sample exam imaginative landscape approach

[sisqo1111]

hi
how would one approach the sample prompt "The place in which we live strongly influences how we make sense of the world".
I have no idea and the two texts i studied are island and fly away peter.
could someone help with examples i could do, what form? etc.

thanks so much, even if someone has a sample answer to it, would be very much appreciated, not only for me but for the whole vce notes community

thanks 

[Noblesse]

Here are just a couple of ideas for a persuasive essay (my personal favourite type of context writing):

The Mother in The Boat, brought up with a fishing family etc. Runs her house like her brothers run their boats. “horizons were the very literal ones she scanned with her dark and fearless eyes”. Hates foreigners, only believes in a life by the sea, refuses to leave the sea.

Will post more as I think of them

[sisqo1111]

thanks for that
but how do i actually construct the persuasive essay?
you see my teacher did not teach me much

[Noblesse]

Basically what I do, is I start with a general introduction. I discuss the topic, and mention my ideas which I will be exploring throughout the essay. For this topic, I may use ideas such as our childhood influences us, our current place influences us and travelling to foreign places influences us. Basically i will then make a paragraph for each 'idea' and start with an explanation, give a real life example and work in a refer to the books.

eg. (just whipped this paragraph up, sorry for any mistakes etc)
For every human being, the first occurrence which begins influencing our ideas and beliefs is the childhood we experience. The type of upbringing we receive is where the majority of our attitudes are formed which will last us throughout our lifetimes. Parents and lifestyles often have the most impact on our views of the world. Alastair Macleod depicts the influence of childhoods in The Boat where the mother of the family and the surviving parent bitterly detests strangers. She has been raised in a tight-knit community and taught to respect hard work and a life by the sea which has brought her to regard foreigners as lazy, effeminate and dishonest. She asks “[w]ho are these people anyway?... and what do they…know about the way it is here…, and why should I care about them?” 
you would continue here with perhaps another example, or a RL example furthering the idea

[sisqo1111]

wow
that was really good lol
wish i could write like that

[Noblesse]

Thanks, I didn't think it was that special I'll get some other ideas for you, just doing my Maestro study guide atm and not thinking about contexts too much

EDIT: lol now you have me thinking about imaginative landscapes
Here is another one I thought up, (more rusty than the last one i'm afraid), i would use this one to continue on from the last paragraph i posted.

As a result of many negligent or abusive backgrounds, children are often 'scarred' for life and have a warped sense of the world. Macleod illustrates this in the story Winter Dog, in which the father reflects on his childhood including the life and death of his faithful childhood dog. This dog had saved his life but in return had been killed for being a ‘nuisance’. The father sullenly writes, “it is too bad I could not have saved him as well, and my feelings did him little good as I looked upon his bloodied body”. This not only causes him repeating bouts of grief many years on, but also makes him unusually cynical about the anguish he feels and unnecessarily concerned about the neighbour’s dog. The shocking event has caused an uncontrollable bitterness and has distorted the father’s sense of the world.

[sisqo1111]

lol im doing maestro too.
what are your texts for engilsh this yeaR? we might have the same
mine are maestro and look both ways for section a
and i studied island and fly away peter for section b

[Noblesse]

Haha doing Maestro, LBW for Part A and Island and Fly Away Peter for Part B

[sisqo1111]

What a coincidence lol. If you dont mind me asking, how are you going to study for LBW and Maestro?

[Noblesse]

Well I've decided to focus on Maestro (more to write on easily), I've just downloaded a couple study guides, made my own and bought a Neap one. Just doing practice essay topics and getting my teacher to mark them. There is a Maestro movie coming out, later this year apparently (worse timing ever!).

[sisqo1111]

lol i know! aarggh
where did you download the study guides from?