Western Australian Certificate of Education Examination, 2011 Question Paper ENGLISH Stage 3 Time allowed for this paper Reading time before commencing work: Working time for paper: ten minutes three hours Materials required/recommended for this paper To be provided by the supervisor This Question Paper Standard Answer Book To be provided by the candidate Standard items: pens, pencils, eraser or correction fluid/tape, ruler, highlighters Special items: nil Important note to candidates No other items may be taken into the examination room. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not have any unauthorised notes or other items of a non-personal nature in the examination room. If you have any unauthorised material with you, hand it to the supervisor before reading any further. 2012/5468 Wb version of 2011/31066 Copyright © Curriculum Council 2011 Ref: 11-047 ENGLISH 2 STAGE 3 Structure of this paper Number of questions available Number of questions to be answered Suggested working time (minutes) Marks available Percentage of exam Section One: Reading 2 2 60 30 33.33 Section Two: Writing 6 1 60 30 33.33 Section Three: Viewing 2 1 60 30 33.33 Total 100 Section Instructions to candidates 1. The rules for the conduct of Western Australian external examinations are detailed in the Year 12 Information Handbook 2011. Sitting this examination implies that you agree to abide by these rules. 2. Write your answers to each section in the Standard Answer Book. 3. You must be careful to confine your responses to the specific questions asked and to follow any instructions that are specific to a particular question. Stage 3 text types In Section One: Reading, and Section Three: Viewing where textual references are required for responses, candidates must make primary reference to text types drawn from the list below. They can also make reference to other text types. Stage 3 Written: Novel, short story, discursive and didactic essays including feature articles, speeches, expository texts, drama script, still images associated with written texts Visual: Film, still images In Section Two: Writing, in questions that require reference to texts studied, candidates may make primary reference to any text or text type that they have studied that is relevant to their response. See next page STAGE 3 3 Section One: Reading ENGLISH 33.33% (30 Marks) In this section there are two (2) texts and two (2) questions. Answer both questions. Question 2 requires reference to texts you have studied; you must make primary reference to at least one (1) of the written text types listed for Stage 3 units. You may also make reference to other text types. Suggested working time: 60 minutes. Question 1 (15 marks) Explain the ways that language and aspects of construction are used to explore ideas about relationships in either Text 1 or Text 2. Question 2 (15 marks) Discuss the representation of unequal power relationships in at least one written text that you have studied. See next page ENGLISH 4 STAGE 3 Text 1 This is an extract from a narrative essay by a Sydney author, Pauline Nguyen. It was included in a collection titled The Best Australian Essays 2010. Born in Vietnam, Made in Australia: Getting the Fish Sauce Recipe Right My father had constant flashbacks to the war. Part of his job as a lieutenant in artillery was to go back to the scene and count the dead bodies after a kill. One shell killed so many. The scars from his own bullet wounds resemble a question mark down the length of his spine. Determined to succeed, my father took on a second job and then a third. At home he was always angry. He had an anger that none of us could explain. He would throw and smash things, and yell. Sometimes, he would just stand there and scream. It wasn’t long until he started to offload his anger on my mother, then on us, his children. My father was determined to raise four high-achievers. He wanted to make sure that the sacrifices he and my mother made were honoured. If someone were to ask me what I remember most about my childhood, I would tell them it is overwhelming fear. Fear followed me everywhere, every day. My father kept three instruments of torture: a stiff and shiny billiard stick, a flexible cane whip and his most effective weapon, fear. Twice a year we would bring home our school reports with dread. For every B, he caned us once. For every C, he caned us twice. We had to lie flat on our stomach and not budge until he finished, blow after blow hacking at the flesh on our buttocks and thighs. When he was done, he threw us a dollar for every A. He used to say, ‘I created you and I have the power to destroy you.’ At seventeen, I ran away and spent many years hiding from my father. I would look over my shoulder everywhere, paranoid that familiar faces might follow me. * There comes a time when you need to conquer fear. For the sake of my mother and my brothers, and for all the shame I brought my family while I was away, I reluctantly reconciled with my father. I would go home to visit out of duty. I hated those visits. I hated the sense of claustrophobia and suffocation I felt in his presence. Our meetings were stifled, false and tense. What I hated the most was the realisation that I had grown up to be like him. I too was angry all the time. Angry at my loved ones, my friends, my work colleagues; angry with the world. Angry at myself. Angry people are very skilled at noticing all that is wrong. Later, when my partner and I decided to have a child, I was determined that this cycle would end. I was determined not to be the same person I had always been, because I was frightened, frightened of history repeating. Frightened of treating my own child the way I had been treated. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I landed a book deal to write a memoir about my family. As I wrote, my fears returned. I worried: How could I possibly survive my father’s reaction to the story? There are ten chapters in my book. It’s not meant to be a scathing account of my father’s behaviour, but a beautiful story about personal freedom, family and hope. But in order to talk about the good things I had to talk about the bad things. I planned to finish the book and give it to him, so that he could see the full arc of the story. As I wrote, a cloud of dread hung over me. See next page STAGE 3 5 ENGLISH By the time I finished the seventh chapter, my father demanded to read it. I freaked out. The seventh chapter was the most confronting, the most scathing about him – the most difficult chapter to write. I thought, He can’t read it now. But you don’t say no to my father: I had no choice but to hand over my unfinished manuscript. The story of his life, written by his prodigal daughter. I didn’t hear from him for two months. I needed to finish my book and move on, so on Father’s Day I decided to go home and face the music. With my beautiful baby daughter, Mia, I drove home to Bonnyrigg to confront my parents. I was so nervous and scared I could hardly breathe. * I’m not scared that he’s going to hit me; we’ve passed that stage. I’m scared because my writing exposes him and our family stories and secrets to the world. I’m scared because he might give me some ridiculous ultimatum and say, ‘I forbid you to publish this book.’ I’m scared because I’m about to do something that’s never been done before. I’m about to take responsibility to end this family’s pattern. I’m about to confront my father to make things better. So Mia and I wait at the front door. I’ve brought a case of my father’s favourite red wine as a peace offering. When the doors open they take Mia, kiss her, cuddle her; they’re so happy to see her. I see that they’ve made a feast for me. When we sit down to eat, I ask, ‘Dad, what do you think about my story?’ ‘It’s good, it’s good, but there’s just one thing wrong.’ ‘What’s that, Dad?’ ‘The fish-sauce recipe’s wrong.’ ‘What do you mean, the fish-sauce recipe’s wrong?’ This can’t be happening. Later, I ask him again: ‘Dad, what do you think about my book?’ I get the same answer about the fish-sauce recipe. I’m frustrated that we’re never going to define our relationship. We’re never going to connect; I’m never going to finish my book; I won’t be able to move on. I get Mia ready and gather our things. I’m just about to leave when I ask him one last time. ‘Dad, what do you really think about my book?’ And in a voice sad and serious he says, ‘Do you know why Buddha sits on a lotus flower?’ ‘No, Dad. Why does Buddha sit on a lotus flower?’ ‘There is nothing as beautiful as a lotus flower. Out of watery chaos it grows. Emerging from the depths of a muddy swamp, and yet remaining so pure and unpolluted by it. So pure you can eat it, all of it, the leaves, the roots, the seeds, the petals. But the lotus flower has another characteristic. Its stem you can easily bend, but you cannot easily break. It has tenacious fibres that hold the plant together. ‘My children are lotus flowers. You have grown out of the aftermath of war. You have grown up in Cabramatta during its murkiest time. And you have grown out of me. I am mud, I am dirt, I am shit. I am very lucky to have you all.’ With those words he gave me everything I had been waiting for. He never apologised, but he acknowledged the harm he had inflicted. Now, when I think about my father, I think about forgiveness; I think about redemption, and about hope, and about unfailing courage in the face of adversity. See next page ENGLISH 6 STAGE 3 Text 2 This complete narrative essay is taken from a collection of non-fiction writing, The Feel of Steel, by the Australian author, Helen Garner. It was published in 2001. At Freedom What I want is a round table to eat off. Since Mum got sick, our father lives alone in the middle of the city. I don’t like to think of him not knowing what to do after breakfast when he finishes the crossword. So I phone him to see if he wants to come with me to Freedom Furniture in Chapel Street. He sounds keen – says he’ll go downstairs and wait in the lobby. A fine Friday morning! I jump in the car and fly down Mt Alexander Road. Everything goes swimmingly till I turn right off Queensberry into Rathdowne and come up against a slowmoving line of cars. As I inch along beside the Exhibition Gardens, glancing back to see if the big pittosporums have broken into bloom (not yet), I notice that drivers are hesitating, confused, changing lanes on a whim. On Victoria Parade there’s a sign: MAJOR PUBLIC EVENT: TAKE ALTERNATIVE ROUTE. Oh no! It’s Grand Final Eve. They’re clearing the city for the big parade. Flustered, I hang a left and a right, and get boxed up in one of the mazes of No Right Turns that plague this city. Dad will be pacing the lobby in his viyella shirt and wool pants, tapping his foot, clicking his tongue and looking at his watch. When I make it to the door of his building, however, I find not a cranky patriarch but an old gent exchanging charming small talk with a female neighbour. Bidding her farewell he strolls grandly out into the sun. Eager footy fans in their colours are bustling up Collins Street. ‘Gawd,’ says Dad. ‘All this nonsense, just for the flaming football.’ ‘I like it,’ I say. He glances at me curiously. ‘Do you?’ ‘And,’ I say, becoming reckless, ‘I liked the Olympic torch too.’ ‘You liked that?’ ‘It’s a celebration. I like a celebration.’ He gives a sceptical laugh. ‘Nah – it’s all bullshit. Couldn’t you find a closer park?’ Furniture stores are among life’s consolations. I love their fantasy ‘rooms’, those tiny, peaceful settlements that segue in and out of each other. Today for a change I actually plan to buy something, but as soon as we cross the river and enter Freedom I realise (a) that all the good tables are rectangular, and (b) that my father is totally the wrong person to have brought. Browsing is a pleasure unknown to him. Within five minutes he’s bored and restless. ‘A round table you want? What’s wrong with that one there?’ ‘But Dad. It’s an outdoor one.’ ‘What? How can you tell?’ ‘It’s got an umbrella sticking up out of it!’ ‘You can take it out.’ ‘Yes but that’d leave a hole right in the middle.’ ‘You could plug it. Put a tablecloth over it.’ I stare at him. We start to laugh. We approach a teenaged attendant draped across a cash register. He greets us cheerfully: ‘Hi, guys!’ ‘Got any round dining tables?’ See next page STAGE 3 7 ENGLISH He flips through the catalogue and comes up with a couple of silly-looking glass-topped things. Dad heaves a sigh of irritation and turns away. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’ Once I would have lost my temper, made a scene and sulked for weeks. Today it takes me four seconds to grasp and accept the blindingly obvious: the outing has been a mistake. It’s irredeemable. With a strange relief I follow Dad to the door. ‘Bye, guys!’ chirps the attendant. We speed back across the river. I know the way blindfold but Dad issues instructions. ‘Take the left lane. Gawd, why didn’t you take the left lane?’ Spring Street at Flinders is blocked for the parade. Cars in front of us are peeling off in desperate U-turns. ‘Keep going!’ says Dad. ‘We must get through. I’ll say I’m old! I can’t walk that far! I live in this street!’ But I turn back and take a detour between the Treasury and the budding Fitzroy Gardens, round by St Patrick’s Cathedral. The sun’s shining. There are police everywhere. ‘Let me out here,’ says Dad behind Parliament House, and strides off with hardly a backward look. I pause for a crocodile of small kids in Essendon scarves who are being ushered across the road by their teachers. If I have a team it’s the Bulldogs: I don’t care about Essendon or Melbourne. But for a moment, on the quiet road behind the Parliament, where elms are about to burst into leaf and people are hurrying on foot to the parade, the city feels like a special, mythical ‘land’, where citizens are decent to each other, and time slows down, and young heroes will be borne along the streets in glory, and everybody will rejoice together. The forecast wind springs up. As I curve northwest past the university, the two giant eucalypts on the roundabout are flowing and twinkling in the stream of air. I haven’t achieved what I set out to do, but only a fool would say that the morning has been wasted. End of Section One See next page ENGLISH 8 Section Two: Writing STAGE 3 33.33% (30 Marks) In this section there are six (6) questions. Respond to one (1) of the six questions. Your response should demonstrate your understanding of purpose, context and audience. Where a question requires reference to texts you have studied, you may make primary reference to any text or text type that you have studied. Where a question does not require reference to texts studied but you wish to refer to a text, you may use any text of your choice. Suggested working time: 60 minutes. Question 3 (30 marks) Discuss whether or not the ideas presented in a text can bring about lasting social change. In your argument, refer to at least one text that you have studied. Question 4 (30 marks) Writing is my time machine; it takes me to the precise time and place I belong. Respond to this statement in a form of your choice. Question 5 (30 marks) We don’t have a future. Explain how at least one text you have studied has convinced you that we do or do not have a future. Question 6 (30 marks) Summer is the time when we are most ourselves. Consider purpose, context and audience, and write about summer in a form of your choice. Question 7 (30 marks) ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ Discuss at least one text you have studied in the light of this quotation. Question 8 (30 marks) By the time anybody is twenty they have accumulated enough experience for seven or eight lifetimes of writing. Use some of your own accumulated experience of life to write in a form of your choice for a specific audience and purpose. End of Section Two See next page STAGE 3 9 Section Three: Viewing ENGLISH 33.33% (30 Marks) In this section there are five (5) images and two (2) questions. Answer one (1) question. Where a question requires reference to texts you have studied, you must make primary reference to at least one (1) of the visual text types listed for Stage 3 units. You may also make reference to other text types. Suggested working time: 60 minutes. Question 9 (30 marks) The makers of visual texts anticipate viewers' likely responses as part of the process of construction. Discuss with reference to at least one of the images provided and at least one visual text you have studied. or Question 10 (30 marks) How important is a consideration of context (e.g. social, political, historical) in determining the meanings you make of visual texts? Answer with reference to at least one of the images provided and at least one visual text you have studied. End of questions See next page Image 1 Black-and-white copy of a photograph taken of a female police officer at the scene of an arrest on Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross, Sydney, and a sex worker looking over the scene from the doorway of a nightclub. Kings Cross is an inner-city locality that is well known for its nightlife and crime. The photograph, entitled ‘Hard Streets’, was published in The Daily Telegraph newspaper and subsequently included in a compilation of their best pictures of 2010. STAGE 3 10 See next page ENGLISH STAGE 3 Image 2 11 ENGLISH Black-and-white copy of the cover of an expository text, The Fear, published in 2010. Its author, Peter Godwin, grew up in what is now called Zimbabwe, an African country. This nation has been ruled for thirty years by the dictator, Robert Mugabe, whose picture is shown at the top of the cover. During his time in power, Zimbabwe has suffered from increasing instability leading to corruption, political violence and extreme poverty. See next page STAGE 3 Image 3 12 ENGLISH Black-and-white copy of a photographic composition by the anonymous artist known only as JR. It is one of a series of similar projects in Brazil and other countries. The photograph was published in the August 2009 edition of Human Rights Defender, an Amnesty International magazine. For copyright reasons this image cannot be reproduced in the online version of this document. See next page STAGE 3 Image 4 13 ENGLISH Black-and-white copy of a film still from the 1971 Australian feature film, Walkabout. The Indigenous boy is on a journey as part of his initiation when he encounters two children who are stranded in the desert. For copyright reasons this image cannot be reproduced in the online version of this document but may be viewed at www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.filmjunk.com/images/weblog/2010/05/44_0016_film1_walkabout See next page ENGLISH Image 5 14 STAGE 3 Black-and-white copy of a movie poster for Women Without Men, a feature film set in Iran in the 1950s. The film is about four women on a quest for change and freedom in a strictly regulated society. It was released in 2010. This page has been left blank intentionally ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Section One Text 1 Nguyen, P. (2010). Born in Vietnam, made in Australia: Getting the fish sauce recipe right. In R. Drewe (Ed.), The best Australian essays 2010. Collingwood, Victoria: Black, pp. 300–306. Text 2 Garner, H. (2001). At Freedom. In The feel of steel. Sydney: Picador, pp. 160–163. Section Two Question 4 Adapted from: Jeb Dickerson cited by: Sickels, J. [Quotation]. (2011, January 14). Retrieved July, 2011, from www.jamessickels.com/2011/01/seventh-hornexcerpt-4.html. Question 6 Adapted from: Bradley, J. [Quotation]. (2010, December 4). Summer’s lease. Retrieved July, 2011, from www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/summerslease/story-e6frg8n6-1225963131118. Question 7 Adapted from: Tolstoy, L. [Quotation]. In L. Tolstoy, (1954). Anna Karenin. (R. Edwards, Trans.). Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, p. 13. Question 8 Adapted from: Malouf, D. [Quotation]. In D. Malouf, & J. Tulip, (1990). Johnno. Queensland: University of Queensland Press, p. 286. Section Three Image 1 Photograph adapted from: Shaw, D. (2010). Hard streets. Retrieved March, 2011, from: www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gallery/gallery-e6frewxi1225978532055?page=30. Image 2 Image from: Wardle, D. [book cover]. (2010). From P. Godwin. The fear: The last days of Robert Mugabe. London: Picador. Image 3 JR. (2009, June/July/August) Slum Heroes. [Photograph]. Human Rights Defender, 28(2), p. 9. Image 4 Still image from Litvinoff, S. (Producer). (1971). Walkabout [Film]. Retrieved March, 2011, from www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.filmjunk.com/images/weblog/20 10/05/44_0016_film1_walkabout. Image 5 IndiePix films. (2010). Women without Men [Promotional poster]. Retrieved March, 2011, from www.impawards.com/intl/misc/2010/women_without_men_xlg.html. This examination paper – apart from any third party copyright material contained in it – may be freely copied, or communicated on an intranet, for non-commercial purposes in educational institutions, provided that it is not changed and that the Curriculum Council is acknowledged as the copyright owner. Teachers in schools offering the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) may change the examination paper, provided that the Curriculum Council’s moral rights are not infringed. 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