Semester 2 Revision

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11 Lit Revision Planner for Exam Semester 2

The exam questions can only come from the course outline and core concepts.  So, use this table to see which text best serves/provides a way to analyse the course concept.  Some concepts are better suited to one text or the other.

Exam Format—3 hours and 10 minutes

• 1 exam and 3 answer booklets
• Close Reading Section (60 minutes for 1 essay) The 3 points in bold below are changes from your last exam:
  • 3 Unseen Texts: 1 poem, 1 prose extract, 1 drama extract
  • Choose ONE of these texts to write on.  You may not write on this genre/mode (poetry/prose/drama) in Section 2. 
  • I.e. if you write on the drama extract, for example, in Section One, then you are not permitted to write on Hedda Gabler or The Gift in Section 2.
  • 60 minutes to produce a reading
• Extended Response (120 minutes for 2 essays)
  • 10+ questions to choose from
  • Question based on course concepts
  • Write on ONE question for one of your studied texts (poetry, prose or drama, depending what you chose in Section One.)
  • Write on a DIFFERENT question for another of your studied texts. (You must write on 1 poetry, 1 prose and 1 drama text across the whole exam.)
• You track your own time, so you can budget how/where you spend it.

Basic advice

• Do NOT memorise any essays
• Do memorise flexible quotations (a MINIMUM of 6) for each text
• Do re-read all your class notes, practice writing and essays
  • Close reading of Poetry, Prose and Drama
  • Hedda Gabler, The Gift
  • Jekyll and Hyde, Australian short stories
  • Romantic poetry, Samuel Wagan Watson
• Do practice Close Reading
  • Take 10 minutes to closely read the text, and then plan and begin to write a response
  • If you can get started in 20, you should be able to write an entire essay in 60 minutes

Revision Material

Section 1: Close Reading Section.

You will be required to produce a close reading of one poem, prose or drama text.

Question: Produce a reading

Process for Close Reading Section One:

1. Employ your Step-In process for annotation of the text – look for details then look for patterns.
2. Step out: consider what is the heart of the text – write one sentence outlining what the text is about.  Make this as specific as possible.  DO NOT commence writing your response if you haven’t/ can’t write this sentence!
3. Step Out: Consider how to link your understanding of the central idea of the text to one or more Course concepts and/or reading strategies.  Construct a reading.
4. Step in: choose specific conventions and techniques to support this reading.
5. DRAFT your thesis: consider using language that shows your awareness of choosing a reading strategy.

With practice, you can complete this process quite quickly, but it requires practice!

Section 2: Extended response practice questions for Semester 2 Exam

You will be required to write two essays in this section; in response to the two text types you did not write on in Section One. For example, if you chose to write in response to the unseen poem in Section 1, you cannot write in response to Romantic poetry or Samuel Wagan Watson in Section 2.

Questions with a Convention or Language Focus

1. Discuss how at least one character you have studied is constructed to represent an interesting idea. (Characterisation and representation)
2. Explore how point of view works to privilege particular ideas or beliefs. (Point of view and privileging)
3. Dialogue can be a central force in constructing characters and/or revealing conflicts that offer a perspective on the society in which they were produced. (Dialogue and Context)
4. The places (setting) where a text takes place can be read to reinforce or challenge traditional ideas or beliefs.

Questions with a Concept Focus—representation, context, ways of reading,

1. Explore the ways that young people and older people are represented in at least one text you have studied. (Representation)
2. To understand a literary text, a reader/audience should know something about the context in which the text was produced. Discuss this statement with reference to at least one text you have studied. (Context)
3. How do literary texts use or adapt generic conventions to influence readers’ expectations? (Generic conventions)
4. With reference to one or more texts you have studied, discuss the idea that the meanings generated in texts may change over time.  (multiple readings)
5. Explore the ways a text you have studied is a reflection of the world in which it was produced. (Context)
6. Write an essay on the significance of the representation of families or their absence in a text you have studied.
7. How can texts be seen as giving voice to the voiceless?

Essays/Close Readings Planning

• 2 texts
• 10+ questions

Letter to A

• Main ideas: Immigrant lifestyle in Australia

Representation: trying to assimilate into white society/hybridisation of cultures

• “One day the carpets will get changed. One day… when that day comes you will be out”
  • Implies that the harsh living conditions they had to live will one day change but by the time that day comes they will have a better lifestyle
• “One day you will live a freshly whitewashed life”
  • Representation of the hybridity that is existent in younger generations of immigrants
  • Trying to exist between two separate cultures
  • Could possibly link this to Christianity as a dominant religion

Voice/perspective: representation of the lifestyle of Asian immigrants

• 2nd person pov to relate to the persona, also shows how much hardship all asians go throgh
• “Our names are Andrew Chan and we wear glasses and sit in front of our PC’s after school each evening”
  • By using the inclusive term ‘our’ → Pung takes away the individualism and different personalities of the audience and instead addresses them as the same
  • Relates to how - in extreme cases - immigrants are dehumanised and instead viewed as a group of the same people rather that individuals with separate personalities
  • Also relates to the general Asian stereotype where the younger generations are expected to make most of their life in a new country and get a good educations as well as a respectable job
• “And turn up the music, real loud music and you look at the white wall… cause your teacher says that you have real talent but what the hell, what now”
  • The long syntax and angsty actions of this character invites audience to now experience an emotional spiral in the perspective of this Asian immigrant teenager growing up in Australia
  • The pressurising Asian stereotypes are again conveyed to the audience

symbolism: represents the confusion between younger and older generations of asian immigrants

• “Who can decipher strange symbols in front of a screen’
  • Representation of the language barrier between older and younger generations
  • Could also represent coding → very modern symbol of intelligence
• “Old Ah Chan doesn’t have a clue about what the information superhighway is, all he knows is that are no casualties”
  • This implies that the father thinks the ‘information superhighway’ - the internet - is an actual highway
  • This lack of knowledge portrays how he and the older generations of Asian immigrants aren’t fully adjusted and familiar with their new environment - Australia
  • Australia is a very developed country where most of the population is acquainted to technology and the internet
  • By using 3rd pov to display the emotions and experiences of older generations - the audience feel further from them
  • Also seen in their confusion in this new country
  • However, audience can still sympathise with the father’s situation since he is shown to be left out or confused most of the time

Jaded Olympic Moments

• Main ideas: devaluation of indigenous culture/values
• Context: At the 2008 Sydney Olympics, there was an Indigenous Dance performed at the opening ceremony.
• “Jaded Olympic Moments” implies that they barely made an effort to do this, that it was all a publicity stunt

Symbolism - how colonisers unjustly took their land

• “they made their way through the sliding-door and stole the lot”
  • Symbolises how colonisers took their land
  • “Stole” connotes unjust actions
• “capping off a sterling period of post-funeral melancholy after my young cousin’s passing”
  • death in indigenous customs is a very important thing
  • To interrupt their mourning/customs is reminiscent of how their land and customs were taken away by the colonisers

Representation- Devaluation of indigenous people

• We’re city people without a language, and some of us have even less
• It’s very much an US and THEM kind of deal in this modern dreaming

Allusion - Devaluation of indigenous customs

• Jaded Olympic Moments
• We had tears in our eyes, thinking, that’s our mob! But no, only a romantic would think that

Essays/Close Readings

Essay Writing Practise 1: Discuss the ways that one or more studied texts convey particular ideas about the societies or cultures in which they were produced

Immigrants and refugees in Australia have long been worse off in society. They have worse living standards, lower wages, and are generally looked down upon and pitied. Alice Pung’s “A Letter to A”, published in 2007, chronicles the life of an Asian Immigrant family as they struggle to integrate with a predominantly White Australia society. Pung uses a variety of narrative conventions such as representation, voice and perspectives, and symbolism in her text, to provide a main idea of the Asian immigrant lifestyle in Australia. Representation is used to highlight the effort to assimilate into White society, voice and perspective is used to provide a representation of the typical immigrant experiences, and symbolism is used to illustrate the confusion between younger and older generations.

Pung utilises representation to illustrate the effort of immigrants to integrate into White society. The persona believes, “One day the carpets will get changed…one day, when that day comes, you will be out”. This represents that the harsh living conditions that they are currently in are just temporary, but when their living conditions change, they will have a better lifestyle. Due to this, the persona has an increased effort to assimilate into society, in the belief that it will increase their living conditions. This is further supported when the persona remarks, “One day you will live a freshly whitewashed life” This also represents the hybridisation of the 2 communities/cultures that is prevalent in younger generations of immigrants. This could also represent how immigrants find it difficult to integrate themselves while remaining true to their culture, hence the word “whitewashed”. An example of this would be Christianity, where immigrants would become converted into this religion to integrate themselves in Australian society. Another interesting thing is Pung’s repetition of the phrase, “one day”. This implies that their dreams of attaining a better life in Australia is still not fully realised, due to their struggles to adjust to a new society. Thus, representation is used by Pung to illustrate the struggling efforts of immigrants to assimilate into White society.

Furthermore, voice and perspective is also utilised to provide an illustration of the typical immigrant experiences. The persona describes themselves and their Asian classmates, with “Our names are Andrew Chan and we wear glasses and sit in front of our PC’s after school each evening”. The use of the inclusive terms “our” and “we” revokes the persona’s individuality, and instead addresses them as part of a whole. This relates to how, in extreme cases, immigrants are dehumanised and instead treated as a part of a group, instead of individuals with different stories. This also relates to the general Asian stereotype where the younger generation is expected to make the most out of their situation and get a good education, and in extension, a good occupation. This is further supported, when, in a fit of rage, the persona remarks, “Turn up the music, real loud music and you look at the white wall… cause your teacher says that you have real talent but what the hell, what now”. The long syntax and upset actions of the persona illustrates the emotional spiral of this Asian immigrant teenager growing up in Australia, and once again conveys the pressure of Asian stereotypes on the persona. Thus, voice and perspective is used to provide an illustration of the typical immigrant experiences.

Finally, Pung employs the use of symbolism to contrast the younger and older generations of immigrants’ integration into society. The persona refers to themselves as someone “Who can decipher strange symbols in front of a screen”, in contrast to their father. This represents the language barrier between younger and older generations, and symbolises their different adjustments to Australian society, with younger people being able to adjust much faster. This is further supported when the persona remarks, “Old Ah Chan doesn’t know what the information superhighway is, all he knows is that there are no casualties.” This implies that the persona’s father thinks that the “information superhighway” (the internet) is an actual highway. This lack of knowledge, further symbolises how the older generation is still not accustomed to Western society. Thus, symbolism is used to contrast the younger and older generations of immigrant’s integration into society.

To conclude, Pung’s “A Letter to A” utilises symbolism, voice and perspective, and representation to provide a general idea of the hardships that immigrants go through when trying to assimilate into Western society. As someone who has immigrated into a foreign country, “A Letter to A” was an accurate representation of the experience of an Asian immigrant, and implores viewers to consider the hardships that immigrants go through, just to gain a better life, something that everyone deserves.

Close Reading: Tales of a City by the Sea

Text C, an extract of “Takes of a City by the Sea”, by Samah Sabawi, published in 2014, provides us with an overview of the life of Palestines living under occupation in Gaza. When read through a