Area of Study
Discovery
Frank Hurley – The Man Who Made History,
directed by Simon Nasht
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Why select this text ?
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
What the Syllabus says- relevant
points
• This Area of Study requires students to explore the ways in
which the concept of discovery is represented in and through
texts.
• Discovery can encompass the experience of discovering
something for the first time or rediscovering something that
has been lost, forgotten or concealed.
• Discoveries can be fresh and intensely meaningful in ways
that may be emotional, creative, intellectual, physical and
spiritual. They can also be confronting and provocative.
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
•
•
•
They can lead us to new worlds and values, stimulate new
ideas, and enable us to speculate about future
possibilities.
An individual’s discoveries and their process of discovering
can vary according to personal, cultural, historical and
social contexts and values.
The impact of these discoveries can be far-reaching and
transformative for the individual and for broader society
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
• Discoveries may be questioned or challenged when viewed
from different perspectives and their worth may be
reassessed over time.
• The ramifications of particular discoveries may differ for
individuals and their worlds.
• Students consider the ways composers may invite them to
experience discovery through their text and explore how
the process of discovering is represented using a variety of
language modes, forms and features.
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
In their responses and compositions, students examine,
question, and reflect and speculate on:
• assumptions underlying various representations of the
concept of discovery
• how the concept of discovery is conveyed through the
representations of people, relationships, societies, places,
events and ideas that they encounter in the prescribed text
and other related texts of their own choosing
• how the composer’s choice of language modes, forms,
features and structure shapes representations of discovery
and discovering
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Starting with the text
•
•
•
Frank Hurley – The Man Who Made History, directed by
Simon Nasht, is the story of Australian photographer Frank
Hurley.
A pioneer of Australian photography and documentary
filmmaking, Frank Hurley captured some of the bestknown images of the 20th century. He was the official
photographer on both Douglas Mawson’s and Ernest
Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions and served as war
photographer during both World Wars.
This 2004 television documentary examines the man
behind the myth that Hurley created around himself, and
explains how some of his iconic images were actually
elaborate illusions.
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
How to begin the study
Introduction and consideration of other texts on the list.
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Drama or film or Shakespearean drama
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Media
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Poetry
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•
•
Dobson, Rosemary ‘Young Girl at a Window’, ‘Wonder’,
‘Painter of Antwerp’, ‘Traveller’s Tale’, ‘The Tiger’, ‘Cock
Crow’, ‘Ghost Town: New England’
Frost, Robert ‘The Tuft of Flowers’, ‘Mending Wall’, ‘Home
Burial’, ‘After Apple-Picking’, ‘Fire and Ice’, ‘Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening’
Gray, Robert ‘Journey: the North Coast’, ‘The Meatworks’,
‘North Coast Town’, ‘Late Ferry’, ‘Flames and Dangling Wire’,
‘Diptych’
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Key ideas raised in the opening
scenes
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•
•
•
The excitement of discoveries- the notion of the unknown
The significance of representation and notions of
discovery
Varying nature of discoveries- physical, creative etc.
Discovery and conquest going hand in hand
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
“The Shackleton expedition was championed as
an opportunity to increase British prestige, as
well as undertake scientific, geological and
zoological research, thus reinforcing the nexus
between discovery and domination”
Frank Hurley’s Antarctica Helen Ennis
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Nasht’s representations discovery
• In search of Hurley- discovering the truth of his
images.
• Discovering who Hurley was- an artist or historian.
• Hurley’s daughters search for who their father was
becomes simultaneous to Nasht’s and as such the
viewers.
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Finally
Central to what the students need to be
considering is purpose- both Hurley’s and
Nasht’s.
- Structure
- Meaning
- Form
St Catherine's- Victoria Rennie- AIS English
Conference 2014
Presented by Victoria
Rennie
St Catherine's, Waverley
AIS English Conference 2014