Wednesday - Body Paragraphs
Tuesday, 6 September 2022
1:57 PM
Learning
Intention:
We will be identifying strengths and weaknesses in body
paragraph responses
Success Criteria:
Homework
Write an essay introduction to a practice question
Identify strengths in a sample body paragraph
Write our own sample body paragraph
Complete introduction and body paragraph for review in
tomorrow's lesson!
Lesson Part 1
Practice Essay Question
1. Highlight the key parts in the practice essay question below.
Practice Essay Question
Discuss how and why the director of the film has used film language features to present a group in
particular way.
2. Annotate the key parts of the question or explain them in the table below
How
Why
Film language features
A group
Particular way
3. Write an introduction to the question above.
Reminder - How to structure an Essay Introduction
1. General statement which links to the question (and is engaging for your
marker).
2. Introduce the text information and include a relevant one sentence plot
summary.
3. Write your thesis statement/s
o
Answer all parts of the question
o
Outline the topics of your body paragraphs.
Your introduction
Lesson Part 2
Paragraph Sample
Read the sample paragraph below. Identify strengths as indicated in the column on the right and
then construct your own body paragraph based on the sample provided.
Practice Essay Question
Discuss how and why the director of the film has used film language features to present a group in
particular way.
2. Body Paragraph Sample
Australian men have been represented in Last Cab to
Darwin as stoic, rough and guarded in order to show the
importance of communication and sharing experiences
with those close to you. This tough representation has
been constructed through the use of dialogue, camera
shots and facial expressions to encourage the audience to
see the detrimental impact that being too closed and
insular can have on relationships and individuals. In the
scene where Rex visits the doctors and is informed he has
three months to live, his response is "there you go then".
This cold and matter-of-fact dialogue from Rex is
unexpected and unsettling for the audience because we
expect to see strong emotions of sadness and grief at this
time of suffering. The close up shot of Rex's face show his
emotionless and detached facial expression during this
intense emotional time. The doctor's apologetic and
compassionate tone and body language is contrasted with
Rex's lighthearted response when he responds with "you'll
put me down when the time comes?" comparing the value
of his life to the death of a pet. This constructs Rex as
emotionless and hardened which we view as unexpected
given the severity of his news. In the scene where Rex is
discussing ending his life with Dr Farmer she asks about his
family to which he responds, 'there's no one else' . The
saddening music in this scene paired with this lonely
What is effective about this
paragraph?
dialogue is upsetting to the audience because we have
seen that this is not true, that Rex does have people in his
life who care about him. As an audience we know the role
that having a strong support network of friends and family
plays in mental health and strong relationships, therefore
we are encouraged to reject Rex's isolating actions and are
hopeful that he will change throughout the film to see the
value of communication.
3. Write the next body paragraph below. You might like to discuss one of the following:
- a different or similar representation of Australian men in the film
- how Rex's mates are constructed
- how Rex changes throughout the film
- how Tilly is constructed
- Rex's relationship with Polly