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.

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.

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, Favel Parrett’s novel Past the Shallows, answers the 2019 HSC question: To what extent does the exploration of human experience in Past the Shallows invite you to reconsider your understanding of loss? 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 What Even Is… series of worksheets explains some of the key concepts in literary analysis, with examples from familiar and popular books and films. There is a single page explanation, with appropriate images and graphics, followed by a question which exercises students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept. Two short texts aimed at different abilities and levels are given for the question. This handout, explaining the concept of textual integrity, asks students to exercise their understanding of the term on a meme about Batman and Ironman, and a soliloquy from Othello.

The What Even Is… series of worksheets explains some of the key concepts in literary analysis, with examples from familiar and popular books and films. There is a single page explanation, with appropriate images and graphics, followed by a question which exercises students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept. Two short texts aimed at different abilities and levels are given for the question. This handout, explaining the concept of values as distinct from themes, asks students to exercise their understanding of the term on an movie poster of Thor and a Shakespearean soliloquy.

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.

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, Anna Funder’s Stasiland, 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 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 poetry of Kenneth Slessor, answers a sample question for this module: How has your prescribed text explored the individuality of stories about human experience? 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 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, Miller’s The Crucible, 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. Pair it with The Crucible Study Notes for even more depth.

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.

The What Even Is… series of worksheets explains some of the key concepts in literary analysis, with examples from familiar and popular books and films. There is a single page explanation, with appropriate images and graphics, followed by a question which exercises students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept. Two short texts aimed at different abilities and levels are given for the question. This handout explains the process of analysis and asks students to consider what a text really is, using examples from Rene Magritte’s La Trahison des Images and a speech from The Tempest.

The What Even Is… series of worksheets explains some of the key concepts in literary analysis, with examples from familiar and popular books and films. There is a single page explanation, with appropriate images and graphics, followed by a question which exercises students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept. Two short texts aimed at different abilities and levels are given for the question. This handout, explaining the process of analysis, asks students to exercise their understanding of the term on Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Donne’s Holy Sonnet V.

The What Even Is… series of worksheets explains some of the key concepts in literary analysis, with examples from familiar and popular books and films. There is a single page explanation, with appropriate images and graphics, followed by a question which exercises students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept. Two short texts aimed at different abilities and levels are given for the question. This handout, explaining the concept of literary representation, asks students to exercise their understanding of the term on an image-sequence from Bridget Jones’s Diary and a Shakespearean sonnet.

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.

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, Henry Lawson’s short stories, 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 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 poetry of Rosemary Dobson, answers the 2019 HSC question: To what extent does the exploration of human experience in Dobson’s poetry invite you to reconsider your understanding of ageing? 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 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 poetry of Kenneth Slessor, answers the 2019 HSC question: To what extent does the exploration of human experience in Slessor’s poetry invite you to reconsider your understanding of struggle? 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 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, One Night the Moon, 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 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.

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.