UNIVERSITY SENIOR COLLEGE at Adelaide University
ENGLISH STUDIES IN 2016
Dear Year 12 English Studies student,
Welcome to the course. During 2016, you will read and view the following
shared texts:
Blade Runner ‘The Director’s Cut’ – Ridley Scott (Director) (a film)
Equus – Peter Shaffer (a play)
Border Crossing – Pat Barker (a novel)
The Shark Net – Robert Drewe (a memoir)
Blue Light, Clear Atoms – 2nd Edition (blue cover) (selection of poems)
Should you read/view the shared texts during the holidays?
- Yes, it’s a good idea because you need to know these texts very, very well by
the end of 2016. However, upon first reading/viewing you might not fully grasp all
aspects of the texts.
- You’ll need to retain an open mind on them so that you gain all you can from our
shared study during the year.
- In the meantime, feel free to take notes and try to define some themes (central
ideas and concerns) – knowing the texts is the basis of a good final result.
*We will begin the course with the assumption that you have read/viewed at
least the first three texts.
In what other ways can you prepare for the year, before it starts?
- During Term One and Term Two, you will choose and read two texts for your
Individual Study. Investigate your book choice during the break so that you can
make a quick and confident decision, early in Term 1.
Consider the following when looking for a text:
1. Does the text have a range of ideas that will give me enough to consider and
write about?
2. Is the text well written? Does it have features in style and structure that I will be
able to discuss?
3. Is the text going to challenge me, help me develop my skills and
understanding, and present me as a capable English Studies student?
Think about the many ideas and aspects of the writer’s style that emerged from
each of the texts you studied in Year 11, and consider whether your chosen text
will offer you similar opportunities for exploration and serious thinking.
The quality of the texts that students choose often determines the final
quality of the Individual Study.
It is very important to begin work on your Individual Study as soon as
possible in Term One. Please have 2+ options for your choice of first text
when you return to USC.
Good local bookshops* can offer some well-informed and helpful advice to
English Studies students looking for texts for the Individual Study:
Imprints (107 Hindley Street) www.imprints.com.au
Dymocks (135 Rundle Mall) www.dymocks.com.au
O’Connell’s (62 Hindley Street; second-hand)
See also lists of short-listed books and prize winners in various literary
competitions:
o Miles Franklin Award (www.milesfranklin.com.au)
o The Vogel (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Australian/Vogel Literary_Award)
o Prime Minister’s Prize (www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards)
o Man Booker Prize (Commonwealth) (www.themanbookerprize.com)
o Dublin Impac (English Language) (www.impacdublinaward.ie)
o Orange Prize (Women’s Writing) (www.orangeprize.co.uk)
o Pulitzer Prize (US) (www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Fiction)
Please do not make the final choice of your first text for the Individual
Study until you have spoken to your English Studies teacher in the early
weeks of term one, 2016. You need select only one text at that point, it is better
to make the choice of the second text after completing your reading and writing
about the first.
*Note: you will need to have a copy of each of your Individual Study texts to work with
throughout the year, so, unfortunately, short term library borrowing is not suitable for this task.
Familiarise yourself with English Studies on the SACE website –
www.sace.sa.edu.au/subjects/stage-2/english/english-studies
Blade Runner Film Study Resources (You’ll require these to answer the Blade
Runner Quiz.)

A useful site for definitions of film techniques http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dtjohnson/filmterms.htm

Wikipedia is also good for defining and discussing Science Fiction, Film Noir,
Neo-noir. (Search under these terms.)

A great film noir site - http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

For filmography – IMDb
*You Tube various interviews with Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean
Young, Ridley Scott