This website is designed by Anish Carmyn, Teacher Librarian at Riverside Girls' High School, to support NSW HSC English students in the Area of Study: Discovery. It includes:
- Links to information about set texts (ready to go)
- Suggestions for related material (just begun - check back each day to see what's been added)
- Hints on essay writing (work in progress)
- Stimuli for creative writing (work in proress)
- Sample short answer questions (work in progress)
The Board of Studies (BOS) chose this topic because they want you to discover how every text (including coversations, billboard and entertainment, not just things you study in English) is designed to make you think about your position in the world in a new way. This is summarised in this graphic [https://magic.piktochart.com/output/2974188-untitled-infographic] or in these two questions:
1. How does discovering something unexpected about the world (not just the places, but also the people or ideas in the world) lead to finding out something new about yourself?
2. How does discovering something about yourself lead you to understand the world in new ways?
What does the BOS say?
"This Area of Study requires students to explore the ways in which the concept of discovery is represented in and through texts.
"Discovery can encompass the experience of discovering something for the first time or rediscovering something that has been lost, forgotten or concealed. Discoveries can be sudden and unexpected, orthey can emerge from a process of deliberate and careful planning evoked by curiosity, necessity orwonder. Discoveries can be fresh and intensely meaningful in ways that may be emotional, creative, intellectual, physical and spiritual. Theycan also be confronting and provocative. They can lead us to new worlds and values, stimulate new ideas, and enable usto speculate about future possibilities.
"Discoveries and discovering can offer new understandings and renewed perceptions of ourselves and others. An individual’s discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according to personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values. The impact of these discoveries can be far-reaching and transformative for the individual and for broader society.
"Discoveries may be questioned or challenged when viewed from different perspectives and their worth may be reassessed over time. The ramifications of particular discoveries may differ for individuals and their worlds.By exploring the concept of discovery, students can understand how texts have the potential to affirm or challenge individuals’or more widely-held assumptions and beliefs about aspects of human experience and the world. Through composing and responding to a wide range of texts, students may make discoveries about people, relationships, societies, places and events and generate new ideas.
"By synthesising perspectives, students may deepen their understanding of the concept of discovery. Students consider the ways composers may invite them to experience discovery through their texts and explore how the process of discovering is represented using a variety of language modes, forms and features.
This article [http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/assets/pdf/Discovery_Murray_Scan3_2014.pdf] is designed for teachers and outlines the set texts for AOS: Discovery.
If you need a lecture to start you studying, click here! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3erJMrHI6M&feature=BFa&list=ULwC5w_yFiRws&lf=mfu_in_order]. Ignore the ads that come up at the end.
Matrix Education [https://www.matrix.edu.au/introducing-the-new-area-of-study-discovery] give a good account of what to expect in your exam, and some some practice questions for each section.
Another useful lecture about discover can be found on Save my HSC [http://savemyhsc.com.au/save-my-hsc-show-area-of-study-discovery-episode-1/]
Classroom Activities
- https://www.matrix.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Sample-Resource-Y11-ENGLISH-ADV-THEORYBOOK-2014.pdf
- http://misscp.weebly.com/aos-discovery.html
If you are a teacher from another school using this site, please respect copyright - Credit your cut-and-pastes in a footer: (c) Anish Carmyn, Riverside Girls' High School, 2015. http://aghsdiscovery.weebly.com