ATAR English: Syllabus Concepts

Defining & Categorising Texts

• Text Types:

  • Style & Purpose: Imaginative, interpretative, persuasive, analytical.

  • Genre: Categorized by subject matter (e.g., sci-fi) or format (e.g., novels, poetry).

  • Mode: Communication processes arise from visual, spoken, written, gestural, and aural formats; "multimodal" = combination of modes.

  • Medium: Channels of communication (e.g., speech, television, newspapers).

Meaning Derived from Texts

• Ideas: Notions, opinions, or arguments conveyed in the text.

• Issues: Social, historical, political, or psychological problems presented.

• Perspectives: How opinions are informed by context; authorial and narrative voices.

  • Authorial Voice: Personality of the voice projected.

  • Narrative Voice: Relation between the narrator and story (1st, 2nd, 3rd person; omniscient vs. restricted).

• Representations: Portrayals of people, places, and concepts.

  • Attitudes & Values: What is valued by individuals or groups; ideologies influencing the text.

Communication of Meaning

• Language Choices: Style variations like descriptive, figurative, colloquial, emotive, or imperative.

• Tone: Emotional undercurrent of the text, shaped by language.

• Mood: The underlying atmosphere of the text;

• Conventions: Expected practices of genre or form.

  • Structure: Grouping and sequencing of ideas through syntax and paragraphing.

Writing Styles

• Types:

  • Expository: Informative content.

  • Descriptive: Focusing on details.

  • Persuasive: Seeking to convince.

  • Narrative: Telling a story.

• Sample Words for Style: Conversational, satirical, lyrical, emotive, discursive.

Author's Distinctive Style

• Stylistic Features: Arrangements of text elements that influence meaning through narrative viewpoint, juxtaposition, metaphor, etc.

• SLL IDDTOP:

  • S: Syntax

  • L: Language

  • L: Literary Devices

  • I: Imagery

  • D: Diction

  • D: Detail

  • T: Tone

  • O: Organization

  • P: Point of View

Reasons for Text Production

Why was the Text Created?

• Purpose: Author's aim (e.g., to persuade, inform, analyze).

• Audience: Intended or likely reader; audience context shapes response.

• Context of Production: Environment of text creation; social, historical, cultural backgrounds shape text.

• Comparisons: Analyzing similarities and differences between texts, identifying the use of stylistic or structural features.

• Reader Responses: Texts aim to evoke specific emotional or logical connections based on audience's sociocultural contexts and prior experiences.

Analytical Framework

Deconstruction Questions:

1. What: Ideas and perspectives.

2. How: Communication of ideas through construction features.

3. Where: Examples or patterns present.

4. How?: Collaboration between conventions to convey ideas and mechanics of meaning.

5. Effect: Reader's response to the text.

6. Why?: Explanation of response.

Key Terms Glossary

• Aesthetic: Appreciation of artistic value.

• Analyse: Detailed consideration for meaning.

• Attitudes & Values: Expressed feelings and beliefs.

• Audience: Identified readers or viewers.

• Context: Background for interpreting text.

• Conventions: Accepted practices in text types.

• Digital Texts: Electronic or multimodal formats.

• Figurative Language: Non-literal phrases for effect.

• Literary Texts: Valued for form and style across cultural contexts.

• Perspective: Viewpoint influenced by beliefs and context.

Language and Structural Features

• Language Features: Vocabulary, sentence structures, figurative language that define text type.

• Text Structure: Organization of information (e.g., paragraphs, headings).

Voice in Text

• Authorial Voice: The distinct personality shown in writing.

• Narrative Voice: Established through point of view, character representation, and tone.

Genre Characteristics

Types of Texts

• Imaginative texts: Purpose to entertain/invoke thought (e.g., novels, stories).

• Interpretive texts: Aim to analyze/explain personalities/events.

• Persuasive texts: Seek to convince readers of specific viewpoints (e.g., ads, speeches).

• Analytical texts: Identify and draw conclusions about other texts.

Changes Over Time

• Genres adapt; reader responses shift with contextual changes over time.

• Audience expectations evolve with genre conventions and societal perspectives.

Text Transformation

• Meaning can shift significantly when texts are adapted between genres.