Introduction to Text Response
This document serves as an introduction for Artin students on writing Text Response essays, detailing their purpose, structure, and preparation strategies. It explains the types of texts involved, such as fictional and non-fictional novels, short stories, plays, poetry, films, and graphic novels, along with the necessary resources and skills needed for effective study and essay writing. Emphasis is placed on independent preparation and understanding the specific requirements for each text type to avoid last-minute cramming and stress.
PurposePost-Module LearningsContentWhat is a Text Response essay?Preparation for a Text Response EssayFictional NovelNon-Fictional NovelShort-Story CollectionPlayPoetry/Song CollectionFilm/MovieGraphic Novel
Purpose
As part of each of these modules, there will be a purpose that connects back to VCE English.
This is a general introduction and ārefreshā for Artin students on what Text Response essays actually are, and how to tackle them.
Post-Module Learnings
Following this module, these are the following skills you should have.
I am able to recognise when I am studying a Text Response at school (even if a teacher does not call it a Text Response).
I am able to differentiate between types of texts studied, and what will be necessary as preparation for each text type at a high-level before studying a Text Response.
I know what I need to do in order to prepare myself when studying for a Text Response essay without relying completely on the teacher for notes, resources and structures.
Content
What is a Text Response essay?
Text Response essays are the most āmatureā essay type out of the three primary VCE essay types. This means that theyāve been around for the longest duration (since the 2000s even, click the link to see an English exam from 2001!), and have not gone through any major forms of change.
The concept of Text Response can be explained quite simply with its two key elements, involving a Text and a Response.
A Text specifically refers to a single (just ONE) Fictional Novel, Non-Fictional Novel, Short Story Collection, Play, Poetry/Song Collection, Film/Movie, Graphic Novel that is taught by a teacher, generally for a period of between three weeks and up to ten weeks (one full term). There is a booklist that is given to schools each year, that they must select two texts to study from out of a list of twenty. As a student, you have no control over which texts your school will choose to study.
Generally speaking, texts are cycled in/out every four years, so that means some students will be studying a first-year text, while others will be studying a fourth-year text. The downside of a first-year text is that you donāt have as much access to notes and resources, because notes and resources are usually created after a year or so. The upside of a first-year text is that examiners generally mark less harshly, as they know it is more difficult for students.
The opposite is true for a fourth-year text, they tend to have more notes and resources, but examiners mark more harshly as they have seen a lot of essays in the past, so what you write may not be as āoriginal'.
Texts are also divided into Australian and non-Australian. This is simply based on whether the author/playwright/director/artist was an Australian or not. Generally speaking, Australian texts are harder to study.
This is really important to note. If you are studying some sort of Text at school at the start of a term, please let your tutor know about it on Trello as soon as possible, as then they will be able to provide notes, sample essays and structures to assist before you start. Many schools tend to do a poor job of teaching content around a Text, it is best to ask for assistance as soon as possible.
A Response involves writing some form of analytical essay, generally between 800 to 1,200 words (but can be less for year levels under Year 11, e.g. 600 to 800 words). Generally, the essay is written in a period of between 50 minutes and up to 110 minutes (depending on the school and year level). For example, Melbourne High School provides 90 minutes for a Text Response essay in Year 12, while Haileybury College provides 60 minutes for a Text Response essay in Year 12. Other schools have different requirements when writing an essay as well. Some schools even let you bring quote cheat sheets into your essays.
You are generally responding to a prompt/topic, basically a question that is provided usually linked to a theme, which is further discussed in the Breaking down Text Response Topics module.
Generally, it is best to prepare for a Text Response essay as early as possible, rather than relying on a teacherās guidance.
Many schools tend to spend the first couple of weeks in Text Response just wasting time āreading the bookā, or āwatching the movieā, and then are forced to cram the essay in the last two weeks before the actual exam.
Iāve even heard of a story where a teacher only began teaching the essay structure the day before the SAC (School Assessed Coursework) or test.
Some other general information that you should know about the Text Response, there are generally five paragraphs in the essay, consisting of an Introduction, Three Body Paragraphs, and a Conclusion.
Preparation for a Text Response Essay
I will tell you guys right now. For most schools, if you are just relying on the school and your teacher to guide you for a Text Response, you will probably run out of time and feel extremely stressed before the timed essay task.
Here are some common examples of what happens in class:
Unnamed Student: āWe just spent 6 weeks going through the play, I played Romeo so I had to speak a lot, but we didnāt really learn much because everyone was just speaking the lines they were assigned for their charactersā¦ then we had a weekās notice before our essay!ā
Unnamed Student: āWe never got any feedback, we werenāt told to write essays until right before the timed essay taskā¦ā
Unnamed Student: āWe just read through the chapters each lesson in class at school, and suddenly our teacher told us we had a timed essay next week!ā
It is extremely important that you know how to prepare for a Text Response essay independently of a teacher. Depending on the Text type, there will be different levels of difficulty.
Fictional Novel
Difficulty: Medium (but varies with the length of the novel)
This is the most standard form of Text Response, studying a novel (fictional) in-class and being asked to write an essay on it.
What you will need before studying:
A LitCharts/eNotes/SuperSummary/ATARNotes/Other resource of the Text. This is generally extremely important prior to reading the text itself, to understand the Themes and storyline.
An eBook version of the Text. Imagine trying to find quotes from a Text without being able to Ctrl + F for the words that you are looking forā¦
Historical/Contextual information related to the author and why they wrote this Text.
Sample essays, if they do exist, they are really important to obtain, or you can get a tutor to write you a couple of paragraphs as well! If you donāt know what the end goal for a Text Response looks like, itās going to be pretty hard to score well.
A timeline of when the actual essay test will be.
Read the novel beforehand! If your teacher said not to, then thatās crazy, you absolutely must read a text before starting it at school.
Non-Fictional Novel
Difficulty: Hard (but varies with the length of the novel)
This is generally considered more difficult than a Fictional Novel, mainly because Non-Fictional Novelās tend to be āboringā, but that doesnāt mean they arenāt good to study.
Just as a reminder, Non-Fictional means ārealā, as opposed to Fictional, which means āfake, not realā. For an example of a Non-Fictional text, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is one that is currently studied in Year 12.
What you will need before studying:
A LitCharts/eNotes/SuperSummary/ATARNotes/Other resource of the Text. This is generally extremely important prior to reading the text itself, to understand the Themes and storyline.
An eBook version of the Text. Imagine trying to find quotes from a Text without being able to Ctrl + F for the words that you are looking forā¦
Historical/Contextual information related to the author and why they wrote this Text.
Sample essays, if they do exist, they are really important to obtain, or you can get a tutor to write you a couple of paragraphs as well! If you donāt know what the end goal for a Text Response looks like, itās going to be pretty hard to score well.
A timeline of when the actual essay test will be.
Read the novel beforehand! If your teacher said not to, then thatās crazy, you absolutely must read a text before starting it at school.
Short-Story Collection
Difficulty: Easy
Short-story collections are usually the easiest text type to study. This is because you donāt need to read every single short-story in the list to do well, in fact you only need to read between 6 to 10 short-stories in the collection.
Because a short-story is not usually that long, it means that students are able to more easily digest each story, as compared to trying to read and understand a 500+ page long story.
What you will need before studying:
A LitCharts/eNotes/SuperSummary/ATARNotes/Other resource of the Text. This is generally extremely important prior to reading the text itself, to understand the Themes and storyline.
An eBook version of the Text. Imagine trying to find quotes from a Text without being able to Ctrl + F for the words that you are looking forā¦
Historical/Contextual information related to the author and why they wrote this Text.
Sample essays, if they do exist, they are really important to obtain, or you can get a tutor to write you a couple of paragraphs as well! If you donāt know what the end goal for a Text Response looks like, itās going to be pretty hard to score well.
Read the short-stories beforehand. Usually schools will give a list of which short-stories are being studied (not all of them), or if not, ask a tutor, as they will tend to know which short-stories are the most important to read first. If your teacher said not to, then thatās crazy, you absolutely must read a text before starting it at school.
Play
Difficulty: Hard
Plays tend to be quite difficult to study. I find a lot of teachers prefer to teach plays in a really pointless manner, they just make students take on different characters in the play, and just read the parts for a couple of weeks, sometimes talking about what different parts of the play means. Plays are more 3-dimensional compared to standard novels, as you can also analyse poetic techniques/stage directions, and not just quotes.
Shakespearean plays can also be very difficult to study, as many teachers do not even talk about what iambic pentameter and soliloquys are.
What you will need before studying:
A LitCharts/eNotes/SuperSummary/ATARNotes/Other resource of the Text. This is generally extremely important prior to reading the text itself, to understand the Themes and storyline.
An eBook version of the Text. Imagine trying to find quotes from a Text without being able to Ctrl + F for the words that you are looking forā¦
For Shakespearean plays, you will need to make sure the eBook has a translated to English version as well, as Shakespearean language is generally difficult to understand by itself.
A list of poetic and āstageā techniques with definitions, this will be important for analysis.
Historical/Contextual information related to the author and why they wrote this Text.
Sample essays, if they do exist, they are really important to obtain, or you can get a tutor to write you a couple of paragraphs as well! If you donāt know what the end goal for a Text Response looks like, itās going to be pretty hard to score well.
Read the play beforehand. If your teacher said not to, then thatās crazy, you absolutely must read a text before starting it at school.
Poetry/Song Collection
Difficulty: Hard (but tends to score well if it is well-taught at school)
Poems are extremely hard to teach, I have seen some teachers do an excellent job, and others just make their students read the poetry outside in a park and call that āteachingā. Iāve even had teachers who made their students teach the ārest of their classā about poems.
Remember that you normally do not study just one poem, but a collection of poems. I would say, to do well, you need to have studied at least 6 to 10 poems, preferably even up to 15 poems.
What you will need before studying:
A LitCharts/eNotes/SuperSummary/ATARNotes/Other resource of each poem. This is generally extremely important prior to reading the text itself, to understand the Themes and storyline.
An eBook version of the Text. Imagine trying to find quotes from a Text without being able to Ctrl + F for the words that you are looking forā¦
A list of poetic techniques with definitions, this will be important for analysis. This may be provided by your teacher, if not, then ask your tutor for it.
Historical/Contextual information related to the author and why they wrote this Text.
Sample essays, if they do exist, they are really important to obtain, or you can get a tutor to write you a couple of paragraphs as well! If you donāt know what the end goal for a Text Response looks like, itās going to be pretty hard to score well.
Sample poem analysis, this is extremely important compared to other texts, itās almost impossible to analyse a poem unless youāve seen an example of what it looks like to do so.
Read the poems beforehand. If your teacher said not to, then thatās crazy, you absolutely must read a text before starting it at school.
Film/Movie
Difficulty: Easy
Films, while they may sound more difficult to study, are technically speaking, āeasierā than Fictional Novels. There is a pretty easy reason why, analysis is also more 3-Dimensional as compared to a novel, as you can also analyse film techniques, not just quotes. Generally speaking, the most there is to analyse, the āeasierā the Text.
What you will need before studying:
A ATARNotes/Other resource of the Film/Movie [Unfortunately, most companies donāt make notes for Films/Movies]. This is generally extremely important prior to reading the text itself, to understand the Themes and storyline.
You need to download the actual movie itself and get subtitles for it.
Download VLC Media Player and use its quick snapshot tool and bookmarking tool so you can actually analyse the movie without having to rewatch it many times.
An eBook/PDF version of the Script. Imagine trying to find quotes from a film without being able to Ctrl + F for the words that you are looking for, and having to rewatch it every single time! Also, scripts tend to contain Film Techniques within them too, so you can use that to work out additional techniques!
A list of film techniques with definitions, this will be important for analysis. This may be provided by your teacher, if not, then ask your tutor for it.
Historical/Contextual information related to the author and why they wrote this Text.
Sample essays, if they do exist, they are really important to obtain, or you can get a tutor to write you a couple of paragraphs as well! If you donāt know what the end goal for a Text Response looks like, itās going to be pretty hard to score well.
Graphic Novel
Difficulty: Hard
The hardest Text type, a graphic novel is a cartoon. Most schools avoid studying this because there are limited resources and notes related to these. They are also quite varied in terms of how theyāre drawn, so there is no consistent way to study these. Good luck!
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