Question 1
General feedback
Students should:
- engage with all the key terms in the question and provide relevant textual evidence, including quotes and an explanation of how language is used to shape meaning, to support their ideas.
In better responses, students were able to:
- demonstrate their understanding of the term ‘explain’ as defined in the NESA glossary of terms
- develop and maintain a clear line of argument
- effectively explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity, using purposefully selected textual evidence
- support the explanation of the key concepts presented in the quote by referencing the composer’s language choices
- use the statement to effectively explain key concepts represented in the text
- organise and express ideas appropriately
- explain how stories pass on cultural values and identity to create understanding for an audience as represented within the prescribed text
- demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the module by exploring how the text’s language, form and features shape a sense of cultural values and identity.
Areas for students to improve include:
- responding to the whole question
- demonstrating an understanding of how stories pass on cultural values and identity to create understanding for an audience as represented within the prescribed text
- explaining the cultural values and sense of identity explored in their chosen text, rather than describing the text
- carefully constructing a response which specifically connects to the statement provided
- selecting a wide range of relevant evidence from the prescribed text and including an explanation of how language is used to shape meaning.
Prose Fiction
Henry Lawson, The Penguin Henry Lawson Short
Stories
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for rural Australians in late 19th Century
- demonstrate an understanding of how Lawson’s stories critique gender roles, and notions of mateship, larrikinism, and/or the romanticisation of the Australian bush when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Andrea Levy, Small Island
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for migrants in a post-colonial world
- demonstrate an understanding of how Levy critiques issues of race, class and/or gender when exploring cultural values in contemporary society
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Poetry
Adam Aitken, Boey Kim Cheng and Michelle Cahill (eds), Contemporary Asian Australian Poets
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for Asian-Australian migrants and their families
- demonstrate an understanding of how the poets’ critique issues of racial prejudice, language barriers, and/or conflict in society when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Ali Cobby Eckermann, Inside my Mother
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for Aboriginal Peoples in relation to their broader communities and/or cultural groups in a post-colonial setting
- demonstrate an understanding of how Eckermann critiques issues of intergenerational trauma, prejudicial stereotypes, and/or the impact of Australian historical events, when exploring the value of culture and relationships for Aboriginal Peoples
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Drama
Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for Australians in the 1950s
- demonstrate an understanding of how Lawler critiques issues of stereotypical gender roles and/or class structures when exploring cultural values in post-war society
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in Edwardian England
- demonstrate an understanding of how Shaw critiques stereotypical gender roles and/or class structures when exploring cultural values of English society
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Alana Valentine, Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in a post 9/11 Australian society
- demonstrate an understanding of how Valentine critiques racial prejudice, gender stereotypes, religion and/or cultural practices when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Nonfiction
Alice Pung, Unpolished Gem
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for Asian-Australian migrants and their families
- demonstrate an understanding of how Pung critiques racial stereotypes, familial expectations and socio-economic status when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Film
Rachel Perkins, One Night the Moon
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in colonial Australia
- demonstrate an understanding of how Perkins critiques racial prejudice, gender stereotypes, and/or the impact of Australian historical events when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Rob Sitch, The Castle
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in Australian society
- demonstrate an understanding of how Sitch critiques cultural assumptions of class, gender, and/or race when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
Media
Janet Merewether, Reindeer in my Saami Heart
In better responses, students were able to:
- explore the construction and recreation of identity for the Saami people
- demonstrate an understanding of how Merewether critiques issues of social class, ethnicity, gender and/or religious oppression when exploring cultural values
- explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.
