Fitzgerald’s novel about ‘careless people’ and avarice in the modern era is an established favourite for senior students. These pre-reading research tasks introduce students to the Roaring 20s, and can be given as homework or group work. The four task sheets cover Long Island life; Prohibition; Cars; and Americans in WWI. They involve a link to useful online reading and knowledge-building questions which engage students briefly before they go on to close textual study of the novel. Teachers can differentiate the tasks for students of varying ability.

This set of notes for ‘24 Poems’ by the Australian poet Robert Gray gives a full analysis of the poem with a relevant image and a handy grab-box explaining the poem’s significance and poetic techniques. A simple, one-stop analysis of this complex poem which students can work through in class or take home for private study. NOTE: Gray published two versions of this poem. One is in Coast Road and the other is a later version, in his Collected Poems. They differ in several stanzas. The analysis provided here is for the version in Collected Poems. HSC students should be aware of this. A new version of these notes, reflecting the Coast Road version, will be available soon.

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Common Module Texts and Human Experience. A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, The Merchant of Venice, answers a sample question for this module. There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

Lois Lowry’s novel about the value of memory and individuality in a sinister dystopia is an established favourite for late primary school / junior high school. This 31-page unit of work has been tested successfully with a mixed-ability class of 11-12 year olds. This unit focuses on close textual analysis. There is a mixture of tasks which gets students writing analytically, personally, and creatively, helping them to build up their own unique interpretation of the work, and eventually to express this in a formal essay. There is a contextual introduction to historical ideas of utopia, and a short research task where students find out about a utopian vision from another culture or time. Chapters are grouped into five sections, with each section comprising comprehsion questions, an analytical response, a personal response, and a creative response. Five age-appropriate essay questions ask students about the themes and characters in the novel.

‘New Accents’, by the Chinese-Australian poet Yu Ouyang, is a set text for HSC Standard English study. This set of notes gives a full analysis of the poem with a relevant image and a handy grab-box explaining the poem’s significance and poetic techniques. A simple, one-stop analysis of this complex poem which students can work through in class or take home for private study.

‘Lake within a lake’ by the Australian poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, is a set text for HSC Standard English study. This set of notes gives a full analysis of the poem with a relevant image and a handy grab-box explaining the poem’s significance and poetic techniques. Important points are in red. A simple, one-stop analysis of this complex poem which students can work through in class or take home for private study.

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Standard English Module A: Language, Identity, and Culture A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, The Castle answers the 2019 HSC question: Film relies on dialogue to create cultural tension. To what extent do you agree with this statement? There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Standard English Module B: Close Study of a Text. A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, the poetry of Robert Gray answers the 2019 HSC question: Literature reinforces or challenges our understanding of ordinary situations. Discuss this statement, making detailed reference to your prescribed text. There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

The poetry of W.B. Yeats is a great choice for higher interest/ability senior students. This worksheet will take 1-2 lessons to complete. It provides: a copy of the poem a comprehensive series of questions structured according to Bloom’s Taxonomy for easier differentiation a creative writing task which students can complete as homework

The poetry of W.B. Yeats is a great choice for higher interest/ability senior students. This worksheet will take 1-2 lessons to complete. It provides: a copy of the poem a comprehensive series of questions structured according to Bloom’s Taxonomy for easier differentiation a creative writing task which students can complete as homework

HSC Module C: The Craft of Writing offers students complex texts from which to draw for their own writing. Because of their complex construction and ideas, students can be at a loss for ‘ways in’ to the text. Diving Bell’s ‘Ways Into’ series for Module C provide a structured way for students to consider the text in terms of Content, Context, and Construction, with appropriate elements within these headings. By the end of the worksheet the student should be clear on the content, meaning, construction-strategies, and ways to use Kim Cheng Boey’s autobiographical poem ‘Stamp Collecting’. A completed teacher’s copy with possible responses is available so that time-poor teachers can lead classes through these texts.

‘Late Ferry’, by the Australian poet Robert Gray, is a familiar poem for senior study. This set of notes gives a full analysis of the poem with a relevant image and a handy grab-box explaining poetic techniques, and related texts which complement the poem for students who must study it in concert with one other text. Important points are in red. A simple, one-stop analysis of this complex poem which students can work through in class or take home for private study.

‘Description of a Walk’ by the Australian poet Robert Gray, is a set text for HSC Standard English study. This set of notes gives a full analysis of the poem with a relevant image and a handy grab-box explaining the poem’s significance and poetic techniques. A simple, one-stop analysis of this complex poem which students can work through in class or take home for private study.

Bundle Description TALKING POINTS: Memorized essays betray a lack of confidence and an unwillingness to commit to authentic answers. Examiners have always advised students to prepare ‘talking points’ instead - a selection of ideas that they can draw on and which convey solid analysis and interpretation of the text. These talking points can be used by teachers, to focus discussion on higher-level or less-noticed features of the text and context. They also form effective student revision materials for formal assessment. Each point is supported by a piece of evidence from the text, and there are sufficient points to generate solid responses to almost any essay question. The Talking Points also model how students can articulate more complex thoughts about the text, and adduce evidence in natural and well-integrated writing. SAMPLE ESSAY: This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Standard English Module A: Language, Identity, and Culture A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, The Castle answers the 2019 HSC question: Film relies on dialogue to create cultural tension. To what extent do you agree with this statement? There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Standard English Module B: Close Study of a Text. A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, The Truman Show, answers the 2019 HSC question: Literature reinforces or challenges our understanding of ordinary situations. Discuss this statement, making detailed reference to your prescribed text. There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Advanced English Module A: Textual Conversations. A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text-pairing The Tempest and Hag-Seed, answers the 2019 HSC question: Everything is being dismantled, reconstructed, recycled. To what end? For what purpose? To what extent is this true of the texts you have studied for this module? There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Standard English Module B: Close Study of a Text. A generic essay plan shows students how to compose an essay suitable for Stage 6, progressing them from the simpler PEEL/TEAL models of Stage 4 and 5. A sample essay for the prescribed text, M.T. Anderson’s novel Feed, answers a sample question for this module. There is also a second copy of the essay, marked up to show how it follows the plan, and with five short questions which require students to engage critically with the essay and its form.

This resource comprises two different sample answers to the 2019 HSC Advanced English Module C question, which gave candidates a short paragraph from a novel and asked them to continue the piece. Candidates had to evoke a particular emotional response from readers, and could continue in an imaginative, persuasive, or discursive mode. The first sample answer shows how the prompt paragraph could be continued in an imaginative/discursive vein, drawing on techniques from both modes and evoking a response of shock from the reader. The second sample answer shows how the prompt could be continued in an imaginative/persuasive vein, also drawing on techniques from both modes and evoking a response of amusement and surprise from the reader. While the first answer continues the passage on the same level of fictiveness, the second answer treats the passage as a framed text and explicitly analyses it within the response. Check out more creative writing resources at https://thecraftofwriting.org/

Shakespeare’s play about madness and family is an established favourite for senior students. This 48-page unit of work has been tested successfully with a mixed-ability class and provides material for a full 10-week school term. This unit focuses on close textual analysis. There is a mixture of tasks which gets students writing analytically, personally, and creatively, helping them to build up their own unique interpretation of the work, and eventually to express this in a formal essay. There is a brief, student-friendly explanation of what a close reading actually is and how to perform it, followed by a sample close reading of the opening passage. Each scene has a single-page task sheet comprising three higher-order tasks: a close reading of a nominated passage, an extended response to develop interpretative thinking, and a choice of creative writing tasks which springboard from the language and ideas in the chapter. Ten senior-level essay questions offer a choice of arguments about character, theme, language, and context, and a sample essay discusses the following question: King Lear is enduringly relevant because it shows us that when we suffer from distorted perception we need others’ care, not their exploitation. Does this satisfactorily explain the relevance of the play?

A two-page handout introduction to the modern short story, which can be given to students with one of Diving Bell’s Short Story Study texts, or used separately.