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Author Topic: Choosing the right related text!  (Read 70435 times)

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elysepopplewell

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Choosing the right related text!
« on: February 08, 2016, 05:38:39 pm »
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   Before you can ask a question, you'll have to make an ATAR Notes account here. Once you've done that, a little 'reply' button will come up when you're viewing threads, and you'll be able to post whatever you want! :)

The Area of Study requires that students from both Standard and Advanced English independently select a text that is relevant to the concept of discovery. If you don’t like your prescribed text, this is the perfect time for you to change the pace of AOS and bring some passion into it. I've put together some frequently asked questions and some tips for you to help you find the best ORT for you! (ORT = Other Related Text. As in, "Answer this question using your prescribed text and one other related text)

Can it be on the HSC reading list?
   You’ll hear mixed answers to this question. You may be advised not to choose a text that you study in another module (or a text that you could have studied, but your class selected another option) because it looks lazy to a marker. We talk about studying smarter and not harder, so how could this be?! If you are advised this, it is probably because your teacher or mentor doesn’t want you to be penalised incase a marker does bring this mentality that you were being lazy into their marking. However, this should not happen, because the Board of Studies says “Students will not be disadvantaged by using a text from the Prescribed Texts list, provided it is relevant to the module/elective concerned.” For the source, click here. So, there you have it. You have ultimate freedom in selecting your ORT.

Think back to preliminary…
   Now let’s think about studying smarter and not harder. A text you studied in the preliminary course should be well analysed and dissected. Ideally, you could take this text, put your discovery hat on, and in fact discover that the perfect ORT is sitting under your nose and all prepped and ready for use. You might have to review the text again with the idea of HSC in mind, but also think about the merit it has against your prescribed text. You know what? Think further back than preliminary! You might have been exposed to a text that has really stuck with you since Year 9 or 10. You just need to ask: Is this text up to HSC standard? Can I talk about this text in a way more sophisticated manner than what I did in junior years?

If you do Extension 1 English…
   Think: Can you double up on an ORT here? Let’s see if we can cut out some leg work. It will probably be easier to match your AOS ORT to your Extension 1 ORT. You’ll find that nearly every text has an element of discovery in there – but does every text have the qualities of a romanticism text? No. Is every text set in the Cold War era? No. Early on in the year, it’s also totally fine to use separate ORTs because you may want to experiment! As you move through the year, think “okay…can I save some memory space for something else and just use the same ORT twice?”

Choose a text for its literary qualities!
   On the surface, a marker will probably be more impressed by the introduction that mentions Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations than the introduction that references Twilight. Of course, what you do with the text matters a lot more than what the general perception of the text is. However, there is a reason that texts from the literary canon or texts from renowned authors/producers/poets are respected! These are the texts that carry textual integrity and themes that transcend time. If Twilight is read by teenagers in 100 years’ time, knock on my grave and prove me wrong. Tackling a more sophisticated text has much to offer in terms of analysis. The chances are that the sophisticated text will be full of techniques and brilliant textual evidence that is entirely relevant to what you need to say!

Choose a text you actually like!
   If your prescribed text makes you want to stick pencils in your eyeballs then it sounds like you need a change of pace. Else, you could love your prescribed text and you don’t want to ruin your good AOS vibes with a bad ORT. Find a text that you like. For some people, this is easier said than done. If you’re doing English because you have to and not because you want to, you may need to look a little harder. Consider the eulogy belonging to a late hero of yours. Consider the last film that left you really thinking.

   You will find a lot more enjoyment in digging deep for techniques if you’re using a text that genuinely excites you. The moment when you realise a wonderful motif in an integral moment of discovery in the text, you should feel the weight lift off and you’ll float into a happy paradise state for a moment.

   Don’t torture yourself by choosing a sophisticated text if you don’t love it. When you feel positively about the text, it will show in your expression of the way the text works in an essay. Using Dickens for the sake of his name will backfire!

Think about the ORT’s form…
A film/documentary:
   People will be deterred from using a film as an ORT because they don’t feel comfortable talking about filmic techniques. Students also sometimes find it difficult to navigate using “textual evidence” because it isn’t as simple as identifying the part of a text with a quote, because dialogue isn’t always present. However, for some students, filmic techniques are their expertise! A film also makes for quick viewing. This is the advantage that a film has over a novel, for example. If you can’t make the time in your life to sit down and flick through pages of a book in the name of finding an ORT – maybe turn to the screen!

A poem:
   A poem usually will take even less time than a film for the initial viewing. However, you will find that you need to read the poem many times to fully grasp everything it offers – and even then you may not “discover” everything it expresses. The work of Seamus Heaney offers a lot in terms of poetic discovery, if you’re looking for a poet to work with. Poems can be highly regarded as a text because of their complexity and economy of words.

A short story:
   These are my preferred types of ORTs. The reason behind this is similar to poetry, the economy of words is strong and they are quick to read. I preferred short stories to poetry because I was more comfortable with the techniques and conventions of a short story than I was with poetic mechanics. There are some wonderful short stories written by renowned authors – try Tim Winton and Margaret Atwood. These two authors are well-received by those in the literature-know and they also create gripping works (bonus for you!).

Speech/Eulogy:
   Another form again, speeches and eulogies present the perfect ORT for a student who is more analytical than creative. The public speakers amongst you will probably excel by using these. Have a look at the famous words from Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Susan B Anthony and J F Kennedy.

Novel:
   Don’t be afraid of the length – novels have a lot to offer. Novels potentially give you a lot of scope because if their length. So when you put the length of the text next to the literary merit it has (provided that your ORT isn’t 50 Shades of Grey – sorry not sorry) then you’ve given yourself a lot to work with! Great Expectations by Charles Dickens has a lot to offer in terms of discovery. It isn’t exactly a quick read – but can be very rewarding!

How does it sit with the rubric?
   First up, you’ll need a copy of the document which you can find by clicking here. Run through the rubric and tick which parts apply to your text. If you find that your text hardly touches the surface of the rubric, you need to look for another text. If you find that your text covers more than half of the rubric – you have set yourself up for success!

How does it compliment a discussion involving your prescribed text?
   This is the stage you need to think about once you have your text and you’re just looking to confirm that it is foolproof. Put your prescribed text and your ORT next to each other. Are there similarities? Direct contrasts? Try this:

   Draw up a table with three columns. The first column is titled with your prescribed text, the middle will contain the rubric and the third will have your ORT. Run the rubric down the middle column in broken up sections like I have done here. Then, find textual evidence for each part of the rubric in both texts. This way, you already have a killer study note table at your disposal, but you also see where each text has some gaps.

   If there is a gap in one side but not the other, this is ok! If your prescribed text was a planned discovery, but your ORT wasn’t and was instead evoked by curiosity – that’s great! You’ve set yourself up for a balanced essay where you can choose how much you want to agree or disagree with the question.

   I’ve made a template for you to follow this structure of study notes if you wanted. I really recommend looking at the template and then either using it, or altering it to suit how you study! You can find it by clicking here!

To prepare one…or two…
   Trust me, every single year it is posted on HSC Discussion Group or frantically asked in English class “WHAT IF THEY ASK FOR TWO OTHER RELATED TEXTS!!???!!!!” Settle, petals.

I’ve done a bit of a BOSTES throwback to find the answer to this one. From 2009-2015, they have only asked for ONE related text. Some years they have said “at least one” and other years they have just said “one.” If they ask for at least one, choosing one is just fine and is not viewed as the lazy option at all. In 2008 they asked for two. Between 2004 and 2007, they had a bit of a trend of asking for one related text and one from the “stimulus book.” That's old school. So in the last 11 years - they have only once asked for two ORTs. Is it likely to happen to you? The trend says no. Do BOSTES love to throw a spanner in the works? Yes. Does anyone really know what that exam paper is going to ask of you? Very few. What can you do? Prepare as best as you can.
   Prepare one, really well, really thoroughly. For me, it was Tim Winton’s Distant Lands. I knew it back to front and I had read the short story so many times that I could quote parts of the text that I wasn’t even using for textual evidence. Use this ORT for all of your submitted essays to your teacher throughout the year. If you’ve selected your ORT well, it will be applicable to just about every question thrown your way.

   The risk: You could be asked for two ORTs. The cheat way to fix this in an exam? Possibly use an unseen text as your other ORT. However, I don’t recommend this. I do recommend finding discoveries in your other prescribed texts if you can. BOSTES says this is fine to do as long as it is relevant to AOS. Or, you can just bite the bullet and prepare another ORT entirely. Having two ORTs up your sleeve isn’t such a bad idea, even if they only ask for one ORT in the HSC exam. The reason being, you could find that one text is stronger than the other for a section in the syllabus. This way, you have total choice about which one you want to whip out in the exam and slap against the question.

Have you got any questions?
   Make an account if you haven’t already so that you can comment below any questions. If you are looking for advice on an ORT, comment below and hopefully a peer has a great idea about that text to help you out! Or if you have found an awesome ORT, post it down below to see if anyone else is as well and then we can build up a discussion about different texts so that everyone wins!
« Last Edit: July 17, 2017, 05:42:14 pm by elysepopplewell »
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cherryred

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2016, 01:37:24 pm »
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Hi,

I did Robert Gray's poems for AOS last term but I am still not sure as to what related text to actually use for my trials/HSC. Advice would be really appreciated :)

Also what related text would work for these different poems:
'Meatworks' and 'Flames and Dangling wire'

I am really struggling to find a related text that links with the poems of my prescribed text.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks :)

elysepopplewell

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2016, 09:08:08 am »
+1
Hi,

I did Robert Gray's poems for AOS last term but I am still not sure as to what related text to actually use for my trials/HSC. Advice would be really appreciated :)

Also what related text would work for these different poems:
'Meatworks' and 'Flames and Dangling wire'

I am really struggling to find a related text that links with the poems of my prescribed text.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks :)

Hey Cherryred! This took me a few days to reply to because I was on the hunt for my very last suggestion of ORTs...I couldn't find it anywhere haha.

I have just made myself mildly familiar with your AOS prescribed text via google :P I love that he's an Aussie poet (and even kind of local - NSW!) I'm a big fan of Tim Winton's short stories for ORTs because of their simplicity, textual integrity and their subject matter. Tim Winton offers a lot in terms of discovery in his stories too. I used Distant Lands which can be found in the anthology called "Minimum of Two" but also his short story "Neighbours" which is found in the anthology "Scission." I recommend these texts to all AOS students, but you particularly because it seems like your prescribed text has a lot to do with minimalism, Australiana, landscapes, minutiae? Which Winton does similarly, but in an entirely different way. So you'll be able to make some really nice comparisons and also draw some similarities. There's ideas in these two texts specifically about stereotypes, disillusionment, changing perspectives and transformative discoveries.

Another suggestion, which begins in a slaughterhouse which is why I'm thinking directly of Meatworks, is called "Big World" which is found in "The Turning" anthology but also as a short film (both are very awesome). It is also a Tim Winton one, but the film version really makes it quite different and definitely something special. A few of my classmates used it after we had a look at it in class.

Hopefully this helps! :)
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nibblez16

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2016, 05:18:54 pm »
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Hi,

I am doing Robert Frost poems for my AOS. I have chosen 3 related texts. One is an image of the 'Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog', another one is a poem 'Sky High' and last is a short film 'The Scarecrow', are they suitable for my AOS?

elysepopplewell

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2016, 09:09:36 am »
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Hi,

I am doing Robert Frost poems for my AOS. I have chosen 3 related texts. One is an image of the 'Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog', another one is a poem 'Sky High' and last is a short film 'The Scarecrow', are they suitable for my AOS?


Hey! These all look like great ORTs. The visually text is interesting. It is composed by a German man many many years ago - make sure you reference that! That kind of thing lifts the merit of the work. Do you feel comfortable analysing visual texts? Many don't. However, if this is your expertise, you should definitely, definitely go for it.

As for the poem, again, awesome. Nothing wrong here. However, some students prefer to vary the text types in their essay. So, your prescribed text is poetry, do you want your ORT to be the same? The reason behind this is, when you study a poem and a novel, for example, you express your understanding of different text types, thus diversifying your displayed skill set.

As for The Scarecrow: this is my favourite! I hadn't seen any of your texts before you messaged and I truly, truly love The Scarecrow. It shares such a great message and there is so much to analyse. You can definitely make this work for discovery!
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WLalex

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2016, 09:43:03 pm »
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Hi, this is really helpful thanks!

For AOS we are studying the film Life of Pi and i was wondering what your opinion on my two related texts are: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini (both novels as thats my favourite). I like both equally and if I'm honest, its Life of Pi i don't really like and struggle the most to make connected haha.
So, my teachers say that Fight Club is slightly better so I've done more prep for that, what do you think?
Thanks :)
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elysepopplewell

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2016, 02:03:10 pm »
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Hi, this is really helpful thanks!

For AOS we are studying the film Life of Pi and i was wondering what your opinion on my two related texts are: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini (both novels as thats my favourite). I like both equally and if I'm honest, its Life of Pi i don't really like and struggle the most to make connected haha.
So, my teachers say that Fight Club is slightly better so I've done more prep for that, what do you think?
Thanks :)

Thanks!
I'm not well familiar with either text. However, a quick google search tells me that they both have merit. I suggest this: You find the one that has similarities and dissimilarities that you can link in likeness or opposites to the prescribe text. For example, perhaps in both the prescribed and the ORT, an intellectual discovery is undertaken. But perhaps in one text, your protagonist undertakes a planned discovery process, and in the other text there is an unplanned discovery. This enables you to have a really rich discussion about the way discovery works, and that it is fluid that it can be experienced differently!
Of course, seeing as they both have literary merit, I would choose whichever I liked better. But, because you like them equally, you should focus on what will give you the richest discovery exploration in an essay :)
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onepunchboy

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2016, 04:01:01 am »
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Hello for my aos essay im doing robert frosts poem "stopping by woods on a snowy evening" and "after apple picking" , do you know any really good related texts for these? Ty

zatos99

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #8 on: July 19, 2016, 07:36:24 pm »
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Hi,
Not a serious question (or maybe it is), but what are your thoughts on going into the exam without a related text, analysing the shit out of the unseen text and just use that. It does seem to simple and of course you aren't going to have enough time to fully analyse the text, but why else?
Keen to hear what you have to say,
Zatos99 :o

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #9 on: July 19, 2016, 07:41:02 pm »
+1
Hi,
Not a serious question (or maybe it is), but what are your thoughts on going into the exam without a related text, analysing the shit out of the unseen text and just use that. It does seem to simple and of course you aren't going to have enough time to fully analyse the text, but why else?
Keen to hear what you have to say,
Zatos99 :o

I have heard of this idea before!!  ;D I don't know where BOSTES stands on it to be honest, though I've never read anything saying you can't do it...

The positives of doing this are pretty obvious. Less to learn, less to stress about pre-exam, etc. The other huge benefit is that the unseen text is virtually guaranteed to work well with the essay question, since Paper 1 usually follow some sort of common theme, at least loosely. The related text becomes guaranteed quality, which is fantastic  ;D

The negatives are obvious too. Less time to analyse, you have to be very good at thinking on the spot. And I have no idea what the official stance on it is, I'd love to have a chat with BOSTES about it!

All that said, my personal opinion would be not to do it, but it's a very interesting idea indeed!  ;)

elysepopplewell

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #10 on: July 19, 2016, 08:13:01 pm »
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Hi,
Not a serious question (or maybe it is), but what are your thoughts on going into the exam without a related text, analysing the shit out of the unseen text and just use that. It does seem to simple and of course you aren't going to have enough time to fully analyse the text, but why else?
Keen to hear what you have to say,
Zatos99 :o

I'd only do this if they asked in the exam for two related texts and you've only prepared one (unlikely but possible)! The more time you have to prepare, the better!
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zatos99

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #11 on: July 19, 2016, 09:05:21 pm »
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I have heard of this idea before!!  ;D I don't know where BOSTES stands on it to be honest, though I've never read anything saying you can't do it...

The positives of doing this are pretty obvious. Less to learn, less to stress about pre-exam, etc. The other huge benefit is that the unseen text is virtually guaranteed to work well with the essay question, since Paper 1 usually follow some sort of common theme, at least loosely. The related text becomes guaranteed quality, which is fantastic  ;D

The negatives are obvious too. Less time to analyse, you have to be very good at thinking on the spot. And I have no idea what the official stance on it is, I'd love to have a chat with BOSTES about it!

All that said, my personal opinion would be not to do it, but it's a very interesting idea indeed!  ;)
Thanks for the response. I'm not going to do it, probably only if i am asked to refer to two texts. But as a maths minded person, like Jake, i feel that if there is anyway to make English easier, this might be something to consider.

I'd only do this if they asked in the exam for two related texts and you've only prepared one (unlikely but possible)! The more time you have to prepare, the better!
Yeah that's where my original idea came from, when you said it at the study day haha!

elysepopplewell

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #12 on: July 19, 2016, 09:55:22 pm »
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Yeah that's where my original idea came from, when you said it at the study day haha!


Yasss! Thanks for coming to it! Glad you could take something away from it, even if it was how to find an English short cut ;)
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Scarlet

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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2016, 06:32:16 pm »
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Hey all, my trials are just around the corner and I need to find related texts that work well for both AOS: Discovery- The Tempest and Mod C: Representing People & Landscapes- Judith Wright.

Any ideas on which related texts would work well ?

I'm thinking of doing a picture book: The Island by Armin Greder for my main related text but I can't seem to find aspects of the rubric that relate explicitly to each module.

Thanks in advance !!  :)




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Re: Choosing the right ORT!
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2016, 07:42:32 pm »
+2
Hey all, my trials are just around the corner and I need to find related texts that work well for both AOS: Discovery- The Tempest and Mod C: Representing People & Landscapes- Judith Wright.

Any ideas on which related texts would work well ?

I'm thinking of doing a picture book: The Island by Armin Greder for my main related text but I can't seem to find aspects of the rubric that relate explicitly to each module.

Thanks in advance !!  :)

That picture book is definitely a potentially great ORT, there are a heap of resources for it online, which indicates that it's been used before with success  ;D

I didn't do Discovery, but I know Elyse would suggest Distant Lands - Tim Winton. It is a very powerful ORT, might be worth a look?

For Module C, I used V for Vendetta against Shakespeare's Tragedy of Julius Caesar. The key to that was that both were fairly political, but that might not match here. Hopefully someone can be of more help!

You should flick through our Module Marking and AoS Marking Threads to see what other people have used! It might give you some inspiration  ;D
« Last Edit: July 22, 2016, 01:11:04 pm by jamonwindeyer »