Diving Bell Education
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HSC Standard English Module A Sample Essay & Analysis: Asian Australian Poets
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, Contemporary Asian Australian Poets, answers the 2019 HSC question for this text choice: Poetry relies primarily on symbolism 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.
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HSC Common Module: Merchant of Venice Talking Points AND Essay
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.
The essay 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.
Unit of Work: Earliest English - Beowulf and the Old English Traditions
An understanding of the early period of the English language is novel and exciting for junior high schoolers. This unit of work introduces them to the Anglo-Saxon period and provides a gentle, easy and fun overview of what English language and literature once looked and sounded like. The focus text is Michael Morpurgo’s Beowulf, an excellent version of the heroic poem retold for children and young adult readers. The unit strives to remind students and teachers of all cultural and language backgrounds of their contribution and membership of the worldwide Anglophone community. Written as a combined unit of work and worksheets, teachers only need to purchase Morpurgo’s Beowulf to teach this unit!
The unit includes lessons on:
Our Language Family
Runes, Gods, and the Northern Heritage
Kennings, Riddle Poems, and Gnomic Poetry
The First Hero: Michael Morpurgo’s Beowulf (focus text)
The Hero’s Journey: Overcoming the Monster
The End of Old English
Where is Old English today?
Practice assessment task
Assessment task suitable for ages 11-13
HSC Texts and Human Experience Sample Essay with Essay Analysis: 1984
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, Orwell’s 1984, answers a NESA 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.
HSC Advanced English Module A: Richard III and Looking for Richard sample essay
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 Richard III and Looking for Richard, and 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.
Unit of Work: The Poetry of John Keats
A unit of work on seven poems by John Keats:
On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Ode to a Nightingale
To Autumn
La Belle Dame sans Merci
This unit is suitable for senior students in Years 10-12. It introduces them to the forms Keats used, and seven of his most famous poems.
A research task with suggested reading and viewing gets students across Keats’ life and influences.
‘What is analysis?’ encourages them to think about exactly what literary analysis is, and how to go about it
Explanation of the sonnet, ode, and ballad forms
Explanation of Negative Capability
Foray into critical reading
Seven poems included with questions structured according to Bloom’s taxonomy
Selection of senior-suitable essay questions
Short Story Study: Ernest Hemingway, 'Hills Like White Elephants'
Short stories are a vital part of English literature. These short story studies can be used to build a short story unit, to supplement other texts, or as a standby lesson.
[Use this with our FREE Introduction to Short Stories two-page handout.]https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12564488)
Each classic story is copyright free in Australia, the U.K. and U.S. Paragraphs are numbered for ease of reference.
Activities correspond to Bloom’s taxonomy of lower- to higher-order tasks.
A comprehension question checks knowledge and understanding
Application questions ask students to apply their knowledge of literary or rhetorical technique
Analytical questions interrogate the story’s effect, mood, and construction-strategies.
Creative writing tasks use an aspect of the story as a springboard to write creatively, discursively, or persuasively.
Hemingway’s acute psychological study has been successfully used with a Stage 5 / Year 10 class ( 15 years).
Poetry Study Worksheet: W.B. Yeats, 'Easter 1916'
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
Poetry Study Worksheet - W.B. Yeats, 'The Second Coming'
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
Unit of Work: Ecopoetry
‘Ecopoetry is nature poetry that has designs on us, that imagines changing the ways we think, feel about, and live and act in the world.’ This unit introduces students to ecopoetry and illustrates the difference between traditional nature poetry and poetry which responds to the Climate Crisis. It contains activities on:
Pollution
The Anthropocene
Deforestation
Flood
Drought
Species extinction
Post-Human Worlds
Each section comprises an introductory discussion, a selected poem about the issue with questions and creative writing activities, a list of poems to use as companion pieces, and links to further information about the issue which can be used for comprehension and discussion. This unit has been tested with a mixed-ability Year 10 group (age 15).
HSC Advanced English Mod B: Artist of the Floating Sample Essay & Essay Analysis
This is a three-part resource for students undertaking the NSW HSC Advanced 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, An Artist of the Floating World, answers the 2019 HSC question:
An exploration of unreliability, ambiguity, and contradiction.
To what extent does this view align with your understanding of An Artist of the Floating World?
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.
King Lear: What is a Close Reading and Sample Close Reading
Shakespeare’s tragedy about madness and family is an established favourite for senior students. Since the bulk of English literature units focus on close textual analysis, the ability to perform ‘close readings’ is essential for students of literature. This handout provides a 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.
Unit of Work: The Giver
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.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Close Reading Explanation and Sample Close Reading
Wilde’s Gothic novel about vanity and perdition is an established favourite for senior students. Since the bulk of English literature units focus on close textual analysis, the ability to perform ‘close readings’ is essential for students of literature. This handout provides a 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.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Discrete analysis activity
Wilde’s Gothic novel about vanity and perdition is an established favourite for senior students. Many students regard essays as memorizable activities; they may disregard the question and continue to provide the same pieces of textual evidence paired with the same analytical remarks regardless of the question that evidence should address. This activity presents students with a brief piece of textual evidence and shows how it must be differently handled when answering three different questions. Students are then given another piece of evidence with which to practice, using it to answer three different questions.
The Great Gatsby: Context Research Tasks
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.
The Great Gatsby: Close Reading Sample and Explanation
Fitzgerald’s novel about ‘careless people’ and avarice in the modern era is an established favourite for senior students. This is a brief, student-friendly explanation of what a close reading is and how to perform it, followed by a thoroughly detailed sample close reading of the opening passage which models the principles of close reading.
Short story Study: Rudyard Kipling, 'The Gate of 100 Sorrows'
Short stories are a vital part of English literature. These short story studies can be used to build a short story unit, to supplement other texts, or as a standby lesson.
Use this with our FREE Introduction to Short Stories two-page handout.
Each classic story is copyright free in Australia, the U.K. and U.S. Paragraphs are numbered for ease of reference.
There are four activities, corresponding to Bloom’s taxonomy of lower- to higher-order tasks.
A comprehension question checks knowledge and understanding
A close reading task assists development of textual analysis
A writing at length task involves considering the story’s effect, mood, or technical strategies.
A choice of two creative writing tasks use an aspect of the story as a springboard to write creatively, discursively, or persuasively.
This monologue-style short story, ‘The Gate of 100 Sorrows’, by Rudyard Kipling is around 2600 words and has been successfully used with a Year 10 class (age 15-16).
Short Story Study: William Carlos Williams, 'The Use of Force'
Short stories are a vital part of English literature. These short story studies can be used to build a short story unit, to supplement other texts, or as a standby lesson.
Use this with our FREE Introduction to Short Stories two-page handout.
Each classic story is copyright free in Australia, the U.K. and U.S. Paragraphs are numbered for ease of reference.
There are four activities, corresponding to Bloom’s taxonomy of lower- to higher-order tasks.
A comprehension question checks knowledge and understanding
A close reading task assists development of textual analysis
A writing at length task involves considering the story’s effect, mood, or technical strategies.
A choice of two creative writing tasks use an aspect of the story as a springboard to write creatively, discursively, or persuasively.
This character-study short story, ‘The Use of Force’, by William Carlos Williams is around 1550 words and has been successfully used with a Year 7/8 class (age 11-13).
Short Story Study: William Fryer, 'August Heat'
Short stories are a vital part of English literature. These short story studies can be used to build a short story unit, to supplement other texts, or as a standby lesson.
Use this with our FREE Introduction to Short Stories two-page handout.
Each classic story is copyright free in Australia, the U.K. and U.S. Paragraphs are numbered for ease of reference.
There are four activities, corresponding to Bloom’s taxonomy of lower- to higher-order tasks.
A comprehension question checks knowledge and understanding
A close reading task assists development of textual analysis
A writing at length task involves considering the story’s effect, mood, or technical strategies.
A choice of two creative writing tasks use an aspect of the story as a springboard to write creatively, discursively, or persuasively.
This short story about the supernatural, ‘August Heat’, by William Fryer is around 1800 words and has been successfully used with a Year 7 class (age 11-13).