English HSC Study Noots

Essay model plan:

MODEL 1:
INTRO: Introduce texts - introduce topic/texts
Thesis statement

PARA 1: Idea #1 → Core text → explanation/evidence/quotes/analysis

PARA 2: Idea #1 → Related text → explanation/evidence/quotes/analysis (smaller)

PARA 3: Idea #2 → Core text → explanation/evidence/quotes/analysis

PARA 4: Idea #2 → Related text → explanation/evidence/quotes/analysis (smaller)

CONCLUSION: Short paragraph to sum up - finish concluding remark

Text Idea #1 Idea #2

Frank Discovery experienced for the first Discovery is transformative to the

Hurley   time individual and the society they live in
Antarctica: heroism & iceman PNG: Natives turned to cannibals
Ulysses Ulysses: Travel across sea Ulysses: Wanting more out of life

The Great Idealised love Hope

Gatsby TGG: The idea of Daisy in TGG: The green light - hope of
Gatsby’s eyes - money/wealth pursuing Daisy
EBB EBB: Religious/spiritual EBB: No more death, spiritual
sonnets connections connection to Robert

Hamlet Revenge Appearance vs reality

Hamlet towards Claudius Ghost towards hamlet
Relationship with ghost Who is innocent/pure
Madness Renaissance vs medieval

The Political Personal

Crucible Crucible: Proctor/Abigail Crucible: Danforth - reputation
LOTF: Ralph - Pig’s head LOTF: Jack - Savagery
Lord of the           The conch             All humans are corrupt
Flies
Underline texts instead of quotations
particularly/specifically
Full stop after every quote then lead onto the analysis and breakdown (techniques)
 MODULE A: Great Gatsby/EBB
________________________________________________________________________

General Essay Plan:

Introduction:
address question
             Themes → Love, time, role of women
                   Contexts → Jazz age- hedonistic (self-indulgent), freedom, loose moral
                                    Victorian era- strict social class system, religiously influenced,
patriarchal
-        Introduce texts and how comparing them/studying them together enhances the
understanding of the themes.

Body 1:
-        Romantic relationships have altered with accordance to the changing context. Yet by
studying texts of different contextual influences, similarities can be drawn.
-        Introduce EBB society
·       ‘conservative’ marriage wasn’t considered to be based on love.
·       EBB breaks convention, giving into love
-        Introduce sonnet 21
·       Notion of deep love
·       Needs reassurance – makes her strong, imagery of cuckoo song (repeats – love
shouldn’t be based on outer look)
·       True spiritual love- “with thy soul”
·       TONE: pleading- shows fear that love may not be genuine... but “toll, the silver
iterance” bells symbolising hope
·       Shows depth and complexities of love – not like GATSBY: whom is in love with a
dream
(somewhere mention link to sonnet 1,13 and 14)
·       Link this to question
Similarly...
-        Introduce Gatsby’s society
·       Moral ambiguity accepted, frivolous, again, marriage wasn’t really based on
love...but status and money
·       Gatsby tries to break the social barriers (we believe he loves her, until we realise
he is in love with a ‘dream’
-        Introduce ‘green light’
·       Gatsby worships Daisy and light becomes focal point – money, success,
acceptance and Daisy -  all of Gatsby’s ‘wants’
·       Green- colour of money not passion
·       “minute and far away” – unattainable, “minute” – inaccessible dream, doomed to
failure
·       Nick says “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out farther...” symbolism
for everyone’s dream..that always seems a little out of reach.
·       Browning: gets her dream...in fact, ‘falls’ from her dream. She dreams of true love,
yet when it happens she cant believe its true and ‘looked forward to the moon’
but falls for love at first sight
·       Conclude with reference to question and thesis~
Body 2:
-        Time is one of the main themes that colour the texts individually.
-        Introduce time to question and to EBB
-        Introduce sonnet 32:
·       “the first time” – measures time to love
 ·       Love to be strengthen by time – imagery: “worn viol, a good singer..to spoil his
song”, she doubts her worthiness ; “quick loving hearts quickly turn into loathing”
– reflects her context (doesn’t believe in love at first sight)
·       Enjambment: smooth –between herself and the man she loves; Sestet: breaks
rhythm, discordance of the instrument and player ; Restoration of rhythm –
declares the power of love over time
-        Gatsby believes he is like the worn viol and Daisy is all he needs...because she’s the good
player
-        Link to question and thesis
-        on the contrary:
-        Gatsby’s gap in time, and his hope in renewing and patching the hole, ends in failure
·       Gatsby wants to ‘repeat the past’
·       Reunion scene: “rested against the face of a defunct clock” – symbolism (head is
stuck in past) ; “he turned and caught it with trembling fingers, and set it back in
place” – symbolism (trying to fix time)
·       Metaphoric language used by Gatsby to apologise for the lost time – Gatsby
believes time can easily be fix and love be reignited
-        Link to the throwing of shirts: representation of his achievement over time- impressing Daisy.
-        (Link to sonnet 28 – reviews growth of love through letters ...somewhere)
-        Link to question and thesis
Body 3:
-        Introduction of contexts and compare:
·       Victorian: females lack of freedom, confined to their home duties.
·       Not financially independent – patriarchal system
(structure) – woman writer, woman perspective, breaking tradition. Reverse of male
and female author. Sonnet 32: change in sestet
·       Jazz: females – lots of freedom –voting, smoke, short dresses etc
·       After war, increased freedom
(structure) – novel written by a male in a conservative manner (men over women-
tom striking Myrtle in chap 2, males work, women stay home “the best thing a girl can
be in this world, a beautiful little fool”) none of the women are considered to be pure.
Ironic: Daisy and Jordan dressed in white in chap 1. Supposed purity... contradicts
the corruption within.    
-        Link this structure to question and thesis
Conclusion:
-        Address question
-        Make point from thesis
-        Connect your topic sentences and make a concluding statement.
 GREAT GATSBY QUOTES:
QUOTE THEME ANALYSIS

“It makes me sad because I’ve never seen → Idealised love  Love and emotion tied in with
such - such beautiful shirts before” → Materialistic the material wealth of Gatsby
 Corruption of true idealised
love in the Jazz age

“You can’t repeat the past” but Gatsby replies → Idealised love  Capacity to delude himself
“Why of course you can!” → Hope and  Gatsby desires to erase the
disillusionment past Daisy had without him

“Her left breast was swinging loose like a flap” → Mortality  Physical and nihilistic death
→ Death  No spiritual connection
 Extinguishes any remaining
allure of this type of society

Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not → Hope and  Metaphor

through her own fault,but because of the disillusionment  Hyperbolic description
colossal vitality of his illusion.” → idealised love “colossal vitality”
 Gatsby’s unrealistic
perception of love
 Daisy can’t meet his
expectations

“I may be old fashioned in my ideas, but → Gender roles  Hypocritical

women run around too much these days to  Conveys patriarchal
suit me.” discourse of society
 Prefer a woman who is
subservient to his whims.

“Over the ashheaps the giant eyes of Doctor → Moral decay  Sarcasm
T.J. Eckleburg kept their vigil” → Materialism  Moral blindness
 Lack of morality

“He looked… as if he had ‘killed a man” → American  Simile

Dream  Reminder that Gatsby is a
→ Death and criminal
morality  Innate moral corruption within
→ Moral decay American dream
2014 HSC Essay: Plan
*PURSUIT OF PERFECTION*
Thesis:
Perfection is an idea that intrigues and encapsulates an individual’s longing for more in life.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and a variety of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s
sonnets from her series Sonnets from the Portuguese this concept is explored through a
variety of themes, particularly idealised love and hope.

IDEALISED LOVE:
Gatsby:
 Jay Gatsby → longing for his own idealised love embodied by Daisy
 “Daisy stumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault but through the
colossal vitality of his illusion”
Hyperbolic language → Idea of love is too extreme for Daisy to fulfill
Tumbled → Gatsby’s disappointment that Daisy can never be perfect for him
Browning:
 Different context makes idealised love very different to Gatsby’s
 “But love me for love’s sake, that evermore thou mayst love on, through love’s
eternity” → Sonnet 14
    Religious connotations → perfection in the Victorian Era
EBB / Gatsby outline and quotes

In both Elizabeth Barrett Browning (EBB’s) Sonnets From the Portuguese and F. Scott
Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the (chasing after a form of perfect love / idealised love
/ hope / shaping of identity ) is presented but in very different ways. In EBB’s sonnet
sequence, she presents an oppressed female persona pursuing after an eternal and
spiritual love which transcends the patriarchal dominance of Victorian England.
However, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, the character of Jay Gatsby strives after
perfect love in the hedonistic society of 1920’s America, and is ultimately
disappointed at the superficial and insincere love he finds.

In EBB’s sonnets, (ideal love / hope / perfection / desire / identity) is based on spiritual
and eternal values, whereas in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, Gatsby strives after ideal
love using superficial and materialistic means.

EBB:
“let the silence of my womanhood / Commend my woman-love to thy belief.”
“The angels would press on us and aspire / To drop some golden orb of perfect song / Into
our deep, dear silence.”
Alludes to Ephesians 3:18, declaring “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height / My
soul can reach.”
“As if God’s future thundered on my past.”
“Toll the silver iterance”
Silver represents the purity of the love
“I shall but love thee better after death”

Gatsby:
“romances that were not musty and laid away already in lavender but fresh and breathing
and redolent of this year’s shining motor-cars and of dances whose flowers were scarcely
withered.”
“the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves”
Shows the transient nature of his possessions, which is what has shaped his identity /
allowed him to court Daisy / allowed him to please societal expectations / given him hope for
Daisy. He
sees Daisy as more than this, however she is Obsessed with the beauty of the shirts
Gatsby is like a courtly lover as he idealises Daisy for her superficial qualities (her voice),
and therefore his pursuit of perfection is based off these ideals.
“I think that voice held him most…”
“Her voice is full of money” and that “that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it,
the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it... high in a white palace, the king’s daughter, the
golden girl…”.
“Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate
mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found
difficult to forget”
The greenhouse to Nick’s house, the oranges and lemons pressed by the butlers thumbs
and the cut lawns → funeral which no one comes to shows the triviality and
meaninglessness of this effort.

Daisy’s alluring seductive voice is ultimately recognised by even Gatsby to be superficial and
a hallmark of her wealth and status, rather than sincere.

(Ideal love is attainable / hope is fulfilled / identity is fulfilling / ) because it is based on

honesty and mutuality, and transcends the values and the conventions of society,
whilst Gatsby’s (ideal love is unattainable / hope is unfulfilled / identity is not
fulfilling ) because it is subject to and cannot overcome the deception and insincerity
of the society that it exists within.

EBB:
Persona struggles against the oppression of society and the troubles within her life. This can
be seen in Sonnet 13, when the persona does not wish to “fashion into speech / The love I
bear thee, finding words enough, / And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough”.
“Do not say / ‘I love her for her smile… her look… her way / Of speaking gently…’”
Subversion of the Petrarchan love sonnet conventions; imperative form in a female voice
(very different to Victorian Context), challenging the Petrarchan courtly love convention of
praising superficial female qualities.
However, she overcomes this fear and her ideal love / hope / identity is found in her mutual
love
“When our two souls stand up erect and strong, / Face to face, silent, drawing nigh and
nigher, / Until the lengthening wings break into fire / At either curved point’
EBB presents an intimate and strong image of the mutuality of their love. Phoenix imagery
represents death and resurrection; represents her struggle and resurrection in overcoming
society's restrictions and also how their love can last through anything.
EBB defies gender roles, bases her perfection and love on mutuality, spirituality and eternal
love.
This is seen when the persona wishes to stay on earth “where the unfit / Contrarious moods
of men recoil away / And isolate pure spirits”, as this isolation gives the persona “A place to
stand and love in for a day”.

GATSBY:
“Sometimes, too, he stared around at his possessions in a dazed way, as though in her
actual and astounding presence none of it was any longer real.”
Shows the transient nature of his possessions, which is what has shaped his identity /
allowed him to court Daisy / allowed him to please societal expectations / given him hope for
Daisy. He sees Daisy as more than this, however she is Obsessed with the beauty of the
shirts
“The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic
conception of himself. He was a son of God — a phrase which, if it means anything, means
just that — and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and
meretricious beauty.”
Despite “The colossal vitality of his illusion”, ““Jay Gatsby.” had broken up like glass against
Tom’s hard malice, and the long secret extravaganza was played out.” because his identity
was based on superficiality and dishonesty.
“You resemble the advertisement of the man”
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It
eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out
farther… And one fine morning -”
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne
back ceaselessly into the past”
MODULE B: Hamlet
Hamlet resonates with audiences across the ages because Hamlet is not a typical
avenger and the play explores the moral dilemmas of revenge, rather than merely
showcasing revenge in action.
How closely does this assessment of the value of the play align with your own?

ESSAY PLAN:
Key scenes:
 Act 4 scene 4 (Young Fortinbras)
 Act 4 scene 5 (Laertes)
 The prayer scene - Act 3 Scene 3 (Hamlet’s delay)

Thesis:
In Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy Hamlet, revenge is explored through the reluctance from
Hamlet to become a typical avenger such as Young Fortinbras and Laertes as he is caught
up in the overthinking of revenge and the idea of being a renaissance man in a medieval
world.

Introduction:
 Discuss the two main points of how Hamlet delays the revenge throughout the whole
play which makes him not a true avenger and how he looks up to his foils such as
Laertes and young Fortinbras who easily act before thinking.
 Link towards key scenes
 Audience

Paragraph 1:
 Discuss how Laertes and Young Fortinbras showcase avengers who act before
thinking
 “We go to gain a little patch of ground that hath in it no profit but the name” - YF
 “Let come what comes” - Laertes

Paragraph 2:
 Hamlet overthinks things
 “To be or not to be” soliloquy
 Each soliloquy shows how much Hamlet overthinks each part of the revenge and his
life
 “Now might I do it” - could have killed Claudius but overthinking stopped him

Paragraph 3:
Hamlet is over emotional
 “ O what a rogue and peasant slave am i”
 Constant talk of rather wanting to commit suicide than to go through with the revenge

Paragraph 4:
 Hamlet is a renaissance man in a medieval world who must think before he acts
therefore he delays the revenge
 Fortinbras and Laertes are medieval characters. As characters of this era, they are
driven by chivalry and hence the duty of revenge through murder.
  "and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me, no, nor
women neither"

EXTRA NOTES
Why is he not a typical avenger? - doesn't avenge - caught up in everything that is horrible in
the world
Delays
Fortinbras and Laertes - foils to Hamlet
All his procrastination - motif of act vs think
Does have the potential to kill without thinking - killed polonius easily - scared to kill claudius
- ironic
emphasised through contrasting representatives of typical avengers further highlighting the
juxtaposition of renaissance and medieval values

ACT TWO: Anticipation

 Conflict:
Hamlet and Claudius
Hamlet and Polonius → foreshadowing his death, only person H verbally abuses
Hamlet and himself
 Language’s difficulties in expressing truth
 Breakdown of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship
 Ophelia’s downfall into madness
 The play and trapping claudius → revenge
 Revenge → soliloquy
Reality → Hamlet → The murder of gonzago → dumb show
(versions of truth)

Poison affected everything (drink/sword) → metaphor of state

How does Shakespeare’s representation of the relationship between Hamlet and the
two key women in his life, Gertrude and Ophelia, assist the audience to come to a
deeper understanding of Hamlet’s character.

Scenes used:
 The Closet Scene - Act 3 Scene 4 (Gertrude)
 Get thee to a nunnery - Act 3 Scene 1 (Ophelia)

Introduction:
Introduce the scenes - closet/nunnery and how these scenes stand out in the play towards
how Hamlet treats the women and how it links towards his fears about the revenge he has
been set out to do and the disgust he has for the world around him.

Thesis:
Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy Hamlet explores the relationship of Hamlet and the two key
women in his life, Gertrude and Ophelia, who only exist as a way of the audience to see
Hamlet’s uncertainties and concerns towards the revenge and the world he lives in.

Paragraph 1:
 Discuss Hamlet’s disgust towards the world he lives in
 Corruption of the world
 Portrays his anger and disgust on Gertrude through sexual imagery —> incest
 Merge and link towards the closet scene to focus more on Gertrude in next
paragraph.
 “Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.” - disgust of the human intentions in life


Paragraph 2:
 Gertrude
 Closet scene
 Portrays his disgust for the world onto her as he makes her aware of how disgusted
he is by her actions with Claudius.
 Sexual imagery of rotten and incestuous love.
 “With trustful visage as against the doom, is thought-sick at the act”
 “Stewed in corruption, making love over the nasty sty”
 “Oh speak to me no more. These words like daggers enter in my ears.” - Gertrude

Paragraph 3:
 Discuss Hamlet’s fear of the world around him
 Revenge of father
 Suicidal thoughts
 Merge and link to the way he pushes his fears onto Ophelia in the ‘Get thee to a
nunnery’ scene.
 “O that this too too solid flesh would melt” - metaphor, commit suicide - wants to
disappear from the corrupted world

Paragraph 4:
 Ophelia
 Hamlet portrays his fears of the corrupted world onto Ophelia by targeting women
and how they lie through makeup.
 “God hath given you one face and you make yourself another”
  Questions the world’s purity —> “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy
dowry”
 Fears that his whole world was all a lie as of makeup on a woman
QUOTE THEME ANALYSIS

Let me not think on’t; frailty, thy Gender  Personification

name is woman  Calling her weak

Your chaste treasure open…
unmastered importunity
Gender  Metaphor: Hamlet can use her
and her virginity as a treasure
that is his for the keeping to
open or close
 No control over desires

If thou didst ever thy dear father Revenge  Blackmail by dead father
love… revenge his foul and most
unnatural murder

Ay, that incestuous, that Lust  Animal imagery

adulterate beast, with witchcraft of Revenge  His speech is like witchcraft
his wits, with his traitorous gifts

Seeming virtuous queen Appearance vs  Could she have had an affair

Reality before the death?

Why then ‘tis none to you, for Renaissance  Modern concept

there is nothing either good or bad vs Medieval  Truth is subjective
but thinking makes it so. To me it  Renaissance
is a prison  feelings cause this

What a piece of work is a man! Gender  Good and incredible

 Corruption

The play’s the thing wherein i’ll Revenge  Rhyme

catch the conscience of the king  Metaphor - Can catch
someone’s thinking
 Can’t just go out and avenge
without evidence

We are oft to blame in this: Tis too

much proved, that with devotion's
visage and pious action, we do
sugar o’er the devil himself
MODULE C: The Crucible
________________________________________________________________________

Abigail
What is her role in the witch hunt?
 She is the prime motivator of the play
 She is the ringleader of the girls and the witch trials
 She is the driver of the witch hunts
 Motivated by:
o Fear
o Jealousy/Desire -  towards Proctor
 “But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again” - Proctor
to Abby
 “I am waiting for you every night” - Abby to Proctor
 “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to
kill Goody Proctor” - Betty to Abby
o Power
o Lust
What aspects of politics does she represent?
 Power hungry
 People who found power and have chosen to abuse it
 Corruption of politics
 Manipulation
 “(ABIGAIL rises, standing as though inspired, and cries out)”

What is the political impact on her - Does she change and why? How?
 Empowered by her fear
 Fearful
 Disempowered - (when Theocracy collapses and runs away)
 Empowered when Mary ran back to her as Abby knows she has won
o “(They all watch, as ABIGAIL, out of her infinite charity, reaches out and
draws the sobbing MARY to her, and then looks up to DANFORTH)”

3 words/adjectives to describe her

1. Manipulative
2. Harlot
3. Lustful

The Girls
What is their role in the witch hunt?
 Pushed around by Abigail and their parents to participate in the witch hunts and cry
out against innocent people who their parents have personal vendettas with
 Political instrument

What aspects of politics do they represent?

 They represent the fearful nature surrounding political events
o “the whole country’s talkin’ witchcraft! They’’ be callin’ us witches, Abby!” -
Mary Warren to Abby
o Political noddies - they go along with the flow and what their parent’s and
Abby want them to do
What is the political impact on them - Do they change and why? How?
 Facilitate all events of the witch trials

3 words/adjectives to describe them

1. Naive
2. Sheep
3. Fearful/Terrified

Mary Warren
 Manipulation of weaker characters by those in power
 Effects of immense pressure from ‘Crucible’ of emotion
 “Mary, do you send this shadow me” - Mercy Lewis to Mary Warren
 “Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out? (With a
hysterical cry MARY WARREN starts to run)” - Danforth to Mary Warren
 The Crucible + Lord of the Flies Essay
‘The impact of political events and situations brings to the surface both the best and worst of
human nature.’

Political events and situations can reveal often contradictory truths about human nature that
ultimately reveal the complex relationship between morality, humanity and politics. This can
be seen in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” and William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies”.
These texts portray both political and religious allegories of certain events such as
McCarthyism and the conflict within World War two.

In the Crucible, Miller allegorically represents the way in which political situations can bring
out the worst in human nature, whilst simultaneously pushing a moral agenda. This is shown
through characters such as Judge Thomas Danforth who uses his reputation as a source of
power to represent himself as the source of absolute good. This is particularly shown when
he says “we burn a hot fire here: it melts down all concealment” as the violent imagery of
burning a “hot fire” and melting mimics a crucible. This is ironic as Danforth is talking about
clarity when he is in fact deeply corrupt. In this way he represents McCarthyism as he is
making accusations of disloyalty (suggesting that the town is in charge of uncovering evil)
without regarding the evidence that is given to him. Arthur Miller was significantly impacted
by the political events and situations that surrounded him in the early 1950s at the peak of
the era of McCarthyism. Much like how Judge Danforth was promoting xenophobic beliefs,
the American authorities were extremely fearful and paranoid of communists were infiltrating
their society. When Judge Danforth says “a person is either with this court or he must be
counted against it, there be no road between.” you can clearly identify how the atmosphere
of fear brings out his character as he wishes to segregate the village.

However the best of human nature is depicted as only flourishing when operating outside the
political sphere or opposing political agendas as embodied by the character of John Proctor.
Proctor is a complex character who is representative of moral righteousness who
occasionally does the wrong thing such as lusting over Abigail Williams. However when he
realises the depths of human evil in the end of act two he proves himself to be willing to take
on the political system that is causing these problems. He says “Heaven and hell grapple on
our backs, and all our pretence is ripped away… We are only what we always were but
naked now. Aye, naked! And the wind, God's icy wind, will blow!” the metaphor of “pretence
ripped away” and being left naked in the eyes of God which suggests the vulnerability of
Proctor as his sins are to be exposed, which shows that he wants the truth exposed to be
judged by God rather than by any artificial political figures.
Lord of the Flies similarly explores how the writer William Golding's political context
influenced him to discuss in a fictional setting the best and worst of human nature. Golding
explores the relationship between morals and politics through the binary of savagery and
humanity. Golding creates the island as a sort of political microcosm, whereby formerly
civilised individuals must compete for political power. Through this, the worst of human
nature is exposed as Golding implies that savagery in inherent within all of us. For example,
the conch shell acts as a symbol of political order juxtaposed against the omnipresent beast
which is a symbol of savagery and chaos. It can be seen that the conch shell is the symbol
of democracy and moral goodness through Ralph’s interaction with the conch "Exposure to
the sun had bleached the yellow and pink to near-white, and transparency.  Ralph felt a kind
of affectionate reverence for the conch, even though he had fished the thing out of the
lagoon himself" the reverent language that focuses on the conch’s purity shows it to be
something that will keep the political order amongst these fairly savage boys. Furthermore,
the metaphorical use of the word ‘transparent’ symbolises truth and clarity, which is
juxtaposed against the political power imbalance and corruption the exists within the
dynamic between the boys. However, Golding, because of his experiences within World War
two comes to the conclusion that human beings have stronger tendency towards savagery
rather than order and morality, "The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the
conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.” the hyperbolic
language of “the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments” demonstrates that when
the violence of the boys finally shows through democracy as it existed is destroyed through
the explosion of the conch shell.

Religion is similarly represented as a political tool whereby divinity is used as a way to gain
power. In this sense, the best and worst of human nature are intimately connected; the ‘best’
of human nature is portrayed as an ideal that is manipulated in a way that ultimately brings
out the worst. This can be shown through characters such as Reverend Hale who show
how the transformation of perspective towards political events through religious views
creates tension and ultimately brings out the best of human nature despite bringing out
the worst in some. This is shown through Miller’s use of dramatic irony in Hale’s
statement “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise…” as a modern
audience we know that the truth is quite the opposite and we see more explicitly the
nature of the superstitious fear of witchcraft and how it brings out the worst in human
nature. However, the transformation of Hale is one of internal guilt as in act four he cries
“there is blood on my head! Can you not see the blood on my head?” through the violent
imagery and the rhetorical questioning we can see how his intentions of bringing out the
best in human nature ultimately brought out the worst as he finds himself responsible of
bloodshed and death within the village. Hale is a character that is shown to be struggling
with internal moral struggle can be shown with the use of a simile when Hale compares
himself to Christ “I have gone these three months like our Lord into the wilderness. I
have sought a Christian way, for damnation’s doubled on a minister who counsels men
to lie”. The use of alliteration through “damnation’s doubled” emphasises how Hale feels
trapped within himself and no matter what he does to fix the nature of the village he is
now “damned” by God for his role within the Salem Witch Trials.
Religious allegory is more subtly employed in Lord of the Flies, but similarly explores
how religious symbols can be employed as a tool for political power, that ultimately
reveals the worst of human nature. This can be seen through the metaphor of the island
in which the boys live on as the Garden of Eden a beautiful land that is completely
untouched before human come to ruin it. The constant relation to the garden of eden
within the first chapter of the text foreshadows how the best intentions of human nature
such as Ralph who wants to create a democracy can often lead to the worst of human
nature as characters such as Jack turn to savagery and the corruption of democracy.
Religious relations are shown through the worship of the Pig’s head which is known as
The Lord of the Flies who becomes both a physical manifestation of the beast, a symbol of
the power of evil, and a Satan figure who evokes the beast within each human being as the
character Simon discovers the fear and hysteria is shown through “You knew, didn’t you? I’m
part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they
are?” the repetition of “close” creates tension as Simon realises that evil is not among them
but within themselves.

In conclusion it has been shown how political events and situations can often reveal
contradictory truths about human nature that can ultimately reveal the complex relationship
between morality, humanity and politics. This was shown through the analysis of political and
religious allegories that are within Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” and William Golding’s “Lord
of the Flies”.
AOS (Discovery): Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History

Changing / Challenged Perspectives:

Hurley’s own perspective is challenged coming from Antarctica to WW1
 Experienced the camaraderie and friendship of humans in Antarctica
 This perception of the world is then challenged as “the reality of machine guns,
mustard gas and mud sank in.”
 This change in perspective is showed in the juxtaposition of focal points in two of his
WW1 photograph.
o First one of the huddled friends and the light focal point portrays warmth and
camaraderie
o Second one portrays the carnage of a battlefield, and its focal point of a
mutilated body, expresses Hurley’s renewed perception of human experience
o From inspirational to solemn music as well as changes in tone of his diary
entries from “We felt like Argonauts…” to “It’s like passing through the Valley
of Death.”
o Juxtaposition of moods and allusions

Through his photography and documentaries Hurley shapes the audience's perception of
Papua New Guinea, however Nasht challenges this constructed perspective and leads us to
change our perceptions of both Papua New Guinea and of Hurley.
In his 1925 documentary Pearls and Savages, Hurley uses the documentary form and his
photographs to portray the Papuans as savages. This is seen through his extreme close-up
of the tribally painted face of a Papuan male wearing horns, which conjures dangerous and
threatening connotations. This carefully selected image supports Hurley’s voiceover later in
his documentary, where he speaks of  “...unseen tribes of cannibals and headhunters” who
were ready to cook and eat “The flesh of their enemies.” This savage imagery evokes fear
from the audience and influences their perception of the Papuans. However, Nasht
challenges the integrity of this perspective by revealing the commercial and egotistical
imperatives behind Hurley’s discovery of the Papuans, saying through a voiceover that “this
was no research expedition. The aim above all was to promote Frank Hurley as a fearless
photographer.” Furthermore, Nasht exposes the vulnerability of the Papuans, through the
interview of Seuna Malaki, a Papuan leader who describes how Hurley “manipulated us,
destroyed our things. Our trust and our pride and our identity.”
ESSAY PLAN:

The process of discovery involves uncovering what is hidden and reconsidering what
is known. How is this perspective on discovery explored in your prescribed text and
ONE other related text of your own choosing?
Introduction:
 Introduce texts → Frank Hurley by Simon Nasht & Ulysses Lord Alfred
Tennyson
 Introduce topics → Lost/forgotten/concealed, renewed perceptions,
rediscovering

Thesis: The complex nature of the concept of discovery means that a true sense of
discovery can be found in different circumstances for different people, however,
many individuals find that they discover the most when they uncover what was once
hidden both physically and mentally or when re-considering what they already know.

Paragraph one:
Point one: Frank Hurley IDEA #1
Internal discovery/curiosity
 Antarctica expedition → shows heroism/man vs nature
Hurley was seen as a true photographer that amazed the world
 “The places he explored left their mark on him and his photography”
Metaphor: through his discoveries Hurley was mentally and physically
changed
Physical/emotional/questioned/challenged
 “Hurley’s camera transformed their misfortune into a classic struggle between
man and nature”
Self discovery → Iceman - powerful image
Challenged/physical/first time

Point two: Frank Hurley IDEA #1

Challenging of beliefs
 WW1 → Downfall of Hurley, photography turned into a magic trick
Historians were upset that he wouldn’t produce real images of the war
Merging of slides to create his photographs
 “The reality of machine guns, mustard gas and mud sank in”
Alliteration: machine, mustard, mask
Perception of the world has changed - man vs man rather than man vs nature
questioned/challenged/people/historical/intensely meaningful
 “He turned the battlefield into a canvas of his own making”
Metaphor: sense of a manipulative game → negative
Contrast between dead bodies and comfort of safety of men together making
a home in what they have
People/society/transformative/affirm/challenge beliefs

Point three: Ulysses IDEA #1

 Heroism of war represented as people honor Ulysses for his discovery
 “And drunk delight of battle with my peers”
Metaphor: heroism of war represented
Hurley: WW1 + Antarctica → men working together - comradery
Paragraph two:
Point four: Frank Hurley IDEA #2

Discovery rubric:

Experienced for the first time

Lost/forgotten/concealed
Deliberate and carefully planned
Curiosity, necessity & wonder
Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative, Emotional (SPICE)
Confronting/provocative
Rediscovering
Sudden/unexpected
Evoked
Intensely meaningful
Relationships, Outer events, People, Society (ROPS)
Inviting to new worlds/values
Stimulated to creating new ideas
Providing renewed perceptions
Potential to affirm/challenge beliefs
Historical
Questioned/challenged
Speculated on future possibilities
Ramifications may differ
Far reaching/transformative
Reassessed overtime (worth)

Is illustrated when he says….

Don’t start with thus
Quote = two sentences → introducing quote, analysing quote
 Quote Rubric Technique/analysis Scene
“Hurley’s camera Challenged Documentary about self discovery First
transformed their Physical Antarctic
misfortune into a classic First time Ice man → powerful expedition
struggle between man
and nature”

“The places he explored Physical Metaphor → through his First

left their mark on him and Emotional discoveries Hurley was mentally Antarctic
his photography” Questioned and physically challenged expedition
Challenged

“Hurley had chosen a Ramifications Symbolism → loneliness of the life First

dangerous life, so like may differ Hurley had chosen Antarctic
many adventures he Relationships Images of heroism expedition
became a loner” Emotional

“I’ve lived the life that Reassessed Positive imagery → no regrets in Christies
suited me. Took risks and overtime (worth) his life auction
did not complain. If I Intensely Poetic obituary of his own life house
could do it again I’d do it meaningful His own person
all exactly the same”

“Hurley was virtually left Affirm/ Metaphor → his style being left WW2
in a swirl of dust as the Challenge beliefs behind
tanks charged ever Struggling to maintain relevance The Great
forward… He was taking in a changing society Depression
shortcuts with heroism” No one interested in heroism →
WW2/TGD Middle East

Shortcuts → metaphor
Cheating no longer acceptable

“Born with the same Reassessed Condescending, racist tone Oasis

primitive instincts as their overtime Dehumanising → dogs
wild dogs they wander in Renewed Modern perspective: Indigenous
the wilderness and hunt” perceptions Disastrous mindset Australian
Society Ironic Film
People

“Who was most in danger Questioned Sarcastic tone Papua New

was open to question… in
their hunger for trophies
Hurley and McCulloch
were unscrupulous”
Challenge beliefs Metaphor → Hunger for trophies Guinea
Society Makes Hurley + McCulloch expedition
Emotional appear as the real savages
Images of them surrounded by
human heads undermine Hurley’s
credibility

“Each beat was a warning Society Creating a story Papua New

to the unseen tribes and Evoked Irony → Being in WW1 where Guinea
cannibals” Deliberate and men were being killed easily to expedition
careful planning coming to a land where he feared
cannibalism Pearls and
Propaganda - turn natives into Savages
savages/cannibals

“I am married but Relationships Metaphor → linked to boats Papua New

unanchored and still long People Drifting in the open sea Guinea
 for another bout with the Emotional Hurley was not going to stay at
foe” Ramifications home
may differ Longing for adventure and
discovery

“The reality of machine Questioned Alliteration → Machine, mud, WW1

guns, mustard gas and Challenged mustard
mud sank in” People
Historical Perception of the world is
Intensely challenged
meaningful

“He turned the battlefield People Metaphor → sense of a WW1

into a giant canvas of his Society manipulative game
own making” Transformative Negative
Affirm/challenge
beliefs Contrast → death and comfort of
safety

Discovery practice essay → 2014 HSC Question

An individual’s identity is shaped by the way they perceive their connections with
others and the world around them.

PLAN:
Frank Hurley: Antarctica → heroism: portraying comradery
PNG → Turn natives into cannibals/savages
Connections to others slowly deteriorated as time went on through cultural events
such as WW2 everyone became uninterested in heroism
Ulysses: Doesn’t want to stay at home
   Wants to adventure with friends
   Explore/discover the world
Intro → para 1 (idea #1 with RT) → para 2 (idea #2 with RT) → conclusion

Certain events in an individual's life shapes their identity and the way they are able to
create and maintain connections with others and the world around them. Simon
Nasht and Lord Alfred Tennyson explore this through recurring themes, specifically
comradery and the exploration of new worlds and values through their subjects
Frank Hurley (Nasht) and Ulysses (Tennyson) therefore show the exploration of new
worlds and values.

Individual’s identities are often shaped by the connections with others and the world
around them this is explored in the way Simon Nasht uses the theme of camaraderie
in his documentary Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History.
When Hurley visits Antarctica on the Mawson expedition to photograph the heroism
and camaraderie portrayed among the men as they discover such places as
Antarctica become man vs nature. Hurley captures an image of all the men huddled
together around a fire, embracing the heat and the relationship they had all bonded
through hardship. The chiaroscuro of the fire allows warmth to the idea that
connections to others are often made through the discovery of the world around
them.
Similarly, Tennyson explores the theme of camaraderie through his poem Ulysses, a
dramatic monologue of an individual who has been transformed through new worlds
and relationships. The camaraderie built among fellow friends is illustrated when he
says “It is not too late to seek a newer world”. This portrays how the camaraderie of
fellow individuals can often lead to the opening of new doors towards discovery in
the future.
Therefore, both the film and poem compliment each other in showing how
camaraderie plays an important role in the way individuals identities are shaped
through the worlds they explore and the people that they meet.

Good luck in your exams! I believe in you 

give it all you got before its too late!