Module C REPRESENTATION AND TEXT

The RUBRIC says... This module requires students to explore various representations of events, personalities or situations. They evaluate how medium of production, textual form, perspective and choice of language influence meaning. The study develops students’ understanding of the relationships between representation and meaning.

1. Conflicting Perspectives In their responding and composing, students consider the ways in which conflicting perspectives on events, personalities or situations are represented in their prescribed text and other related texts of their own choosing. Students analyse and evaluate how acts of representation, such as the choice of textual forms, features and language, shape meaning and influence responses.

2. History and Memory In their responding and composing, students consider their prescribed text and other texts which explore the relationships between individual memory and documented events. Students analyse and evaluate the interplay of personal experience, memory and documented evidence to broaden their understanding of how history and personal history are shaped and represented.

What is representation?

Representation and Text Language is a complex tool invented by society.  As any artefact it can have beneficial or detrimental effects.  It can be used and abused. Language can never achieve pure representation. It cannot mean by itself – it is determined by context, intention and collective agreement. People often use language to conceal rather than reveal their real intentions.  All attempts to communicate are subjective and therefore even well intentioned, informative writings can be prone to bias or unconscious distortion of truth.   

Representation and Values All texts are deliberately constructed to convey an agenda and a set of values. This means that every composer has a purpose, which is based on the issues arising from their context and audience. To that end, the composer uses conflicting perspectives/interplay between history and memory as a vehicle for successfully conveying their purpose to the audience. So, through the representation of events, personalities and situations (which utilises form, language and structural devices), the responder is positioned to accept the perspective that the composer has represented as valid/credible. As a consequence, the composer is able to successfully impart their values to the audience.

This means... There is a difference between what a text is about and its message. The Smithsonian’s September 11 website is about history but its message (intentionally or not) is that history is selective and constructed. Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes portrays some conflicting perspectives but one of its messages is that perspective is shaped through and by language. Similarly, The Justice Game portrays conflict within the formal setting of the court; however, one message is that the dominant perspective tends to be the one that is most effectively represented in the “game”.

Other words for representation … Interpretations Points-of-view Demonstrations Accounts of Versions Descriptions Depictions Constructions

TEXT CONSTRUCTION PURPOSE VALUES AUDIENCE CONTEXT EVENTS CHARACTER SETTING AUDIENCE CONTEXT THEMES/ISSUES TECHNIQUES/FEATURES STYLE/FORM MEDIUM PURPOSE

Context Audience History and Memory Composer’s agenda REPRESENTATTION VALUES Context Audience Conflicting Perspectives History and Memory Composer’s agenda Perspective privileged Composer successfully conveys their perspective PURPOSE POSITIONING OF RESPONDER

Various representations of events, personalities or situations. Hero or villain?

This Means...? Robertson in The Justice Game comments on how emotional subjectivity affects an objective perspective. This is the CONTENT of the text. Yet at the same time, we can see in his writing that HIS own emotional subjectivity (strong feelings against the death penalty) affects the objectivity of The Justice Game. This is the CONSTRUCTION of the text.

conflicting perspectives

History and Memory

Similarities to Area of Study This Module is really very much like the AOS in that it requires you to absorb an overall concept and apply this to both the core text as well as your related material. Remember that HOW means techniques. This is always true in HSC English. So not only do you need to work out WHAT the message about the concept is from your texts but also exactly HOW this message is conveyed through poetic, literary and visual techniques.

Key Questions What is a perspective? Why do people have different perspectives and what can cause them to conflict? How are conflicting perspectives represented in society? What is history? What is memory? What is the relationship between them? Is one more valid than the other? How are history and memory represented in society?

Thesis Ideas… “Hughes effectively manipulates the poetic form to present a unique and evocative collection of poems that invoke empathy for his circumstances and reinforces that there is an agenda behind every perspective.” “Discordant opinions ignite conflicting perspectives and the composer harnesses the textual form to highlight their perspective as the most valued of those opinions.”

“In the construction of a representation of history, it is individual and collective memory which conjures an understanding of the historical figure or event, yet it is historically accurate details and trivialities which authenticate such representations.” Physical evidence and relevant historical details are essential in constructing both history and context as they create direct links to memory.” “History can only be recorded retrospectively; hence, to a degree it relies on memory. The interplay of history and memory therefore can result in new understandings of events and people, ones which are now reshaped and coloured by individual and collective memories”

Markers’ Comments Stronger responses demonstrated a perceptive understanding of how composers use different ways to construct meaning and evoke responses through textual features and details Masterful control of language was evident as these responses developed the thesis through strategic-topic sentences, a confident and informed approach to both texts and clear consideration of the key ideas.

Many stronger responses demonstrated an awareness of the constructedness of texts and how the choice of form and its associated language features connected with the composer’s purpose and context. Judiciously selected textual evidence was used to support the evaluation of the form and its distinctive features.

Weaker responses focused more on an exploration of the prescribed text and text of own choosing through the elective rather than the focus of the module – the act of representation. Weaker responses were largely descriptive and limited in scope. Some understanding of the act of representation through form was evident; however, the treatment of the prescribed text and the text or texts of own choosing was superficial and inconsistent.

TEXT CONSTRUCTION PURPOSE VALUES CONTEXT EVENTS CHARACTER SETTING AUDIENCE CONTEXT THEMES/ISSUES TECHNIQUES/FEATURES STYLE/FORM MEDIUM PURPOSE

Context Audience History and Memory Composer’s agenda REPRESENTATTION VALUES Context Audience Conflicting Perspectives History and Memory Composer’s agenda Perspective privileged Composer successfully conveys their perspective PURPOSE POSITIONING OF RESPONDER

PURPOSE REPRESENTATION VALUES POSITIONING

Paragraph structure WHAT – Thesis Statement re Conflicting Perspectives/ History and Memory? HOW – How is it being represented? (Medium, structure, techniques) WHY – Why is it being represented in the manner? What have you understood? (Power of language/form, Agenda, Manipulation, Bias, Values)

What could this mean in regards to the examination question? A Final Thought.. Students develop a range of imaginative, interpretive and analytical compositions that relate to different forms and media of representation. These compositions may be realised in a variety of forms and media. What could this mean in regards to the examination question?

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