Contemporary
Possibilities
YEAR 11 STANDARD ENGLISH
C. LITTLE
Contemporary Possibilities- Title
 What
does ‘contemporary’ mean?
 What new possibilities exist for composing and
responding in the digital age?
 How are they new?
(consider history or printing and publication, changing
patterns in consumption and interactivity of contemporary
texts)
Unit description

In this unit, students engage in the study of multimodal texts, using the BBC
TV series Sherlock (Season 1) and a selection of relates multimodal texts,
including the program’s website, as the focus of their study. Through a
close engagement with these multimodal texts, students will consider the
contemporary possibilities for story telling across multiple platforms and
media. They will analyse their own engagement as readers and active
participants in the creation of meaning, and explain how the relationship
between texts adds complexity to both the creation and reception of
these texts.
Glossary of key terms

Create a glossary fo key terms from the unit
description.

Add the words:
o
Cross-platform- networks are expanding their
television series to become “multi-platform.”
Different characters and story arcs are able to be
explored through their website and webisodes.
o
Interactivity-the process of two people or things
working together and influencing each other.
o
Multimodal-characterised by several different
modes of activity or occurrence.
o
Nonlinear-not sequential or straightforward.
o
Reading path-The manner in which the eye of the
viewer is led round an image, usually by drawing the
viewer to the most salient or important elements in
the composition.
o
Cultural Icon- easily recognised and generally
represents an object or idea with great cultural
significance to a wide cultural group.
o
Deduction- the inference of particular instances by
reference to a general law or principle.
o
Forensic criminology- the scientific study of crime;
identify and predict psychological, sociological, and
economic characteristics that may lead people to
commit crimes.
o
Adaption- is the adapting of a literary text to another
genre or medium, such as a film, stage play, or video
game.
o
Intertextuality- literary texts are all intimately
interconnected. It is the shaping of a text's meaning
by another text. It is the interconnection between
similar or related works of literature that reflect and
influence an audience's interpretation of the text.
2009 Sherlock Holmes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7nJksXDBWc
GENRE- Crime Fiction
PLOT
lines.
plot-
Need an aware
audience that is
paying attention.
A Crime
Investigation
Essential to
genre
Interview
Not always a
murder
Red herrings
Inversion of
‘good’ adds to
horror
Clues
Conflicting
evidence
Homework

Investigate the Crime Fiction/ Murder Mystery genre and compile a list of the
conventions.

Read https://www.crimeculture.com/?page_id=135

Visit https://www.worlds-best-detective-crime-and-murder-mysterybooks.com/1841.html
1.
What are the differences of the social and cultural contexts of Victorian
crime fiction and now?
2.
What is the enduring attraction of crime/detective fiction stories?
3.
Why would a director in 2009 choose Sherlock Holmes as a text adaption?
Genre
Complicated Plot
lines/twists
Misdirection
Red herrings
Eccentric detective
figure
Perpetrator usually
the intellectual
equal of detective
Use of logic/reason
in solving crimes
Suspense
Themes of the
occult/supernatural
Edgar Allan Poe
The Purloined Letter

Annotate with crime fiction
generic conventions
Who is Sherlock Holmes?

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-is-sherlock-holmes-neil-mccaw

Document key terms