--Tell me about Literature--

[Voltman]

  Okay, apparently I'm doing Year 10 Literature (VCE), I have no idea what to expect. Does anyone know what kind of stuff I'll likely to be doing? Do we just read books and discuss the issues, emotions, predictions etc or are there other aspects to it (e.g. essay writing, story writing etc)?  

What do they mean by VCE? And, finally is it hard?

[/0]

My school had year 10 literature, but it wasn't a VCE unit. I didn't actually do it but I've heard it's quite interesting, and they basically do the stuff you said, analysis.

[Voltman]

  It is just that I am not really planning to do Literature next year. Will, doing Literature this year help with my English for VCE next year?

[Eriny]

Literature and English are closely related, so yes, they will help with each other. It's worth checking Literature on the VCAA website to see all the course details, but it basically deals with responding to texts in an analytical and reflective sense.

[Voltman]

Literature and English are closely related, so yes, they will help with each other.

This week, we had a taste of what's to come for Literature next semester and unfortunately, one of the texts we will be studying, involves something that goes against my religions and believes, which is a real shame since I had been looking forward to doing Lit. What should I do? Should I move classes? Do you think they'll let me study something different? What would you do?

EDIT: This post is not directed to anyone. Feel free to make your contributions.

[Eriny]

How does it go against your religious beliefs exactly?

[ange]

well i did literature as my vce subject in yr 11 and sat the exam.
Literature unfortunately is nothing like english and i think thats where i went most wrong, the style of writing and the actual analysis is different.
The analysis in lietrature involves u to analyse the authors tone and perspective in what he is writin and then explain the effect it has on the audience and why through the techniques he uses. Literature unlike english does not go for the colloquial approach but rather u expand ur choice of vocab and analysis.
The books that i did were Minority Report, The Hamilton Case, Jonne Donnes poems, Hedda Gabler and The Childrens Bache. Try to stay as close to the text as possible, if you do however stray remember to somehow link it back to the overall picture that the author is potrayin. Another huge problem i had was i was too used to the english style of personal reflection which is utterly banned by literature, u have to stick as close to the text as possible and back technically everything u say with quotes n evidence from the text tons of ppl did bad at the end of yr 12 exam bcoz they did not refer to the txt as much as possible.
im sure with a bit of practice u'll get it so i wudnt worry too much, the key thing is to keep practicing and to fully understand ur txts and the concepts that the author is accentuating in them.
good luck with literature this yr

[Voltman]

How does it go against your religious beliefs exactly?

Well, one of the books that we are planning to study involves largely on a character who is gay. I don't feel right going through and studying the strong feelings of this character. I don't want to know how these kind of people think. It would make me extremely guilty to study this. Perhaps I should just bring a note from home to not study this. But apparently there seems to be an end-of-year exam on this, so it is probably best if I just move classes.

We will also be doing some poetry, which I dislike. Hopefully, English gives a better alternative.

[Rietie]

English and Literature are about reading broadly and reading things you don't like.

I remember reading a book last year and I was so shocked as it had a young girl (younger than 10) being sexually abused/molested by her mother's boyfriend and eventually raping her. But it was a really good book and through discussing the issues in the book I honed my analyzing skills.

I think it's a bit weak-minded to drop a subject just because you don't agree with what a text discusses.

I really hope your not doing a History because you would have to deal with some pretty strong stuff you wouldn't agree with - (I'm doing Renaissance and I'm learning all about how women were treated as objects or animals which is quite interesting, but do you think I'm 'enjoying' reading about this as I am a girl?)

Maybe I'm not understanding enough - or maybe I'm too liberal and go against any authoritarian voices like the Church - but I can't see why you would drop a subject as awesome as Lit just because a main character is homosexual. Homosexuals and bisexuals and everything to do with sexuality is seen everyday in our society - why would you have difficulty in dealing with something like this in a book?

I think I'll stop ranting before I read too much into your previous post.

[Eriny]

I have to agree with Rietie. The whole point of literature is to explore humanity through texts and homosexuality is very much a part of humanity, whether you're comfortable with it or not.

Also, poetry is awesome if it's taught well.

[bubble sunglasses]

How does it go against your religious beliefs exactly?

Well, one of the books that we are planning to study involves largely on a character who is gay. I don't feel right going through and studying the strong feelings of this character. I don't want to know how these kind of people think. It would make me extremely guilty to study this. Perhaps I should just bring a note from home to not study this. But apparently there seems to be an end-of-year exam on this, so it is probably best if I just move classes.

We will also be doing some poetry, which I dislike. Hopefully, English gives a better alternative.

         What is your religion?

[Voltman]

  This is not the right thread to be talking about religion.

[Voltman]

English and Literature are about reading broadly and reading things you don't like.

I disagree.

I think it's a bit weak-minded to drop a subject just because you don't agree with what a text discusses.

I disagree. From my perspective, I see studying 'wrongs' such as homosexuality as one of the many acts that will lead to the roads of Hell. It is wrong that people must study certain things when doing Literature. They should change the study designs or at least give out options to make it right for many such as the religious conscious people.

How far would you go for Literature? Does spending an eternity or slightly less in Hell seem like a good sacrifice?

NOTE: The things I typed up above can be classified as Literature. It is not specific to a certain type of religion. There are many books that imply the same thing. Literature can sometimes be broad.

It is also not the only reason for why I am planning to drop Literature.

Other reasons for dropping Literature:

-I dislike Poetry. There is no passion in me towards it whatsoever.

-My current ranking of my Literature class is somewhere in the middle (not good) whereas if I moved into one of the English classes, it would be somewhere in the top 3 or lower (closer to 1).

-I am planning to do English next year; Literature is different to English. So, there is no point in me doing Literature this year, I'd only be waisting time in learning something that I won't use.

[Nick]

I disagree. From my perspective, I see studying 'wrongs' such as homosexuality as one of the many acts that will lead to the roads of Hell. It is wrong that people must study certain things when doing Literature. They should change the study designs or at least give out options to make it right for many such as the religious conscious people.

How far would you go for Literature? Does spending an eternity or slightly less in Hell seem like a good sacrifice?

Could you please elaborate on your reference to "hell"? I don't think any sane religion would advocate that studying a novel with a homosexual character will send you on the road to hell?

[Voltman]

Hell: the place of eternal punishment for the wicked after death, presided over by Satan.