2 Eng Skills

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Online Test: HSC-style English Examination

(Paper 1)

N.B. While every attempt has been made by the author to compose an authentic version of Paper 1 of the HSC English Examination (Area of Study: The Journey), students should note that the format of this examination is subject to variation from year to year and they should consult their teachers and the Board of Studies website to find the latest relevant information.

ENGLISH (STANDARD)

AND ENGLISH (ADVANCED)

Paper 1 – Area of Study:

The Journey

General Instructions

• Reading time -10 minutes • Working time -2 hours • Write using black or blue pen

Total Marks – 45 Section 1

15 marks

• Attempt Question 1

• Allow about 40 minutes for this section

Section 2 15 marks

• Attempt Question 2

• Attempt ONE question from Questions 3-5

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Attempt Question 1

Allow about 40 minutes for this section

In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:

• demonstrate understanding of the way perceptions of journeys are shaped in and through texts

• describe, explain and analyse the relationship between language, text and context.

Question 1 (15 marks)

Examine Texts one, two and three carefully and then answer the questions that follow.

Text one – Cartoon

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Text two – Poem

(from Sometimes Gladness by Bruce Dawe)

Drifters

One day soon he’ll tell her it’s time to start packing,

and the kids will yell ‘Truly?’ and get wildly excited for no reason, and the brown kelpie pup will start dashing about, tripping

everyone up,

and she’ll go out to the vegetable-patch and pick all the green

tomatoes from the vines, and notice how the oldest girl is close to tears because she was

happy here,

and how the youngest girl is beaming because she wasn’t. And the first thing she’ll put on the trailer will be the bottling-set

she never unpacked from Grovedale, and when the loaded ute bumps down the drive past the blackberry-

canes with their last shrivelled fruit, she won’t even ask why they’re leaving this time, or where

they’re headed for – she’ll only remember how, when they came here,

she held out her hands bright with berries, the first of the season, and said:

‘Make a wish, Tom, make a wish.’ Text three – Reflective Recount

(extract from Cats, Cradles and Chamomile Tea by Anna Maria Dell’oso)

Every few weeks for several years, I drove over 600 kilometres from Sydney to Armidale. I made the journey for love: my dearest person was at the University of New England. Up the Pacific Highway, through the Hunter Valley, on to the hard, flat mining towns in recession, climbing steadily upwards past Tamworth, where country guitars would complain on the radio, to the chill of the New England plateau, the high country where the temperature would drop and the wind nip through the window.

Through seven hours of solitary driving, the weary cafes, road-houses, town halls and pubs become totems. There you get out of your capsule to be plunged into a different reality. This is the lonely sweet romance of the road. Late one rainy night, tired to my bones, I stopped in a mining town. The only vacant room was at a miner’s hotel. Down in the bar the blokes bought me a nip of rum as I dried out. They collected twenty cent pieces ‘to ring the boyfriend, love – he’ll be worried about ya’. Theirs was a hard labouring life but their gentlemanly warmth made it a six-star hotel for me.

There is a human spirit, weirdly Australian, on the highways. There is also an inhuman one. I have driven heart-in-mouth as the fog descends, the car splutters and simple bends rear up too fast. Tall gums reach out, their leaves hiss and mutter. You cling to the reality of the painted lines. But something is singing for you. It’s a wild old, old country beyond the highway markers.

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Examine Texts one, two and three carefully and then answer the following questions:

Text one – Cartoon

(a) (i) In the cartoon, what comment is being made about man’s

journey into modern living? 1

(ii) Explain how two visual features are used to support this

comment. 2

Text two – Poem

(b) How does the poem show us the consequences of embarking on the

journey? 3

Text three – Reflective recount

(c) Discuss how the writer uses two techniques to show her attitude to her

journey. 4

Texts one, two and three

(d) Identify the tone of each of the three texts.

Compare how the tone of each text is created and how it reflects the

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Attempt Question 2

Allow about 40 minutes for this section

In your answer you will assessed on how well you:

• express understanding of the journey in the context of your studies • use language appropriate to audience, purpose and context.

Imagine you are a person who has reached a significant point on a journey.

Write an article for Directions, a magazine for young people, in which you reflect on your experiences and pass on some of the valuable insights you have derived from your journey.

In your article you might consider the motivations, obstacles, milestones, destination and consequences of your journey.

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Attempt ONE question from Questions 3-5

In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:

• demonstrate understanding of the concept of the journey in the context of your study

• analyse, explain and assess the ways journeys are represented in a variety of texts

• organise, develop and express ideas using language appropriate to audience, purpose and context.

Question 3 (15 marks) Focus – Physical Journeys

Imagine that the composer of your prescribed text, the composer of a text from the Stimulus Booklet Journeys and the composer of a text of your own choosing are participating in a radio forum. They are discussing their texts about physical journeys. The topic for discussion is: How do texts about physical journeys transport their

audiences on these journeys?

Write the transcript of their discussion. The prescribed texts are:

• Prose Fiction - Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

• Drama - Michael Gow, Away

• Poetry - Peter Skrzynecki, Immigrant Chronicle ‘Immigrants at Central Station, 1951’ ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’

‘Crossing the Red Sea’ ‘Leaving home’ ‘Migrant hostel’

‘A drive in the country’ ‘Post card’

• Nonfiction - Jesse Martin, Lionheart

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Focus – Imaginative Journeys

Imagine that the composer of your prescribed text, the composer of a text from the Stimulus Booklet Journeys and the composer of a text of your own choosing are participating in a radio forum. They are discussing their texts about imaginative journeys.

The topic for discussion is: How do texts about imaginative journeys transport their

• Prose Fiction - Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game • Drama/Shakespeare - William Shakespeare, The Tempest

• Poetry - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Complete Poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1834) This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison Frost at Midnight

Kubla Khan

• Nonfiction - Melvyn Bragg, On Giants’ Shoulders • Film - Robert Zemeckis, Contact

Question 5 (15 marks) Focus – Inner Journeys

Imagine that the composer of your prescribed text, the composer of a text from the Stimulus Booklet Journeys and the composer of a text of your own choosing are participating in a radio forum. They are discussing their texts about inner journeys. The topic for discussion is: How do texts about inner journeys transport their

• Prose Fiction - J G Ballard, Empire of the Sun

• Drama - Louis Nowra, Cosi

• Poetry - Ken Watson (ed.), Imagined Corners

Sujata Bhatt, The One Who Goes Away Ivan Lalic, Of Eurydice

Gwyneth Lewis, Fax X Mudrooroo, A Righteous Day

Janos Pilinszky, The French Prisoner Vittorio Sereni, A Dream

Xuan Quynh, Worried Over the Days Past • Nonfiction - Sally Morgan, My Place

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Suggestions for your answers:

Section 1

(a) (i) The cartoon is commenting on the mock-heroic nature of the journey into modern living. We like to think of this journey in heroic terms (i.e. the space exploration concept) but in fact it is a very modest journey of meagre significance.

(ii) The mock-heroic nature of the journey is supported by these visual features:

The humorously exaggerated depiction of the man’s house landing on earth like the first landing on the moon (in the first two frames): satirises our attempts to view our journey into modern living in heroic terms.

The reluctance of the man’s steps and his forlorn expression (from the fourth to the eighth frame): suggest the timid and unheroic attitude to the journey.

The smallness of the human figure, overwhelmed by the city skyline (in the last frame): suggests the insignificance (and lack of heroism) of an individual’s journey when he is just one of so many.

(Note: you only need to identify and explain two visual techniques to gain the two marks for this question).

(b) Techniques used to show the consequences of embarking on the journey: Flat, depressed tone (emphasised by the use of prosaic language)

suggests the unhappiness experienced by the mother/wife (the “she” in the poem) when faced with the prospect of leaving.

Contrast between the reactions of the two daughters shows how people react differently to the prospect of leaving and moving elsewhere.

The frustration of never becoming long enough established in one place to live a productive and fulfilling existence is emphasised by the symbolism of the “green tomatoes”.

Contrast between the hopefulness when the family first arrived (“she held out hands bright with berries, / the first of the season and said: / ‘Make a wish, Tom, make a wish.’”) with the sense of wasted hopes at their sudden departure (symbolised by the “shrivelled fruit”). Lack of punctuation (the whole poem is just two sentences) and the

repetitious use of “and” not only heighten the flat, depressed tone but also suggest the monotonous pattern of arriving then leaving in the drifters’ existence.

(Note: you only need to identify and explain three techniques to gain the three marks for this question).

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(c) The writer shows her mixed attitude to the journey by using a variety of techniques:

Mostly the writer registers a negative attitude ranging from boredom to fear. The long sentence in the first paragraph, listing a series of images (e.g. “the hard, flat mining towns”), shows the difficulty of this journey, as if only love could have motivated her to undertake it. The strangeness of the journey is suggested by the metaphor of space or time travel (“There you get out of your capsule to be plunged into a different reality”).

The fear of travelling in foggy conditions is conveyed effectively by the personification of the gum trees (“Tall gums reach out, their leaves hiss and mutter”) emphasising the threatening nature of this alien landscape.

The writer shows her positive attitude to the journey by the anecdote of the hospitable miners, using exaggeration (“their gentlemanly warmth made it a six-star hotel for me”) to emphasise her gratitude. The writer’s mixed feelings about the journey are most succinctly

conveyed by the oxymoron: “the lonely, sweet romance of the road”. This paradoxical description of her journey suggests that it is both joyous adventure (after all, it is accomplished for love) and yet also a somewhat intimidating and alienating experience.

(Note: you only need to identify, explain and discuss two techniques used by the writer to gain the four marks, yet the discussion needs to be in more detail than that required for the previous two questions).

(d) The three texts depict three very different journeys, yet a common aspect is the apparent reluctance (or at least mixed feelings) of the central figure in each text to undertake the journey.

The tone of the cartoon is ironic, as it gently ridicules the character (representative of all mankind perhaps) who sees his journey into modern living as a heroic journey. This tone is emphasised mostly by the humorously exaggerated comparison of this journey to the first landing on the moon. The facial expression of the character (ranging from anxiety to depression) is a visual feature that adds to the irony because his reaction seems so extreme given the ordinary and unimportant nature of the journey.

Initially there seems to be a tone of excitement in the poem about the prospect of moving, but this tone is not sustained (“the kids … get wildly excited for no reason”). The main tone of the poem is depressed and fatalistic, reflecting the negative attitude towards moving felt by the mother/wife, whose perspective is given most prominence in the poem. This tone is achieved by the use of long sentences; dull, prosaic language; and the sense of wasted hope conveyed by the symbolic image of “shrivelled fruit”.

In the final text the writer expresses mixed feelings about her journey, so the tone varies. A positive view of the journey is

suggested when she tells us “I made the journey for love” and by the anecdote of the hospitable miners. More characteristically, however, she registers a negative tone created by the long sentence in the first

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paragraph listing mostly unpleasant impressions along the trip; the metaphor of space or time travel in the second paragraph showing her sense of alienation in this unfamiliar landscape; and the

personification of the gum trees in the third paragraph indicating the menacing nature of the landscape she is forced to traverse and thereby suggesting her fear. Overall the writer’s view of the journey is best conveyed by the oxymoron (“the lonely, sweet romance of the road”) that suggests the paradoxical mix of positive and negative feelings.

(Note: write this response in the form of a mini-essay, with a short

introduction and a short conclusion. Don’t worry if you find yourself repeating points raised in earlier answers – provided that the points are still relevant you will get good marks for them all over again!).

Section 2

Consider the context, audience and purpose (“CAP”) of the writing situation:

1) Context: print media (magazine) 2) Audience: young people

3) Purpose:

- to relate journey experiences

- to reflect on meaning/significance of experiences - to engage the interest/attention of audience

You will be required to write using less formal language than that used in essays. In fact, magazine articles tend to be lively and colourful in style. You will need to make special appeals to your young audience, but do not underestimate their intelligence or receptiveness to challenging ideas. You are not required to format your article authentically, i.e. writing in

columns, including graphics. However, an engaging title (possibly using a pun, alliteration or rhyme) would be most appropriate.

If you have previously prepared an effective narrative on the theme of journeys, you can almost certainly adapt it to suit this writing task. Make sure you write from the perspective of the journeyer (i.e. first person, not third person).

Always take the time to plan your work before you start writing. However, in an exam situation use no more than about five minutes for planning of the forty minutes allocated to this section.

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Section 3

This question is a reminder that we cannot always expect to get an essay question for this section of the exam. Although you are writing the transcript of a discussion in a radio forum, you are still required to

demonstrate the same sophisticated grasp of the concept of the journey as you would show in an essay. The language might be a little less formal than in an essay, but the nature of the discussion will still demand the use of appropriate terminology.

You might consider having a host or convener of the radio forum who might ask questions of the three composers. Plan your response by making a list of the questions that might be asked, then decide which composers will answer each question. If you decide not to have a convener, identify the specific points to be raised in the discussion and the order in which the composers might logically move through these points in addressing the overall topic.

Notice the “how” in the topic for discussion: How do texts about

physical/imaginative/inner journeys transport their audiences on these journeys? Clearly there is a strong focus on the techniques used by

composers to engage their audiences. Whenever you are discussing techniques, remember to TIE:

1) Identify the technique.

2) Illustrate the technique with an example.

3) Explain the effectiveness of the technique (in this case, in transporting the audience on the journey).

Set out your transcript in the form of a play script, with the names of the speakers clearly indicated on the left hand side of the page and the words spoken following after a colon, e.g.

GOW: Of course, any effective play needs to use dramatic techniques to engage the theatre audience.

HOST: Can you tell us about the dramatic techniques you used? Don’t bother to use direct speech with inverted commas unless you are told to do so.

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Acknowledgments

The publishers would like to gratefully credit or acknowledge the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

Cartoon from The Stick by Michael Leunig, published by Penguin Books Australia 2002, copyright © Michael Leunig; Poem ‘Drifters’ by Bruce Dawe, from Sometimes Gladness: Selected Poems 1954-1997, published by Longman, 1997; Extract from Cats, Cradles and Chamomile Tea by Anna Maria Dell’oso, Random House, 1989. While every care has been taken to trace and acknowledge copyright, the publishers tender their apologies for accidental infringement where copyright has proved untraceable. They would be pleased to come to a suitable arrangement with the rightful owner in each case.