English 2008

[Nick]

Hi everyone and welcome to the English forum for 2008.

To ensure that I can moderate this section in the most effective manner, I'm aiming to read and take notes on the five most popular English texts for 2008 (as dictated by a survey in this thread). This will enable me to not only deliver general advice about aspects of the course, but also specific analytical information related to the specific texts on the 2008 text list.


ALL texts will be chosen on January 28, 2008 (in order to take into account the preferences of the largest possible sample of FSN students)

It would be a great start if everyone studying english next year could write an introductory statement including the following:
*State each of the English texts you will be studying next year
*What you are hoping to achieve in English next year
*How you believe the English forum can be made most effective and interactive
*Any resources or information you believe will be handy to have over the holiday period

I will be posting a holiday advice thread later this evening which I would encourage you all to read.

I look forward to working with you all this year. As moderator of this forum, I will endeavour to assist you all as much as possible in the coming year. 

Good luck everyone.

Here is the current tally of the most popular texts for 2008. The most popular are highlighted.

A Man for All Seasons: 9
Catcher in the Rye: 11
Of Love and Shadows: 3
Witness (film text): 12
1984: 8
Sometimes Gladness (Dawe): 7
Look Both Ways (film): 10
Inheritance: 5
The Kite Runner: 4
Paul Kelly: 1
Fly Away Peter: 1
Island- short stories: 2
Secret River: 5
Generals die in bed: 2
The Crucible: 7
Collected short stories by Beverly Farmer: 2
Bombshells (Play): 4
Sky Burial: 1
The Line: 5
Maestro: 3
The Shark Net: 2
A streetcar named desire: 1
Romulus, My Father: 3
Jindaybne (film text): 1
Robert Frost Poetry: 1
Hard Times: 1
Enduring Love: 1



hard times

enduring love

 

[costargh]

Hi Nick. Congratulations on being selected as English moderator.

I am studying
A Man for All Seasons
The Catcher in the Rye
Of Love and Shadows
Witness (film)

Oh yeh aiming 40+ for English.

I think having text specific forums that don't have pointless posts in them (eg. ok cool ) will ensure that the forums will be easy to inteeract with.
Key themes and character notes would be good. Lol I don;t know what else to say
Also how they relate to their context if they are a text that is related to a context

[AppleXY]

Hey, nick well done for english 48!

I'm studying:

1984
The catcher in the Rye
Sometimes Gladness
Look both ways (film text)

Well getting a 40 for english would be niiiiiice.

[Eriny]

Catcher is an English text next year? That's an awesome book

[costargh]

Yeh it is part of the context Identity and Belonging.
I've read half of it. It's very interesting. I wonder what happens in the end...
LOL DONT TELL ME

[shaun1990]

i am doing

sometimes gladness
catcher in the rye
inheritance

look both ways (film)

hoping for a 35+ study score

[costargh]

Ok soooo you should defently read 'Catcher in the Rye' Nick and A Man for all Seasons you already said you're going to do =) Yay

[AppleXY]

my english tutor said that Catcher in the rye is a yr9 book in some schools lolz.

[costargh]

Lol it depends of the level of analysis though. Obviously year 9's aren't going to go into the same amount of depth as year 12's.

[AppleXY]

Yeah, i concur

I think the Year 9's just skim through the central themes of the text and write a PoV on our society instead of an anaylsis of the text. (lol, thats what we did in Year 10 LOL)

[Nick]

Year 9's would only need to have a very peripheral and basic knowledge of a text like, "The Catcher in the Rye".

For example, we were required to study "To Kill a Mockingbird" in year 8 which was ludicrous. Mockingbird was such an awesome novel, yet to get year 8's to grasp the complexity of such a novel was ridiculous.

I'll definately read, "The Catcher in the Rye"- I'd actually already ordered it to read it out of interest anyway. 

I'll be very interested to know who else is studying "Look Both Ways"- it is the BEST movie to analyse and I am an expert- watched it about fifteen times.

I also studied "Romulus, My Father" by Raimond Gaita and "Home" by Larissa Behrendt which are both still on the text list for '08. They are both very powerful novels. I'm disappointed that VCAA chose to remove "I'm Not Scared" off the text list one year prematurely. It was my favourite novel by miles this year.

[Matt The Rat]

Congrats on the mod job!

I'll be studying:
- The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
- The Kite Runner - Hosseini
- Don't Start Me Talking - Pauly Kelly's Lyrics
- Witness (film) - Weir

Aiming to achieve a score of 40+.

[Odette]

Just a tip for those studying Don't Start Me Talking- Paul Kelly Lyrics... use it for a SAC but not on the exam =)

Good luck everyone =)

[elaine]

This is a great idea Nick!

I'm doing "A Man for all Seasons" and "Look Both Ways". I'm glad the movie is very good to analyse.

I'm hoping for a 45+ in English, which i know is really high, but with hard work, I hope I can achieve this.

One thing that would be really helpful is essay hints and tips, e.g how to not waste time, be concise and not waffle, what examiners look for.

Also, a bit of help in the new "context" area would be really great. (mine is "imaginative landscapes"). The books we're using for this area are "Fly away Peter" and "Island- a collection of short stories" Even our teachers are kinda clueless about this area.

I"m really glad you're the English mod 

[doboman]

Hey, Congratulations on the Mod...
Im Studying

*Secret River
*Generals Die In Bed
*The Crucible