General feedback
Students should:
- specifically address all aspects of the question
- develop a strong, sustained argument and personal evaluation in response to the question
- apply knowledge of the module to inform their interpretation and shape their response
- demonstrate a strong awareness of composer, form and context
- demonstrate detailed knowledge of the prescribed text
- support and develop responses using aptly chosen and detailed textual references from the prescribed text
- consider textual integrity beyond ‘enduring value’ and look to structural integrity in synthesis, unity and cohesion
- consider how texts have been received in various contexts
- demonstrate sustained and skilful control of language and ideas.
Question 3 – Shakespearean Drama – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
In better responses, students were able to:
- skilfully explore the influence of context upon Shakespeare’s work
- clearly understand Shakespeare’s purpose and how his capacity to position the audience to empathise and acknowledge uncomfortable truths contributes to the enduring value of the play
- demonstrate a perceptive understanding of how contextual values impact upon an audience’s appreciation of literature and the extent to which empathy and acknowledgement of uncomfortable truths contribute to that appreciation
- use well-chosen textual examples to support their argument.
Areas for students to improve include:
- demonstrating a critical and informed understanding of the play
- engaging with the key words in the question to shape their evaluation, as opposed to taking a pre-prepared thematic approach
- supporting their response with detailed and relevant textual evidence and analysis
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially dramatic features
- providing a clear focus on Shakespeare’s purpose rather than on what Hamlet is experiencing.
Question 3 – Prose Fiction
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
In better responses, students were able to:
- skilfully explore the contextual values of Victorian England
- insightfully evaluate the extent to which empathy and acknowledging uncomfortable truths contribute to the ongoing appreciation of literature by considering Jane’s evolving self-knowledge
- make insightful references to the novel’s representation of symbolic and religious tropes rather than focus on characterisation or theme
- provide an insightful understanding of how Bronte’s truths have impacted and benefited current society.
Areas for students to improve include:
- engaging with the key words in the provided statement to shape an evaluation
- focusing on Bronte’s purpose as composer, rather than the truths her characters are experiencing
- focusing on the underlying values of the period to examine the notion of uncomfortable truths
- exploring the impact on the responder
- using more detailed and specific textual references, rather than relying on narrative.
Tim Winton, Cloudstreet
In better responses, students were able to:
- perceptively evaluate the extent to which empathy and acknowledging uncomfortable truths contribute to the ongoing appreciation of literature by considering Winton’s purpose in exploring significant aspects of Australia’s cultural past
- explore the uncomfortable truths associated with Australian identity, family politics and the unresolved reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-indigenous Australians
- use well-chosen textual examples to support their thesis.
Areas for students to improve include:
- engaging with the key words in the provided statement to shape their evaluation, rather than pre-learned thematic constructs
- demonstrating a greater awareness of Winton as composer and the text as a construction
- using detailed and specific textual references, rather than relying on narrative.
Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
In better responses, students were able to:
- strongly evaluate the significance of the values of the historical context and Ondaatje’s purpose in creating empathy for marginalised migrant voices and the uncomfortable impact of post-colonialism
- provide an insightful understanding of how the disconnected narrative relates to the novel’s textual integrity
- use detailed textual evidence to support a consistent thesis.
Areas for students to improve include:
- demonstrating a greater awareness of the Canadian cultural context and the migrant experience
- moving beyond an examination of characters and plot
- using relevant and detailed textual examples
- confidently discussing textual features, especially in terms of construction.
Question 3 – Film – Orson Welles, Citizen Kane
In better responses, students were able to:
- clearly understand Welles’ purpose and his skilful capacity to position the audience to empathise and acknowledge uncomfortable truths
- develop a sophisticated exposition on the text’s original 1940’s context and the truths that Welles conveys
- evaluate the film as a warning against the American social paradigm of wealth over happiness
- effectively integrate detailed analysis of specific film techniques to support their discussion of the film and Welles’ purpose
- account for the film’s continued relevance and enduring value.
Areas for students to improve include:
- focusing on Welles’ construction and Toland’s cinematography rather than the character of Kane
- providing an analysis of features specific to the form
- avoiding narrative recount and detailed explanation of film techniques not related to the requirements of the question
- clearly articulating the module’s notions of textual integrity.
Question 3 – Poetry
T S Eliot, T S Eliot: Selected Poems
In better responses, students were able to:
- demonstrate a perceptive understanding of Eliot’s Modernist context and its relationship to modern day existential angst, including the prevailing ideas of life, death and isolation
- critically evaluate using an informed understanding of how contextual values impact on the way that ideas are received in order to come to a personal judgement
- move beyond the persona of the poems to evaluate Eliot’s purpose as a poet and the enduring significance of his poetry
- provide an integrated and balanced discussion of at least two poems.
Areas for students to improve include:
- engaging with the key words in the provided statement to shape an evaluation rather than focusing on Eliot’s thematic concerns
- using more detailed textual evidence that is linked to a thesis rather than technique driven .
- providing a balanced discussion of well-selected poems
- clearly articulating the module’s notions of textual integrity.
William Butler Yeats, W B Yeats: Poems selected by Seamus Heaney
In better responses, students were able to:
- demonstrate a clear understanding of Yeats’ personal and political concerns, including life and death, the inevitability of the aging process, unrequited love, the injustices of colonialism, war and the indignities of suppression of freedom
- present a balanced, integrated discussion of at least two poems which reflected Yeats’ personal, political or philosophical concerns
- address the question in a sophisticated manner through the analysis of well-chosen textual examples.
Areas for students to improve include:
- engaging with the key words in the provided statement to shape an evaluation, rather than focusing on Yeats’ thematic concerns
- demonstrating a clear understanding of Yeats’ contextual and personal concerns
- evaluating poetic devices rather than simply listing them
- considering the audience more overtly and in different contexts.
Question 3 – Nonfiction – Speeches
In better responses, students were able to:
- provide a skilful discussion of the power of speeches to engage an audience and therefore provoke emotional responses such as empathy
- convey a clear understanding that a key element of the speeches set for study was the notion that they were examining and challenging uncomfortable truths of their times that still resonate with contemporary audiences
- show detailed knowledge of the prescribed texts through the careful selection of speeches that best supported their argument
- analyse and evaluate specific rhetorical techniques to support their thesis
- discuss the context of the speaker and the speech and account for the continued relevance of the speech.
Areas for students to improve include:
- clearly identifying the truths being explored in the speeches and how their discussion creates empathy in the audience
- demonstrating a more developed understanding of the power of rhetoric and the enduring value of this specific form
- selecting the most relevant speeches to best answer the question
- analysing specific rhetorical techniques
- clearly evaluating the extent to which the statement applies to their chosen speeches.
