HSC English ADV Module C Related Texts

Module C requires you to explore the different ways of representing events, personalities, or situations in your prescribed text and other related texts of your own choosing. Ultimately, you need to assess how meaning is constructed through the selected medium, textual form, perspectives, and specific choice in language forms and features.

This module does not require you to comment on the nature of absolute ‘truth’ or whether composers present accuracy in their writing, rather it is an exploration of different perspectives and the acceptance that the texts we encounter shape our understanding of the world.

Through both your prescribed and related texts, you should come to a sophisticated understanding of how textual form, features, language, and purpose affect the representation of landscapes and the individual.

Elective 1: Representing People and Politics 

This elective requires an in-depth study of how political perspectives are presented and how the manipulation of language influences an individual’s understanding of the world around them. You may be required to compare personal responses to political situations with the consequences of political actions within a particular society.

You are required to evaluate how the choices in textual form, media, and language of composers represent the relationship between individuals and politics, and how this creates meaning.

1. House of Cards (US), Episode One, Season One “Chapter 1” (Television Drama) The US television drama House of Cards is an adaptation of a BBC  miniseries of the same name. “Chapter 1” introduces the viewer to the self-serving and unscrupulous Francis “Frank” Underwood, the Democratic congressman and House Majority Whip. The series follows Frank’s perspective as he seeks revenge on his Democratic colleagues after being passed over for appointment as Secretary of State. The viewer is invited to side with the congressman through a series of rich film techniques, causing them to question notions of right and wrong.

2. I, Claudius (novel) I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. It is written as an autobiography of the stammering and ill-fated Roman Emperor Claudius, providing a first-person narrative insight into Roman history from Augustus to Caligula. The work relies heavily on the accounts of Roman historian Tacitus and interprets the inner workings of the Imperial court in terms of moral degradation and intrigue. As in House of Cards, the reader becomes the confidant of Claudius as his intimate insights are shared.

Elective 2: Representing People and Landscapes

In this elective, you must consider how relationships to landscape influence a character’s understanding and the comprehension of the significance of the world around them. Representing People and Landscapes requires an in-depth study of how real, imagined or remembered landscapes are represented and how relationships to the landscape are explored in your prescribed and related texts. You are required to evaluate how the choices in textual form, media, and language of composers represent the relationship between individuals and landscapes, and how this creates meaning.

1. Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (Short Film) Night Cries (1989) is a short Australian film by written and directed by distinguished artist Tracey Moffatt. Though artificially produced in a studio, the film develops a vision of the Australian outback that is quite surreal and sinister in tone. The story focuses on the frustrations of a middle-aged Aboriginal woman as she cares for her elderly, white mother. Through its representation of stern individuals in severe landscapes, the piece challenges conceptions of place, identity and family.

2. Mad Max: Fury Road (Feature Film) Fury Road (2015) is a post-apocalyptic action film produced and directed by noted Australian filmmaker George Miller and the fourth instalment in his Mad Max franchise. The plot follows the formidable duo Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa as they contend with a dystopic dessert wasteland void of bare necessities. The juxtaposition of the characters and the desolate landscape causes the viewer to re-evaluate notions of masculinity and femininity, strength and weakness.