Times: Saturday 10.15-11.15; 3.45-4.45; Sunday 10.00-11 am; 11.30 am-12.30 pm.
The focus of these sessions is reading and writing – lots of it! Please come prepared to do some extra reading, which is critical to the development of your English skills.
Package of Skills
- essay-writing skills: text analysis: (single text and comparative-style): essay structure and depth; analysing topic sentences; metalanguage for literary conventions
- analytical skills: author’s key ideas, and message (“explicit and implied” values; (broadening our literacy horizons)
- essay-writing and analytical skills: opinion/argument analysis – current issues
- written expression: clarity, precision, depth and sophistication (working on some grammar and new words as well!)
Task 1: Text-based analysis
Workbooks: An Australian Anthology: A snapshot of literary perspectives and “How to Write an A+ Text response)
- Key ideas are the backbone of your essay: focus on Author’s key ideas and analysis of literary conventions; similarities and differences in key ideas among authors
- Literary conventions and techniques.
Task 2: Opinion-based analysis
Using our metalanguage, please analyse the key ideas of these sample opinion texts. Variety of workbooks: Plus The Analytical Vocab-Builder
Task 3: Written Expression
- I’ll be studying your written work as you explain complex ideas, We will investigate common grammatical errors in order to make sure you are writing grammatically correct sentences, consistently and efficiently.
- We need to eradicate awkward expressions (overuse of the passive voice; clumsy “how” and “that” clauses; convoluted sentences; crowded sentences (too many ideas heaped on top of each other). (Avoid padding in sentences and in paragraphs; write more with less.)
- We need to improve our sophistication and clarity: active voice, use of nominals; analytically precise terminology; well-controlled sentences (control of subject-finite verb)
- Workbook: 10 rules of Grammar in a Nutshell