Essay Conclusion

For your conclusion you would have been told to simply sum up your argument to give your essay closure. This is not very interesting.

Your conclusion is your opportunity to distinguish yourself as someone who has engaged with the text and considered it in relation to a broader context. If you answer these questions - I call it my Engaging With Texts Table - you will have views and context before you see the essay question you need to respond to, and you will have something to say. After you have read the text you are studying make some notes in response to these questions.

1. Curiosity: What does this text makes you curious about?
2. Connections: What connections do you draw between the text and your own life and/or other learning?
3. Challenge: What ideas, positions, or assumptions do you want to challenge or argue with in the text?
4. Concepts: What key concepts or ideas do you think are important and worth holding onto from the text?
5. Changes: What changes in attributes, thinking, or action are suggested by the text, either for you or others?
6. If you were to direct or produce an appropriation of the text, what would be your vision and aims?

Then, when you write your essay, your conclusion can almost write itself. In your essay you have engaged in an academic exercise. So what? What next? How is it relevant to our world today? You can start your conclusion by summing up your argument, restating or amplifying your general statement or governing principle, then add a sentence or two commenting on any aspect of the text that interests you, related to the question, or leading to the next question you would like to explore.

Your marker will be impressed that you have engaged with the text and think more broadly about the value of the module.

Essay Introduction

We have looked at how to write the body of your essay, so let’s look at your introduction and conclusion.

Here is a formula that works. It is for an essay which asks you to address two texts. If you practise the formula, when you gain confidence you can loosen it up a bit.

Sentence 1: make a general statement about the theme or module or literary genre.+ Use the words from the rubric. Show that you understand these general principles of literature and the rubric.
Sentence 2: state your response to the question - agree, disagree, partially agree - with definitions and distinctions. This is like what you do in a debate. You can define your terms.
Sentence 3: make a statement about the first text, naming the text, author and year and how it fits in your argument
Sentence 4: make a statement about the second text, naming the text, author and year
Sentence 5: signpost how you have categorised your evidence to present it in the essay. Say what you are going to say in the essay. There should be one category per body paragraph. 

Sentence 6: a sentence that wraps up the introduction (if it feels natural to do so). 

Example, from the 2020 NESA Workbook (which publishes band 6 exam essays - I recommend you read as many of these as you can):

Competing textual representation of the same event develop as a result of different purpose and context of each composer, yet the later casts a shadow upon the original, instilling doubt within responders on the authentic truth from the first. Silvia Plath's 'Ariel' utilises an innovative confessional form to combat female oppression and radiate power in a tumultuous cold war context, whilst Hughes' epistolary 'Birthday Letters' casts a shadow of doubt upon Plath's work, remolding readers' interpretation as he foregrounds his personal truth. Through poems 'Daddy', 'Lady Lazarus', and 'A Birthday Present' Plath communicates th ensnaring patriarchal confinements of the 1960s as factors in her demise, whilst Hughes' fatalistic adaptation through "A Picture of Otto', The Shot', and The Bee God' and 'Red'  reveals personal and ideological dissonances. In conjunction, these texts compete for power of authority as readers must interpret the truth amongst clashing perspective, memory, time and emotions of each composer.     

You can see in this example how the points are covered in a flowing and natural complex sentences. 

+ For general statements about types of stories see this 5 min video on the purpose of stories. 

The five types mentioned are: survival (based on fear), love stories, mysteries, transformation, creation stories. 'We must know there can be meaning.' 

A marker should have a good idea of how the rest of the essay will proceed because your have signposted the organisational structure.

I will post later on how to organise your work for essays in the modules.

The TEE Table

Your teachers will have taught you to make TEE tables in preparation for essay writing. You would have been taught acronyms to help you structure your essay paragraphs. These may be STEEL, PETAL or something else, but the main part is that the Technique is named, followed by Example and Effect. You will have been given a list of techniques, often in alphabetical order, but not be given much about their effects; in fact, often the effects will be listed as techniques. It is interesting to note that there is no listing of the word ‘Technique’ in the NESA glossary. The syllabus talks about form, features and function. There are better ways to go about all this.

What is needed is to categorise the types of literary devices and to be able to identify their effects. You can start with effects and work your way back. You can start with the effect of the whole text, and then investigate how that effect was crafted. You will need to know your text well, see what you find, and then categorise your findings. The study of literature is not a hunt for techniques.

In order to work this way you need to build your metalanguage (language about language). In any field of study you need to know the words particular to the subject. If you are a fashion designer you need to know specific words to describe colours and fabrics and shapes. If you are a cook you need to know the difference between a quiche and a flan. If you are a motor mechanic you need to know how different engines are used for different types of vehicles and why. Musicians need to be able to describe beats, rhythms, pitches, tones, effects. The same is true in subject English.

I will be posting about the names for literary devices and their effects in order to build your metalanguage. I will also be posting about the modules in the new English HSC syllabus.

If you want to stick with TEE tables because this is what your teacher wants (it is easier to mark), and you think in terms of formulas, here is some help.

The basis is this sentence, and then we can switch words in and out in a mix and match fashion. Or you can rearrange and break up the sentence.

The (composer) uses (technique) in (example) to show (effect) which (adds to the meaning of whole text or positions the reader).

Other words for composer: director, writer, author, or use the writer or director’s surname.

Other words for uses: employs, applies, adopts, practices, exercises, embraces, chooses, elects, selects, appoints, assigns, allots, designs, establishes, casts, devises, designates

Other words for technique: repetition, assonance, pun, understatement, long sentence, allusion, intertextuality, etc

DO NOT USE THE WORD TECHNIQUE IN YOUR ESSAYS.

Example: can be a quote from the text or it can be about form or an accumulation of ideas. It doesn’t have to be a quote.

DO NOT USE THE WORD QUOTE IN YOUR ESSAYS (unless a character quotes something or the narrator quotes another text.)

Other words for shows: conveys, represents, suggests, implies, indicates, illustrates, illuminates, demonstrates, depicts, describes, displays, explores, explores, symbolises, reveals, reflects, indicates, highlights, supports, accentuates, reinforces, strengthens, focuses, elucidates, posits, clarifies, evinces, ascribes, espouses, amplifies, substantiates, predicates, expounds, advances, affirms, challenges, validates, opines, proffers, promulgates, confirms, evinces, enlightens, reflects, articulates, informs, portrays, exemplifies, remarks, introduces, infers, maintains, defines, narrates, formultes, explains, signifies, controls, obverves, examines, reinforces, reasons, likens, challenges, simplies, complicates, extends, expands upon, concludes, mainfiests, initiates, substantiates, selects, provokes, scrutinises, emphasises, accentuates, reinforces, stresses, privileges, reiterates, refutes, opposes, justifies, validates, contrasts. Some of these words could be used as an alternative to Uses.

Other words for effect: tone, cacophony, foreshadowing, suspense etc, or a comment on how it contributes to characterisation, setting, structure or style.

Remember that analysis is the examination and explanation of how the component parts contribute to the meaning of the whole. Your question will ask you either about the meaning, the form, the features or the effect on the reader. You answer the question bringing in these other aspects. You need to be able to explain how the example you have used answers the question.

Here is how you can mix and match.

1. Homer uses a non-linear narrative which replicates the motion of the sea, moving Odysseus towards and away from home. This recreates for the reader a sense of frustration and impatience, encouraging the reader to empathise with Odysseus and his plight.

2. Orwell writes in Part 3, Chapter 2 “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” These simple sentences of parallel construction, uttered by Winston with the weight of truth, demonstrate the idea that, through torture, his memory has been altered to that of the collective.

3. Cullis-Suzuki employs irony and understatement to refer to the environmental issues she has witnessed as ‘little things’, asking rhetorically in her speech ‘Did you have to worry about these little things when you were my age?’ This serves to create a sense of identification with the situation of the speaker, increasing empathy and drawing the audience into her worldview, successfully reinforcing the seriousness of her appeal and the unfairness that this burden has been left with the children of her generation.

4. In The Argonautica, Apollonius weaves imagery and diversions through the narrative which strengthen the theme of love, abandonment and betrayal. Examples of broken relationships are provided by allusions to Peleus and Thetis, Cronos and Philyra and to Ariadne and Theseus. The only example of a genuinely happy relationship is that of the newlyweds Cyzicus and Cleite who are trying for a baby. Jason accidentally kills Cyzicus, and Cleite suicides in grief, which demonstrates Jason’s unconscious inability to respect true love. Jason’s possessions also reinforce this. He has a cloak which Pallas Athene gave him, embroidered with a scene depicting Aphrodite with Ares’ shield, suggesting a symbol of Medea as love combined with war. Hypsipyle gives Jason a mantle which he wears as he prepares for his quest at Colchis, indicating his lack of respect for Hypsipyle and his sexual infidelity. The robe is later offered as a gift to Medea’s half-brother, Apsyrtus, to entice him to his death. Jason murders Apsyrtus at the temple of Artemis, the virgin goddess. His blood is splashed onto Medea’s veil, which symbolises her loss of virginity and innocence. Although the narrative ends before Jason and Medea arrive in his homeland, this foreshadowing suggests that their relationship will be troubled.

Here is an example of a class collecting data about a text.
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/homer-high-tech-data-visualization-james-earle

Form

You will  notice that the study of literature involves considering aspects of form. But what is form?

There are a few ways we talk about form in literature

The first is to identify the category of the writing. It is the naming according to the category or type or style.

Examples include the major categories of novel, poetry, play, film, short story, novella, short film, article. There are subcategories of genre, for example, comedy, tragedy, horror, romcom, sci-fi. These categories share certain conventions that we agree determine what the type of literature is.

The second is to look at structure, that is, how a piece of writing is shaped. For a high school essay this would be an introduction, three paragraphs presenting an argument supported with evidence, and a conclusion. For a play it may three Acts. For a poem, it may be a sonnet or haiku or limerick, which are forms of poetry determined by their structure.  

Every piece of writing either begins with content or form. Sometimes writers start with content (the ideas or something to say) and need to decide upon the form. Other times, writers start with a form and create the content.

All writers make decisions about organising their material. You can talk about the organising principles in terms of form - anything that provides structure, be it a motif, repetition, rhyme, or how the text looks on the page. You can also include strategies for an argument or organisation of a narrative, such as change of voice or tone, looking backwards or forwards, reference to an authority or data, using analogies, or appeals to logic or emotions. 

For examples of playing with form see the work of Australian writer Ryan O’Neill who writes stories of relationships as a list, or as a series of book reviews. He demonstrates constrained writing such as the use of word chains, lipograms, pangrams, univocalic, cento, palindromes, snowballs and abecedarius in his book The Drover’s Wives: 99 Reinterpretations of Henry Lawson’s Australian Classic. See also 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden which presents one simple story told in 99 graphical forms.

Coming soon: Words for Words

Yr 11 Adv: Critical Study of Literature

Critical Study of Literature is like Close Study of Literature, plus values and context. Everything in close study of text relates to this module. You need to address the textual integrity of what you study, that is, how the component parts contribute to the meaning of the whole text. You will study one text.

This is what the syllabus says.

Module B: Critical Study of Literature

In this module, students develop analytical and critical knowledge, understanding and appreciation of a literary text. Through increasingly informed personal responses to the text in its entirety, students develop understanding of the distinctive qualities of the text and notions of textual integrity.

Students study one text appropriate to their needs and interests. Central to this study is the exploration of how the author’s ideas are expressed in the text through an analysis of its construction, content and language. Students develop their own interpretation of the text, basing their judgements on evidence drawn from their research and reading, enabling the development of a deeper and richer understanding of the text. In doing so, they consider notions of contexts with regard to the text’s composition and reception; investigate the perspectives of others; and explore the ideas in the text, further strengthening their personal perspective on the text.

Students have opportunities to appreciate and express views about the aesthetic and imaginative aspects of a text by composing creative and critical texts of their own. Through reading, viewing or listening they analyse, evaluate and comment on the text’s specific language features and form. They express increasingly complex ideas, clearly and cohesively using appropriate register, structure and modality. They draft, appraise and refine their own texts, applying the conventions of syntax, spelling and grammar appropriately.

Opportunities to engage deeply with the text as a responder and composer further develops personal and intellectual connections with this text, enabling students to express their informed personal view of its meaning and value.

.................

In Yr 11, some teachers will teach a text that used to be on the HSC list of prescribed texts but is no longer. The good news is that there are lots of resources for these texts.

Approach to Unseen Texts

There is a strategy for approaching unseen texts that you need to respond to in exam situations.

Firstly, read the question before you read the text. Because these tasks are worth few marks, only read to answer the question. Spend your time according to the amount of marks for each question. For two marks you need to answer the question in one paragraph with references to two examples from the text. For three marks, three examples in one or two paragraphs. In the HSC exam, for questions worth five or six marks you need to synthesise and address two texts in relation to each other. This is a mini essay.

In a class assessment task you might be addressing one text at a time. 

There are some literary features which are common to all texts - look for these as your answers. There is no point looking for metaphor or personification if there are no examples in your text. (Of course, if you can comment on metaphor, symbols, imagery, etc, then do so.) Otherwise, look for:
- structure
- voice, persona, tone, point of view
- title
- punctuation (if there is no punctuation, that is noteworthy)
- composer, who constructed a text in context, for audience, a purpose, and to effect a responder
- text type/ genre/ style
- ideas
- literal (exactly what it says)/figurative language (figurative opens up simile, metaphor etc)/inferential (what does it suggest). Every word used falls into these categories. 
- words
- sentences
- layout on the page
- mood/atmosphere
- representations
- how the composer positions the reader and why
- also look for patterns and repetitions - they are noteworthy.

Your answer should address What (describe), How (explain) and Why (analyse). For the question worth the most marks you should evaluate the effectiveness of the techniques, ie, make a judgement.

Yr 11 Adv: Narratives that Shape our World - Resources

Here are some focus questions for this module:

- How does narrative shape our understanding of the world?

- How do representation of cultures, ideas and ideologies in narratives shape our positions in the world?

- How does narrative shape our ideas about identity, belonging and who we are?

- In what ways are characters in texts imaginative rehearsals for ways of living?

- Can an unreliable character be a reliable narrator?

- How is narrative point of view used to create authority in texts?

Teachers can use a range of texts, chosen by a theme or idea. At some schools teachers are using texts that used to be on the HSC prescribed text list but are now no longer. They do this because the texts are available, however, these texts cannot be taught in same way as taught in the old HSC.

For example, if using The Great Gatsby and the sonnets of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the focus must be on the texts as narratives that shape our world, rather than as Mod A: Comparative Study of Texts and Context - Intertextual Perspectives. Both texts can be read in terms of ideas about romantic love, mortality and hope, however, the texts must now be taught in terms of the new rubric. It needs to cover all the core principles of literary devices (more to come!), ie, close study of texts, as well as how stories impact our idea of ourselves. You can relate this to who gets to tell the stories now; how social media had connected people around the world to share their stories; how people appeal to stories of the past for their identity; how this concept has been challenged, and what the political implications are for these ideas

Key is this: In this module, students explore a range of narratives from the past and the contemporary era that illuminate and convey ideas, attitudes and values. They consider the powerful role of stories and storytelling as a feature of narrative in past and present societies, as a way of: connecting people within and across cultures, communities and historical eras; inspiring change or consolidating stability; revealing, affirming or questioning cultural practices; sharing collective or individual experiences; or celebrating aesthetic achievement.

So, in The Great Gatsby and the sonnets of Barrett Browning, what are the values of their contexts, how have their stories been used, and how do they fit with our values today? You can argue that the representation of romantic love in these texts is flawed and damaging. How do these texts tell us about who we are today? What are our views about romantic love, identity, mortality, expectations for happiness in life, and how are these ideas valued according to different contexts? What were the original contexts? For each text, how has context influenced the text? Who was the original audience? How did they react to the text? What values or ideas does the text present? What languages choices are made? How do these language choices create the message of the text? Do these values and ideas change in new or modern contexts? How and why? How do you think your reaction to the texts differs from the original audiences' reaction? (This is called Reception Studies)

Next post....more on resources for Gatsby and Barrett Browning