Close Passage Analysis
VCAA ADVICE FROM 2016
Focus on the 'how'! How did the writer create meaning? Focus on this.
Students were very familiar with the task and most drew on the passages to ground their responses, which was crucial to scoring well on the criteria. Occasionally, however, students offered very strong interpretations of the text but paid little attention to the passages on the examination; such essays showed a limited understanding of the task. Conversely, some essays revealed an evident capacity to discuss the passages and explore some subtleties of the language but did not draw ideas together to present an interpretation of the text as a whole, an expectation that is reflected in five of the assessment criteria.
Students are often concerned about how to begin their essays and how to structure them. Many students wrote a one-sentence proposition at the outset, isolated from the essay; these statements often did not sit well with the ideas offered by the passages. There is no single approach or expected structure, and students can demonstrate their insights in many different ways.
Students who wrote essays that scored in the very high and high range demonstrated thorough knowledge of the text and often an ease of movement with the passages. They displayed complexity in their understanding – that is, an awareness of several facets of the text, an awareness of nuances of meaning and an ability to accept and navigate apparent contradictions and ambiguities. They were insightful and subtle in the ways they worked closely with the language and were highly expressive. They were also able to articulate the views and values endorsed or challenged in the text. Many of these students displayed an assurance and confidence that comes from much writing practice during the year.
Essays in the middle range tended to be more general, lacking complexity or the subtlety of shades of meaning, and did far less close working with the language, often relying on quotation rather than analysis. They sometimes treated views and values as an ‘add-on’ paragraph, whereas high-scoring responses maintained a firm sense of these throughout the essay. Many of these students seemed to lack the expressive vocabulary for conveying distinctions.
Students must understand that if their handwriting is unclear or illegible the flow of meaning for the reader may be interrupted. The checklist on the back page of the examination advised students to reread their essays to check for such clarity and amend if necessary.
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Unit 4: Key Knowledge
- the effects and nuances of language
- the significance of key passages in interpreting a text
- the connections between features of a text in developing an interpretation
- the views and values suggested in a text
- the conventions appropriate to presenting an interpretation.
- discuss how certain passages in a text can reveal developments in a text
- analyse the features of a text and make appropriate connections between them
- analyse how key passages and features in a text contribute to an interpretation
- synthesise the various elements of the text into a coherent view.
WRITING ON A PLAY (and any text).
THINK!
Consider how these elements work within the passages, and also between the passages.
- Show awareness that the texts is a script meant to be acted. Take note of stage directions in the passages and explain the significance of at least some of them in your response.
- Show the power of the writing in the passages you choose to discuss and their significance in the text as a whole.
- The best starting point is the language of the the passages.
- Be specific in making links between the language features and other elements of the text.
- Make links between the passages, and from the passages out to the wider text.
- Higher scoring responses refer to two or three of the set passages.
- Don't start with a key idea from a text. and then try to apply it to the passage or passages. Instead, focus on the passages and then relate these to the text as a whole.
- Don't do a 'views and values' style answer. Instead make sure you move from the extract out as you discuss how elements in the passage link with views and values in the text.
THINK!
- Characterisation
- Language Use Analysis
- Views and Values
- Form and structure
- Setting
Consider how these elements work within the passages, and also between the passages.
Introduction
When constructing introductions, it is important to note that the VCAA Literature Exam Criteria is as follows:
STRUCTURE
1. THE INTRO: LEAP STRAIGHT IN AND JUST DO IT!
E.G. As the play progresses, the brothers who seems so different begin to merge and even swap characteristics.....
2. Write several well-structured and linked paragraphs, in which you discuss your interpretation of the text in light of the passages supplied. Start each one with a topic sentence or mini contention that discuss aspects of :
EXAMPLE TOPIC SENTENCES.
3. Use material from the passages to support your interpretation throughout.
OTHER TIPS!
These are the tips that the assessors of the Literature exam would like you to have on extract analysis.
– Needs to talk about text construction – how the text is structured. T
– You can talk about how you will use the passages and how the passages reflect key concerns in the text. However, the more capable students will avoid writing ‘In Passage One’ and so on.
– Nothing should be pre-prepared, it’s all about the passages you get on the day.
– Views and values is hugely important.
– No retelling. The assessors know the texts.
– Can talk about how the work is characterised by a number of views and values, which are reflected in the passages. They don’t have to all reflect one.
– Language analysis so important.
– Avoid dull descriptions of rhyming schemes
– Vocabulary so important. Many students misuse words. Only use words you understand. Bulk up your vocabulary beforehand, don’t try new words on the day.
– Plot and interpretation errors stand out like a sore thumb
– You need to move seamlessly through the passages not deal with them one at a time. Good students can also mention reflections in other poems or works by that author.
– Main concerns of the assessors are: poor understanding of text, poor use of the passages, poor analysis, poor communication skills.
– Passages need to be explored in some detail and students must know the text in great detail. It also helps if you can quote from other parts of the text (or from other poems).
– You are not locked into the passages alone, can use these to discuss the wider text
– Writing a plot summary shows real weakness. You will not score well.
– You do not have to use all passages
– In poems and short stories, you should discuss the collection as a whole. This is the whole text.
Some suggested approaches
– use passages to show development of plot, character or concerns of the text
– close analysis of language and features of the text
– discussions of the world and values of the text as reflected in the passages
Very High range of assessment shows:
– use of passages
– Interpretation
– complexity and perception
– evidence of close reading
– analysis of language and literary features
– Understanding of views and values
– well written, fluent, appropriate language
- understanding of the text demonstrated in a relevant and plausible interpretation
- ability to write expressively and coherently to present an interpretation
- understanding of how views and values may be suggested in the text
- analysis of how key passages and/or moments in the text contribute to an interpretation
- analysis of the features of a text and how they contribute to an interpretation
- analysis and close reading of textual details to support a coherent and detailed interpretation of the text
STRUCTURE
1. THE INTRO: LEAP STRAIGHT IN AND JUST DO IT!
E.G. As the play progresses, the brothers who seems so different begin to merge and even swap characteristics.....
2. Write several well-structured and linked paragraphs, in which you discuss your interpretation of the text in light of the passages supplied. Start each one with a topic sentence or mini contention that discuss aspects of :
- Characterisation
- Language Use Analysis
- Views and Values
- Form and structure
- Setting
EXAMPLE TOPIC SENTENCES.
- Eliza's relationship with Pickering is a foil for her relationship with Higgins, her Pygmalion. While Pickering "treats her (Eliza) like a lady, and always will", Higgins treats her and "every lady as though she were a flower girl".
- Shaw critiques the value of wealth within Victorian society and the dependance of it on the class structure.
- Within the didactic tale Pygmalion, one of the central protagonists Eliza undergoes a romantic transformation from Flower girl, "at the corner of Tottenham road", to Duchess
3. Use material from the passages to support your interpretation throughout.
OTHER TIPS!
These are the tips that the assessors of the Literature exam would like you to have on extract analysis.
– Needs to talk about text construction – how the text is structured. T
– You can talk about how you will use the passages and how the passages reflect key concerns in the text. However, the more capable students will avoid writing ‘In Passage One’ and so on.
– Nothing should be pre-prepared, it’s all about the passages you get on the day.
– Views and values is hugely important.
– No retelling. The assessors know the texts.
– Can talk about how the work is characterised by a number of views and values, which are reflected in the passages. They don’t have to all reflect one.
– Language analysis so important.
– Avoid dull descriptions of rhyming schemes
– Vocabulary so important. Many students misuse words. Only use words you understand. Bulk up your vocabulary beforehand, don’t try new words on the day.
– Plot and interpretation errors stand out like a sore thumb
– You need to move seamlessly through the passages not deal with them one at a time. Good students can also mention reflections in other poems or works by that author.
– Main concerns of the assessors are: poor understanding of text, poor use of the passages, poor analysis, poor communication skills.
– Passages need to be explored in some detail and students must know the text in great detail. It also helps if you can quote from other parts of the text (or from other poems).
– You are not locked into the passages alone, can use these to discuss the wider text
– Writing a plot summary shows real weakness. You will not score well.
– You do not have to use all passages
– In poems and short stories, you should discuss the collection as a whole. This is the whole text.
Some suggested approaches
– use passages to show development of plot, character or concerns of the text
– close analysis of language and features of the text
– discussions of the world and values of the text as reflected in the passages
Very High range of assessment shows:
– use of passages
– Interpretation
– complexity and perception
– evidence of close reading
– analysis of language and literary features
– Understanding of views and values
– well written, fluent, appropriate language