English

The return to on-site learning has made for a busy Term 4 in the English domain. Teachers have enjoyed reconnecting with their students in person through collaborative activities and interactive language-based games. In response to the challenges of learning independently in isolation, most of our units this term have centred on discussion, debate, persuasive speaking and listening, while also consolidating student literacy.  

In Year 7, students have collaboratively presented persuasive speeches on a range of topics relating to food and sustainability, before moving on to creatively adapting fairy tales for a radio play format. 

Year 8 students have grappled with contemporary issues including cosmetic testing on animals, COVID restrictions around sport and the role of social media, developing their skills in research and persuasive language. 

Meanwhile in Year 9, students worked collaboratively to create their own ideology and persuade their peers to follow it. Their teachers have been impressed by the creative and entertaining presentations on ideologies including: Tattooism, Op-Shopism, Undergroundism, Vegemitism, Libertum Habitualism (free dress at school), Tacosim, Normentality (talking normally about mental illnesses), Breakocracy, Enviroism and Equitism. 

Year 11 English students tackled issues such as four-day work weeks, mandatory youth service and the Victorian recycling crisis, building skills in adopting a persona and developing specific arguments and language for a target audience. Similarly Year 11 EAL students have considered contemporary debates, focusing on Indigenous issues as students responded to the topic of whether we should change the date of Australia Day. It has been fantastic to see students engaging so passionately in a wide range of topics! 

In contrast, Year 10 students have been focusing on enhancing their essay writing skills in preparation for VCE by comparing the incisive and witty series Robbie Hood with the modern Australian classic novel Jasper Jones. In Year 10 EAL, students have similarly been building their writing skills by using Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected as inspiration for their own imaginative stories of murder and mystery. 

Additionally, Year 7 LFL have been developing their writing skills by collaborating on and proofreading creative pieces to produce an anthology based on the concept of artificial intelligence. 

Over in Year 11 Literature, students have been analysing a play and film version of Twelfth Night to form an interpretation of the impact of adaptation on a text, while Year 11 English Language have analysed how language can both reflect and shape our identities and cultures and the benefits of maintaining a variety of Englishes around the world. 

We hope you enjoy reading and viewing some samples of the work English students have been doing this term! 

- Katrina Young, English Teacher 

Student Work Samples

Year 11 – Persuasive Oral Presentation 

Watch an example presentation here. 

Natalie Smith, 11E 

Year 9 – Ideology Presentations (Openings) 

As humans, we all possess common qualities. We all have body systems that keep us alive. On the inside we are all basically the same. But on the outside, we are all unique in our own way. However the hate that some humans get just for being born differently or leading different lifestyles just isn’t fair. Did you know that 20% of Australians have experienced a form of racial discrimination?  Now imagine if that 20% became 0%. Doesn’t it sound nice? Ladies and gentlemen. The solution is humanism.   

Okay, can I please have a show of hands, how many of you have a pet. *waits for hands and counts*. Ok. Now, I have my own dog; it’s an adorable orange and white  Japanese Akita whose name Is arya. Now can I have [Person from the audience] please describe your pet *person describes pet*. Okay, thank you. Now, you see, both of our pets are different in their own way, but we, the owners both still love and treat them with the same respect, so why do we humans discriminate against each other when our beloved pets are treated without prejudice? If we treat our pets with equality despite their attributes, why can’t we extend that courtesy towards our fellow human beings? Doesn’t a world where the treatment of human beings doesn't depend on gender, sexuality, or colour sound ideal?  

- Alistair Reeves and William Wu, 9Z (Humanism) 

Vegemite. A staple in every Australian household. An icon. The culmination of Australian culture. This jar – it’s special.  Its more than just a basic yeast based spread – it’s the symbol of the Australian spirit – Salty. Today we’d like to introduce you to Vegemitism – the first homemade ideology coming straight from our backyards. And no... it isn’t another drop bear hoax or a massive daddy long legs influx – it’s a revolution of fiscal stimulation, nutritional value, and pure joy in a jar. Let’s get straight to the point – vegemite with breakfast every day. One rule … countless possibilities.   

Here are our three core principles:   

Vegemite must be eaten every morning.  

You may eat other things alongside your vegemite such as toast, avocado, cheese and anything else you desire.  

Exemptions may be made for medical and/or religious reasons.  

We doubt it, but if you’re not already sold on this lifestyle, we shall outline the economic, patriotic, nutritional and wellbeing benefits that are provided by embracing Vegemitism.  Will you decide to make Australia great again?  

Anouk Harpur and Miko Tay, 9Z (Vegemitism) 

Year 10 – Comparative Paragraph on Jasper Jones and Robbie Hood (Excerpt) 

While both texts elucidate the influence of racial prejudice on social cohesion, Silvey and River demonstrate the impact prejudiced, authoritative figures have on the social divide. 

The novel Jasper Jones illuminates the corruption of racially prejudiced authoritative figures. When Jasper Jones clarifies that his “bulbous eye” was the result of abuse from “Sarge the local constabulary,” he is met with Charlie’s disbelief that “they did that” as he is unable to comprehend “why”. 

Silvey’s use of italics in Charlie’s dialogue emphasizes Charlie’s confusion towards the fact “they don’t need a reason” to mistreat Jasper Jones and the reality of the “sarge [wanting Jasper] to confess” to a crime he did not commit. Silvey establishes entrenched racial prejudice and corruption in the justice system, which actively attempts to criminalize Jasper Jones and drive the community away from social cohesion. … Similarly, in Robbie Hood, River establishes systemic racism as a barrier to social cohesion through Pervin’ Mervin’s exploitation of his authority to create an economic divide. Pervin’ Mervin is characterized by River when he exclaims, “You black kids gotta stop breaking the rules.” 

The dialogue paired with low camera angle shots of Pervin’ Mervin underlines his disdain towards the Indigenous community and through his employment of the adjective “black” illuminates his assumption that their Indigenous heritage plays a part in their rule breaking. … The prejudiced actions of authorities in Jasper Jones is individually targeted, while in Robbie Hood it is a systemic abuse of power against a community of ethnic minorities. Ultimately, both texts construct the insurmountable barrier of racial prejudice to be supported by prejudiced individuals with power, perpetuating a social divide. 

- Wendy Huang, 10Y 

Year 8 – Persuasive Oral Presentation (Opening) 

So we all had a shower, recently, right? Surely this morning, if not last night? And some of us washed our hair? And we used Shampoo perhaps? (Show first picture) Take a look. Disturbing, right? Well, these animals are test subjects for cosmetic products, like the shampoo you used. (Show next slide) 

These poor animals are forced to be tortured. They are forced into torture that is referred to as testing, testing to see the effect! To see if products are safe or not. But that’s not even the worst part. According to the Cruelty Free International Organisation, various types of animals, even pregnant ones, are tested for 28 or 90 days straight, and no matter whether the test is successful or not, they are eventually killed, along with their unborn babies. All for the sake of testing products for humans! 

Why animals? Because they won’t sue the manufacturer for unintended effect, humans will. These animals have no voice, they can’t speak up for themselves. So, this is why we need to. We need to stop testing for our personal needs. We need to stop testing cosmetic products on animals. 

- Sahara Shiraz, 8B 

Year 11 Literature – Adaptation Essay (Excerpt) 

Question: How does historical context affect Nunn and Shakespeare’s attitudes towards endings? 

As the name Twelfth Night implies, Shakespeare constructs the play as a series of chaotic events indicative of the last day of celebrations of Christmas in the 17th century. Similar to a painting from the century, A Feast of Fools, Shakespeare inverts the traditional roles as it was thought the Lord of Misrule on Twelfth Night was wont to do. 

This intertextuality justifies the entropic nature of the events in the play that would normally be heavily criticised in the Elizabethan Era. This along with the inevitable end, characterised by the departure of Sir Toby and Maria as well as the enlightenment of Olivia regarding Malvolio’s flight, is used as a means to appease the audience of the 17th century who may harbour ill-feelings towards these topics. 

Shakespeare places heavy emphasis on the separation of Viola’s character, as herself and Cesario, by Orsino’s monologue, “Cesario, come – For so you shall be while you are a man.” Orsino is shown to insist upon keeping the two entities separate, implying that they are not one. Viola will only be “[Orsino’s] fancy’s queen” when she is “in other habits”. In this way, Shakespeare suggests that gender fluidity is only a path of chaos that must eventually come to an end much like the play itself. The inversion of roles and the power given to Maria, a woman, over Malvolio, a man, through trickery, is justified by Shakespeare as Maria marries Sir Toby. This is itself yet another cause for scandal in the Elizabethan Era, which Shakespeare clarifies by making the two absent from the end of the play that depicts a happy resolution. 

Nunn, in contrast, implies the potential continuation of Viola and Sebastian’s gender bending. The addition of the scene in the shipwreck wherein the twins perform for the passengers on the ship is both a justification of Viola’s action to dress as Cesario and not be recognised easily as a woman, and also an indication that the cross-dressing will continue, albeit just as a form of entertainment. Nunn achieves this through directing the actors’ actions during the ship scene in the beginning of the film to convey a sense of familiarity. It implies that the twins have cross-dressed before and allows the viewers to infer that it will continue in the future. 

The facial expressions demonstrated by the Captain also accentuate the familiarity of the idea that the twins cross-dress. Through these film techniques, Nunn indicates that gender fluidity does not necessarily come to an end as suggested by Shakespeare in the play. 

- Devanshi Balodi, 11A 

Year 7 – Persuasive Oral Presentation (Openings) 

Bottled Water is expensive, and over millions of people waste their money on it. In fact, it costs between 400 to 2,000 times more than tap water itself. In Phil Swift’s words; that’s a lotta damage! 

It can save you over $1700 in cash, and might save your family over $7000 altogether. In 2015, the average cost of Australian water was about $2.75 per litre, and over 726 million litres of water was brought.  

Therefore Australians might have spent up to $2 billion dollars on bottled water that year. Now that's awful.  

A good way to save money instead of buying bottled water is that you should drink tap water instead of bottled water; it is for free and costs no money at all. 

- Henry Hall, Parsa Noruzi Talkhouncheh, Xuhui Yu and Elliot Jun, 7C 

Fun fact, actually really sad fact, by the year 2050 the ocean will be filled with more weight of plastic than fish, it goes deeper than that though. We may not even make it to the year 2050 if we are going the way we are going right now. So what makes you think that we will survive and make a difference. Well, you see, here's the thing, our generation determines the future, what we do know is going to affect what happens and if we even make it. Doing nothing is still doing something, plastic is overtaking the ocean and before we know it’ll be too late, sea and marine life are getting damaged as more and more plastic is produced and wasted.  

- Asmi Vyas, Nicole Jones, Katrina Cheung and Eliza Phelan, 7C