Hello Brave New (Year 11) World!

Hey: start the holidays with a laugh check this link out!

http://www.cracked.com/article_16241_6-most-frequently-quoted-bullsht-statistics.html

Welcome to the world of VCE English. It’s not only a “brave new world” of Senior Homestead and getting serious about study (a very novel experience for some!) but it’s a “brave new world” because  of the nature of the Year 11 English course in Semester 1 (also Unit 1) in 2010.

What am I talking about? Well, there are three parts of the  year 11 course – called (imaginatively) Area of Study 1, 2 and … yup, 3. AOS 1 is a text study. It’s properly called “Reading and Responding”. In Unit 1, that will be Triage, by American writer Scott Anderson. In Unit 2, a David Williamson play: Brilliant Lies.

The second area of study is called “The Context” – also known as “Creating and Presenting”. The context is like a combination of a concept study “Future Perfect” (based around a core text – the film Gattaca), together with a creative “craft of writing” study. As well, you will be expected to be able to perform the task of writing in response to a “prompt” comment related to the future theme, using the core  text, in a style that you choose … all under exam conditions. Easy, no? No. Never mind – we’ll get there!

The third part of the course is the “issue”. It’s now known as “Using Language to Persuade”. In this part of the course, you will be looking first through “The IssuesBook” at how writers – often in the print media - use language to influence how people feel and think about the issues they cover. It’s an extension of what you did at Year 10, with a sharper focus.

If you follow this link, there’s a PowerPoint that gives you a general overview of the whole course. 2010CourseIntro There’s also a Course Timeline, to help you keep track of what’s when: YR11 ENGTline10

Through this blog, you’ll be able to access information and resources related to the course, as well as specific material that is generated in our classes. You can also respond yourself, so that the pages become a dynamic representation of our progress through the course. I hope that you will comment – your questions and responses will almost certainly be percolating round in others’ heads, so ask or comment away, so that we can all learn together! (I know, I know … but it might even work like that! Remember Tinkerbell? If you don’t believe ….)

Good luck!

David

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