Area of Study: Discovery
Related Text Analysis Profile
1. Text Profile
- Title
- Text type (picture book, song, etc.)
- Publication date
- Composer/s
2. Context
- Composer’s background and possible relevance
- The text’s relationship to its society/time
- The historical background that may be significant to interpreting the text
- The cultural issues surrounding the text’s composition
3. Compatibility with the AOS
- Checklist
- For each ‘checked’ rubric idea, elaborate conceptually and with some reference
to the text
Discovering something for the first time
Rediscovering something:
lost
forgotten
concealed
Discovery is:
sudden
unexpected
Discovery as deliberate & planned, or:
evoked by wonder
triggered by curiosity
prompted by necessity
A discovery that is fresh & intense
A discovery that is:
emotional
creative
intellectual
physical
spiritual
A discovery that is:
confronting
provocative
A discovery that leads to:
new worlds
new ideas
speculation about the future
A discovery that offers new understandings of:
self
others
self & others
renewed perceptions of:
self
others
self & others
The process of discovery is varied by:
personal context & values
cultural context & values
social context & values
historical context & values
Discoveries made by:
the individual
the group
broader society
Discoveries with:
transformative effects
far-reaching effects
From different perspectives, discovery is:
challenged
questioned
reassessed over time
The ramifications of discovery differ for:
individuals &
their worlds
4. Analysis
- Select at least 5 key examples from the text (quotes or detailed references)
- Identify what language devices are employed in each example
- Explain the impact of each example on the responder. What ideas are conveyed
about the AOS?
5. Assumptions
- How does the text affirm assumptions and beliefs about human experience and
Discovery?
- How does the text challenge assumptions and beliefs about human experience
and Discovery?
6. Links Between Texts
- What links exist between this text and your other related texts?
- What conceptual similarities and/or differences exist between the texts (do
they explore similar and/or different ideas)?
- What new ideas and meanings emerge when the texts are compared and/or
contrasted?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Related Text Analysis Model
1. Text Profile
‘The Light and the Little Girl’ by Pooles – short film
2. Context
- The short film represents the universal human experience of losing innocence
early in the coming of age process
- Cultural context of ‘imaginative play’
- The inevitability of discovering the social and cultural world’s inability to meet
the desires of our imaginations
- Childhood
3. Compatibility with the AOS
 Discovering something for the first time
 Rediscovering something:
 lost
forgotten
concealed
 Discovery is:
sudden
 unexpected
 Discovery as deliberate & planned, or:
evoked by wonder
 triggered by curiosity
prompted by necessity
A discovery that is fresh & intense
 A discovery that is:
 emotional
creative
intellectual
 physical
spiritual
 A discovery that is:
 confronting
provocative
A discovery that leads to:
new worlds
new ideas
speculation about the future
 A discovery that offers new understandings of:
 self
others
self & others
renewed perceptions of:
self
others
self & others
The process of discovery is varied by:
personal context & values
cultural context & values
social context & values
historical context & values
 Discoveries made by:
 the individual
the group
broader society
 Discoveries with:
 transformative effects
far-reaching effects
From different perspectives, discovery is:
challenged
questioned
reassessed over time
 The ramifications of discovery differ for:
 individuals &
 their worlds
Explanation…
4. Analysis
i) Gradual hand-held zoom in to the girl’s arm and hand as she stretches out into
the beam of sunlight coming in through the study window. Atmospheric nondiegetic music creates an uplifting mood and sense of wonder. The piano refrain
evokes childhood delight and curiosity as we see the girl begin to ‘play’ with the
sunlight. The adult viewer is positioned to rediscover this context of childhood
curiosity and imagination
ii) The montage of close-up shots showing the girl delicately interacting with the
adult objects around her (the magnifying glass, a teacup, and a flowerpot),
highlight her acute awareness of her physical context—an awareness of minor
details and ‘beauties’ that can become concealed in the adult world. This is
reinforced as the girl holds up an old book and blows the dust from its pages into
the sunlight before her, the blow echoing as her curious gaze follows the dust
cloud
iii) The pace of the film quickens via a non-diegetic violin rhythm and the girl’s
sudden rush to ‘capture’ the sunlight in which she has been playing. Her efforts
to hold the sunlight in her hands and then in a jar, and to transport it into the
shadow around her, becomes a symbolic gesture for the innocence of children
and the revelation of the human mind’s limitations
iv) Mood shift—the sunlight receding, the jar remaining empty, and the shift in
musical tone from sprightly to disenchanting
v) The ending—the girl’s costume change (from white and flowing to grey and
straight), and her look of disdain/anger/defeat at the returned sunlight the next
morning
5. Assumptions
- Reinforces assumptions about the coming of age process requiring or inevitably
involving a loss of innocence
- Possibly challenges assumptions about childhood discoveries being immature
and puerile. The film represents the beauty and admirable power of the
childhood imagination
6. Links Between Texts
New Ideas


