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March 29, 2024, 04:08:48 pm

Author Topic: QCE English: What's Ahead.  (Read 3724 times)

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QCE English: What's Ahead.
« on: February 02, 2021, 03:17:46 pm »
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Hey guys,

As many of you have started the new school year already, I thought it might be useful to compile and add resources to this forum thread for QCE English 2021! Below, are quoted and paraphrased excerpts from various QCAA sources, in regards to what Unit 3 + Unit 4 of English will look like in 2021.

UNIT 3: "HUMANITY" AND "CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL ISSUES FOR EXPLORATION IN THE MEDIA

In Unit 3, there are two assessment tasks that usually consist of an extended response for a public audience and a persuasive speech. However, this year, according to the QCAA Subject Notice (February 2021), the persuasive component will be a written response, not an oral. Each unit is also separated into two individual "sections" (one section for each assessment task).

Section 1 - "Humanity"

In this section, students will be required to write an extended response for a public audience (a literary essay for an educated audience) in response to one of these text pairs:

- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott or
- The Turning by Tim Winton and Cosi by Louis Nowra or
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway and Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood.

Ultimately, your school will decide which text pair you'll be studying in Unit 3. However, I think it's important to note that an extended public response is slightly different to the analytical essays that you're used to.

In an extended response, the language and tone will be less formal to that of an analytical essay. The structure and style of your extended response will also differ too, based on the context of your assignment (e.g. writing for a magazine vs a blog post for example).

Some advice:

- Based on the context of your assignment, always look for examples as a guide. This is one of the biggest thing that students forget - whenever you're writing an extended response, the format, style and structure of your response counts too (and are easy marks)! So, if you're required to write a review in a magazine, for example, head to your school or local library and look as many magazines (particularly in the "reviews" section) as much as possible!
- Before you draft your response, get out of the "analytical essay" mindset. This is also another factor that students struggle with, especially as public essays are a fairly new type of assessment! When writing your public essay, imagine that you're a trendy and a quirky blogger who has a knack for reviewing books and movies, and even going above and beyond with some unintentional symbolism!
- Even though the public essay will be less formal than an analytical essay, you still need to discuss and analyse aesthetic features, stylistic devices, mis-en-scene, film angles and film shots. Furthermore, you also need to explicitly state these features (as you'll get marked down if you don't) and try to explain the significance of these features in relation to the particular theme or concept.'
- As you begin to study your texts, as well as the big concept of "humanity", write a list of similarities and differences between the texts and ask yourself some big questions. What does it mean to be human? Did we ask to exist? What's the point of exisiting if our fate is already pre-determined for us?. Think outside of the box and expand your horizons.
- Also, after you study your text, as well as the big concept, brain storm some ideas for your extrapolation (reference to our reality)! Some ideas, for the concept of "humanity", may include: the "pro-life" movement, the Civil Rights movement and the "Me Too" movement, for example. However, please note that the extrapolation has to relate to your text and its main ideas/themes.
- When writing your public essay, ensure that there is a balance between the analysis for both texts. It's easy to get lost in thought, especially if you have a word limit. However, for a public essay with multiple texts, it's best if both texts get an equal amount of the spotlight.

Section 2 - "Contemporary Social Issues for Exploration in the Media"

In this section, students will be required to write a persuasive response (feature article) to a particular topic of their school's choosing. The examples of topics that can be chosen include:

- Issues related to generation divide or
- Issues related to health.

Ultimately, while your school will choose which topic they would like to cover, I would recommend brainstorming ideas for both concepts just in case.

However, this type of assessment is a bit different to the assessment that I did during Year 12 (a persuasive speech) so I'll try to give as much nuanced advice as possible. Hence, as the structure of the response is slightly different, you'll need to figure out how a persuasive speech can be translated into a written response, as effectively as possible. The process between an essay and a speech is a little bit different to what I'm used to, but I'll link some resources that you can use as a guide below:

How to Write a Persuasive Essay (Grammarly) - https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-persuasive-essay/

Tips on Writing a Persuasive Essay (Time4Writing) - https://www.time4writing.com/articles-about-writing/writing-resourcespersuasive-essay/

How to Write a Persuasive Essay (WikiHow) - https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Persuasive-Essay

Persuasive Essays (Hamilton College) - https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/persuasive-essays

As the last time I wrote a persuasive essay was during Year 9 NAPLAN, I'll brush up on my persuasive writing skills before I'll give you any other advice. But of course, if anyone else has any advice on how to write a persuasive essay, please let each other know in the forum thread replies  :)

That's all for now, but I'll update this forum thread with information about Unit 4 tomorrow!

Have a great week everyone and kind regards,

Darcy Dillon.
QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).