ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: Anonymous on December 27, 2013, 01:18:32 pm
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HELLO GUYS
I was just wondering what previous year 12 students wrote their English Oral's on
Also, if you have any idea's of what I can write mine on that would be swell
It has to be a current issue that has appeared in the Australian Media since September of this year :)
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Some good topics which have been in the media recently :-
-Asylum seekers
-Global warming
-Stem cell research
-Carbon tax
-Gun control
Hope that helps there are also some good topics to be found here http://www.theage.com.au/ .
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Hi there,
I personally would talk about the asylum seekers issue or any other political matter (Rudd's populist electioneering tactics, carbon tax, lack of women in Abbott's front bench etc). However, if you want to steer away from politics, I would advise that you consider the war in Syria or perhaps some other major conflict in the world today? As a previous post mentioned, look at the AGE and see what topics you are interested in. Also, consider the context that you are studying (I assume you're in year 12 next year) and perhaps write something that you could use for those essays. You will be required to research your particular context and knowing a pertinent issue already, through your oral will be beneficial. One last thing, year 12 English can get very, very crazy so writing your oral during these holidays will give you an advantage. If you have any questions like how interesting ways to start or anything like that, please feel free to PM me.
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Everyones reasons for wanting anonymity are different but keep in mind the use of the anonymous function is more for those who need it (again up to you to judge) rather than posting general content. I won't at all make the judgment whether you need it or not, thats up to you. Just keep in mind by posting questions in here, the vast majority of our website visitors (without accounts) cannot see it and it also keeps the answers from helping other VCE students who dont look in or cant access these boards.
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oops sorry- that's weird, not sure why it was anonymous. I posted the reply :)
Sorry!!!
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OP: You'd probably get more answers if you posted in the English subject board ...just saying...
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That being said: Same-sex marriage may be a good one as it ties in with human rights and also the recent high court case challenging the ACT's legislation in the area-basically there's a lot to talk about and many different ways you can choose to confront it. The only problem I can see with this issue is that you may strike a nerve with the person assessing your work...if they act ethically that wouldn't be an issue though.
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A great website is http://www.debate.org/big-issues/,
It lists all the current issues in the world with both sides of the argument (don't forget to have a rebuttal in your oral!)
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I wrote mine on the "bamboo ceiling" back in 2012. Absolute pleasure to research for, and scored full marks.
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I wrote mine on the "bamboo ceiling" back in 2012. Absolute pleasure to research for, and scored full marks.
very interesting topic. My english teacher in year 11 said the topic has to be phrased as a question so how would you use bamboo ceiling in a question?
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very interesting topic. My english teacher in year 11 said the topic has to be phrased as a question so how would you use bamboo ceiling in a question?
Back in around late 2011, there was debate over how bad the 'trickle effect' of the bamboo ceiling was from the workplace to schools, and whether or not it warranted any sort of actual attention from employers and teachers. I guess you could phrase that into a question like: 'Is the bamboo ceiling really a pressing issue in the 21st century?' or something along the lines of that.
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Would the age of criminal responsibility be appropriate, or is it kind of irrelevant/not covered enough in the media?
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The $5 doctor fee sounds interesting but I don't know how to present strong arguments
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The $5 doctor fee sounds interesting but I don't know how to present strong arguments
4 points on each side:
For:
1. The fee is necessary as medicare costs are unsustainable as the population ages.
2. The fee would reduce people going to the doctor unnecessarily thus freeing up appointment's/time for those in need as well as saving money.
3. Some argue that bulk billing is inefficient "communist style" healthcare-ties in with the other points I guess.
4. Savings on healthcare in one sector may allow more funding for another sector e.g. less money spent on GP's means public hospitals receive more funding for specialist medical devices of some sort.
Against:
1. This sets a worrying precedent in regards to the direction "universal healthcare" is moving in.
2. In regards to "equity" this fee would effect those who need bulk billing the most i.e. low income earners as the $5 fee uses a greater proportion of a low income than a relatively higher income.
3. The fee would cause people to go to emergency rooms instead of doctors due to the cost, thus increasing hospital overcrowding.
4. People would be less willing to go to the doctor as there will be a fee, thus decreasing levels of health and wellbeing.
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4 points on each side:
For:
1. The fee is necessary as medicare costs are unsustainable as the population ages.
2. The fee would reduce people going to the doctor unnecessarily thus freeing up appointment's/time for those in need as well as saving money.
3. Some argue that bulk billing is inefficient "communist style" healthcare-ties in with the other points I guess.
4. Savings on healthcare in one sector may allow more funding for another sector e.g. less money spent on GP's means public hospitals receive more funding for specialist medical devices of some sort.
Against:
1. This sets a worrying precedent in regards to the direction "universal healthcare" is moving in.
2. In regards to "equity" this fee would effect those who need bulk billing the most i.e. low income earners as the $5 fee uses a greater proportion of a low income than a relatively higher income.
3. The fee would cause people to go to emergency rooms instead of doctors due to the cost, thus increasing hospital overcrowding.
4. People would be less willing to go to the doctor as there will be a fee, thus decreasing levels of health and wellbeing.
Oh thank you so much, thank you thank you. I couldn't thank you enough. I'm going to do some research and look on the articles online and I'll begin formulating a speech. There hasn't been many articles as it is a relatively new issue and people haven't seemed to discuss it much. But thank you again!
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Oh thank you so much, thank you thank you. I couldn't thank you enough. I'm going to do some research and look on the articles online and I'll begin formulating a speech. There hasn't been many articles as it is a relatively new issue and people haven't seemed to discuss it much. But thank you again!
In regards to the 'equity' argument most people put out, high-income earners are still being taxed at a flat rate (I think 2% of their income) to pay for the Medicare system so they are still paying significantly more than low-income earners. (Ie. the more you earn, the more you pay) and you don't have to pay the medicare levy if your income does not meet a certain threshold. So I don't think an average, reasonable person would buy the argument that $5 a visit is suddenly going to cause an even larger disparity in terms of disposable income between rich and poor. Plus, even if $5 does cause this disparity, the inequality b/ween "rich and poor" is offset by the fact that high income earners contribute much, much more of their income to Medicare.
So be careful how you phrase it on your oral - don't overuse hyperbole or dramatisation and hope your audience will believe suddenly that $5 a consultation is going to open the floodgates to more illness/inequality/other cliches etc.
Also, I don't know which side you are taking but you can argue that Australia has, comparatively, one of the world's best health care systems. In terms of funding the system, I don't think $5 per visit will suffice. A typical GP charges ~$50+ for a standard consultation. So a fee like this, you can argue, is not sustainable and serves little purpose in funding the system (apart from preventing possible abuses of the system).
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In regards to the 'equity' argument most people put out, high-income earners are still being taxed at a flat rate (I think 2% of their income) to pay for the Medicare system so they are still paying significantly more than low-income earners. (Ie. the more you earn, the more you pay) and you don't have to pay the medicare levy if your income does not meet a certain threshold. So I don't think an average, reasonable person would buy the argument that $5 a visit is suddenly going to cause an even larger disparity in terms of disposable income between rich and poor. Plus, even if $5 does cause this disparity, the inequality b/ween "rich and poor" is offset by the fact that high income earners contribute much, much more of their income to Medicare.
So be careful how you phrase it on your oral - don't overuse hyperbole or dramatisation and hope your audience will believe suddenly that $5 a consultation is going to open the floodgates to more illness/inequality/other cliches etc.
Also, I don't know which side you are taking but you can argue that Australia has, comparatively, one of the world's best health care systems. In terms of funding the system, I don't think $5 per visit will suffice. A typical GP charges ~$50+ for a standard consultation. So a fee like this, you can argue, is not sustainable and serves little purpose in funding the system (apart from preventing possible abuses of the system).
do you think this topic would be hard to research, because now that I have started looking at the points, some of them may be hard to expand and I might not be able to produce a 4-5 minute speech :/
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I wrote mine on the "bamboo ceiling" back in 2012. Absolute pleasure to research for, and scored full marks.
Hi I was wondering if you could share which newspapers you sourced articles from? Also out of interest, what were your main arguments? I'm looking to do a topic which hopefully not too many other people are :)