Domains - English

It has been another strange term at Box Hill High School with student and teachers alike. However, what has stayed steady throughout is the dedication of teachers and students to engage in meaningful learning. From critical discussion in tutorials to writing insightful creative and analytical responses, English has adapted to meet the challenges of remote Learning 2.0.  For the Term 3 newsletter, we wanted to share some of the writing that students have been doing across the year levels. We hope you enjoy this snapshot into English 7-12 at BHHS! 

 - Alicia-Lee Arnold, English Domain Leader 

Year 7 

The midnight bell which came from the ancient castle didn't give anyone a comfortable feeling at all. The moonlight in the breathless darkness seemed incredibly evil, like a monster grinning under a shadow. Tall and sharp thorns grow from the deepest place of the old castle to the very top of it as if they were webs trying to cover a struggling animal. Owls and wolves howled together like a vampire's duet, which added more mystery for the spooky castle. Graceful roses stretched their bodies and showed their blood-coloured faces while climbing up the broken gate of the castle. Weird looking rocks were everywhere and if you accidentally slipped over, then you might disappear in the darkness forever. The smell of poisonous datura flowers was all over the castle like transparent snakes curled around its prey. Suddenly, wind groaned wildly like a lion and broke the silence of the castle. With a wicked laugh from above the sky, the most nefarious witch in the world, Fiona, appeared in the centre of the huge bright moon… 

Creative writing for the City of Ember unit, Alice Xu, 7B

Year 8 

Monday 

I was frustrated and annoyed when they announced we would be going into remote learning again. It was fine the first time, because coronavirus coming here was inevitable, but this second wave came out of the utter stupidity of  selfish morons who thought it was okay to go shopping after being tested in the supermarket, or the idiots who went to parties with more than 10 people. 

However, I can survive learning from home, it isn’t the end of the world. The thing that really got to me, was my footy being cancelled. In the first wave, I went for runs four times a week and practiced kicking and picking up the ball at pace and everything, to get fit for this season, even though it was shortened. I did all that just to have everything cut out, by one moronic security guard who started the second wave. Now, we cannot even go to the AFL here in Victoria. I am training for next season by going for runs each week, but it is hard to find motivation now, because next season is so far away. My dad is still going to work, which worries my mum who is working at home. My brother and sister are also doing school from home, so my mum has the hard task of keeping up with her own work, plus educating us. I try to make her life easier by trying to figure things out on my own, and I sometimes try to help out my brother, who works on the other side of the room from me. However, mornings are not his time, and so I usually come back to my desk bruised and battered after trying to help him with his work. 

I do enjoy learning from home, because I talk to my friends through video chats, so I don’t lose social connection. Another good thing is we can choose whatever subject we want, whenever we want, instead of being on a strict timetable, and having our work spaced out. My friends and I would always play gang-up tag at recess and lunch, however that is literally impossible, so we play games together in our free time instead and sometimes help each other out with work. Our work hasn’t been too hard, but it is at a good level of being in the middle, so no added stress is caused and we get our education. The teachers have been awesome, and I have to feel for them, they must be under the pump every day of their lives, having 1000 kids depend on them for education plus helping their own kids, if they have any. It is nice to see my classmates and teachers on the video chats too.

Journal writing practice, Aiden Searle, 8A

Year 9 

It was a bright, sunny day when summer and autumn had clashed when I was at a tennis tournament in Mornington.  I had my first match scheduled for 8:30AM.  I made my way to the court, I tried to be focused and calm but I felt really confident already. 

GAME.  SET.  6 – 3.  I heard my opponent call out the score of the set.  He had just won the first set.  I felt a hot flush race around my body that gave me the realisation that I had to win the next set or I was going home. 

GAME.  SET.  6 – 4.  I called out the score of the set.  I had just won the second set!  Yet another hot flush raced around my body, I had to win this match deciding tiebreak.  After the time between sets, I did my best to be composed. 

GAME.  SET.  MATCH.  10 – 6.  It worked. 

Experimenting with structure of autobiography, By Mitchell Hayes, 9H

Year 9 Literary task (Anonymous)

Year 10 

In the novel Jasper Jones, Silvey suggests that it is important to be confident and comfortable with yourself in order to grow. Depending on the experiences that an individual undergoes, their ability to recognise and be content with their own strengths and weakness will differ. At the beginning of the novel Charlie puts up a façade in order to impress Jasper Jones and while doing so is injured, but "pretend[s] it didn’t hurt" to keep up appearances. This suggests that Charlie's lack of confidence has a negative effect on him and is stopping him from growing. This highlights the fact that Charlie doesn't know how to properly express himself and as a result cannot properly develop. This is a direct comparison to the end of the novel where Charlie's confidence has increased to such a extent that he is comfortable enough to "stride down the driveway. Completely in the open", showing a large amount of personal growth and he is doing something he would have never dreamed of. When Charlie began to feel content and happy with himself, he started to show resilience and emotional maturity, proving that confidence and being confident is a major factor in personal growth. 

A practice essay body paragraph on the novel Jasper Jones, Cordelia Jackson, 10C 

Year 11 

While Margaret is nearing Milton, the first thing she notices is the “deep lead-coloured cloud hanging over” the city. This is, it is important to note, the first time the audience is directly introduced to Milton, and continues to be the most defining feature of the town. The use of the phrase “lead-coloured” has functions twofold – it is a metaphor for the state of the city of Milton itself, that is to say, a city with a literal and symbolic dark cloud hanging over it – a heavy omen of things bad or problematic to come, the weight of the metaphor increased by the use of the metal lead, the most notable property of which is its weight and density. Furthermore, by explicitly referencing a metal, lead, it further encourages the idea that the city is an industrial and modern one – an explicit contrast to Helstone. In this explicit contrast, the text sets up a dichotomy which is soon established to be of integral importance to the text. Unlike many other issues, such as labour rights, however, the text does not refrain from giving a value judgement – or at least, it largely favours the relatively tranquil and agricultural Helstone over the loud and industrial Milton – always noting the “continual clank of machinery” and the impoverished workers who have “lead the life of a dog”, while only having one character, Mrs. Thornton, explicitly praise Milton – and even then, she freely admits she does so largely or entirely because the city has treated her and her family well, and because she has positive associations with the place. Contrastingly, Helstone is almost entirely treated not only as being good, but having an intrinsic quality of goodness - the abundance of nature and serenity always being noted. There is, however, a major exception to this – when Mr. Higgins is considering sending the children under his care to Helstone where he believes they will lead much better lives, Margaret interjects, dismissing the idea, citing the “dullness of life”, with people labour[ing] on… never… lifting up their poor, bent, downcast heads”. In this short paragraph, Margaret questions an almost axiomatic idea of the text – that Helstone, as a stand in for rural towns everywhere, is an superior place to live than Milton, which naturally represents manufacturing towns generally. Through this, Margaret posits that while rural towns may be intrinsically good in their nature and environment, their treatment of the working class is functionally identical to manufacturing cities, even if it is the result of a different mechanism.  

11 Literature paragraph: Class and Gender in North and South, Lehan Jones, 11Y

Year 12  

Language is a powerful marker of identity. In contemporary Australian society, it is undeniable that we are a multicultural nation, with our use of language reflecting this, but it is not uncommon for diversity to be rejected. Evident in the migrant ethnolects including Chinese-Australian English (CAE), the entwining of cultures is embodied by the structure of the ethnolect, yet its use is met with both positive and negative attitudes in society. Additionally, Aboriginal-Australian English (AAE) has prominent cultural differences that influence their use of language, that is only recently being paid greater attention to by wider society. 

An introduction from a 12 English Language Essay, Stephanie Tat, 11E