MsUnuia's BlogSpot: 2012

Friday, November 16, 2012

It's over!

Well done to all my lovely hardworking English students.

English 2012 is now officially over and complete - done and dusted.

Good luck with the rest of your exams, enjoy your break and see you in the new year.

Ka kite ano.

Ms U

Friday, November 9, 2012

12 Unfamiliar Text Practice

Practice Task (complete the written text questions only - ignore the advertising text)

Marking Schedule (model answers)

Practice writing answers in timed conditions. Give yourself 20min per text.
Answers should include your answer to the question (funny that!), examples/quotes from the text that back your answer up, and the names of the techniques the author has used.
Typically a good answer is at least 2/3 of a page long!!

Thanks for those of you emailing practice essays. They're looking great! Keep sending them in.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

12 English Revision - useful resource

A summary chart - super useful!

http://litcharts.com/files/pdf/printer/macbeth-LitChart.pdf

Go to litcharts.com for more notes!!

Monday, November 5, 2012

12 Revision Tutorials

10am Thursday 8/11
12:30pm Friday 9/11

Both tutorials will be held in the school library - please bring your notes, pen/paper and wear correct uniform :)

Sparknotes is a great website too. It has notes on Macbeth and LOTF.

Feel free to ask questions via this blog. I'll endeavour to answer them in a timely manner!

Email practice essays to: laura.unuia@hvhs.school.nz

Friday, October 26, 2012

12 Truman Show Mindmap

Mindmap link here

12 Revision - The Truman Show

Essay Plan # 1 The Truman Show

Question: Analyse how a change in a major character helped you to understand an important idea or ideas in a text you studied.

Obvious character to write about: TRUMAN! Brainstorm answers to these questions first:

1. What major change are you focusing on?

2. What techniques/scenes highlight this change?

3. What important idea is shown through this change?

Writing an introduction

An introduction needs to do three things:

1. Give important information about your text: title, author/director, year, and what it’s about. You can prepare this sentence before the exam.

Eg. “Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show is about a man named Truman Burbank, who without knowing it, is the start of a reality TV show.”

2. Answer the question.

Eg. “During the film, Truman changes from being an obedient and content man to being dissatisfied and rebellious. This helped me understand the idea that people need to be free in order to be truly happy.”

3. Give a sneak preview of the three points that are coming up in your essay.

Eg. “In this essay, I will show how costuming, dialogue and camera shot types were used to show the change in Truman.”

So here’s an example of a completed introduction:

“Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show is about a man named Truman Burbank, who without knowing it, is the start of a reality TV show. During the film, Truman changes from being an obedient and content man to being dissatisfied and rebellious. This helped me understand the idea that people need to be free in order to be truly happy. In this essay, I will show how costuming, dialogue and camera shot types were used to show the change in Truman.” (82 words)

Writing a body paragraph (you need to write three of these)

The body paragraphs are the paragraphs between your introduction and your conclusion. You need to write three of these. Body paragraphs need to follow a pattern:

- Topic sentence – this should relate back to the essay question.

Eg. Peter Weir has used costuming to show the change in Truman.

- Explanation – more detail about your topic sentence

Eg. Truman’s costuming at the start of the film is like a child’s clothing, but by the end of the film, he is dressing like an adult.

- Example – A specific detail from the text that supports what you have just said

Eg. For example, when Meryl finds Truman working in the garden, he is wearing a stripey shirt, bright red shorts, and sandals and socks.

- Analysis of the example – here you explain how this example helps to answer the question

Eg. Truman’s clothing is like the clothing that a doll or soft toy would wear. This suggests that his wife Meryl may dress him. This makes us realise that he does not have much control over his life, but that he does what other people tell him to do.

- Another example

At the end of the film, when Truman is escaping, he is wearing a dark sweater, trousers, and a sailor’s hat.

- Analysis of the example

These clothes are more adult-like. They suggest that Truman has grown up since the start of the film. He is no longer being controlled, but is in control of his own destiny. The sailor’s hat is like the hat a captain of a ship would wear. Truman has now become his own captain.

When we put this all together, it looks like this:

Peter Weir has used costuming to show the change in Truman. Truman’s costuming at the start of the film is like a child’s clothing, but by the end of the film, he is dressing like an adult. For example, when Meryl finds Truman working in the garden, he is wearing a stripey shirt, bright red shorts, and sandals and socks. Truman’s clothing is like the clothing that a doll or soft toy would wear. This suggests that his wife Meryl may dress him. This makes us realise that he does not have much control over his life, but that he does what other people tell him to do. At the end of the film, when Truman is escaping, he is wearing a dark sweater, trousers, and a sailor’s hat. These clothes are more adult-like. They suggest that Truman has grown up since the start of the film. He is no longer being controlled, but is in control of his own destiny. The sailor’s hat is like the hat a captain of a ship would wear. Truman has now become his own captain. (182 words)

The shaded parts of the paragraph are the analysis parts – you can see that the analysis should make up about half of each of your body paragraphs.

Writing a conclusion

Your conclusion needs to do three things

- refer to the real world

- refer to your text and your answer to the question

- refer to yourself

Eg. Many people in the world are not free to be themselves. The change in Truman in The Truman Show shows us that it’s more important to be free than comfortable. The film makes me wonder if we’ve traded freedom for comfort in New Zealand. (44 words)

ESSAY DUE TUESDAY WEEK 3!!!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Y12 Exam Content

91098 Analyse specified aspect(s) of studied written text(s), supported by evidence (4 Credits)

Write an essay on either:

a. Macbeth by William Shakespeare,

b. Lord of the Flies by William Golding or

c. Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

Possible questions: write at least 400 words minimum!

o Analyse how a main character OR individual matures and takes action in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how the growth OR breakdown of a relationship(s) affects the climax in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how the writer(s) has influenced your opinion of a choice made by a character OR individual in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how the setting of a text (or texts) you have studied influenced your understanding of the ideas in the text (or texts). (Note: Setting may include reference to time, place, historical or social context, or atmosphere.)

o Analyse how an idea is developed in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how the writer(s) has created impact in a section of studied text (or texts).

o Analyse how symbols are used to develop an idea in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how techniques of a genre or text type make a text(s) particularly effective for you. (Note: Genres and text types may include short story, novel, types of poetry and song, drama script, print or non-fiction texts.)

91099 Analyse specified aspect(s) of studied visual or oral text(s), supported by evidence (4 Credits)

Write an essay on ‘The Truman Show’ directed by Peter Weir

Possible questions: write at least 400 words!

o Analyse how verbal AND visual features of a text (or texts) you have studied are used to give audiences a strong idea.

o Analyse how important techniques are used to engage your emotions in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how atmosphere is established and maintained in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how the beginning AND ending of a text show an important change in a character or individual in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how a character or individual is influenced to make decisions in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how the growth of a relationship affects the climax in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how symbols are used to develop an idea in a text (or texts) you have studied.

o Analyse how successful a text (or texts) you have studied has been in influencing you to think differently about an issue.

HOT TIP: Make sure you have an essay plan based on a couple of topics for each text. ‘How’ means techniques – if you do not include techniques in your essays you will not pass.

91100 Analyse significant aspects of unfamiliar written text(s) through close reading, supported by evidence (4 Credits)

• 3 questions: on column/opinion, prose, poetry

• (20min to answer each question. I.C.E.T your answers (Ideas, Comment, Examples, Techniques)

• You need to know and be able to recognise the following language features: P,M,S, rhetorical question, personal pronouns (I, me, you, we, us, they), imperatives, hyperboles, adjectives, verbs, contrast, cliché, connotations (feelings/thoughts associated with words), sarcasm, pun, oxymoron, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, sibilance, direct address, jargon, symbolism, slogan, imagery, rule of thirds, layout, dominant image, listing, repetition, emotive language.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Y12 Truman Show

Close viewing questions
Please complete for homework

Friday, June 22, 2012

Minority Report Notes

Please make sure your notes are up-to-date.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

12 Macbeth

Macbeth of Scotland

Notes on Macbeth (very helpful when writing your essay).

Pick one of the questions below and write a 400 word essay. Due Monday Week One Term Three.

Analyse how ONE main character or individual changed to become more (OR less) admirable.
Analyse how features of ONE important section made it particularly effective.
Analyse how the writer presented a positive OR negative view of humanity and / or society.
Analyse how ONE OR MORE symbols were used to present an important idea or ideas.
Analyse how a text strengthened or changed your opinion of a particular topic or issue.
Analyse how the resolution of a main conflict was important to the text as a whole.

A few tips:

Specifically address all aspects of the question
Use words of the question in your answer
Offer quotations or other text evidence to strengthen ideas and weave quotes in
Show an awareness of the author’s purpose and intention
Identify techniques (soliloquys, metaphors, symbolism, foreshadowing etc) used and analyse their purpose and intention
Show an understanding of ideas and context of the text – make connections between ideas or texts or with the real world
Include analysis in all your paragraphs
Use T.E.M.P.E.R.S or S.E.X.Y or T.E.E.A

Questions for generating analysis:

What does this mean?
What does it suggest?
What connotations (associations) do individual words have?
How does it affect the readers/audience’s thoughts?
How does it affect their emotions?
How does it link with the other examples in the text?
How does it relate to the real world?

An essay exemplar for your perusal.

Good luck!

Y12 - 2.4 Connections Charts

Make sure you hand these in! A second one is due by the end of Week 3. I've attached relevant instructions etc below.

Two more Details Charts are due by the end of the term (all four Details Charts need to be completed by Week 10 Term 2).

11 Formal Writing Internal - 3 Credits

Making a Point
We begin this standard this week. This activity requires you to produce a piece of formal writing that makes a point. The chosen topic will arise from one of the text studies the class has completed in Term One. It is fine if a you base your writing on the same text as you have based your speech (AS 1.6) on. However, the issue or topic discussed must be different. This piece of writing will be:

an opinion or persuasive piece on an issue that has arisen from a text study

If you have a strong desire to write about another issue you can, with MsUnuia's approval, write on:

an issue rising from a class discussion
a school/local/national/global current event

Conditions:

This activity will be completed in class. You are not allowed under any circumstances to take your writing home or bring in any pre-prepared material.
The minimum word count is 350 words.
This standard will take sixteen spells in total – thirteen in class and three in the computer suite typing and editing a final copy for assessment.
The thirteen in-class spells include time for preparation and pre-teaching activities.
You will get your topic approved by Ms U. You are not allowed to write on: drugs, suicide, anorexia or depression .
You will hand in your work at the end of each spell.

Friday, March 30, 2012

9 Social Studies: What does it mean to be a NZ Citizen?

Hi 9UN
Please complete the following over the weekend:

the remaining interviews
a summary of your findings

Here's a copy of your assignment: What does it mean to be a NZ Citizen?

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Year 11 English

Tekoteko on Papakura Marae

A reminder to get poetry essays in. Click on the following links for relevant handouts:

Copy of Sad Joke on the Marae by Apirana Taylor
Copy of The Trick of Standing Upright Here by Glenn Colquhoun
Powerpoint with notes from class

Essay question:

Describe at least one memorable use of language in the text(s). Explain how this use of language helped you to understand one or more key ideas in the text(s).