ako tuhituhi
“Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.”
— Richard Wiseman
te ao Māori principles
There are five key principals that we, as an English Department, consider important as part of a holistic study at school.
- Mana – The prestige and authority of the writer. Writers can build mana through impactful stories that uplift readers.
- Whanaungatanga – The connections and relationships between characters, writers, and readers. Literature brings people together.
- Kaitiakitanga – Guardianship and protection of stories, language, and knowledge. Writers have a duty to share stories responsibly.
- Wairuatanga – The spirituality and deeper meanings conveyed through literature. Stories can be profound and moving.
- Mauri – The essential life force or vitality of the writer coming through in their work. Writing with purpose and energy.
- Aroha – The empathy, compassion, and love writers show through their words. Literature builds understanding between people.
- Tikanga – The customs, protocols and values upheld through storytelling. Writers adhere to cultural principles.
Key Terms
| Structural | relating to the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of a complex whole. |
| Study | a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation. |
| Macro | large-scale; overall. |
| Analysis | detailed examination of the elements or structure of something. |
| Characterisation | the creation or construction of a character. |
| Symbolism | the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. |
| Organisation | the action of organising something. |
| Form | a particular way in which a thing exists or appears. |
| Language | the style of a piece of writing or speech. |
| Connotation | an idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning. |
| Conventions | a way in which something is usually done. |
| Audience | the people giving attention to something. |
| Purpose | the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. |
| Tone | the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc. |
| Plot | the main events of a play, novel, film, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence. |
| Subplot | a subordinate plot in a play, novel, or similar work. |
| Narrative | a spoken or written account of connected events; a story. |
| Construction | the creation of an abstract entity. |
| Perspective | a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view. |
Learning Objectives
- To introduce background information to supplement texts.
- To recognise key elements of the plot in the text e.g. major characters, major events, climactic moments.
- To apply initial analysis (macro) to the text.
- To recognise the patterns of language and the conventions of the genre.
- To recognise form and structure. (e.g. Length of chapters)
Exercises
Spelling
| believe | relief | field | ceiling | receive |
| perceive | niece | thief | piece | chief |
| yield | pierce | grief | priest | alien |
| protein | conceit | deceive | receipt | brief |
Summary Builder
Below is a piece of writing that you should attempt to summarise into around 100 words.
The Impact of Social Media on Teen Lives
Social media has become an integral part of teenage life. Platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok offer teenagers opportunities for self-expression, social connection, and access to current cultural trends. However, social media also has many downsides if not used responsibly.
On Instagram and Snapchat, teens can selectively curate their image through edited photos and short videos. However, this filtered self-presentation often depicts an unrealistic lifestyle. Constant exposure to such heavily curated content can lead to teens feeling inadequate or depressed when making comparisons.
The constant stream of new posts and notifications from apps promotes a fear of missing out. Teens feel pressured to be online and respond quickly at all times. This can foster digital addiction and take time away from important offline activities like family, school, and hobbies.
Cyberbullying remains prevalent across all social platforms, causing significant emotional distress for many teens. Still, when used in moderation, social media allows teens to stay up to date, express themselves, and connect with friends. Setting limits on usage and prioritizing in-person interactions helps maintain balance and well-being. Overall, teenagers must actively mitigate the risks of social media in order to enjoy its rewards.
Literary Study
ako tuhituhi
Questioning
Questioning is a vital part of the non-fiction study process. It’s important to be thoughtful with how you question a text so that you can learn to investigate things more fully.
Here are some simple alternatives to standard questions:
- Question the alternatives: Why not…? Why doesn’t…? Why wouldn’t…?
- Questioning that aids evaluation: Which is the best / least / most / weakest…?
- Questioning that makes you take a position: If you were against this, what would you say? If you agreed with… what would you argue?
- Questioning the consequences: If ……………….. , then why ……………….. ?
You could also look into some more literary styles of investigation. There are several very famous detectives in literature: Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Miss Marple and Inspector Poirot by Agatha Christie, and Inspector Morse by Colin Dexter.
Sherlock Holmes – inferences / reading between the lines
- What clues are there that ………………..?
- How do ……………….. and ……………….. link together?
- What is the connection between ……………….. and ……………….. ?
- I an infer from this that ……………….. .
- It seems that ……………….. but ……………….. .
- ……………….. evidence and ……………….. evidence show that.
Miss Marple – relating to our own world / experience / knowledge.
- Where have you seen this before?
- What other subject has this? What skills can you bring in from [another subject e.g. science] to explain this?
- This reminds me of ……………….. .
- We saw this when ……………….. .
- I notice that ……………….. has happened when ……………….. .
Inspector Poirot – looking for the flaws and inconsistencies.
- Which bits don’t add up?
- Where have they contradicted themselves?
- What are the weakensses in their argument?
- They say ……………….. , but it doesn’t match up with……………….. .
- I notice that they say ……………….. , but later they say the opposite, I don’t think they are completely certain because ……………….. .
Inspector Morse – looking at the perspectives.
- What does the other person say?
- How does this person’s view differ from the rest? Does everyone / anyone agree with this point?
- One person said ……………….. while the others said ……………….. .
- From different perspectives, it can be seen that ……………….. .
Curating and Creating Material
Now that you have read your non-fiction book, just like the process of understanding the Diary of Anne Frank example, it’s time to focus on your own text’s language, structure, and style.
Curating means to select and organise things into a collection. It’s often referring to the keeping of important artefacts in museums, but here we are thinking about the big areas of development for a text.
- The Plot – the events that happen in a particular sequence for maximum effect.
- The Narrative – the way the story is told, and the choices made (e.g. the perspective or the length of the text)
- The Context – Information that supports the reader’s understanding of the text.
- The Characters and Conflicts – Who is the protagonist, the antagonist, the deuteragonist, etc. Can you identify the ‘stock’ characters?
- The Setting – What is important about where the events take place?
- The Symbols – Does one thing really mean something else?
- The Language – What do you recognise in the language? Is it matter-of-fact? or Poetic? or Jargon filled science language?
- The Themes – What is the message that the writer is trying to send through the text?
Curating Knowledge on the Plot
Make a list of the events that happen in the plot, you may like to break them down into the chapters in which they happen. You should have started this process a couple of weeks ago, but if you haven’t, create some notes on the events that happen, in the order they occur.
Look for any subplot, what is happening in that subplot. Remember that subplots are the stories within the story. The main plot may be one of a prison break, but there may be a subplot of a romantic connection between a character and a guard – for example.
Curating Knowledge on the Narrative
Similar to the first piece of work, start assessing the choices made by the writer to help to give illustration to the plot, what is the perspective? Why is that important? What are the lengths of the chapters, or the sections / sub sections.
Early in the process you found the sections of the text and the way the writer creates the narrative as a result.
Curating Knowledge on the Context
We have spent a lot of time looking at context thus far, now is the time to begin working on what extra knowledge you have about your chosen text. What can you infuse or develop within a piece of writing that will allow your knowledge to come through? There may be a lot of information on this page, but hopefully you have learned a significant amount of how this text fits within that new knowledge base.
Curating Knowledge on the Characters and Conflict
You have also recognised the key people in the process, you also will have some key moments of action that happen along the way. These will create conflict, either within the character, or from one character to something else. Recognising where these characters are in the story – their purpose, and the choices made by the writer in order to represent, or construct them through their lens is important.
While these characters are ‘real’, they are also versions of themselves. Whenever we tell stories to others we are also careful about how we characterise the events, and the people within the stories. Sometimes, for example, we make our parents or another friend or family member out to be the ‘bad guys’ in order to get around a situation that we know we have created for ourselves. These aren’t lies, they are perspectives.
Create a character map which outlines the relationships between characters, including individuals internal struggles.
Curating Knowledge on the Setting
Despite being based on reality, the setting also gives opportunity to show more about the story, more about the way that the story is being told. A plot set in the middle of Russia in winter will have a very different tone and outlook to one set in the Bahamas. Consider the rationale behind the choices that are made, and the look closely at the way language is used to create these settings.
Curating Knowledge on the Symbolism
Like all stories, the writer will use symbols and figurative devices to create imagery and tell the story. Consider even central elements to the story as symbols – Edmund Hillary’s pick axe, or Anne Frank’s diary itself. These all carry meaning in and of themselves, as well as symbols or metaphors for something else. Consider what is being said through the use of these symbols.
Curating Knowledge on the Language
The way that language is used will help to understand who the writing is for, and look especially for some of the inclusive and exclusive language choices, by this it means to consider how, for example, Anne Frank talks about the Germans vs the Jewish people; or how Hillary talks about his fellow climbers and his competition. Then make notes on the use of slang, jargon, technical and humorous language and ask why that has been included. What does it add to the text?
Curating Knowledge on the Themes
What message is being sent to the reader in telling this story? Why does it exist? There will be any number of reasons why stories are told, or messages are presented through the narrative. What did you take away from this experience of reading the text?
Exercises
Break each of these sections into days of the week, and begin the process of curating the keys
- Key events
- Key people and relationships
- Key settings
- Key quotes
Quoting
The usage of quotations in essays demonstrates two really important aspects:
- Your knowledge of the text
- Credibility of your argument
BUT
They must be used correctly, otherwise you risk:
- Irrelevant quotations
- Overcrowding or overloading of quotations
- Plagiarism
- Broken sentences
So it’s important to know what to do, and how to do it.
As you discuss ideas in a paragraph, quotes should be added to develop these ideas further. A quote should add insight into your argument; therefore, it is imperative that the quote you choose relates intrinsically to your discussion. This is dependent on which aspect of the text you are discussing, for example:
- Description of theme or character
- Description of event or setting
- Description of a symbol or other literary technique
Never quote just for the sake of quoting. Quotations can be irrelevant if a student merely adds in quotes as ‘sentence fillers’. Throwing in quotations just to make your essay appear more sophisticated will only be more damaging if the quotation does not adequately reinforce or expand on your contention. Conversely, an essay with no quotations will not achieve many marks either.
Quotations are a ‘support’ system, much like a back up for your ideas and arguments. Thus, you must be selective in how much you want to quote. Generally speaking, the absolute minimum is three quotes per paragraph but you should not overload your paragraphs either. The magic number of 3 isn’t scientific or based on anything other than the concept that a little goes a long way.
Adding quotes to your essay
You should always aim to interweave quotations into your sentences in order to achieve good flow and enhanced readability of your essay. Below is a good example of blending in quotations:
There are three main methods in how you can blend quotations into an essay:
Adding Words
Broken sentences are a common mistake made when students aim to integrate quotations into their sentences. Below are examples of broken sentences due to poor integration of a quotation:
Never write a sentence consisting of only a quotation. This does not add insight into your argument, nor does it achieve good flow or readability.
This example is better, however the sentence is still difficult to read. In order to blend quotations into your sentences, try adding in words that will help merge the quotation and your own words together:
Described as being as ‘solitary as an oyster’, Scrooge is illustrated as a person who is isolated in his own sphere. (A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens)
OR
Scrooge is depicted as a person who is ‘solitary as an oyster’, illustrating that he is isolated in his own sphere. (A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens)
Tip: If you remove the quotation marks, the sentence should still make sense.
Square Brackets [ ]
These square bracket [ ] are used when you need to modify the original writer’s words so that the quotation will blend into your essay. This is usually done to:
Change Tense
Authors sometimes write in past (looked), present (look) or future tense (will look). Depending on how you approach your essay, you may choose to write with one of the three tenses. Since your tense may not always match the author’s, you will need to alter particular words.
Original sentence: ‘…puts his arm around Lewis’ shoulder’ (Cosi, Louis Nowra)
Upon seeing Lewis upset, Roy attempts to cheer him up by ‘put[ting] his arm around Lewis’ shoulder’. (Cosi, Louis Nowra)
Change Narrative Perspective
The author may write in a first (I, we), second (you) or third person (he, she, they) narrative. Since you will usually write from an outsider’s point of view, you will refer to characters in third person. Thus, it is necessary to replace first and second person pronouns with third person pronouns. Alternatively, you can replace first and second person pronouns with the character’s name.
Insert Missing Words
Sometimes, it may be necessary to insert your own words in square brackets so that the quotation will be coherent when incorporated into your sentences.
Grammar
It is important to maintain proper grammar while weaving in quotations. The question is: does the punctuation go inside or outside the final quotation mark?
The rule is: If the quoted words end with a full stop (or comma), then the full stop goes inside the quotation marks. If the quoted words do not end with a full stop, then the full stop goes outside the quotation marks.
Punctuation inside:
Punctuation outside:
Other Ways Of Using Quotation Marks
Title of Text
When including the title of the text in an essay, use single quotation marks.
Alternatively, you can underline the title of the text instead of using single quotation marks. Many teachers and examiners prefer this option.
Quotation Within a Quotation
When you quote the author who is quoting someone else, then you will need to switch between single and double quotation marks. You firstly need to enclose the author’s words in single quotation marks, and then enclose the words they quote in double quotation marks. If you’re following the American standard, you’ll need to do this the opposite way – that is, using double quotation marks for the author’s words and and then single quotation marks for the quote. We recommend sticking to the preferred Australian style though, which is single and then double.
As you can see, the student has quoted the author’s words in single quotation marks. The dialogue used by the author is surrounded by double quotation marks. This demonstrates that the dialogue used in the text still belongs to the author.
Using Quotations to Express Irony
When you wish to express irony, you use quotation marks to illustrate that the implied meaning of the actual word or phrase is different to the normal meaning.
As a young girl, Elaine is a victim of Mrs Smeath and her so called ‘friends’. Her father’s interest in insects and her mother’s lack of housework presents Elaine as an easy bullying target for other girls her age who are fit to fulfill Toronto’s social norms. (Cat’s Eye, Margaret Atwood)
In this case, ‘friends’ is written in inverted commas to indicate that Elaine’s peers are not truly her friends but are in fact, bullies.
Five tips for finding good quotes
How To Find Good Quotes (from vcestudyguides.com)
Tip One:
Do not go onto Google and type in ‘Good quotes for X text’, because this is not going to work.
These type of quotes are generally the most famous and the most popular quotes because, yes they are good quotes, but does that necessarily mean that it’s going to be a good quote in your essay? Probably not. But why? Well, it’s because these quotes are the most likely to be overused by students – absolutely every single person who has studied this text before you, and probably every single person who will study this text after you. You want to be unique and original. So, how are you going to find those ‘good quotes’? Recognise which quotes are constantly being used and blacklist them. Quotes are constantly used in study guides are generally the ones that will be overused by students. Once you eliminate these quotes, you can then go on to find potentially more subtle quotes that are just as good as the more popular or famous ones.
Tip Two:
Re-read the book.
There is nothing wrong with you going ahead and finding your own quotes. You don’t need to find quotes that already exist online or in study guides. Go and find whatever gels with you and whatever you feel like has a lot of meaning to it. I had a friend back in high school who was studying a book by Charles Dickens. I haven’t read the book myself, but there was a character who couldn’t pronounce the letter S, or he had a lisp of some sort. What my friend did was he found this one word where, throughout the entire book, the guy with the lisp only ever said the S one time and that was a massive thing. So, he used that. This is something that is really unique and original. So, go ahead and try to find your own quotes.
Tip Three:
Realise that good quotes do not necessarily have to come from the main character.
Yes, the main character does often have good quotes associated with whatever they’re saying, but just know that you do have minor characters who can say something really relevant and have a really good point too. Their quote is going to be just as strong in your essay as a main character’s quote, which will probably be overused and overdone by so many other students.
Tip Four:
Develop a new interpretation of a famous or popular quote.
Most of the time, the really popular quotes are analysed in very much the same way. But if you can offer a new insight into why it’s being said or offer a different interpretation, then this is automatically going to create a really good quote that’s going to offer a refreshing point of view.
For example, if we look at The Great Gatsby, one of the most famous quotes that is constantly being used is, ‘He found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass.’ What most people will do is they will analyse the part about the ‘grotesque thing a rose’, because that’s the most significant part of the quote that stands out. But what you could do instead, is focus on a section of that quote, for example the ‘raw’. Why is the word raw being used? How does the word raw contribute extra meaning to this particular quote? This way you’re honing in on a particular section of the quote and really trying to offer something new. This automatically allows you to investigate the quote in a new light.
Tip Five:
The best quotes do not have to be one sentence long.
Some of the best quotes tend to be really short phrases or even just one particular word. Teachers actually love it when you can get rid of the excess words that are unnecessary in the sentence, and just hone in on a particular phrase or a particular word to offer an analysis. And also, that way, when you spend so much time analysing and offering insight into such a short phrase or one sentence, it shows how knowledgeable you are about the text and that you don’t need to rely on lots and lots of evidence in order to prove your point.
Ko te reo te tuakiri | Language is my identity.
Ko te reo tōku ahurei | Language is my uniqueness.
Ko te reo te ora. | Language is life.