Even though this post is about the protest framework for the creating texts area of study, you can still apply the advice to other frameworks of play, country, and personal journeys. The end result is the same. As schools are taking different approaches to how they are implementing the SACs what I will do for this post is focus on responding to stimulus (as it will be presented in the exam and many schools are taking this approach for one of their SACs).

I’ve always been that person who has to voice her opinion when she feels that something isn’t right. I’ve learned that I might not always get my way, but I know I’ve tried and will keep trying and hope that things will change for the better. When I began preparing for this new area of study in the current study design for English, I was excited about where we could go with the content.

Protest is everywhere. There is protest where we fight for equality, human rights, politics, education, and freedom. But protest can also come from within and be our own personal struggles with doing what we believe in and speaking up when we have been told to be silent and not say anything. Because there are so many types of protest it is important that you understand this when preparing for this writing. I’ve told my students that they need to live and breathe protest until they sit that exam at the end of the year. The more that you are aware of what it is and what is happening in the world, the better prepared you will be when you sit your SAC and the exam at the end of the year.

One of the first things that you should do is document and journal the ideas of protest that you come across. This could be through social media channels, the news, posters you see in the streets, actual protests that you witness, moments where you witness someone standing up for themselves or going against the status quo, songs, poetry, films, TV shows, and artwork. The more that you immerse yourself in the topic, the greater depth of understanding you will be able to demonstrate when you begin writing. At my school, we asked the students to document protests in journals and write down ideas and questions about those protests such as:

• What is the protest about?
• Who does the protest impact?
• What do they want?
• Who is protesting?
• How would this protest make things better?
• Is the protest justified?

These questions allow you to consider the ways in which they could approach their writing and guide you in deciding the purpose of your writing.

This allows me to segue to the next part which is about purpose. When you write a response to the ideas of purpose you need to show that you are able to write for a specific purpose. As I highlighted in my previous post about creating texts, there are four purposes that are prescribed by the study design

• Reflect
• Express
• Argue
• Explain

What I love about this, is that it allows you to work on your strengths as a writer. You get to choose how you will develop your piece, how it will be delivered, and who exactly will be reading it. This blog for example is written for the main purpose of explaining, but sometimes I include some reflection in my writing. The reason I do this is because I want students to understand what they need to do, but also keep it at a level that isn’t condescending or confusing but accessible for everyone who is studying VCE English. I know who my audience is and that’s VCE students, but I’m also very aware that VCE English teachers and tutors will also be reading this. Because of this, I try to break down my writing, keep the language simple, but also incorporate the metalanguage that reflects the study design.

What you may have noticed is that I have said that my blog has the purpose to explain and reflect, which means that you don’t have to choose just one purpose and write solely to that, but you can mesh the purposes and create a hybrid. You could write to express and argue, you could argue and reflect, you could even do all four. That’s why a study of the mentor texts is important in helping you understand the forms and purpose as well as the audience.

I’m not going to go into each mentor text, as it is not necessary to bring them into your response. Still, the reason why you study the mentor text is to have an understanding of the types of protests, the purpose of the writing, and the form and language used by the writers in order to project their own protests. The mentor texts also help to inspire your writing as you can adopt these styles within your own responses.

The four mentor texts include:

1. Emmeline Pankhurst’s Freedom or Death speech. The purpose of this speech is to argue. She encourages her audience to continue to fight and challenge the status quo through the metaphor of a battle. She is protesting about human rights and the fact that women were not able to vote, own land, or have a right to education. Yes, it’s about women’s rights, but she talked about human rights as it was more powerful in expressing her arguments.
2. Meyne Wyatt’s monologue from the play ‘City of Gold’. A powerful monologue that has the overall purpose to express, but also one to argue and reflect. Wyatt’s character in this play talks about moments where he has experienced casual racism and accuses his audience of partaking in this and allowing this racism to take play. His use of powerful language and direct addressing of his audience enhances his argument. Short and long sentences, punctuation, volume, and tone all add to the purpose of his monologue. By performing this in the first person as a First Nations person, Wyatt has a clear understanding of the context and audience and his protest to stop the racist behaviour is clear.
3. Mark Gillespie’s Friday essay on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This essay, or feature article has the purpose to explain. He educates the readers about the history of the Mardi Gras, the fallout of the original 1978 protest, and his own personal reflections. Due to this, the purpose is actually a hybrid of all four (express, explain, reflect, and argue). He includes facts, anecdotes, and recounts. He effectively includes emotive language to highlight the impact that the protest had on those original protesters, how important it was for them, and the repercussions that they faced as they risked so much by partaking in the event. The importance of the event today and its continued support is also highlighted to emphasise that there is still a need to speak out and fight for yourself and others.
4. Kurt Vonnegut’s short story ‘Harrison Bergeron’. Through the purpose of express, Vonnegut highlights the dangers of society adhering to the status quo and staying silent. He applauds those who take the risks knowing that they are risking their lives, but how important it is to go against the oppressors and speak up. Through the narrative form, he is able to create a world that allows him to express his concerns about totalitarian regimes, government control, and constant surveillance.

What can you do with these mentor texts? You can be inspired by them. Can you adopt the structures and language features of Pankhurst’s speech to argue about an issue that you are personally passionate about? Are you more reflective and want to use your own personal experiences and conflicts to present your views on an issue that impacts you? Are you more of a creative writer and feel that you are able to imagine a world that expresses how protest is necessary or is condemned? Or would you rather explain an issue but then argue why the audience would or should support a particular side? Experiment with each one of these purposes by writing pieces associated with the material that you have documented in your journals and see which one you feel most confident with. This way you will then be able to develop your language, style, and voice in order to write an engaging piece.

One of the key criteria for this task is being able to write for audience, purpose, context, and voice. This means that you need to consider who you are writing for (audience), what are you writing about (context), why are you writing (purpose) and who are you to be able to be a voice in your writing (voice).

As I’m writing this with the intention of explaining how to approach the stimulus material that will be used in the exam you need to consider the requirements and how to use the stimulus.

You will be provided with the stimulus that contains four prompts. You will have a title and an image. There may also be quotes and passages from other texts (not the mentor texts). You MUST have a clear connection with the title. This doesn’t mean that you plonk the title at the top of your page and then write something. You need to consider how the title would relate to the concept of protest and follow through with this in your own writing. When referring to the other stimulus, you can choose, one, two, and/or three. You could use only one, or all three as a stepping stone for your writing. What you need to remember is that you need to unpack the ideas that are suggested in the prompts and how they connect to protest. Don’t just pick quotes and include them in your writing, you need to give them a purpose and use them as a way to support what you’re saying or to guide your writing. Be implicit as well as explicit. Your teacher (and at the end of the year the assessor) needs to be able to identify which prompts you have chosen as an inspiration for your writing. You won’t be able to explain it, so it needs to be clear. That’s why it’s important not to memorise a piece as it may have nothing to do with the stimulus material provided.

As I tried to teach this skill to my own students, I wrote a sample response for them. I was given the title ‘Stand up’ and used the visual below as my inspiration to speak up.

Originally I thought that I would write a persuasive piece, possibly a speech at a school assembly during an International Women’s Day event. What I found during the process of writing, is that it became more of a reflective piece with an element of argument especially at the end. I wrote about what I knew, and the experiences that I had to ensure that my voice was authentic. There was emotion (the first time I read this to my class I actually started crying because it was emotional for me… embarrassing I know, but it added to the authenticity of the piece. A student had to finish reading it for me – thanks Ronnie 2.0), but there was also a point behind what I was saying to ensure that my intended audience (a room full of young women and men who were at the assembly) learned about the importance of speaking up and taking a stand for what you believe in.

As my students built their skills and discovered their strengths with their writing style, one of them decided to write about body image and the impact that social media and societal expectations have on a person. This piece looks at how an individual can struggle to have their voice heard and is scared to fight against the status quo or what is expected. Although the issue is clear, what I loved about this piece is how the writer used their voice to express how hard it is to protest and why so many are scared to say something and struggle with their inner conflict. This allows their audience to empathise through this reflective narrative and consider the destructive nature that social media has on young people to fit into an expected norm.

The student has kindly given me permission to share their work, but please respect their work as belonging to them; therefore, I am only going to share an image of the response with extracts and not the full piece. The title was resistance.

Even though I have focused only on protest, the way that we have approached the task can also be applied to the other frameworks. You just need to remember to ensure that you connect to the concepts within your writing.

I have really enjoyed teaching this area of study, and it has allowed my students to have a voice and ownership in their writing. I’ve read so many amazing pieces of writing for all purposes with some students using it as a way to protest themselves about issues that concern them.

Remember the following:

1. Write for a purpose that works on your strengths as a writer
2. Know your audience – how do you want them to react to your piece? What do you want them to learn from you?
3. Ensure your voice is authentic – know what you’re talking about and use language that is appropriate to support that.
4. Know your context – be clear about the context of protest rather than having a vague broad discussion.
5. Unpack the ideas in the title
6. Choose at least one other piece of stimulus and include both explicitly and implicitly within your writing.

As this is a new area of study, your school may be approaching it in different ways, and like I always say, this is just a guide and always listen to your teacher and follow their expectations and guidelines. I’ve written this by explaining how I would approach this unit according to how it will be presented in the exam.

For teachers, the reflective piece that I wrote can be found alongside the work of my colleague Sonia Murr and her collaborator Ernest Price for the VATE Inside Texts publication for Creating Texts. This is a great resource for teachers as it provides ways into the four frameworks. https://www.vate.org.au/vate-publications

If you have any questions or need clarification on anything that I’ve talked about (I know I can ramble a bit), please reach out. I also just wanted to acknowledge the student who gave me permission to publish their piece, but again, I just want to reiterate that this is their writing and not to be used for any other purposes without their permission.

Keep it zesty Ramblers!

Ronnie.

For those of you on TikTok a 6 minute rundown explaining how to approach the SAC for this area of study