Unit 3 Text Outcome Essay
description
Transcript of Unit 3 Text Outcome Essay
UNIT 3 TEXT OUTCOME ESSAY
Reading the topic and writing introductions.
Types of Essay Each topic will enable and require
students to address the full range of key knowledge and skills.
The choice between topics will enable students to develop their sustained discussion from an initial focus on one of the following aspects of key knowledge for Units 3 and 4
Types of Essay • the ideas, characters and themes constructed
by the author/director and presented in the selected text; or
• the way the author/director uses structures, features and conventions to construct meaning; or
• the ways in which authors/directors express or imply a point of view and values; or
• the ways in which readers’ interpretations of text differ and why. (Unit 4)
Types of Essay • the ideas, characters and themes
constructed by the author/director and presented in the selected text;
(analytical)
Types of Essay • the way the author/director uses
structures, features and conventions to construct meaning;
(analytical)
Types of Essay • the ways in which authors/directors
express or imply a point of view and values;
(analytical/thematic)
Reading the topic This becomes a most vital step. You have to look at the initial focus of the
topic and; Then determine how you can develop
your essay so that it deals with the other three focus points as well
Reading the topic So…..
The lives of the characters in Look Both Ways touch each other at some point, yet the overwhelming feeling is one of isolation and loneliness.
Discuss. Clearly relates to the ideas, characters
and themes constructed by the author/director and presented in the selected text; (analysis)
Reading the topic Whilst…
Look Both Ways shows that fear can stop people from living fully.
Relates to the ways in which authors/directors express or imply a point of view and values; (themes)
Reading the topic But you couldn’t write on either of these
topics without commenting on…
the way the author/director uses structures, features and conventions to construct
meaning; (analysis)
Reading the topic So it is a matter of discerning the
INITIAL FOCUS
And building outwards from there…
Analytical Topics These topics demand a detailed and
specific analysis of the text in terms of how it has been constructed by the author to allow them to convey their central purpose or message.
The author must always be present in these essays as the text’s creator.
You must refer to all aspects of the text’s construction, not just its content.
Analytical Topics
Unpacking the topic
Analytical Topics When unpacking an analytical topic you
should always do so with an eye to acknowledging the author as creator
Analysis Topics
Some examples
Initial Focus The lives of the characters in Look
Both Ways touch each other at some point, yet the overwhelming feeling is one of isolation and loneliness.
Which of the four focus areas does this question fall under?
Initial Focus
Clearly relates to the ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author/director and presented in the selected text; (analysis)
Moving Beyond Initial Focus
But also…. You are being asked to analyse Watt’s
directorial decision to intersect the stories of all of the characters and why she has done this whilst also emphasising characters’ aloneness.
In essence the question is asking you to analyse how the structure of the film contributes to characterisation.
Moving Beyond Initial Focus
So this relates to the way the author/director uses structures,
features and conventions to construct meaning;
(analysis)
Moving Beyond Initial Focus
But you could also.. Look at how the film positions us to feel
about Isolation and Loneliness
Interconnectedness(themes)
Analysis Topics
Introduction
Analysis Topics An analytical introduction should as
always: Provide definitions Have a clear contention Set argumentative direction
But they should do so with an emphasis on: The text’s construction The author’s purpose
Introduction Sarah Watt has constructed her film Look Both
Ways so that the lives of the characters echo the intersection of the railway lines around which they all congregate. The accident which kills Julia’s husband provides the catalyst for the characters to examine their lives and even though they are united by this one event, initially each of them feels alone in their journey. By the end of the film, however, Watt shows that making connections and building relationships can enable characters to reconcile their fears and uncertainties.
Themes Topics These topics demand a clear focus on the
values that underpin a text. The line of argument must be based on
what values the text endorses, rejects or ignores.
Textual evidence is still very important as a way of showing how the reader can discern the author’s values.
Themes Topics
Reading the topic
Themes Topics When unpacking a thematic topic you
should always be clearly focused on discerning what value you are being asked about and where the text positions itself with regards to that idea.
Themes Topics Look Both Ways shows that fear can stop
people from living fully. The underpinning value is about the
connection between people’s fears and what it means to have a full life.
What does the text say about how one impinges on the other?
In essence the question is asking you to what the film values about life.
Initial Focus So the initial focus is
the ways in which authors/directors express or imply a point of view and
values; (themes)
Moving Beyond Initial Focus
But you couldn’t answer it without commenting on…
the way the author/director uses structures,
features and conventions to construct meaning;
(analysis)
Moving Beyond Initial Focus
And in doing so, you are really dealing with
the ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author/director and
presented in the selected text(analysis)
Thematic Introductions A thematic introduction should as always:
Provide definitions Have a clear contention Set argumentative direction
But they should do so with an emphasis on: The underpinning value raised by the question Where the text stands on that value
Introduction Most viewers when they watch Look Both Ways
would not find it difficult to relate to the fears and anxieties experienced by the characters; fears such as death, loneliness and commitment, basically a fear of living unloved. The film suggests that allowing these fears to dictate our passage can debilitate us and prevent us from living lives that are fulfilled. Ultimately, however, it privileges the view that examining our values and reflecting on our uncertainties can empower us to pursue a full life.