Features of an EFFECTIVE Introduction-14pw2j5

Please note that there is also a Year 12 ATAR English blog which has been created by the teachers up at our Carramar campus.

The blog can be found at:

https://blogs.ststephens.wa.edu.au/12englishatarcarramar18/page/2/

While their course has been constructed quite differently to the course your enrolled on here at Duncraig, the course concepts and skills are exactly the same. It’s worth subscribing to the Carramar blog which will give you a different perspective on the course.

Please download the attached image as a model for deconstructing a Section 2- Responding question. Note that I’ve used Question 4 from the 2017 Semester 2 Year 12 ATAR examination. All the questions from this section are contained in the previous blog post.

The deconstruction of this question also uses:

1. The ‘Glossary of Key Terms used in Questions’- Found on the SCSA website but also attached to the previous blog post.
2. Appendix Tw0- Contained in the Year 12 ATAR English syllabus which is also attached to the previous blog post.

The question assumes an understanding of these SCSA-related key terms.

Things to note:

• The SCSA-related information is written in red
• The chosen text is written in blue
• The text-specific information is written in green

Also note:

• The information in the top right-hand corner which refers to defining what is meant by ‘controversial’.
• The text-specific information which would need to be expanded on: you would need to refer to how the text was constructed (through specific generic conventions, visual conventions etc.) in your response.

This is an effective model for deconstructing a question. The next stage is to use this question deconstruction as a basis for producing a detailed plan.

Below is a copy of the Section 2- Responding section from the 2017 Year 12 ATAR Semester 2 examination. It is in this section that you will write about  Murderball.

This section is worth 40% of the total marks for your Year 12 ATAR examination and requires you to write a long-form essay response to a text studied in class.

In class, we will explore these questions together, deconstruct them and explore ways in which Murderball could be written about in a clear and effective manner.

We will need to reference the documents below in deconstructing our questions:

Year 12 ATAR Syllabus-2cc5l2s

SCSA Glossary of Key Words Used in the Formulation of Questions-11uc2bt

While you are expected to conduct your own independent research into the texts we will cover this year, I’ve included some resources below which you should use to inform your own reading.

Please make sure you download these resources and annotate them accordingly.

Murderball Study Guide-rc7fev

Murderball Review-1odsj35

Murderball Initial Close Analysis-2krd9z4

Murderball Focus Questions and Ideas-27f6zkp

Murderball Feature Article-19ebs1i

Murderball Documentary Study-2kn67eg

Murderball Article-1rt50i9

Murderball and Masculinity-1gcl8kt

Murder Ball Visual Analysis-26pkh0x

Challenging Normalcy – Masculinity and Disability in Murderball-117yhdp

Continue your research into hegemonic masculinity by exploring some of the references in the mind map above.

You will need to use the term ‘hegemonic masculinity’ in your response to Murderball as this is one of the dominant themes in the documentary.

Please make sure you summarise your understanding of this key term in your notes.

• Set targets/areas for development for your own individual response.
• Identify the aspects of your response you feel more confident with.

You will write a response to this image- under controlled conditions- and you’ll have 30 minutes in which to write.

All responses need to be handwritten unless you have an accomodation.

Use the image below as a checklist for peer/self-assessing a response to a Comprehending Section question on image analysis.

The points should be self-explanatory and are adapted from the assessment criteria on a previous blog post.

Above is an annotated version of the image from the 2016 ATAR English examination. The image is contained in the previous blog post.

Please note:

• How the visual conventions COMBINE to present POWER in a particular way.
• The main teaching and learning point here is that the generic visual conventions WORK TOGETHER to present a particular idea.

Make sure that you read the response to this image in the previous blog post to explore the structure of an effective written response in the Composing Section.

• The length of the response- It is 249 words long and this is considered an ideal length.
• The response is focused entirely on body language as the most influential visual feature.
• It is an assertive and self-confident interpretation of the text.
• There is clear control of language and there is a distinctive voice.
• Opening sentence offers a clear proposition in response to the question without simply restating it.
• Second sentence offers a clear interpretation of the image.
• Language choices offer a distinctive voice and is convincing.
• Every additional sentence builds on the central idea and refers to a further aspect of how body language is used.
• Short sentences make the point clearly and succinctly.
• Conclusion is largely unnecessary and there is no requirement to write one in the Comprehending section.

When the assessment criteria (above) is applied to a reading of this model answer, it’s clear that it meets the criteria for a highly successful response.

You will need to use the modelled example (above) to construct your own responses to the images of disability we explored in our previous lesson.

SCSA’s perspective on the criteria for a successful response in the Comprehending section:

• Concise and succinct
• Students might benefit from the advice below:
• • Think More
  • Write Less
  • Work Better
• The most successful responses demonstrated control of generic conventions.
• Short answers are not required to be written in an essay-style structure.
• Students are advised to not ‘regurgitate’ content, particularly considering that they have a limited time in which to respond. Some of the most effective responses were considerably shorter than the advised word limit because they were concise and succinct.
• First sentence should be a thesis statement.