12 Truman Show Mindmap

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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!!!

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.