home

=**Welcome to our Wiki homepage!**=

LAST message from Mr Tiffen:
02/11: "GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY! THANK YOU ALL FOR A WONDERFUL YEAR, I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED IT!"

"I will be available online this evening if anybody has any questions or would like to discuss anything.

"I have also added a new page called 'final exam tips'. Check this out if you were not present for class today."

01/11: "Random fact: Did you know in ten days the date will actually be 11/11/11??

"That only happens once every 100 years.

"Also, did you know that in two days you will be sitting your English exam??

"Some of you have been very productive over the past week or so, writing at least one essay per day and attending the revision classes. I have seen a remarkable improvement in the work of those who have been writing regularly and seeking feedback from me (hmm ... I seem to have predicted that a while ago.) Some of you are truly ready for the exam and I am feeling really excited about seeing your results.

"On the other hand, some of you have become invisible, providing no writing and not even attending the revision classes, sometimes despite being in school at the time! Seriously, I'm not sure why you would sit through two years of VCE English only to GIVE UP with a few days to go. Effectively, that is what you are doing, and it is very disappointing.

"However, it is not too late to practise. I would truly like to see each of you 'invisible people' write at least one good piece on each Section and make an appointment with me for after school Wednesday to go through them. The decision is yours. But I will remind you that most tertiary institutions require a minimum study score of 25 in English and some of you will be borderline. The decision that you make here might get you over that line.

"So if this sounds like you, please stop putting everything else before English and try to prioritise wisely. I look forward to hearing from you."

18/10: "There are plenty of questions and prompts here on the wiki for Sections A and B. Please note (just to make it confusing) the Year of Wonders questions are on the table on the left of screen, you may have to press "see more" as it is at the end of the alphabet.

"The questions for Twelve Angry Men and the prompts for Identity and Belonging are here on the home page (keep scrolling down).

10/10: "Here is the timetable for the rest of the year for our English class:

Review of trial exam || 12/10 Section A: Year of Wonders/ Twelve Angry Men || 14/10 Section A || General Revision || 19/10 General Revision No class (Gumbaya Park) || No class || 26/10 No class . || 28/10 General Revision || General Revision || 02/11 General Revision
 * **Monday** ||  **Wednesday**  ||  **Friday (single period)**  ||
 * 10/10
 * 17/10
 * Last official class** || 21/10
 * 24/10
 * 31/10
 * Last day before exam** ||  ||

- Classes do not officially run 24/10 and 26/10 however you may make individual appointments to see me at any time. Unfortunately I cannot guarantee that I will be kept available during our usual class times so appointments may need to be rescheduled on the day. Remember that Tuesday 25/10 is Graduation night.

- From 28/10 our classes will run as normal, in room B10. Attendance is not compulsory but highly recommended. School uniform not required. "Remember, we now must be writing a minimum ONE PIECE PER DAY. Whether that is Section A, B or C is up to you, but you must be writing every day. You must also apply feedback - leave your writing piece in my red tray and collect it the following morning. Time each writing piece to be completed within one hour.

"Today I gave you a new ULP article to analyse. Remember the review we made of the web page in the trial exam, my analysis is published to the left ('AllAbroad'). Use the skills we have discussed in depth. For those who were away today, please read this and get the new article from me as soon as you are in."

05/10: "Thank you to those who came in today to discuss your trial exam, I think it was a very useful activity. Those who missed their appointment (Katie and Jake) you need to get in touch with me asap to explain where you were and to make an alternative arrangement."

"As discussed, make sure with every writing piece we do from now on you apply the positive and negative feedback from your trial exam. It is also very important that we practise writing pieces within one hour. The __minimum__ expected of you as soon as school returns is one essay per day. One hour per day is not much to ask leading up to the biggest exam of your life (so far). This is the standard minimum for high achieving students. You __will__ do well on the exam if you stick to this routine, and seek feedback from me on each piece."

"Scroll down for some further essay topics on Twelve Angry Men. It is below the glossary for those of you who have trouble noticing things (Jessica). Shortly I will add some more questions for Year of Wonders. //Keep scrolling further down for prompts for Section B.// Articles will need to be in hard copy, unless you access some previous years' exams on the VCAA website."

05/09: "Well folks, here we go! I'm very proud of you all for passing Year 12 English!! A big congratulations on a job very well done!"

"Remember the golden rules for this critical exam revision period:

- Writing essays in one hour is a __skill__ that needs to be __practised__. Even if you are a confident essay writer, you must now focus on writing effectively within one hour. - Be prepared for hard work. One essay per day will soon be the minimum. - There will be very little __new__ content. The course is finished! This period is about __consolidating__ your skills and knowledge. - We will work and learn best as a __team__. Be prepared to share and care!!

Good luck to all! I will be making a 110% commitment to your success, but this alone will not be enough. Meet me on this commitment and you will do well, I promise.

Glossary:

Defendant First-degree murder Hung jury Unanimous Reasonable doubt Constitution Circumstancial evidence Prejudice/prejudicial Stereotypes Anonymous Values Subjective/Objective

Metalanguage: Symbolism/symbols Foreshadowing Irony Personifies/embodies Protagonist/antagonist Stage directions (pauses, punctuation, interuptions) climax/denouement

Essay topics:

‘The relationship between 3rd and 8th jurors is the most important element in Twelve angry Men.’ Do you agree?

‘Twelve Angry Men extols the virtues of a judicial system based on compassionate, reasoned decision made by ordinary people.’ Discuss.

‘Twelve Angry Men depicts the way in which economic, social and cultural factors can have a significant impact on the process of justice.’ Discuss.

‘Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men suggests that a jury system is not the most adequate way of ministering justice.’ Do you agree?

‘“Somebody saw the kid stab his father. What more do we need?”. Twelve Angry Men explores the values of facts and the fallibility of human memory.’ Discuss.

‘”I have always thought that in this country a man was entitled to have unpopular opinions…” It is the seemingly minor characters that have a significant impact upon this case.’ Discuss.

Practise with some of these topics as preparation for the exam. If you don’t write a full essay, at least practise PLANNING as this is a vital skill, and you can do this multiple times. Planning should at least involve:

- Analysing/brainstorming the question

- Writing a well-worded main contention

- Three strong topic sentences

- A list of quotes/key scenes to discuss in each body paragraph

If you get excited and write a full essay or two then I will, or course, mark them for you as soon as possible.

// Sample quote analysis: // // 'Juror 8 gazes out the window' // Juror 8 is a clear thinker who takes an objective view to the case. He sees the 'big picture', consider all possiblities rather than keeping a narrow perspective.

"Everybody deserves a fair trial. That's the system." (Juror 3) This is irony, as Juror 3 is the one who perpetuates the boy's guilt and demonstrates the most bias towards him. This reinforces that what one person sees as fair may not be the same for others.

"You should be able to get at least 3-4 pages worth of quotes and analysis (hopefully more!) for Act 1. Due Monday, non-homework doers will be publicly drawn and quartered (Google it!)"



07/10: "Here are some Identity and Belonging prompts to practise with. Practise with a variety of forms and styles":


 * 'Belonging enriches and challenges identity'
 * 'The way in which a person matures is influenced by the actions of others'
 * 'People without groups to belong to can be vulnerable in many ways'
 * 'Conforming to the needs of a group can stifle your true identity'
 * 'Conflicts can strengthen our understanding of where we belong'
 * 'Our identity is shaped by where we are and who we are with.'
 * 'Without close and supportive relationships, we can often feel isolated.'
 * 'Belonging is a basic need and we all need to belong in some way.'
 * 'There is always some impetus to start us on our personal journey'
 * 'To conform to the expectations of others may be very self-destructive for the individual.'
 * 'Sacrifices are necessary in order for an individual to feel accepted in a community.'
 * 'Sometimes it's hard to balance belonging to a group with keeping one's individual identity.'
 * 'Choosing not to belong may be detrimental, yet rewarding.'
 * ‘Our relationships with others help us to define who we are.’

28/07: "This is just a test to see how often people check the wiki. The first person to come into class tomorrow (Friday) and say 'Big M' will get a FREE Big M at lunchtime and you can even choose the flavour!"

"Study questions for this week are listed below"

Study questions: Give detailed responses (one brief paragraph for each question) Act One Act Two
 * 1) Who is the first juror to vote ‘not guilty’ and what reason does he give for doing so?
 * 2) Juror 8 accuses juror 10 of being prejudice in what way? (pg.10)
 * 3) What do we learn about Juror 3’s background on pg 12? What impression are you beginning to form of Juror 3?
 * 4) What other prejudice is evident on pg 12?
 * 5) In what way does the accused boy’s story diverge from that of the State? (pg 15)
 * 6) Where did Juror 8 purchase the similar knife? (pg 17)
 * 7) Why is Juror 10 concerned about the length of the discussion and what does this tell us about his priorities in the case? (pg 18)
 * 8) Juror 11 provides a foreign perspective, what observation does he make on pg 20? Why is he driven to do so?
 * 9) Why do some of the jurors question the testimony of the old man who claims to have heard the boy shout “I’m going to kill you”? (pp 26-27)
 * 10) What does Juror 11 imply about the nature of the justice system on pg 27?
 * 11) What is ironic about Juror 10’s outburst at the top of pg 31?
 * 12) In what way does Juror 8 use the altercation at the end of Act one to reinforce a point he was making earlier?
 * 1) What reason does Juror 2 give for changing his vote to ‘not guilty’? (pg 40)
 * 2) Explain the difference of opinion between Jurors 3 and 10 on page 43. Does Juror 3 react in a way that you would expect him to?
 * 3) Why does Juror 11 believe the evidence from the psychiatrist should not be considered? (pg 46-47)
 * 4) Why do some of the other jurors begin to get frustrated with Juror 7? (pg 50)
 * 5) Why do Jurors 9 and 10 nearly fight on page 52?
 * 6) What is the final reasoning that inspires Juror 3 to change his verdict to ‘not guilty’? (pg 59)

In addition, in class we shall have a silent ballot to determine whether you believe the correct verdict to be ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’. What do you genuinely believe you would have voted after reviewing all of the evidence of this case? Think carefully about your answer and when asked to vote, do so free of peer pressure (nobody will know which way you voted).

Remember, we have two goals for the year:

 * **To achieve a class average study score of 31 or higher (state average is 29)**
 * **For each of you to score your personal best study score. Aim as high as possible! (Good English students should be aiming above 40)**


 * Always keep in mind the Secrets of Successful English students:**
 * **You must //own// each text**
 * **You must //engage// with each text in reading and writing**
 * **Be a collector of language (use the exercise books that I have provided - you should be adding to these daily and applying new vocab to each writing piece)**
 * **Be an //active// not a passive learner. (Sometimes referred to as an //independant// learner)**

What does it mean to be an active learner?
 * Actively read the textbook. Be all over the section we are currently studying, and pre-read the next section. Do //not// wait for me to tell you to read a particular page. We will often use the textbook as a reference in class, however you must already have a solid understanding of each section.
 * Conduct your own further research. For example, what can you tell me about the context in which each text is set? What are some other literary viewpoints and opinions on each text? Impress me with your knowledge and understanding of each text!
 * Come to class with interesting questions for me and the class.
 * Use study guides and attend VATE study seminars when possible.
 * Form study groups and work together after school, particularly leading up to SACs and the exam.
 * Experiement with all styles of writing. Submit writing pieces for evaluation even when I don't ask for them!

=== "What I love about English is that there are often no right or wrong answers. Your viewpoint can be just as valid as mine or anybody else's. It is a subject in which //anybody// can succeed - all it takes is regular application throughout the year." ===