Elective 2: History and Memory
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The syllabus says…
“This module requires students to explore various
representations of events, personalities or situations.
They evaluate how medium of production, textual
form, perspective and choice of language influence
meaning. The study develops students’ understanding
of the relationships between representation and
meaning.”
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/
pdf_doc/english-syllabus-from2010.pdf
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Fine… ok… great… What does all this actually
mean? 
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Explore ? =
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Representations ? =
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Events ? =
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Personalities ? =
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Situations ? =
• search / investigate / open up / go into /
delve into / pull apart and see how
something (a text) works / discover the
details of something and see how it’s “built”
• interpretations / images / illustrations /
points-of-view / demonstrations / accounts
of / versions / descriptions / depictions
• proceedings / actions / individual
experiences / local incidents / national
occasions / international processes / global
events / personal celebrations and/or
tragedies
• diffferent people / characters / traits /
natures / behaviours / individualities /
personas / temperaments / dispositions /
VIPs / public figures / famous person /
celebrities
• circumstances / states of mind / state of
affairs / positions / settings / locations /
status quo
Hero or
villain?
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Evaluate ? = assess /
estimate / judge the value of
/ calculate / weigh up /
appraise / gauge
Medium ? = method / mode /
/ type of material / form /
vehicle (eg: hard copy – paper
– digital – interactive – static
image – visual – multi media)
Production ? = construction /
creation / invention /
assembly / manufacture
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Textual form ? = how a text is
composed / text-type
Perspective ? = viewpoint /
standpoint / point of view /
perception / angle / take /
outlook
Influence ? = change / effect /
control / manipulate / persuade
/ impel / talk into / win over /
sway
Meaning ? = ideas /
understanding / what the
composer really means / what
the responder understands the
text really means (for different
audiences) / intended purpose
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evaluate how medium of production, textual
form, perspective and choice of language
influence meaning.
Weigh-up
How the techniques / processes of
Documentary? Animation?
Youtube vid? Article? novel?
Website?TV show? Poster?
Film, print, digital,
audio
Dominant? Resistant? Subversive? Marginalised?
Disenfranchised? Popular? Cultural? Christian? NonChristian? Post-modern? Feminist? Capitalist? Marxist?
Formal? Colloquial? Idioms – simile –
metaphor – modality – dialogue – imagery –
symbols – motifs – audio effects – camera
angles, shot types and movement –
contrast – irony – satire – persuasive –
positive or negative tone – emotive
language – factual language – stereotypes –
cliches – catch phrases – journalese -
Show specific
ideas, events,
people, values,
attitudes about
history and
memory.
Students are also required to supplement this study
with texts of their own choosing which provide a
variety of representations of that event, personality
or situation.
These texts are to be drawn from a variety of
sources, in a range of genres and media.
These texts are to be drawn from a
variety of sources, in a range of genres and media.
By Don Tagala, ABS-CBN North America Bureau
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/globalfilipino/05/09/11/filipino-survivorrecounts-911-ordeal
Posted at 05/09/2011 10:17 PM | Updated as of 05/09/2011 10:17 PM
NEW YORK - Joe Valdez is a Financial Advisor who worked at the
Stanley Morgan Company located on the 73rd floor of the World
Trade Center Tower 2 in the early 2000’s. He recounted his ordeal
on the day terror attacked New York City a decade ago.
The Filipino-American financial advisor was at the foot of the
World Trade Center when one of the twin towers collapsed right
before his eyes on September 11, 2001.
“I heard this loud crack, when I looked up, the building was
literally collapsing on top of me and at that moment I had no idea
what to do, I just stared up straight into the air, looking at the
building falling down on me and that was the only time I had ever
accepted death.”
Valdez was one of people covered in dust running away from the
epicenter of the terror attack, now an unforgettable image in U.S.
history.
“I ran as far away as the Brooklyn Bridge, and as I was running
away, I heard one of the buildings come crashing down and when
I turned around, I saw the second building had already gone
down.” ….
THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT
2.
http://pdfhacks.com/911Report/911Report Our mandate was sweeping.The law
directed us to investigate “facts and
.pdf#page=12
1.
circumstances relating to the
PREFACE
terrorist attacks of September 11,
We present the narrative of this report and
2001,” including those relating to
the recommendations that flow from it to
intelligence agencies, law
the President of the United States, the
United States Congress, and the American
enforcement agencies, diplomacy,
people for their consideration. Ten
immigration issues and border
Commissioners—five Republicans and five
control, the flow of assets to terrorist
Democrats chosen by elected leaders from
organizations, commercial aviation,
our nation’s capital at a time of great
the role of congressional oversight
partisan division—have come together to
and resource allocation, and other
present this report without dissent.
areas determined relevant by the
We have come together with a unity of
Commission. In pursuing our
purpose because our nation demands it.
mandate, we have reviewed more
September 11, 2001,was a day of
unprecedented shock and suffering in the
than 2.5 million pages of documents
history of the United States.The nation was
and interviewed more than 1,200
unprepared. How did this happen, and how
individuals in ten countries. This
can we avoid such tragedy again?
included nearly every senior official
To answer these questions, the Congress
from the current and previous
and the President created the National
administrations who had
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
responsibility for topics covered in
United States (Public Law 107-306,
our mandate. We have sought to be
November 27, 2002).
independent, impartial, thorough,
and nonpartisan. From the outset, we
Elective 2: History and Memory
In their responding and composing, students
consider their prescribed text and other texts
which explore the relationships between
individual memory and documented events.
Students analyse and evaluate the interplay of
personal experience, memory and documented
evidence to broaden their understanding of how
history and personal history are shaped and
represented.
In your answer you will be assessed on how well
you:
_________________________________________________
 demonstrate understanding of and evaluate the
relationship between representation and meaning
 organise, develop and express ideas using
language appropriate to audience, purpose and
form
_________________________________________________
In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:
___________________________________________________________________
■ demonstrate understanding of and evaluate the relationship
between representation and meaning
■ organise, develop and express ideas using language appropriate to
audience, purpose and form
___________________________________________________________________
Question 11 — Elective 2: History and Memory (20 marks)
To what extent has textual form shaped your understanding of
history and memory?
In your response, make detailed reference to your prescribed text
and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.
The prescribed texts are:
• Multimedia – Smithsonian National Museum of American History
September 11 website,
http://americanhistory.si.edu/september11/
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Section III – Module C: Representation and Text
General comments
Many stronger responses demonstrated an awareness of the constructedness of texts and how
the choice of form and its associated language features connected with the composer’s
purpose and context. A carefully constructed thesis was developed through skilful analysis and
seamless integration of the prescribed text and well-chosen text or texts of own choosing.
Judiciously selected textual evidence was used to support the evaluation of the form and its
distinctive features.
Weaker responses were largely descriptive and limited in scope. Some understanding of the act
of representation through form was evident; however, the treatment of the prescribed text and
the text or texts of own choosing was superficial and inconsistent. Some of these responses
did present a simple line of argument, but it was not developed further through the textual
references. Generally, the text or texts of own choosing were not used to make connections
with the prescribed text and to demonstrate understanding of conflicting perspectives or
history and memory.
In stronger responses, candidates concentrated on the concepts of ‘History and Memory’ and
communicated a judgement about how effective particular texts were in representing these
concepts through their textual form, contributing to their illumination. They then justified
these judgements through effective comparison of textual features and ideas.
1.
History and Political Context
Few fundamentalist movements in the
Islamic world gained lasting political power.
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
fundamentalists helped articulate
anticolonial grievances but played little role
in the o struggles for independence after
World War I.
Western-educated lawyers, soldiers, and
officials led most independence
movements, and clerical influence and
traditional culture were seen as obstacles
to national progress. After gaining
independence from Western powers
following World War II, the Arab Middle East
followed an arc from initial pride and
optimism to today’s mix of indifference,
cynicism, and despair. In several countries,
a dynastic state already existed or was
quickly established under a paramount
tribal family. Monarchies in countries such
as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Jordan still
survive today. Those in Egypt, Libya, Iraq,
and Yemen were eventually overthrown by
secular nationalist revolutionaries.
2.
The secular regimes promised a glowing
future, often tied to sweeping ideologies (such
as those promoted by Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Arab Socialism or the
Ba’ath Party of Syria and Iraq) that called for
a single, secular Arab state. However, what
emerged were almost invariably autocratic
regimes that were usually unwilling to tolerate
any opposition—even in countries, such as
Egypt, that had a parliamentary tradition.
Over time, their policies— repression,
rewards, emigration, and the displacement of
popular anger onto scapegoats (generally
foreign)—were shaped by the desire to cling
to power.
The bankruptcy of secular, autocratic
nationalism was evident across the Muslim
world by the late 1970s.At the same time,
these regimes had closed off nearly all paths
for peaceful opposition, forcing their critics to
choose silence, exile, or violent opposition.
Iran’s 1979 revolution swept a Shia theocracy
into power. Its success encouraged Sunni
fundamentalists elsewhere.