HSC Belonging

Compare the two websites: Linking texts

Look at these examples of linking the Area of Study texts. Add more ideas of your own.

Aspect of belonging
Personal, social, cultural, historical
People, places, groups, communities, wider world
Experiences, identity, relationships, acceptance, understanding / Prescribed text: Making Multicultural Australia(MMA)
Refer to sections onHistory, Activities, Library, e-Learning, Hotwords / Text of your choice
Title:
Personal
Identity and acceptance
How shown? / There are personal statements and testimonies. People from different backgrounds tell their own stories.
The section on History includes the experiences of Indigenous Australians and more recent arrivals. It traces the key events, government policy and contributions of the people who successively arrived over more than two hundred years ago.
Historical and cultural
Relationships and community
How shown? / Key cultural aspects mentioned are formal and informal: festivals, dances, native title legislation, ATSIC.
Belonging is not easy, for example there is a section on ‘cultural collision’ and reconstitution that refers to racism and repairing relationships.
Emotive and colourful language.
There is a graphic of the word ‘Sorry’ in sky writing.
Powerful language, for example principles, courageous leadership, rights, reconciliation at the crossroads
People and places
How shown? / Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, European immigrants, Vietnamese, Chinese, Muslims …
Range of appropriate media such as text, video of Indigenous dancers, Chinese lion dancers, film segments from archives, interactive map of Aboriginal territories, audio stories and comment,

The textual/language features

Reference to belonging / Prescribed text: Making Multicultural Australia(MMA)
Layout of the text:
  • font
  • colour
  • density
-style / .
Language features / Short sentences. Brief statements.
Emotive language appealing to the senses, and especially justice and a fair go.

HSC Belonging: Linking worksheet1

© State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training 2008

HSC Belonging

Scaffold for reading visual images in multimedia texts

Use this scaffold to make notes to support your reading of visual texts.

Technique and effects created / Title of the multimedia text / Comment about belonging.
What does the technique say about identity, relationships, acceptance and understanding?
Social context
Purpose of the text
Audience (age, gender, cultural background)
Narrative meanings: What is going on?
What is the story, narrative or concept?
People/objects: is the depiction realistic or abstract?
Visual language: How is the reader involved?
Body language and gaze: whose point of view is shown?
Angles and power relationships: high, low, eye level?
Framing of the shots: is the social distance intimate (close up), social (medium distance) or public (long shot)?
Lighting: are the figures illuminated or in shadow?
Size: (large/small)
Composition: Layout of the screen(s)
Number of elements: crowded or open, amount of white space
Positioning: dominant (in the foreground), less dominant (in the background)
Vectors: the line our eyes take when we look at a visual, showing the way in which objects or figures are related to each other
Salience: degree to which an object or figure draws attention to itself
Reading paths: where do the eyes seem to go automatically?
Representational meanings: Design and illustration
Colour: bright/dull, warm/cold, bold/sketchy?
Symbolism: colour, icons, designs
Lines: heavy/fine, strong/light, smooth/ragged?
Perspectives
Visual references to other texts
Values and messages
Who is included and who is excluded?
What is your reaction to the text? How does it make you feel?

Belonging: MMA 2

© NSW DET 20081

HSC Belonging

Belonging: MMA 2

© NSW DET 20081