General feedback
Students should:
- specifically address all aspects of the question, rather than present a prepared response which is not relevant
- understand that there are multiple pathways into a question
- take time to plan and define the key terms in relation to their prescribed text
- develop a strong, sustained argument in response to the question
- demonstrate a strong awareness of composer, form and representation
- demonstrate an informed, holistic and detailed understanding of the prescribed text
- support their response with carefully selected, detailed and relevant textual evidence and analysis
- express themselves in a coherent manner with sustained and effective control of language and ideas.
Question 2 — Prose Fiction
M T Anderson, Feed
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how the novel invites questions about resistance and conformity
- engage with the key terms by defining resistance and conformity in the context of the novel, including resistance to corporations, the influence of technology and consumerism on conformity, and the importance of language in resisting conformity
- use relevant, carefully selected textual evidence to present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s satirical purpose and genre.
Areas for students to improve include:
- demonstrating an informed and detailed understanding of the novel
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the novel form, including but not limited to characterisation, narratorial perspective and narrative structure.
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-time
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Haddon invites questions about acceptance and prejudice
- engage with the key terms by defining acceptance and prejudice in the context of the novel, including but not limited to the marginalisation of neurodivergent individuals due to prejudice, the power of acceptance to empower individuals, and the impact of discrimination on families
- use relevant, carefully selected textual evidence to present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s empathetic purpose, structural composition and narrative style.
Areas for students to improve include:
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the novel form, including but not limited to characterisation, narratorial perspective and narrative structure.
Question 3 — Poetry
Robert Gray, Coast Road
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Gray invites questions about appreciation and indifference
- engage with the key terms by defining appreciation and indifference in the context of the poetry, including but not limited to how humans appreciate and engage with the sublime and spiritual dimensions of the natural environment, and the apathy of humanity towards the world
- use relevant, carefully selected textual evidence to present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s purpose, poetic form and imagist style.
Areas for students to improve include:
- demonstrating an informed and detailed understanding of the poems by evaluating and selecting the poems which best suit the question
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the poetic form.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Oodgeroo invites questions about loss and discovery
- engage with the key terms by defining loss and discovery in the context of the poetry, including but not limited to the simultaneous loss of one culture and the discovery of another, an appreciation of discovering new landscapes, and the emergence of cultural plurality
- use relevant, carefully selected textual evidence to present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s didactic purpose, poetic form and figurative style.
Areas for students to improve include:
- demonstrating an informed and detailed understanding of the poems by evaluating and selecting the poems which best suit the question, including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the poetic form.
Question 4 — Drama
Scott Rankin, Namatjira
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Rankin invites questions about creativity and conformity
- engage with the key terms by defining creativity and conformity in the context of the play, including but not limited to the power of creative expression in the face of oppression, using the arts to manage cultural change, and the dangers of monocultural conformity
- use relevant, carefully selected textual evidence to present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s didactic purpose and dramatic representation.
Areas for students to improve include:
- demonstrating an informed and detailed understanding of the play by evaluating and selecting the scenes which best suit the question
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the dramatic form.
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Shakespeare invites questions about conflict and reconciliation
- engage with the key terms by defining conflict and reconciliation in the context of the play, including but not limited to patriarchal values in conflict with empowered gender perspectives, managing relationships in the face of tradition, and the power of love, the imagination and the ethereal to resolve tensions
- present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s social commentary, dramatic representation and comedic genre.
Areas for students to improve include:
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the dramatic form.
Question 5 — Nonfiction
Anna Funder, Stasiland
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Funder invites questions about resentment and forgiveness
- engage with the key terms by defining resentment and forgiveness in the context of the text, including but not limited to social conformity within a totalitarian state; managing anxiety, fears and resentment in the face of oppression; and retrospective justice amid moral relativity
- present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s didactic purpose and representation.
Areas for students to improve include:
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the nonfiction form.
Question 6 — Film
Peter Weir, The Truman Show
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how Weir invites questions about resistance and acceptance
- engage with the key terms by defining resistance and acceptance in the context of the film, including but not limited to accepting a constructed reality, the role of the media in repressing individuals, and individual agency in a consumerist world
- present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s satirical purpose and cinematic representation.
Areas for students to improve include:
- including discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the film form.
Question 7 — Media
Simon Nasht, Frank Hurley: The Man
Who Made History
In better responses, students were able to:
- effectively discuss how the documentary invites questions about perception and truth
- engage with the key terms by defining perception and truth in the context of the text, including but not limited to the subjective nature of representation and truth, the role of nonfiction in documenting historical events, and the contrasting representation of Hurley
- present a cogent response and a discussion of the text’s social commentary, didactic purpose and mode of representation.
Areas for students to improve include:
- integrating discussion of a broad range of textual features, especially features specific to the media form.
