Rubric Readiness
Remember what?
Common Mod: Past the Shallows
Mod B: Robert Gray
Mod C: CoW
100
Name all the modules you have studied throughout the HSC course.
Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences
Module A: Language, Identity & Culture
Module B: Close study of Literature
Module C: The Craft of Writing
100
What is George's surname in 'Past the Shallows'?
Fuller
100
Identify TWO recurring motifs in the novel
Unpredictable image of the ocean; shark-tooth necklace; Harry's nausea (link between nausea and trauma); repressed emotions.
100
Robert Gray said that his poem, 'Byron Bay: Winter', was written in a traditional poetic form, but with loosened rhyme and rhythm.
What is the traditional form he has used?
Ballad
100
"Dear Mrs Dunkley. You're long gone, and I'm nearly seventy. But, oh, I wish you weren't dead."
What language technique is made prominent by the use of contractions and the interjection 'oh' in this line from 'Dear Mrs Dunkley'?
Colloquial language
200
Explain TWO purposes of Module C: The Craft of Writing.
Answers from the rubric could include:
- to strengthen and extend their knowledge, skills and confidence as writers
- to learn to write for a range of authentic audiences and purposes to convey ideas with power and increasing precision
- to study prescribed texts to use as models and stimulus for the development of their own ideas and written expression
- to examine how writers of complex texts use language creatively and imaginatively for a range of purposes, to describe the world around them, evoke emotion, shape a perspective or to share a vision
- to learn to appreciate, analyse and assess the importance and power of language
- to reflect on the complex and recursive process of writing to further develop their ability to apply their knowledge of textual forms and features in their own sustained and cohesive compositions
- to generate and explore ideas through discussion and speculations.
- to engage in the stages of drafting and revising
- to experiment with a range of language forms and features (for example imagery, rhetoric, voice, characterisation, point of view, dialogue and tone)
- to develop editing skills, learning to apply the conventions of syntax, spelling, punctuation and grammar appropriately and effectively for publication
- to work independently and collaboratively to reflect, refine and strengthen their own skills in producing crafted, imaginative, discursive, persuasive and informative texts
200
(a) What is featured in the image below?
(b) What is the name of the island in 'Past the Shallows' where it is found?
(a) This is abalone. The men in the Curren family are abalone fisherman, braving the frigid ocean to dive for this rare commodity.
(b) Past the Shallows takes place on Bruny Island just off the coast of Tasmania, an Australian state that supplies 25% of the world’s abalone harvest.
200
Identify the MOST obvious technique in the following quote and explain its effect on meaning:
"[Miles] climbed onto the rails, was ready to jump, but Dad grabbed him up—held him like stone."
Parrett underscores the crushing strength with which Dad holds Miles down by comparing Dad's grip to stone. Conveys the power imbalance between the two and metaphorically emphasises the emotional disconnect between father and son.
200
'She and I came wandering there through an empty park,
and we laid our hands on a stone parapet’s
fading life. Before us, across the oily, aubergine dark
of the harbour, we could make out yachts –'
(a) What poem is this extract from, and which stanza is it?
(b) What does the 'stone parapet's fading life' symbolise?
(a) Harbour Dusk, Stanza 1
(b) The ‘fading life’ of the harbour’s stone wall tells us that the relationship between ‘she and I’ is failing.
200
This question has THREE parts.
(a) What were the purposes of Paul Keating's 'Speech for the Unknown Soldier'
(b) What dominant technique is being used in the opening of the speech: "We do not know this Australian's name and we never will. We do not know his rank or his battalion. We do not know where he was born..."
(c) What is the name of the technique, as used in this extract, that means the listing of similar or powerful words? "Because the Great War was a mad, brutal, awful struggle, distinguished more often than not by military and political incompetence;'
What is the impact of this?
(a) To inform the Australian public of the importance oft eh Unknown Soldier- That he symbolises every Australian who has died in war, and that he and all of them deserve our respect and remembrance. Also, he was trying to persuade the Australian public of the benefits of becoming a republic; moving away form the Commonwealth and the Royal family, and forging a new Australia.
(b) Anaphora
(c) Accumulation. It highlights the horrors of war, hinting at the accountability of the previous government.
300
Complete the cloze passage below from the Common Module rubric:
Students explore how texts may give insight into the a_______s, pa_______ and in_____________ in human behaviour and motivations.
Students explore how texts may give insight into the ANOMALIES, PARADOXES and INCONSISTENCIES in human behaviour and motivations.
300
This question has THREE parts. Identify the correct name of the poem from which these quotes have been drawn:
(a) "And standing where I see the mirage of the city/I realise I am in the future."
(b) "Sprigged trees; a vista of Pre-Raphaelite shine:/beneath gentian hills, a billiard table green;"
(c) "They seemed to whisper, slipping amongst each other,/always hovering, as though resolve were ill."
(a) Flames and Dangling Wire
(b) Description of a Walk
(c) Harbour Dusk
300
Identify TWO key structural features of the novel.
Cyclical/circular narrative structure; non-linear structure; flashbacks; multiple character perspectives; use of language changes to reflect childishness/maturity.
300
Read this poem excerpt:
"The train’s shadow, like a bird’s,
flees on the blue and silver paddocks,
over fences that look split from stone,
and banks of fern,
a red bank, full of roots,
over dark creeks, where logs are fallen,
and blackened tree trunks."
(a) What poem is this taken from?
(b) What techniques are being employed in this excerpt?
(c) What is the impact of these techniques? (In full sentences).
(a) Journey, the North Coast
(b) Simile, Accumulation of Visual Imagery.
(c) Simile- Comparison to a bird symbolises the freedom the persona if feeling on returning to a happier place.
Accumulation of Visual Imagery- Emphasises the journey as one of emotional and spiritual regeneration. The persona is drawing attention to he beauty of the landscape, and so drawing this inwards into himself; calling attention to the healing nature of the environment on body and soul.
(Your answers may differ slightly)
300
(b) What technique has Keating employed here in his 'Speech For the Unknown Soldier' to draw the audience's attention to the importance of the Unknown Soldier? "He is all of them. And he is one of us."
(c) What technique in this 'Dear Mrs Dunkley' quote evokes Garner's accusatory tone? "You stared at me. "I beg your pardon?" You mimicked my flat, nasal, state-school accent. You corrected it. You humiliated me."
(b) Short sentences
(c) Second person/direct address ("You")
400
Complete the cloze passage below from the Module B rubric:
Students explore and analyse the particular id___ and cha____________s of the text and understand the ways in which these ch_____________s establish its di_________ qualities.
Students study one text chosen from the list of prescribed texts. They engage in the extensive exploration and interpretation of the text and the ways composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on) portray pe____e, ideas, set_____ and sit_______ in texts.
Students explore and analyse the particular IDEAS and CHARACTERISTICS of the text and understand the ways in which these CHARACTERISTICS establish its DISTINCTIVE qualities.
Students study one text chosen from the list of prescribed texts. They engage in the extensive exploration and interpretation of the text and the ways composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on) portray PEOPLE, ideas, SETTINGS and SITUATIONS in texts.
400
Identify the TWO of the artists, artworks or musicians referenced in the Robert Gray poems we have studied.
- 'The Raft of the Medusa' (Théodore Géricault)
- 'Nude Descending a Staircase' (Marcel Duchamp)
- Frédéric Chopin (musician)
- Paul Cézanne (painter/artist)
- Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood (painters/artists)
400
Identify and describe the effect of the TWO figurative devices used in this interaction between Miles and Joe, after the death of Harry on the fishing vessel:
'You came back,' he said.
Joe nodded. He looked down at his hands and let go of the bed. Miles knew they were shaking.
'The wind was too strong,' he said. 'I couldn't get through the strait. I couldn't leave.'
And Miles knew it was lucky Joe hadn't been lost out there, too. He was lucky.
PATHETIC FALLACY/SYMBOLISM: The wind being 'too strong' to allow Joe's boat to pass through the strait and leave Bruny Island is symbolic of nature (i.e. a 'higher power' like fate) interfering in Joe's journey in order to bring him back to where he was needed most. The aggression and resisting force of the wind functions as pathetic fallacy echoes the brutality of his father's dominance and aggression during the incident on the fishing boat, which was happening at the same time Joe was attempting to leave (plot line unity). In the same way, the wind could also represent the strength of Joe's conviction to stay and support his brothers.
METAPHOR: The reference to Joe being lucky to have not been "lost out there" too, goes beyond the literal interpretation of his possible death, and signifies the potential loss of his identity/purpose and connection to his brothers if he left.
400
Read the following excerpt:
"Someone who worked here would have to weep,
and so we speak. The rims beneath his eyes are wet
as an oyster, and red.
Knowing all that he does about us,
how can he avoid a hatred of men?"
(a) What poem is this taken from?
(b) Identify THREE techniques and explain their effect on meaning.
(c) Why would the speaker assert that a tip worker would hate people as a result of his/her job?
(a) Flames and Dangling Wire
(b) Alliteration: Emphasises pity and sorrow.
Sibilance: Emphasises rare moment of human contact.
Alliteration: ‘rims’/‘red’
Simile: Denotes pain and suffering – our suffering.
Plural pronoun: Acknowledges shared/collective blame.
Rhetorical question: Challenging who we are and what we've become.
(c) The speaker is implying that being surrounded by mountains of human waste would be a continual reminder to the worker of our selfishness and material excess, disregarding our impact on the health of the environment.
500
Complete the cloze passage below from the Module A rubric:
Through their responding and composing students deepen their understanding of how language can be used to af____, ig____, re____, ch_______ or dis____ prevailing assumptions and beliefs about themselves, individuals and cultural groups.
Through their responding and composing students deepen their understanding of how language can be used to AFFIRM, IGNORE, REVEAL, CHALLENGE or DISRUPT prevailing assumptions and beliefs about themselves, individuals and cultural groups.
500
Describe THREE examples of either anomalies, paradoxes or inconsistencies evident throughout the novel.
- Dad’s constant anger and abuse, despite the warmth and comfort we often associate with familial relationships
- Miles being torn between the childhood innocence he misses and the adult reality he is forced into
- Aunty Jean’s desire to help the boys while simultaneously being harsh and somewhat irritating
- The ocean—a metaphor for the human experience in general—being both beautiful, calm and healing and extremely violent, unpredictable and volatile
- The other members of the town being able to recognise the family’s toxicity yet being unable or unwilling to help in any major capacity
- The past and the present constantly melding and intruding on each other
500
Identify FOUR themes of Robert Gray's poetry.
*Must be phrased as statements, not single words*
Answers may include:
- Consumerism and its destructive effects on the environment and degradation of the human spirit
- Urbanisation and its dehumanising effects
- The natural world as a catalyst for self-discovery/ personal isolation/transcendence (religious/spiritual)
- Human fragility/insignificance in comparison to the natural world
- Representations of Australian culture through familiar iconography
- The transformative power of personal experience and/or the journey