Dracula Term 2: Texts, Culture and Value

At the start of the year I consolidated the first term's lessons for a revised unit of work focused on Dracula for the Year 11 Extension English 1 module Texts, Culture and Value. This first term focuses on Dracula itself, an introduction to important contextual information for study, and interacting with academic paratext to build a level of understanding suitable to an Extension English context (and hopefully prepare students for university-level study!).

In continuation of this, the second term of the module addresses a modern text (The Lost Boys) and introduces material that supports students in their undertaking of the Related Project. Without further waffle, here's the resources for the term in a single document for easy access:

• Dracula Term 2: Texts, Culture and Value

And here's the associated PowerPoint, some of which was adapted from ideas shared by Eva Mayes in mETAphor Issue 2, 2012, in the article 'The Language of Comparison' (hence why the PPT is mislabelled - a fair bit of it has been changed from the original DoE document that was initially shared with me):

• 9-1. Utilising Sophisticated Language PPT

And the two video clips referenced in the program:

As stated in the previous blog, the main document is designed to be printed as a booklet and given to each student. There's a section in the front of the booklet that explains how each of the resources work. It's more for the teacher but it doesn't hurt for the students to see it and track their progress. The document also includes a formal assessment task (the Related Project) and an informal assessment task (a proposal for the Related Project presented in viva voce form). You can teach the whole unit as it is, or pull it apart and use bits and pieces, rewrite stuff from it, etc.  

A reiteration of the caveats I mentioned last time too:

• The module has been designed from a place of non-assumption; that is to say, everything is laid out for the students as if they are coming to everything in this for the first time because, well, they probably are. Some material has also been included to build skills that should assist students in their HSC year (without touching any of the HSC content, of course).
• One of the larger parts of the booklet is the Study Guide to The Lost Boys (Resource 3-1). I've posted an earlier version of this document on this blog before but the version in the updated module now includes student questions in the analysis column. I don't expect students to answer every question but, as a form of differentiation, students should aim to answer at least one question per page. 
• The readings included are mostly extracts sourced from online. Sources have been included on all of these except for one. The one with no author attributed to it was written by myself, adapted from a review I wrote in a previous life as a film reviewer. I've included each of the readings here because, as you'll probably already know, things on the internet have a tendency to disappear sometimes! Incidentally, if you're reading this and happen to be the author of one of these online pieces and would like it removed from this not-for-profit educational document then please just let me know and I'll take it out.

If you have any questions please fee free to contact me by commenting below, or using the email address in the booklet.