SACE Stage 1 ENGLISH STUDIES
TASK SHEET
Student:
Draft date: ______
Teacher:
Due date: ______
Assessment Type 2: Text Production
Text type: Biographical writing – an obituary suitable for publication in an appropriate newspaper
Context:
A number of newspaper article models of obituaries were read. Students analysed the generic and
linguistic structures and features of the obituary, with a focus on its formal and contextual
characteristics that encourage the presentation of life stories in a sympathetic, heroic or edifying
manner.
Task:
Write a drafted and polished obituary of yourself after an appropriately fulfilling lifespan that could be
published in a national newspaper or magazine (500-700 words). Use your imagination to explore
the possibilities of both the genre and your own potential future within reasonable bounds of
probability.
General guidelines for this kind of writing task:
As a creative life story, your writing should be:

an imaginative projection of your life into the future

an effective, believable and realistic account of a life’s work
As a specific form of text, your writing should conform to the generic structure of an obituary (see 'model of an
obituary' handout) and use language – vocabulary, grammar and stylistic expressions – that:

is clear, fluent, and free of mechanical errors (demonstrating the use of effective editing and
proofreading in the writing process)

is appropriate for the chosen audience (given a particular publication)

is entertaining and effective in its tribute to a life worthy of public interest
Learning Requirements
Assessment Design Criteria
Capabilities
1. demonstrate clear and accurate
communication skills through reading
and viewing, writing and composing,
and listening and speaking
Knowledge and Understanding
Learning
2. clarify, extend, and develop their
ideas and opinions through critical
engagement with texts and language
5. examine cultural, social, and
technical dimensions of language
and texts
6. compose texts that use language for
critical, personal, or imaginative
purposes
KU2. ways in which the creators and readers of texts use language
techniques and conventions to make meaning
KU3. ways in which texts are composed for a range of purposes and
audiences.
Application
Personal
Development
Ap.1. use of a range of language skills to analyse and solve problems
and to demonstrate creativity
Communication
Communication
C.1. accuracy, clarity, and fluency of expression
C.2. the use of an appropriate style and structure for the audience and
purpose when composing texts.
Students can refer to the rubric provided over the page to identify the performance standards that they need to
demonstrate to reach their highest possible level of achievement in this task.
A
15
14
13
Knowledge and Understanding
Application
Communication
Detailed knowledge and understanding
of the ideas, values, and beliefs in
familiar and unfamiliar texts
Use of a range of sophisticated
language skills to analyse and solve
simple and complex problems, and
to demonstrate creativity
Fluent and precise writing and speaking
Use of a range of language skills to
solve simple and complex problems,
and to demonstrate creativity
Mostly fluent and precise writing and speaking
Use of language skills to solve
routine problems in familiar contexts
or to demonstrate creativity (e.g.
writes a short formal letter, outlining
instructions for a particular purpose
such as closing a bank account
(W3))
Occasionally fluent and precise writing and
speaking
Use of a restricted range of
language skills to solve simple
problems in familiar contexts or to
demonstrate some creativity
A level of fluency in writing and speaking in
personally relevant situations
Use of a restricted range of
language skills to solve simple
problems in highly familiar contexts
or to demonstrate creativity
Beginning of development of accurate and fluent
writing and speaking in personally relevant
situations
Knowledge and understanding of the
ways in which the readers and creators
of familiar and unfamiliar texts use a
range of language techniques to make
meaning
Use of appropriate style and structure for a
range of mainly unfamiliar audiences and for
varied purposes
Comprehensive knowledge and
understanding of the ways in which
familiar and unfamiliar texts are
composed for a range of purposes and
audiences
B
12
11
10
Knowledge and understanding of some
complex ideas, values, and beliefs in
familiar, and some unfamiliar, texts
Use of appropriate style and structure for a
range of mostly familiar audiences and purposes
Knowledge and understanding of the
ways in which the readers and creators
of mainly familiar texts use some
language techniques to make meaning
Knowledge and understanding of the
ways in which mainly familiar texts are
composed for some purposes and
audiences
C
9
8
7
Knowledge and understanding of some
simple ideas, values, or beliefs in
familiar texts (e.g. identifies relevant
information from a range of written texts
(R3))
Knowledge and understanding of a
restricted number of ways in which the
readers and creators of a narrow range
of familiar texts use some language
techniques to make meaning (e.g. reads
a range of texts, noting key differences
of presentation and layout (R3))
Use of an appropriate style and structure for
familiar audiences and purposes (e.g. produces
a range of familiar text types, with appropriate
structures (W3); uses vocabulary with increasing
precision to show how words carry particular
shades of meaning (W3))
Knowledge and understanding of the
ways in which familiar texts are
composed for familiar purposes and
audiences (e.g. identifies purpose and
audience of texts (R3))
D
6
5
4
Identification of some simple ideas in
familiar texts
Knowledge and understanding of some
of the ways in which the readers and
creators of a narrow range of familiar
texts use language techniques to make
simple or factual meaning
Use of appropriate style and structure for a
narrow range of familiar audiences and purposes
Knowledge of the ways in which familiar
texts are composed for personally
relevant purposes and familiar
audiences
E
3
2
1
Identification of a simple idea in a highly
familiar text.
Knowledge and understanding of the
way in which a reader or creator of a
highly familiar text uses a language
technique to make factual meaning.
Knowledge of the ways in which highly
familiar texts are composed for
personally relevant purposes and highly
familiar audiences
Use of appropriate style and structure for a
narrow range of highly familiar audiences and
purposes