Hi, does anyone have any sample/example questions on Ariel for the Lit Perspectives SAC or end of year exam? I am feeling like I really don't know what sort of approach I should take because I don't know what to expect? Any moderators want to have a go making up some likely looking questions? 
I feel so let down by VCAA on this when there's questions out there for previous texts but the new ones didn't get a look in on the sample paper. 
Thanks everyone, hope your holiday study is going well 
If it makes you feel any better, a whole organisation of Lit teachers got so upset by that sample paper that they wrote a super passive-aggressive letter to VCAA and it was amazing
Below are 10 prompts just based on what I remember being some core ideas in Plath, but for each one I've underlined the key words/focal points so that you can use these templates to create your own questions!
For example, you could swap out the underlined part in the first example with
an endorsement of the power of women, or
a frustration with her society, or
a sense of inner conflict... etc.
These are a bit shorter than the average VCAA ones, but hopefully these are a bit more accessible, especially for this time of year. But if you want more of a challenge, you can swap out the underlined parts for something more specific and narrow (more like number 3 or
.
I've also tried to include quite a few "x
and y" ideas (e.g. death and demise, loss and loneliness) since there were a couple of examples of this in last year's exam, and it can help make your discussions more sophisticated to tease out synonyms like this!
1. To what extent do Plath's poems convey
a disdain for patriarchal norms?
2. Reflect on the notion that Plath's poetry is preoccupied with
death and demise.
3. In
Ariel, Plath demonstrates that
there is always a conflict between the self and one's society. To what extent do you agree?
4. Discuss the proposition that
Ariel dismantles preconceptions about
motherhood and marriage.
5. How does Plath communicate
loss and loneliness in
Ariel? 6. In
Ariel, Plath is ultimately unable to
recapture what is lost. To what extent do you agree?
7. Discuss the significance of
purity and its depiction in Plath's poetry.
8. The male figures in Plath's
Ariel embody
the patriarchal structures that suppressed her as an author and a woman. To what extent do you agree?
9. Reflect on the ways in which
power and control are portrayed in
Ariel.
10. Consider the significance of
Plath's introspection in her poetry.
This is not at all conclusive; VCAA always seem to find weird elements of the texts to fixate on, but hopefully this will help you get started!
Best of luck!
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