CLB020: English Curriculum Studies 3
Name: Mackenzie Aarts
Student Number: n6527914
Lecturer: Anita Jetnikoff
Tutor: Anita Jetnikoff
Assessment: Year 12 English Unit
Due Date: 6th of May, 2011
BROADFIELDS STATE HIGH SCHOOL
English Senior Syllabus 2010 Work Program
The Broadfields State High School Context and Cohort:
Broadfields State High School is coeducational and was established in 1990. Its present enrolment is approximately 1150 students in Years 8 to 12. Broadfields is situated in
a regional city, which serves a range of rural industries and services, a diverse farming sector and industries. The city also has a university and a TAFE college. The students
are from diverse cultural backgrounds, and represent a diversity of experiences, learning needs and aspirations. NESB students comprise 15% of the school population; of
these 5 % are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students. Hence the school aims to create an environment in which all students are enabled to develop to their fullest
potential. This means that while recognising the differing needs and abilities of students, and valuing the cultural backgrounds of students we also help them in their transition
from school to post-school life. Broadfields has well established links with the local TAFE College and some senior students combine studies at school and college campuses.
In order to meet these aims, emphasis is placed on a wide variety of subjects, and students who are experiencing learning difficulties are given special assistance. The school
prides itself on its career education and computer based learning across the curriculum. Through a widening variety of subjects and extra-curricular activities, we hope that
students will assimilate skills, knowledge, methods, attitudes and values which will help in their personal development and enable them to take their places as responsible
citizens in the wider community.
English in Year 11 and 12:
The Year 11 and 12 English program at Broadfields SHS seeks to cater for students of differing abilities and a variety of interests. The English program seeks to expose
students to a wide variety of learning experiences whilst stressing basic skills and the relevance of content to students’ interests and experiences. It aims to equip students
with the skills necessary for life, work and leisure. The teaching of English at the school is informed by the Skills, Cultural Heritage, Personal Growth, Social-cultural and the
Cultural-critical approaches. This work program draws approaches and understandings from the strongest aspects these models which currently inform best practice in
English. This means our senior program is premised on current literary and linguistic theory and gives students access to a wide range of texts and tasks, including those
deploying ICTs and web 2.0 platforms. Resources for use within the school are well equipped and progressively updated. A wide range of print resources, such as novels,
plays and poetry, is available in class sets, and is being added to as the need arises. The school also has an extensive audio-visual library and two computer labs with fast
internet access and a school- based intranet. Each teacher has their own laptop and all classrooms contain at least seven laptops, a data projector and screen, a television
and video (DVD) facilities (including SD video cameras and digital stills cameras, which are shared amongst the English classes).
The teaching staff involved with Senior English is relatively stable, and teachers flexibly upgrade, modify, share and rewrite units of work to improve the work program and
keep it current. We also work with the Universities by supervising Pre-service teaching Field Experience and with academic input to our professional development program,
which keeps us up to date with current theory and pedagogical trends.
The Year 11 and 12 program has a conceptual ‘continuity’ based on the Five Organising Principles of course planning (QSA, 2010) that invites students to explore who they
are; as individuals who shape the culture around them, and as individuals shaped by their culture. Senior students develop these constructions of culture, identity from the
first unit of Year 11 through to the final unit of Year 12, exploring construction and identity based on Discourses of Australian identity and cultural representations,
acknowledging their attitudes, values and beliefs; while developing their knowledge of literary and everyday texts, genres, and storytelling over the four semesters. Connected
to this organising principle is also ‘increasing complexity of challenge’. Students’ theoretical and practical understanding of discourses and cultural contexts will be explored in
more complex ways in each unit, however, the linguistic skills, knowledge of textual features expected of students will culminate in challenging and enriching heritage and
contemporary texts, from popular culture to Shakespeare. This range of texts encompasses historical perspectives, content and authorship, and increasingly complex text
types and genres across the course. Students will study feature films, documentaries, autobiographies and memoirs, plays, print and audiovisual media, persuasive
speeches, and digital and multigeneric tasks. Students will be scaffolded in each unit with a view to increasing independence: by the end of Year 12, they will be able to
independently research a topic of historic significance using substantial quality evidence and higher-order thinking, manipulating register effectively within a classroom
context. The culmination of the program results in a collage of known genres, which brings together the knowledge and skills of the entire course. This program fosters the
higher-order thinking skills of evaluation, analysis, synthesis, and creativity through a wide range of texts and tasks, and includes a wide diversity of authors and cultural
perspectives. Furthermore specific skills such as persuasive speaking and writing, accommodation of cultural, social and individual differences ensures that all students can
exercise their democratic voice in the classroom and beyond. Finally, through a caring inclusive classroom ethos, Broadfields provides a supportive, acknowledging
environment for our significant Indigenous cohort, and the program of study in Senior English at Broadfields State High School empowers them to tell their own stories as well
as making others more aware of these stories.
Moral Panics in the Media
Year 12: Unit 2
Length: 8 weeks
Language Focus:
 Discourses
 Representations
 Reader positioning
Unit Focus:
The focus of the unit is an examination of the power of the media to construct and represent moral panics in Australian society. Students will have the opportunity to analyse and
evaluate an array of historical and contemporary moral panics in print, television and online news texts and explore:
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The varying structures and registers of news texts
Conflicting social and cultural discourses within news texts
The elements of moral panics
How language choices represent particular groups and issues in society in particular ways to position readers/viewers and empower the dominant discourse
The connection between the use of language and the exercise of social power
Rationale:
A moral panic is an intense and collective feeling of threat to a society’s social order, dominant culture and core values (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009, p. 2). This threat is attributed to
the identified deviants or “folk devils” that supposedly threaten the dominant cultural discourse (i.e. values, attitudes and beliefs) and are therefore negatively represented to
maintain and empower the dominant cultural discourse operating in society (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009, p. 2). Through the social selection of language to construct moral panics
and represent “folk devils”, power is maintained by the dominant group in society (Morgan, 2009, p. 87). As such, analysis of moral panics can reveal the allocation of hegemony in a
society (Critcher, 2006, p. 4). Moral panics are identifiable through five elements: a heightened level of concern over the behaviour of a certain group, an increased level of hostility
toward the identified group, widespread or substantial consensus that the threat is real, serious and caused by the identified group, disproportion of the actual threat and volatility
(Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009, pp. 37-41).
While moral panics have existed since the beginning of organised society, media texts have provided the most effective spark for the creation of moral panics as well as providing a
vessel for their conveyance to a broad audience (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009, p. 89). Due to the collective and sensationalist nature of moral panics, news texts consistently
encourage, sustain and draw on moral panics to increase their market potential and audience (Garland as cited in Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009, p. 90). The existence of moral
panics within the sphere of news is concerning in that news texts often give the “appearance of objectivity and so invite readers to accept their version and construction of events”
(Gold, 2009, p. 176), thereby naturalising cultural dominance in society. In a media-saturated society, students need to learn to be critical consumers of the media and understand
that news texts provide a representation of reality that positions readers and viewers and sets up certain groups in position of power (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008, p. 3). In culturally
diverse classrooms it is also important to be aware that many students may have at some point identified with groups that were the victims of moral panics in the media (Dezuanni,
2010).
Drawing approaches from the strongest aspects of the Skills, Cultural Heritage and Personal Growth pedagogical models of English, with an emphasis on the Socio-cultural and
Socio-cultural Critical models (Bushell, n.d.), this unit provides students with the opportunity to analyse and evaluate an array of historical and contemporary moral panics in print,
television and online news texts and the way that language has been used to represent “folk devils” and events, position readers/viewers and strengthen the dominant cultural
discourse in Australian society. Through the learning experiences, students extend on their prior knowledge of media texts from previous units and explore the varying structures
and registers of news texts, understand news as texts-in-context, evaluate the media-constructed representations of “folk devils” and moral panics using appraisal grammar,
semiotics, critical discourse analysis (Fairclough as cited in Hesmondhalgh, 2006, p. 124) and visual grammar, reflect on the implications of this knowledge and are given the
opportunity to challenge the cultural representations provided by the media in their own lives.
This unit is also developed around the five organising principles of the ‘English Senior Syllabus’ (Queensland Studies Authority, 2010, pp, 6-8). The principle of continuity is
accommodated for by students building on their understanding of dominant discourses of Australian identity and cultural representations, the structures and linguistic features of
feature articles, genre characteristics of film (such as shot types, editing, etc.) and semiotic analysis in Year 11, and reader positioning, affect, judgement and appreciation concepts
of appraisal grammar and the features of effective speaking, applying this prior knowledge and increasing the complexity of this knowledge to understand the positional power the
dominant cultural group in Australia has in representing minority groups through news texts. This unit also continues to develop students’ prior learning by building on the familiar
genre of exposition in the summative assessment task, requiring a more complex construction and delivery of a hortatory exposition. A range of non-literary texts, varying in texttype, mode and medium, content and authorship are utilised within the unit. Students are also provided with range in the negotiated subject matter of the summative assessment
task and the accommodation of differing student learning styles in the learning experiences. Accommodation of differing learning styles also addresses the inclusion of individual
differences. Increasing independence is addressed through students being less dependent on the teacher as a source of feedback, instead utilising self and peer evaluation as well
as being allowed a negotiated subject matter for the summative assessment task. Through this unit focus of exposing social dominance and cultural constructedness in news texts,
the inclusion of cultural and social differences is addressed with the aim to empower culturally diverse students through the deconstruction of cultural hegemony.
Summative Assessment Task:
Multimodal Hortatory Exposition (Vodcast)
Parent Text:
‘Media: new ways and meanings’ (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008)
Dimensions and Objectives:
 Dimension 1: Understanding and responding to contexts
Students examine how texts are structured and organised for particular purposes and then apply this knowledge to produce different types of texts for particular purposes.
Through reading, viewing, writing, designing, listening and speaking/signing, students should:
 Use and recognise patterns and conventions suitable to the genre of a hortatory exposition and print, television and news texts
 Select, sequence and organise subject matter of print, television and online news texts and moral panics to support opinions and perspectives
 Establish roles of the writer/speaker/signer and relationships with a public audience
 Dimension 2: Understanding and controlling textual features
Students understand and control textual features, in a variety of contexts.
Through reading, viewing, writing, designing, listening and speaking/signing, students should:
 Use appraisal grammar, aspects of visual grammar, semiotic analysis and language structures for the particular purpose of analysing and evaluating
representations of identities and issues in moral panics in the media and to construct a hortatory exposition
 Use cohesive devices to develop and emphasise an argument for a call to action about the way identities and issues in moral panics are represented in the news
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Use vocabulary for the particular purpose of producing a hortatory exposition and analysing language choices in news texts
Use mode-appropriate written, spoken/signed and complementary features to enhance the multimodal presentation of a hortatory exposition
 Dimension 3: Creating and evaluating meaning
Students create and evaluate texts to demonstrate how and why meaning is made.
Through reading, viewing, writing, designing, listening and speaking/signing, students should:
 Evaluate the ways ideas, attitudes and values underpin print, television and online news texts and position audiences to accept the dominant cultural groups in
society
 Evaluate how the news has represented identities and issues in moral panics through language choices
 Evaluation of the aesthetic features in news texts (e.g. editing, rhetoric, images, etc.) and their effect on representations and reader positioning
MORAL PANICS IN THE MEDIA
LANGUAGE FOCUS: Discourses, Representations and Reader Positioning
ORIENTATING PHASE
The orientating phase enables
students to activate their prior
knowledge of news texts and the
dominant cultural discourses in
Australian society while expanding
this knowledge and applying it to the
complexities of moral panics in the
media and how news texts are
selective in their representation of
issues and identities for a particular
purpose. Through individual, paired,
group and whole class activities
students are made aware of the
pervasiveness of news texts in their
everyday lives, their positioning in
relation to the dominant cultural
discourse in Australian society, how
cultural dominance affects the
reporting, presentation, publication
and consumption of news and
problematizes the new
understandings of moral panics and
the power of the media to construct
and represent issues and identities in
moral panics, motivating students to
explore this issue further.
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Inform students of unit topic, aims, objectives and summative assessment task.
Students set personal goals for the unit.
Whole class construction of concept map (Department of Education, Science and Training,
2002) about the news to gauge prior knowledge.
In pairs, complete a glossary worksheet on terms that will be frequently used throughout this
unit.
Construction of a vocabulary wall of relevant terms that will be frequently used throughout this
unit (Williams, 2009, p. 61).
Students complete a survey about their everyday interaction with news texts (Gold, 2009, p.
174). Survey results are collated on the whiteboard in table and graph format.
Expert jigsaw activity (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) on different
types of news texts (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, news websites, radio, television news, television
current affairs programs and newspapers). In expert groups, students research their allocated
news text to determine mode, medium, topics covered by text in order (to determine what is
news-worthy), audience, role of people in news text, proximity to audience, length, style,
layout, advantages, disadvantages, etc. Students report back to home groups with their
findings.
Individual, paired and/or whole class reading of pages 321-330 and 469-494 of ‘Media: new
ways and meanings’ (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008).
Individual response to an image (see Appendix A) (Telegraph Media Group, 2010) and
analysis of student responses: what did you write in response to this image? Why did you
make this choice? How does the social and cultural context and your own background affect
individual perceptions and interpretations?
Placemat activity (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) identifying the
dominant cultural values, attitudes and beliefs in Australian society: why do you think this is
the dominant cultural discourse? How has this dominant construction of ‘Australian culture’
been formed? What effect does this have on people who are not considered part of the
dominant culture?
Response to cartoon (see Appendix B) (Guest, Eshuys, Kimber & Yaxley, 2000, p. 204): What
does this cartoon suggest about the news?
Response to cartoon (see Appendix C) (Guest et al., 2000, p. 212): how does this cartoon
relate to constructions and representations of issues and identities in the news?
RESOURCES
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Whiteboard and whiteboard markers.
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Glossary worksheet.
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Sheets of poster paper and pencils.
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Student copies of survey (Gold, 2009, p.
174).
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Expert jigsaw (Department of Education,
Science and Training, 2002) activity
sheets.
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Parent text: ‘Media: new ways and
meanings’ ((Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008).
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Image (see Appendix A) (Telegraph
Media Group, 2010).
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Sheets of poster paper divided into
placemat format (Department of
Education, Science and Training, 2002).
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OHP and OHT of cartoon (see Appendix
B) (Guest et al., 2000, p. 204).
OHP and OHT of cartoon (see Appendix
C) (Guest et al., 2000, p. 212).
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Individual or paired completion of ‘The Truth of the Matter’ worksheet (see Appendix D) (Guest
et al., 2000, p. 256).
List relevant stakeholders in reporting, presentation, publication and consumption of news and
order these from most powerful to least powerful in terms of their ability to influence what is
reported and how (Jetnikoff, 2010).
Explicit teaching of a definition of moral panics and the elements of moral panics (Goode &
Ben-Yehuda, 2009, pp. 37-41).
Think, pair, share activity (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) identifying
moral panics that have occurred throughout history and that are currently occurring.
Allocation of a particular identified moral panic to each small group. Small groups research
that moral panic and apply the elements of moral panics to their allocated moral panic with
attention paid to news texts as texts in context; moral panics established from, and affected by
the social and cultural context at the time.
K-W-L (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) about moral panics in the
media.
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Student copies of ‘The Truth of the Matter’
worksheet (see Appendix D) (Guest et al.,
2000, p. 256).
Whiteboard and whiteboard markers.
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Computers and internet access.
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Whiteboard and whiteboard markers.
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ENHANCING PHASE
The enhancing phase builds on the
learning experiences within the
orientating phase and provides an indepth analysis of how language
choices are made to represent
identities and issues in moral panics
in particular ways for particular
purposes. Through reading, viewing
speaking, listening, writing and
designing, students use appraisal
grammar, visual grammar, semiotic
analysis and critical discourse
analysis to analyse, evaluate and
transform representations in news
texts. Students learn to recognise that
language choices are social choices
that relate to the exercise of power in
society and the strengthening of the
dominant cultural discourse.This
phase looks at a range of print,
television and online news texts that
are both current and historical.
N.B. The selection of news texts for learning experiences within the enhancing phase is not fixed. While
suggestions have been made as to the news texts that can be studied, teachers are encouraged to
continually update the news texts to maintain currency and relevance to students’ lives. It is also
essential that at the beginning of each learning experience, the moral panic represented by the news
text is contextualised for students if it has not already been done in previous learning experiences.
 Hand out summative assessment task sheet.
 Guided discussion about the moral panics of Indigenous Australians supposed deviance,
asylum seekers supposed threatening of Australia’s way of life and Muslims (as these moral
panics will be the focus for analysis in the enhancing phase).
 Individual, paired and/or whole class reading of pages 186-195 of ‘Media: new ways and
meanings’ (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008).
 Make a collage of stakeholders involved in the moral panic of asylum seekers supposed
threating of Australia’s way of life (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008, p. 195).
 Concept map (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) identified stakeholder
positions on the issue of asylum seekers: which values, attitudes and beliefs are dominant?
Which are in conflict with the dominant values, attitudes and beliefs?
 View the news text ‘Gillard Government cracks down on asylum seekers’ (Duffy, 2011):
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3200763.htm.
 Five W activity (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 194): identify who, what, when, where and why in the news
text just viewed to gauge student comprehension.
RESOURCES
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Student copies of the summative
assessment task sheet.
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Parent text: ‘Media: new ways and
meanings’ (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008).
Sheets of poster paper, glue, computers,
internet access and printer.
Whiteboard and whiteboard markers.
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‘Gillard Government cracks down on
asylum seekers’ (Duffy, 2011):
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/
s3200763.htm.
Teacher laptop, internet access, projector
and projector screen.
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Retrieval of values, attitudes and beliefs (Yaxley et al., 2005, p. 9) in the news text ‘Gillard
Government cracks down on asylum seekers’ (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2011)
(see Appendix E).
Critical discourse analysis of ‘Gillard Government cracks down on asylum seekers’ (ABC,
2011) using an approach by Norman Fairclough (as cited in Hesmondhalgh, 2006, p. 124):
micro-level analysis of linguistic properties and images within the text, meso-level application
of the language and images identified to the concepts of representations, identities and
relationships and macro-level connections made between micro-level uses of
language/images and meso-level analysis to much broader questions concerning the
arrangement of power and authority in society.
Read the news text ‘Poverty, Booze and Jail’ (Lunn, 2009) (see Appendix F).
Five W activity (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 194): identify who, what, when, where and why in the news
text just read to gauge student comprehension.
View the Wordle on the news text ‘Poverty, Booze and Jail’ (Lunn, 2009) (see Appendix G):
what values, attitudes and beliefs are presented about Indigenous Australians in this news
text? Whose values, attitudes and beliefs are these? Who is empowered? Who is
disempowered?
Critical discourse analysis of ‘Poverty, Booze and Jail’ (Lunn, 2009) using an approach by
Norman Fairclough (as cited in Hesmondhalgh, 2006, p. 124).
Think, pair, share reflection (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002):
considering the dominant cultural group in society and their control of mainstream media, what
effect does the transmission of dominant cultural and social discourses in news texts have on
society and the reporting of moral panics in the news?
Individual, paired and/or whole class reading of pages 49-53 of ‘Media: new ways and
meanings’ (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008).
Clever cloze activity (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) on a segment of
the news text ‘TJ’s life played out in the dead zone’ (Walker, 2004) (see Appendix H). After the
cloze activity, show students the language choices in the original text. Discuss how language
choices can affect meaning and representations within texts.
Focused learning episode on appraisal grammar using ‘Appraisal Grammar Guide’.
Analyse and evaluate the effect of affect (see Appendix I) (adapted from Kelvin Grove State
College, 2009) in the news text ‘TJ’s life played out in the dead zone’ (Walker, 2004) on
representations and reader positioning.
Read the news text ‘Tony Abbott calls for protestors to be removed from roof of Villawood’
(Johnston, 2011) (see Appendix J).
Five W activity (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 194): identify who, what, when, where and why in the news
text just read to gauge student comprehension.
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‘Values, Attitudes and Beliefs’ worksheet
(Yaxley et al., 2005, p. 9) (see Appendix
E), class computers, internet access and
URL for news text.
Whiteboard and whiteboard markers.
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‘Poverty, Booze and Jail’ (Lunn, 2009)
(see Appendix F).
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Wordle on the news text ‘Poverty, Booze
and Jail’ (Lunn, 2009) (see Appendix G),
teacher laptop, projector and projector
screen.
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Parent text: ‘Media: new ways and
meanings’ (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008).
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Clever cloze worksheet on a segment of
the news text ‘TJ’s life played out in the
dead zone’ (Walker, 2004).
Original news text of ‘TJ’s life played out
in the dead zone’ (Walker, 2004) (see
Appendix H).
‘Appraisal Grammar Guide’.
‘Expressing Feelings (AFFECT)’
worksheet (see Appendix I) (adapted from
Kelvin Grove State College, 2009).
‘Tony Abbott calls for protestors to be
removed from roof of Villawood
(Johnston, 2011) (see Appendix J).
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Analyse and evaluate the effect of judgement in the news text ‘Tony Abbott calls for protestors
to be removed from roof of Villawood (Johnston, 2011) (see Appendix K) on representations
and reader positioning.
View the news text ‘Kelvin Thomson MP: 14 Point Plan for Population Reform’ (Seymour,
2010): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ4VLfs1Y74.
Five W activity (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 194): identify who, what, when, where and why in the news
text just viewed to gauge student comprehension.
Analyse and evaluate the effect of graduation (i.e. force- intensifiers and focus- softeners and
sharpeners) in the news text ‘Kelvin Thomson MP: 14 Point Plan for Population Reform’
(Seymour, 2011) on representations and reader positioning. Re-enact a segment from this
text, altering the intensifiers (i.e. not just language but also tone of voice) to decrease the
intensity: what effect does this have?
Read the news text ‘Our values or go home: Costello’ (Gordon & Topsfield, 2006) (see
Appendix K).
Five W activity (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 194): identify who, what, when, where and why in the news
text just read to gauge student comprehension.
Analyse and evaluate the effect of bare assertions in the news text ‘Our values or go home:
Costello’ (Gordon & Topsfield, 2006) (see Appendix K).
Analyse and evaluate sourcing within a range of news texts previously read/viewed: who are
these appraisals coming from? How factual are these reports on moral panics (i.e. do “facts” in
the text identify the source of these “facts)?
Small group activity where students are given ten statements (varying in modality). Students
arrange these statements from high to low modality.
Read the news text ‘Tony reopens debate on burka, wishes fewer Australians wore it’ (Kelly,
2010) (see Appendix L).
Five W activity (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 194): identify who, what, when, where and why in the news
text just read to gauge student comprehension.
Analyse and evaluate the effect of modality in the news text ‘Tony reopens debate on burka,
wishes fewer Australians wore it’ (Kelly, 2010) (see Appendix L) on representations and
reader positioning.
Recall students’ prior knowledge of semiotics (e.g. meaning of denotations, connotations,
codes and conventions). Fill in any gaps in student knowledge if required.
Contextualise the cartoon ‘The Mongolian Octopus – His grip on Australia’ (Bulletin, 1886)
(see Appendix M). Complete semiotic analysis of this cartoon: What are your thoughts of this
cartoon? How have Mongolians been represented? Why have Mongolian people been
represented in this way? What effect does this representation have on positioning the viewer
and strengthening the dominant cultural discourse at the time?
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‘Judging people’s character
(JUDGEMENT)’ worksheet.
‘Kelvin Thomson MP: 14 Point Plan for
Population Reform’ (Seymour, 2010):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ4VLfs
1Y74.
Teacher laptop, projector and projector
screen.
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‘Our values or go home: Costello’
(Gordon & Topsfield, 2006) (see
Appendix K).
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Modality statements.
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Tony reopens debate on burka, wishes
fewer Australians wore it’ (Kelly, 2010)
(see Appendix L).
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OHP and OHT of the cartoon ‘The
Mongolian Octopus – His grip on
Australia’ (Bulletin, 1886) (see Appendix
M).
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Contextualise the news text ‘Der Stürmer: Jewish Murder Plan against Gentile Humanity
Revealed’ (Bytwerk, 1998) (see Appendix N). This is the newspaper cover to the most
infamous issue of Der Stürmer, a 1934 issue accusing Jewish people of practicing ritual
murder to secure the blood of Christians to use in Jewish religious rituals. Complete semiotic
analysis of this news text: What are your thoughts of this news text? How have Jewish people
been represented? Why have they been represented in this way? What effect does this
representation have on positioning the viewer and strengthening the dominant cultural
discourse at the time? What is the effect of colour and visual salience of the headline?
Hot potato activity (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) on semiotics and
visual grammar (i.e. shot types, colour, salience) in the news text ‘Kelvin Thomson MP: 14
Point Plan for Population Reform’ (Seymour, 2010):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ4VLfs1Y74. In small groups, students are given a still
image (glued onto the centre of a sheet of poster paper) from this news text, drawing on
semiotics and aspects of visual grammar to write down on the poster paper the effects of
these choices on representations and reader positioning. Students then move to the next
image and complete the same process.
Three column deconstruction (Williams, 2007b, pp. 23-25) of any written news text read in the
unit so far. Individually or in pairs, students transform the text into an objective reporting of the
moral panic and identities within the moral panic.
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Plan against Gentile Humanity Revealed’
(Bytwerk, 1998) (see Appendix N).
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T-chart (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) problems and solutions of
media representations of issues and identities in moral panics.
Explicitly go through the summative assessment task sheet and criteria sheet, detailing the
requirements of the task and differentiating each assessment standard from the other (i.e.
what is required to do well).
Explicit teaching of the linguistic and structural features of a hortatory exposition.
Text mapping (Wing Jan, 2009, p. 115) of a sample written hortatory exposition.
Three column deconstruction (Williams, 2007b, pp. 23-25) of a written hortatory exposition to
draw out the linguistic and structural features of this genre.
Joint analysis of a written hortatory exposition.
View vodcast examples on the viewer contribution page of the ‘Hungry Beast’ website to
understand the different forms students’ vodcasts can take.
In small groups, students transform the written hortatory exposition they jointly constructed in
a previous learning experience into a storyboard for a multimodal hortatory exposition: what
form will it take? What will be said? How will it be said? What written text will be used? What
visual aids will be used? How will it be adapted for the online public audience?
As a whole class, construct a Venn diagram (Department of Education, Science and Training,
2002) of the similarities and differences between the requirements of written and
Sheets of poster paper with
still/captured images from the news
text ‘Kelvin Thomson MP: 14 Point Plan
for Population Reform’ (Seymour, 2010).
SYNTHESISING PHASE
The synthesising phase builds on the
enhancing phase of this unit, directing
student learning to the culmination of
their summative assessment task.
This phase contains explicit modelling
and scaffolding of the summative
assessment task including individual,
group and whole class deconstruction
and construction of spoken and
written hortatory expositions,
including an exemplary past student
example of the summative
assessment task. Students are also
allocated time to work on their
summative assessment tasks with
teacher conferencing and feedback
provided. The synthesising phase
concludes with a unit reflection of the
News text ‘Der Stürmer: Jewish Murder
RESOURCES

Summative assessment task sheet and
criteria sheet.


Example of a written hortatory exposition.
OHP and OHT of example written
hortatory exposition in three column
format.
Projector and projector screen.
Teacher laptop.
‘Hungry Beast’ viewer contribution
examples (ABC, 2011):
http://hungrybeast.abc.net.au/getontv/
gallery.
Sheets of poster paper and pencils.
Whiteboard and whiteboard markers.





new knowledge students have gained
and the usefulness of this knowledge
to their active and critical participation
in society.










spoken/multimodal hortatory expositions.
Model an exemplary past student’s example of the summative assessment task.
In pairs, students mark the past student’s example against the criteria and standards.
Allocated time in class for students to work on their summative assessment tasks.
Teacher conferencing with students about the progress of their summative assessment task.
Collection, marking and returning of students’ drafts.
Whole class discussion highlighting common errors in students’ drafts.
Collection and marking of the final copy of the summative assessment task.
Students upload their vodcast to the ‘Hungry Beast’ viewer contribution webpage.
Round robin (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2002) reflection of the unit.
Alert students to the direction and focus for the next unit.
WAYS TO MONITOR LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT (FORMATIVE EVALUATION OR FEEDBACK)












Teacher observation of students’ work during activities.
Teacher frequently checks for all students’ understanding of the tasks and content through asking specific questions about the task or content.
Frequent consultation with students about their progress and learning.
Focused analysis of the students’ assignment drafts.
Consultation with students about their assignments.
The ability for students to perform peer evaluation and feedback.
The quality of student responses to questions.
Student self-evaluation and reflection through the use of an online wiki throughout the entire duration of the unit.
Teacher self-evaluation and reflection through the use of a teacher journal.
Observation of the students’ ability to work in groups, pairs and individually.
Observation of active participation by all students
Observation of the students’ homework.

Past student’s example of the summative
assessment task.
Summative assessment criteria sheet.

Class computers and internet access

BROADFIELDS STATE HIGH SCHOOL
Semester 1, 2011
Year Twelve English
Unit: Moral Panics in the Media
Multimodal Hortatory Exposition (Vodcast)
Notice of Task
Draft Due
7 weeks
Assignment Length
Final Due Date
5-7 minutes
Student’s Name: ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Teacher’s Name: ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
INTRODUCTION
Throughout this unit you have been analysing and evaluating how the media represents identities and
events in moral panics in particular ways to position readers/viewers and strengthen the dominant
cultural discourse. While moral panics have existed since the beginning of organised society, media
texts have provided the most effective spark for the creation of moral panics as well as providing a
vessel for their conveyance to a broad audience (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009, p. 89). The existence of
moral panics within the sphere of news is concerning in that news texts often give the appearance of
objectivity and so invite readers to accept their representation of issues and groups of people (Gold,
2009, p. 176), thereby naturalising cultural dominance in society. In a media-saturated society,
Australian citizens need to learn to be critical consumers of the media and understand that news texts
provide a representation of reality that positions readers and viewers and sets up certain groups in
position of power (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008, p. 3).
TASK
‘Hungry Beast’ is a half-hour Australian television program that is broadcast on Wednesday nights on
ABC1 (ABC, 2011). The style and structure of this program is a combination of a current affairs program
and a sketch comedy show (ABC, 2011). The goal of ‘Hungry Beast’ is to analyse and evaluate
mainstream news texts and present unbiased news: it “asks questions others don’t, covers stories
others won’t and brings them to your screen” (ABC, 2011). On the ‘Hungry Beast’ website there is a
viewer contribution page where members of the general public can talk about any topic that grabs their
attention or has been misrepresented by the mainstream media (ABC, 2011). The premise of the viewer
contribution page is “tell us something we don’t know” (ABC, 2011).
As an active participant in Australian society who has the ability to critically analyse and evaluate news
texts in terms of their social constructedness, you are to choose a contemporary moral panic (in
negotiation with your teacher) that has been covered by the Australian media and construct a
hortatory exposition about your chosen moral panic and the way that the media has used visual,
spoken and written language to represent identities and issues within your chosen moral panic. Your
hortatory exposition will be presented in the form of a multimodal vodcast which is to be uploaded to
the viewer contribution page of the ‘Hungry Beast’ website.
Your multimodal hortatory exposition will explain, analyse and evaluate:
 What your chosen moral panic is
 How your chosen moral panic contains the elements of moral panics
 How the media has used language to represent identities and issues in your chosen moral
panic
 What effect this selective use of language has on positioning the audience and
strengthening the dominant cultural discourse in Australia
 Why these effects are an issue to be concerned about
 Recommendations (a call to action) for how the media should alter their reporting of this
moral panic to create an unbiased report and how the general public (as audiences of the
news) should view coverage of moral panics in the media in critical ways.
In constructing your multimodal hortatory exposition you will draw on a small selection (2-3) of written
and/or audio-visual news texts (relevant to your chosen moral panic) to support your argument and
analysis. You are not permitted to use news texts that have already been looked at in class.
Your vodcast may take many forms (as demonstrated by the various types of vodcasts looked at in class
by other ‘Hungry Beast’ contributors):
1. You may appear and speak on camera, incorporating visual and written text (e.g. standing next
to PowerPoint slides and talking)
2. You may have slides with written and visual text on screen and audio of your voice embedded
over the top (i.e. you do not appear on screen)
3. A combination of options 1 and 2
Whatever option you choose, you must include spoken, written and visual text.
The form you choose to construct your vodcast will determine which resources and programs you will
require. You will have access to:
 Computers (with microphones)
 Photo Story 3
 Movie Maker
 PowerPoint
 Internet
 Data projector
 Data projector screen
 SD video cameras
 Digital still cameras
On the day of final submission, you will submit a copy of your multimodal hortatory exposition
(vodcast) on a CD-ROM to your teacher and upload your vodcast to the viewer contribution page of the
‘Hungry Beast’ website. Make sure that you read and adhere to the ‘Hungry Beast’ contributor
guidelines and terms and conditions.
CONTEXT
Genre:
Hortatory Exposition
Subject Matter:
Negotiated/contemporary moral panic covered by the Australian media
Purpose:
To inform and explain how the media represents identities and events in moral
panics in particular ways to position readers/viewers and strengthen the
dominant cultural discourse and persuade your audience to become critical
consumers of news texts.
Audience:
Online public viewers of the ‘Hungry Beast’ viewer contribution web-page.
Roles and
Relationships:
Mode and
Medium:
As a critical consumer of news texts and an active citizen, you are informing
the general public of “something they don’t know” about moral panics in the
media and voicing your concern about how the media represents identities and
events in moral panics in particular ways to position readers/viewers and
strengthen the dominant cultural discourse.
Multimodal Vodcast
CONDITIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Approximately seven weeks’ notice of the task is given.
Your multimodal hortatory exposition (vodcast) is to be 5-7 minutes in length
This assignment is to be completed in class and at home.
You are to submit one draft or outline of your assignment one week prior to final submission.
You will gain feedback from the teacher on your draft.
You will have access to teacher consultation.
You will have access to:
 Computers (with microphones)
 Photo Story 3
 Movie Maker
 PowerPoint
 Internet
 Data projector
 Data projector screen
 SD video cameras
 Digital still cameras
8. The final submission of your assignment should comprise the following:
 Your multimodal hortatory exposition (vodcast) on a labelled CD-ROM (in a hard or soft
case)
 Copy of the assignment task sheet
 Copy of the assignment criteria sheet
 Completed ‘Text Production Process’ Sheet
 Drafting
 Copies of your selected written and/or audio-visual news texts (relevant to your chosen
moral panic)
CRITERIA
ASSESSED
 Dimension 1: Understanding and responding to contexts
The student work has the following characteristics:
 Use of appropriate structure and conventions of a multimodal hortatory exposition
 Selection, organisation and synthesis of relevant media texts and information about
chosen moral panic to support opinions and perspectives
 Evident control of the role of the speaker/signer and relationship with a public audience
 Dimension 2: Understanding and controlling textual features
The student work has the following characteristics:
 Use of a range of language features suitable to a multimodal hortatory exposition, including
emotive language, evaluative language, high modality, active voice, intensifiers,
sharpeners, etc.
 Use of mode-appropriate cohesive devices to develop and emphasise an argument for a call
to action
 Use of appropriate vocabulary for a hortatory exposition and the specific purpose of the
assessment task
 Use of mode-appropriate written, spoken/signed and complementary features to
enhance the effectiveness, persuasiveness and professionalism of the multimodal
presentation of the hortatory exposition
 Dimension 3: Evaluating meaning
The student work has the following characteristics:
 Analysis of the ways ideas, attitudes and values underpin media texts and position
audiences to accept the dominant groups in society
 Evaluation of how the media has represented identities and issues in moral panics
 Evaluation of the aesthetic features in news texts (e.g. editing, representation, rhetoric,
images, etc.) and their effect on representations and reader positioning
(Design of summative assessment task sheet adapted from Brigidine College, 2011)
BROADFIELDS STATE HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENT DOCUMENTATION OF THE TEXT PRODUCTION PROCESS
RESOURCES
Material
STAGES OF THE TEXT PRODUCTION
Original Ideas
Draft
Final Copy
Original Ideas
Draft
Final Copy
Internet
School Library
Outside Libraries
Computer
Books
Newspapers
Television
Other
Human
Teacher
Peers
Member of the
Family
Librarian
ESL Teacher
Tutor
Other
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
I, ________________________, declare that the work presented in this assessment is my own original
work, except where acknowledged within the text.
Signature: _____________________
Date: __________________
(Student documentation of text production sheet adapted from Brigidine College, 2011)
Self-Evaluation Checklist
QUESTION
Do I understand the summative
assessment task?
Have I chosen a contemporary moral panic
that has been covered by Australian
media?
Have I demonstrated how my chosen
moral panic fulfils the elements of moral
panics (i.e. concern, hostility, consensus,
disproportion and volatility)?
Have I drawn on appraisal grammar,
semiotics, critical discourse analysis and
visual grammar to demonstrate how the
media has represented identities and
events in my chosen moral panic?
Have I argued in enough depth the effect
of the media’s selective use of language on
reader/viewer positioning and why it is a
concern?
Have I provided an adequate amount of
realistic and appropriate
recommendations?
Do I have a clear thesis?
Have I reached the required length of 5-7
minutes?
Have I chosen, analysed and integrated 2-3
relevant news texts that have not already
been used in class?
Have I included spoken, written and visual
text?
Have I read the ‘Hungry Beast’ contributor
guidelines and terms and conditions
(specifically the rules of copyright)?
YES
NO
COMMENTS (REASON FOR VARIATION OR
WHAT I NEED TO DO TO IMPROVE THIS ASPECT)
Have I saved my vodcast onto a CD-ROM?
Is my vodcast suitable for an online, public
audience?
Have I used present tense?
Have I used action verbs?
Have I used thinking verbs?
Have I used high modality (e.g. certainly,
surely, must, etc.)?
Have I used intensifiers to intensify
meaning to a high level?
Have I used emotive and evaluative
language to express affect, judgement and
appreciation?
Have I used sharpeners?
Have I used connectives to make my
hortatory exposition cohesive?
Have I uploaded my vodcast to the ‘Hungry
Beast’ viewer contribution web-page?
(Self-evaluation checklist adapted from Jetnikoff, 2010)
RESOURCE FILE
Sample work/activity sheets and resources
Appendix A
YEAR 12 ENGLISH
Name: _____________________
Date: __________
TASK: Look at the following image and write a story or newspaper article to correspond
with the image.
Telegraph Media Group. (2010). Italy move to ban the burka. Retrieved April 30, 2011 from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/8049108/Italy-move-to-ban-theburka.html.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix B
(Cartoon sourced from Guest, Eshuys, Kimber & Yaxley, 2000, p. 204).
Guest, V., Eshuys, J., Kimber, S., & Yaxley, R. (2000). Nelson Senior English: a practical skills-based course. South Melbourne,
VIC: Nelson Thomson Learning.
Appendix C
(Cartoon sourced from Guest, Eshuys, Kimber & Yaxley, 2000, p. 212)
Guest, V., Eshuys, J., Kimber, S., & Yaxley, R. (2000). Nelson Senior English: a practical skills-based course. South Melbourne,
VIC: Nelson Thomson Learning.
Appendix D
YEAR 12 ENGLISH
Name: _____________________
Date: __________
The Truth of the Matter
If news headlines can be manipulated to present certain biases and position the reader/viewer, then so
too can entire news stories. This can be done by:
 Using words with particular connotations
 Introducing subjective language that is emotive and evaluative
 Altering modality of the story
 Choosing which information to include and exclude
Often in the media, what we are not told is as significant as what we are told. As an example, read these
two short news articles which deal with the same event – a murder. One article, however, could be
described as more subjective than the other.
ARTICLE A
An Aboriginal man was found bashed to
death outside a notorious Redfern hotel
early this morning.
Police said the man, who is yet to be
identified, was killed with a blunt object
– probably a bottle – sometime after
midnight.
ARTICLE B
A man was bashed to death in the
suburb of Redfern early this morning.
Police have not yet released the identity
of the victim. They believe the man was
killed with a blunt object.
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What information has been included in Article A but omitted in Article B?
How do the two articles differ in their telling of events?
How are they similar?
Which article are you inclined to believe? Discuss your choice with a partner.
Discuss the following questions with your partner:
i)
Is it necessary to state that the man was “an Aboriginal”? Why has this been done?
ii)
Is it necessary to label the Redfern hotel as “notorious”, a word with obvious negative
connotations?
iii)
What is the difference between writing that ‘Police said…” and “They believe…”?
iv)
Who has said that the blunt object was “probably a bottle”? Should this information have
been included in the news article?
v)
Is it possible, from reading these two articles to determine the truth of the matter?
Guest, V., Eshuys, J., Kimber, S., & Yaxley, R. (2000). Nelson Senior English: a practical skills-based course. South Melbourne,
VIC: Nelson Thomson Learning.
Appendix E
YEAR 12 ENGLISH
Name: _____________________
Date: __________
VALUES, ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS
TASK:
1. View the television news report ‘Gillard Government cracks down on asylum seekers’ (Duffy,
2011):
Duffy, Conor (Reporter). (2011, April 26). “Gillard Government cracks down on asylum seekers”.
On 7.30. [Television broadcast]. Sydney, NSW. ABC1 Television. Retrieved April 28, 2011 from
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3200763.htm.
2. Identify the values, attitudes and beliefs in this text and provide an example of how the report
shows these values, attitudes and beliefs.
ATTITUDES, VALUES AND
BELIEFS
HOW THE TEXT SHOWS THIS
Activity adapted from Yaxley, R., Uscinski, S., Gardiner, J., Jorgensen, M., King, D., Taylor, R., et al. (2005).
Nelson Queensland English Three. Victoria: Thomson Nelson.
Appendix F
POVERTY, BOOZE AND JAIL
Stephen Lunn
June 25, 2009
The Australian
GINO Vumbaca doesn't mince his words about the high number of Aborigines in jail. "We've had
numerous reports, papers, pledges and inquiries about prisons and their indigenous population.
Yet despite all the good intentions, the proportion of Aborigines in detention continues to increase.
"At some point we need to realise what we've been trying is on the periphery. The system is broken and
we can't keep trying to fix it up, we have to replace it. White justice just doesn't work for indigenous
people."
Vumbaca, executive director of the Australian National Council on Drugs will today join Health Minister
Nicola Roxon in Canberra to launch a new ANCD report on indigenous incarceration and health, one that
calls for radical changes to the status quo.
The study, by the group's National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee, presents a withering
critique, highlighting the huge numbers of indigenous people in detention and concluding too many are
locked up without sufficient regard to the underlying reasons behind their crimes, most typically alcohol
and drug abuse.
"Since health, substance misuse and wellbeing issues are closely linked to indigenous violence, offending
and incarceration, interventions that address alcohol and other drug misuse have the potential to
significantly reduce the overrepresentation of indigenous Australians in our correctional system," says the
report titled Bridges and Barriers.
"Now, more than ever, there is an urgent need to reduce recidivism and the inter-generational effects of
indigenous incarceration by developing a national program that not only uniformly tackles the health
inequalities in our corrections system but is also responsive to strengthening the health and cultural
wellbeing of indigenous Australians," it says.
However many times one reads it, comprehending the numbers of Aboriginal people in jails gets no
easier.
Indigenous adults are 13 times more likely to be locked up than other Australians. In 2007, the Australian
Bureau of Statistics reported 31 per cent of adult female prisoners and 24 per cent of adult male prisoners
were indigenous, despite the fact they comprise only about 2 per cent of the adult population.
****
The NIDAC report finds two main factors lie behind indigenous over-representation in the corrections
system. The first is a long history of chronic socio-economic disadvantage, including poor health and
living conditions as well as cultural displacement. The second is alcohol.
Lunn, S. (2009, June 25). POVERTY, BOOZE AND JAIL. The Australian.
Appendix G
‘Wordle’ created from the news text ‘Poverty, Booze and Jail’ (Lunn, 2009):
Lunn, S. (2009, June 25). POVERTY, BOOZE AND JAIL. The Australian.
Appendix H
TJ's life played out in the 'dead zone'
Jamie Walker
February 4, 2004
The Australian
SLEEP comes late to the children of Walgett. At 1.10am yesterday, groups of them were wandering the
streets of this troubled north-western NSW town, waifs in the hot airless night, just like TJ used to be.
Di Tuhura says they inhabit a "dead zone". She stops herself mid-sentence, because it's such a raw thing
to speak of after what happened to Thomas "Junior" Hickey - the 17-year-old whose death in Sydney last
Saturday lit the fuse of the Redfern riot, bringing long-simmering anger and bitterness in the Aboriginal
community boiling to the surface.
While the circumstances of his death remain in sharp dispute, the road he took from Walgett to Redfern from the happy-go-lucky boy who played football with quicksilver bare feet, to the socially marginalised
youth who left school early and drifted into petty crime and impulsive violence -- is a wake-up call to
Australia, as ominous as the clang of bricks and bottles on police shields during Sunday's melee in
Sydney.
Tuhura, TJ's former junior rugby league coach, says his story could be that of just about any Aboriginal
kid growing up in Walgett.
The TJ she likes to remember is the boy she met in the under8s, stick-skinny but a real natural, with a neat
right step and speed to burn.
At the time, he was living with his grandparents, Elizabeth and Thomas Hickey. His mother, Gail, divided
her time between Walgett and Sydney; his father, Ian West, was in and out of jail.
"He was a lovely kid," Tuhura says. "Loved his footy, loved going cotton-chipping with his grand-dad ...
a good kid at heart, like all the other kids around here." Then he entered his teens - and things began to
change. The football cut out because there was no intermediate junior competition between the under-12
and under-18 age groups.
TJ would hang out on the streets with his friends, often until the early hours of the morning. His family
says he left school three years ago when in Year 9, aged 14.
So did his classmate, Edward Fernando, now 17, who remembers how they would "just walk around for
fun ... you know, something to do".
The combination of boredom, family dysfunction and social alienation is a potent one in Walgett, just as
it is elsewhere in Aboriginal Australia, from remotest Wiluna, in Western Australia, to Doomadgee in
northwest Queensland.
Talk to the non-indigenous locals, the 40per cent minority in Walgett's 2300-strong population, and you
will hear story after story about the Aboriginal kids being out of control, how the youngest of children
thieve and smash-and-grab at will. The youngsters in question, and many of their parents, reply with
accusations of police harassment or racial victimisation. The sense of menace is given physical expression
by the grilles on shopfronts lining the main street.
Although police won't release crime figures for the town, the break-in rate for the surrounding Moree
Plains local government area is 2 1/2 times the state average. General and sexual assault are three times
higher, although homicide and serious hard drug offences are virtually non-existent.
Last year, attendance at the local high school was revealed to be as low as 10per cent -- a figure disputed
by the Education Department. Overall turnout was more like 70per cent, a spokesman said yesterday. Yet
one local teacher said she often taught her mainly Aboriginal class with two-thirds of the desks empty.
This is what Tuhura is getting at with her talk of the "dead zone". Her frustration is palpable. TJ was not
just a star turn on her football team, he was kin. Having emigrated from New Zealand, she married into
the Hickey family, becoming mother-in-law to TJ's cousin, Vanessa. "The truth is they are all great kids,"
she says.
"But when they get to 12 or 13, to being teenagers, the town is just dead for them. I mean, why go on at
school when there's no jobs? Why try and play sport when there's no organised competition? The local
pool closes at 7 o'clock at night in summer, when it's still 35 or 40 degrees. The community centre doesn't
open when it's supposed to be open every day after 3. There's just nothing for the kids to do except get
into trouble."
If that's a bleak view of growing up in Walgett, TJ's life was made immeasurably sadder by the death of
his grandmother, Elizabeth, in April 2001. She and husband Thomas had brought him up from the age of
4. Her death took from him the most important moderating influence he'd known.
He was soon smoking marijuana and drinking beer with the other boys. Still slight, weighing barely 55kg,
he was "little brother" to Jason Kennedy, now 19. "We'd hang around all the time ... drinking a bit,
smokin' a bit," he says.
Two cousins, to whom TJ was very close, were in trouble with the police. The Hickeys had a reputation
around town, and Cynthia, one of TJ's three maternal aunts, believes the local police had all the boys in
their sights. Her three brothers, William, Thomas and Joseph, were doing time in prison, along with TJ's
dad, Ian.
TJ, though, kept himself out of serious trouble until moving to Sydney to join his mother. His six sisters,
all younger, remained at school in Walgett, sharing Cynthia's overcrowded three-bedroom house with her
seven children and partner, Greg.
Grandfather Thomas says he was aware TJ was getting up to "a bit of mischief" with purse snatching.
Cynthia admits he was "no angel", but that was understandable, because kids in Walgett had to grow up
tough.
TJ was living a hand-to-mouth existence in Sydney, alternating between Gail's place in Redfern and that
of Vanessa's mother, Virginia, in Waterloo. Court records show he appeared in Bidura Children's Court at
Glebe last September 10 to admit to offences of stealing from a person, resisting police and possession of
a small quantity of marijuana. The case was adjourned to March 22 pending the outcome of juvenile
conferencing.
By most reckonings, his criminal history was relatively light, at least by Walgett standards.
In November last year, TJ made what would be his final visit home with Gail. Cynthia says he had always
been intensely protective of his sisters and female cousins. On the evening of November 22, Gail asked
him to find his sister, Rebecca, 14, who had gone visiting on the other side of town with one of her
cousins, also 14. Their destination was the home of a non-indigenous man with whom the Hickeys had
had a series of disputes.
With his partner, an Aboriginal woman, the man was looking after a girl distantly related to the Hickeys.
TJ lost his temper when he turned up at the house. He stormed in and struck the man's partner with a
stick, which he also used to assault his cousin, who had been playing on the computer with Rebecca.
Another aunt, Linda, insists he was only looking out for his own - "He protected all his little cousins ... he
was brother to them all," she says.
The police were called and this time TJ found himself facing serious criminal charges: assault causing
actual bodily harm in regard to the woman, who was left with a 6cm welt on her face, and assault of his
cousin. He was convicted in absentia after failing to attend the Children's Court in Walgett on December
11. Magistrate Sue Seagrave issued warrants for his arrest, which were in force at the time of his death
last Saturday. He was also made subject to a 12-month apprehended violence order concerning his cousin.
TJ would have been fully aware he was wanted. The police turned up at grandfather Thomas's place the
week before his death, trying to serve documents. The teenager kept low in Sydney, enmeshed in the
netherworld of The Block in Redfern, marking time with his girlfriend, April.
It seems he must have decided to return to Walgett. Cynthia saw him about three weeks ago and he was
talking about going cotton-chipping and stick-picking to earn some money.
The streets of Walgett were quiet at 1.10am yesterday, just the kids out and about, rollerskating and riding
their bikes through the heat of the night. Dwayne Doolan, 13, said he was too bored to go home, because
what was the point, he wouldn't sleep anyway. As is the way of things in Walgett he was distantly related
to TJ. He'll be there for the funeral next week, when the young man will be laid to rest by his family and
an honour guard from the Walgett Dragons rugby league club. "Nothin' else to do," he shrugged.
Walker, J. (2004, February 21). TJ's life played out in the 'dead zone'. The Australian.
Appendix I
YEAR 12 ENGLISH
Name: _____________________
Date: __________
Expressing Feelings (AFFECT)
Writers and speakers use evaluative vocabulary to express feelings so that they can build up empathy with
readers and listeners. When writers or speakers use words to build up empathy it is called AFFECT.
In a journalist’s appraisal of identities and issues you might expect to find emotions associated with happiness,
security or satisfaction expressed. These can be both positive and negative.
The table below highlights the categories of AFFECT (emotions) that might be found in news texts, either
through statements made by the writer or comments attributed to others.
Positive
Negative
Happiness: relieved, contented, fulfilled, pleased, ecstatic,
laugh,
love – affection: understanding, hug, compassionate
attraction: desirous, yearning, longing
Unhappiness: sad, despondent, heavy-hearted,
dejected, downcast, depressed, anguished, misery,
dislike, anguished, grief-stricken, distressed,
pessimistic, alienated, rejected, isolated, abuse, etc.
Security: reassure, trusting, together, confident, assured,
comfortable,
Satisfaction: engaged, attentive, impressed, interested, involved,
absorbed, pleased, thrilled, etc.
Insecurity: uneasy, restless, fearful, tremble,
anxious, startled, tremble, etc.
Dissatisfaction: flat, jaded, bored, embarrassed,
empty, enraged, frustrated, angry, furious,
embittered, jealous, spiteful, disgusted, vengeful,
resentful, etc.
TASK: Read the newspaper article ‘TJ’s life played out in the dead zone’ (Walker, 2004). Pull out examples
from this newspaper article of positive and negative affect. Locate these examples into the corresponding
category.
POSITIVE
HAPPINESS
NEGATIVE
UNHAPPINESS
SECURITY
INSECURITY
SATISFACTION
DISSATISFACTION
Activity adapted from Kelvin Grove State College English Department. (2009). Framing People, Places
and Perspectives: Media Construction of Public Identity – Student Guide (Appraisal Grammar). Kelvin
Grove, QLD: Kelvin Grove State College.
Appendix J
Tony Abbott calls for protesters to be removed
from roof of Villawood
Matt Johnston
Herald Sun
April 27, 2011
Asylum-seekers protest on the rooftop of the Villawood detention centre in Sydney. Picture: Jeff Herbert
Source: The Australian
UPDATE 11.50am: OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has called for protesting detainees to be
removed from the roof of Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre.
Three detainees - Majid Parhizkar, 24, from Iran, and stateless Kurdish men Mehdi and Amir - have now
spent a week on top of the centre.
Their applications for asylum have twice been rejected.
"I think we've got to get them down," Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio.
"We can't have a situation where people are acting in consistent defiance of legitimate authority.
"These protests have to be ended and if it was happening in our streets, people were occupying buildings
in our cities, the police would move in and they would sort it out.
"And I don't think there's any fundamental difference here. It just has to be sorted out."
The three men at Villawood are still not eating, Mark Goudkamp of the Refugee Action Coalition says.
"I'm pretty sure water's been getting to them," Mr Goudkamp said.
"But food is not. They're not consciously on hunger strike but effectively they are because it's being
imposed upon them."
Their prolonged protest follows a riot at the centre involving up to 100 detainees who destroyed nine
buildings by setting them on fire.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship was unable to immediately respond to requests for
comment on the latest situation.
Calls to remove them from the roof comes as asylum seekers started fresh rooftop protests as the
Government promised to crack down on unrest.
Last night several asylum seekers took to the roof of Christmas Island's detention centre to protest against
languishing under lock and key.
The move follows riots at Sydney's Villawood centre, where asylum seekers torched nine buildings last
week and refused to end a protest that began on Thursday.
A hunger strike at Curtin detention centre in Western Australia also continues.
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen yesterday talked up plans for tougher laws for asylum seekers in
detention.
The proposed changes would allow the minister to refuse permanent protection visas if people were
convicted of crimes while in detention, almost certainly leading to more deportation.
Mr Bowen also announced a plan to increase the maximum penalty for making, using or possessing
weapons in immigration detention centres from three years to five years.
"I think this sends an appropriate signal that these sorts of activities and actions aren't acceptable in the
Australian community," Mr Bowen said.
The Herald Sun can reveal that just 15 asylum seekers who arrived by boat in the past four years have
been "involuntarily" deported after failing to obtain a visa.
In the same period, about 200 people who arrived by boat "voluntarily" went home after failing to get a
visa.
Controversy over Mr Bowen's proposals raged yesterday with some human rights groups saying it was a
return to the "Howard era" of temporary protection visas.
The Greens also attacked the changes.
Mr Abbott said the plan was weak, and an admission that government policies had failed.
"Nothing that's been announced ... will stop the boats or end the protests," he said.
Mr Bowen said the changes would provide a strong disincentive to riots and violence because people
refused permanent protection visas cannot bring family to Australia.
"If you have temporary protection visas across the board then there's no incentive of course to conduct
yourself in immigration detention in an orderly fashion," he said.
Refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said protests were a sign of desperation from vulnerable people.
"Some asylum seekers inside the detention centre have been waiting over 20 months for ASIO security
clearances after being told they were refugees," he said.
Johnston, M. (2011, April 27). Tony Abbott calls for protestors to be removed from roof of Villawood. Herald Sun. Retrieved April
28, 2011 from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/fresh-rooftop-protest-by-asylum-seekers-despitecrackdown/story-fn7x8me2-1226045267341.
Appendix K
Our values or go home: Costello
Josh Gordon and Jewel Topsfield
February 24, 2006
PETER Costello has lashed out at "mushy misguided multiculturalism," warning that Australian values
are "not optional" — and that migrants who do not share them should be stripped of their citizenship.
In a hard-hitting speech to the Sydney Institute that immediately sparked anger from Muslims, the
Treasurer said migrants should be forced to honour their pledge of allegiance to Australia or face the
prospect of being kicked out.
In his strongest comments on the issue yet, he said anyone refusing to acknowledge the rule of law "stabs
at the heart of the Australian compact".
"Those who are outside this compact threaten the rights and liberties of others," Mr Costello said. "They
should be refused citizenship if they apply for it. Where they have it they should be stripped of it if they
are dual citizens and have some other country that recognises them as citizens."
Mr Costello said the citizenship pledge should be "a big flashing warning sign" to Muslims wanting to
live under sharia law.
"Before entering a mosque visitors are asked to take off their shoes," Mr Costello said. "This is a sign of
respect. If you have a strong objection to walking in your socks don't enter the mosque. Before becoming
an Australian you will be asked to subscribe to certain values. If you have strong objection to those values
don't come to Australia."
His comments follow Prime Minister John Howard's claims this week that a fragment of the Islamic
community is "utterly antagonistic to our kind of society". Last week Liberal backbencher Danna Vale
said that Australia could become a Muslim nation within 50 years because "we are aborting ourselves
almost out of existence".
People will not respect citizenship that explains itself on the basis of "mushy multiculturalism," Mr
Costello said.
"We are more likely to engender respect by emphasising the expectation and the obligations that the great
privilege of citizenship brings."
Mr Costello said he had attended an Australia day citizenship ceremony at the Stonnington Town Hall in
his electorate of Higgins during which a state MP "extolled the virtues of multiculturalism".
He said the MP said becoming an Australian did not mean giving up one's culture or language or religion
— and it certainly did not mean giving up the love of their country of birth.
"The longer he went on about how important it was not to give up anything to become an Australian, the
more it seemed to me that, in his view, becoming an Australian didn't seem to mean very much at all,
other than getting a new passport."
Gordon, J., & Topsfield, J. (2006, February 24). Our values or go home: Costello. The Age. Retrieved April 28, 2011 from
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/our-values-or-go-home-costello/2006/02/23/1140670207642.html
?page=2.
Appendix L
Tony Abbott reopens debate on burka, wishes fewer Australians
wore it
Joe Kelly
August 4, 2010
The Australian
TONY Abbott says he finds the burka confronting and wishes fewer Australians wore it.
His comments come as a Perth judge is set to decide this week whether a Muslim woman can wear a
full Islamic head-to-toe covering while giving evidence before a jury in a fraud case.
Western Australia District Court Judge Shauna Deane is due to hear submissions tomorrow from lawyers
for the prosecution and defence regarding the witness who wishes to wear the burka.
The woman is a strict Muslim who does not want to show her face to men.
Asked about the issue today, the Opposition Leader said: “I find the burka a particularly confronting form
of attire. And I would very much wish that fewer Australians would choose it.”
Previous calls by Liberal senator Cory Bernardi for a ban on the burka have been greeted by anger among
Australia's Muslims, although Mr Abbott said in May those views were not Coalition policy.
Federal Nationals leader Warren Truss, however, said women in Australia should be allowed to wear the
burka, in most circumstances.
“Generally speaking, as matter of principle, I believe people should be able to wear what they choose, so
long as that does not in any way disadvantage the rights and privlieges of other Australians,” Mr Truss
said in Canberra.
In May, Mr Abbott said he could understand Senator Bernardi's position, adding: “I think a lot of
Australians find the wearing of the burka pretty confronting but it's not the subject of Coalition policy and
I don't intend that it's going to be.”
But Mr Abbott was accused by then prime minister Kevin Rudd of “walking both sides of the street” for
distancing himself from the Liberal senator's remarks.
Around the same time, then deputy prime minister Julia Gillard said she understood concerns about the
burka, but stopped short of supporting a ban. Condolences
"I can understand Australians that do find it a bit confronting, it's a little different on our streets,'' she said
in May.
"It's something for people to think about, I don't think it actually makes a difference trying to ban an
article of clothing, I'm not sure that's what we want to do.''
Last month, Senator Bernardi stepped up his attacks on the burka, saying it was a sign of Islamic
oppression and could not be tolerated in Australia.
“We all need to constantly reaffirm the values that unite us rather than appease the customs that isolate
some from their fellow Australians,” he wrote on his blog.
“For too long, political correctness has allowed the power of vocal minorities to intimidate, cajole, bully
or shout down any critics who dare question their 'rights'.
“To me, concealment of the face is akin to slavery ... We need to stop the expansion of fundamentalist
Islam in Australia ... Defending our culture can start with an effective ban on the burka.”
Senator Bernardi said Australia needed to learn from the experience of nations in Europe such as France,
where the lower house of parliament last month voted overwhelmingly to ban the wearing of facecovering veils in public spaces.
Other European nations are also debating similar measures.
On the issue of whether witnesses should be allowed to wear the burka, Mr Abbott said he did not want to
interfere in the court system.
However West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said today Muslims giving evidence in court should
remove burkas so the “true nature” of their evidence could be seen.
Mr Barnett said although he defended the right of people to dress according to their faith and religion, he
believed that in this case it would be appropriate for the woman to remove her burka.
“I would think, normally, witnesses should have their faces exposed,” he said in Perth.
“I think it's important for the judge and jury to see the true nature of any evidence given, the expressions
and the like. But that is a matter for the judge.”
Kelly, J. (2010, August 4). Tony Abbott reopens debate on burka, wishes fewer Australians wore it. The Australian.
Retrieved April 28, 2011 from http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/tony-abbott-reopens-debate-onburka-wishes-fewer-australians-wore-it/story-e6frfllr-1225901230710.
Appendix M
‘The Mongolian Octopus – His grip on Australia’
Bulletin. (1886). The Mongolian Octopus – His grip on Australia. Retrieved April 29, 2011 from
http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/toons/toon4.html.
Appendix N
TRANSLATION:
Headline - Jewish Murder Plan against Gentile Humanity Revealed
"Deutsches Wochenblatt zum Kampfe um die Wahrheit" ("Germany's Weekly Newspaper in the Fight for Truth")
"Die Juden sind unser Unglück!" ("The Jews are our misfortune!")
Bytwerk, R. (1998). German Propaganda Archive. Retrieved May 1, 2011 from http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/
sturmer.htm.
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