Sometimes Gladness
Section B: Writing in Context
Identity and Belonging
Tuesday October 26, 2010
Exam Requirements
 Read and digest the prompt VERY carefully
 Answer this section last
 Possibly an image
 Definitely NOT under 2 pages, aim for 3-4.
How to score a 9 or 10
 Demonstrates an insightful grasp of the
implications of the prompt, and perceptively
explores its conceptual complexity using an
appropriate strategy for dealing with it.
 Achieves an assured, cohesively structured piece
of writing in an appropriate form, successfully
integrating, in a sophisticated way, ideas
suggested by the selected text/s.
 Makes fluent and effective use of language
appropriate to the purpose and audience
specified in the task.
The Prompt
 Is the overall message of your piece, what the
piece is REALLY about.
 Is worth approx 1/3 of your mark
 Should determine what happens in your piece –
should control the action, dialogue, discussion
topic, investigation, etc.
 Should be examined closely for opportunities –
cannot all be pre-planned content
 You may be given an image alongside your
prompt. Use it as an example of interpretation.
What can I pre-plan?
 You might have a pre-considered tone, voice,
character or setting
 Your form and expression is worth approx 1/3 of
your mark
 Develop a sophisticated vocabulary list that
compliments any of the above that you have preplanned
 Practise your chosen form – pay close attention to
specific conventions
What do I need to know?
 Conventions of your chosen form
 How to pull apart a prompt and address it in full
 The IDEAS regarding Identity and Belonging that
are evident in ‘Sometimes Gladness’
Form
 Be as clear as possible. Make it as easy for the
assessor to see your form as possible. Eg. essay of
any description – give it a title and tell us where
it’s published
 Use language appropriate to your form. Always
show don’t tell. Make it clear you know how to
write in your chosen form
 Keep it real. Dawe writes about real life.
Complexity
 Your piece needs to show complex ideas. Try to
reduce your connection to I & B to one or 2
sentences. Are you saying something interesting?
Can I take your message home and think about
it/apply it to my life?
 It can be helpful to think about your piece in
terms of change. If imaginative: where do your
characters start? What journey do they go on?
What do they explore? If essay – what point are
you making at the beginning? How is it
explored/changed from the start to the end of
your essay
The Poetry: Children
 Identity is shaped by childhood
 Children have a special world view
 Children need to be exposed to beauty in the
world
 Children need to be protected from corruption
of a materialistic society.
The Poetry: Old age
 As people grow older they are corrupted by
consumerism
 Old people are defined by losses, wisdom,
disenchantment and resignation
 The cycle of life – the promise of birth, the rituals
of adulthood, the vagaries of old age, the
impact of death
The Poetry: Humankind
 Corruption and the abandonment of self (and
simple human dignity
 The pain generated by the social and economic
betrayal of the individual and of the family
(Drifters)
 Powerless against time, war, passion
 There is value in solitude and pain in loneliness
The Poetry: Humankind cont’d
 There is value in ordinary lives
 There is comedy in how we attempt to give our
lives meaning
 The power of human imagination
 We all have common bonds. We all share
moments
The Poetry: City/Suburbs/Nature
 The anonymity and stress of urban life
 Embracing the suburbs and everyday
‘Australianisms’
 Belonging to sights/sounds/smells, particularly in
the suburbs
 Belonging to a particular place/land
 The nobility in a life lived simply
The poetry: Families, teams,
religions
 The value of belonging to a group and the need
to have something to believe in
 The negative impact of not knowing one’s
identity making it difficult to belong.
 The value and the emptiness of patriotism
Putting it all together
 Planning should take 5 minutes and involve:
 FORM – what it looks like
 PROMPT – what will happen/ the message
 IDEAS – about Identity and Belonging that are
evident in the text
Extra literary connections
 These should not be used as your primary
references to the text but can function as extra
connections
 Repetition
 Personification of emotions eg. ‘gladness crooks
me like an arm’
 Use of domestic objects to symbolise an idea. Eg.
‘the silver web of glass in the left-hand pane’ to
reflect a broken man
 - SHOW your ideas. Present a rich picture of life
Practice Prompts
 CRISIS – A single event can change who a person
is
 PLACE – Everyone is a product of their
environment
 RELATIONSHIPS – The people around you define
who you are
 BELIEFS – We are categorised by our actions
rather than our words
Bibliography
 VCE OXFORD ENGLISH 3 & 4
 Bruce Dawe: Francis Russell Matthews: Phoenix
Senior English Guides