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Page 1: VCE ENGLISH: BURIAL RITES - Macmillan Education …macmillanmakeyourmark.com.au/.../Burial-Rites...LR.pdf · VCE ENGLISH: BURIAL RITES VCE ENGLISH: BURIAL RITES About the authors

VCE ENGLISH:

BURIAL RITES

VCEENGLISH: BURIAL RITES

www.macmillan.com.au

About the authorsThe exercises and advice in this revision guide of Robert Gray’s poetry will help students get to grips with what the examiners are looking for, and how to really make their mark when it comes to the exam.

Model essays and workbook activities expose the structural techniques behind strong responses and help familiarise students with how they will be assessed.

This book features:• Guidance on deconstructing exam questions and engaging

properly with the prompt statement• Model essays with workbook questions encouraging students to

think like the marker, followed by annotations for comparison• Practical preparation strategies and top tips from experienced

HSC English teachers• Additional practice questions and suggested related texts.

MAKE YOUR MARK is a series of revision resources geared at helping students as they prepare for their HSC in English.

VCE ENGLISH

: BURIAL RITESAlso available

Barry Carozzi

Also available to support HSC English:

MAKE YOUR MARK study guides provide students with exam

preparation support, model essays and workbook activities designed to help expose the techniques behind

strong essay responses.

To browse the range, go to:www.macmillanmakeyourmark.com.au

Barry CarozziSeries Consultant: Anne Mitchell

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VCE ENGLISH:

BURIAL RITESBarry CarozziSeries Consultant: Anne Mitchell

UNCORRECTED PROOFS

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First published 2015 byMACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra, VIC 3141

Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au

Associated companies and representativesthroughout the world.

Copyright © Macmillan Education 2015The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved.Except under the conditions described in theCopyright Act 1968 of Australia (the Act) and subsequent amendments,no part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Educational institutions copying any part of this bookfor educational purposes under the Act must be covered by aCopyright Agency Limited (CAL) licence for educational institutionsand must have given a remuneration notice to CAL.Licence restrictions must be adhered to. For details of the CAL licence contact:Copyright Agency Limited, Level 15, 233 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW 2000.Telephone: (02) 9394 7600. Facsimile: (02) 9394 7601. Email: [email protected]

Publication data

Author: Barry CarozziTitle: Make Your Mark VCE English: Burial RitesISBN: 978 1 4586 5342 0

Publisher: Emma CooperProject editor: Barbara DelissenCover designer: Dimitrios FrangoulisText designer: Richard PearsonPhoto research and permissions clearance: Vanessa RobertsTypeset in Sinkin SansCover images: Shutterstock/Lindsay Douglas; /spaxiax

Printed in Australia

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Contents

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CONTENTS

PREFACE ivACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viCHARACTER SUMMARIES 1ISSUES, THEMES AND LIKELY QUESTION TOPICS 7GET REVISING 10The nature of English 10About the exam paper 11Planning a response 13How you will be assessed 22Impressing the examiner 24Practise, practise, practise 24Top tips for success in section A 26Now you’re prepared … 28

MARK IT! 29

MODEL ESSAY 1 30‘I understand that these people did not see me. I was two dead men. I was a burning farm. I was a knife. I was blood.’ Discuss how the reader’s perspective of Agnes is formed in the novel.Deconstruct the question 30Mark it! 31Marker’s comments 36

MODEL ESSAY 2 38‘I imagine that we are all candle flames, fluttering in the darkness … I hear footsteps, coming to blow me out and send my life up away from me in a grey wreath of smoke. I will vanish into the air and the night.’ Burial Rites is, first and foremost, a meditation on death. Discuss.Deconstruct the question 38Mark it! 39Marker’s comments 45

MODEL ESSAY 3 47‘Whilst a work of fiction, Burial Rites is a novel that explores the deeper truths of human nature.’ Discuss.Deconstruct the question 47Mark it! 48Marker’s comments 55

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? 57USEFUL VOCABULARY 58GLOSSARY 61

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PREFACEBurial Rites was first published in 2013, and in that year alone was reprinted at least seven times. In 2011, the novel won the inaugural Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award, and in 2014 it was added to the list of books set for study in the VCE English course. It is Hannah Kent’s first novel.

I’ve been teaching VCE English for some time now, so I’m aware of how critical students can be of the texts they are required to study. I wondered how 17 and 18 year olds would respond to such a novel. Burial Rites is quite long—over 300 pages. Many students prefer books that are much shorter—100 pages or fewer. Many prefer films. I’m sympathetic to these sentiments; the volume of work VCE students must complete is enormous. Anything that reduces the workload is very welcome to our students. I wondered, too, about the subject matter: would VCE students be interested in a story set in Iceland in the 1820s, a novel that deals with the last execution conducted in that far-off country? My fears and uncertainties proved unfounded; the response of my students has been very positive.

This study guide is written for students of VCE English. The first half is intended to help you better understand the demands and expectations of the Text response section of the VCE English examination paper. The central focus is this: how can you best prepare for this section of the English paper? The answer is pretty straightforward:

i. Make sure you understand what the examiners are looking for. What are the skills you are expected to display? What are the criteria by which your essay will be judged?

ii. Make sure you understand how to make sense of the essay topic. How do you deconstruct the prompt and the task so that you can achieve the best possible result?

iii. Make sure you understand how to plan and write your essay.

The second half of this book consists of three sample essays. You are encouraged to ‘become the marker’. You are provided with the key criteria, and your task is to mark each essay in terms of these criteria. The annotations on the essays draw your attention to particular aspects of the sample essays. Through this activity you will come to a better understanding of what your teachers and exam markers are looking for when they assess your essays.

The key advice this book has to offer is that the way to improve your ability to write clearly, fluently, insightfully, coherently and in an organised manner is to practise regularly.

In the VCE English examination you will have roughly one hour in which to produce your essay. In that time you should be able to produce between 800 and 1200 words. The model essays provided in this book are a little longer than that, around 1700–2000 words. This has been done deliberately. The goal is

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Preface

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to demonstrate a number of conceptual points about both the text and essay writing techniques. When you write your own practice essay, you will be developing more and more sophisticated skills in terms of:

• deconstructing essay topics

• planning essays that respond to the specific expectations of examiners

• demonstrating your knowledge and understanding of the text

• constructing essays that are coherent

• supporting your thesis—your viewpoint of the question or prompt—with relevant quotes, scenes or characters from the novel

• writing well-constructed, clear and fluent sentences.

I wish you the very best in your VCE English exams, and hope that this book will assist you in the challenges ahead.

Barry Carozzi

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GET REVISING

REVISING FOR YOUR EXAMSThe VCE English course introduces you to a wealth of stimulating, exciting literature, and will open your eyes to new ways of viewing the world around you. Hopefully, you will enjoy reading the books and discussing the characters and the ideas they explore. Come the end of the year, though, there are the exams to contend with. Preparing for any exam can be stressful, whether you like the subject or find it difficult. Most students undertake five VCE subjects in Year 12, and preparing for five exams is a big task. There are many demands on your time.

You therefore need to be sure that you’re using your time wisely and being as effective as you can in your revision. Good organisation is the key. Being well organised enables you to prepare well for the exams.

There are several things you can do to make sure you feel confident when it’s time for the exam, and to help you to achieve your full potential. One of the first things you should do is to familiarise yourself with the structure of the VCE English exam papers. Knowing what to expect in the exam is the first step towards knowing how to prepare.

THE NATURE OF ENGLISH

Before we look more closely at what the exams require, it’s important to consider the difference between English and other subjects. Some people find English a difficult subject to study because it does not centre on a set of facts or content to be learned, and the exam does not rely on how well you recall information. While the tasks set for VCE English will draw on your knowledge of texts, you cannot predict what the topics will be, and you will need to be able to think on your feet. The exam will expect you to demonstrate your capacity to write clearly, fluently, insightfully, coherently and in an organised manner in response to a topic that you have not seen before.

NO RIGHT ANSWER?

There is no single right answer for the kinds of questions asked in Section A of a VCE English exam. VCE English is about thinking, and about the interpretation of texts. It is about reading and responding to texts, thinking about ideas and developing an interpretation—or exploring possible interpretations—of

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texts. Most importantly, it is about examining those interpretations, and finding evidence from the text that supports your point of view.

This lack of a ‘right answer’ is a challenge, but it also gives you a chance to explore ideas and develop your own views. Each reader may respond to a given text differently—the key is being able to justify an interpretation.

For example, one of the central questions at the end of Burial Rights is: ‘Is Agnes guilty of murder?’ We can imagine a number of justifiable interpretations:

i. Yes—Agnes did murder Natan. It was her hand that pushed the knife into his body. Fridrik didn’t force her to do it. She admitted to this.

ii. Yes—Agnes did murder Natan. She was angry with him and wanted revenge. Her claim—that she acted out of pity—was clearly an attempt to evade the consequences of her actions.

iii. Yes—Agnes murdered Natan, and she was complicit in the whole enterprise. She was 33; Fridrik and Sigga were 18 and 16. Blöndal was right. He saw through her attempts to place all the blame on Fridrik, and to paint herself in the best possible light, with her explanation that she acted out of pity.

iv. While there is no question that Agnes did push the knife into Natan’s body, her motive was not revenge—it was pity. She knew that Natan was close to death, that he was in terrible pain, and that he wanted to be freed from that agony.

Drawing on the text, a reader can mount a case to support any of these interpretations.

None of the following interpretations of the text, however, is supportable with reference to the novel:

i. Natan stabbed himself.

ii. Sigga couldn’t stand Natan’s moaning, so she stabbed him.

iii. Natan didn’t die. He pretended to be dead and then crept away.

ABOUT THE EXAM PAPER

In your VCE English exam, you will be required to complete ONE exam paper. Everyone sits the same exam. You will be given 3 hours’ writing time, plus 15 minutes’ reading time prior to the commencement of the exam.

The exam paper is organised into three sections reflecting the Areas of Study you have covered in your work at school:

Title in the examination Title in the Course outlineA Text response Reading and RespondingB Writing in context Creating and PresentingC Analysis of language use Using Language to Persuade

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A TEXT RESPONSE

In the exam paper there will be 40 questions: two questions for each of the 20 texts listed for study. Two questions will relate to each of the texts you have studied. Once you have chosen which text you will respond to, you must choose ONE of the two questions to answer. Make sure that you make it clear which of the two questions you are responding to.

B WRITING IN CONTEXT

In VCE English, you will have studied one of four CONTEXTS. These four contexts are:

i. The Imaginative Landscape

ii. Whose Reality?

iii. Encountering Conflict

iv. Exploring Issues of Identity and Belonging

You need to locate the context you have studied throughout the year, and respond to the set task. This normally takes the form of a ‘prompt’. For example, for the context ‘Whose Reality?’ the prompt might be similar to the one in the exam question below:

‘No two people share the same reality—which helps explain why we humans have such a hard time getting along.’ Discuss.

C ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE USE

This section of the exam requires you to analyse how writers, cartoonists, speakers and photographers use texts of various kinds to persuade readers to their points of view. The actual form of the task varies from year to year. In recent years, the task has involved the following formats:

• an editorial, two or more short letters to the editor, photographs and a cartoon

• a blog piece, five comments and a photograph

• two opinion pieces and a cartoon.

The specific material that is to be analysed is different each year. However, there are two things to note.

The sample essays later in this book relate to Section A Text

response. In them, you may come across terms that are new to you.

You can look these up in the glossary for an

explanation.

You may undertake the tasks in whichever order you choose. Finishing each section of the

exam is vital to scoring well. This means that you must stick to the

timing plan. Poor time management is one

of the biggest factors a�ecting student success,

so make sure you do plenty of practice under

exam conditions.

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i. Each year, each of the pieces of material relates to the same issue.

ii. The task remains the same: how does each writer seek to use visual and/or written language to persuade the reader?

Each section is worth one-third of the marks. Plan to spend an equal amount of time answering each section. It might help you to think of the exam time as being composed of timeslots as follows:

Timeslot Minutes1 Reading 15 Get to the exam room early. Open your exam paper as soon as

you are able. Spend the 15-minute reading time carefully absorbing your tasks.

2 Planning 10–15 Once you can write, jot down plans for answers—especially for Sections A and B. In those first few minutes you will have lots of ideas flying around in your mind. It’s important to jot them down, so you don’t lose them. Students often come out of the exam room complaining: ‘Oh, I had this great idea, but I forgot to include it.’ Jot down a word or two as a reminder to yourself.

3 Writing section A

50–55 Write in as detailed a manner as you can within the time limit.WHEN YOU FINISH:stretch, loosen your muscles, drink some water.

4 Writing section B

50–55 Write in as detailed a manner as you can within the time limit.WHEN YOU FINISH:Stretch, loosen your muscles, drink some water.

5 Writing section C

50–55 Write in as detailed a manner as you can within the time limit.WHEN YOU FINISH:stretch, loosen your muscles, drink some water.

6 Revising 5–15 Go over your answers—especially the opening paragraphs of each answer. Correct any errors of spelling, punctuation or expression.

PLANNING A RESPONSE

Here is an idea for using the reading and planning time strategically. Give it a try with a practice question and refine the model to suit you, if necessary.

A Text responseQuickly find the questions on Burial Rites, and decide which of the two options you will answer.

• Identify the KEY WORDS.

• DECONSTRUCT the TASK (see section below).

• Start thinking about how you will answer this question or respond to this task.

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B Writing in contextLook at the PROMPT for this section of the paper, and read over any support material—quotes, photographs or other visuals.

• Identify the KEY WORDS.

• DECONSTRUCT the TASK.• Start thinking about how you will answer this question or respond to this task.

C Analysis of language useThis section of the English exam paper is the part that requires the most reading. Usually there will be both written and visual texts. Read through the material. As soon as you are told that you can start writing, quickly annotate the material in this section by identify the main contention, tone, key arguments, persuasive strategies, rhetorical devices and appeals of various kinds.

DECONSTRUCTING THE TASK

You will be asked to demonstrate a wide variety of skills by responding to the prescribed texts in different ways. Below is a discussion of some of the verbs commonly used in Section A Text response, with explanations of what each is asking you to do. This list is designed to help you quickly comprehend how the question wants you to respond, so that you can get straight down to composing a response that demonstrates what you know. By interpreting these topics correctly, you can be confident that you’re answering the question appropriately and giving the examiner what they are looking for.

TOPIC VERBS

DiscussThis means that you need to identify an issue or issues and then provide supporting evidence in favour of and/or against these ideas.

Of the verbs used in framing essay questions in VCE English exams, ‘discuss’ is the most common. Of the 40 Text response questions in the 2014 English exam, 31 questions required students to ‘Discuss’. The panel contains an example of a ‘Discuss’ task. Notice that it calls for a wide-ranging consideration (i.e. discussion) of the themes and issues raised in the quote. It is an invitation to explore your knowledge, understanding and interpretation of the novel, focusing on the ideas included in the prompt.

‘While a work of fiction, Burial Rites is a novel that explores the deeper truths of human nature.’ Discuss.

The first theme or issue raised in the prompt is the juxtaposition of the phrases ‘a work of fiction’ and ‘deeper truths’. In everyday speech, we often draw a distinction between fact and fiction. Put simply, we often regard fiction as being ‘made up’, the product of someone’s imagination. Truth refers to what is true—the facts.

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In this section you’ll find model essays answering Section A exam-style questions on Burial Rites. For each essay, you will:

1. See how to deconstruct the question, and read the tips on getting started with a response.

2. Read the model essay and answer questions based around the marking criteria. Essentially you are being the examiner! Mark the essay by writing in the spaces provided or by highlighting/underlining the essay as required.

3. Read the marker’s comments and compare them with your own marking.

When you’ve finished you could try your hand at writing your own response to the questions.

These three essays encompass the much broader range of aspects of writing that teachers and examiners use when assessing your writing. The MARK IT! exercise will help you get to grips with what your examiners are looking for, see what makes a strong essay response and, most importantly, understand how to really make your mark when it comes to your exam.

MARK IT!

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MODEL ESSAY 1

DECONSTRUCT THE QUESTION

This quote from the novel is the statement that should form the basis of your discussion. Do you agree or disagree that Agnes was not fully ‘seen’ by the other characters in the novel?

‘I understand that these people did not see me. I was two dead men. I was a burning

farm. I was a knife. I was blood.’ Discuss how the

reader’s perspective of Agnes is formed in the

novel.

How: this means that you must give evidence in support of your argument. This should be through close textual referencing and an analysis of the textual forms and features used by the author to shape meaning.

farm. I was a knife. I was blood.’farm. I was a knife. I was blood.’

reader’s perspectivereader’s perspective of Agnes is formed in the of Agnes is formed in the

novel.

When you are asked to ‘Discuss’ you are being asked to consider the view expressed in the statement and provide arguments that are either in support of or against this viewpoint

‘Discuss’ you are being asked to consider the view expressed in the statement and provide arguments that are either in support of or against this

The ‘reader’s perspective’ are the key words here. Make sure that your argument always anchors back to this. UNCORRECTED PROOFS

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Model essay 1

GETTING STARTED

Make sure you’ve read the ‘Planning a response section on p. XX. Now that you’re ready to start, you may find it helpful to ask yourself these questions:

• What, as the reader, is your perspective of Agnes?

• What evidence from the text led you to form this view?

• What is the importance to Agnes of being truly ‘seen’ as a person?

Let’s see how the model essay tackles the question. As you read, make notes or highlight/underline elements of the essay that demonstrate strong writing technique or salient points. The questions alongside the essay should get you thinking about how the essay addresses the question and meets the rubric.

MARK IT!‘I understand that these people did not see me. I was two dead men. I was a burning farm. I was a knife. I was blood.’ Discuss how the reader’s perspective of Agnes is formed in the novel.

1. A well-written introduction directly addresses the question. Highlight or underline the words or phrases in this introduction which the student has used to show the examiner that they have read the question and intend to answer it.

2. Why do you think the student refers to the Author’s note (next page)?

Hannah Kent’s novel Burial Rites explores the events of the final months of the life of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person executed in Iceland. In her Author’s note, Kent observes that many of the published works dealing with Agnes present her as ‘an inhumane witch, stirring up murder’; but Kent goes on to explain that Burial Rites was ‘written to supply a more ambiguous portrayal of this woman’. This ambiguity is fuelled by the very fabric of the novel, which is composed of many narrative voices and forms, such as official documents and letters. Through this complex structure we follow Agnes’s story through the viewpoints and actions of others; their unreliability as narrators clear in their personal agendas and prejudices: ‘I understand that these people did not see me.’ In this way, Kent creates a perspective of Agnes’s character that shifts and changes for the reader to the very end.

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Kent’s stated intention to present a ‘more ambiguous portrayal’ of Agnes is evident from the very start of the novel. The reader first meets Agnes as she sits alone, meditating upon her imminent death. She likens human lives to the flickering flame of a candle, so easily snuffed out. In the prologue, her anger is directed at the men who intend to ‘blow out her life’ and send it away in a ‘grey wreath of smoke’. For Agnes, her death is part of a conspiracy: ‘They will blow us all out, one by one, until it is only their own light by which they see themselves.’ This also points to the fact that we see Agnes through the biased perspectives (or ‘lights’) of the other characters’ viewpoints. In the course of the novel, we come to learn who ‘they’ are. ‘They’ refers to men like Björn Blöndal, District Commissioner, and Fridrik and Natan—men who are convinced of their own rightness in all things. ‘They’ also refers to Róslín, and the other folk who accept the official version of the events at Illugastradir.

Blöndal presents the reader with a negative view of Agnes’s character, describing her as ‘a woman loose with her emotions and looser with her morals.’ He tells the young Assistant Reverend Tóti that, ‘… Like many older servant women she is practised in the art of deception.’ Blöndal had been in charge of the investigation of the murders, and his mind was made up on the issue of Agnes’s role long before the trial. In his view, it was Agnes who was behind a plot to commit the murders. She was, after all, in her thirties; Fridrik was a boy of 17 or 18, and Sigga was 16. His certainty was not based on the evidence presented in the case; it emerged from his self-importance and prejudices: he did not ‘see’ Agnes, only his prejudice. These aspects of his personality are shown by the tone of his letters, in the tone of his voice when he speaks to Steina and Lauga, and in his

3. Highlight where the student demonstrates a detailed understanding of the text in this introduction.

4. Your thesis is your position in relation to the question being asked. To build a strong thesis, it is important to unpack the implied meaning of the keywords so that you can provide plausible justification for your position. Consider this student’s introduction and note down in your own words what you think their thesis is.

5. Consider how the student has used evidence from the text to support their analysis. What is the effect of using well-chosen quotations?

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