OR
What the topic is asking you to write about.

• Demonstrate a close and perceptive reading of the text, exploring complexities of its concepts and construction.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the implications of the topic, using an appropriate strategy for dealing with it, and exploring its complexity from the basis of the text.
• Develop a cogent, controlled and wellsubstantiated discussion using precise and expressive language. VCAA English Expected Qualities

Know the text
Respond to the topic
Write a structured essay

“The area that requires the most work is the understanding, deconstruction and organisation of responses in relation to the set topics.”
2012 VCAA English Assessment Report
“There is still a problem with students fully engaging with the elements of the topics …”
2013 VCAA English Assessment Report

Criterion 1: Knowledge and control of the chosen content (34 marks)
Criterion 2: Coherence and effectiveness of the structure and organization of the writing (8 marks)
Criterion 3: Control of the conventions of the
English language (8 marks)

Topic instruction
Discuss (24)
Direct question (11)
Do you agree (5)
Note: the number in brackets refers to the number of those instructions on the 2012 exam

 the ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author/director and presented in the selected text
 the way the author/director uses structures, features and conventions to construct meaning
 the ways in which authors/directors express or imply a point of view and values
 the ways in which readers’ interpretations of text differ and why
2013 VCAA English Assessment Report

“… many [topics] have more than one strand.”
“Students must ensure they are exploring all of the elements presented in the topic.”
“Students who demonstrate an understanding of how construction, structures and features of the text in adding meaning were rewarded.”
2012 VCAA English Assessment Report

Topic sounds like:
Character name/s
Themes
Example:
To what extent is Vincent/Jerome driven by a desire to beat the system in Gattaca?

 Genetic Engineering & Ethics
 Discrimination
 Determinism vs Free Will
 Triumph of the Human Spirit
 Eugenics
 Future worlds

The doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will.
Fate
Destiny

The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion.
Self-determination
Independence

The science of improving a population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.

How author/director uses structures, features and conventions to construct meaning
Topic sounds like:
Author/director’s name
Type of text [poetry, play, film, fiction, nonfiction, music lyrics, multimodal]
Example:
Andrew Niccol has made a film that is both a cautionary tale and a celebration of the human spirit. Discuss

Film – structures, features, conventions
Camera – angles, position
Lighting
Sound/Music
Mise en scene – everything in the frame
Editing: cross cutting, juxtapositioning
Voice over
Flash backs
Genre: Science Fiction, Film Noir, Thriller, Romance

Author/Director Point of View and
Values
Topic sounds like:
Author/Director name
The word ‘suggests’
The words ‘demonstrates’ or ‘shows’
Example:
Andrew Niccols film Gattaca demonstrates the
‘triumph of the human spirit’. Discuss

• In bringing to life his vision of a future society obsessed with human perfection, Andrew
Niccol brought a number of disciplines into his screenplay, from eugenics to forensic science to social engineering. Niccol says an interest in these areas is "hard to avoid at the moment.
You can't pick up a newspaper without seeing something."

But he also feels this is not just a science-driven narrative: "It's still an old-fashioned story in a sense, of the triumph of the human spirit.
Although it has these modern trappings, it's still a man who beats the odds. They just happen to be genetic odds. That aspect
interested me as much as the science."

The way readers’ interpretations differ and why
Topic sounds like:
The word ‘reader/viewer
The word ‘we’
Example:
Despite the fact Vincent breaks the rules of his society we are with him all the way. Discuss

How do you respond to and interrupt the film Gattaca?
 Do you like/feel for the characters?
 Favourite scenes? Best quotes?
 Does it make you worry about how we use science?
 Eugene’s suicide???
 Do you cheer for Vincent and the human spirit?

Know what the topic is asking you to do
 Instruction
 Topic type/focus
 Key words/terms [use these and/or synonyms to ensure you stick to the topic]

 Demonstrates your knowledge/understanding
 Responds to the topic
 Is a coherent and structured essay