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VCE ENGLISH:

MEDEABarry CarozziSeries Consultant: Anne MitchellContributor: Denise Kirton

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First published 2016 byMACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

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Publication data

Author: Barry CarozziTitle: Make Your Mark VCE English: MedeaISBN: 978 1 4586 5358 1

Publisher: Emma CooperProject editor: Diana SaadEditor: Rosemary PeersCover designer: Dimitrios FrangoulisText designer: Richard PearsonPhoto research and permissions clearance: Vanessa RobertsTypeset in Sinkin Sans by DiZign Pty LtdCover image: Getty Images/Heritage Images

Printed in Australia

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CONTENTS

PREFACE ivACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viCHARACTER SUMMARIES 1ISSUES, THEMES AND LIKELY QUESTION TOPICS 7Possible topics 8GET REVISING 10Revising for your exams 10

The nature of English 10About the exam paper 11Planning a response 14How you will be assessed 20Impressing the examiner 21Practise, practise, practise 22Top tips for success in Section A 23A note of advice 25Now you’re prepared … 26

MARK IT! 27

MODEL ESSAY 1 28Deconstruct the question 28‘Medea is a study of injustice, betrayal and revenge.’ Discuss. Mark it! 29Marker’s comments 36

MODEL ESSAY 2 38Deconstruct the question 38‘I am finished, my friends, and any pleasure I took in life I now renounce; it’s death I want.’ Medea is the chief victim in Euripides’s play. To what extent do you agree? Mark it! 39Marker’s comments 43

MODEL ESSAY 3 45Deconstruct the question 45‘Jason’s decisions are based on reason and careful judgement; Medea’s decisions are based on passion and selfishness.’ To what extent do you agree? Mark it! 46Marker’s comments 52

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? 54

USEFUL VOCABULARY 55

GLOSSARY 57

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PREFACE

Euripides’s play Medea was written hundreds of years before the New Testament—almost 2500 years ago. Euripides was an Athenian, born around 485 BCE. From 455 BCE till his death in 405 BCE, he was a regular competitor in the great Athenian festival of tragedy. Medea was featured in the festival of 431 BCE, when Euripides would have been around 54 years of age. These dramatic festivals were highly competitive and, like modern-day film festivals, they attracted large audiences—historians estimate that up to 14 000 Athenians might have attended the open-air performances. In his ‘General Introduction’ to Euripides: Medea and Other Plays, Dr Richard Rutherford describes the strict rules that governed the structure and performance of these plays. A close reading of Rutherford’s introduction will enrich your understanding of Medea.

The stories explored in the Greek tragedies were the ancient myths. Rutherford notes that ‘the dramatists use myth to distance their stories in time, and so give them universality … [They] … show us men and women who are remote from us in circumstance, yet vividly like us and real in their hopes, fears and desires’. The great Greek philosopher Aristotle regarded Euripides as ‘the most intensely tragic of all the poets’ and, indeed, Medea deals with deeply disturbing aspects of human nature. In a nutshell, Medea assisted the great Greek hero Jason in his quest to recover the mythic Golden Fleece. The pair fell in love. Medea gave up everything for her love of Jason, deserting her homeland after playing a key role in the murder of her brother and Jason’s uncle Pelias. The pair travelled to Corinth and had two sons together. Then Jason betrayed her, leaving her so he could marry a royal princess, the daughter of the Corinthian king, Creon. Devastated by this betrayal, Medea took her revenge by poisoning Creon and his daughter, and murdering her own sons.

Despite the ancient origins of Medea, the ideas and themes explored in the play have immediate and powerful relevance for 21st-century readers:

• How important is ‘our word’? Should promises be kept and should oaths be honoured?

• How should men and women treat each other?

• What is the relationship between passion and reason?

• How should ‘insiders’ treat ‘outsiders’?

• How should we handle our strongest feelings, like anger, and our human desire for vengeance?

One of the things that struck me when reading Medea was how little human nature has changed over the past 2000 years. Euripides speaks to us across the centuries and what he invites us to engage with is how flawed we are as human beings.

This book is written for students of VCE English. The first half is intended to help you better understand the demands and expectations of the ‘Analytical response to text’ section of the VCE English examination paper. The central focus is this: how can you best prepare for this section of the English paper? The answer is pretty straightforward:

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i. Make sure you understand what the examiners are looking for. What are the skills you are expected to display? What are the criteria by which your essay will be judged?

ii. Make sure you understand how to make sense of the essay topic. How do you deconstruct the prompt and the task so that you can achieve the best possible result?

iii. Make sure you understand how to plan and write your essay.

The second half of the book consists of three model essays. You are encouraged to ‘become the marker’. You are provided with the key criteria, and your task is to mark each essay in terms of these criteria. The annotations on the essays draw your attention to particular aspects of the model essays. Through this activity you will come to a better understanding of what your teachers and exam markers are looking for when they assess your essays. In turn, this will help you when you come to write practice essays.

The key advice this book has to offer is that the way to improve your ability to write clearly, fluently, insightfully, coherently and in an organised manner is to practise regularly.

In the VCE English examination you will have roughly one hour in which to produce your essay. In that time you should be able to produce between 600 and 1000 words. The model essays provided in this book are a little longer than that, around 1700 to 2000 words. This is deliberate. The goal is to demonstrate a number of conceptual points about both the text and about essay-writing techniques. When you write your own practice essay, you will be developing more and more sophisticated skills in terms of:

• deconstructing essay topics

• planning essays that respond to the specific expectations of examiners

• demonstrating your knowledge and understanding of the text

• constructing essays that are coherent

• supporting your thesis—your viewpoint of the question or prompt—with relevant quotes, scenes or characters from the play

• writing well-constructed, clear and fluent sentences.

I wish you the very best in your VCE English examinations, and hope that this book will assist you in that demanding challenge.

Barry Carozzi

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Character summaries

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CHARACTER

SUMMARIES

MEDEA

Medea is the central character of the play. It may be useful to undertake some research into Medea’s life as she appears in a number of ancient myths. Medea is a grandchild of Helios, one of the gods of Olympus. She possesses powers of sorcery and has the gift of prophecy. (This helps to explain why Creon is so wary of her and so fearful of what she might do.) When Jason and his Argonauts go on the quest to recover the Golden Fleece, it is Medea whose magical powers and assistance make it possible for Jason to achieve his goal. Aphrodite intervenes to ensure that Medea falls obsessively in love with Jason.

While Euripides’s account of this episode in Medea’s life contains some reference to the gods, it makes very little reference to Medea’s magical powers. When Medea first appears, she is in a terrible state—deeply depressed and contemplating suicide. This mood of hopelessness is short-lived. Soon she is focused on making Jason pay for his betrayal of her, and for the pain he has caused her.

Through its exploration of Medea’s plight, the play examines the subjugation of women in a patriarchal society. Many of these themes have a thoroughly modern ring and resemble the concerns raised by the feminist movement of the 20th and 21st centuries:

• the domestic isolation of women

• the expectation that women will submit to the sexual demands of men

• the pain of childbirth

• the relative freedom of men to walk away from marriage and their obligations

• the isolation of rejected women.

KEY QUOTES

Early in the play, Medea is overcome by grief and pain:‘I am finished, my friends, and any pleasure I took in life I now renounce; it’s death I want.’ p. 56

‘The man who was the world to me ... has proved to be the foulest of traitors, my own husband.’ p. 56

‘Abandoned, homeless, I am a cruel husband’s plaything, the plunder he brought back from a foreign land, with no mother to turn to, no brother or kinsman to rescue me from a sea of troubles and give me shelter.’ p. 57

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POSSIBLE TOPICS

While you are revising for your examination, consider the points listed below. How would you handle them if they were presented to you as exam questions? What evidence from the text would you use to support your arguments?

If you have considered in advance a wide range of perspectives and ideas relating to the text, you are more likely to be able to think on your feet on the day. Read through the essay topics below and make notes on:

• what your position is in relation to the statement or quote. Do you agree? Disagree? Can you see both sides?

• what evidence from the play supports your position?

WOMEN IN SOCIETY

• The Chorus supports Medea and considers that women suffer at the hands of men. ‘Men make deceitful plans and the pledges they swear in the name of the gods no longer stand firm … Recompense is coming for the female sex. No more shall we women endure the burden of ill-repute.’ Discuss.

• Jason is the real criminal in Medea. Do you agree?

• ‘Women are timid creatures for the most part, cowards when it comes to fighting and at the sight of steel; but wrong a woman in love and nothing on earth has a heart more murderous.’ Medea’s actions throughout the play challenge the stereotypical gender roles of women in society. To what extent do you agree?

• Jason tells Medea: ‘You women have reached the point where you think your happiness is complete when love smiles on you but, should some misfortune mar that love, you take all that is good and beautiful in life and turn it into grounds for bitter hatred.’ Euripides believes that the embittered views of women in the play Medea are justified. Discuss.

JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE; PROMISES

AND OATHS

• ‘All this I have done for you and yet you have betrayed me, you unfeeling monster … gone is the trust to be placed in oaths.’ Much of the suffering endured by the characters in Medea stems from the way these characters do not remain true to their word. To what extent do you agree?

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GET REVISING

REVISING FOR YOUR EXAMS

The new VCE English course, to be introduced in 2017, offers you a wealth of stimulating, exciting literature and will open your eyes to new ways of viewing the world around you. Hopefully you will enjoy reading the texts and discussing the characters and ideas they explore. Come the end of the year, though, there are the exams to contend with. Preparing for any exam can be stressful, whether you like the subject or find it difficult. Most students undertake five VCE subjects in Year 12 and preparing for five examinations is a big task. There are many demands on your time.

You need to be sure that you’re using your time wisely and being as effective as you can in your revision. Good organisation is the key. Being organised enables you to prepare well for the examinations.

There are several things you can do to ensure you feel confident when it’s time for the exam and to help you achieve your full potential. One of the first things is to familiarise yourself with the structure of the VCE English examination papers. Knowing what to expect in the exam is the first step towards knowing how to prepare.

THE NATURE OF ENGLISH

Before we look more closely at what the exams require, it’s important to consider the difference between English and other subjects. Some people find English a difficult subject to study for because it does not centre on a set of facts or content to be learned, and the exam does not rely on how well you recall information. While the tasks set for VCE English will draw on your knowledge of texts, you cannot predict what the topics will be, and you will need to be able to think on your feet. The exam will expect you to demonstrate your capacity to write clearly, fluently, insightfully, coherently and in an organised manner in response to a topic that you have not seen before.

NO RIGHT ANSWER?

There is no single right answer for the kinds of questions asked in Section A of a VCE English examination. VCE English is about thinking and the interpretation of texts. It is about reading and responding to texts, thinking about ideas and developing an interpretation—or exploring possible

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interpretations—of texts. Most importantly, it is about examining those interpretations and finding evidence from the text that supports your point of view.

This lack of a ‘right answer’ is a challenge but it does allow you a chance to explore ideas and develop your own views. Each reader may respond to a given text differently—the key is being able to justify an interpretation.

For example, we can imagine a number of interpretations for the characters’ actions in Medea, all of which can be supported with evidence from the text:

• that Jason’s infidelity and breaking of his oath of marriage to Medea was the major factor causing Medea to kill her two sons, Creon and Creon’s daughter, Glauce.

• that in the debate between Jason and Medea, Jason was clearly the winner—after all, the Chorus concede that he ‘set out (his) arguments skilfully and plausibly ’

• that Medea was cool-headed and calculating in devising her plans for revenge.

Drawing on the text, a reader can mount a case to support any of these interpretations.

None of the following interpretations of the text, however, can be supported with reference to the play, and therefore cannot be accepted as part of your argument:

• that Jason had an affair with Glauce because he discovered that Medea was having an affair with Aegeus

• that Medea was a play written by Shakespeare

• that it was the Nurse who killed the children.

ABOUT THE EXAM PAPER

The VCE English examination and the EAL examination differ in a number of ways. The differences are summarised in the table below. EAL students should pay close attention to the requirements of the EAL examination as outlined in the table and seek help from teachers to clarify any issues.

EXAMTASK

VCE ENGLISHEXAMINATION

EALEXAMINATION

Reading and creating texts

Section ALIST 1 TEXTS Students are required to write an analytical response to one of the texts from List 1.

Two topics will be provided for each text on List 1. Students must choose one topic to respond to.

Section ATHREE SET TEXTSStudents are required to write an analytical response to one of the three set texts.

Two topics will be provided for each of the three texts. Students must choose one topic to respond to.

continued

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A ANALYTICAL RESPONSE TO TEXT: LIST 1

In the exam paper there will be 40 questions: two questions for each of the 20 texts listed for study. Two questions will relate to each of the texts you have studied. Once you have chosen the text you will respond to, you must choose ONE of the two questions to answer. Make it clear which of the two questions you are responding to. You will be asked to respond analytically to the text.

B COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEXTS:

LIST 2

List 2 will consist of a series of paired texts. Your school will choose which pair of texts you will study in Semester Two. Each pair of texts will deal with challenging ‘ideas, issues or themes from different perspectives’. The examination question will require you to compare the two texts.

C ANALYSING ARGUMENT

For this section of the examination requires you will be required to analyse how composers of a range of text types (writers, cartoonists, speakers and photographers and so on) use argumentative and rhetorical strategies of various kinds to persuade readers to their points of view. You must ‘analyse and compare the use of argument and persuasive language in texts that present a point of view on an issue currently debated in the media’. The actual form of the task varies from year to year. In recent years, the task has involved the following formats:

• an editorial, two or more short letters to the editor, photographs and a cartoon

• a blog piece, five comments and a photograph

• two opinion pieces and a cartoon.

The specific material that is to be analysed is different each year. However, there are two things to note:

i. Each year, each of the pieces of material relates to the same issue.

ii. The task remains the same: how does each writer seek to use arguments, visuals and written language to persuade the reader?

The new VCE English course, to be introduced in 2017, refers to reading

and creating texts. You will be required

to complete two pieces of school-assessed coursework (SACs)

during the fi rst semester in this segment of the course. One will be an analytical piece and the other will be a creative

piece. Note that the response you write in the examination must be analytical and NOT

creative.

The model essays later in this book relate to Section A Analytical response to text. In them, you may come

across terms that are new to you. You can look these up in the glossary for an

explanation.

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Each section is worth one-third of the marks. Plan to spend an equal amount of time answering each section. It might help you to think of the exam time as being composed of timeslots as follows:

Timeslot Minutes 1 Reading 15 Get to the exam room early. Open your exam paper as soon as you are

able. Spend the 15-minute reading time carefully absorbing your tasks.

2 Planning 10–15 Once you have been given permission to start writing, jot down plans for answers—especially for Sections A and B. In those first few minutes, you will have lots of ideas flying around in your mind. It’s important to jot them down, so you don’t lose them. Students often come out of the exam room complaining: ‘Oh I had this great idea, but I forgot to include it’. Jot down a word or two as a reminder to yourself.

3 Writing Section A

50–55 Write in as detailed a manner as you can within the time limit.WHEN YOU FINISH:stretch, loosen your muscles, drink some water.

4 Writing Section B

50–55 Write in as detailed a manner as you can within the time limit.WHEN YOU FINISH:stretch, loosen your muscles, drink some water.

5 Writing Section C

50–55 Write in as detailed a manner as you can within the time limit.WHEN YOU FINISH:stretch, loosen your muscles, drink some water.

6 Revising 5–15 Go over your answers—especially the opening paragraphs of each answer. Correct any errors of spelling, punctuation or expression.

PLANNING A RESPONSE

Here is an idea for using the reading and planning time strategically. Give it a try with a practice question and refine the model to suit you, if necessary.

A Analytical response to text

Quickly find the questions on Medea and decide which of the two options you will answer.

• Identify the KEY WORDS.

• DECONSTRUCT the TASK (see the section on this below).

• Start thinking about how you will answer this question or respond to this task.

B Comparison of texts

Look at the PROMPT for this section of the paper and read over any support material—quotes, photographs or other visuals.

• Identify the KEY WORDS.

• DECONSTRUCT the TASK.

• Start thinking about how you will answer this question or respond to this task.

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In your essay, you will need to provide concrete examples or evidence from the text that support your argument.

Evaluate

This topic verb requires you to make a decisive judgement based on a criterion that you have either adopted from somewhere else or created yourself. In other words, you are determining the current or ongoing value of a text or an idea.

Do you agree? or To what extent do you agree …?

When you are asked these questions you are being asked to evaluate how accurate or true the statement is in relation to the texts you have studied. You are being asked to make a judgement based on criteria that you must establish yourself. These criteria should be comprised of two or three central points that you will elaborate on in your response.

LESS COMMON TOPIC VERBS

Describe

Here you are being asked to provide general information on the characteristics and features of a concept and/or a text. This prompt is similar to ‘outline’ (see below), but is looking for more detail and depth.

Explain

‘Explain’ is asking you to make the relationship between two or more things clear. This prompt involves you identifying the connection, correlation or relationship between things and then providing evidence in support of your claim from the text you have been studying.

Identify

Here you are being asked to recognise a particular element, idea or textual feature and to give it a precise name or term, and then to discuss and explore this notion in detail.

Outline

‘Outline’ is asking you to give the general idea of a concept, to identify the major features or characteristics. It is similar to ‘describe’, but requires less detail.

UNPACK THE QUESTION

Let’s look at an example question and break down the task of preparing an answer.

‘I am finished, my friends, and any pleasure I took in life I now renounce; it’s death I want.’ Medea is the chief victim in Euripides’s play. To what extent do you agree?

Seven of the 40 questions in the

Text Response section of the 2015 English paper involved the phrases ‘to what extent’ or

‘do you agree’.

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MODEL ESSAY 1

DECONSTRUCT THE

QUESTION

‘Medea is a study of injustice, betrayal and revenge.’

Discuss.

To answer this question you will need to set the parameters for your argument with a definition of the word ‘study’. Consider what the purpose of a ‘study’ actually is, and in what sense this applies to Medea.

While ‘discuss’ is the topic verb, this topic asks for more: it requires you to evaluate how true the statement is. Your answer will fall within a continuum from completely agreeing to completely disagreeing, or somewhere in between. Your thesis will need to provide evidence for or against two propositions: 1. that Medea is a study 2. that the three themes identified are the

central concerns.

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1. As observed in the notes on deconstructing the question, this prompt has two elements: whether Medea is a study, and whether the three themes identified are the central concerns. In your own words, note the student’s response to each of these concepts. This forms the student’s thesis.

GETTING STARTED

Make sure you have read the ‘Planning a response’ section on p. 14. Now that you’re ready to start, you might find it helpful to ask yourself these questions:

• Is it helpful to think of Medea as a ‘study’? Works of literature explore aspects of human nature, but is that ‘exploration a ‘study’?

• Does Medea explore the themes of ‘injustice, betrayal and revenge’ ?

• Which characters and scenes in the play throw light upon these three themes?

• Does Medea examine other major themes or issues?

• What evidence will you draw on to support your main contention in response to this topic?

Let’s see how the model essay tackles this topic. As you read, make notes or highlight/underline elements of the model essay that exemplify strong writing techniques. The questions alongside the essay should get you thinking about how the essay addresses the topic and how well it meets the requirements of the rubric.

MARK IT!

‘Medea is a study of injustice, betrayal and revenge.’ Discuss.

The Greek tragedy Medea by Euripides is a rich and complex exploration of many aspects of the human condition. It closely observes the intricacies of human nature, including our capacity for revenge and betrayal, and the effects of injustice, but also delves into other important issues concerning human behaviour and interaction. To describe the play as a ‘study’ is misleading. When psychologists undertake ‘studies’ of human behaviour, their goal is to observe, measure and perhaps draw definitive conclusions about that behaviour. The definition of a study is to acquire knowledge and understanding of a subject. That is not the business of literature, and Medea is not limited to a particular subject. The role of literature is to explore the breadth of human experience—human life and the human spirit in all of its conditions. The role

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