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Quick Question on Related Texts (1 Viewer)

PodiatryA

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Hello :)

I'm just wondering, if it's okay to have 3 texts that convey NOT BELONGING? But not a single text that doesn't specifically revolve around Belonging? Or are the markers looking for a little variety? like lets say you had your Core text (The Crucible) which is NOT BELONGING, and chose 2 other texts that are the same, and one text that conveys BELONGING.

I'm a little confused with this, because i was picking texts based on NOT BELONGING just like The Crucible.

So should i have texts that convey all aspects of belonging? Or doesn't it matter to much? Please let me know, if you understood this :D
 

madsam

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Texts that convey all forms of belonging will be most appropriate, and allow you to explore the concept and display your knowledge

I had two additional texts, the core Romulus my father and additionals Into The Wild (film) and The Red Tree (Picture Book)
This enabled me to link belonging Rom + Wild as well as not belonging Rom + Wild, and then the consequences of not belonging Rom + Tree
 

PodiatryA

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I thought so :D

Thankyou madsam, much appreciated.
I was thinking of doing The Red Tree as my 3rd related text. The little girl at the start does not belong, but by the end of the story she is full of hope and smiles. What kind of belonging is that? I'm sorry, lol. English is not my best subject at all!

Green for you :)
 

madsam

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When writing essays and junk, you don't talk about the storyline, because that is too basic. Instead you talk about the methods used and incorporated into the story to bring out the themes of x and y

This was from my old essays, i've removed parts so you cant cheat ;)

The psychological need to acquire a sense of belonging is depicted within The Red Tree through a series of surreal and interconnected images. A recurring motif of a small red leaf is used continuously throughout the book to symbolise “hope”, even in what appears to be the most hopeless of situations, “Things go from bad to worse”, “all your troubles come at once”. The juxtaposition of ...demonstrates the isolation and rejection felt by the girl, and her depression as a result of this is emphasised through low modality and repetition, .... dehumanisation of the protagonist, through the use of vectors and colour palettes in conjunction with subtitles... This dehumanisation emphasises the mental effects that are brought about as a result of not belonging, ... Through this text, the varied and complex nature of belonging is portrayed as desirable by all, but not necessarily achievable as a result of mental illness in a “the world [that] is a deaf machine”
 

Aerath

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Not belonging is equally as valid as belonging. :)
 
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^ Do not do 'The Red Tree' I assume that your teacher/tutor suggested it, or you heard from a friend, who's teacher/tutor told them. If not, I still advise not doing it. It's not a terrible text, but its overdone, and it was popular during the 'Change' concept in the years before 'Journeys' so it's not that original.

Here's advice I gave to another student(who did standard):

It's going to annoy the marker, and they'll assume your teacher/friends just told you to choose that text.

I mean, would you be inspired if you read countless number of essays about the same book/film, which often will talk about the same thing essay after essay due to limitations in themes? I mean great as 'Bend it Like Bekham' is, there's not an infinite number of themes, and you'll be accused of extrapolation if you try and weasal out a good theme from a pop art text. So, I think not.

- sidenote: You'd think that after years of reading 'The Red Tree' in 'Change,' 'Journey' and now Belonging', the marker will be so familiar with the themes that you're in the danger zone. If you produce a same-as-the-previous-years response, it's not going to get you top marks, and so you're going to have to work hard to pull out a different theme from the tens of thousands of kids before you. And even then, extrapolation is always a common criticism.

So, it's better to choose one you know no-one else, and choose a classic - there's a reason why despite being written hundreds of years ago, books like Dante's Inferno or The Prince still have resonance in our world.

If you do Shakespeare, and do him well, I 100% will garuntee the marker will be so pleased, as I'm sure he won't expect that level of intellect from a standard student ( I mean no offence at all, just how the system works to their eyes, sorry ) and since the point of doing standard for most kids is to avoid Shakespeare, you'll have your outstanding essay.

If not, do a classic like I said lol.
 
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b00m

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Well i'm gonna completely disregard what taintedfeather said, and proceed with The Red Tree as a related text :eek:

quick question: is it possible to conclude that the text substantiates the value of familial belonging? in that she finds acceptance, in the end, at her home..

Could you also deduce that she fails to assimilate into that culture? i'm assuming that the persona is an immigrant.. its not explicity expressed, but the graphics of the plane and a 'boat' on the front cover may imply this..

[social belonging, obviosuly, is the prominent theme]
 

Aerath

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The graphics of planes and boats are symbols for the change in spiritual belonging, change in culture etc and social contexts that the persona finds herself in.
 

b00m

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The graphics of planes and boats are symbols for the change in spiritual belonging, change in culture etc and social contexts that the persona finds herself in.
cheers, i guess from that you can also extrapolate spacial (land) alienation/belonging
 

madsam

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So what if a text is overused? If it's a good text then it should be, and you're only going to be in danger if you're mediocre and can't write in depth and detail. They try and mark consistently, they wont give you bonus points simply because you chose something the marker has never heard of, infact, if you do something they are familiar with and write well, i think they'd be more inclined to give you more marks (HSC marks try to give you marks, not take them away)

Also, up until trials i had only been doing one frame from the book, but realised i simply couldn't write enough...and i didn't read the whole book for the first time until i bought it two days before the HSC exam XD
and i still got an exam mark of 91 lol
 

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