HOW TO WRITE WELL IN OUTCOME 2: CONTEXT Identity and Belonging Freedom Writers

THE BIG PICTURE CONTEXT Identity and Belonging PROMPT – YOUR STARTING POINT What am I trying to say through the prompt? WRITING- HOW AM I GOING TO EXPRESSYOUR IDEAS? PURPOSE? FORM? AUDIENCE? LANGUAGE? TONE/VOICE? IDEAS- THE CONTEXT, TEXT AND EXTERNAL SOURCES

THE WRITING PROCESS  By now, you have a clear idea of the style of writing you will be using this year based on your feedback so far.  Identify your strengths and weaknesses as a writer and work on these elements  See yourself as an author - this time YOU are creating a text with your own views and values to share with an audience.  Keep a log of notes throughout the year (start now!) on ideas you develop about Identity and Belonging Newspaper clippings/articles from the internet/news stories on TV Observations Conversations Other texts you have read/viewed (TV shows, films, poems, plays, songs, novels etc)

THE THINKING PROCESS  Essay topics are not the same as Context prompts  Strong writers show a greater conceptual understanding of the prompt, text and context (thinking)  Use the prompt as a springboard for your ideas and include the prompt in your thinking  Show a controlled use of language and evidence of deep thinking about the prompt

USING THE TEXT  Use the text as a vehicle for your thinking rather than the focus of your writing- it should not read as a text response essay. However, ideas from the film should feature throughout the writing.  What does the text have to say about Identity and Belonging?  Identify elements, experiences, events, people, relationships and situations in the film which reveal ideas about Identity and Belonging.

WRITING TO ENGAGE  Show evidence of planning and proofreading  Don’t retell the plot  Practice writing in a variety of approaches  Write with sophistication  If choosing to write personally (diary entry in your own voice)- make sure the writing is substantial and not superficial

WRITING TO ENGAGE  Use definitions, philosophical underpinnings, real life examples, literary examples to explore the prompt  Introductions should be fairly substantial. Think about the order of your topic sentences and where the writing is headed.  Find essential ideas about the context expressed in the text and use them as a basis for your writing

WRITING TO ENGAGE  Write a piece with a compelling VOICE and purpose -> have a message in your writing you want to convey to your reader  Read the following introduction from a feature article and explain how this piece has a sense of voice and purpose A compelling tone An engaging style

“Female shopping desire is a complex beast. And yet extraordinarily resilient. Regardless of most things, women will find a way and a reason (or 12) to shop. It's our sport. Our therapy. Our entertainment. We shop when we're lonely, bored, depressed, angry, elated and worried. We shop when we're rich and when we're poor. We shop in sickness and in health, 'til debt do us part from our credit cards. And then we find one of those stores with "no interest for three years" and we shop some more. We shop for clothes, cosmetics, books, food, gadgets, vitamins, furniture and smelly candles. We shop for others. We shop alone and in groups. We shop with our dogs and for them. We shop to celebrate, to treat ourselves, to console ourselves and to cheer ourselves up. We shop for new underwear when we're single and we shop for homewares when we're loved up. We shop to mark other new life-stages too: new jobs, new babies, new homes. We shop when we gain weight and when we lose it. We shop to go on holidays and then we shop again when we get there. Generally, women just like buying stuff. Quick, grab a pen and write that down because it really is an astonishing and original revelation. You're welcome.” – Mia Freedman

 Not engaging with the prompt, no links to the key ideas in the prompt  No sense of the Context  Simply retelling the plot  Writing in a text response style – writing all about the text  Updating the time or changing names of characters in the text in a creative piece but otherwise identical storylines  Creative responses which do not represent the context  Lacking finesse and skills in creative writing  Lacking control, sophistication, accuracy and structure COMMON PROBLEMS