Chemology English 2014 Exam VCE

Chemology English Trial Exam 2014

1

CHEMOLOGY EDUCATION SERVICES

ENGLISH TRIAL EXAM 2014

Written examination

Total writing time: 3 hours

TASK BOOK Section Number of Questions Number of Question to

be answered Marks

A. Text Response (Reading and responding)

20 1 20

B. Writing in Context (Creating and presenting)

4 1 20

C. Analysis of language use (Using language to persuade)

1 1 20

Directions to students Materials Task book of 17 pages, including Assessment criteria on page 18. You may use an English and/or bilingual dictionary. You must complete all three sections of the exam. You must not write on two film texts in the examination. All written responses should be in English.

© Published by: CHEMOLOGY EDUCATION SERVICES P 0 BOX 477 MENTONE 3194

M: 0412 405 403 or 0425 749 520 E: [email protected]


2

Text List

1. A Christmas Carol .......................................... Charles Dickens 2. All About Eve ............................ Director: Joseph Mankiewicz 3. Brooklyn ................................................................ Colm Tόibín 4. Cat’s Eye ...................................................... Margaret Attwood 5. Cloudstreet ............................................................. Tim Winton 6. Henry IV, Part I ..................................... William Shakespeare 7. In the Country of Men ...................................... Matar Hisham 8. Mabo ................................................. Director: Rachel Perkins 9. No Sugar ................................................................... Jack Davis 10. Ransom ................................................................ David Malouf 11. Selected Poems ................................................. Gwen Harwood 12. Stasiland ............................................................... Anna Funder 13. The Complete Maus ........................................ Art Spiegelman 14. The Reluctant Fundamentalist ........................ Mohsin Hamid 15. The Thing Around Your Neck .. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 16. The War Poems ................................................. Wilfred Owen 17. This Boy’s Life .................................................... Tobias Wolff 18. Twelve Angry Men ............................................ Reginald Rose 19. Will You Please be Quiet, Please? .............. Raymond Carver 20. Wuthering Heights .............................................. Emily Brontë


3

SECTION A – Text Response (Reading and responding)

Instructions for Section A

Section A requires students to complete one analytical/expository piece of writing in response to one topic (either i. or ii.) on one selected text. Indicate in the box on the first line of the script book whether you are answering i. or ii. In your response you must develop a sustained discussion of one selected text from the Text list below. Your response must be supported by close reference to and analysis of the selected text. For collections of poetry or short stories, you may choose to write on several poems or short stories, or on one or two in very close detail, depending on what you think is appropriate. Your response will be assessed according to the criteria set out on page*** of this book. Section A is worth one-third of the total assessment for the examination. If you write on a film text in Section A, you must not write on a film text in Section B.

SECTION A

1. A Christmas Carol ..................................... Charles Dickens

i. “A Christmas Carol suggests that too much of a focus on money withers the heart”. Discuss.

OR ii. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s”. To what extent is A Christmas Carol a plea for social connection?


4

2. All About Eve ........................ Director: Joseph Mankiewicz

i. “We're a breed apart from the rest of humanity, we theatre folk”. What, according to All About Eve, sets “theatre folk” apart from other people?

OR ii. “Nothing is forever in the Theatre”. In what ways does All About Eve explore the effects of the passage of time?

3. Brooklyn ............................................................ Colm Tόibín

i. “Strange people, strange accents, strange streets”. What does Eilis learn from her time in Brooklyn?

OR

ii. “Brooklyn is an exploration of various kinds of loss”. Discuss

4. Cat’s Eye .................................................. Margaret Attwood

i. “Everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise” To what extent does Elaine ever grow up?

OR

ii. In what ways does Cat’s Eye explore cruelty?


5

5. Cloudstreet ......................................................... Tim Winton

i. “Don’t you forget about Fish”. What role does Fish Lamb play in Cloudstreet ?

OR

ii. “You can’t beat your luck”. Does Cloudstreet suggest that luck is central to human life?

6. Henry IV, Part I ................................. William Shakespeare

i. “Prince Hal has a cool head and an equally cold heart”. Do you agree?

OR

ii. “Nothing can seem foul to those that win”. Does Henry IV, Part 1 suggest that the pursuit of power is more important than doing the right thing?

7. In the Country of Men .................................. Matar Hisham

i. “The only things that mattered were in the past”. How does Mama’s past shape her future?

OR

ii. “In the Country of Men questions the nature of heroism”. Discuss.


6

8. Mabo ............................................. Director: Rachel Perkins

i.“ ‘My people owned that land for 16 generations’. Eddie Mabo is motivated by a concern for justice”. Discuss.

OR

ii. “Mabo is a story of endurance and determination”. Discuss.

9. No Sugar ............................................................... Jack Davis

i.“Mr Neville is a hypocrite”. Discuss.

OR

ii. “It’ll never be over”. In what ways does No Sugar suggest that history repeats itself?

10. Ransom .......................................................... David Malouf

i. “Ransom is the story of the healing of Achilles”. Do you agree?

OR

ii. “Only what we know we must lose is truly sweet to us”. In what ways does Ransom explore the concept of loss?


7

11. Selected Poems ........................................... Gwen Harwood

i. “He lies beside his love, and still alone”. In what ways do Harwood’s poems examine the troubled nature of human relationships?

OR

ii. How do Harwood’s poems explore “The uneasy years of childhood”?

12. Stasiland ......................................................... Anna Funder

i. In what ways does Stasiland explore the claim that “history is made of personal stories”?

OR

ii. “Stasiland demonstrates that political and emotional scars take a long time to heal”. Discuss.

13. The Complete Maus .................................. Art Spiegelman

i.“He’s more attached to things than people”. What do Vladek’s relationships say about him?

OR

ii. “These papers had too many memories”. In what ways does The Complete Maus explore the difficulties associated with memory?


8

14. The Reluctant Fundamentalist .................. Mohsin Hamid

i. “Both Erica and Changez find it difficult to achieve self-acceptance”. Do you agree?

OR

ii. What meanings does the concept of home have for the characters in The Reluctant Fundamentalist?

15. The Thing Around Your Neck…Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

i. “Life was a struggle with ourselves”. What struggles do Adichie’s characters face?

OR

ii. “White people who liked Africa too much and those who liked Africa too little were the same – condescending”. In what ways does The Thing Around Your Neck explore attitudes to race and race relations?

16. The War Poems ........................................... Wilfred Owen

i. “I knew we stood in Hell”. How does Owen make the reader conscious of the Hell of war?

OR

ii. “Always they must see these things and hear them”. In what ways does Owen explore the impact of war on memory?


9

17. This Boy’s Life .............................................. Tobias Wolff

i. “In This Boy's Life the life-choices available to women and girls are both limited and limiting”. Discuss.

OR

ii. “This Boy's Life suggests that excessive optimism can be gravely misleading”. Do you agree?

18. Twelve Angry Men ..................................... Reginald Rose

i.“ ‘There are no secrets in a jury room’. It is through learning their secrets that we come to understand why the jurors hold their views”. Discuss.

OR

ii. “We heard the facts, didn’t we?” To what extent does Twelve Angry Men suggest that facts do not speak for themselves?


10

19. Will You Please be Quiet, Please? ........ Raymond Carver

i. “He was drifting and where it was all going to end he could not guess”. To what extent do Carver’s characters lack control over their lives?

OR

ii. “Carver’s stories look beyond the calm surface of suburban life to explore its troubled depths”. Discuss.

20. Wuthering Heights ........................................ Emily Brontë

i. “You are miserable, are you not? Lonely, like the devil, and envious like him?” Is Catherine perceptive in her view of Heathcliff?

OR ii. “Wuthering Heights explores the human capacity to wound those who are closest to us” Discuss.

END OF SECTION A


11

SECTION B – Writing in Context (Creating and presenting)

Instructions for Section B

Section B requires students to complete an extended written response. In your writing you must draw on ideas suggested by one of the following four Contexts. Your writing must draw directly from at least one selected text for this Context, and be based on the ideas in the prompt. Your response may be an expository, persuasive or imaginative piece of writing. If you write on a selected film text in Section B, you must not write on a selected film text in Section A. Section B is worth one-third of the total assessment for the examination. Your response will be assessed according to the criteria set out on page*** of this book.

Context 1 – The imaginative landscape 1. Night Street .......................................................................Kristel Thornell 2. One Night the Moon............................................Director: Rachel Perkins 3. Peripheral Light – Selected and New Poems...................... John Kinsella 4. The View from Castle Rock...................................................Alice Munro Prompt “The external world acts as a mirror to the internal world”. Task Complete an extended written response in expository, imaginative or persuasive style. Your writing must draw directly from at least one selected text for this Context and explore the idea that the external world acts as a mirror to the internal world.


12

Context 2 – Whose reality? 5. Death of a Salesman...............................................................Arthur Miller 6. Spies......................................................................................Michael Frayn 7. The Lot: In Words...............................................................Michael Leunig 8. Wag the Dog........................................................Director: Barry Levinson Prompt “We cannot always trust what we believe to be reality”. Task Complete an extended written response in expository, imaginative or persuasive style. Your writing must draw directly from at least one selected text for this Context and explore the idea that we cannot always trust what we believe to be reality. Context 3 – Encountering conflict 9. Every Man in this Village is A Liar................................ ......Megan Stack 10. Life of Galileo......................................................................Bertolt Brecht 11. Paradise Road...................................................Director: Bruce Beresford 12. The Quiet American..........................................................Graham Greene Prompt “The impact of conflict lingers on long after the conflict itself”. Task Complete an extended written response in expository, imaginative or persuasive style. Your writing must draw directly from at least one selected text for this Context and explore the idea that the impact of conflict lingers on long after the conflict itself.


13

Context 4 – Exploring issues of identity and belonging 13. Skin................................................................. Director: Anthony Fabian 14. Summer of the Seventeenth Doll...........................................Ray Lawler 15. The Member of the Wedding......................................Carson McCullers 16. The Mind of a Thief................. ............................... .............Patti Miller Prompt “Our sense of who we are relies on the people with whom we interact”. Task Complete an extended written response in expository, imaginative or persuasive style. Your writing must draw directly from at least one selected text for this Context and explore the idea that our sense of who we are relies on the people with whom we interact.

END OF SECTION B


14

SECTION C – Analysis of language use (Using language to persuade)

Instructions for Section C Section C requires students to analyse the ways in which language and visual features are used to present a point of view. Section C is worth one-third of the total assessment for the examination. Read the opinion piece Trolls: the Real Toll and then complete the task below. Write your analysis as a coherently structured piece of prose. Your response will be assessed according to the criteria set out on page 12 of this book. TASK How is written and visual language used to persuade readers to share the point of view of the writer of Trolls: the Real Toll? Background information In her article Trolls: the Real Toll published in the Avonlea Scrutineer on 2.2 2014 columnist J. Rodd canvasses issues relating to the activities of “trolls” who engage in unacceptable conduct in cyber space.


15

Trolls: the Real Toll

"Trolling is the posting of provocative or offensive messages electronically such as on the internet for the purposes of entertainment," says Jonathan Bishop, founder of The Trolling Academy, an initiative operating out of Britain's Swansea University to promote free speech while reducing cyber-bullying. No longer merely a bogey from folklore, a “troll” in contemporary terms, is an anonymous person who is abusive in an online environment. Trolling comes in diverse forms and varying degrees of magnitude. And, unfortunately, trolls and trolling are on the rise.

Is this or is this not, a serious issue? In some quarters, the old rhyme ‘sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” has been invoked.

Yet the activities of trolls have been shown to have devastating consequences. Consider the case of Charlotte Dawson, a New Zealand–Australian television personality, who took her own life in 2014. Dawson publically launched a campaign to expose cyber-bullies and trolls. She did so by means of re-tweeting offensive messages to her more than 46,000 Twitter followers, and also through a face-to-face confrontation on


16

television in October 2013. Although many factors contributed to Dawson’s tragic decision, it has been suggested that it can, in part, be linked to Twitter bullying, with many followers calling for her to “please go hang yourself.”

And Dawson is far from alone in attracting the hostile attention of trolls. In 2007 a series of postings in China incited online throngs to hunt down accused adulterers. In 2008 the Korean movie star Choi Jin-Sil committed suicide after being hounded incessantly online.

In view of cases such as these, it is amazing that some people defend trolls. It has been argued that trolls generate debate and can mobilise their opponents to take action. Does anyone seriously believe this? Likewise, claims have been made to the effect that trolls generate page views and that that is good for business. Can business really matter more than the human cost involved? Surely if behaviour is unacceptable in the real world, it is also unacceptable online? We don’t accept bullying and harassment person to person, nor should we in cyber space.

When I criticise this type of online activity, I am often accused of being either out of touch with the culture of today or an advocate of strict censorship. Neither is the case. I accept that new patterns of social connection have developed in response to digital technology. If you look at online chat about anything from recipes to football, you’ll see a consistent pattern: recipe chat looks just like football chat. The content is different, but the pattern is the same. A pack forms, and you are either with it or against it. Trolling is just the most extreme form of joining the pack and persecuting individuals.

Although people do not, uniformly, stoop to lowest-common-denominator behaviour online, there are simply too many inducements for them to do so. The anonymity of the Internet is both a blessing and a temptation. Granted, it sometimes really is desirable for people to be able to express their views impersonally without fear of reprisal or stigma. All too often however, the chance to be a faceless commentator evokes the urge to give way to hostility and spite.

Since the world of cyberspace is more central to our lives than ever before, we need to establish guidelines to govern our behaviour in online interactions. Perhaps people need to be made aware that their activities can be traced and that their digital footprint is with them for a lifetime. Just


17

reminding them that their actions could have consequences not just for their victims but for themselves might go some way to redressing this growing problem. I would prefer to think, however, that we could evolve beyond the need for threats to the point where the petty kicks involved in such mindless pack rituals would be seen for what they are: brainless, anti-social cruelty of the worst order.

END OF SECTION C


18

Examination assessment criteria

The examination will address all the criteria. All student responses will be assessed against each criterion. The extent to which the response is characterised by: Section A – Text response (Reading and responding) • detailed knowledge and understanding of the selected text, demonstrated appropriately in response to the topic • development in the writing of a coherent and effective discussion in response to the task • controlled use of expressive and effective language appropriate to the task Section B – Writing in Context (Creating and presenting) • understanding and effective exploration of the ideas, and/or arguments relevant to the prompt/stimulus material • effective use of detail and ideas drawn from the selected text as appropriate to the task •development in the writing of a coherent and effective structure in response to the task, showing an understanding of the relationship between purpose, form, language and audience • controlled use of language appropriate to the purpose, form and audience Section C – Language analysis (Using language to persuade) • understanding of the ideas and points of view presented • analysis of ways in which language and visual features are used to present a point of view and to persuade readers • controlled and effective use of language appropriate to the task

Documents

Chemology English 2014 Exam VCE