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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!
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Topic: Choosing the right related text! (Read 75096 times)