The Text Talk Archive

The Education supplement in The Age newspaper includes some great material to help you with your VCE subjects. Some articles worth reading for English include:

On the Waterfront 1

On the Waterfront 2

Life of Pi

Crucible and Rugmaker 1

Crucible and Rugmaker 2

Language Analysis

General English advice

FLAP C

Recent SACs have made impressive use of contemporary events and figures.

Follow this link to a powerful speech delivered recently.

Can you identify each of the following: Form, Language, Audience, Purpose, Context?

Can you track the way it moves from specific examples – sometimes personal – to generalise about the state of the world at large?

Can you mimic the tone of voice in your own writing?

Sample Prompts

Irrespective of their severity, conflicts come and go. Meanwhile it is the human spirit that remains strong and endures.

To vanquish yout enemy you must do more than stay the course, you must strive to overcome your fears, and never give-in to conflict.

Conflict can be a catylist for change.

Encounters with conflict teach us what it takes to survive in an often harsh world.

 

Woomera – in words

An ABC television report into the conditions at the Woomera detention centre.

Read the excerpt, and the full transcript.

Inside Woomera – real footage

Najaf survives the hardship of Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre – i.e. prison for men, women and children.

And while his descriptions of the centre are harrowing, they are not as graphic as the images contained in this eye-witness report.

Why might this be the case? And what new perspective do you gain from watching these disturbing images of events that occurred in Australia only a few years ago?
 

Wheeler Centre – Lectures

If you missed Najaf’s visit to school last year, here is a chance to update your knowledge of his journey, and approach to storytelling, as well as a little about Robert Hillman’s involvement.

The video is approximately 40 minutes in length.

Life of Pi – Official Film Trailer

After all those student-made trailers on YouTube, finally the real thing is available courtesy of Hollywood.

But will the film be made in-time for this year’s Yr12s? And how will the film-makers handle ‘the other story’?

In the meantime…

 

Keeping up to date

As you look for an issue to see you through the 5 minute oral presentation next term, have a look at some newspaper front pages from Australia (as well as the rest of the world).

Other sources of Australian news:

Crikey

Leader

Some with a youth/young adult focus include:

JJJ’s Hack

SYN’s Panorama

Happy reading, listening, and watching.

SAC Conditions

The Crucible SAC, Week 8 of Term 1.

Students come to class with one page of notes, and use it to complete their written response to an unseen prompt. A statement of explanation will also be completed.

Total writing time is three 50minute periods.

The SAC starts on Monday March 19, periods one and two, and finish on Tuesday March 20, period 1.

Materials: a dictionary may be used (no thesaurus). The text may be used throughout the SAC. All writing to be in black or blue pen. No white out or correction tape.

Instructions: Students come to class with one page of notes. The page of notes can include quotes, ideas, key words, but not long paragraphs of writing taken from a study guide.

All writing to be completed in the SAC booklet that is collected by the teacher.

The page of notes is to be submitted with the SAC between lessons, and again submitted with the completed SAC.

 

Wider Context

If you are looking for contemporary material that will extend your thinking about Encountering Conflict it is hard to go past a discussion of the Kony 2012 campaign.

By now I’m sure that you have encountered the viral ‘Make Kony Famous’ video. If not, get yourself over to You Tube and join the millions who already have.

Then have a think.

Your personal response is a valuable one. Don’t let this writing opportunity pass you by.

Don’t forget to write something down!

Next, have a look at the many ideas floating around online. This recently published Age article is a good place to start.

Make sure you put pen to paper!

Other links worth a look:

Twitter #Knoy2012, and Twitter again with #stopkony – worth comparing the two.

American pay TV interview with rapper Marcel Cartier

As well as the many citizens posting in the style of ‘My response to Kony 2012’.