1. Today Arrange yourself into groups of 4-6.
Week 10, Term 3
Today
Arrange yourself into groups of 4-6.
Unpack an essay question together.
Write a thesis statement.
Talking Chips discussion (content knowledge/key concepts).
Today’s group work can inform your exam notes.

2. A thesis statement:
tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel.
makes a claim that others might dispute.
is usually a single sentence near the beginning of your paper (most often, at the end of the first paragraph) that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organises evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation.
Essay question:
The meaning of a literary text is context-dependent. Discuss in relation to one or more texts you have studied.

3. What do you think? Did you address the question?
The meaning of a literary text is context-dependent. Discuss in relation to one or more texts you have studied.
In a group, unpack the question and brainstorm how you will answer it.
Formulate a thesis statement.
Record this statement on a giant post-it note.
Elect a group member to read it aloud.
Classroom discussion.
What do you think? Did you address the question?

4. The meaning of a literary text is context-dependent
The meaning of a literary text is context-dependent. Discuss in relation to one or more texts you have studied.
Unpack the terms: ‘meaning’ and ‘context’. Whose context?
What is it asking? Meanings are shaped by context.
Context of writer.
Context of reader.
Context of the time in which the text was written/and now read.

5. Meaning = what the reader/viewer thinks a text means
Meaning = what the reader/viewer thinks a text means. A reader situated in a cultural context other than the one in which the text was produced may find meaning the writer did not intend.