison

5. Ideas for teaching comparison
Apples and oranges similarly grow on trees and both are circular in shape. While both also have a skin, apples have a thin, edible outer layer whereas the skin of an orange is leathery and not particularly edible. The fruits are varied in colour and taste: apples are green or red and oranges are – as the name suggests – orange; apples are sweet, oranges are contrastingly, more tart and acidic. People generally prefer oranges uncooked in dishes such as a fruit salad, but apples can be baked into such culinary delights as the apple pie.

6. Ideas for teaching comparison

7. Ideas for teaching comparison

8. Focus Area: The Question
Explore less successful questions
Discuss what they lack
Example: What sort of societies are presented in V for Vendetta and 1984?
Example: Compare the ways in which James McTeigue in V for Vendetta and George Orwell in 1984 use the particular features of their text types to position the reader to be critical of the societies in which the texts are set.

9. Focus Area: The Argument
Coherent line of reasoning
Planning
Clear and precise focus
Introduction, defence, conclusion
Fluently embedded textual justification

10. Focus Area: Managing the Task
Which shared texts? Flexible
Single poet
Suggest possible parents but BROADEN, don’t LIMIT
Ways suitable pairings can be formed:
Theme/idea
Author, historical period, text type,
cultural perspective, genre/form
‘Trope’/symbol
Stylistic feature
Critical perspective

11. External Assessment: Critical Reading
Worth 15%
One or more short texts
Design of the task will vary
Equitable
Do not teach to the test
TEACH THE SKILLS

12. External Assessment: Critical Reading
Teach the skills…
Don’t teach to the test!

13. Ideas for teaching the Critical Reading
What skills are examined?
The ability to identify the purpose, audience and form of text/s;
The ability to understand ideas within texts;
The ability to understand the choices the author has made to communicate those ideas (their use of stylistic features)
The ability to recognise text types and their particular features;
The ability to use the text/s to justify opinions;
The ability to address the question/s asked;
The ability to communicate in fluent, precise writing

14. Ideas for teaching the Critical Reading
IDEA #1: Use the assessment reports as critical readings!
Read any contextual information given
Read the questions carefully
Answer the questions in order
Avoid recount (actually answering the question aids in this!)
When asked to compare…COMPARE!
Consider any length allocation provided by the setters and see it as a proportion in the way time is allocated
Monitor your time
When analysing stylistic features remember to label, find an example…and explore the effect (usually to emphasise an idea, positioning the audience)

15. Ideas for teaching the Critical Reading
IDEA #1: Use the assessment reports as critical readings!
Use the dictionary where necessary
Use evidence from the texts…but ensure that you have answered in your own words
Avoid repetition
Avoid writing about implied audiences (to whom the material will be more “relatable”)
Use appropriate metalanguage
Don’t be didactic…remember the audience to whom you are writing

16. Ideas for teaching the Critical Reading
Provide texts from previous exams with questions removed
Explore ideas and stylistic features
IDEA #3:
Write questions
IDEA #4:
Compare with the original questions

17. Ideas for teaching the Critical Reading
Brainstorming the features of text types
IDEA #6:
Gathering text types
IDEA #7:
Glossary of metalanguage

18. Ideas for teaching the Critical Reading
Students create pairings of texts
IDEA #9:
90 minute critical reading tasks (+ 10 mins reading time)
IDEA #10:
What about using previous critical readings as they are?

19. External Assessment: Critical Reading
Teach the skills…
An exciting change!