Stage 6 Writing Craft 1: Reading to Write

I'm not teaching Stage 6 English in any form this year. Since I moved schools I've switched over to History for a bit, which has been a nice sea change. This has given me time to pause, take stock, and reflect on my approaches to Preliminary and Advanced English. Today I thought I'd outline my approach to Craft of Writing and Reading to Write.

Since the implementation of the 'new' syllabus in 2019 (maybe I should stop calling it new, it's been nearly 3 years now and I'm sure another syllabus is already being worked on in some form, somewhere) one of the bigger shifts has been the inclusion of Module C: Craft of Writing. This Year 12 module shares strong blood ties with the new Year 11 Common Module Reading to Write. 

Before I lay everything out and demonstrate how I approach Craft of Writing / Reading to Write, there are two sticky elements of the syllabus that I'd like to acknowledge. 

The first of these are the Prescribed Texts.

In all of the Stage 6 English syllabuses, aside from possibly the ATAR option for Studies, there is nothing quite as murky and confusing as the existence of Prescribed Texts for Craft of Writing. For teachers who are new to teaching English, this is what it looks like:

• Teachers are required to cover at least TWO of the texts prescribed within the syllabus for the Craft of Writing. There is a Standard English list, and an Advanced English list.
• When this current iteration of the syllabus was first launched, it wasn't clear exactly how these Prescribed Texts would consistently fit into the HSC examination. To be honest, this still isn't clear after a couple of years.
• Students are required to study these Prescribed Texts in class but there is no mandate for them to be internally assessed. Students may need to call upon knowledge of a Prescribed Text in some form for the HSC examination but this is not guaranteed (the 2019 paper asked students to compare their own piece of writing to a Prescribed Text they studied, but the 2020 paper made no mention of Prescribed Texts at all). 

The other major element is the concept of writing discursive, persuasive, imaginative and informative texts. There are some confusing aspects to the introduction of these genres of writing.

• Students are required to explore and create their own texts using these approaches. It has been indicated, however, that informative texts won't be assessed and this is why no 'informative'-styled texts have been included in the Prescribed Texts list. Considering that a lot of teachers don't get to Craft of Writing until the end of their class's Year 12 year, I would suspect that informative texts just aren't covered as there is little reason to make space for them at the 11th hour before a student's HSC examinations.
• The coverage of imaginative, discursive and persuasive writing seems intended to allow students to play to their own strengths - there is no single sample NESA HSC question or past HSC question that requires students to write in ONE of these specific modes only. The logic therefore follows that a student could potentially not be taught about discursive writing and would still be able to do the HSC examination. That said, I would be loathe to rely upon this implication for the inevitable one time that NESA decides to throw a curveball in a future HSC exam.

Reading to Write

Before tucking into Craft of Writing, it makes sense to prepare students as much as possible by backward mapping into its precursor, Reading to Write.

Considering that Craft of Writing focuses on a few shorter texts rather than a single large one (unless you're brave and you went for Metamorphosis, The Awakening or the massive Colum McCann 'short' story), I decided to approach Reading to Write in a similar fashion by using a collection of shorter texts (a few short stories and some poetry) to model techniques and look at the conscious writing choices made by writers.

After a few weeks of this, students then had to pick from a list of selected texts (drawn from what they've studied in class) and create their own piece of writing in a similar style. 

On a sidenote, I've heard some experienced teachers disparage the Craft of Writing concept of getting 16 year olds to emulate the writing styles of 'great' authors... that it's a near-impossible feat and beyond the practicality of what students are capable of, or what would be in their zone of proximal development. I can only speak for my own context but I found that every single student in my Year 11 Advanced English class either enjoyed the idea of experimenting with different writing styles or was able to engage with the idea in a valuable way - the key is finding accessible texts with a diverse range of clearly defined authorial styles. I think this could work for Standard English too, it's just a matter of finding model texts that suit their ability. 

Below you will find my unit outline, some links to resources or previous blogs that support it, and the assessment task that I use. There will be a couple of gaps where you may need to source copyrighted texts if you want to use my approach.

Weeks 1-2: Okay, so it's Day 1 of Year 11. You might have a range of students in your class who aren't even sure if they want to do Advanced English. Some might be there because they've been told by someone that just by doing the course they're assured to get a better ATAR. It's important at this point to start building the right kind of class culture that encourages a love for reading and writing, constructive student collaboration, and a willingness to try things outside of one's comfort zone. Reading to Write is perfect for this. Things that I like to cover in this introductory period:

• An overview of the Advanced English course, and an overview of Reading to Write in particular.
• Some writing activities where students reflect on their own relationship with reading, why people read, why writers write, etc. 
• An examination of notions of author, authorship and authority - resource can be found here.
• Students look at poem 'Introduction to Poetry' by Billy Collins and use annotation prompts to analyse and reflect on the relationship between reading and writing.
• Students then take a deeper dive into another poem, 'Brooklyn Snow' by Omar Musa (found in his collection Millefiori [2017]) and engage in some writing exercises in response to it. These exercises also offer a good opportunity to introduce some poetry metalanguage, EG. Persona, point of view, etc., in support of further modules throughout both Year 11 and Year 12. 

Weeks 3-4: Continue 'building the field' by looking at what makes good writing and what makes bad writing. At this point students will start to engage with some short texts to explore writing style, narrative voice, etc. 

• Examine the concept of narrative voice. Some students will already be familiar with things like tense and narrative point of view, but I've found it's always best to assume nothing when you have a fresh class of Year 11 students. Work through this PPT on Narrative Voice, and follow up with some guided analysis of two extracts from longer texts (Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey and The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard).
• Read 'Sticks' by George Saunders together as a class. Students then select their three favourite or the three most significant parts of the story and justify why they chose accordingly.
• Look at paratext around 'Sticks' - introducing concept of shorter short stories (flash fiction, microfiction, etc.) to get students comfortable with the length of text they should be writing by the time they do Craft of Writing in HSC. Really short but effective texts are best in this context because, let's face it, students have all of 45 minutes to write an imaginative response during the HSC examination. Resource here.
• Students read examples of flash fiction written by their classmates and complete peer reflection scaffolds - this is designed to continue building the classroom environment as a collaborative writing space, and to get students thinking reflectively. Resource here.
• Read Tim Winton's short story 'Wake' and complete associated activities - resources can be found here.
• Introduce concept of discursive writing with extract from Judith Lucy's memoir The Lucy Family Alphabet - resources can be found here. 
• As this is the beginning of Year 11, it's also useful to introduce the concept of thesis nice and early. Look at what thesis statements are, how a strong thesis can underpin any piece of writing, etc. Typically we might talk about a thesis as being something students need in order to write a strong essay, but a strong thesis is just as useful for any piece of writing - discursive, imaginative, and so on. This PPT outlines what a thesis is, why it's important, and how students can apply this concept to the texts they've already looked at in this unit.

Weeks 5-6: These lessons form the last part of the 'studying / comprehending' section of the unit before the students start to engage with the assessment task. 

• Students read Hemingway's famous short story 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place'. Have students record their initial thoughts on the text before engaging with some paratextual information (this can be easily found online with Spark Notes guides and the like). After this additional reading, students then come back to their recorded thoughts and revise their opinion in light of what they've learned - further building their capacity to articulate their thinking in reflective writing forms.
• Students build on their understanding of Hemingway's story by completing associated activities.
• Look at some of Lydia Davis's short fiction, which you can find in The Collected Short Stories of Lydia Davis (2014). I have to admit, this has probably been the least successful of the all the texts I introduced to my students as part of Reading to Write. I still think it's important to expose students to these sorts of challenging texts nonetheless, though, and Lydia Davis is well-known for her witty, post-modernist flash fiction approach to writing short stories. I use the 1-2 page story 'Our Trip' but, really, you could probably use any of her stories. Get the students to annotate the story by using this schema.
• Spend some time examining the importance of orientations. Discuss the idea that the opening sentences of a text work in orientating the reader in numerous ways, and that the opening sentences of a short story typically work as a purposeful and concerted effort on the part of the author to set up a specific relationship between the reader and the text. Use this range of extracts from Lydia Davis to demonstrate a range of possible orientations, with students using this proforma to analyse the impact of each approach.
• Have students examine some rules for writing from well-known authors. This overview includes 'rules' put forth by Kurt Vonnegut, William Faulkner, George Orwell, Roddy Doyle, and Annie Proulx. Students read through and then come up with their own guide by selecting five rules they will adopt, five rules they will ignore, and three rules of their own.
• If you have time, students could also look at one more model text, '2BR02B' by Kurt Vonnegut, and do some of their own independent analysis by using a combination of approaches taught to them in the prior 5 or so weeks (examining the orientation, annotating the text, using schemas, etc.)

Week 7-8: I like the keep the final two weeks clear so students can work on the assessment task in class. This allows the task to be run as assessment for learning, with lots of discussion around what's working and what isn't as the students write and reflect on their own imaginative pieces. 

• The task itself requires students to draw upon one of the model texts they've looked at in the unit and use it to inspire their own piece of imaginative writing that explores individuality.
• Students also write a reflection on their writing to explain how they drew upon the style of their selected model text.
• The marking criteria demonstrates how major discrete skills and understandings taught throughout the unit of work are linked to the syllabus outcomes. Students can use this marking criteria to guide them, and teachers can use it to indicate what students need to work on.

Assessment Task here.

I really enjoy teaching this assessment task, it's interesting to see which texts each student chooses as their inspiration. Those who like Vonnegut create their own miniature explorations of dystopian ideas, those who engaged with Hemingway try their hand at sparse modernist prose, and some use the days-of-the-week structure of Tim Winton's 'Wake' as a starting point for a piece. So many different approaches!

I'll post the follow-up Craft of Writing module unit soon.

DISCLAIMER: It should go without saying, but all of the above is just my way of approaching the syllabus. It's not the 'right' way to do it, it's just one way to do it.

Extension English: Elective 5 - Intersecting Worlds

Of the five electives on offer for English Extension 1, Intersecting Worlds is the one I've seen teachers talk about the least, which is a shame because it's got some fantastic Prescribed Texts in it. In this elective, students examine the way in which our relationship with nature is represented in texts. This means considering what it is we value about nature and how this comes across in literature, the way in which representations of natural worlds can re-orientate the reader in relation to previously marginalised perspectives, and the sense of anagnorisis felt by the individual as a result of their experience with nature.

There are four novels to pick from - three works of fiction and one non-fiction. This complemented by a poetry option and a film. Of these texts, three are Australian, two are English, and one is American. Looking at the gender breakdown, four are composed by men and two by women. There are no non-Western or Aboriginal perspectives on offer, which is a bit disappointing considering the content of the elective.

Prose Fiction Options

Clay by Melissa Harrison

What is it: TC is a young boy who lives an underprivileged life with his struggling mother in the city. He spends his days truanting from school and exploring the corners of the urban landscape that still yield some connection to nature. His adventuring sees him crossing paths with two other isolated individuals, the elderly Sophia who regularly writes letters to her granddaughter Daisy, and Jozef, a hardworking Polish migrant who yearns for his long-gone rural past.

Scope for Study: Harrison's background as a nature photographer can be felt in her incredibly rich and detailed descriptions of the environment. This is a novel that poses challenging questions about the place of the natural world alongside our increasingly alienated and industrialised modern existence, and students will be able to examine these themes through the lens of each of the novel's major characters.  Clay works well as a text that offers a unique view of the way life endures within the urban cityscapes that have divorced humanity from the wider, non-developed world.

NESA Annotations: Annotations can be found in the 2015-2020 NESA document, where the text was included as an option for the now defunct Advanced English module 'Representation and Text'. These annotations are mostly focused on the novel's style as evoked through characterisation and setting, and mention is made of students having the opportunity to appreciate "the capacity of nature to bring together individuals who ordinarily have difficulties relating to others".

Verdict: The shortest of the three novels offered within this elective but don't let that lull you into a false sense of security. Clay's beautiful language can sometimes feel dense if the reader isn't in a conducive frame of mind, and some contextualisation will be needed in order to assist students in getting on board with what is essentially a very British take on 'the wonder of nature'. Look, it's a nice book but it just doesn't grab me in the same way as The Shipping News did. Also, it's interesting to note that Clay was initially introduced in the aborted 2015-2020 Prescriptions as an Advanced English text. Owing to the unfairness of ditching a brand new text from the list altogether, NESA have instead relegated it to the bookroom backwater of Extension English... let's just say, I feel sorry for any schools who bought whole class set of Clay back in 2016!

Journey to the Stone Country by Alex Miller
What is it: Annabelle Beck, forty-something and married to an academic, retreats to her childhood home in far north Queensland after her husband has an affair with a university student. In the remote, stony wilderness to the west of Townsville, Annabelle takes a journey into her own past as she takes up work surveying the historical significance of sites for mining companies. In the course of this work she makes a connection with Bo Rennie, one of the local Aboriginal people, whose own past is complexly intertwined with her own.

Scope for Study: Students won't have any trouble understanding this novel on a surface level with its sharp, modernist imagery and finely-observed characters. In connecting the text to the elective, the teacher will need to open up the spaces within the narrative through discussion and close analysis. One of the central conceits of Journey to the Stone Country is the issue of communication and the space that needs to be navigated between the European and Aboriginal perspective of the world. Yes, Annabelle and Bo's histories are closely connected, but in a lot of ways they are also incompatible. In considering the 'Intersecting Worlds' Elective, students will need to consider the way in which setting works as a representation of themes and ideas. In this novel in particular, as rife as it is with symbolism, there is also a strong subtext regarding the debates around how land resources in Australia are to be best used. Chief among these is perhaps the way in which Aboriginal communities both suffer and benefit from commercialised development, and the contested histories that threaten to unhinge the present.

NESA Annotations: Annotations for this one can also be found in the 2015-2020 NESA document, where it was included as part of the now-retired Extension 1 Module B Elective 'Texts and Ways of Thinking', where the focus was on context and communication. The annotations make mention of the text's validity as a winner of the prestigious Miles Franklin Award and its origin as a fictionalised account of people that the author knew in his own youth as a cattle station worker in Queensland. It is suggested that students will be engaged by the 'interracial love story' and the contrasting cultural values and attitudes featured throughout the novel. Journey to the Stone Country is also highlighted as a text that deals with the theme of reconciliation, which was (and is) an ongoing contextual concern for both the author and his Australian audience. 

Verdict: It's an enjoyable enough book and no one could deny that it's intellectually stimulating or well-written. Alex Miller has taken the right approach in positioning his narrative from the point of view of the character who is, like himself, of a white and European background. That said, I think the time has passed for having our students examine Aboriginal issues from non-Aboriginal viewpoints. I don't dispute that this book has something worthwhile to say, I just believe that we could do better in selecting books that are better representative of marginalised voices rather than continuing to have already dominant voices dictate the nature and dimensions of these conversations.

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
What is it: Quoyle is a shambling, aimless doorstop of a man who experiences a series of personal tragedies and finds himself looking after two daughters on his own. Upon meeting his long-lost aunt, Quoyle decides to head to his ancestral home - the icy Canadian island of Newfoundland. In this strange maritime world of pies made from seal meat and men lost to the boundless unforgiving seas, Quoyle finds himself forging a new identity as a writer for the local newspaper, reporting on the comings-and-goings of the various ships that call in to harbour.

Scope for Study: Episodic in nature, The Shipping News reads like a collection of short stories held together in a shared universe by various thematic threads and motifs. Proulx's use of Newfoundlander lore and language creates this whole other epistemology that Extension students should find great enjoyment in learning - a cultural geography of fog and sailor speak and evocative made-up words. The setting itself is a character in The Shipping News; an environment that has a pivotal role in healing Quoyle's misery and gently giving him the gift of self-confidence. Students will do well to pay particular attention to Proulx's use of vocabulary to build both setting and character. 

NESA Annotations: Frustratingly, there are no annotations for this text in any of the last three NESA Annotations documents.

Verdict: I absolutely loved this. At the time of writing I'm about 70% through the entire Prescriptions for Standard/Advanced/Extension and I think this might just be my favourite text in the whole list. Proulx weaves this wonderful tapestry of local histories that tap into the very essence of folklore. It's very easy to see why she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with this novel and I think it also stands as an extremely useful example for students in appreciating the role of characterisation, setting, and language in a narrative that eschews a more typical plot structure. Even if you decide not to use this text for this elective, I'd still recommend reading it. You know, for fun.

Nonfiction Options

Island Home by Tim Winton
What is it: In a series of interconnected discursive pieces, Winton recounts his formative years through the lens of Australia's geography - growing up on the Western Australian coast, in industrial towns surrounded by unloved scrubby heath, and in an adolescence characterised by isolation and discovery and awakening environmentalism. Winton contrasts the development of his relationship with the land with a growing awareness of 'Green' ideology, thereby giving the reader a window into the forging of an environmentalist identity.

Scope for Study: Winton's memoir is constructed around the role of geography in shaping identity, allowing students to explore creative non-fiction (or discursive) texts and the use of a thesis to drive one's writing. Students will also be able to explore Winton's use of intertextuality to add depth to his explorations of ideology, the concept of "Australia the place" vs. "Australia the national identity", the role of nostalgia in shaping memory, and the changing face of Australian society.

NESA Annotations: Notes can be found for Island Home in the 2019-2023 Annotations document. Elements singled out as being of interest include: Winton's evocative descriptions of landscapes, the use of vignettes and essays to explore how these landscapes have shaped the author's identity, and the comparisons made between non-Indigenous and Indigenous notions of Country. Students are also positioned to examine the form and style of Winton's essays, rhetoric, and the extended metaphor of family that runs throughout Island Home.

Verdict: I don't hate it. Winton, as always, writes effortlessly and intellectually about our ongoing relationship with the Australian environment, and it's interesting to see the secret, hidden, forgotten, and marginalised histories of conservation and love for country. That said, I don't know if I'd like to teach it though... I think Winton's writing can go over the heads of students more often than not. There are some parts of Island Home that are sharp and incisive, but there are also other parts that are quite dry and obscure.

Poetry Options

The Major Works by William Wordsworth

• Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey
• Three years she grew in sun and shower
• My heart leaps up when I behold
• Resolution and independence
• The world is too much with us
• Ode ('There was a time')
• The Solitary Reaper
• The Prelude (1805) - Book Ones, lines 1-67, 271-441
  

What is it: Wordsworth's poetry explores the human condition via the wonders of nature, echoing sentiments of pathetic fallacy in a range of poetic forms and genres. 'Tintern Abbey' is a long piece in the loco-descriptive mode of the era, 'Three years...' depicts a nature both wondrous and indifferent when it comes to the rise and fall of an individual's life, and the autobiographical 'Prelude' is included in two fragments relevant to the elective. The length of poetry also drastically varies, from the short and simplistic 'My Heart Leaps Up' to the twenty stanza 'Resolution and Independence'.

Scope for Study: There is a lot to cover in this suite of selected poetry and taking a structuralist perspective grounded in context will be helpful in getting students to understand Wordsworth's use of generic conventions. Among the poetic forms sampled here are rhyme royal, the pindaric ode, the aforementioned loco-descriptive genre, and 18th century lyrical poetry, all of which will no doubt need some explaining for your students. Context will be important too, for example, 'Ode' is a poem written in two parts at two different times, so there should be consideration of how it reflects the author's life. 'Tintern Abbey' is also another interesting one as it oddly leaves out any mention of the titular abbey, focusing instead on the natural geography of the area - a geography internalised by the poet and alluding to a world that was slowly slipping (or about to slip) under the encroachment of industrialisation.

NESA Annotations: Some annotations for Wordsworth can be found in the 2015-2020 NESA document in relation to the now defunct Extension 1 Module B Elective on 'Romanticism'. The suite featured there is not exactly the same as the currently Prescribed one but there is some crossover in that five of the current eight poems are the same. The annotations primarily focus on Wordsworth's position as one of the Romantic poets and how his work fits into a larger framework in relation to this genre.

Verdict: This is big, weighty, and ambitious to study. I'm not sure I'd tackle it because it doesn't quite sing to my senses in the way that a lot of the other Prescribed Texts do. But, then again, there's a lot written about Wordsworth's poetry so teaching it would be ably assisted by paratextual reading (or dare I say even some simple Google searching!) As a solid Western canon text it's also got a long history of school study attached to it, so that will help too.

Film Options

The Hunter, directed by Daniel Nettheim
What is it: A foreign biotech company has learned that the extinct Tasmanian Tiger may in fact still exist in the depths of the Tasmanian wilderness. In order to exploit this opportunity to its fullest, the company sends in specialist Martin David (played by Willem Dafoe) to collect genetic material from the creature and to also kill off any remaining Tasmanian Tigers to ensure that the harvested DNA remains unique. While adopting the guise of a university researcher during his journey to the heart of the Apple Isle, David inadvertently finds himself in the middle of an ideological battle between environmentalists and loggers, and is confronted by a landscape both mysterious and haunting in its natural beauty.

Scope for Study: Students will be able to examine the film in terms of its visual design, specifically the way it contrasts a fairly grim premise with the fearsome beauty of a wilderness under threat. Of note is the panoramic helicopter-mounted camera work and the use of wide or extreme shots to capture this environment. Tasmania's nature is depicted as an almost god-like amphitheatre into which Willem Dafoe's gaunt and haunted frame must tread if he is to fulfill the near-Satanic deal he has struck with his employer. Students should also build up a strong contextual knowledge to assist with better understanding the The Hunter's environmental and conservationist themes.

NESA Annotations: Notes can be found in the 2019-2023 Annotations document, which outlines the need to examine the contemporary political context of the film as well as the Tasmanian Tiger as a symbol for the impact of European colonisation. The 'Opportunities for Challenging Teaching and Learning' are highly useful here too as they provide a clear schema that can be used to deconstruct and examine the text in relation to the elective.

Verdict: It's always nice to see Australian films in these lists but The Hunter doesn't really live up to its promise. The Tasmanian Tiger becomes a clumsy sort of metaphor for David in that they're both survivors in a ruthless world, however, aside from Willem Dafoe's great range as an actor, the character just isn't given enough depth by director/writer Daniel Nettheim. Owing to the density of the other texts though I think it would be difficult to undertake the Intersecting Worlds Elective without including The Hunter, and it's a serviceable enough film to use when exploring the representation of nature and the human condition in relation to it, especially with the use of the NESA annotations as a guideline.

Wake by Tim Winton (Reading to Write)

Hi. 

Like many of us, I'm finding the COVID-19 pandemic an incredibly anxious and trying time. I haven't posted much on the blog lately because it's felt like a low priority, especially as society seems to shrink up into a ball of hibernation around us. School doesn't feel like school at the moment, it's surreal and disassociative, and there's so much to unpack in what's happening but it just makes me feel mentally exhausted.

Anyway. 

Earlier this term my Year 11 Advanced English class read Tim Winton's short story 'Wake'. It's about 9 pages long and can be found in Scission, a collection of short stories first published in 1985. We approached the Reading to Write Common Module by looking at various short pieces as I wanted to broaden the scope of things that students may have read up until this point. This is what we looked at this term before everything unravelled:

• 'Introduction to Poetry' by Billy Collins (Poem)
• 'Brooklyn Snow' by Omar Musa (Poem)
• 'Sticks' by George Saunders (Flash Fiction)
• 'Wake' by Tim Winton (Short Story)
• 'B is For Bullshit', extract from The Lucy Family Alphabet by Judith Lucy (Discursive Writing)
• 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place' by Ernest Hemingway (Modernist Short Story)
• 'Our Trip' by Lydia Davis (Postmodern Short Story)
• '2 B R 0 2 B' by Kurt Vonnegut (Science Fiction Short Story)
• 'SJ' by Ellen Van Neerven (Short Story)

After reading 'Wake' we drilled down into some of the techniques and writing mechanics of Winton's piece. It's not anything revolutionary but I think the students found it useful to look at the story up-close in this way, and it would work well if you're currently teaching via Google Classroom or through some other online platform. The PowerPoint attached below covers motifs, use of semicolons, dialogue rules, and pathetic fallacy. Each slide comes with in-built discussion and questions that can be covered after the story has been read.

'Wake' - PPT (Click to Download)
And the story itself - 'Wake' by Tim Winton.

Hope it helps and best wishes to you all :)

The Common Module (English Prescriptions 2019-23)

Prose Fiction Options
In total there are four prose fiction titles to pick from.

• Three of these are novels and one is a novella (Vertigo). 
• Two of the texts are new to the English Prescriptions list (All the Light We Cannot See and Past the Shallows). 
• Two of the texts are written by Australians (Vertigo and Past the Shallows).

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

What is it: Anthony Doerr's Pullitzer Prize-winning novel is a 500+ page opus that tracks the experiences of two children on opposite sides of World War II. The chapters are short and episodic (they average 3 pages each) and mostly take place from the perspectives of a French vision-impaired girl and a German orphan boy drafted into the Hitler Youth. It's very well-written; each sentence is a little work of poetry, and the scope of events and themes covered by the narrative is ambitious, to say the least.

Scope for Study: Students with an interest in Modern History, or World War II fiction, will find a lot to like in this novel, as will those who have a real interest in reading literature. The chapter-lengths and style allow for a surprisingly brisk read provided that the students are interested. In relation to the Common Module's rubric, the book is perfect for examining the paradoxical nature of humanity in the face of war. The author's unique but accessible style also allows for involved study of figurative language, grammatical structure, and literary value.

NESA Annotations: The 2019-23 Annotations point out the impressive array of awards that American author Doerr has picked up for All the Light We Cannot See, and the historical significance of the events covered within the novel's narrative. The document also points out the challenging nature of dichotomising people into categories of 'good' or 'evil', and the way that the text provokes discussion around this and the motif of 'light' as a symbol of hope. The non-linear plotting, the use of science and intertextuality, and the perspective of the character of Marie-Laure, are also pointed out as fodder for provocative teaching and learning.

Verdict: Alas, this is a novel of terrifying length and it would be a very brave teacher that dares to teach it in the space of a term to 17 year-olds. I could only see it working with an Advanced English class but even with students of this ability I think it would be a big ask for them to read something of this length and read it deep enough for purposes of study. The text itself is also, from the viewpoints of some, quite problematic (if it wasn't for the length, I would say these issues provide great scope for discussion with higher ability classes, but not all teachers may feel this way if they take personal offence).   

Vertigo by Amanda Lohrey

What is it: Luke and Anna are a young couple who decide to move to a coastal country town as an escape from the pollution and pace of life in Sydney. Lohrey's novella is compact but thematically dense and lyrical, gradually bringing the alarming danger of bushfire closer whilst teasing the audience with the presence of an unnamed boy who continues to haunt and flit about the edges of the narrative.

Scope for Study: The novella provides scope for discussion of the way a narrative is constructed, with particular attention potentially paid to the use of foreshadowing and (if you read the blurb, which gives things away a bit) dramatic irony. The coastal/rural setting is somewhat personified throughout the text, with its salience rendering it as equally important as the characters. Lohrey writes in a deceptively accessible way, seeming to 'skate' over the top of her characters and their journey as they deal with rather weighty and complex issues.

NESA Annotations: The 2015-2020 Annotations highlight the evocative imagery of Lohrey's descriptive and largely dialogue-free writing, and the motif of 'the boy' is similarly identified as a force that drives the reader's curiosity in relation to the narrative. The annotations also imply that the text could be considered multimodal (there are several photographs interspersed throughout the book), and students are encouraged to engage with this aspect during their study.

Verdict: Whilst the length of Vertigo is a lot less daunting than All the Light We Cannot See, there are certain thematic considerations that could prove very challenging when teaching this text to teenagers. Vertigo is quite typical as far as Australian literature goes: set in the bush, concerned with a thirty-something couple who have experienced a late term miscarriage, and largely free of dialogue or memorable secondary characters. To be frank, I'm not sure how well teenagers would be able to connect with a text that is far more likely to appeal to the upwardly mobile, middle-aged, book-buying crowd. 

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

What is it: Orwell's dystopian classic needs no real introduction. The story of Winston Smith's struggle for individuality and privacy under the oppressive eye of Big Brother has become the stuff of pop culture legend. It's also the only science fiction text in the Common Module, and one of the few science fiction texts across the entire English Prescriptions list.

Scope for Study: Students will (and do) find quite a few alarming points of similarity between Orwell's nightmare vision of the future and our own current state of affairs. The appointment of Donald Trump as American President and his rhetoric of 'alternative facts' and 'fake news' hits a little too closely to the way the Party manipulates information and history in Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell's use of rhetoric, careful sentence construction, and disturbing imagery also allows students to attack the text at a micro-level whilst simultaneously examining the big questions it raises.

NESA Annotations: Notes for Nineteen Eighty-Four can be found in the 2015-2020 Annotations, albeit as part of the 'Intertextual Perspectives' module. Orwell's hugely influential novel is deemed significant due to its impact on the English language (and Western culture in general). It's legitimacy as a 'canon' text for classroom study is supported by the role that context plays in its construction, with students able to draw upon Orwell's political, social, cultural and historical background to deepen their understanding of the novel.

Verdict: Orwell is intellectually challenging but also very relevant, and I've found that many students respond quite passionately to the concepts portrayed in Nineteen Eighty-Four. I will note, however, that it's perfectly pitched for an Advanced English class and, as such, I'm not sure it would be a successful teaching-and-learning experience in a Standard English context.

Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett

What is it: Past the Shallows tells the story of two brothers, Miles and Harry, who live on the south-east coast of Tasmania with their difficult father. Much like Vertigo, this is a text heavily informed by the environment - an arresting story that's as enigmatic and bracing as the great Southern Ocean that hugs the Tasmanian coast and looms so large as a threat to Harry. Past the Shallows is the first award-winning novel from Australian author Favel Parrett, who previously wrote zines.

Scope for Study: Past the Shallows is wonderfully evocative of place and features memorable, finely-sketched characters that will stay with the reader long after they've finished with the novel. Students won't find it difficult to read, and Parrett's background as a zine-writer means that she is able to craft poetic yet accessible imagery that will appeal to teenagers and adults alike. The use of the southern-most parts of Australia as a setting also gives the text an edge over the many similar pieces of literature that focus on the country or outback.

NESA Annotations: The annotations describe the text as 'powerful', 'poignant', and 'traumatic', and it's hard to disagree. Note is also made of the 'distinctive voices' of the two protagonists, Miles and Harry - essentially highlighting the strength of characterisation in Parrett's writing. Suggestion is also made in regards to exploring the genre of bildungsroman and the way the novel touches on elements of this storytelling tradition, and the way Parrett mimics the 'rhythms of the ocean' through her use of grammar and figurative language.

Verdict: I love this book and would absolutely love the chance to teach it. The text is beautifully written, the characters are engaging and raise lots of questions, and there are some big themes around family, loss, neglect, etc. Most of all, the perspective of the two adolescent brothers provides the perfect way-in for teenage readers!

Poetry / Drama / Shakespearean Drama Options

There are five options to choose from here, with a few notes:

• The Merchant of Venice gets counted as a Drama option if chosen for Standard English, but a Shakespearean Drama option if chosen for Advanced English.
• None of the options here are entirely new to the prescriptions list, although I think it's been a while since The Merchant of Venice was a prescribed text.
• Both poets are Australian, as is the playwright Jane Harrison (who is also Muruwari).

Collected Poems by Rosemary Dobson

• Young Girl at a Window
• Over the Hill
• Summer's End
• The Conversation
• Cock Crow
• Amy Caroline
• Canberra Morning

What is it: Whilst Dobson has been on the prescriptions list before, it's worth noting that the suite of poetry chosen by NESA is not exactly the same as the selection in previous years - only two of the above poems ('Young Girl at a Window', 'Cock Crow') were in the prior prescriptions. Dobson's poetry spans a full lifetime, she wrote as a child and was first published at the age of 17 in the 1930s, and released her last collection of poetry in 2008 just four years before her death. The poetry itself shies away from the political and the personal, instead offering artistic observations of what Dobson called 'the fugitively glimpsed'.

Scope for Study: Dobson's poetry was previously placed as a prescribed text for Discovery, and it's easy to see her observations of the enigmatic as a window into the role of the artist as an explorer. As a text in the Common Module, the suite of selected poetry allows for students explore the role of perspective in creating a relationship between the subject and observer, and the figurative language used to express this. Dobson eschews the use of difficult language in much of her poetry, which is welcome considering the obscurity that permeates the subjects she describes.

NESA Annotations: This text is covered in the 2015-2020 document but not in the most recent annotations, which means that the notation provided is about the text's use in regards to Discovery and therefore concerns the previous selection of poetry. That said, the annotations aren't really that specific, so it's still relevant in terms of providing some information on the author's value in terms of study. The annotations do tend to highlight the intertextual dimensions of Dobson's work in relation to art, literature and mythology though, with an emphasis on imagery and allusion. The techniques will still be there in the new collection listed above but in their selection of these poems NESA have somewhat de-emphasised the intertextuality of Dobson's oeuvre, so this element is not as applicable. 

Verdict: I'll just say it straight up - Dobson is about as Anglo-Australian as you can get. Her work is described by NESA as 'interrogating connections between Australian and European traditions in art and culture'. I would keep that in mind when looking at the socio-economic nature of my cohort, as there are a lot of students in NSW's metropolitan and outer suburban areas who won't appreciate where she's coming from as much as some teachers will. The poetry is fairly accessible nonetheless, and the poet's attempts to capture mood, memory, and place will hold some interest for more creatively-minded students.

Selected Poems by Kenneth Slessor

• Wild Grapes
• Gulliver
• Out of Time
• Vesper-Song of the Reverend Samuel Marsden
• William Street
• Beach Burial

What is it: Kenneth Slessor was a journalist, editor, and war correspondent who left his mark as one of Australia's most significant 'modern' poets. The bulk of his poetry was written in the 1920s and 1930s, and helped inaugurate Australia's shift away from the balladry of 19th century poetry to sharp, intense and contradictory explorations of emotion, death, place, and time. Slessor is also noted for his flexibility in style and content, from the tragedy of 'Beach Burial' to the jokey tone of 'Wild Grapes'.

Scope for Study: Students will be able to drill down not just into individual poems but also into single lines and specific word choices as the poet's expertise in crafting dense imagery is perfectly suited for Stage 6 study. Slessor's mastery of language is both cajoling and disruptive to the reader, and forces attention rather than asks for it. Students will able to examine the overall themes of his work, as well as the way that verse can be employed to these ends.

NESA Annotations: There are currently no available NESA annotations for this text.

Verdict: With only 6 poems, and none more than a single page in length, this is possibly the shortest of the poetry options on offer in the English Prescriptions 2019-2023. I think Slessor's poetry would work best with an inquisitive Standard English class, and the brevity of the text on offer here will offer breathing space for teachers wanting to provide lots of scaffolding and room for curiosity. It also helps that the poems are excellent.

Rainbow's End by Jane Harrison

What is it: Jane Harrison's play about three generations of Aboriginal women living in 1950s rural Victoria has been a popular teaching option since its introduction as part of the 2009-2014 prescriptions. Drawing upon an Australian context of acute disparity between Aboriginal people and their European-descended neighbours, Rainbow's End is essentially a character study that mixes comedy with tragedy to capture the voices of marginalised generations in our recent past.

Scope for Study: Harrison has become a much-loved writer in the past decade or so, and her inclusion on this list makes her the only Indigenous Australian author in the Common Module. Rainbow's End is the most 'obvious' option in this section of the list, and it explores the vernacular of a class system in a rapidly disappearing era with an engaging sense of energy and pace that's achieved, in large part, through sharply memorable characterisation.

NESA Annotations: Both the 2015-2020 and 2009-2014 Annotations contain (differing) notes on the text, with some attention paid to the valuable social and historical contexts provided by its study. Irony, 'gentle humour', and characterisation are highlighted as key dramatic techniques used by Harrison to deal with complex themes in a deceptively simple way. 

Verdict: I like this play a lot, and I think it works well as a Standard English text due to the fact that it builds on mandatory content that NSW students will have covered in the Rights and Freedom topic from Year 10 History. Sequencing this easily-appreciated drama as a follow-up to study of the Stolen Generations, generational inequity via the missions, and pre-1967 Referendum society in Australia, allows for students to construct a truly valuable understanding of Rainbow's End that should contribute to life-long learning. 

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

What is it: Miller's intense dramatisation of the infamous Salem Witch Trials of the 17th century follows the story of Abigail Williams, a young girl who uses accusations of witchcraft to wield power over an ignorant and puritanical society. The object of her scorn is John Proctor, a local farmer whose affair with the young Abigail will spell certain doom. 

Scope for Study: The Crucible stands tall as a damning allegory for McCarthyism in the 1950s, reflecting Arthur Miller's thinly-shrouded criticism of the House of Un-American Activities at that time. Miller himself would go on to face the wrath of Senator Joe McCarthy, who targeted the playwright as a potential communist sympathiser. The Crucible is a complex, dark, and ultimately rage-inducing indictment of mob mentality and the misuse of power. 

NESA Annotations: Notes for the play can be found in the 2015-2020 Annotations, extensively referencing the importance of the text as a window into context. The duality of themes such as 'good and evil, love and malice, respect and respectability' are also mentioned but the focal point remains largely contextually-driven, with commentary highlighting the play's role as a political instrument for its past, present, and future.

Verdict: The historical cadence of the language and the significance of context make The Crucible undoubtedly suited to an Advanced English class. As such, teachers would be crazy not to team it up with Good Night and Good Luck, a Module B text for Advanced English that deals more directly with McCarthyism. The marrying of these two texts together across multiple modules will only serve to strengthen the field of knowledge that Advanced students can draw upon for in-depth contextual understanding. 

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

What is it: The Merchant of Venice is perhaps one of Shakespeare's more famous comedies and also one of the more controversial when viewed from a modern context. The play remains somewhat challenging due to its depiction of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who becomes consumed with the need to collect a 'pound of flesh' from the Venetian merchant Antonio when a debt isn't paid on time. There's also a bunch of stuff about various foreign suitors having to solve a puzzle so they can win the hand of a much-desired Venetian noblewoman, and the usual gender-bending that often shows up in Shakespearean comedy, but no one tends to remember that stuff due to Shylock's unreasonable compulsion to extract actual flesh from Antonio.

Scope for Study: Like the other older texts on this list, The Merchant of Venice provides ample scope for the study of historical context - particularly the values of the Elizabethan era in regards to race, commerce, and gender (Shakespeare pretty much conflates these three big themes into one interwoven depiction of Venice as a potential future for his English audience). Eagle-eared students will also do well in picking up the differences in dialogue-styles employed by characters from very different backgrounds, with Shylock sounding quite unlike any other character in Shakespeare's body of work. 

NESA Annotations: There are currently no available annotations for this text, possibly because it was added late to the 2019-2023 Prescriptions list.

Verdict: I've had difficulty teaching Shakespearean comedies in the past, however, I think there's quite a bit in The Merchant of Venice that lends itself to contemporary discussion. Sure, there's the obvious stuff like the antisemitism of the character of Shylock and his apparent greed, but there's also a lot of to talk about in regards to the themes of commerce and commodities. And whilst everyone is very aware of Shylock as a Jewish stereotype, there's perhaps even more racism in the depiction of the Moorish Prince who seeks Portia's hand in marriage.

Non-Fiction / Film / Media Options
There are five options in this section; two non-fiction novels, a fictional film, and two documentaries (1 film, 1 TV series).

• There are three new texts - The Boy Behind the Curtain, I Am Malala, and Waste Land.
• Of the texts, two are Australian - The Boy Behind the Curtain and Go Back to Where You Came From.
• Both Go Back to Where You Came From and Waste Land make partial use of subtitles.

The Boy Behind the Curtain by Tim Winton

• Havoc: A Life of Accidents
• Betsy
• Twice on Sundays
• The Wait and the Flow
• In the Shadow of the Hospital
• The Demon Shark
• Barefoot in the Temple of Art

What is it: Tim Winton, Australia's contemporary 'golden child' of home-grown literature, turns his sharp lyricism onto himself in this highly personal memoir of growing up in Albany, Western Australia. Each chapter is a non-fiction essay, covering topics such the motor vehicle accidents that shaped Winton into an adult, the impact of being part of a strict sect of the Christian Church, and a plea for the conservation of sharks.

Scope for Study: Whilst certainly economical at times, Winton's writing could never really be accused of being dry. Each sentence reads as carefully crafted, and students will be able to examine the role of synonyms, wide vocabulary use, and connotation in controlling the relationship between reader and writer. Winton's use of both non-linear plotting and the essay form to explore his own past will also allow students to gain an understanding of the way the truth can be bent to fit a narrative.

NESA Annotations: As a fairly recent release, Winton's memoir is addressed in the new annotations for 2019-2023. In terms of the 'needs and interests of the students', the focus is described as being on Winton's representation of human experiences and the ways that these have informed his art and life. Winton's masterful control of language and a wide variety of literary techniques are also mentioned as grist for the student mill. 

Verdict: Look, I love Winton, but some of the pieces selected from his memoir would be incredibly difficult for certain Stage 6 students to fully comprehend (I'm primarily thinking of the religion essay, 'Twice on Sundays'). Winton's use of obscure language whilst also simultaneously playing with grammatical and literary forms of expression may stretch some students beyond patience. As such, I could only really see this text working with a high-performing Advanced English class. The full resonance of The Boy Behind the Curtain may also be lost on students who A) Don't have a working knowledge of who Winton is, and/or B) Aren't old enough to fully appreciate the meditative nature of a middle-aged artist reflecting on his own life.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

What is it: Malala Yousafzai recounts the story of her life as a teenager growing up on the Pakistani / Afghanistan border in the years following 9/11 and the American invasion of Afghanistan. Although politically enclosed within the comparatively moderate nation of Pakistan, the remote community that Malala grew up in was heavily-influenced and partially-controlled by Taliban theocrats from Afghanistan, meaning that Malala's education in her father's school came under direct ideological and physical attack from terrorists. This memoir follows her tumultuous journey from student to passionate campaigner for female rights to education across the entire world.

Scope for Study: Placed from within a prism of current affairs that will be familiar to students, I Am Malala builds off ideas that many Stage 4 and Stage 5 English classes will have already explored; namely advocacy, agency, gender stereotypes, protest, and non-Anglo cultural perspectives. Malala's memoir reflects her youthful optimism and resilience, and the smattering of localised language throughout helps to extend students in their understanding of Afghan/Pakistani region.

NESA Annotations: The 2019-2023 Annotations emphasise the text's credibility in order to convince the teacher of its worthiness, highlighting Malala's status as a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as the impressive credentials of her co-author, the British foreign correspondent Christina Lamb. The way that memoirs construct and re-structure narrative will give students room for analysis but the main point made by the annotations is that I Am Malala provides a welcome insight into the experiences of women and girls in the Muslim world.

Verdict: The danger and survival of Malala's story will be impressive to just about anyone. I could see this text working really well (with supporting material from the teen edition of the book) for a lower/mixed ability Standard English class or an English Studies group, and the ongoing nature of Malala Yousafzai's story (she recently just signed up to Twitter) means that there is considerable scope for students to draw connections between the text and the significant themes that it discusses.

Billy Elliot, directed by Stephen Daldry

What is it: Set against the backdrop of the UK miners' strike of 1984, Billy Elliot depicts the coming-of-age of a working class boy who swaps his boxing gloves for a pair of ballet shoes. The film arrived as part of the wave of working class British comedy/drama films that came into popularity with The Full Monty in 1997, and remains a finely-acted and well-scripted piece of cinema that successfully blends context and characterisation to build a meaningful connection with its audience.

Scope for Study: The 1980s coal miners' strike may seem like an obscure context for 21st century Australian students but there is a lot of common ground that can be forged in regards to themes of class and labour. Stephen Daldry's relatively straight-forward construction of a dramatic narrative also allows for a lot of discussion around themes, characterisation, and setting.

NESA Annotations: Billy Elliot is covered by the 2015-2020 Annotations with a particular focus on its inclusion as a Discovery text. Even with the demise of the Area of Study the arcs of growth for Billy, his family, and the wider community all remain relevant as highly teachable elements of the text. The annotations highlight the thematic core of the film, being the fact that the narrative is largely driven by Billy's subversion of gender norms. 

Verdict: This film works well as a Standard English text, with a lot of scope for challenging stereotypes and gender roles in relation to generic conventions. The juxtaposition of Billy's tough background and his burgeoning love of dance may also invite students to challenge their own understanding of cultural and socio-economic pressures.

Go Back to Where You Came From (Season 1), directed by Ivan O'Mahoney

What is it: Six participants representing a cross-section of contemporary Australian society embark on a reverse-journey that traces the footsteps of refugees. Part reality TV, part social experiment, Go Back to Where You Came From is a unique television event that explores the Australian metanarrative and challenges viewers to examine their own views on refugees, detention centres, and the context that has created this ongoing 'hot topic'.

Scope for Study: Go Back to Where You Came From is perhaps the ultimate Discovery text, examining six individuals as they confront political issues head-on and undergo transformations to varying degrees. The Area of Study is now a moot point but the text itself is still incredibly relevant in terms of encouraging students to build their own personal response to both the text and the political dimensions that birthed it. Combining a variety of persuasive techniques and documentary tropes, Go Back to Where You Came From is fertile ground for in-depth analysis, and definitely a thought-provoking stimulus.

NESA Annotations: Notes can be found in the 2015-2020 Annotations, although these predominantly concern the text's relevance to the Discovery Area of Study. That aside, there is mention of the usefulness of the final post-series episode, The Response, as a way for students to measure their own evaluations against those offered by the participants. The role of the media in shaping public opinion is also highlighted as a key area for challenging students.

Verdict: Go Back to Where You Came From is a rare beast - a very easily understood and accessible text that's also quite cerebral in its treatment of contentious themes. Students from both the Standard and Advanced courses will quite easily form personal opinions in response to the diversity of perspectives offered by the participants, which range from the refugee-sympathetic far left (Gleny Rae) to the nationalistic and conservative (Darren Hassan, Raye Colby). The use of modern generic conventions associated with the reality TV and documentaries genres are also identifiable to students, and provide ample fodder for student analysis.

Waste Land, directed by Lucy Walker

What is it: In this documentary, director Lucy Walker follows artist Vik Muniz as he embarks upon a new project centering around Jardim Gramacho, one of the world's largest garbage dumps (located in Brazil). Muniz creates huge, room-sized portraits of some of the individuals who make their living from collecting the rubbish; a project that that makes uses of recycled materials and sees Muniz become increasingly involved in seeking agency for these marginalised people.

Scope for Study: The project that Muniz embarks on provides scope for students to investigate the socio-economic issues surrounding the catadores (garbage pickers) and the ingrained poverty of the Rio de Janeiro favelas (slums). In addition to this, there is a twofold opportunity for students to explore the social commentary imbued in Muniz's art, and the documentary techniques used by Walker to affect the viewer's impressions of her constructed narrative of this subject.

NESA Annotations: The 2019-2023 Annotations identify Waste Land as "an engrossing and uplifting documentary that celebrates the dignity of the human spirit" whist also highlighting the sheer wealth of awards that it attracted in 2011. The motif of garbage is mentioned as a prompt for discussion of the paradoxical nature of Muniz's art, which is simultaneously beautiful and depressing. The annotations are also careful to establish the constructed nature of Walker's documentary as a piece that deliberately focuses on individuals rather than the wider political issues of Brazil.

Verdict: A 'big' documentary with significance, Waste Land encompasses themes of shame, pride, making a living, the cycle of 'rubbish', and advocacy. The fact that Muniz makes the pickers partners in his artistic process (whereby he transforms their images into huge portraits constructed from garbage and recyclable materials) goes a long way towards engaging the viewer in a narrative that moves beyond the idiosyncrasies of the art. This text would most likely work well with either Advanced or Standard classes, with fantastic (in the original sense of the word) imagery of pickers scaling mountains of moving trash as it pours from the back of trucks, and Walker and Muniz working together to draw out stories and pathos from these individuals - the woman who fell in love with a married truck driver, the man who found Machiavelli's The Prince in the trash and began reading it, the uneducated ageing picker who is proud to represent 2500 other pickers, and the young man who becomes a inspirational mouthpiece for his fellow catadores.

Beautiful Blueback Bunting!

Buntmania!

For the last couple of years I've been wanting to get some bunting happening in my class room. Secondary to this was finding something to feature on said bunting, and I guess the two finally clicked together this year whilst I was teaching Tim Winton's Blueback to my Year 7 class. 

Last year I did an activity with a Year 7 class where each student created a single card that visually represented one of Blueback's chapters. Prior to this, I had taught them how to summarise chapters and had them colour these summaries with a highlighter so that we would be able to easily find them in their books afterwards. This way, the students could combine their own summary with an image that represents the chapter. It worked well, and the final product looked good - a complete pictorial guide to Blueback, courtesy of the students.

Last year's group

This year I repeated the activity but instead changed the format to large triangles rather than rectangles. Huzzah - bunting!

Putting it in order

Getting there

Putting it all together on a piece of string was a little challenging for me, especially in the 35 degree afternoon heat that had swelled up in my room after a long school day, but I eventually managed to get it all hung up on the wall. 

Done!

I'm pretty happy with it, and the kids were chuffed to see it too.