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
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.