Description

Written for the 2019-2023 NSW Year 12 English syllabus – Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences. Storytelling lies at the heart of nearly all textual representation, regardless of the mode or medium used. What is explored, revealed or challenged within such representations, often explores the universality of personal or societal human experience. Since conflict drives narrative, regardless of form, context or era; texts often depict how people struggle against different types of adversity such as injustice, prejudice or oppression. By focusing on the individual or collective human experience in response to such pressures, audiences are prompted to become actively engaged with the attitudes, motivations and perspectives of others. Personal evaluation of what is being said about human nature and how it is being represented prompts more fundamental questioning about the nature of humanity itself and existence. Knowledge and understanding can be broadened or challenged by texts that highlight the moral divide between oppressors and the oppressed, or the corrupt and the innocent. The narrative struggle in such texts is often lost but in the process, the audience has been positioned to recognise and applaud the qualities of resilience, fortitude and integrity.