Sample Questions for Responding Practice

Here are some suggestions for preparing and deconstructing questions in this section.

Approach
Consider which syllabus point the question is addressing.
Start with context, audience, purpose and genre.
Look for key words that link to a concept or syllabus point.
Think of the texts that can be used.
Begin with the ideas of your text. They are the fundamental basis for any discussion.
Then identify the elements of construction. Remember to consider genre and how
this affects stylistic choices.
Then think about the key moments that will prove your understanding of the text.
You dont need to write your response in the order of the question.
Make it easy for yourself by flipping the question.
This may ensure that you can use the WHAT HOW WHY structure.

Question One

Compare the effectiveness of the endings of two texts to position their audience to
respond strongly to their themes or ideas.

This question is related to the following syllabus point:

Analyse and critically appraise how the conventions of texts influence responses

To answer this question, you must consider the relationship between the ending and the
whole text. Dont just focus on the ending.

The ending is pivotal in shaping audience response. It is the culmination of the development
of key ideas. The ending is related to genre. A different from expected ending is a challenge
to the expectations of the genre. It subverts, manipulates or shifts.

Question Two: Explore how at least one text positions you to understand how communities
deal with competing ideologies.

The syllabus point: Evaluate different perspectives, attitudes and values represented in
texts
Consider the following:
One text competing ideologies
Bowling for Columbine pro guns and anti-gun laws competing belief or ideologies.
1984 totalitarianism and democracy belief in state to control and opposing belief
in individual freedom.
Struggle to cope with the ideologies conflict that it causes fight to be heard or
find a voice.
Structure of the text.

Question Three: Discuss how a text creates a powerful sense of voice in order to encourage
you to empathise with particular values, attitudes and perspectives.

Syllabus point: analysing the use of voice and point of view

Powerful voice sense of who the person is values, attitudes, what they represent and
what they stand for. Their outlook on the world is shaped by their class, status, context
and belief system that is in place

Fly Away Peter voice of Jim shapes our perspective of war and Australian
identity.

Gran Torino uses the voice of Walt to shape our understanding of America. There is
the voice of the Hmong migrant Sue and Thao.

Bowling for Columbine uses the voice of Moore working class ordinary Jo to
represent America as conservative, inflexible and unwilling to change.

1984 voice of Winston or one of the oppressed ordinary man rebel, cynical,
pessimistic, realistic, pragmatic etc.

Drovers wife/Chosen Vessel- the bush woman one is represented as strong,

resilient and independent. The other vulnerable, fearful and timid. But both voices
are silenced by the patriarchal structure that they inhabit. The Drovers wife may be
a survivor but even she acknowledges that she doesnt expect much from life.

Question Four: Compare two texts to evaluate how effectively each relates to a particular
context or contexts.

Syllabus point: examining how each text relates to a particular context or contexts
comparing the contexts in which texts are created and received.
Flip the question:
How has a text used ideas and developed characters/conflict to help a reader understand a
particular time and place?
1984/another dystopian text but it doesnt need to be.

You could use Gran Torino/Bowling for Columbine

The two short stories
Fly Away Peter/ short story
Fly Away Peter and any other text.

You are trying to prove how the context of the society, writer and original audience
is embedded within the text. Do we come to understand the world of production
and the world of the text?
The context could simply be defined as the world of the text that is established
within the text.

SAMPLE INTRODUCTION

Texts are a reflection of the context of production or reflect the

values of the writer or his society. The fiction novel Nineteen Eighty-
Four by George Orwell published in 1948 provides the reader with an
insight into the world of totalitarianism. Orwells vision has arisen
from the impact on the world of Nazism and the growing threat that
communism or Stalin posed to Western democracy. The context of a
post war society and Orwells own personal experience has
influenced the structure of this text. Likewise, Gran Torino produced
in 2007, set in a contemporary American society, is reflective of the
producers context and engages with the wider social, political and
historical context of America. Moore engages the viewer through the
inclusion of contextual detail that directly relates to his belief that
America as a society has lost its way. His use of archival and actuality
footage, combined with other structural devices, are used to
challenge the entrenched belief in the right to bear arms. Moore
presents the view that guns are embedded within the cultural
context and form an integral part of American identity. Both texts
project the culture of the Western world and engage the audience
through a shared context of democratic values.
 I would discuss each text separately linking them to their
specific contexts.
Evaluating their impact on me in connecting to the context.
Both can be effective.
You could make a choice at the end as part of the conclusion.

Below is another question that relates to context. It is a student sample and only involves
one text, but it is also one where the writer has used first person. You can use first person
since the question does ask you to evaluate.

Second sample
With reference to at least one written text you have studied, explain how an understanding of
context influenced your response to the texts ideas.

My understanding of the world as free, equal and democratic didnt prepare me

for the confronting journey I experienced reading, George Orwells Nineteen
Eighty-Four, published in 1949. The dystopian text was inspired by Orwells
experiences of autocratic governments such as Nazi Germany and Stalins
Russia. This has enriched my understanding of the idea of totalitarianism.
Orwell presents the character of Winston Smith, living in a world of perpetual
war, omnipresent government surveillance and psychological manipulation. The
use of character construction, bleak setting and language techniques has
enriched my interpretation of the science fiction text, which is effective in
making a political statement about the dangers of a tyrannical government, one
commonly perceived much different to my own.