Discovery Workshop Outline Part One by Lilian Ma

Discovery 1001: How to tackle section 1 (easy peasy)
– identify, analyse and evaluate techniques for different mediums
– time management and how much writing is expected for each question
– how to structure the last question – a mini essay
– practice questions under exam conditions
– exam technique for the whole paper

Discovery 1001: How to write a creative that is not clichéd at all
– draw from your own experiences.
– avoid nursing home and schoolyard scenarios unless you can pull it off really well
– writing more than one
– where to find inspiration and how to ease writers’ block
– how to structure a narrative
– features of an effective short story
– how to write an adaptable short story

Discovery 1001: How to make your essay flow
– different ways to structure an AOS essay
– balancing similarities and contrasts between texts
– band 4, 5 and 6 essay examples
– essay vocabulary
– to adapt or to memorise? That is the question
– big ideas
– how to properly analyse and evaluate techniques

Discovery 1001: How to choose killer related material
Part 1. What to discover?
– think about your strengths and weaknesses in analysis (eg. I really don’t like analysing film)
– brainstorming themes in your core text
– to support or to contrast? That is the question
– what makes a good related text?
– different mediums
– how many texts should I do to be safe?
– sample related texts that can be used (I will go through them briefly):

–          Prose – David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life; Albert Camus’ The Outsider

–          Poetry – William Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey; Gerald Manley Hopkins’ The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo

–          Feature Article – http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/17/letter-to-parents

More links to related material: http://www.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/Community/Library/Services/HSC-Students/Discovery-Related-Texts
http://www.insidebreak.org.au/english-area-of-study/discovery/
http://www.hscdiscovery.com.au/

Discovery 1001: How to choose killer related material
Part 2. Visual texts: a picture is worth a thousand words
– analysing and evaluating images as texts
– good options for a secondary related text
– what makes a good visual text?
– practice examples