Year 12 ENGLISH

EXAM PRACTICE TASKS

This book consists of exam topics and tasks that one would expect to find on the
end-of-year examination paper.

This book does not contain all the information and instructions that you will find
on the end-of-year exam paper. If you are concerned about this, you can refer to
the VCAA sample exam paper on the Portal.

Topics and tasks in this book have been collated from the 2008 Trial Examination
papers, which are credited below, as well as educational other sources.

All students are reminded that they must read all instructions on the end-of-year
examination paper carefully and thoroughly.

This book has been prepared to complement the existing coursework topics and
tasks related to each area of study and sections of the exam, and for those students
who simply want more!

2008 Trial Examination Papers used in this book:

Chemology Education Services
CSE
Kilbaha
Neap
TSSM
VATE
VCAA

(marotous / Yr 12 English / Practice Exam Tasks)

 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

SECTION A – Text response

Instructions for Section A

• Section A requires students to complete one analytical/expository piece of writing in response to one topic
(either i. or ii.) on one selected text.
• In your response you must develop a sustained discussion of one selected text from the list below.
• Your response must be supported by close reference to and analysis of the selected text.
• Section A is worth one third of the total assessment for the examination.
• If you write on a film text in Section A, you must not write on a film text in Section B.

Remember:

Only two topics will be set for each text.

Topics will focus the four key areas for text study (If you don’t understand this, see
the exam section on the English website or the VCAA Exam Sample (p.2) on the
Portal).

If you write on a film text, remember to demonstrate your understanding of film

genre by making use of effective references to film techniques in your answer.

The topics that follow are illustrative of the four key areas.

More topics can be found in your year’s coursework and the study guides on the
Portal.

1
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

1. Citizen Kane ................................................................................................. Director: Orson Welles

1. ‘The film Citizen Kane is organised like a search, an investigation into the mystery of Kane’s life.’ How
effectively does this structure reveal Kane’s character?

2. ‘The fragmented structure of the narrative in Citizen Kane mirrors the multiple views about Kane.’
Discuss.

3. “…if the headline is big enough, it makes the news big enough” (Kane).
4. ‘Citizen Kane warns us about the dangers of unrestricted media coverage.’ Discuss.

5. Susan Alexander says to Kane: “You don’t love me. You want me to love you”. To what extent is Kane’s
downfall caused by his inability to love?

6. ‘The word “citizen” implies that Kane was an ordinary person.’ Do you agree?

7. ‘Citizen Kane demonstrates that “greatness” is of dubious value when considering people’s lives.’
Discuss.

8. ‘Kane’s mother, Emily Norton and Susan Alexander are unconventional women.’ Discuss.

9. ‘In Citizen Kane power is a performance.” Discuss.

10. ‘Citizen Kane shows that wealth and power are not satisfactory substitutes for loyalty and friendship.’
Discuss.

11. ‘What Kane really wants is not success for its own sake, but to compensate for the loss of his childhood.’
Do you agree?

12. ‘Kane falls victim to the style of journalism he helped to create.’ What does Citizen Kane say about the
nature of fame and the media?

13. Leland says of Kane: “I suppose he had some private sort of greatness.” Do you agree?

14. Kane says to Susan “You really like me, though. Even though you don’t know who I am.” Why is Kane
so difficult to know?

15. ‘Citizen Kane shows that people who pursue material success destroy those around them.’ Discuss.

16. ‘Charles Foster Kane cares more about people than he does about money.’ Do you agree?

17. ‘If the journalist, Thompson, had discovered what Rosebud was, he would have understood who Kane
was as a person.’ Do you agree?

2. Hard Times .......................................................................................................... Charles Dickens

1. ‘Dickens uses the characters in Hard Times to reflect his criticisms of the alienating impact of the
Industrial Revolution and the lack of morality which accompanied it.’ Discuss.

2. “I am sure you know that the whole social system is a question of self-interest.” How does Dickens
create a dystopian picture of Victorian England in Hard Times?

3. How do the actions of Dickens’s characters highlight the difference between social classes?

4. ‘Dickens, in Hard Times , fails to persuade us of the need for an imaginative life.’ Discuss.

5. ‘In Hard Times the characters who claim to teach others actually have the most to learn.’ Discuss.

2
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

6. ‘Hard Times exposes the injustices of society but proposes no solutions to them.’ Do you agree?

7. ‘Hard Times shows that rich and poor live in different worlds.’ Discuss.

8. ‘Although the female characters have limited or no opportunities, they are the strongest and most
sympathetic individuals in the novel.’ Discuss.

9. Gradgrind tells Louisa, “Some persons hold … that there is a wisdom of the Head, and that there is a
wisdom of the Heart.” How does Gradgrind’s view of wisdom change throughout the novel?

10. ‘Dickens uses comedy to highlight the injustice of the industrialised world.’ Discuss.

11. “People … can’t be alwayth a working, they ain’t made for it.”
‘Hard Times demonstrates that there is more to life than work.’ Discuss.

3. Look Both Ways ..............................................................................................Director: Sarah Watt

1. ‘Meryl and Nick move forward when they confront their worst fears.’ Discuss.

2. ‘The characters in Look Both Ways are too obsessed with the idea of death and danger.’ Discuss.

3. ‘The use and manipulation of photographs conveys the complex emotional lives of the characters.’
Discuss.

4. ‘Life is a terminal disease. We must make the most of it.’ Is this the dominant view in Look Both Ways?

5. ‘Look Both Ways shows us that it is the little things in life which are the most important.’ Discuss.

6. ‘Look Both Ways suggests that life’s meaning comes from chance events.” Discuss.

7. “Even if we look both ways, we still get hit.” Does this film offer any sort of hope?

8. ‘Look Both Ways shows us that it is the little things in life which are the most important.’ Discuss.

9. ‘Look Both Ways suggests that it is how we face life that matters.’ Discuss.

10. ‘The rain reflects the tears of the characters.’ Do you agree?

12. ‘This text shows us that there is always more to people than we see on the surface.’ Discuss.

13. ‘The rain reflects the tears of the characters.’ Do you agree?

14. ‘Sarah Watt leaves the viewer with an overwhelming feeling that death could be around every corner.’
Do you agree?

15. ‘Look Both Ways succeeds in presenting a positive message.’ Discuss.

3
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

SECTION B – Writing in Context

Instructions for Section B

• Section B requires students to write for a nominated audience and purpose.

• In your writing, you must draw on ideas suggested by the Context.
• Your writing must draw directly from at least one selected text for this Context, and be based on the ideas in
the prompt.
• Your response may be an expository, persuasive or imaginative piece of writing.
• If you write on a selected film text in Section B, you must not write on a selected film text in Section A.
• Section B is worth one third of the total assessment for the examination.

Context 2 – Whose reality?

1. Enduring Love ........................................................................................................ Ian McEwan

2. The Shark Net ......................................................................................................... Robert Drewe

Remember:
Choose a form for your response that would be appropriate for the given
publication.

You must draw on at least one of the two texts.

Only one prompt and task will be provided. You must address the prompt.

It would be a good idea to nominate your form at the top of your page; e.g.
“Feature Article”, “Exchange of Letters”, and to compose an appropriate title for
your response (that focuses on the issues in the prompt).

Review the exam section on the “Whose Reality?” website.

4
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Prompts

† ‘People differ in the ways in which they perceive and respond to their experiences.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that people differ in the ways in
which they perceive and respond to their experiences. Your response is to be published in the ‘Comment and
Debate’ pages of a leading Melbourne daily newspaper . You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a
text or texts from the list above.

† ‘The ways in which we see ourselves may not be the way others see us.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that the ways in which we see
ourselves may not be the way others see us . Your response is to be entered into a writing competition which
will be judged by professional authors and poets. You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a text or
texts from the list above.

† ‘No two versions of reality are ever identical.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that no two versions of reality are ever
identical. Your response is to be submitted for a writing competition open to all VCE students which has been
organised by the English Teachers Association of Australia. A collection of the most interesting responses will
be published as an anthology for Aus tralian teachers and students. You must draw on ideas and issues
suggested by a text or texts from the list above.

† ‘The way people perceive reality is shaped by those around them.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that the way people perceive reality is
shaped by those around them. Your writing is to be published in the Education Section of a daily newspaper
that is written for and by VCE students. You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from the
list above.

† ‘Emotions and relationships are as real to us as our material circumstances.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that e motions and relationships are as real
to us as our material circumstances. Your response is to be published on the community page of a website.
You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from the list above.
5
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

† ‘To some extent we all make our own realities.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that to some extent we all make our own
realities. Your response is to be submitted for a writing competition open to all VCE students which has been
organised by the Melbourne Writers Festival. A collection of the most interesting responses will be published as
an anthology for the general public . You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from
the list above.

† ‘Our personal realities are what make us unique and individual.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that the ways in which we see
ourselves may not be the way others see us . Your response is to be published in a magazine for teenagers.
You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from the list above. You must draw on
ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from the list above.

† ‘Emotions and relationships are as real to us as our material circumstances.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that e motions and relationships are as real
to us as our material circumstances. Your response is to be published on the community page of a website.
You must draw on ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from the list above.

† ‘The same event can provide very different versions of reality.’

Task
Use the prompt as the basis for a piece of writing exploring the idea that the same event can provide very
different versions of reality. Your response is to be published in your school ma gazine. You must draw on
ideas and issues suggested by a text or texts from the list above.

6
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

SECTION C – Analysis of language use

Instructions for Section C

• Section C requires students to analyse the ways in which language and visual features are used to
present a point of view.

• Section C is worth one third of the total assessment for the examination.

• Read the opinion article and then complete the task below.

• Write your analysis as a coherently structured piece of prose.

Remember:

Do not assume that you will only be required to analyse one written text.

The exam task may require you to analyse the language in two written texts.

A visual will most definitely accompany the written text.

The 9 tasks that follow are illustrative of Section C.

7
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 1

TASK

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of the writer of
“Psycho’s Disturbing View of Violence”?

Background information

This opinion article, with the accompanying photographs, was published on a website and on the Opinion page
of a Melbourne newspaper.

It was written in response to a current debate in the newspapers over the link between playing computer games
and teenage violence.

This issue had resurfaced after a Melbourne-based psychologist claimed she had noticed an increase of teenagers
referred to her who had “disturbing attitudes to violence”.

The psychologist, who also has a weekly television show aimed at parents, suggests there is a direct link between
attitudes to violence and access to violent computer games. Other experts have not ruled out a causal link, but no
evidence is yet available to prove conclusively either way.

8
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

A PSYCHO’S DISTURBING VIEW OF VIOLENCE

Penny Narso, a so-called television psychologist, is the counterparts, that lies at the heart of the problem. Sure,
latest of the government’s battalion of advisers to add to you would imagine that spending hours hunched over a
the incipient condition of panic gripping our daily lives. control, staring at a screen, splatting aliens and blowing
It is not entirely clear what a television psychologist is; up enemy ammunition supply dumps is not going to
but this one has been given the task of advising the expand the average 12 -year-old mind very far. But is it
government on its policy towards home computer games, any worse than what boys got up to long before the
particularly those of a violent nature. invention of the PlayStation?
I may not be a television psychologist, but it seems to I remember passing whole afternoons playing with
me the issue here is a pretty simple one: make laws to small plastic soldiers, whose deaths I would expedite with
ensure that the uglier, nastier, sadistic end of the games increasing relish. Behaving a bit like that character in the
market cannot gain distribution, and then step back and movie Toy Story, I'd bite their heads off, and subject them
stop worrying about the rest. But it seems Narso takes a to brisk torture with a lighted match, before finishing them
different approach, one that will involve nannying off in a jar of paint thinner.
ourselves into a state of alarm about these games. Meanwhile, my mate round the corner used to lead
Her suggestion is that – in addition to the current military expeditions into his back-yard, where, armed with
cinema-style classification system – parents should a magnifying glass, he would incinerate colonies of ants.
ensure their child's safety by putting consoles in family If "Assassin’s Creed" or "Manhunt II" had been around
rooms, with the screen facing outwards to monitor what is in our day, you bet we'd have wanted to get our hands on
being played at all times. Notwithstanding how irritating it them. And if we'd succeeded in mastering their heroically
would be to sit in a room reverberating with simulated complex methodology, probably the only difference it
explosions to the accompaniment of an aggravating tune would have made is that much of the local insect
on an eternal loop, the idea that these measures could population would have been able to go about its business
make any difference is completely to misunderstand who unmolested.
plays computer games in the first place. This is what young boys have always done: rage
They are overwhelmingly the preserve of adolescent against their powerlessness by splatting things smaller
boys who, thrilled with the idea that they have managed than them. Nowadays they can do it virtually. It doesn't
to sidestep the classification system because their mate mean they are any more likely to grow into psychopaths.
has an older brother, will also sidestep the family screen, After all, my ant-slaughtering friend went on to become a
and slip off to the privacy of some darkened parentless leading lawyer, which many might consider the same
room. thing. Penny Narso should stop worrying herself and us
Besides, no one has conclusively proved that playing about what our kids are getting up to, because our kids
games damages your mental health. Since we will grow up to become neither better nor worse than
occasionally hear of some maniac shooting up his high ourselves.
school in middle America after a marathon session on
Phil Aterman is a game designer and writes games
some gory game, the assumption is they are entirely
reviews for Graphicator Magazine.
corrupting. But in such cases it is more the easy
availability of real guns, rather than their virtual

9
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 2

TASK

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of
the two writers and the cartoon by Job?

Background information

Before the November elections last year, all sides of the political spectrum issued policy statements on
the future direction of education in Australia. One area of contention surrounded the proposal for a
national curriculum, a common course of study for all Australian children, regardless of which State or
Territory they happen to live in.

On 30 January this year, newly elected Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, appointed Professor Barry
McGaw to head a new National Curriculum Board, a body charged with developing a national
curriculum for all Australian schools.

When issues of national significance emerge, leading newspapers often present the different sides of
the argument in an attempt to ensure informed debate. The following two opinion articles and the
cartoon are illustrative of the debate.

10
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

THE CASE FOR A NATIONAL CURRICULUM:

A NATIONAL CURRICULUM FOR ALL AUSTRALIANS

Why should schooling change at every State border?

The politics of Australian education are pathetically Currently, Australia has thirty-four separate
predictable, with sensible ideas that will challenge organizations contributing to the development of
the status quo, causing as much of a furore as if the curricula, and more than eighteen different senior
Federal Government wanted to put cannibalism on English and history courses.
the curriculum. Australia is a big country, but It makes no sense that what students need to
Australians are one people, and the idea than know about our history and our achievements
students in Bunbury [WA] and Bundaberg [Q’Iand] should be different in Darwin and Devonport; it
should learn entirely different things in entirely makes no sense that students who share a common
different ways makes no sense at all. culture are taught different novels in different ways;
A new report from the Australian Council of it makes no sense that what students learn is
Educational Research [ACER] makes clear that a determined by where they live.
great many of our school syllabuses, particularly in The move towards a national curriculum will be
English and history, have all the consistency of our welcomed by the 340,000 Australians who move
century railway gauges. There are university-entry interstate each year, including some 80,000 school-
High School English courses in Australia, without a aged children, who will no longer have to face the
single novel, poem or play in common, and less embarrassment of being told that “We don’t do
than half the topics taught in Australian History are things that way in this State.”
common across the country. Meanwhile, State Education Ministers are
The existence of eight state and territory reacting to the idea of a national curriculum scheme
certificates ensures a frightening number of in a predictable manner: ‘Canberra should butt out
opportunities for fads and fashions to be imposed Schools are a State responsibility, and anyway we
on children, who then become the hapless victims need more money .... A common curriculum will
of ruthless social engineering exercises. The dumb-down standards in our State’.
absence of a single set of national standards and There is nothing new in any of this, but the time
subjects means that alleged “educators” are allowed for a common curriculum has come. This does not
to get away with curriculum crimes which would mean that, across the continent, every school will
never be tolerated if the whole country were teach exactly the same thing in exactly the same
involved. way at exactly the same time on exactly the same
There is no need for it to be like this. The laws of day of exactly the same term. It does not mean
Physics do not change in the middle of the Murray. there will be no room for regional diversity. What it
Nor does crossing the Nullabor transform the rules does mean is that, just as knowledge and core
of grammar. And curriculum experts in Maths and Australian values do not change at state lines,
Science know it. According to the ACER, course neither should the way they are taught.
content in advanced Mathematics, Physics and
Chemistry is almost identical all over Australia. Stephen Buckle,
But not in the humanities! Deputy Principal,
Narrenwood Secondary College

11
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

THE CASE AGAINST A NATIONAL CURRICULUM:

A SINGLE CURRICULUM IS NOT THE ANSWER

Education is not generic. Kids and their potential are what is studied by Australia’s 3.3 million school
not the same. Where they live is not the same. students, is tantamount to imposing mindless
Local work potentials are not the same. Teachers conformity by ignoring the differing needs of
are not the same, nor should their less on content different communities.
and delivery be the same. Having each state and territory administering its
It makes sense that wool-classing, land own curriculum may be expensive and inefficient,
management, irrigation programmes and stock but arguments on cost and efficiency have their
handling should feature more prominently within a limits, and are dubious yardsticks to use when
rural education programme than a suburban one. evaluating education. Newspapers would be
And equally, urban studies, freeway pollution, litter cheaper if everyone was forced to buy the same
and peak-hour traffic problems are more relevant to paper, but in a free society, citizens are happy to
city schools than country ones. pay the price for choice, for independence, for
Allowing diversity provides choice and the diversity.
chance of real innovation rather than stagnation and Attempts to centralise the curriculum ignore one
a single mind-set. Education must not become a of the key advantages of the federal system: a
grab for power. Sound education planning comes mistake made by one state only affects the people
with negotiation and tolerance, not politically unlucky enough to be living in that state. Exactly
motivated dogma, and certainly not from politicians that principle applies to education. When one state’s
who want to control rather than nurture the system is seen to be inferior to that of a
Australian community. neighbouring state, the incentive to improve is
For decades, school curricula have been immediate and effective. A bureaucratically
manipulated to serve a particular world view, dominated, Canberra-controlled curriculum comes
namely, one that refuses to acknowledge that Hard with no guarantee that it will be better than that
Times and Hamlet are better literature than which any one of the states currently offers.
Neuromancer, the so- called flagship of cyberpunk Mr Rudd has claimed that a national approach is
writing; a view that doesn’t believe that the art, needed to raise standards and to ensure students
literature and music of the western world is any complete their studies. However, there is no quick,
better than anything else. That is why in some simple answer as to the best way to improve
English classes, students are no longer required to retention rates or the level of what is taught in our
read a single novel or play: they can watch schools. If Australia finishes up with a single
television and concentrate on text- messaging national curriculum, the real losers will be our
instead. children and their children. When you prescribe
Dropping achievement rates and lower school how, what, when and why, you leave little chance of
retention figures are valid concerns, but the reaching most of the students. Our current system
‘solution’ — a national curriculum — is completely is not perfect, but it is much better than any
the wrong way to go about fixing the problem. Orwellian alternative.
Giving control to a single authority, in this case, the
Commonwealth Department of Education, over [Name and School withheld]

12
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Job’s Cartoon:

END OF TASK 2

13
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 3

Task

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of the
writer of “Too Much Information”?

Background information

This feature article, and its accompanying cartoon appeared in the “Opinion of the Week” in a daily
newspaper.

Mobile phones have become more and more common since their introduction, and over that time there
has been considerable debate about the supposed dangers of overusing these everyday electronic tools.

Some studies have concluded that mobile phones are harmless, while others have asserted that they are
the cause of various illnesses.

14
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Too much information

Overexposure to mobile phones is putting many
Australians at risk of ‘brain burnout’, argues Dr
James Bland.

The Brainhealth research project carried out by my

team of scientists at the Brain Institute has identified
a serious new community health threat. Our report,
based on in- depth interviews with mobile phone
users, shows that people of all ages are showing
signs of mental fatigue. ‘This condition can be
attributed to excessive use of; and dependence
upon, mobile phones. Many are opting out mentally
and emotionally as a result of responding to mobile
phone calls and text messages, at all hours and
wherever they happen to be. Although other
electronic stimuli produced increased stress levels
in those tested, the research team identified mobile
phones as the chief source of mental exhaustion.
Despite this, the report’s most worrying conclusion
shows that significant numbers of people feel
unable to function properly without constant mobile
phone activity, whether it involves conversation or
text messaging.
We found that there is a common perception that emotional batteries. When members of the team
young people have the greatest exposure to mobile approached other experts to seek their views, many
phones, and high levels of usage were indeed agreed with the major points raised in our study.
reported in the under-20 and 20— 40 age groups. Ms Sara White from Education Australia gave a
However, (and perhaps surprisingly), a high number typical endorsement of the study’s findings. At a
of middle-aged and older people admitted that their recent conference, she had (completely separately
lives are dominated by their mobile phones. A from our study) pointed to the ways in which mobile
common response to one question was “I never phones actually detract from the development of
leave home without my phone. I feel lost without it.” independence in young people by making them
When the distractions of phone calls and text “reachable” at all times. “How can they learn to
messages are added to the barrage of advertising trust, by being trusted themselves, to do the right
on television, billboards, and endless streams of thing?” she asked delegates.
information from government and business, there It is important to note that the Brain Institute
arise serious concerns for public health. My team’s does not condemn the use of mobile phones.
findings have major implications for the way in Obviously, we all use them and find them invaluable
which community mental and emotional health is in both our personal and business transactions.
regarded by the health professions and government However, our research, and that of other reputable
departments. When compared with similar studies and independent bodies, sounds a strong warning
overseas, it seems that modern technology can against the overuse and abuse of this
create as many problems as it solves. communication medium. “Brain burnout” maybe an
Our team acknowledges the advantages, even emotive term, but it provides a neat label for an
the potentially life -saving possibilities of mobiles, but increasingly common condition. A public education
we urge people to limit their use to essential campaign is clearly needed in order to alert the
communications. Our research suggests that it is population to the negative aspects of their favourite
not a good idea to be available all the time. electronic gadget.
Everyone needs “down time” , when they are
Dr James Bland is Director of Research at the Brain
unreachable and able to recharge their mental and
Institute.

END OF TASK 3

15
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 4

Task

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of the
writer of “Skiing into oblivion”?

Background information

This opinion article, including the photograph, was published in a weekly metropolitan news magazine
and on its website. Aimed at a general adult audience, the article was written as a reflection on the
ways in which the earth’s resources are being used in a profligate way to maintain unsustainable
lifestyles and patterns of consumption.

16
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Skiing into oblivion

Sometimes when you see older
people indulging and enjoying the
good things of life - fine food,
travel, new cars and so forth – they
will tell you with a grin that they are
‘SKIing: Spending the Kids’
Inheritance.’ While this may be a
source of wry amusement to them,
in a very real sense we as a race
are doing this on a daily basis,
consuming the planet’s resources
at exponentially growing rates as if
there were no tomorrow. If this
continues there will be no
inheritance, just a debt that we, or
the next generation, may not be
able to repay.
In recent times we’ve had a
couple of major shocks that should
have shaken us out of our smug
lethargy. Years of drought have
reduced our water reserves to
unprecedented lows. Water
restrictions, an unavoidable
consequence of this situation, have
forced changes in our habits and buckets in the shower, putting in farming practices for short-term
the ways we use water, and has rainwater tanks, and recycling grey gain. This can be seen where the
caused pain in the community. It water, we seem much less willing land that was cleared of native
came as a much needed wakeup to leave car keys in the drawer and vegetation to enable wheat
call that the ways in which we used either walk or use public transport. production has become totally
this vital resource There’s only so much unusable because of the salinity
had to change and, sensibly, efforts inconvenience that we are willing to and erosion. We are still slow to
were made to tackle the problem tolerate! learn these environmental lessons.
from both the supply and demand There have been recent reports In the grip of drought we plant
sides. that household debt levels have water-intensive crops such as
Once we’d partially adapted to risen dramatically and that cotton and rice in areas where
the new water conditions, another spending is outpacing income irrigation water is at a premium!
shock was in store when fuel prices significantly. It is becoming You don’t need to be
started to escalate in a dramatic increasingly easy to obtain credit Nostradamus to see where all this
way. This has led to significant and more and more people are is heading. As the planet’s
increases in the costs of running availing themselves of these population grows and finite
vehicles and in the manufacture facilities. When one credit card is resources are squandered, the
and transport of goods and approaching its limit the card ‘tomorrow’ when we will have to
necessities. Unfortunately, the providers are most likely to pay the costs looms closer.
response to this situation has not increase the amount of credit To return to the skiing
been as effective as the response available and, if this can’t be metaphor, if we continue to ski in
to the water crisis. Most of the arranged, it’s easy to get another the direction that we’re heading the
attention is being paid to the supply card from another provider. slope is only going to get steeper
side of the equation; we want to get Underlying all of this is a strain and there is a big cliff waiting at the
relief from higher costs by reducing of rampant consumerism where it’s bottom. It is still possible to change
fuel tax. Efforts to reduce the imperative that we have the latest direction and take a conservationist
demand side have not had any real toys and technologies the instant route. It may be less exciting than
impact. Many people living in cities that they are made available. It is a the steeper slope, but there is a
still choose to drive gas -guzzling symptom of our dire state that you much better chance that we will
4WDs and high-powered cars with can buy a gadget on no deposit survive the ride.
large engine capacities, rather than and no interest, but when the time
Paul Evans is a staff writer on
travel using the more finally comes to pay, the gadget is
teenage issues.
environmentally responsible obsolete.
March 2008
options that would still meet their As a country that has been
needs. reliant on primary production and
While many of us have been providing raw materials to the
proactive in saving water by using world, we have fallen into bad
17
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 5

Task

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of the
writer of “A Blot on Society”?

Background information

This opinion article, with the accompanying photograph, was published on a website and on the
Opinion page of a Melbourne newspaper.

It was written in response to recent initiatives to curb the rise of graffiti in the suburb of Avonlea.

Police have begun patrolling graffiti “hot spots” in Avonlea in a bid to end vandalism in the suburb.
Police spokesperson, Inspector Paul Stebbing, said that police wanted to help residents to reclaim their
public spaces. Inspector Stebbing is on record as saying that, “We shouldn’t call this defacement of
public property ‘graffiti’ — it’s vandalism, pure and simple. We intend to make it a priority to put an
end to this anti- social and mindlessly destructive ac tivity”.

18
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

A Blot on Society?
Graffiti is a form of creative self-expression, writes Vanessa Swan

Instead of indulging in scare-mongering and in tales True, those who oppose graffiti will represent it
of graffiti as a horrific problem and a symptom of as an attack on property — whether public or
anarchy, we should focus on the real issues. private – and will call for stern measures. They need
Think about what it is that motivates young to recognise, however, that repressive approaches
people — who, after all, are those chiefly involved – to the supposed “problem” of graffiti are bound to
to spend their time and money to create graffiti in fail because as should be obvious - graffiti is much
the first place. They do this at the risk of legal easier to put up than to remove. Besides, plenty of
prosecution, hefty fines and possible imprisonment. people like it for its creativity and individualism. At
The graffiti they create is often witty, playful and its highest reaches, graffiti can be art. Can the same
socially meaningful. Even the simplest tags are be said for the walls and sidings on which graffiti is
making a statement about how individuals feel so often found?
about their role in, and treatment by, society. If they Graffiti, in fact, offers an alternative to the empty
are rebels — as they are so often said to be — what advertising that is forced upon us very day. By its
is it that they are rebelling against? We need to very nature, it invites a questioning of the
make an effort to understand graffiti, instead of dominance of big-business and the pervasive
taking the easy path of condemning it. presence of the corporate world. The urban sprawl
We are living in a world that is, all too often, a of our major cities is only matched by the urban
drab, grey, faceless place. At least graffiti artists scrawl: the visual pollution of endlessly repeated
have the spirit and passion to challenge the inner mass media advertising. To many, graffiti provides
urban ugliness that others just accept. When so both a welcome visual alternative and a means of
much of the landscape that surrounds us is bleak, voicing their dissent and protest.
industrial and downright boring, graffiti stands as a Graffiti is not a problem. It is the street art of a
reminder that we do not have to take things as we new generation and it deserves to find, and
find them — we can remake our inner cities and maintain, a place in our cities.
render them vibrant and exciting.

END OF TASK 5

19
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 6

Task:

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of the
writer of “Sailing a Fine Line”?

Background information

This opinion article, with the accompanying photograph by Craig Abraham, was published on the
Opinion page of a Melbourne newspaper.

It was written in response to the plans by the Port of Melbourne to deepen the main shipping channel of
Port Phillip Bay by dredging. Deepening the channel would allow bigger ships to enter Port Phillip Bay
and sail into Melbourne. The writer, Peter Hubble, has lived on the Peninsula most of his life.

20
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Sailing a Fine Line

Deepening the channel in Port Phillip Bay seems
to make sense but what’s at threat is something
more important than commerce, writes Peter
Hubble.

When the plain but ominous looking dredging ship,

Queen of the Netherlands, sailed into Port Phillip Bay
earlier this year, it made those who care about the
bay shudder.
The awful reality that many of us feared, seems to
be coming true.
On the surface, the $750 million proposal to
deepen the main shipping channel in Port Phillip Bay
makes sense.
Ships are getting bigger and if we don’t act the
biggest ships won’t be able to safely enter Port Phillip
Bay and service Melbourne. It’s supposed to be a
way of future -proofing the port and the Port of
Melbourne Corporation wants to dredge up to 48
million tonnes of sand, rock and highly toxic silt from
Port Phillip Bay, the Yarra river mouth, to allow a few
more of the new giant super-container ships to enter
the Bay.
However, it’s not the surface that’s the issue; it’s
what damage is likely to be caused to the fragile
environment under the surface, and the rippling
repercussions of that damage, that alarms many.
That the entrance to Port Phillip Bay could take up
to thirty years to recover is a sobering thought, and
one admitted to by the Port of Melbourne Corporation
who are pushing for the deepening. They argue that
the economy needs this change but a dubious
commercial benefit may come at a much higher real
cost. At the same time we will see the destruction of
Deepening the main channel in the Bay is a fragile sea life in the bay. There are more than 5000
massive task, and one that will inevitably cause species found in Port Phillip Bay and many will be
widespread environmental damage. A toxic plume of threatened with increased turbidity and loss of light,
sediment will infect the bay, almost certainly causing death by smothering and perhaps damage by toxic
some popular beaches to be closed. Port Phillip Bay blooms caused by future nitrogen imbalances.
is Melbourne’s summer playground. Who of us And what will be the benefit of this massive
haven’t relished a dip in the clean salty waters on a disturbance?
hot day and who of us would like to see this taken That bigger, less manoeuvrable ships will be
away? making their way through the dangerously narrow rip
Below the surface of Melbourne’s summer jewel, at the entrance to the bay, the grounding of any one
millions of tonnes of sand and rock will be savagely of which might cause an environmental catastrophe
ripped away by vast dredging machines, and it will all the likes we have not seen in Australia.
have to be moved somewhere else. Huge stinking We saw what happened in Newcastle earlier in
mountains of freshly dug up sludge and muck will 2007; how the entire town stood watching in fear and
need to be dumped and it is planned that two new apprehension as a cargo ship washed up by a storm,
spoil grounds will be established in the bay; one off threatened to break apart and wreck the beaches and
the beautiful fishing town of Mornington and one off environment of that city. Do we want that on our
the coast at Brighton. doorstep?

END OF TASK 6
21
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 7

Task:

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of the
writer of “Killer Cars – An Assault on Reason”?

Background information

In 2006, Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety
tested a group of drivers who regularly use 4WDs, as well as other cars, and found that their behaviour
changed according to which car they were in.

This article was published in response to the findings and appeared in the opinion section of a
Melbourne newspaper.

22
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

KILLER CARS – AN ASSAULT ON REASON

MELANIE MASTERS

Pedestrian Council of NSW president

Harold Scruby refers to them as ‘death
machines’. They are the monsters of the
road, hulking, huge, high seated – and their
drivers are hardly concerned about what
their critics might be saying. ‘Because it’s
safe’, and ‘because I like it,’ are the two
chief reasons people give for buying one of
these behemoths, according to a recent
study. They might be right with regard to the
first reason; if, that is, it’s only their own
safety they’re worried about. But it is high
time that this issue was framed, not in terms
of individual rights, but in terms of social
responsibility.
A research report prepared by the
Monash University Accident Research
Centre (MUARC) found that large 4WDs are
the most aggressive vehicle type, killing or seriously realistic. The fact is, the vast majority of these
injuring an average 5.89 unprotected road users or vehicles never do it rougher than the supermarket
drivers per 100 crashes. And it’s not only other car park. A 2007 AAMI study found that most 4WD
motorists who need to watch out for them. The owners live in the city and less than a quarter
Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that half bought the cars with the intention of taking them off-
the 36 children killed in driveway deaths between road. 4WD manufacturers have long since dropped
1996 and 1998 were struck by large 4WDs. the pretence that these are work vehicles.
Children like five-year-old Bethany Holder, killed in It will come as no surprise that an Australia
the driveway of her school by 4WD driven by Institute study has found that city owners of 4WDs
another mother, who couldn’t see little Bethany from are less community-minded and less charitable than
her elevated position. other drivers. The blithe disregard for the damage
Now a study by Queensland University of done exhibited by the woman in the cartoon above
Technology’s Centre for Accident Research and is typical of the average 4WD owner. Drivers of
Road Safety has found that drivers become less luxury 4WDs are also more materialistic than other
responsible when behind the wheel of a 4WD. They Australians and twice as likely as the general
become more likely to speed, more likely to drive population to say, ‘I was born to shop’. But their
while talking on a mobile phone and less likely to right to choose ends where it impinges on the rights
wear seatbelts. They concluded that 4WD owners of the rest of us to travel safely on our roads. How
take more risks because they feel safer, like the many more Bethany Holders do we need before we
woman in the cartoon above, who is happily decide that the selfish and myopic rationales of
unharmed after ploughing into a smaller car. But 4WD owners are of no account when weighed
what about the rest of us? 4WDs clog urban roads against the lives lost to their aggression? All cars
and reduce visibility for other road users. Their are potentially dangerous, but when reports such as
higher centre of gravity makes them prone to rolling the QUT’s prove that even getting behind the wheel
over in the event of a crash. Then there’s the of one of these vehicles can turn a sensible driver
environmental impact. Their greater size means into a menace, when we know that they are lethal
greater fuel consumption, more greenhouse gas weapons, the only reasonable solution is to purge
emissions and higher operating costs, another way our roads of them for good, and for the good of all of
in which the choice of the few impacts on the health us.
and safety of the many. Melanie Masters is a freelance writer and researcher on
Proponents of 4WDs argue their right to choose. issues relating to public safety.
They point out that there are those who genuinely
require the cars’ off-road capacity. But let’s be

END OF TASK 7
23
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 8

Task:

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of
the writers of the two opinion articles “Overprotective Parents Stifle Growth” and “Reality Check”
and the photograph by Dylan Woodhouse?

Background information

Parenting styles have changed over the years and much has been written about the best way to bring up
children. Some experts advise new parents to implement a regime of strict control and rigid routine for
their children’s own protection. Others argue for a more permissive, liberal style of parenting to
encourage children to be independent and become more resilient adults. This pattern continues into
adulthood. Laws intended to protect people could be seen to prevent them from taking personal
responsibility for their own actions.

Two differing views were published in the Opinion section of The Daily News.

24
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Opinion Page

Overprotective parents stifle growth

writes Retired Principal, Jane Brown

How much longer will we continue to supposedly ‘protect’ our

young people from the stark realities of life? It is perfectly clear
to me, as a professional, that by mollycoddling them, we are
ultimately creating defenceless young people unable to cope
with future challenges.
Too often are parents willing to step in and stand up for
their ‘perfect’ children involved in ‘incidents’ at school, or caught
up in squabbles with their peers. Parents provide a continuous
taxi service, transporting their precious offspring to organised
sporting activities, to and from school, often running little
errands for them. They blindly search for the child’s lost
jumper and they obediently bring the lunch when it is forgotten.
Others even complete their children’s homework.
One only has to look at teenagers today: incapable of
making a decision on their own; followers, not leaders; still
reliant on their parents for their creature comforts. Children
need to make mistakes, experience rejection and maybe hurt
themselves to learn how to cope with life. They must
experience real pain and deal with disappointment to become
resilient adults.
Nothing could be clearer to me than the belief that, by
wrapping our young children in cotton wool, we are depriving
them of the skills required to solve the problems which they will
confront in the future. They cannot possibly learn to deal with
challenging situations in adulthood if they never have to face a Photograph by Dylan Woodhouse
problem in youth.
Parents are so afraid their children will be hurt or abducted
that they are refusing to let them play outside on their own until they are at least 14, research has revealed.
Denied opportunities to meet friends, a generation of cosseted youngsters is becoming lonely and isolated,
according to a study by the Children’s Society in Britain.
The Children’s Society stresses the importance of allowing children freedom to play with peers as it helps
them ‘practise making and consolidating friendships and deal with conflict’. Children who are isolated from peers
are at greater risk of becoming depressed, overaggressive, antisocial and delinquent, they argue.
There is a mountain of evidence available now to show that children whose parents are at their constant
beck and call are stifled, losing the ability to develop the skills to become fully functioning adults.
Furthermore, they never accept responsibility for their own actions.

25
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

Opinion Page

Letters

REALITY CHECK

My granddad goes on about the good old days. He says

that in his time kids could be kids. They were not hassled
by parents and if they jolly well wanted to play in the
street till dark, they jolly well did.
I used to actually believe this, but not now. Now I have
my own family and I love my kids. The world has changed
and it’s weird.
I say unsupervised is unsafe!
Everywhere I turn, I see danger.
Cars are lethal weapons with hoons at the wheel.
Newspapers scream stories of tragedy and evil. Even in
our very own family room there is no escape. The News
at 6 means that we are bombarded with scenes of
carnage caused by suicide bombers wherever the
bloodiest massacre of the last 24 hours has occurred.
If it’s not that, it’s films filled with foul language,
violence or ‘adult themes’. Even the Internet lures young
people into sampling the ‘thrill’ of life in the fast lane.
It terrifies me.
Don’t try the documentaries either. They are full of
gloom and doom about climate change, mass extinctions
and death of the planet.
Don’t tell me that kids should be allowed to see all this.
What does it do to them?
I want my kids to be able to survive in this crazy world,
and to do that they need to be safe and secure and sure
of some things – things like love and hope. They need to
feel that they can make a difference.
That won’t happen if they are traumatised – or worse!
Jack Lee

END OF TASK 8

26
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

PRACTICE TASK 9

Task:

How is written and visual language used to attempt to persuade readers to share the point of view of
the writer of “What Real People Think”?

Background information

This opinion article, with the accompanying photograph, was published on a website and on the
Opinion page of a Melbourne newspaper.

It was written in response to a recent report that further highlighted the fact that young male drivers are
the ones most likely to be injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents.

The trend is continuing despite all of the efforts of police and road traffic authorities.

The police said that some of the behaviours of these drivers show deeply ingrained values and beliefs
on the part of these drivers that are not in accord with community standards.

Even though learner drivers are rated as the safest on the road while they are driving under supervision,
as soon as they are able to drive independently they become the most dangerous.

27
 Year 12 Exam Practice Tasks

What real people think

Young male drivers are the most likely to be killed or
injured on the roads, unsurprisingly given their poor
attitudes and false beliefs, writes Frank Sadler

I’m probably going to be accused of being a crusty old

curmudgeon and a traitor to my gender with what I’m
going to say here, but it needs to be said. I’m talking to
you, the young guns, the source of the greatest carnage
on the roads. Despite all the right messages that you’ve
been given, your age group still hasn’t got its mind set
right. When it comes to those who do the most damage to
themselves, other road users and to friends and family,
no other group comes close.
It must be something in the genetic makeup of males
that when they get their licenses and are able to drive
unsupervised, it turns them into self absorbed sociopaths
intent on their own gratification and amusement no matter Still on the road, you believe that the road rules apply
what the cost to others, or what the laws of the land might to everyone else and not to you. You rant and curse when
say. All too often they believe that they are invincible and someone fails to give way and delays you for a
that no harm can befall them, leading them to indulge in nanosecond, yet double lines, speed advisories on
diabolical risk taking. Here are just a few of the things that corners and bends, speed limits, lights on high beam are
you guys need to get straight before you get behind the all optional things that you can abide by when you feel
wheel. like it. Wrong yet again. If you don’t believe me just watch
The first involves your choice of vehicle. All too often the demerit points stack up.
this is a supercharged beast that has to be brightly The worst idea that you have when you are behind the
coloured and as noisy as possible and preferably with wheel is that accidents and collisions are what happen to
shiny bits all over it. It has to come with a hefty price tag other people and the only way that you’ll end up on a slab
and if it’s not noisy enough on its own, then it has to be is when you die of old age in your bed and the only time
revved to excess or the tyres made to scream, “Look at that you will end up in hospital is when you’re injured
me! Look At Me!” When this call is answered, you playing footy. When will you get it right? You are far more
probably think that the impression you’ve made is one of likely than any other group in the community to end up in
wonder and envy and makes the opposite sex weak at the operating theatre or the morgue as a result of your
the knees, wanting to have a piece of someone with such own stupid behaviour and attitudes. Still don’t believe
a cool car. Wrong! Most of the responses are along the me? Look at the Traffic Accident Commission statistics
lines of, “What a tosser!” or “There’s someone with more and how much money the insurance companies want
money than sense!” or “Isn’t he a bit old to still be playing before they will give you any form of coverage.
with toys?” When you are learning to drive, you have to able to
Out on the road itself you have to be the first in line at convince the testers that you have the skills and
the traffic lights and to overtake any car in front of you at knowledge of the road rules to drive a car. Why can’t you
high speed, no matter what the speed limits are. You be trusted to do this on your own? To mix some clichés,
think that your time is more precious than anyone else’s do yourself and everyone else a favour and get with the
and that no one has the right to impede your progress. program. Other road users don’t want to fall victim to your
We are all supposed to be in awe of the power of your testosterone charged fantasies.
machine and your impressive driving skills. Wrong again,
Frank Sadler is a freelance writer with special interest in
as your coffin on wheels hurtles past, we’re thinking “He’s
not much longer for this world” or “I hope that there’s a motoring issues.
cop with a radar gun around the next bend!”

END OF TASK 9

28