Alternative Blogsite

A reminder that I will be using my alternative website blogsite from now on. Various resources will be offered from time to time to use across Stages 4,5 & 6. These will include some Asian sites and texts that would be useful for classroom implementation. My 'Asian Voices' text is due for release in about Week 6 but information it and other Phoenix texts will be found at my website. It is still under construction but it will enable teachers to purchase some online resources, organise school based workshops for students and staff or check out my new blog.  

www.stannersenglish.com
Wishing all teachers a good start to the year.
Barbara

Term One Beckons - Changes Ahead

Term One will be even more hectic than usual this year with teachers facing even more demands on their time. Re-programming to suit National Curriculum requirments and resourcing the 2015 HSC round of English texts will take up most any KLA time at school. I have decided to spend this year concentrating on writing this year as well as running a few TTA workshops for staff and school-based workshops for students. While I will not be in the classroom very much, I can empathise with the changes that English teachers will be faced with.  

The list of TTA workshops for 2014 at the moment can be found on my blog page at:

http://www.stannersenglish.com

This website is still under construction but hopefully will be finalised soon.

Phoenix Education will be publishing a new round of Teacher Resource books for the new 2015 texts later this year and next but this term, there will also be a new text I have worked on for the past year called 'Exploring Asian Voices'.  I have included a wide range of text types and catered for different ability levels for students in Years 7, 8 and 9. Some more challenging of the texts including 'The China Coin' are suitable for studnets in Year 10 and Baillie's novel is also included on the 2015 ESL text list. 

Student or staff, school based workshops can be specifically designed to suit school needs, depending on location and cohort sizes. particular curriculum subject matter, including National Curriculum resources and programming.
 Email me for further details: barbara.stanners@internode.on.net

'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' continued

Re-analysing the text has been enjoyable for I now find the play so much richer in inference and sub-text than I think I appreciated before. Approaching it as an older woman also has altered my perspective compared to when I was closer to Bubba's age. This is an aspect that I think teachers might need to be aware of when they approach it in the classroom. Our students obviously have an adolescent mindset and so helping them develop a personal voice when evaluating the text will need attention if they are not to just rattle off simplistic commentary. Examining what academic analysis I have come across is an eye-opener for some suggest that the bond between Roo and Barney was homosexual or that Olive was utterly dysfunctional or that the male and mateship type focus predominates all other central issues. There have also been glaring errors such as some claiming that the timeframe is only two days when it clearly takes place over months.
Lawler's director notes are very important in clarifying performance, staging and even body language used to convey meaning and so I would pay close attention to these when teaching the text. There are also Lawler's explicit comments from interviews, DVD, and feature articles that assert his intentions and primary thematic concerns. These would be useful in developing thesis arguments and a 'distinctive voices' focus.
Module A responses benefit from showing students exemplar paragraphs to demonstrate how they combine textual analysis, elective focus and personal voice. More than a paragraph about 'voice' within the text is necessary for it must really provide the thesis framework throughout their response.
In writing my chapter on 'the Doll', I will aim to keep focused on this above all else. If students require a synopsis by the end of their study, then they have obviously not read the text well enough. More importantly, it is not what happens in the play that is the focus but why it happens and how is it conveyed via language use.
A dramatic focus is also required, with clear understanding of the intimate connection between audience and what is happening onstage. For this reason, attention to staging, props, lighting and dramatic construction needs to be included because the way in which 'voices' are created and used within the play are linked to how such dramatic devices are incorporated into the fabric of the script. Lawler's directions make clear that such things are adjuncts to the place but are integral features in generating audience connection with people unable to cope with the pressures and demands of change.
Many factors account for the play's iconic status and these need to be programmed into the course of study. Looking at theatre sites that deal with the play may be a good strategy to find ways of clarifying this. Any play is designed as performance theatre and so things like set design, blocking and such like may prompt student appreciation for how the play works in such a compelling way.
It will probably take me another week to finish off this text before moving onto 'Run Lola Run' but I will try to blog more regularly, especially once school resumes.
I will also be posting the TTA topics for 2014 next post but I have had to limit them for this year due to increased school based workshops but more about that next time.
Happy re-term preparation. Whoever said teachers have a lot of holidays obviously never knew about the months of resourcing, programming and unit planning that is required.
Barbara

New Year and 'the Doll' as a Distinctive Voice text

'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'
Ray Lawler
Module A - Distinctive Voices

It is amazing to be revisiting this text after nearly forty years. Looking over my notes from the late seventies, type-written notes on fullscap paper without any digital resources, I realise how much teaching has changed in that time. 'Lit Crit' is a much maligned term these days but the quality of the work that was done before 2001 was still evaluative and language focused. It can be difficult to conceptually massage content and style of 2015 texts into rigid criteria such as 'Distinctive Voices'. That said however, 'the Doll' is a fabulous prescribed text for this module elective for its compelling use of vernacular language.

Some of the assertions made in recent academic papers on the play counter Lawler's explicit comments about his dramatic focus, characterisation or use of language. For this reason, it is a good idea to find what the composer has had to say about his text. There are some sound video material that can be examined to form an introductory foundation for study of Lawler's methods for creating distinctive voices within his play. These include the following:

http://www.snodger.com.au/whatiwrote/notes/WIWNotesLawler.pdf

 

http://www.whatiwrote.com.au/writer/lawler.php

 

 http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/a-lucky-play-20110901-1jmlp.html#ixzz2pEMaOXHN

 

I am enjoying working on the text in preparation for publication of the next round of textbooks and just as the short stories of Henry Lawson and Douglas Stewart's poetry works well for Distinctively Visual, 'Summer of the Seventeenth Doll' works well for Distinctive Voice. Much better than some of the other options for the 2015 HSC. It is crucial that text selection is based on how well students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the text in relation to the elective focus. If the connection is not strong, students can struggle to articulate how language has been manipulated.  I hope those teachers considering 'the Doll' as a Module A option, find the above resources useful.

 

Barbara

 

Distinctively Visual -Douglas Stewart's Poetry

If you have never considered doing Douglas Stewart's poetry for this module elective, give it some thought. It is some years now since I first analysed the prescribed poems set for study but on re-examination, I am even more impressed by how beautifully written they are. Whereas at times, it seems a bit of a stretch to massage text study to fit the elective focus, these poems work brilliantly because Stewart really has such a distinctively visual focus.
Now working on the next round of Teacher Resource Books, I am once again impressed by the poet's language use. His stylistic genius and mastery of form enables him to capture the visual essence of what he is describing in each poem. The first reading may not amaze you but each subsequent reading draws you into the situational moment, revealing details previously missed. You will find yourself scribbling down annotations for nearly every phrase. Sensory detail is compressed and if set poems were long, this could pose a problem for students but it is their brevity, each one only 1-3 stanzas, that makes it very easy to teach students how to pick out their layered meaning.
When coupled with the sheer abundance and creativity of the poetic techniques he has used and his genuinely distinctive use of visual focussed content and language, it is an excellent prescribed text choice. The poems themselves have also been well selected (not always the case with other options) for each is unique in subject matter and style and yet clearly linked by the poet's ability to evoke a scene, mood or issue. He really does make his reader  'see' with the mind's eye and share his reactions to the visual stimulus he focuses on.
HSC text selection is dictated by the first text chosen but I recommend having a look at Douglas Stewart. I have spoken to some teaches who are considering  Kominos option as an easier 'Distinctive Voice' option, but there is so much students can discuss with regards to Stewart as a 'distinctively visual' poet.
Better get back to writing but wanted to fly a flag for giving this poet's work a second glance if you have not already finalised your text selection for 2015.

Distinctively Visual -Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson's prescribed stories are a popular choice for this Module Elective because they are so accessible. Problems exist however if they are not examined with sufficient focus on his distinctively visual use of language. Most students can readily identify his techniques and particular aspects of his prose style but they often do not build their thesis around how he visually prompts reader interpretation and response. Each story is built around a central experience be it a snake threat, bush courtship, a burning cartridge or a train trip.
This becomes the fulcrum for the author's exploration of character, place and situation. While similarities and contrasts exist across the four stories, Lawson's mastery of the 'show not tell' narrative rule is always evident. He sketches individuals, relationships and place, adding details through inference, commentary and dialogue in the same way that an artist adds brushstrokes. His incisive focus pinpoints traits and elements that prompt his readers to imagine who and what is being depicted.
He wrote about what he experienced first-hand and therefore there is strong feeling of authenticity of what we are shown. One of the other benefits of using Lawson is that studying his short stories can help prepare students for their Section II AOS response. By evaluating how Lawson uses language in a distinctively visual, cameramen like way, they can adopt some of his strategies in their own creative writing. He explores human experience and so this 'voice of the bush' also remains relevant to contemporary readers even though the world he conveys has long since disappeared.

Distinctively Visual Module A

Exploring Distinctively Visual Language Use

This elective involves far more recognising how experiences and relationships can be literally or metaphorically 'seen' within text. It encompasses a far deeper evaluating what, how and why, composers utilise language in distinctive ways to achieve a particular impact. The syllabus rubric must be properly 'understood' and conceptually unravelled if students are to grasp what to look for in both prescribed and related texts. 
The language choices made by composers can alter perspectives and trigger insight and this is what students need to be looking for. Textual study for many students remains on the identification level of comprehension and teachers need to explore and design T&L strategies that allows students to become far more sophisticated in their responses. Techniques are found but then treated as a checklist rather than reflecting on how such methods have been skilfully manipulated to achieve a specific interpretation. The 'distinctive' focus for both electives in this module is often underplayed during study but it should be the benchmark of textual examination. It is not just what techniques have been used but which ones are unique or unexpected and decidedly 'visual' in the way they direct an audience's focus or response. Examination of past HSC questions for this module, reaffirms that teaching themes or characterisation or plot will not equip students to properly address their texts.

Ways into the module need to be found that focus students squarely on appreciating how visual representational strategies can be used in written as well as media text types. This will help shape their subsequent learning for the HSC.

Brilliant photo essays or websites such as the following can be great starting points:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/09/the-women-of-the-afghanistan-war/100585/

By incorporating a representation module into the Preliminary Course, many of the basic interpretive and compositional skills can already be in place before HSC prescribed study begins. Students need to become aware of the evocative impact of visual representation techniques within different textual mediums. Cartoons, iconic images or well-chosen advertisements  can get  students conceptually thinking through a distinctively visual lens, but most of our HSC class time needs to remain focused on developing the necessary writing skills they will need.  

Lawson's short stories work brilliantly but so too does the film 'Run Lola Run' and Douglas Stewart's poetry and Misto's play 'The Shoe-Horn Sonata'. The trick is to remain focused on how the composer makes use of distinctively visual imagery, symbolism and other visual cues  for specific effect and how effective as a result is the text's ability to elicit a powerful response.

Barbara