Voices, Values & Attitudes - Comprehensive Notes
Voices, Values, & Attitudes: Year 11 ATAR English
Unit Overview (Term 2, Weeks 8-10)
Focus: How authors construct short fictional texts to represent the world and human experience.
Exploration of how texts contain and endorse attitudes, values, perspectives, and voices.
Comparison of the effect of mode in shaping responses.
Unit Focus
Revision of narrative analysis basics:
Conventions
Characterisation
Literary devices
Style
Understanding values and attitudes, and the difference between them.
Examining how multiple voices within fiction are constructed to challenge or promote various ideas, values, and attitudes.
Syllabus Content
Comparing texts in various contexts, media, and modes by:
Explaining the relationship between purpose and context.
Analysing the style and structure of texts.
Evaluating the construction of hybrid texts.
Investigating the representation of ideas, attitudes, and voices in texts:
Analysing how language features, text structures, and stylistic choices shape perspectives and interpretations.
Analysing the effects of using multimodal and digital features.
Analysing and evaluating how and why responses to texts vary through:
The impact of language and structural choices on shaping own and others' interpretations.
The ways ideas, attitudes, and voices are represented.
The interplay between imaginative, interpretive, and persuasive devices.
Evaluating and comparing the effect of mode in making meaning and shaping responses.
Reflecting on their own and others' texts by:
Analysing the values and attitudes expressed in texts.
Evaluating the effectiveness of texts in representing ideas, attitudes, and voices.
Task 5 (Term 2, Week 10)
Responding: Two short-answer responses to unseen texts:
One written fiction text.
One multimodal text.
One comparative question.
Resources
Insight Year 11 English:
Voice (pp. 38-50)
Values and attitudes (pp. 52-56)
Insight Focus Activities:
Voice (p. 44, 50)
Values and attitudes (p. 54 and 55)
Today's Lesson
15 minutes of reading.
30 minutes of concept work (voice).
Context of Production: Exit West
Date: 27 February 2017
Author: Mohsin Hamid
Issues:
Borders, division, fear
Love and connection
Religion, culture, nationalism
Migration and escape
Mortality
Exit West Synopsis
Narrative follows Nadia and Saeed, two young lovers in a city on the brink of civil war.
They discover mysterious doors serving as portals to different parts of the world.
They navigate a global landscape seeking safety and home.
Themes: Love, migration, and the human experience in the face of conflict and displacement.
Magical realism (the doors) offers a fresh perspective on refugees and the quest for a better life.
Published during a time of global migration and displacement discussions.
Resonates with contemporary discussions about borders, identity, and shared humanity.
Exploration of the impact of geopolitical forces on individual lives.
Meanings of a Text
When engaging with texts, students will be expected to develop interpretations or readings of them.
Texts can communicate different meanings to different readers.
Bay of Angels by Tim Winton
Short story in the anthology Minimum of Two.
About George, a fisherman and father, seeking truth about his life and family secrets.
Themes: Loss, redemption, and the cyclical nature of life in a small coastal town.
Tim Winton:
Acclaimed Australian novelist and short story writer.
Known for evocative depictions of Western Australia and its coastline.
Prominent environmental advocate.
Bay of Angels Extract Analysis
Setting: By the river, with peppermints providing shade.
Imagery: Freeway traffic glittering, city towers taking the sun, yachts floating by like light and music.
Character: Friend is troubled and cannot see the beauty around him, the narrator tries to comfort the friend.
Themes: Friendship, coping with life's difficulties, finding solace in nature.
Motifs: Water as a place of comfort and return.
Detailed Analysis of Bay of Angels Extract
Sensory Details: The extract is rich in sensory details that contribute to the overall mood and meaning.
Visual Imagery: "freeway traffic glittered in miniature," "city towers took the white sun on their flanks," and "yachts were passing: they floated by like light and music" - create a vivid picture of the scene. This visual imagery contrasts with the friend's inability to see or appreciate the beauty.
Olfactory Detail: "breezy scent of their litter" associated with peppermints - adds another layer to the setting.
Auditory Details: "There were children near us, and gulls" - populate the scene with life, further contrasting the friend's internal state.
Emotional and Psychological Depth:
The narrator talks about feeling "grateful and, somehow, guilty for not being able to explain myself". This suggests a complex emotional state, perhaps feeling fortunate for his own well-being while struggling to articulate his feelings to his troubled friend.
The use of water of bay as a source of comfort and return.
Motif of Water: The reference to the "Bay of Angels" and the act of swimming in the river indicate that water is a symbol of cleansing, healing, and return.
The narrator diving underwater and laughing suggests a sense of renewal and joy he finds in the water.
The final line, "The sails were the wings of angels", reinforces the idea of the bay as a place of solace and spiritual significance.
Juxtaposition: The clean water amidst the city is juxtaposed with the friend's internal turmoil.
Symbolism: The yacht swathed in nets with a gull hanging strangled in it can be interpreted as the cheap symbol in a film, representing entrapment and struggle.
Recurring Motif: The idea of returning to water in times of trouble suggests a cyclical pattern of seeking solace in nature.
Reading for Understanding
Annotate the text for meaning and construction.
Consider:
What is the meaning of this text?
How do you interpret the text?
What Does It Mean to Analyse?
Analysing a text involves deconstructing its language, structural, stylistic, and/or generic features to understand exactly how its meaning and various effects are generated.
These features should be explained in terms of how they function both separately and together.
Analysing a text is the first step towards developing an interpretation.
Levels of Meaning
Literal Meaning
Inferential Meaning
Critical Meaning
Evaluative Meaning
What do readers do at each different level of meaning?
Visual Language Features
Symbols
Lines
Vectors
Size
Gestures
Body language
Facial expression
Costuming
Make-up
Focaliser
Gaze
Juxtaposition and contrast
Position
Framing
Camera shots/angles
Written Language Features
Descriptive language (adjectives and adverbs)
Connotative language
Imagery (visual and others)
Diction (word choice)
Punctuation and syntax (sentence structure)
Repetition
Figurative language:
Metaphor
Simile
Personification
Anthropomorphism
Metonymy
Pathetic fallacy
Symbolism
Synecdoche
Zoomorphism
Sound devices:
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Sibilance
Cacophony
Euphony
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Pace:
Caesura
Rhythm
Syntax choices
Wordplay:
Irony
Parody
Pun
Satire
Intertext:
Allegory
Allusion
Analogy
Quotation
Identify and Analyse Sensory Imagery
Extract from 'The Things We'll Leave Behind' by Sophie Overett.
Example:
"There's a light blearing hazy through the glass behind her brother's head, the red-blue of a police car or ambulance. A fire truck. The siren whirs, sings, sets off the great, lumbering sheep dog at her father's feet, barking at the door until she pulls it open. 'Mee-mah-mee-mah,' her niece cries, her little feet pounding against the unpolished floor. Ash pays her no mind, leaning against the doorframe, fingers itching for a cigarette as she watches her father's dog race over the Mars-red dirt of the farm, leap the paddock fence and disappear through a flock of newly shorn sheep. 'Probably a bush fire, she says, and she feels her brother nod more than she sees it, feels him step into the hall - doesn't see him until he comes to a stop behind her, hooking his chin over her shoulder, digging it sharp into the valley between her bones."
Comprehending Imagery
Imagery is most often used to evoke descriptions of physical sensations.
Tasks:
Identify an example of visual, tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and organic imagery in the previous text.
Explain the ideas about characters and/or setting implied by each type of sensory imagery.
Identify the Effects of Lexical Choice and Punctuation in a Text
Extract from 'real land' by Joanne Burns.
Example:
"this must be the fifth bloody time this month ive spent the day sittin in this corridor. it's a real cold hole deadset. might as well be in Siberia. as if theyd care all them jerks of teachers sittin with their bums on top of heaters in the classroom all day. she said that Miss Lovall i'm putting you out here near my office for your own good Cheryl. yeah i say theres no need to bung it on i get the picture. that will be enough she said Cheryl. here is a book of maps for you to draw. this will keep you busy. i want you to complete the first ten maps before lunch time. you might learn something. at least when you're holding your pen you might be able to hold your tongue. she goes back to her office. and ive been sittin here for ages at this grotty little table and wobbly chair."
Comprehending Lexical Choice and Punctuation
Tasks:
What specific lexical choices have been used to characterise the protagonist?
How does the subversion of punctuation conventions shape the representation of the character?
Consider the effect of punctuation choices in a text you are studying. Write a paragraph analysing the ways in which purposeful use of punctuation contributes to the meaning of the text. Consider frequency of particular punctuation features, the use of particular features at moments of tension or transition, or associated with certain characters, and whether any conventions have been subverted.
Annotations
Extract from 'Sacred' by Susan Midalia.
Annotations target language choices, including sensory imagery, varying types of lexical choice, and punctuation.
Short Answer Response
Read the annotated extract and respond to the following question in 200-300 words:
Explain how the language choices in the text work to construct its character and setting.
Multimodal Text Analysis: Wartime Poster
This wartime poster is a multimodal text that promotes the donation of household materials for repurposing as ammunition and other war-related products.
Analyse a Multimodal Text
Analyse the multimodal image and apply the following questions to it:
What is included in the frame? Consider setting, characters/subject, body language, costumes etc.
Explain the composition, including foreground, mid-ground and background.
What elements appear to be dominant?
What is the implied narrative suggested in the frames?
Explain the effects of the different camera angles and distances, as well as any edits used to connect shots (e.g. dissolve, cut, fade).
Describe any written elements, noting the tone and construction. How do these develop the ideas in the text?
Multimodal Text Analysis: 'Say No to Vaping' Campaign
Text 2 is a black and white version of a poster that was part of the 2021 'Say No to Vaping' campaign by the Central Coast Local Health District in New South Wales to combat the increasing addiction to e-cigarettes.
In the French inquisitorial system, the victim's role is structured around a judge-led investigation, differing significantly from adversarial systems:
Pre-Trial:
Reporting the Crime: The victim initiates the legal process by reporting the crime to law enforcement authorities.
Providing Evidence: Victims supply evidence, such as witness statements and documents, to support the investigation. However, the investigative judge (juge d'instruction) directs and controls the evidence-gathering process.
Initiating Investigation: The victim can formally request an investigation by filing a complaint with the investigative judge, which can prompt the judge to open a case.
Trial:
Testimony: Victims can testify as witnesses, providing their account of events. Unlike adversarial systems where lawyers primarily question witnesses, the judge takes an active role in questioning.
Partie Civile: Victims have the right to become a partie civile (civil party), allowing them to seek damages for the harm suffered as part of the criminal proceedings. This status provides several rights:
Access to Information: The partie civile gains access to the case file and can be informed about the progress of the investigation.
Legal Representation: Victims can be represented by a lawyer to assert their rights and argue for compensation.
Right to Be Heard: The victim has the right to be heard and present their views on the impact of the crime.
Compensation Claims: The partie civile can claim compensation for various damages, including physical, psychological, and economic losses.
Appeal:
Civil Claims: Victims, as parties civiles, can appeal decisions related to their civil claims for damages if they are not satisfied with the outcome.
Limited Influence on Verdict: Generally, victims cannot appeal the verdict (guilt or innocence) itself. The appeal on the criminal aspect is primarily the domain of the prosecution and the defense.
Overall:
Judge-Led Inquiry: The system emphasizes a judge-led inquiry to uncover the truth, positioning the victim more as a source of information and a claimant for damages rather than a central actor in determining guilt.
State's Role: The state, represented by the prosecutor and the investigative judge, takes a central role in examining evidence and questioning witnesses to establish the facts.
Victim Support: Victims are often supported by associations and legal aid services that provide assistance, information, and representation throughout the legal process.