what is a creative writing response

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How to write a creative response

• by The Alchemy Team

So many exams are about learning facts and sticking to the same formula, so it should come as no surprise that students can find it difficult to break the mould when it comes to writing a creative response.

Fortunately, there are a number of techniques that can make it much easier to write a great creative response piece that’s reflective, insightful, and worthy of a great grade. Once you to know the format, you might even find that you enjoy this less restricted form of academic writing!

Why not get a HSC English tutor or a normal English tutor ?

What is a creative response?

Creative responses are English assignments that require students to tap into their creative side – picking up on the themes, commentaries, and ideas that are presented in a piece of literature that they’re studying.

The assessment is all about demonstrating your understanding of the literary techniques used in the text. Unlike other exams, though, you’re not being asked to critically analyse a text or demonstrate your understanding of the narrative.

Instead, the challenge here is to apply your knowledge and understanding of the text to create your own piece of writing that embodies the spirit and deploys the methods used in the literature you’ve been learning about.

How to format a creative response

Creative responses can take a couple of forms, so even though your writing will be relatively unrestricted, you still need to stay on topic and structure your writing in a relevant way.

Why not also read: How to Study for the HSC English Exam

It could be that you’re asked to write a brief narrative, a diary entry for an established character, or a short script. Either way, it’s likely to be a format that allows you to stretch your creative muscles and convey some of the ideas, feelings, and thoughts that the texts you’ve studied tap into.

Top tips for writing a creative response

Creative writing allows you to let loose with your own ideas, but that doesn’t mean your teachers and examiners aren’t looking for certain things. If you want to score the very best marks, consider the following whenever you’re writing a creative response:

Do express your views

Most people form views about the themes expressed in their English texts, but typical exam questions don’t really give you the space to explore those thoughts. Creative responses are your chance to think outside of the box and to make some arguments about the real world. Think about how the ideas and themes expressed in your text apply to the modern world, and use that to develop a narrative of your own.

Don’t focus too much on flowery language

The very best creative pieces use plenty of adjectives and descriptive phrases – but that shouldn’t be at the expense of a proper narrative. The point of these assessments is to convey your ideas, and getting too caught up on metaphors and expressive language could tip your writing over into the realm of poetry.

Do show, don’t tell

Even though you don’t need to go overboard with the flowery language, you still need to communicate your ideas in a way that showcases your understanding of the vocabulary, imagery and symbolism from the relevant text. Rather than saying that a character is “tired”, you should instead be saying that “their sunken eyes betrayed many late nights”. Unleash your inner author, and let those marks role in!

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Part 11: How to Write Creative Responses in Year 9 | The Basics of Narrative

Guide Chapters

• 1. How to make notes
• 2. Textual Analysis
• 3. How to analyse prose fiction
• 4. How to analyse poetry
• 5. How to analyse Shakespeare
• 6. How to analyse film
• 7. How to analyse images & visual texts
• 8. How to analyse prose non-fiction
• 9. Composing English responses in Year 9
• 10. How to write persuasive essays
• 11. How to write creative responses
• 12. How to write speeches & presentations
• 13. Year 9 Exam Skills

Unsure of how to write creative responses in Year 9? Don’t fear! We will go through different types of creative writing, things markers are looking for and a step-by-step process of how to write creative responses.

What is in this article?

Why must you write creative responses in year 9, types of imaginative writing tasks, what are markers looking for.

• How to write creative responses – Step-by-step

Creative writing in High School is about demonstrating your understanding of the techniques that you have studied.

In High School, most of your assessments require you to analyse texts, including novels and short stories.

This means that you should already have a good understanding of their structure, figurative language and how they convey meaning.

So, when you are asked to write a creative piece in Year 9, you are being assessed on your ability to put your knowledge into practice!

In Year 9, you can be asked to write 2 types of creative pieces: creative writing and creative re-imaginings.

Let’s see what they are.

Creative writing

Creative writing is a fictional piece of writing.

This is  NESA ‘s definition of imaginative texts:

• Texts that represent ideas, feelings and mental images in words or visual images.
• Uses metaphor to translate ideas and feelings into a form that can be communicated effectively to an audience.
• Make new connections between established ideas or widely recognised experiences in order to create new ideas and images.
• Characterised by originality, freshness and insight.

Keep these dot points in mind when you write creative responses in Year 9. Focusing on these areas will help you build strong creatives.

Creative re-imaginings

According to NESA , creative re-imagining is a re-interpretation an existing piece of literature.

You may have come across some of these in your English classes or on the internet!

Here are some notable examples:

• Macbeth Retold (Macbeth)
• 12 Things I Hate About You (Taming of the Shrew)
• A Cinderella Story (Cinderella)
• Gnomeo and Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)

So, why do people re-imagine existing literature? 

While some values and circumstances can change with the times, other qualities of being human remain the same.

Literature always reflects the context that it is composed in.

This includes the composer’s personal, social, historical, economical and political contexts.

However, times are always changing. This means that hot topic issues and widely accepted perspectives are also changing.

For example, climate change is a relatively recent phenomenon. You wouldn’t find Shakespeare commenting on this issue.

But remember, many things in our society stay constant. These are usually elements of the human experience or deeply ingrained social issues.

For example, human’s thirst for power or the expectations of men and women during different places and times (eg. patriarchal values).

So, when composer’s re-imagine texts, they force audiences to compare the two contexts.

We notice similarities and differences by identifying what the composer kept and changed.

When you write creative re-imaginings, keep this point in mind!

When you write creative responses in Year 9, there are some things that you need to keep in mind.

Let’s see what they are:

Characterisation

No one wants to read about a basic, cliche, stock-character.

So, when you write creative responses in Year 9, you need to make them complex .

They have flaws, motivations, and even mixed intentions. Basically, they are realistic.  

So, how do we create complex characters when we write creative responses in Year 9?

You need to build a strong understanding of your character.

Some basic points that you MUST know are:

• Personality
• Where they live
• What time period are they living in?
• What is their relationship with or to the other characters?

These are some points that you SHOULD know to make your characters more complex:

• Likes and dislikes

However, even though you know your character well, you don’t need to share everything with the reader.

Don’t mention all of this information when you write creative responses in Year 9.

Only bring them up what is necessary to your plot.

When you create complex characters, you give them space to grow and change. They can ‘fix their flaws’ as the story continues.

This is your character arc !

It is important that your characters are always changing and growing. No one wants to read about a character who stays the same for the whole story.

When you write creative responses in Year 9, you need to have an interesting and original plot to get good marks.

Here are some tips:

• Have a complication

When there is a complication, there is a goal… whether it is defeating the dark lord, or dating the new boy or girl.

Having a complication will make your plot more entertaining and meaningful.

• Avoid cliches

Cliches are unoriginal, over-used, and predictable ideas and phrases.

Using cliches when you write creative responses in Year 9, will make your stories seem lazy and lack creativity.

Setting provides the backdrop to your creative responses. This is where all the events occur and what shapes your characters. Settings are more important than you think!

So, it is important that you pick the right setting when you write creative responses in Year 9.

Here are are some tips:

• Think about the mood/atmosphere you want for your stories

Different moods and atmospheres will shape the reader’s expectations about your stories. These can be created through your setting.

For example, an empty forest at night will have a spooky atmosphere. Readers assume that something bad is going to happen and feel the tension.

On the other hand, a bright, sunny beach gives off a happy and exciting vibe. Readers will feel cheered by this.

Select your settings carefully because they will help you create meaning.

• Stick to facts

You need to make sure that your facts are accurate when you choose to use a real-life setting or historic period.

Your characters can’t use phones in Ancient Egypt, because phones didn’t exist at that time! Unless your story is about time travel…

People don’t want to read a story that has their facts mixed up (things out of time are called “anachronisms”). It will draw their attention away from the plot, and focus on the inaccurate facts.

Incongruities and plot holes draw people out of the story.

So, make sure that you research enough about the context you want to use. Even if it is set  today .

Dialogue is the element that students struggle with most.

Some student misuse dialogue. Other’s punctuate them incorrectly. And some don’t use them at all because they’re too scared.

But using dialogue when you write creative responses in Year 9 shouldn’t be hard!

Let’s see how we can change that:

• Only write meaningful dialogue

Too often, students write dialogue that don’t serve any purpose. Like, “Hi! How are you doing” or “I’m good thanks!”.

However, you need to remember that stories are not a minute-to-minute recount of someone’s day. Instead, stories are meant to be concise and effective.

Everything has to serve a purpose. It either advances the plot or develops characterisation.

Dialogue works in the same way. Don’t include filler sentences. They take up word space, and they don’t serve a purpose.

Only write what is necessary.

• Use correct punctuation!

In Year 9, many students still misuse punctuation when they write dialogue.

One important rule to remember is the  hamburger rule .

Basically, this is a good way to remember that all punctuation goes INSIDE the speech marks.

Here are some CORRECT examples:

“I want to eat a hamburger,” John said. 

“Do you want to eat something? I’m feeling like a hamburger.”

“I’m hungry,” John said as he stood up, “Let’s eat hamburgers!”

Here are some INCORRECT examples:

“I want to eat a hamburger”, John said. 

“Do you want to eat something?” “I’m feeling like a hamburger” 

“I’m hungry”, John said as he stood up. “Let’s eat hamburgers!” 

Do you notice the differences?

If you want to learn more about grammar rules, read our essential guide to English grammar .

Employing figurative devices

It is important that you are consistently improving your writing as you progress through High School.

One way to do this is by using figurative devices when you write creative responses in Year 9.

Why do we need to use figurative language? 

Well, you would have heard about “ show, don’t tell “, before. Figurative language helps you achieve this.

Essentially, when you are telling , you are simply stating what happened.

Eg. Sally was embarassed. 

However, when you show what happened, you are painting a picture for your readers. They need to take in the information and deduce what is happening.

Eg. Sally’s face turned as red as a tomato. 

Notice the difference?

Basically, figurative language is an advanced way of  showing what is happening.

Think, metaphors , symbolism , personification etc.

They all convey meaning in a much more memorable and effective way than telling. This is because readers take more meaning away when they have to do the work themselves and infer things.

Click HERE to see a list of literary techniques that you can use when you write creative responses in Year 9.

How to write creative responses in Year 9 – Step-by-step

So, now that you know what the markers are expecting, let’s see how we can put all of it together.

We will go through a step-by-step process to write creative responses in Year 9.

It is crucial that you plan because it actually saves you time when you write!

You don’t need to stop and think about what’s happening next in your story. You just write!

To plan, you need to:

1. Brainstorm 

You need to carefully read the question, stimulus and/or prompt.

Identify any keywords and important ideas that you need to address.

Now, write down everything you can think of about these ideas; plots, characters, settings, messages and so much more!

Even if you think the idea is bad, jot it down anyway.

The point of brainstorming is just to get the ball rolling in your mind.

However, remember to set yourself a time limit!

Give yourself a few minutes to brainstorm. You don’t want to get too caught up in this step. There’s still a lot to do.

Now you need to decide which ideas you want to write about.

To do this, ask yourself to questions:

• Is this something that I am interested in?
• Does it relate to the question/stimulus/prompt?

If you answer yes to both, then it is a possible story idea!

3. Scaffold

Now that know what you want to write, you need to figure out the fine details.

• Perspective : Whose perspective will the story be told?
• Who : Who is the protagonist?
• What : What is the problem?
• When : When do things take place?
• Where : Where is it happening?

You need to scaffold a rough outline of your plot too! Read the next section to see how.

Also, you can  read this article to learn HOW TO WRITE NOTES .

Structure: Three act structure

When you write creative responses in Year 9, you need to make sure that it follows the three-act structure.

This ensures that your story progresses and is interesting to read.

So, what is the three-act structure? 

• Orientation : Establishes the story world, characters and introduces the conflict.
• Complication : Protagonist attempts to solve the problem… but things seem to get worst.
• Resolution : The problem is ‘resolved’. Events settle down and the story wraps up.

When you write your story plan, make sure you know the rough events for each section. This will ensure that you have a progressive creative response.

It is important that you think about characterisation in your planning stage.

We already went through what characterisation is and how to do it. But, here’s a quick reminder:

Characterisation is the creation of a 3-dimensional, complex character and their growth throughout the story.

You can refresh your knowledge about characterisation in detail above .

Openings-hooks

How your story begins is very important. Opening-hooks are basically the first thing your reader reads.

Usually, it is the deciding factor between someone keeping the book opened and closing it.

“One sunny day, Jamie woke up and got out of bed. He quickly brushed his teeth, changed into his suit, and ran downstairs.”

Now read this:

“Hurry up!” 

Jamie’s eyes shot open. There was no need to look at the clock. Jamie knew he was late for his interview.  

Which one is more interesting to read?

You see, your opening-hook is very important. It has to ‘hook’ the reader’s attention and ‘reel’ them in.

So, how do you write great opening hooks? 

Start with:

• Dramatic action or speech
• Hint about the complication
• Something unexpected
• An indication of change.

These opening will create suspense and spark curiosity to keep your reader wanting to know more.

Drafting and editing

When you write creative responses in Year 9, expect to have numerous drafts.

You should be constantly drafting, redrafting and editing your work to produce the best possible creative.

Drafting is putting your ideas into words and simply writing!

Drafts are meant to be imperfect.

Your aim is to get your ideas on paper, not write perfect sentences.

To draft, you need to:

• Revise your plan : Know what you are going to write. This includes your characters, plots, themes etc.
• Start writing! Don’t be afraid to start. Remember, drafts are meant to be  imperfect .
• Don’t stop writing. it might be tempting to go back and edit as you draft your creative responses. But don’t do this! Stop worrying about how your sentences sound… just get your ideas out!
• If you get stuck, write another part : You don’t want to stop your writing flow! So, instead of wasting 30 minutes trying to formulate the sentence, just write another paragraph! You can always go back and finish it up later

Editing is basically reading over your creative responses and fixing it to make it better.

To edit, you need to:

• Fix grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors .
• Reword and rewrite sentences and paragraphs : If you don’t like the way a sentence or paragraph sounds, then this is your chance to change it. Sometimes, you might have to rewrite whole paragraphs.
• Make sure everything makes sense : If something is confusing, remove or change it! Sometimes, you need to restructure your whole creative response to do this.
• Add more figurative language : Take this chance to add some techniques in your story to make it stronger.

Yes, drafting and editing is a lengthy process… Sometimes, you might even end up with 5 different drafts.

But is worth the time and effort.

Many students don’t ask for feedback because they don’t see the importance of feedback, or they don’t know who to ask.

Feedback is very important because it will help you:

• Identify your common mistakes and fix them :

Most people have some bad writing habits that they never notice. Feedback will help you identify these, so you can fix them.

• Improve your general writing skills :

When you get feedback, you build good writing habits. You begin to identify your mistakes and continually edit your work.

• View your writing from a new perspective :

When you put so much effort and time in your writing, you will struggle to critique it. So, getting feedback will show you a different perspective of your writing. Then, you can go back and edit or keep things.

• Produce a strong creative :

After numerous feedback and editing sessions, your final creative will be very strong.

So, to get feedback, you should: 

• Ask people who can give you constructive feedback :

This can be your school or Matrix teachers, classmates, or even your parents. Remember, there is no point asking someone who can’t give you constructive feedback because it will just confuse you more. So, be selective in who you choose.

• Ask MANY people :

It’s always a good idea to get a second, third, and even fourth opinion. Different people will have different critiques.

• Prepare a set of questions you want them to focus on :

Don’t just hand your essay and ask for feedback. Tell your readers what you expect from them. Does the story makes sense? Are there any grammatical errors? Be specific.

• Always edit your work after :

There is no point in getting feedback if you are not incorporating it in your writing. However, also be selective about what you want to fix. Not all feedback are good.

Final piece

After a long process of planning, researching, drafting, editing, and more editing, you will have your final creative writing piece.

Remember, you can’t keep editing forever and ever.

You need to know when to sit down and be satisfied with your writing.

Be proud of what you produced.

Part 12: How to Write Speeches and Presentations in Year 9 English

© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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How to write a text response

WHAT IS A TEXT RESPONSE?

In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about writing a text response. Let’s start at the beginning.

A text response is a style of writing in which you are sharing your reaction to something.  It is an opportunity to let the world know how you feel about something.

A text response can also be referred to as a reader response which is accurate, but you may also confuse them with a literacy narrative. This is not an accurate comparison, as a literacy narrative is more an assessment of how you became literate. In contrast, a text response is a specific response to a specific text.

A text response is specifically a response to a book you have read. Still, it can also be a response to a film you have just seen, a game you have been playing, or for more mature students; it could be a response to a decision the government is making that affects you or your community that you have read from a newspaper or website.

When writing a response, it is vital that you get the following points across to your audience.

• How do you feel about what you are reading / saw / heard?
• What do you agree or disagree with?
• Can you identify with the situation?
• What would be the best way to evaluate the story?

Some teachers get confused between a book review and a text response. Whilst they do share common elements, they are unique genres. Be sure to read o ur complete guide to writing a book review for further clarification.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A TEXT RESPONSE?

Often when we talk about the development of language skills, it is useful to discuss things in terms of four distinct areas. These are commonly grouped into the two active areas of speaking and writing and the two so-called passive areas of listening and reading. Learning to write a text response bridges this gap as it requires our students to not only develop high-level writing skills but also to consider reading as much more than a mere passive activity.

Writing a text response hones the student’s critical thinking skills and ability to express their thoughts in writing. It gives students an opportunity to engage in reading as an active exercise, rather than something that is analogous to watching TV!

A COMPLETE TEXT RESPONSE BUNDLE FOR STUDENTS

2 in-depth units for students and teachers to work on as a class or independently. Packed with teaching resources and lesson ideas.

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TEXT RESPONSE STRUCTURE

KEEP IT FORMAL This is a calculated and considered response to what you have read or observed.

USE EVIDENCE Frequently refer to the text as evidence when having an opinion. It becomes the reference point for all your insights within your text response.

HAVE AN OPINION This is not a recount. This is your OPINION on what the author or film producer has created. Don’t shy away from that.

TENSE & STYLE Can be written in either past or present tense. Feel free to use your own style and language but remember to keep it formal.

TEXT RESPONSE FEATURES

YES or NO? Essentially you are making a recommendation. Ensure your audience know where you sit.

LET US INSIDE YOUR MIND How did it make you feel? What did you learn from it? Did you engage with the characters?

SHOW SOME BALANCE Even if you passionately loved or hated the text your audience will view you as biased if you solely focus on one angle. A little balance will give you credibility.

GETTING STARTED: THE PREWRITING STAGE OF A TEXT RESPONSE

As with much of the formal school experience, students can greatly benefit from undertaking a methodical approach in their work. The following process outlines step-by-step how students can best approach writing their text responses in the beginning.

The keyword in the phrase writing a text response is not writing but response . The whole thing starts with the reading and how the student considers the text they are engaging with. Whether the text they are being asked to respond to is an unseen piece in an exam situation or a piece of coursework based on something studied over a semester, the structure remains the same. This is true, too, regardless of age and ability level. Younger students should be taught to approach writing a text response using the same concepts but in a simplified and more scaffolded manner.

Read for Understanding:

Students should read the text they are responding to initially for a basic comprehension of what the text is about. They should read to identify common themes and narrative devices that will serve to answer the question. Often, the question will demand that the student consider and explain the author’s use of a specific literary device or how that literary device develops a central idea and the author’s purpose. In preparing our students to write competent text responses they must first be familiar with the literary devices and conventions that they will be asked to discuss.

Students may instinctively know what they like to read, but what is often not instinctive is the expressing of why they like to read it. They may acknowledge that the writing they are reading is of a high quality, or not as the case may be, but they may lack the vocabulary to express why the writing is successful or unsuccessful. Take the opportunity in class when reading, regardless of the genre, to point out literary devices , techniques, and stylistic considerations that will help your students when it comes to writing a text response.

As humans, we are hardwired to understand the world around us in terms of the stories we tell ourselves and others. We do this by employing comparisons and drawing parallels, we play with words in our everyday use of idiom and metaphor, alliteration and rhyme. Encourage students to keep an ear out for these techniques in the music they listen to, the comics they read, and the TV they watch. Even in the advertising they are exposed to.

Be sure too to offer your students opportunities to practice writing their own metaphors, similes, alliterative sentences etc. There is no better way to internalize an understanding of these literary techniques than by having a go at writing them yourself. And, it doesn’t have to be a dry academic exercise, it can be a lot of fun too.

Teaching alliteration? Have the students come up with their own tongue twisters. Want them to grasp simile? Have them produce Not! similes, for example, give them an adjective such as ‘cuddly’. Tell them you want them to write a simile using the simile structure employing ‘as’. Tell them too they must use the word ‘cuddly’ about someone who is not cuddly at all. Offer them the example He is as cuddly as a cactus to get the ball rolling. They can do this for any adjective and they will often achieve hilarious results!

Read Directions Carefully:

It should go without saying to read the directions carefully, but experience teaches us otherwise! Often it is not the best writers among our students who receive the best grades, but those who diligently respond to the directions of the task that has been set. Students should be sure to check that they have read the directions for their text response question closely. Encourage them to underline the keywords and phrases. This will help them structure their responses and can also serve as a checklist for them to refer to when they have completed writing their text responses.

Have students pinpoint exactly what the question is asking them. For older or stronger students, these questions will likely comprise several parts. Have the student separate the question into these component parts and pinpoint exactly what each part is asking them for.

A good practice to ensure a student has adequately understood what a question is looking for is to ask the student to paraphrase that question in their own words. This can be done either orally or as a written exercise. This helpful activity will inform the student’s planning at the prewriting stage and, as mentioned, can provide a checklist when reviewing the answer at the end.

The Process:

• To ensure students fully understand the question, have them underline or highlight keywords in the sentence or question. Distribute thesauruses and have students find synonyms for the keywords that they have highlighted.
• Have them rewrite the question as a series of questions in their own words. This will allow the teacher to assess their understanding of what they are being asked to do. It can also serve as a structured plan for writing their response.
• Allow some time for students to discuss the question together, either in small groups or with talking partners. After the allotted time, students must decide on a yes , no , or maybe response to the central question.
• Their response to Step 3 above will formulate their contention, which will serve as the driving force behind their text response as a whole.
• On their own, students brainstorm at least three arguments or reasons to support their contention.
• For each of the reasons, students should refer to the text and choose the best evidence available in support of their contention.
• Students should not be overly concerned with forming a logical order for their notes gathered so far. This activity aims to let ideas flow freely and capture them on paper.

When completed, it is at this point that they are ready to begin the writing process in earnest.

HOW TO WRITE A TEXT RESPONSE

As with writing in many other genres, it is helpful to think of the text response in terms of a three-part text response essay structure. It is a simple process of learning how to write a response paragraph and then organizing them into the ubiquitous beginning, middle, and end (or intro, body, and conclusion) that we drill into our students will serve us well again. Let’s take a look:

The Introduction:

The first paragraph in our students’ text responses should contain the essential information about the text that will orientate the reader to what is being discussed. Information such as the author, the book’s title or extract, and a general statement or two about the content will provide the reader with some context for the discussion.

The SOAPSTONE acronym is useful when considering which information is essential to include in the intro: Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Subject, and TONE. Students should reflect on which aspects should be addressed in the introductory paragraph. The genre of the text will largely determine which of these should be included and which are left out. However, it is important the student does not get too bogged down at this stage; these orientation sentences usually require only three or four sentences in total.

Be sure to check out our own complete guide to writing perfect paragraphs here .

The tone of a text response should be such that it assumes the reader does not understand the text that the writer does. It is useful to tell them here to picture one person in their life they are writing to. Someone that would not be familiar with the text, perhaps a family member that they are explaining what they read. Remind them, though, the language should be formal too.

Once the student has established some context in the reader’s mind, they will need to address the central idea forming the ‘eye of the storm’ of their argument.

When learning how to write a text response body paragraph, one of the most common pitfalls students fall into is engaging in a straightforward retelling of the text. Discussion of the text is the name of the game here. Students must get into the text and express their opinions on what they find there. It is quickly apparent when reading a student’s response when they are merely engaging in a retelling and delivering a thoughtful response. Be sure students are aware of the fact that this fools nobody!

The notes students have made in the prewriting stages will be extremely useful here. Each of the arguments or reasons they have produced to support their contention will form the basis for a body paragraph. The TEEL acronym is useful here:

Topic Sentence : Students should begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. This sentence introduces the point that will serve as the main idea of the paragraph – the central riff, if you like. It will engage directly with an aspect of the question or writing prompt .

Expand / Explain: The purpose of the next few sentences will be to narrow the focus of the topic sentence, often by referring to a specific character or event in the text and offering a further explanation of the central point being developed in the paragraph.

Evidence / Example: At this point in the paragraph, it is essential that the student makes close reference to the text to support the point they have been making. Having an opinion is great, but it must be based, and be shown to be based, on the actual text itself. Evidence will most often take the form of a quotation from the text – so make sure your students are comfortable with the mechanics of weaving quotations into their writing!

Link: The end of each body paragraph should link back to the student’s central contention. It restates the argument or reason outlined in the topic sentence but in the broader context of the central contention which usually is the yes , no , or maybe uncovered at the prewriting stage.

As the student moves through their essay, it is important that they reference the main theme of the text in each and every paragraph. The structure of the essay should illustrate an evolution of the student’s understanding of that theme.

References should be made to how the writer employs various literary techniques to construct meaning in his or her text. However, reference to literary techniques should not be made merely in passing but should be integrated into a discussion of the themes explored in the essay.

Writing a text response conclusion:

Writing the conclusion involves essentially restating the contentions made already, as well as summarizing the main points that were discussed. Though the conclusion will inevitably have much in common with the introduction, and some repetition is unavoidable, make sure students use different wording in their conclusion. The paraphrasing exercise in the prewriting stages may be helpful here.

Encourage students too to link back to their reasons and arguments developed to support their contention in the body paragraphs. The conclusion is no place to introduce new ideas or to ask rhetorical questions. It is the place for gathering up the strands of argument and making a statement about the relevance of the text in relation to the wider world.

TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT TEXT RESPONSE

●     In essays of this type, students should mostly write in the present tense.

●     Encourage students to vary the length of their sentences to maintain the reader’s interest. But be careful too, students should avoid using overly long sentences as longer sentences can be more difficult to control. A good rule of thumb is that when expressing complex thoughts use several short sentences. Simpler thoughts can be expressed through longer, more complex sentences.

●     Tie everything back to the question. The dissection of the question during the prewriting stage of the text response should remain at the forefront of the student’s mind at all times. If what the student writes doesn’t link back to the original question then it is deadwood and should be discarded.

●     Writing a text response requires the student to analyze the text and responds personally with their own thoughts and opinions. They should not be afraid to make bold statements as long as they can make references to the text to support those statements.

●     The prewriting stage is essential and should not be skipped. But, even with a well thought out prewriting session, where time allows, opportunities should be given for students to draft, redraft, and edit their writing.

We often teach our students that writing is about expressing our thoughts and ideas, but it is also about discovering what we think too.

TEXT RESPONSE TASK FOR STUDENTS

In a response paper, you are writing a formal assessment of what you have read or observed (this could be a film, a work of art, or a book), but you add your own personal reaction and impressions to the report.

The steps for completing a reaction or response paper are:

• Observe or read the piece for an initial understanding
• Record your thoughts and impressions in notes
• Develop a collection of thoughts and insights from
• Write an outline
• Construct your essay

Once you have established an outline for your paper, you’ll need to respond using the basic elements of every strong essay, a strong introductory statement.

In the case of a reaction paper, the first sentence should contain the title of the object to which you are responding and the name of the author/creator/publisher

The last sentence of your introductory paragraph should contain your stance or position on the subject you are writing about.

There’s no need to feel shy about expressing your own opinion in a response, even though it may seem strange to write “I feel” or “I believe” in an essay.

USEFUL STATEMENTS TO INCLUDE IN A TEXT RESPONSE

• I felt that
• In my opinion
• The reader can conclude that
• The author seems to
• I did not like
• The images seemed to
• The author was [was not] successful in making me feel
• I was especially moved by
• I didn’t get the connection between
• It was clear that the artist was trying to
• The sound track seemed too
• My favorite part was…because

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

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Unit 3: Summarizing and Responding to Writing

17 Response Techniques

The goal of a response essay is to communicate to the reader your personal viewpoint, experience, or reaction to a text. A response has two parts: First, tell the reader what important idea from a text you want to respond to. Next, convey your reflections on the idea through one of the techniques below.

Characteristics of a response

• A response begins with an idea that is interesting to you or you feel is important.
• A response is subjective, expressing your opinion or perspective.
• Personal experience – Write about something you experienced (or someone you know) that relates to an idea in the article.
• Agree or disagree – Identify a point you agree or disagree with and explain why.
• Application – Identify an idea or information in the article and apply it to something you have seen or heard before. You might compare something in the article to something you previously learned or analyze an idea in the article based on information you already know.

Three techniques for writing a response

When writing response, read the article and imagine you are talking to the writer. What questions might you ask? What comments might you make? How might you relate to the ideas in the article? Take notes in the margins as you read. You can use these notes later as you write your response.

The following examples respond to ideas from Megan Gambino’s (2011) article “How Technology Makes Us Better Social Beings.”

Example 1: Personal experience response

One issue from the article that I’d like to discuss is the positive effect of using social websites. ** Keith Hampton, a sociologist of the University of Pennsylvania says, “People who use sites like Facebook actually have more close relationships and are more likely to be involved in civic and political activities” (as cited in Gambino, 2011, p. 40). The author’s point is that after using social networking, people care more about the political events and the relationship between each other is also better.

In fact, the Internet and SNS have made us, as active citizens and “social beings” as Gambino says, more connected and united than ever before. I agree with his sentiment and can illustrate it with a personal example. When I first left my country to come to the United States to pursue my university degree, it was the first time ever in my life to be so far away from home to study without knowing anyone in a place. Fortunately, I got an invitation from Malaysian Undergraduate Student Organization of Madison to join their group on Facebook before I left my country. As a result, meeting other Malaysian students in Madison before I arrived, I felt much better prepared and more confident in my journey to next the part of my life. Even now, I use SNS to make new friends and stay in contact with my high school best buddies every day. Although I do not go out to bars or parties to meet new friends and I am miles apart from my high school besties, I am still able to interact and socialize with them as a result of technology and SNS.

  EXERCISE #1 :

• Identify the issue/idea this response will focus on.
• Identify the quotation.
• Identify the paraphrase and the words that introduce the paraphrase.
• How does the writer share their personal experience and relate it to the article? Identify an interesting detail the writer uses in the response.

Example 2: Agree/disagree response

Another idea I’d like to respond to focuses on how people rely on the Internet. Gambino (2011) states, “About 25% of those observed using the Internet in public spaces said that they had not visited the space before they could access the Internet there” (p. 41). In other words, people already take Internet as an important part in their life and expect to access it wherever they go.

I strongly agree with this argument. For example, I am taking six courses this semester, and three-quarters of my homework and readings are posted online. If the Internet is inaccessible in my resident hall, I will definitely consider moving out. Moreover, I only visit buildings on campus where the wifi signal is strong. Most of the libraries are good for this, but I found the connectivity in Van Vlek Math Building is not so good, so I don’t go there anymore. I am not a geology major, but my friend told me the wifi in the geology library is really fast, so now I study there in the afternoons. In short, I definitely feel that accessibility to the Internet heavily influences whether or not people will use a public space.

EXERCISE #2

• How does the writer share their personal opinion and relate it to the article? Identify an interesting detail the writer uses in the response.

Example 3: Application response

One important topic that I’d like to address is how people use technology in public areas. Keith Hampton, a sociologist of the University of Pennsylvania said, “Laptop users are not alone in the true sense because they are interacting with very diverse people through social networking websites, e-mail, video conferencing, Skype, instant message and a multitude of other ways” (as cited in Gambino, 2011, p. 40). This means that people who use mobile technology in public areas in fact communicate and share information with people through social networking sites, video, e-mail and many other media, and hence they are not isolated.

This reminds me of why Mark Zuckerberg wanted to create Facebook. He originally created it to build connections among students at Harvard University, but it has grown to become a way to bring people together from anywhere in the world. By 2006, it became accessible beyond universities to anyone with an email address (Phillips, 2007, p. 1). What he initially thought would be just limited to one school has become a way for people around the world to connect with each other, and now most people seem to use it on their mobile devices at any time or in any place. Through Facebook, and other social networking sites, people do not have to feel alone any more, even if they are sitting alone in a Starbucks drinking a coffee.

EXERCISE #3:

• How is the application example different from the previous examples? Identify an interesting detail the writer uses in the response.

Academic Writing I Copyright © by UW-Madison ESL Program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Creative response, instructions.

A creative response is a text that you create in response to another text or set of texts, in order to show your understanding of that text and a text type. Imagine writing several diary entries from the perspective of a character from a novel or play. Imagine writing a letter of complaint in response to an offensive advertising campaign. Imagine writing a news article on events that unfold in a novel. Imagine writing an opinion column in the style of an actual columnist. Good creative responses show an understanding of both the stimulus text(s) and the text type that you are trying to emulate. The type of text that you choose to write should be appropriate for showing your understanding of the stimulus text the intentions of the (imaginary) author. Your teacher may let you chose from a list of text types. Your creative response should be between 800 and 1,000 words, of which at least 200 words are used on used to describe the WHY, HOW and SO WHAT in your portfolio. Use the assessment rubric below to evaluate your work.

Model portfolio entry

WHAT: here is the news article that I created in response to The Great Gatsby .

Mystery shrouds death of Jay Gatsby 26 October, 1922 Peter Parker for the New York Post

Businessman and socialite gunned down in his own swimming pool.

NEW YORK - Police have confirmed the identity of the body found earlier today in the swimming pool of the Gatsby estate in West Egg to be that of entrepreneur and socialite Jay Gatsby. Authorities are operating on the theory that he was murdered by auto-mechanic George Wilson, whose body was found in the woods near the estate. Wilson is thought to have murdered Gatsby out of revenge before turning the same revolver on himself.

The murder-suicide comes after Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson’s wife, was killed in a hit-and-run incident on the previous evening outside her husband’s gas station near Flushing in the ‘Valley of Ashes’. Witnesses claim that the perpetrator drove a yellow Rolls Royce.

During the investigation of the Gatsby murder, police discovered a yellow Rolls Royce with bloodstains and a broken headlight on the premises of the Gatsby estate. It is unclear, however, if Mr. Gatsby was personally involved in the hit-and-run incident, as witnesses claim to have seen a woman driving the automobile. The identity of the woman remains unknown, and the investigation is ongoing.

Jay Gatsby was last seen leaving the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan on 25 October around 7 p.m. He had rented a suite there for the afternoon. From his suite, a heated argument was heard by guests. Receptionists confirm that he left the suite with a woman in a fit of rage.

Persons with information on the murder of Mr. Gatsby and Mrs. Wilson are asked to come forward and provide local authorities with this information to assist investigations further.

Little is known about Jay Gatsby, despite the lavish parties that were hosted at his West Egg mansion. It is believed that his extravagant lifestyle was financed by a flourishing business in the illegal distribution of alcohol. One acquaintance of Gatsby’s, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims to have seen Gatsby with New York crime kingpin Meyer Wolfsheim, though this cannot be confirmed.

To some, Jay Gatsby was known as an ‘Oxford Man’, though there is no record of him attending any college in Oxford, England. Sources within the US Army, however, confirm that he received a scholarship to attend schooling in Oxford after his valiant efforts in the Great War. Drafted into the Army, Gatsby quickly rose to the rank of Major. Rumors that Gatsby was a German spy appear to be ill-founded.

Gatsby’s neighbor, Nick Carraway, had this to say about him: “Gatsby was misunderstood by many, but he was a good man with a clear focus.” When asked what captured the focus of this aloof, though well-known man, Carraway, answered vaguely. “His focus was on the past, and regaining what he had lost years ago. But it was in vain. He was like a boat rowing against the tide. And the world of Old Money will never give an inch to people like Jay Gatsby, people with New Money. They have to row their own boat. And for Gatsby, he simply wasn’t strong enough.”

It is thought that Jay Gatsby is survived by none. Any family members or relatives are asked to make themselves known to the County of Great Neck.

An estate-sale will be organized by Nick Carraway and friend Jordan Baker on the 1 st  of November. Proceeds from this sale will benefit the Golf for Youth Foundation, of which Ms. Baker is the founder. 

An open funeral will be held at Great Neck Memorial on October 31 st  at 3 p.m.  

WHY:   In class we read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which I really liked. The movie, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, also inspired me to write a creative response about it. I think I am going to write my Paper 2 essay about The Great Gatsby and so this creative response has been done as a kind of preparation for my exams. We also studied news articles in class and the language of reporting, so I wanted to show my understanding of text type.

HOW:   I talked to my teacher in preparation for this activity. When I said that I wanted to do my creative response on Gatsby, he said that the news article might be a good text type for it, because there were so many dramatic events, like the murder of Gatsby and Myrtle. I re-read the last chapters with this idea of writing a news article in mind. I also studied the language of news articles and found that they used the present perfect a lot and the passive voice. I wanted to imitate this style in my piece by writing from the perspective of a journalist, who did not know who killed Myrtle or Gatsby. I also wanted to squeeze Nick Carraway into the piece too, so I pretended that the police interviewed him after the murders.  

SO WHAT:   I really enjoyed this assignment. In fact, my sister, who works on the school newspaper, read it and she suggested that I write for the school newspaper too. I don't know about that, but I'm happy I did it. I also feel like I have a better understanding of the novel now, in preparation for my Paper 2 exam next May. I also feel I did well on the assessment rubric, giving myself a 3 on criteria A, a 6 on B and a 7 on B (because I really nailed the text type, I think).  

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Creative Response Exercise

Creative responses to literary works offer an opportunity to engage with the original in ways that shift our perspective from that of the critic to that of the artist, promoting alternative ways of thinking through that work.

Interacting with other works in a creative response makes the result into an intertextual text. This type of textual engagement can consist of subtle allusions or interact more obviously through borrowed content; since scholarly articles quote many other texts, they are also intertextual documents.

Intertextuality offers a way of tracing overt creative influences, but more importantly, for creators it is a strategy for affirming, adding, amending, or condemning the content of other works. Thus, the construction of one text out of others offers a creative, critical, and even political engagement with these source texts.

Write a Creative Response

Leonard Cohen at his typewriter in Montreal, 26 October 1963. Allan R. Leishman, Montreal Star, Library and Archives Canada: accession no. 1980-108 NPC, PA-190166

Choose a poem or another piece of writing from this guide, CanLit Poets , or elsewhere in Canadian Literature , and write a creative response to it. This response can come in any literary or artistic form, but must relate to the original text in a meaningful way. Consider writing an alternate perspective on the same topic, adding further content to emphasize other connections, remediating it (i.e., changing its form, for example, into an artwork, comic, or video), or cutting and pasting it into other contexts. Come up with another revisionist approach if you like.

Critical Reflection

With this creative response in hand, now write a short, critical reflection that addresses the following:

• What do you feel you’ve accomplished in your creative response? If you had a specific aim, discuss it, the decisions you made in writing it, and why you feel it was helpful. If you were less intentional in your engagement, but had a more spontaneous response, discuss the outcome and your creative processes.
• What did you learn about the original text to which you responded? How did a creative engagement add to your understanding of the original? Be as specific as possible about what you’ve done and what it accomplishes.

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4.2: Response Writing

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• Amber Kinonen, Jennifer McCann, Todd McCann, & Erica Mead
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A response is a commentary on another piece of writing. Developing a response will help you make personal connections with the ideas in the essay. Instructors might use question prompts to help guide you in creating a focused response on a particular aspect of an assigned reading. Using a focusing question may help you stay on track and prevent the potentially frustrating and superficial task of trying to respond to everything in the essay in just one or two pages.

The summary captures only the author’s ideas; however, the response includes your own. The response is the place for your opinions, interpretations, and evaluations. The most important aspect of writing a response is to create a main idea/statement (it may be your nutshell answer to an assigned focusing question) and back it up with specific evidence. Depending on the focus of the response, it might include observations about the writer’s technique, commentary on tone or literary strategy, views as to effectiveness of the writing, relationships between the author’s ideas and your own, an analysis of content, or any number of items. If a focusing question is required, make sure the entire response directly connects to (somehow serves to answer/support the answer) the focusing question.

If you use verbatim (word-for-word) material from the essay or article, be sure it is accurate and enclose it with quotation marks. This tells the reader that you are using the author’s exacts words, not your own, and gives credit to the author. However, in this type of writing, use quotations sparingly, and try to keep them short.

How to Write a Response Paper

• Writing Essays
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• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

Most of the time when you are tasked with an essay about a book or article you've read for a class, you will be expected to write in a professional and impersonal voice. But the regular rules change a bit when you write a response paper.

A response (or reaction) paper differs from the formal review primarily in that it is written in the first person . Unlike in more formal writing, the use of phrases like "I thought" and "I believe" is encouraged in a response paper. 

You'll still have a thesis and will need to back up your opinion with evidence from the work, but this type of paper spotlights your individual reaction as a reader or viewer.

Read and Respond

Grace Fleming

For a response paper, you still need to write a formal assessment of the work you're observing (this could be anything created, such as a film, a work of art, a piece of music, a speech, a marketing campaign, or a written work), but you will also add your own personal reaction and impressions to the report.

The steps for completing a reaction or response paper are:

• Observe or read the piece for an initial understanding.
• Mark interesting pages with a sticky flag or take notes on the piece to capture your first impressions.
• Reread the marked pieces and your notes and stop to reflect often.
• Record your thoughts.
• Develop a thesis.
• Write an outline.
• Construct your essay.

It may be helpful to imagine yourself watching a movie review as you're preparing your outline. You will use the same framework for your response paper: a summary of the work with several of your own thoughts and assessments mixed in.

The First Paragraph

After you have established an outline for your paper, you need to craft the first draft of the essay using all the basic elements found in any strong paper, including a strong introductory sentence .

In the case of a reaction essay, the first sentence should contain both the title of the work to which you are responding and the name of the author.

The last sentence of your introductory paragraph should contain a thesis statement . That statement will make your overall opinion very clear.

Stating Your Opinion

There's no need to feel shy about expressing your own opinion in a position paper, even though it may seem strange to write "I feel" or "I believe" in an essay. 

In the sample here, the writer analyzes and compares the plays but also manages to express personal reactions. There's a balance struck between discussing and critiquing the work (and its successful or unsuccessful execution) and expressing a reaction to it.

Sample Statements

When writing a response essay, you can include statements like the following:

• I felt that
• In my opinion
• The reader can conclude that
• The author seems to
• I did not like
• This aspect didn't work for me because
• The images seemed to
• The author was [was not] successful in making me feel
• I was especially moved by
• I didn't understand the connection between
• It was clear that the artist was trying to
• The soundtrack seemed too
• My favorite part was...because

Tip : A common mistake in personal essays it to resort to insulting comments with no clear explanation or analysis. It's OK to critique the work you are responding to, but you still need to back up your feelings, thoughts, opinions, and reactions with concrete evidence and examples from the work. What prompted the reaction in you, how, and why? What didn't reach you and why?

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• What Is Creative Writing? The ULTIMATE Guide!

At Oxford Royale Academy, we offer a range of summer school programmes that have become extremely popular amongst students of all ages. The subject of creative writing continues to intrigue many academics as it can help to develop a range of skills that will benefit you throughout your career and life.

Nevertheless, that initial question is one that continues to linger and be asked time and time again: what is creative writing? More specifically, what does it mean or encompass? How does creative writing differ from other styles of writing?

During our Oxford Summer School programme , we will provide you with in-depth an immersive educational experience on campus in the colleges of the best university in the world. However, in this guide, we want to provide a detailed analysis of everything to do with creative writing, helping you understand more about what it is and why it could benefit you to become a creative writer.

The best place to start is with a definition.

What is creative writing?

The dictionary definition of creative writing is that it is original writing that expresses ideas and thoughts in an imaginative way. [1] Some academics will also define it as the art of making things up, but both of these definitions are too simplistic in the grand scheme of things.

It’s challenging to settle on a concrete definition as creative writing can relate to so many different things and formats. Naturally, as the name suggests, it is all built around the idea of being creative or imaginative. It’s to do with using your brain and your own thoughts to create writing that goes outside the realms of what’s expected. This type of writing tends to be more unique as it comes from a personal place. Each individual has their own level of creativity, combined with their own thoughts and views on different things. Therefore, you can conjure up your own text and stories that could be completely different from others.

Understanding creative writing can be challenging when viewed on its own. Consequently, the best way to truly understand this medium is by exploring the other main forms of writing. From here, we can compare and contrast them with the art of creative writing, making it easier to find a definition or separate this form of writing from others.

What are the main forms of writing?

In modern society, we can identify five main types of writing styles [1] that will be used throughout daily life and a plethora of careers:

• Narrative Writing
• Descriptive Writing
• Persuasive Writing
• Expository Writing
• Creative Writing

Narrative writing refers to storytelling in its most basic form. Traditionally, this involves telling a story about a character and walking the readers through the journey they go on. It can be a long novel or a short story that’s only a few hundred words long. There are no rules on length, and it can be completely true or a work of fiction.

A fundamental aspect of narrative writing that makes it different from other forms is that it should includes the key elements of storytelling. As per UX Planet, there are seven core elements of a good story or narrative [2] : the plot, characters, theme, dialogue, melody, decor and spectacle. Narrative writing will include all of these elements to take the ready on a journey that starts at the beginning, has a middle point, but always comes to a conclusion. This style of writing is typically used when writing stories, presenting anecdotes about your life, creating presentations or speeches and for some academic essays.

Descriptive writing, on the other hand, is more focused on the details. When this type of writing is used, it’s focused on capturing the reader’s attention and making them feel like they are part of the story. You want them to live and feel every element of a scene, so they can close their eyes and be whisked away to whatever place or setting you describe.

In many ways, descriptive writing is writing as an art form. Good writers can be given a blank canvas, using their words to paint a picture for the audience. There’s a firm focus on the five senses all humans have; sight, smell, touch, sound and taste. Descriptive writing touches on all of these senses to tell the reader everything they need to know and imagine about a particular scene.

This is also a style of writing that makes good use of both similes and metaphors. A simile is used to describe something as something else, while a metaphor is used to show that something is something else. There’s a subtle difference between the two, but they both aid descriptive writing immensely. According to many writing experts, similes and metaphors allow an author to emphasise, exaggerate, and add interest to a story to create a more vivid picture for the reader [3] .

Looking at persuasive writing and we have a form of writing that’s all about making yourself heard. You have an opinion that you want to get across to the reader, convincing them of it. The key is to persuade others to think differently, often helping them broaden their mind or see things from another point of view. This is often confused with something called opinionative writing, which is all about providing your opinions. While the two seem similar, the key difference is that persuasive writing is built around the idea of submitting evidence and backing your thoughts up. It’s not as simple as stating your opinion for other to read; no, you want to persuade them that your thoughts are worth listening to and perhaps worth acting on.

This style of writing is commonly used journalistically in news articles and other pieces designed to shine a light on certain issues or opinions. It is also typically backed up with statistical evidence to give more weight to your opinions and can be a very technical form of writing that’s not overly emotional.

Expository writing is more focused on teaching readers new things. If we look at its name, we can take the word exposure from it. According to Merriam-Webster [4] , one of the many definitions of exposure is to reveal something to others or present them with something they otherwise didn’t know. In terms of writing, it can refer to the act of revealing new information to others or exposing them to new ideas.

Effectively, expository writing focuses on the goal of leaving the reader with new knowledge of a certain topic or subject. Again, it is predominately seen in journalistic formats, such as explainer articles or ‘how-to’ blogs. Furthermore, you also come across it in academic textbooks or business writing.

This brings us back to the centre of attention for this guide: what is creative writing?

Interestingly, creative writing is often seen as the style of writing that combines many of these forms together in one go. Narrative writing can be seen as creative writing as you are coming up with a story to keep readers engaged, telling a tale for them to enjoy or learn from. Descriptive writing is very much a key part of creative writing as you are using your imagination and creative skills to come up with detailed descriptions that transport the reader out of their home and into a different place.

Creative writing can even use persuasive writing styles in some formats. Many writers will combine persuasive writing with a narrative structure to come up with a creative way of telling a story to educate readers and provide new opinions for them to view or be convinced of. Expository writing can also be involved here, using creativity and your imagination to answer questions or provide advice to the reader.

Essentially, creative writing can combine other writing types to create a unique and new way of telling a story or producing content. At the same time, it can include absolutely none of the other forms at all. The whole purpose of creative writing is to think outside the box and stray from traditional structures and norms. Fundamentally, we can say there are no real rules when it comes to creative writing, which is what makes it different from the other writing styles discussed above.

What is the purpose of creative writing?

Another way to understand and explore the idea of creative writing is to look at its purpose. What is the aim of most creative works of writing? What do they hope to provide the reader with?

We can look at the words of Bryanna Licciardi, an experienced creative writing tutor, to understand the purpose of creative writing. She writes that the primary purpose is to entertain and share human experiences, like love or loss. Writers attempt to reveal the truth with regard to humanity through poetics and storytelling. [5] She also goes on to add that the first step of creative writing is to use one’s imagination.

When students sign up to our creative writing courses, we will teach them how to write with this purpose. Your goal is to create stories or writing for readers that entertain them while also providing information that can have an impact on their lives. It’s about influencing readers through creative storytelling that calls upon your imagination and uses the thoughts inside your head. The deeper you dive into the art of creative writing, the more complex it can be. This is largely because it can be expressed in so many different formats. When you think of creative writing, your instinct takes you to stories and novels. Indeed, these are both key forms of creative writing that we see all the time. However, there are many other forms of creative writing that are expressed throughout the world.

What are the different forms of creative writing?

Looking back at the original and simple definition of creative writing, it relates to original writing in a creative and imaginative way. Consequently, this can span across so many genres and types of writing that differ greatly from one another. This section will explore and analyse the different types of creative writing, displaying just how diverse this writing style can be – while also showcasing just what you’re capable of when you learn how to be a creative writer.

The majority of students will first come across creative writing in the form of essays . The point of an essay is to present a coherent argument in response to a stimulus or question. [6] In essence, you are persuading the reader that your answer to the question is correct. Thus, creative writing is required to get your point across as coherently as possible, while also using great descriptive writing skills to paint the right message for the reader.

Moreover, essays can include personal essays – such as writing a cover letter for work or a university application. Here, great creativity is needed to almost write a story about yourself that captivates the reader and takes them on a journey with you. Excellent imagination and persuasive writing skills can help you tell your story and persuade those reading that you are the right person for the job or university place.

Arguably, this is the most common way in which creative writing is expressed. Fictional work includes novels, novellas, short stories – and anything else that is made up. The very definition of fiction by the Cambridge Dictionary states that it is the type of book or story that is written about imaginary characters and events not based on real people and facts. [7] As such, it means that your imagination is called upon to create something out of nothing. It is a quintessential test of your creative writing skills, meaning you need to come up with characters, settings, plots, descriptions and so much more.

Fictional creative writing in itself takes on many different forms and can be completely different depending on the writer. That is the real beauty of creative writing; you can have entirely different stories and characters from two different writers. Just look at the vast collection of fictional work around you today; it’s the perfect way to see just how versatile creative writing can be depending on the writer.

Similarly, scripts can be a type of creative writing that appeals to many. Technically, a script can be considered a work of fiction. Nevertheless, it depends on the script in question. Scripts for fictional television shows, plays or movies are obviously works of fiction. You, the writer, has come up with the characters and story of the show/play/movie, bringing it all to life through the script. But, scripts can also be non-fictional. Creating a play or movie that adapts real-life events will mean you need to write a script based on something that genuinely happened.

Here, it’s a perfect test of creative writing skills as you take a real event and use your creative talents to make it more interesting. The plot and narrative may already be there for you, so it’s a case of using your descriptive writing skills to really sell it to others and keep readers – or viewers – on the edge of their seats.

A speech is definitely a work of creative writing. The aim of a speech can vary depending on what type of speech it is. A politician delivering a speech in the House of Commons will want to get a point across to persuade others in the room. They’ll need to use creative writing to captivate their audience and have them hanging on their every word. A recent example of a great speech was the one by Sir David Attenborough at the recent COP26 global climate summit. [8] Listening to the speech is a brilliant way of understanding how creative writing can help get points across. His speech went viral around the world because of how electrifying and enthralling it is. The use of many descriptive and persuasive words had people hanging onto everything he said. He really created a picture and an image for people to see, convincing them that the time is now to work on stopping and reversing climate change.

From this speech to a completely different one, you can see creative writing at play for speeches at weddings and other jovial events. Here, the purpose is more to entertain guests and make them laugh. At the same time, someone giving a wedding speech will hope to create a lovely story for the guests to enjoy, displaying the true love that the married couple share for one another. Regardless of what type of speech an individual is giving, creative writing skills are required for it to be good and captivating.

Poetry & Songs

The final example of creative writing is twofold; poetry and songs. Both of these formats are similar to one another, relying on creativity to deliver a combination of things. Poetry can take so many forms and styles, but it aims to inspire readers and get them thinking. Poems often have hidden meanings behind them, and it takes a great deal of imagination and creativity to come up with these meanings while also creating a powerful poem. Some argue that poetry is the most creative of all creative writing forms.

Songwriting is similar in that you use creativity to come up with lyrics that can have powerful meanings while also conjuring up a story for people. The best songwriters will use lyrics that stay in people’s minds and get them thinking about the meaning behind the song. If you lack imagination and creativity, you will never be a good songwriter.

In truth, there are so many other types and examples of creative writing that you can explore. The ones listed above are the most common and powerful, and they all do a great job of demonstrating how diverse creative writing can be. If you can hone your skills in creative writing, it opens up many opportunities for you in life. Primarily, creative writing focuses on fictional pieces of work, but as you can see, non-fiction also requires a good deal of creativity.

What’s needed to make a piece of creative writing?

Our in-depth analysis of creative writing has led to a point where you’re aware of this style of writing and its purpose, along with some examples of it in the real world. The next question to delve into is what do you need to do to make a piece of creative writing. To phrase this another way; how do you write something that comes under the creative heading rather than another form of writing?

There is an element of difficulty in answering this question as creative writing has so many different types and genres. Consequently, there isn’t a set recipe for the perfect piece of creative writing, and that’s what makes this format so enjoyable and unique. Nevertheless, we can discover some crucial elements or principles that will help make a piece of writing as creative and imaginative as possible:

A target audience

All creative works will begin by defining a target audience. There are many ways to define a target audience, with some writers suggesting that you think about who is most likely to read your work. However, this can still be challenging as you’re unsure of the correct demographic to target. Writer’s Digest makes a good point of defining your target audience by considering your main motivation for writing in the first place. [9] It’s a case of considering what made you want to start writing – whether it’s a blog post, novel, song, poem, speech, etc. Figuring out your motivation behind it will help you zero in on your target audience.

Defining your audience is vital for creative writing as it helps you know exactly what to write and how to write it. All of your work should appeal to this audience and be written in a way that they can engage with. As a simple example, authors that write children’s stories will adapt their writing to appeal to the younger audience. Their stories include lots of descriptions and words that children understand, rather than being full of long words and overly academic writing.

Establishing the audience lets the writer know which direction to take things in. As a result, this can aid with things like character choices, plot, storylines, settings, and much more.

A story of sorts

Furthermore, great works of creative writing will always include a story of sorts. This is obvious for works such as novels, short stories, scripts, etc. However, even for things like poems, songs or speeches, a story helps make it creative. It gives the audience something to follow, helping them make sense of the work. Even if you’re giving a speech, setting a story can help you create a scene in people’s minds that makes them connect to what you’re saying. It’s a very effective way of persuading others and presenting different views for people to consider.

Moreover, consider the definition of a story/narrative arc. One definition describes it as a term that describes a story’s full progression. It visually evokes the idea that every story has a relatively calm beginning, a middle where tension, character conflict and narrative momentum builds to a peak and an end where the conflict is resolved. [10]

Simplifying this, we can say that all works of creative writing need a general beginning, middle and end. It’s a way of bringing some sort of structure to your writing so you know where you are going, rather than filling it with fluff or waffle.

A good imagination

Imagination is a buzzword that we’ve used plenty of times throughout this deep dive into creative writing. Every creative writing course you go on will spend a lot of time focusing on the idea of using your imagination. The human brain is a marvellously powerful thing that holds the key to creative freedom and expressing yourself in new and unique ways. If you want to make something creative, you need to tap into your imagination.

People use their imagination in different ways; some will be able to conjure up ideas for stories or worlds that exist beyond our own. Others will use theirs to think of ways of describing things in a more creative and imaginative way. Ultimately, a good imagination is what sets your work apart from others within your genre. This doesn’t mean you need to come up with the most fantastical novel of all time to have something classified as creative writing. No, using your imagination and creativity can extend to something as simple as your writing style.

Ultimately, it’s more about using your imagination to find your own personal flair and creative style. You will then be able to write unique pieces that stand out from the others and keep audiences engaged.

How can creative writing skills benefit you?

When most individuals or students consider creative writing, they imagine a world where they are writing stories for a living. There’s a common misconception that creative writing skills are only beneficial for people pursuing careers in scriptwriting, storytelling, etc. Realistically, enhancing ones creative writing skills can open up many windows of opportunity throughout your education and career.

• Improve essay writing – Naturally, creative writing forms a core part of essays and other written assignments in school and university. Improving your skills in this department can help a student get better at writing powerful essays and achieving top marks. In turn, this can impact your career by helping you get better grades to access better jobs in the future.
• Become a journalist – Journalists depend on creative writing to make stories that capture audiences and have people hanging on their every word. You need high levels of creativity to turn a news story into something people are keen to read or watch.
• Start a blog – In modern times, blogging is a useful tool that can help people find profitable and successful careers. The whole purpose of a blog is to provide your opinions to the masses while also entertaining, informing and educating. Again, having a firm grasp of creative writing skills will aid you in building your blog audience.
• Write marketing content – From advert scripts to content on websites, marketing is fuelled by creative writing. The best marketers will have creative writing skills to draw an audience in and convince them to buy products. If you can learn to get people hanging on your every word, you can make it in this industry.

These points all demonstrate the different ways in which creative writing can impact your life and alter your career. In terms of general career skills, this is one that you simply cannot go without.

How to improve your creative writing

One final part of this analysis of creative writing is to look at how students can improve. It begins by reading as much as you can and taking in lots of different content. Read books, poems, scripts, articles, blogs – anything you can find. Listen to music and pay attention to the words people use and the structure of their writing. It can help you pick up on things like metaphors, similes, and how to use your imagination. Of course, writing is the key to improving; the more you write, the more creative you can get as you will start unlocking the powers of your brain.

Conclusion: What is creative writing

In conclusion, creative writing uses a mixture of different types of writing to create stories that stray from traditional structures and norms. It revolves around the idea of using your imagination to find a writing style that suits you and gets your points across to an audience, keeping them engaged in everything you say. From novels to speeches, there are many forms of creative writing that can help you in numerous career paths throughout your life.

[1] SkillShare: The 5 Types of Writing Styles with Examples

[2] Elements of Good Story Telling – UX Planet

[3] Simile vs Metaphor: What’s the Difference? – ProWritingAid

[4] Definition of Exposure by Merriam-Webster

[5] The Higher Purpose of Creative Writing | by Terveen Gill

[6] Essay purpose – Western Sydney University

[7] FICTION | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary

[8] ‘Not fear, but hope’ – Attenborough speech in full – BBC News

[9] Writer’s Digest: Who Is Your Target Reader?

[10] What is a Narrative Arc? • A Guide to Storytelling Structure

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Insight: Engage

Understanding the task – the creative text response.

English teacher Kylie Nealon gives tips and strategies on how to craft your creative responses.

With the Creative SAC looming on the horizon, now’s the time to take a deep breath if you’ve broken out in a cold sweat at the very thought of it.

The first key to surviving this task is to understand what it requires you to do. You need to:

• use what’s already there in your text to help you decide how you might present your characters, their dialogue and their story
• be deliberate in your choices of language, voice and style
• edit your work to help your ideas shine.

Cate Kennedy, one of the authors on the text list this year, sums up perfectly how you can narrow your range of focus. She recommends finding a frame that will ‘allow your reader a glimpse which tells them everything they need to know about the people in this world you’ve created’.

What’s a ‘frame’? It is the setting and context in which you choose to tell your story. Staying focused on one key incident or character is an effective way of controlling your creative piece.

You know what a good story looks and feels like as a reader; when a character is ‘real’, their thoughts, actions and dialogue feel authentic to you. Translating that into your own work is where it can get tricky.

The way around that? One word – structure . This means planning what you’re going to write before you begin writing.

• Where do you want to start?
• Where do you want your character/s to go?
• How do you want to end it?

While the temptation might be to jump in and see where it takes you (fun in Year 7 but somewhat frustrating in Year 12), planning is your safety net.

Here are some tips for planning your creative response.

• Is there something about a character that the author has chosen not to reveal?
• Is there a story of a minor character waiting to be told?
• Does a preface or epilogue need to be written to explain something unrevealed?
• Still not sure? Have a chat to your teacher or peers. It’s amazing what a conversation can do to spark something creative.
• You’d be surprised at what you will come up with if you keep asking, ‘ what if? ’
• Put your ideas down on paper – lists, diagrams, brainstorms – and see what you come up with.
• If there’s nothing driving your protagonist (either an external threat or an internal conflict), then there’s not much to interest your reader.

Once you’ve defined what it is you’re going to write about, it’s time to put pen to paper. Here are some tips to help you maximise your success.

• Follow the broad thematic approach of the original story.
• Keep the vocabulary simple and vary your sentence structures and lengths; the marking descriptors indicate that good responses will have ‘fluent and coherent language’.
• When writing dialogue, just use ‘said’ rather than adding adverbs – avoid phrases like ‘said enthusiastically’. Characters’ feelings and attitudes should be indicated by what they do , not by telling the reader what the character is feeling.
• Who is telling the story? Why have you picked this person to focalise the narrative? This is something that you’ll want to give some thought to because you have to explain it in your written explanation (see below).
• Don’t overdo symbols and metaphors; careful selection works much more effectively. Incorporating the ravens from Burial Rites in every paragraph, for example, can become rather repetitive for the reader. Unless you are writing from a raven’s point of view, that is!
• You’ll probably have a little voice making itself known throughout this process telling you that your work isn’t good enough. This is Fear talking – ignore this voice!
• Practising means that you can take risks, get feedback and refine your ideas. All essential for creative writing.
• Listen to your teacher. Their feedback is valuable, even if you don’t agree with it.
• Proofreading and editing are important. Build in some time at the end of the SAC to go over your piece; doing it as you go will slow you down and hinder your flow.

Finally, you’ll be asked to justify your textual selections in a short separate piece, called the ‘written explanation’.

• You don’t get separate marks for this explanation but it is critical in demonstrating your engagement, understanding and knowledge of how your piece links to the original text.
• Your teacher will give you advice on how to approach this task. While it doesn’t have to be long, it does need to be considered and cohesive.

The Creative SAC is a chance to explore and try new things in a different way. Embrace the challenge!

Need help getting through Year 12 English? Insight’s English Year 12 by Robert Beardwood is a practical, comprehensive textbook for Units 3 and 4 of VCE English. It covers both Areas of Study in detail, explaining key knowledge and building skills progressively for each School-assessed Coursework task and the final exam. Head to our website to get your copy of English Year 12 .

English Year 12 is produced by Insight Publications , an independent Australian educational publisher.

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• 17 Literary Response Writing

Start-Up Activity

Write the following sentence starters on the board:

A great novel is like . . .

My favorite movies are those that . . .

I love a story that . . .

Take answers from students, writing them down. Then review the answers, looking for commonalities. Most if not all of the responses should highlight a special connection that the literature makes with the reader or viewer.

Great literature naturally evokes a response, and students can formalize that response in writing. This chapter leads the way.

Think About It

“It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth.”

—Gao Xingjian

State Standards Covered in This Chapter

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.10
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.10
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.A
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.B
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.C
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.D
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.E
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.F
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.5
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.7
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.10

LAFS Covered in This Chapter

Lafs.1112.rl.1.1, lafs.1112.rl.4.10, lafs.1112.ri.1.1, lafs.1112.ri.4.10, lafs.1112.w.1.2, lafs.1112.w.2.4, lafs.1112.rl.1.2, lafs.1112.rl.1.3, lafs.1112.rl.2.5, lafs.1112.w.2.5, lafs.1112.w.3.7, lafs.1112.w.3.9, lafs.1112.w.4.10, teks covered in this chapter, 110.38.c.4.g, 110.39.c.4.g, 110.38.c.7.a, 110.38.c.7.b, 110.38.c.7.c, 110.39.c.7.a, 110.39.c.7.b, 110.39.c.7.c, 110.38.c.4.f, 110.38.c.5.c, 110.38.c.7.d.i, 110.39.c.4.f, 110.39.c.5.c, 110.39.c.7.d.i, 110.38.c.7.d, 110.39.c.7.d, 110.38.c.10.b, 110.39.c.10.b, 110.38.c.5.d, 110.38.c.6.a, 110.39.c.5.d, 110.39.c.6.a, 110.38.c.6.b, 110.38.c.6.c, 110.38.c.6.d, 110.39.c.6.b, 110.39.c.6.c, 110.39.c.6.d, 110.38.c.8.b, 110.39.c.8.b, 110.38.c.9.a, 110.39.c.9.a, 110.38.c.9.b.i, 110.39.c.9.b.i, 110.38.c.5.f, 110.38.c.9.b.ii, 110.39.c.5.f, 110.39.c.9.b.ii, 110.38.c.9.d, 110.39.c.9.d, 110.38.c.9.c, 110.39.c.9.c, 110.38.c.11, 110.39.c.11, 110.38.c.4.h, 110.39.c.4.h, 110.38.c.10, 110.39.c.10, page 212 from write for college, literary response writing: quick guide.

Use this page as a basis for discussing literary responses and warming up students to the possibilities in this chapter.

Students can respond to literature in many ways: book or movie reviews, play synopses, novel analyses, anthology recommendations, parodies, fan fiction, wikis, and so on. Page 213 includes many different starting points for literary analyses alone. Whatever the response, readers should start by thinking of the communication situation using the PAST questions.

Of course, responses in writing also benefit from attention to the traits, especially ideas . Literature allows one mind to briefly inhabit another mind, sharing its ideas.

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Page 213 from Write for College

Ideas for literary analyses.

Use this page to encourage students to find a unique inroad to whatever they are reading and responding to.

Fiction, history, and biography feature people (characters) in a particular place and time (setting) doing things (plot and conflict) for specific reasons (theme). These forms and all nonfiction also feature authors who write with a particular style. Any of these elements can provide a strong starting point for a literary analysis.

Page 214 from Write for College

Guidelines: writing a personal response.

Our favorite literature is very personal. We connect to a specific character or setting or author and can't get enough. That's why personal responses provide an excellent starting point for literary analyses.

Use the model on pages 216–217 to show one student's personal response to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Lead students through the prewriting guidelines and give them time to find and review the literature that they will respond to. Point them to page 215 for many possible starting points for personal responses.

Once students have read their selections and gathered their thoughts, lead them through the drafting guidelines. Emphasize that a personal response can freely use an "I" voice, showing the connection between reader and literature.

Provide students the Checklist for Revising and Editing Personal Responses to help them improve their work.

Page 215 from Write for College

Starting points for personal responses.

The questions on this page prompt students to find points of entry for their responses. Invite students to read through the list and pick out one or two questions they would like to explore. Then direct them to the bottom of the page and suggest that they freewrite responses to the question(s) they have chosen. After 5 to 10 minutes of freewriting, they will likely have a strong sense of where they would like their responses to head.

Page 216 from Write for College

Personal response.

Have students read the sample personal response on this page and the next. Then lead a discussion about it.

• How does the writer connect with the story?
• What words show the writer's enthusiasm for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ?
• How does the writer use details from the story?

Page 217 from Write for College

Personal response (cont.).

After students have read this page and the last, have them respond to the reading by answering the "Reading for Better Writing" questions at the bottom of the page.

Page 218 from Write for College

Guidelines: writing a book review.

Students have written book reports from the time that they became readers. High school book reviews , however, need to demonstrate greater sophistication. Students should avoid the "I" voice from personal responses (pages 214–217), instead focusing on the elements in the literature itself. Also, the review should do more than chronologically list events, but instead should evaluate their significance and help the reader decide whether to read the work or not.

Review with students the sample book review on pages 219–220. Then lead them through the prewriting guidelines and give them time to work.

Once students finish prewriting, have them develop their drafts.

Provide them the Checklist for Revising and Editing Book Reviews to use as they improve their work.

Page 219 from Write for College

Book review.

Have students read the sample book review silently to themselves. Then use the side notes to lead a discussion about the parts of the review.

On this page, have students focus on the writer's use of quotations from the book and paraphrases of the action in the book. Have them determine why each quotation provides a significant insight stated in an especially effective way. Tell students they also should choose quotations carefully, paraphrasing most information.

Page 220 from Write for College

Book review (cont.).

Complete your discussion of the model book review.

Note how the review discusses the ending without ruining it (no spoilers).

Also, note how the final paragraph captures the theme of the book, broadening it out to connect to life in general.

Page 221 from Write for College

Guidelines: writing a limited literary analysis.

Instead of reviewing a whole work, students can dig in more deeply to analyze one part. They could select a physical part, such as a chapter or section, or they could choose one of the classic components of fiction: character, setting, conflict, theme, exposition, rising action, climax, denouement, dialogue, or description.

Have students read the sample literary analysis, which focuses on a specific scene in The Scarlet Letter .

Afterward, lead students through the prewriting guidelines. Give them time to work. Tell them to transition to drafting whenever they feel ready to do so.

Provide the Checklist for Revising and Editing Limited Literary Analyses to help students improve their work.

Page 222 from Write for College

Limited literary analysis.

Have a volunteer read aloud the excerpt from The Scarlet Letter . Then have students silently read the limited literary analysis beginning on this page.

Afterward, lead a discussion. Note how the writer identifies the passage, credits the source and author, and gives background leading up to the thesis statement.

Page 223 from Write for College

Limited literary analysis (cont.).

Continue your discussion of this analysis. Note the interplay of paraphrases and quotations of especially effective passages. Also note that the writer continually goes beyond both types of evidence to infer and interpret from the text.

With the definition of "foundered" (see the third side note), the writer brings outside evidence into the interpretation. Encourage students to connect the passage to other readings, historical events, definitions, and other types of external information. (Of course, the connection should illuminate the text.)

Page 224 from Write for College

Continue your discussion of the model, using the side notes for talking points.

Page 225 from Write for College

After completing your discussion of the model analysis, have students spend five minutes freewriting in response to the "Reading for Better Writing" prompt at the bottom of the page.

Page 226 from Write for College

Guidelines: writing an extended literary analysis.

An extended literary analysis treats a whole work just as a limited literary analysis treats a specific part.

To prepare students to write their own extended literary analyses, have them read and review the sample play analysis on pages 226–227.

Present to students the guidelines for prewriting and give them time to work. Have them transition to drafting whenever they are ready.

Provide the Checklist for Revising and Editing Extended Literary Analyses to help students improve their work.

Page 227 from Write for College

Extended analysis of a play.

Ask students to read the analysis. Then lead a discussion of the model.

Discuss how the writer describes the action in the play and provides quotations from it. Also, show how the writer incorporates comments from the playwright (on this page) and information about the playwright (on the next page) to flesh out the analysis.

Point out to students that this analysis is shorter because of the medium it addresses, while a novel-length extended analysis may need to be longer to adequately explore the work. (See pages 229–232.)

Page 228 from Write for College

Extended analysis of a play (cont.).

Complete your discussion of this analysis. Afterward, have students reflect by freewriting responses to the "Reading for Better Writing" feature at the bottom of the page.

Extended Analysis of a Book

Have students read the extended analysis to themselves. Afterward, use the side notes to discuss the work. Note that this analysis digs in more deeply than the play analysis had. It cites more sources and more rigorously reviews them.

Page 230 from Write for College

Extended analysis of a book (cont.).

Continue your discussion of the analysis. Note how adeptly the writer incorporates outside viewpoints, including insights from the author's mother, an author in her own right.

Also show how the writer does not simply "plunk" quotations from the literature and other sources, but seamlessly incorporates the quotations with explanatory text.

Page 231 from Write for College

Discuss the side note on this page, showing how the writer used the observation of a critic to add greater dimension to her analysis. The reference allows the writer to unpack one of the major themes of the literature.

Page 232 from Write for College

Complete your discussion of the extended analysis. Point out how the writer used MLA documentation style to provide in-text citations (in parentheses) and works-cited entries.

Page 233 from Write for College

Guidelines: responding to a literary prompt.

On many high-stakes tests, including the AP English exams, students will need to read a piece of literature and respond by writing an analysis essay.

An on-target response starts with analyzing the prompt using the PAST questions. After analyzing the prompt, students should closely read the literature. On a piece of scrap paper, they should write a thesis statement that names the literature, provides the subject, and creates a specific focus that answers the prompt. Students should jot supporting points below the thesis statement, creating a quick list to structure their responses.

Then students should draft their responses.

Afterward, they need to quickly revise and edit their responses. Provide them the Checklist for Revising and Editing Responses to Literary Prompts. Students should ask themselves these kinds of questions as they revise. (Of course, they will not be able to use the checklist during an actual testing situation.)

Page 234 from Write for College

Literary prompt.

Ask students to closely read the literary prompt and analyze it using the PAST questions:

• P urpose: Capture Poe's sense of being alone, with evidence from the text (meaning, imagery, symbolism; rhythm, rhyme, enjambment)
• A udience: Test grader
• S ubject: The poem "Alone" by Edgar Allen Poe and its major theme of isolation
• T ype: Literary analysis essay

Then have students read the text. Ask them to practice prompt responses by jotting down a thesis statement and quick list of main points. Have students draft, revise, and edit their responses.

Afterward, review the student response on page 235.

Page 235 from Write for College

Prompt response.

After students have written their own responses to the prompt and text on page 234, have them closely read the sample student response on this page.

Ask students how their own responses differed from the sample response. Ask how the responses were similar. Then lead a general discussion of the sample, using the side notes to guide the conversation.

Afterward, ask students what they learned about responding to literary prompts in a timed situation.

Page 236 from Write for College

Evaluating literary response writing.

Provide students the Assessment Rubric for Literary Response Writing to help them evaluate their responses to literature. You also can use this rubric to assess student's writing, assigning a score of 1 (incomplete) to 6 (amazing) for each trait, and dividing by 6 to receive an overall score (6 = A+, 5 = A, 4 = B, 3 = C, 2 = D, 1 = F).

• 01 One Writer's Process
• 02 Traits of Writing
• 03 Prewriting
• 05 Revising
• 07 Publishing
• 08 Improving Sentences
• 09 Building Paragraphs
• 10 Mastering Essays
• 11 Writing with Style
• 12 Writing Terms and Techniques
• 13 Personal Writing
• 14 Narrative Writing
• 15 Explanatory Writing
• 16 Argument Writing
• 18 Creative Writing
• 19 Conducting Research
• 20 Summaries, Paraphrases, and Abstracts
• 21 Report Writing
• 22 Writing the Research Paper
• 23 MLA Research Paper
• 24 APA Research Paper
• 25 Writing in Science
• 26 Writing in Social Studies
• 27 Writing in Math
• 28 Writing in the Workplace
• 29 Reading Nonfiction
• 30 Reading Literature
• 31 Reading Graphics
• 32 Listening and Note Taking
• 33 Speaking Effectively
• 34 Building Vocabulary
• 35 Writing on Demand
• 36 Answering Document-Based Questions
• 37 Taking Exit and Entrance Exams
• 38 Taking Advanced Placement* Exams
• 39 Marking Punctuation
• 40 Checking Mechanics
• 41 Understanding Idioms
• 42 Using the Right Word
• 43 Parts of Speech
• 44 Using the Language
• 45 Student Almanac

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Stellar Teaching Co.

Engaging Resources for Teaching Literacy

By Sara Marye Leave a Comment

Master the Art of Constructed Response Writing: 5 Powerful Steps for Students

As educators, we know that constructed response writing is a crucial skill students need to succeed academically. Whether on a test or in response to reading, learning how to write a strong response to a prompt is essential. 

A constructed response is a written assessment or task in which students must provide a thoughtful and well-crafted response to a prompt or question. In constructed response writing, students must demonstrate their understanding of a particular concept or skill by giving evidence from the text, classroom discussions, or other relevant sources.

If you feel like your students need help with constructed response writing, you are not alone! I often get requests for simple, straightforward strategies to help students better understand the constructed writing process. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore a five-step process for constructed response writing that you can share with your students to help them master this skill.

5-Step Process for Constructed Response Writing

Step 1: Read and Summarize the Text

The first step in constructed response writing is to read and summarize the text. 

It is essential that students have a thorough understanding of the text before they begin to respond to a prompt. To do this, have students:

• Read the text.
• Annotate while they read.
• Summarize it using their own words. 

Remember to have students practice asking and answering questions while they read. Asking questions is a beneficial reading strategy to help students understand what they are reading on a deeper level. If your students need support in this area, check out our  Asking Questions Task Cards  to give your students extra practice! 

Step 2: Confirm Understanding of the Prompt

The next step that will help with constructed writing responses is to confirm that students understand all parts of the prompt. 

Students must analyze the prompt before they begin to write to make sure they are fully responding to all parts of the prompt in their response. To do this, have students:

• Identify all verbs in the prompt. This helps students know they are responding in the right way. (Identify, explain, state, provide evidence, etc.)
• Determine how many elements/parts they need to include in their constructed response.
• Restate the question using their own words.

If you need a resource with a variety of writing prompts, check out some of our science-based Reading Passages that include a variety of articles, multiple-choice questions, and written response questions for students to practice understanding how to answer different question types.

Step 3: Plan Your Constructed Response

Once students understand the prompt, they need to plan out their responses. This step is where they can use a simple paragraph organization, such as a topic sentence, 2-3 details, and a concluding sentence if needed. 

It is beneficial to have students create an outline and find text evidence in the text to support their response. Planning and outlining their writing will help constructed writing responses be more intentional.

Step 4: Write Your Constructed Response

Now it’s time to write the response. We usually rush to this step but notice it is  Step #4.  It takes time and analysis to get to the point of writing a constructed response. 

If students have an outline, this should be much easier. Encourage them to write a topic sentence (restating the question as a statement) and use details from the text to write the sentences in their outline. Each detail in their outline should get at least one sentence.

Step 5: Review Constructed Response Writing

Finally, students should review their response to ensure it fully satisfies the prompt. 

They should reread the prompt, read their entire answer, and ask themselves if their response fully responds to the prompt, if they are clear and concise in their explanation, and if they have included details from the text or other pieces of evidence to support their answer.

Encourage students to ask the following: 

• Does my response fully respond to the prompt?
• Am I clear and concise in my explanation? 
• Do I restate the question as a statement in my topic sentence? 
• Do I include details from the text or other evidence to support my answer? 

By following these five steps, students can craft a constructed writing response to respond to any prompt. It’s important to note that practicing this process will make it feel more automatic for students on test day.

I hope you feel more confident in your ability to provide students with a process or framework to follow that will help them feel more confident in their ability to respond to any prompt. 

Use this five-step process in your classroom and watch your students’ writing skills improve! 

Put It Into Practice: 

• Don’t forget to check out my blog post Writing Constructed Responses: 6 Tips to Help Students Feel Confident for more ideas on how to help your students feel more equipped to write constructed responses.
• Check out podcast Episode #125 ! To hear about the 5-step process in this blog step more in-depth. You can also listen to the podcast here !
• Join us inside   The Stellar Literacy Collective ,  where you will get access to a resource library filled with reading and writing resources that will support you and your students in reading, writing, and vocabulary skills needed to successfully write constructed responses.

Happy Teaching!

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• Fighting Climate Change with Bee-utiful Pollinator Gardens
• 7 Inspiring Climate Change Solutions
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Creative Writing a Gateway to Creative Climate Solutions

How poetry and art are crucial in the climate crisis .

• by Malia Reiss
• May 06, 2024

“Raging Floods.” “Climate Migrants.” “Coral Reefs Gone.” These are the kinds of stories spanning today’s headlines. As temperatures are rising globally, morale is steadily sinking. 

New solutions are needed to combat this crisis, environmentally and emotionally. UC Davis creative writing master’s students and professors say that creative storytelling and art may be the keys to helping the world process these changes, and that collaborations with scientists can give rise to new, innovative solutions.

“Art and poetry are going to play a pivotal role in adapting human behavior to these new circumstances that are vastly different from anything we’ve known,” said poetry master’s student Trevor Bashaw . 

Imagining a better (or worse) future 

Free of limitations, art is a portal to reimagine the world.

In 2020, UC Davis English professor Michael Ziser and geology professor Nicholas Pinter took graduate students on a white water rafting trip down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. They also invited two famous science fiction writers, Paolo Bacigalupi and Kim Stanley Robinson , both of whom write about a climate-apocalyptic world. 

“The advantage science fiction writers have is that they have license to completely reimagine things,” said Ziser. “They can just pose a solution and think about how it may work out. It encourages people to imagine, what world do they prefer to be a part of?” 

The authors and students entered the Grand Canyon on March 10, 2020. They emerged two weeks later to a world shut down amid a global pandemic. The merging of science and science fiction felt all too relevant.

Bacigalupi’s thriller novel, The Water Knife , tells a dark, futuristic story where the Southwestern U.S. is engaged in a violent war for water. Bacigalupi attended the Grand Canyon trip with graduate students studying the same river system he wrote about drying up. 

Robinson's novels also explore what the future may look like under continued corruption and failure to address world crises like climate change. On the trip, students read Robinson's Pacific Edge, part of his series depicting the future of California. 

By inviting these authors, Pinter and Ziser hoped to encourage the merging of art and science and to give graduate student scientists a new way of looking at the future of their study systems. 

“Any channel by which we can get more people from different walks of life to be thinking about these problems, the better,” said Ziser. “These problems require our coordinated response as a civilization.” 

Collaborations between scientists and artists can generate solutions that one party may not have been able to accomplish on its own. 

“Everyone is being asked to hyperspecialize, and I think that age is over,” said Ziser. “We need to keep a multi-pronged approach to understanding the world.” 

To poetry master’s student Bashaw, the divide between art and science isn’t clean cut, and separating the two can limit progress.

“The sciences and the arts have a lot to learn from each other, in terms of knowledge bases and methodologies,” said Bashaw. “The writer’s workshop is a lot more similar to a lab than people may realize; a lot of scientific discoveries were made through creative accidents; and art is pushed forward by technological advances.”  

With collaborations like these, new ways of thinking can emerge. Art can be a limitless tool toward furthering scientific discovery. 

“Everything is trapped by its genre. But when we try to imagine something radically different, we create something bigger,” said Pinter. 

Where processing has a place 

For creative solutions to be acted upon, policymakers, scientists, and the public need to reach common ground. UC Davis creative writing master’s students contend that art and writing not only generate innovative solutions, but also open gateways to these solutions. 

“With climate change, there’s a lot of grieving that we need to do as a community,” said Bashaw. “I don’t think we have even emotionally accepted it’s occurring.” 

Bashaw thinks that only when humanity can process the climate crises can the world come together to carry out solutions. To them, art is where processing has a place.

“In art and poetry, there can be more room for love and feeling and all of these things that make us human,” said Bashaw.

In their own writing, Bashaw draws parallels between processing the queer experience and processing the climate crisis. They describe their writing as “queer eco-poetics,” which focuses on how individuals relate to nature and constructed  environments. 

“Poetry can transform what feels scary into all kinds of different things and bring a sense of peace,” said Bashaw. “I want people to feel seen without shame.  I think of my writing as home-making and finding peace within place.” 

Connie Pearson, a creative nonfiction master’s student at UC Davis, also believes that art can bring to life the human emotional experience within major world crises.

“It’s a real sweet spot: seeing what’s going on, combined with how somebody is processing,” said Pearson. 

Pearson’s work comprises personal essays centered around her experiences being an animal activist. By diving into her vulnerable and personal experience, she hopes to humanize the activism she’s been part of since 1980. 

“Vulnerability is so crucial in writing,” said Pearson. “I connect so much more to pieces written from the personal lens.” 

Processing and healing 

Climate change is a global phenomenon, and will require everyone working together to reach a solution. This is a daunting task, but with solutions posed by both scientists and artists together, and with a shift in mindset, the future could heal. 

“Art allows you to sit with the unknown and ambiguity in a way that’s not paralyzing, but exciting,” said Bashaw. “We need to help people process and confront this looming phenomenon.”

Malia Reiss is a science news intern with UC Davis Strategic Communications. She studies environmental science and management at UC Davis.

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VCE Creative Response to Runaway by Alice Munro

January 14, 2023

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Runaway is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Creative Response. For a detailed guide on Creative Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Creative Writing .

The biggest challenge of the creative writing SAC in VCE is figuring out how to balance your own ideas and style with that of the text you’re studying. The assessment requires you to incorporate elements of a text into your writing without copying the original narrative. In this case, Runaway by Alice Munro (2004) is a short story collection that explores themes of marriage, loss, mother/daughter relationships, womanhood and more. To be able to emulate Munro’s writing style within your original piece, it’s important to analyse the most frequent devices she incorporates into her work. By focusing specifically on the three stories ‘Chance’, ‘Soon’ and ‘Silence’, we can understand how Munro writes and how to embed that into a Creative Response. 

If you would like more information on the themes in Runaway , you can refer to this blog post.

Literary Devices

Literary devices can be defined as the techniques that an author uses in writing to convey meaning and their ideas within their work. These devices construct the story and emphasise key themes , which are particularly important to note when studying a text in VCE English. There are many devices that you may already be familiar with - metaphors, similes and repetition are commonly used in a variety of types of writing. For example, repetition of a certain word or phrase within a text highlights that it has significance and is reinforcing a particular idea or theme. By identifying which literary devices an author prefers to include in their novel, you can gain an understanding of their style and have a practical method for emulating it within a Creative Response. Below is a breakdown of some of the techniques woven by Munro throughout ‘Chance’, ‘Soon’ and ‘Silence.’

Embedded Narrative

An embedded narrative is like a story within a story, often with the intention of lending symbolic significance to the narrative. In ‘Chance’, Munro includes many references to Greek mythology, embedding a story within the broader narrative. The myths she has chosen are similar to events in Juliet’s life, creating an intentional comparison. 

For instance, Juliet’s affection for Eric prompts her to visit his home where she meets Christa and Ailo, two women Eric has had a relationship with. Upon meeting them, Juliet is reminded of ‘Briseis and Chryseis’, who were ‘playmates’ of a Greek king. Munro’s use of this embedded narrative within Juliet’s story reveals how Juliet feels jealous of the two women and sees them as incapable of having a serious relationship with Eric. To echo this in a Creative Response, you might want to include either a myth, folktale or historical event that relates to your narrative and the characters within it. 

Time Progression/Regression

Time progression/regression refers to jumping back and forwards in time within a story to give context to certain characters or events. For example, the narrative moves back and forth in ‘Silence’ to slowly reveal the before and after of Juliet and Penelope’s estrangement. This helps to inform the reader of Penelope’s motives for no longer speaking to Juliet, and how Juliet deals with the pain of losing a relationship with her daughter. Any movement through time is typically shown through section breaks in the writing, as it alerts the reader that one scene has ended and a new one has begun. These moments might interrupt the chronological narrative, or you might choose to jump backwards and forwards consistently, although this can make your piece more complicated.

Epistolary Elements

‘Epistolary’ is defined as literary work ‘in the form of letters’. Munro weaves elements of this within Runaway, including letters within several of the stories. The letters help to convey the narrative through one character’s perspective, providing insight into their motivations and perspectives. This is particularly effective when the story is written in the third person, as a letter is usually in the first person, allowing for characters to be understood on a deeper level.

In ‘Soon’, Juliet’s letter to Eric demonstrates their intimacy as a couple. Munro has constructed the letter so that it contains very mundane details about Juliet’s time with Sara, instead of just the exciting or alarming news she might have to share. The personal nature of the letter conveys just how close Eric and Juliet are, and how different her relationship with him is from that with Sara. Epistolary elements can be easily included as a small section of a Creative Response as correspondence between two of your characters.

Finally, Munro often uses italics to emphasise certain words or phrases that are particularly important. Italics can also convey the tone of a character, as they might draw attention to some words spoken in excitement or anger. For example, when Juliet meets Joan at the church in ‘Silence’, Joan’s dialogue often has italics to highlight when she is making passive-aggressive remarks about Juliet’s relationship with Penelope. Munro is demonstrating that Joan has been influenced by Penelope in her opinion of Juliet, as she clearly dislikes her and speaks in a condescending manner towards her. You might decide to implement italics only in dialogue, or to use it in other parts of your response, to highlight an important moment within the plot.

Tips for Emulating Munro’s Style

While emulating the style of an author is an important component of a Creative Response, coming up with your own ideas is equally important! To find an idea that you are invested in, think about the parts of Runaway that really spoke to you and that you would like to explore more; this could be a broad theme or a specific character. It is easier to write about something you are interested in than something you feel obligated to write about. Come up with potential responses that you are excited to write, and then plan accordingly by asking “How can I incorporate parts of Munro’s style into this piece?”

To plan out your piece, start by creating a simple plot structure to guide your writing. If it helps, this can include a 3-act structure consisting of a set-up, conflict, and resolution; or you might prefer to do a simple dot point plan instead. When considering what literary devices you would like to include, pick at least one literary technique, and work on making it fit with your idea. Focus on incorporating that one as best as you can before you move on to another one. You might want to pick a second technique that is more subtle, like italics, and start applying that in your second or third draft.

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Now quite sure how to nail your text response essays? Then download our free mini-guide, where we break down the art of writing the perfect text-response essay into three comprehensive steps. Click below to get your own copy today!

Access a FREE sample of our How To Write A Killer Creative study guide

• Learn how to apply key creative frameworks and literary elements to elevate your writing
• Introduces the REPLICATE and IMAGINE strategy , a straightforward and methodical approach to creative writing
• Includes a step-by-step method to guide you through every phase of creative writing
• Explains the Written Explanation component, with multiple annotated A+ examples
• Includes excerpts from multiple A+ creative pieces

‍ We’ve explored creative writing criteria, literary elements and how to replicate the text over on our The Ultimate Guide to VCE Creative Writing blog post . If you need a quick refresher or you’re new to creative writing, I highly recommend checking it out!

Creative Responses in VCE Literature

This was my favourite SAC in Literature; it allows so much creative freedom in creating and recreating a literary work. When else will you be able to depart from the (admittedly rather boring) standard essay structure?!

In your adaptations and transformations SAC (see my blog post about this literature assessment  here !), you learnt how the  meaning  of the text changed as the form changed. Here’s  your  opportunity to change the meaning of the text, maybe emphasising a particular thematic idea, or perhaps recreating a completely new perspective. Remember – you have almost complete creative licence in this assessment…use it to your advantage!

But don’t forget that the most important part of this task is that you must have a  highly convincing connection between the original text and your creative response . There must be a tangible relationship present, through an in-depth understanding of the original text’s features. These features include characterisation (what motivates these characters), setting, context, narrative structure, tone and writing/film style. Establishing a clear nexus between the original text and your creative piece does not mean you need to replicate everything of the text; you can stylistically choose to reject or contrast elements of the original text – as long as these choices are deliberate and unambiguous. Therefore, your creative response must demonstrate that you read your original text closely and perceptively by acknowledging these features of the text.

You can establish this relationship by:

• Adopting or resisting the same genre as the original text : e.g. an epistolary genre (written in letters) – do letters make an appearance in your text? Is that something you want to highlight? What about writing a monologue or a script if the text is a film or a play?
• Adopting or resisting the author’s writing/language style : does your writer characteristically write plainly or with great descriptive detail? What about irony or humour? Consider the length and style of sentences. Are there frequent uses of symbols or metaphors?
• Adopting or resisting the text’s point of view : do you want to draw readers’ attention to another thematic idea that was not explored in the original text? Will you align with the author’s views and values or will you oppose them? (See my views and values blogpost here!)
• Adopting or resisting the original setting, narrative structure or tone
• Writing through a peripheral character’s perspective : give a voice to a minor character that didn’t have a detailed backstory. Find a gap in the text and create and new perspective.
• Developing a prologue, epilogue or another chapter/scene : what new insight can you add with this addition and extension of the text? It must add something new – otherwise it is a redundant addition.
• Rewriting a key event/scene from another character’s point of view : does this highlight how important narrative perspective is?
• Recontextualising the original text : by putting the same story or characters into a completely different context, for example in the 21st century with technology, how does the meaning change in the narrative?

I chose to write a creative piece from the perspective of an inanimate object that followed the protagonist’s journey throughout the entire film, providing an unexpected point of view of the text. Be original and most importantly, enjoy it!

If you're doing a creative piece - whether for English or Literature - you'll find the following blogs super helpful:

The Ultimate Guide to VCE Creative Writing

‍ 5-Step Recipe for Creative Writing

How To Achieve A+ in Creative Writing (Reading and Creating)

• What Is The Creative Response?
• What Are You Expected To Cover? (Creative Writing Criteria)
• Literary Elements (Characterisation, Themes, Language, Symbolism, Imagery)
• LSG's unique REPLICATE and IMAGINE strategy
• Sample A+ Creative Response
• Writing The Written Explanation
• Resources To Help You Prepare For Your Creative Response

1. What Is The Creative Response?

The Creative Response, which forms part of the ‘Reading and creating texts’ component of the study design, is part of the 1st Area of Study (AoS 1) - meaning that the majority of students will tackle the Creative Response in Term 1. Unlike the analytical text response, in the Creative Response you will be asked to write your own imaginative piece in response to a selected text. 

You are expected to read and understand the selected text, analyse its key features, and write a creative piece which demonstrates your comprehension of the text.

2. What Are You Expected To Cover? (Creative Writing Criteria)

The creative writing task assesses your ability to combine features of an existing text with your own original ideas. The key intention here is to demonstrate your understanding of the world of the text. You can achieve this by exploring and applying selected elements from the text, such as context, themes, literary devices like symbols, and/or characters. You should also consider the values embedded within the text - this includes explicit values (which can be seen on the surface of the text) and implied values (values we uncover through analysis of the text’s deeper meaning). Try to reflect these values within your writing. 

Your piece will be a creative response, after all, so you should apply the conventions of this style of writing. Firstly, your creative should follow the structure of a beginning, middle, and end. We can also think of this as rising tension, climax, and resolution. Secondly, you should develop an authentic use of language, voice and style to make your writing more engaging and sophisticated. Thirdly, you can use literary devices to build meaning and depth within your piece. As always, your writing should be consistent with the rules of spelling, punctuation, and syntax (that is, written expression) in Standard Australian English.

Part of this assessment is the Written Explanation, which is a chance for you to explain and justify your creative writing choices. Within the Written Explanation, you should reflect on your writing process and analyse your own work. The primary goal here is to explain the links you’ve made to the original text, by considering features like purpose, context, and language. 

Ultimately, to put it simply, you are expected to understand the selected text and demonstrate this in your creative piece. If you're looking to quickly increase your creative skills, watch our incredibly popular video below:

3. Literary Elements (Characterisation, Themes, Language, Symbolism, Imagery)

Literary elements are different parts of the creative writing equation that ensure your piece is consistent with the expected features of this type of writing. When selecting which literary elements to include in your piece, remember to consider the original text and ensure that your work, while creative, also demonstrates your ability to replicate some of its elements.

Characterisation

As we know, characters are fictionalised people within the world of a creative text. Almost an entire century ago, the English writer E. M. Forster famously introduced the concept of flat and round characters in his 1927 book, ‘Aspects of the Novel’. According to Forster, flat characters can be defined by a single characteristic; in other words, they are two-dimensional. For example, the characters of The Simpsons could arguably all be defined as flat characters; Homer is characterised as a slob, Flanders is defined by his Christian faith, Lisa is stereotyped as the ‘teacher’s pet’, and Bart is portrayed as rebellious. We can define all of these characters as flat because they are labelled to the audience in these two-dimensional ways.

In contrast to this, round characters have multiple characteristics, which brings them closer to seeming like real, human figures. The personality of these characters extends beyond a single attribute. In Harry Potter , Harry himself is a round character because of how much we learn about him over the course of the series. For example, we find out about Harry’s difficult childhood, his personal challenges, his love interests, and we see his personality grow from book to book. 

Whether the characters of your creative are flat or round will depend on their involvement within, and importance to, the storyline of your piece. Generally speaking, however, you should aim for the central character(s) to be round, while any minor characters are likely to be flat. Developing round major characters will ensure that they are realistic and believable. In turn, you’ll be able to better demonstrate your imaginative skills and understanding of the text through these characters. 

Themes are the key ideas and issues that are relevant to the storyline of a fictional text. We can identify themes by labelling the main areas of meaning within a text and thinking about the messages that emerge throughout the text. To build your understanding of themes within a particular text and to evaluate the themes of your own creative, consider the following questions:

• What is the text really about, beyond superficial elements like plot and character?
• What is the text saying to its reader?
• What are the core idea(s) or issue(s) within the text?
• What idea(s) or issue(s) do the message(s) of the text correspond with?

To return to our example of The Simpsons , we could say that the themes within this sitcom include love and family, neighbourliness, and social class. From episode to episode, The Simpsons comments on these different issues. For example, Marge and Homer’s relationship, with its domestic setting and marital ups and downs, is a core aspect of the Simpsons household. Likewise, family is a major component of not only the Simpsons themselves, but also the broader Springfield community. The interactions between parents and children is evident on Evergreen Terrace with the Simpsons and the Flanders families, as well as in other settings such as Springfield Elementary School (where even an adult Principal Skinner is seen through his relationship with his elderly mother). These broad areas can be identified as the key thematic concerns of the series because each episode centres around these ideas.

Language refers to the way in which a piece of writing is expressed. We can define this as the ‘style’, or ‘tone’, of a text. The words and phrasing chosen by a writer determine how ideas are communicated. Effective language will be appropriate for the world of the text and contribute to the narrative in a meaningful way. There are a number of ways in which a piece of writing can be articulated and you should consider the nature of your piece and the language of the original text when deciding what type of language is most appropriate for your creative.

Dialogue, on the other hand, is an exchange of conversation between characters. Dialogue is often used to provide context to a text, develop its storyline, or offer direct insight into a character’s thoughts, feelings and personality. ‍

A symbol can be defined as a thing that represents something else. Symbols are typically material objects that hold abstract meaning. For example, in Harry Potter , Harry’s scar is a symbol of his difficult childhood. Because Harry’s scar causes him pain in Voldemort’s presence, it can also be said that the scar is symbolic of the connection forged between Harry and Voldemort when his attempt to kill Harry failed. As this example suggests, symbols are often associated with the text’s themes - in this case, Harry’s scar relates to the themes of childhood and death. 

The key with symbolism is to connect a particular theme or idea to a physical object. For example, the theme of grief could be portrayed through a photo of someone who has died. Likewise, the theme of change might be represented by a ticking clock, while a character’s clothing could be a symbol of their wealth or status.

For more literary elements, also known as metalanguage, check out our lists:

Part 1 – Metalanguage Word Bank For Books

Part 2 – Metalanguage Word Bank For Films With Examples

And if that's not enough, you'll also want to check out our How To Write A Killer Creative Study Guide where we unpack these elements in more detail AND analyse imagery, foreshadowing, flash-backs and flash-forwards! 

4. LSG's unique REPLICATE and IMAGINE Strategy

If we think about the criteria of creative writing, we’ll see that much of this task involves demonstrating your understanding of the text. For this reason, being able to replicate the world of the text will enable you to showcase your understanding and, in turn, to meet the criteria your teacher will be looking for. Let’s consider how you can strengthen your creative by taking the time to understand the text on a meaningful level and reflect this within your writing.

Step 1: Read

Writing a strong creative piece begins with reading. Reading the text (or watching, in the case of a film) is essential to developing an informed creative response. The more closely you read, the more confidently you’ll be able to engage with the important ideas and textual elements necessary to take your creative from good to great. 

While reading the text for the first time, focus on developing your understanding and clarifying any uncertainty. I would recommend taking the time to read a plot summary before beginning on the text - this will allow you to go in with a reasonable idea of what to expect, and also provide a security net to minimise your likelihood of misunderstanding the plot. 

While reading the text once is sufficient, you will benefit from reading it twice. A second reading enables you to take the time to annotate key sections of the text and to further your initial understanding. If you choose to read the text a second time, pay extra attention to the themes and inner-workings of the text. This means reading between the lines and starting to form an analytical understanding of what the text is about, beyond surface ideas like plot and character. 

Annotating the text (or note-taking, in the case of a film) is an important aspect of any academic reading. The key intention is to ensure your annotation approach is as convenient and accessible as possible. To achieve this, I suggest listing the key themes, allocating a different coloured highlighter to each, and colour-coding sections of the text which you think relate to each specific theme. This will give your annotating process more direction compared to the common approach of simply leaving notes in the margin, which may be time-consuming to read over later. 

I would also recommend making the most of coloured tabs - these enable you to immediately see the key sections of the text, rather than flicking through aimlessly. If you can colour-code these tabs according to the same key as your highlighters, you’ll be able to instantly spot which sections correspond with which theme (and trust me, this will come in handy if you decide to replicate these themes in your own creative).

Aside from annotating the text itself, try to ensure that the notes you write are concise - not only will this save you time, but it’ll mean you focus on condensing the key information. In turn, you’ll have less material to sift through later on, giving you the ability to jump straight into planning and drafting your own piece. This video, How to effectively annotate your books for school! and this blog post, How to effectively annotate your texts in VCE will provide you with more helpful strategies to get the most out of annotating. ‍

Step 2: Understand the World of the Text

‍ Regardless of how many times you read the text, your understanding will be strengthened by seeking out resources to help you think about the text on a deeper level. A good starting point for this is to have a look for LSG blog posts and videos that are about your specific text.

Watching or reading interviews with the author of the text is a fantastic way to hear directly about their intention in writing the text - after all, they are the single most authoritative source on the text. The goal here is to understand the author’s intent (something we’ll expand on in Chapter 8: Strengthening Your Creative ) so that you can reflect this within your own writing. Focus on how the author explains certain aspects of their text, as well as any points they make about its context and background. 

Additionally, peer discussions and asking questions in class will help you to further develop your understanding of the text and clarify any uncertainty. Seeing the text from another’s perspective will develop your knowledge beyond a superficial understanding of the text and introduce ideas you may not have otherwise considered.

Remember to take notes as you go - these will be useful to reflect on later. ‍

Step 3: Implement Your Understanding ‍

Okay, so you’ve taken the time to read and annotate the text, and you’ve sought out external resources to further develop your comprehension. Now we want to apply this understanding within a creative context. Reflect on what you know about the text. Think closely: What have you learnt about its context, characters, and themes? What elements of the text stand out? The goal here is to draw inspiration from the text and begin to think about which aspects of the text you might like to replicate within your creative piece. Begin to put together a shortlist to keep track of your ideas. The aim here is to develop a picture of the parts of the text you might decide to replicate in your own writing. 

Although understanding and replicating the text is important, if we were to only do this, your piece wouldn’t have much creative flair or originality. Here, we’ve taught you the ‘ Replicate ’ component of this strategy . If you’d like additional information about how to elevate this to an A+ standard AND a comprehensive explanation of the ‘ Imagine ’ component, check out our How to Write A Killer Creative study guide ! ‍

5. Sample A+ Creative Response

Here's a sample excerpt from a creative piece written by Taylah Russell, LSG tutor and 47 study scorer, in response to the short story 'Waiting' in Cate Kennedy's anthology, Like a House on Fire :

"The clinician presses forcefully into my lower abdomen, refusing to stop and accept my reality. The poor thing, deprived of such hopelessness as I, seems to honestly believe that the longer he agonises over finding something, the more likely it is that some form of life will appear. That those horoscopes in those grimy magazines, written by journalists who’ve probably been fired from their former reputable jobs, may actually hold some validity. I place my hands over my eyes, tentatively pressing against my eyelids, turning my surroundings a dark black and blocking the stream of water that has readied itself to spill when the time comes, when that young boy finally gives up and realises that his degree holds no value in providing me with happiness."

As we can see in this paragraph, the writer is replicating certain themes from the original text, such as grief. Additionally, this piece is written from the perspective of the original protagonist, which means that its characters and context are also directly inspired by Kennedy. Ultimately, by carrying across these text elements of theme, character, and context, the writer is able to clearly demonstrate an extensive knowledge of the text , while also showcasing their creativity. To see more of this creative piece as well as another A+ example, check out the How to Write A Killer Creative study guide !

6. Writing The Written Explanation ‍

For a detailed overview of the Written Explanation, check out our Written Explanation Explained blog post. ‍

7. Resources To Help You Prepare For Your Creative Response

Youtube videos ‍.

We create general creative writing videos where I explain the method behind this task: ‍

We also create videos that outline ways you can set yourself apart in this assessment:

‍ ‍ Check out our entire YouTube channel (and don't forget to subscribe for regular new videos!). ‍

Blog Posts ‍

Our awesome team of English high-achievers have written a number of blog posts about creative writing to help you elevate the standard of your work! ‍

5-Step Recipe for Creative Writing   ‍

How to achieve A+ in creative writing (Reading and Creating) ‍

"Creative Response to Text" Ideas ‍

Written Explanation - Explained ‍

Reading My 10/10 Marked CREATIVE GAT essay ‍

VCE English Unit 3, Areas of Study 2: Creating Texts - What Is It?

VCE Creative Writing: How To Structure Your Story

Study guide ‍.

And if that isn't enough, I'd highly recommend our How To Write A Killer Creative study guide .

In this study guide, we teach you the unique REPLICATE and IMAGINE strategy, a straightforward and methodical approach to creative writing. The study guide also covers our step-by-step method to guide you through every phase of creative writing (no more not knowing where to start!) AND includes excerpts from multiple A+ creative pieces. Find out more and download a free preview here . 

It’s getting closer to the Literature exam and you’re probably starting to get more serious about avoiding dropping too many SAC marks! Depending on which order your school does Literature SACs in, you may be currently facing the often feared ‘Creative Response’. Whether you feel beyond excited to finally bring some creative flair to Literature, or you’re totally scared at the thought of creating something new, I wanted to use this blog post to help you achieve at least ten of the marks in this section. That is through the reflective commentary, which you can totally score full marks on if you put in the effort.

The VCAA Literature Study Design determines that students must submit ‘a reflective commentary establishing connections with the original text’. This aspect of the assessment counts for 10 of the 60 marks available for the Creative Response outcome. The study design further denotes that students must

‘reflect critically upon their own responses as they relate to the text, and discuss the purpose context of their creations’.

This allows your schools and teachers to direct in a relatively broad way on how you should form your reflective commentary, and may mean your friends at other schools write theirs in a very different way. In this blog post I will leave you with a suggestion of how I best believe a reflective commentary could be structured to include all important aspects, as well as tips on how to include all of what the study design asks. As I said, these are ten marks that can easily be snatched with just a little bit of hard work and attention to detail, so why not snatch them?

To induce the things needed to be included in the reflective commentary, we can look to the key knowledge and key skills points outlined in the study design:

Key knowledge:

- the point of view, context and form of the original text,

- the ways the central ideas of the original text are represented,

- the features of the original text including ideas, images characters and situations, and the language in which these are expressed,

- techniques used to create, recreate or adapt a text and how they represent particular concerns or attitudes.

Key skills:

- identify elements of construction, context, point of view and form particular to the text, and apply understanding of these in a creative response

- choose stylistically appropriate features including characterisation, setting, narrative, tone and style

- critically reflect on how language choices and literary features from the original text are used in the adaptation

What you’re really trying to do in your reflective commentary is prove to your teacher that you are hitting all these key knowledge and key skills points. As you write, ensure you are discussing how the author uses point of view, context, form, elements of construction and stylistic features in their text. It is than imperative that you describe how you have similarly used such device in your creative response. Ensure that you also discuss how you are involving the ideas and themes of the text in your creative piece, and how you are discussing them further, or exploring them in greater depth. Obviously only talk about those that are relevant to your creative response!

Sample reflective commentary

Having scored a 10/10 in my own reflective commentary, I will provide a structure that can be used to ensure you are including everything you need. I discussed my own reactions to the original text, and described how I wanted to rouse similar reactions in the reader of my creative response.

In your reflective commentary, it can be easier to put everything under subheadings. These are the ones that I used:

-Characterisation

-Literary features (here I chose 7 particular literary features used in my text and discussed how I emulated them)

Under each of these paragraphs, I analysed how the author used such features to create and convey meaning, and discussed how I, in my own piece, drew on her use of them and expanded on her ideas. Here is an example of my ‘Purpose’ paragraph, which will hopefully give you an idea on how you might write your own commentary! My text was Cate Kennedy’s  Dark Roots , in particular the short story ‘What Thou and I Did, Till we Loved’.

In my piece, I ultimately attempted to lead the reader to a place of discomfort, faced with a situation that they wish never to be faced with. When I first read What Thou and I Did, Till we Loved (Dark Roots, Cate Kennedy), I simply wished never to be in Rebecca’s position, as I was sobered by the sadness of her demise as she watched her lover fade away. I sought to elicit the same response from the reader, as I aimed to convey the deterioration that both lovers suffer, as well as the loss of communication between them. I also attempted to allow the reader to question the humanity in keep people alive by machines and drugs, and whether it is fair to force people to live an unnatural life. I have sought to explore this even further than What Thou and I Did, Till we Loved bringing in the question of euthanasia and whether we have a right to die as Kyle begs of Max to “kill me” at the end of the piece, and Max concedes that “[he] would if [he] could”. The themes of my piece seeks to explore are the ways of coping with grief, guilt at causing the illness of a loved one, a life with a lack of substance, and the loss of communication due to illness.

Hopefully you’re feeling better about how you might go about completing your creative response, and getting that 10/10 on your reflective commentary!

We’ve explored creative writing criteria, literary elements and how to replicate the text over on our The Ultimate Guide to VCE Creative Writing blog post . If you need a quick refresher or you’re new to creative writing, I highly recommend checking it out!

For many students, writing creative pieces can be slightly daunting. For some, it is about unleashing the writer within as the boundaries and thematic constraints that exist in Text Response are lifted. For others, it can be an opportunity to discover new writing styles, branching out from the generic T-E-E-L structure.

Formats of imaginative pieces include:

• short narratives,
• a personal diary entry ,
• chronicling the character's thoughts,
• and monologues.

Writing in an imaginative style allows you to draw from your own morals, views and feelings. You can weave in personal anecdotes, experiences, and metaphorical language which gives one's writing that pizazz and individualist factor!

Moreover, you can showcase how you have perceived and interpreted the characters within the novel/film, the landscapes they inhabit. Alternatively, you can step into different personas. For example, for the topic of conflict, I can write as an injured army medic, a doctor, a foreign correspondent and a war photographer.

However, imaginative writing also has many pitfalls students tumble into (do not despair; you can get out of it!):

1) Don't get too caught up in emotions and flowery language.

Great imaginative pieces are not only graded on how good your story telling skills are. More importantly, your teachers would be grading on the palpable links to the themes of the text and prompt you have been given.

In Year 11, when I wrote an imaginative piece, I went overboard with the flowery metaphorical language. My teacher said ‘Overall, the piece is good however, at some parts it sounded like purple prose.’ When I read it over now, I shudder a little.

2) In Reading and Creative, there is greater emphasis on extrapolating themes and ideas from your studied text.  

So, those radical and out-of-the box ideas and views you have in relation to the text can now be used.

For example, the overarching themes in  Every Man In This Village Is A Liar  encompass the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, inequality (the unequal status of women in Middle East), the effect of war on the physical body and the human psych and, how the media portrays war and violence. The starting point to planning any context piece is to use quotes and ideas within your text. Infer meaning from those quotes and main ideas and ask yourself:

• 'Does it hold a great degree of relevance to issues prevalent today?'
• 'Can I link it to my sac/exam prompt?' 

So, here's an example of planning a creative piece. Two of my favourite quotes from  Life of Galileo  are:

'Science is the rightful, much loved daughter of the church.'

‘Our ignorance is limitless; let us lop off a millimeter off it. Why try to be clever now that we at last have a chance of being less stupid.’

In essence, this conveys the overarching theme of science vs. religion, and how Church and the inquisition exploit the peoples' views through their own ignorance. Their fear of change, pioneering and gaining of new knowledge stems from the prospect of chaos if society's entrenched values are uprooted. I interpreted this as 'ignorance is not bliss' and instead, it breeds fear in people. This is in relevance with the tragic events that has occurred in recent years - acts of terrorism, and/or racially motivated attacks. In the context of our modern society, religion and science still maintain an intriguing and tumultuous relationship. As the advancement of technology and ethics are not at equilibrium, this is where controversy arises. Conversely, we now have to consider whether this relates to the prompt:

A person never knows who they truly are, until tested by conflict.

Possible idea for this example:

"Is it ethical to administer a new drug capable of rewiring and regenerating brain function at a neuronal level to someone who has sustained extensive brain damage? Is it deemed humane to potentially change a person's character? At what personal cost will this have? - Playing god."

Tips to achieve A+ in creative writing

1. ensure it is related to the text..

A lot of students believe that the reading and creating essay is exactly the same as the old context essay. However, there is a significant difference! While a creative context essay does not have to link to the text in any way and only needs to explore a certain idea (e.g. encountering conflict), the reading and creating essay needs to offer a relevant interpretation of the text as well as show understanding of the text’s messages and how the text creates meaning .

The easiest way to write a creative response that links clearly to the text is to write about a scenario that is related to the plot line. You can do this by writing a continuation of the storyline (i.e. what happens after the end?), or by filling in gaps in the plot line which the author did not explicitly outline (what happens behind the scenes that caused the outcome?) In this way, your response will be completely original and still demonstrate an understanding of the world of the text.

2. Write in a way that shows understanding of how the text creates meaning.

When creating your response, be aware of the features present in your text (such as characters, narrative, motifs etc) that you can use in your own essay. For example, if the text is narrated from a first-person perspective, you may also mimic this in your essay. Or, you could tell it in first-person from another character’s point of view to demonstrate another interpretation of the text. You may also include motifs from the text into your own response. But be careful when making decisions about structure, conventions and language. If the text is written in very formal and concise language, it is probably not a good idea to use slang. Similarly, if the text is a play, structuring your response as a script might be a better choice than writing a poem!

3. Explore the explicit and implied ideas and values in the texts.

Lastly, remember that whilst it is a creative response, your purpose is NOT to tell a nice story but to explore the ideas, values and messages left by the author! There will always be various interpretations regarding these values, and you can express your understanding of the text through your portrayal of certain characters, or through the events in your response. For example, if you were studying Measure for Measure and wanted to explore how human nature cannot be restrained or limited by law and punishment, you could write a continuation of the play in which the city of Vienna has reverted to its original state of moral decay.

4. Show, don't tell

Creative essays are great because they offer interesting and unique stories; however, there is one common downfall that occurs in writing. Some students create pieces that are  too  straightforward. Rather than using vocabulary, imagery and symbolism to express a point, they simply write down a statement that sums up what they wish to say. Your aim is to invite the reader to  experience  the story through your words. This can be done through the character’s thoughts, feelings, actions etc. Thus the well-known phrase among writers, ‘ Show, don’t tell’ . Keeping this idea in mind turn you into a much more successful writer – and you’ll see the difference!

Tell: Katie was very happy.

Show: Katie’s face lifted. Little wrinkles appeared around her bright eyes, her dimples made an appearance that dug into her cheeks as a big grin emerged to show her perfect teeth.

Tell: She felt horrible for the weeping children.

Show: Guilt throbbed inside her as she stared at the weeping children. Her heart pounded against her chest, her hands trembling beside her still body, her brain screaming at her to do  something .

Tell: I was scared.

Show: I hear my breathing; heavy, and rapid. I shut my eyes tightly. I can feel goosebumps running up my arms and down my back.

To test whether or not you are ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’, think about whether or not your sentence leaves room for questions. In Example 1, ‘Katie was very happy’ would leave the reader thinking – what thought or action showed that she was happy? Whereas ‘show’ demonstrated that she was happy without directly stating it.

The key is to go into the finer details of your story!

Finally, have fun and enjoy the process of planning a creative narrative, let your imagination run a little wild and rein it in with your knowledge! Hopefully these tips were helpful and you are now more confident and informed on the Reading and Creating response! 

This blog post was written by Amanda Lau, Rosemary Chen, and Lisa Tran.

For a deep dive into the Creative and what it entails, check out our blog post: VCE English Unit 3, Area Of Study 2: Creating Texts - What Is It?

Leo Tolstoy wrote his magnum opus, War and Peace , over the span of six years. It took Harper Lee two and a half years to write To Kill A Mockingbird . Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See took ten years to complete.

The incredibly intricate and complex nature of stories means that it often takes time to fit all the elements in harmony. But for those of you studying VCE English Units 1 and 3 , you don’t have the luxury of two or six, let alone ten years to write your Creative. The time constraints you face can mean that it’s harder to put the metaphorical puzzle pieces together. 

Luckily, we can simplify the process for you by breaking down what makes a good story (using Cinderella to demonstrate).

The Skeleton of a Good Story (With Steps!)

In primary school, we were all taught the “beginning-middle-end“ approach to stories. Aside from being kind of vague, this overused approach doesn’t ensure a clear transformation between the “beginning” and the “end“. If nothing changes between the beginning and the end of your story, you have no story.

The skeleton approach is an effective alternative to other forms of story writing because it guarantees that your character has fundamentally changed by the end. Think of the following as criteria when you write your Creative - if you have (even slightly) addressed all of the following aspects, you can be sure you’ve written a story worth telling (and a Creative that’s going to score highly).

1) The Status Quo

Most stories feature a main protagonist, and your Creative piece should too! This is the main character who is in a zone of comfort/familiarity with some obvious shortcoming. This shortcoming can be a character flaw or something in the setting. This is Cinderella: she is used to her ordinary life in her small house, with her shortcoming being that she’s a servant to her evil stepsisters.

2) The Want

Additionally, your character has to want something (or at least, think that they want that thing). Since your time is limited, keep the desire simple. For instance, Cinderella’s main desire is to escape her life of servitude and be supported.

3) The New Situation

After you have established the character’s “want”, your character has to enter an unfamiliar situation that addresses their shortcoming. Continuing the example of Cinderella, this unfamiliar situation is the royal ball, which offers her the chance to marry the prince and live with him instead.  

4) The Plan

After the new situation is presented, the character must carry out a plan to get what they want, be it explicitly or subconsciously. This plan can either succeed or fail in getting them what they want. Cinderella plans to present herself as a viable option for the prince by ensuring she is well-groomed and presentable - a plan she fulfils.

However, the character must pay a very heavy price for it - mentally, physically or emotionally. This is the climax of the story, where the character is challenged and maybe even forced to change. For Cinderella, the clock striking midnight signals a limit on the amount of time she can maintain the princess persona and interact with the prince.

5) The “Eureka” Moment

This part of the story is potentially the most vital: when the character is forced to look within and reflect on who they are, what they actually need and want, and who they must be to achieve these things. Cinderella's initial reluctance to claim ownership of the shoe suggests her acceptance of a life of servitude, implying that she views the "aristocratic dream" as unachievable.

6) The Resolution

Finally, the character either returns to their familiar situation or a new situation is born. In Cinderella , a new situation arises when Cinderella marries the prince and escapes her previous life. This is when the situation has been “resolved ”, not “ended”.  

Experiment!

The other benefit of the skeleton approach is that you have the room to experiment with your Creative piece. For instance, you can do an allegorical text (like Animal Farm ) or maybe even a cyclical structure ( Gone Girl , film). Your Creative piece is inspired by your experiences and no one else’s so have fun with your creative control!

Whether you consider yourself a Frankenstein expert, or someone who is a bit taken back by the density of the novel and Shelley’s writing, do not fret! Below I will outline 3 tips which, will hopefully give you a clearer perspective on how to approach writing on Frankenstein! Let’s get started!

1. ALWAYS TRY TO TALK ABOUT SHELLEY’S CONCERNS

Since the book was set during the Age of Enlightenment and the Romantic era, Shelley essentially used Frankenstein as a vessel to criticise and warn readers against many of the values upheld during her era. It’s therefore crucial that you address this!

The late 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century were exciting times for science and exploration. Shelley’s two main protagonists, Walton and Frankenstein, both passionately sough to discover what had previously been hidden. Walton wanted to be the first to find a passage through the Arctic Circle; Frankenstein wanted to be the first to create manmade life, to uncover the mysteries of Nature.  Both men claimed to be desirous of benefitting humankind but both wanted glory more. This obsession to win accolades for their discoveries will destroy Victor, and turn Walton for a while into a hard taskmaster over his crew.

Juxtaposed against these two characters is Henry Clerval. Clerval, too, has an inquiring mind but he also cares about humanity, family and friends. He represents the balanced human being who is sociable, compassionate, intelligent and loyal to his friends. Victor’s ability to reanimate the dead, to bring to life his gigantic Creature using the newly discovered electricity, makes him a genius but also a monster. In his inexperience he botches the work producing a hideous and terrifying creature with, ironically, initially all the virtues of the ideal man of he world. Repulsed by his amateurish handiwork, Victor abandons his creation, setting in place the vengeance that will unfold later.

Try to ground any response to Shelley’s text in the enormous enthusiasm for new discoveries and new geographic phenomena that attracted lavish praise for those who went where others feared to tread. It was this praise that drove Walton and Frankenstein to exceed reasonable expectations becoming reckless and careless of the consequences of their actions.

2. ALWAYS TRY TO DRAWS LINKS AND CONTRAST DIFFERENT CHARACTERS AND THEMES!

Walton, Frankenstein and the Creature are interconnected in so many ways – whether it be their isolation, ambition, desire for companionship, desire for vengeance or the Romantic values they share. I’ve also noted that it is also really easy to connect themes in Frankenstein as the tragic story-arc of the novel is built upon many different causes. What I mean by this is that there is a clearly define relationship between isolation, ambition and vengeance (and ultimately tragedy) in the sense that isolation is what led to the brewing of unchecked ambition which essentially causes the resultant tragedy.

Take Frankenstein for example: having left his loving family and friends, who provided him with love and companionship for Ingolstadt, there was no one to hold him back from his natural tendencies towards unchecked ambitions, leading him to creating the monster who out of spite towards society kills all of Frankenstein’s loved ones, leading them towards the desire for mutual destruction. Being able to see these links and draw them together will not only add depth to your writing but it also arms you with the ability to be able to deal with a wider array of prompts.

3. ALWAYS TRY TO LOOK FOR MORE NUANCED EXAMPLES AND DISCUSSIONS!

While Walton, Frankenstein and the Creature can be discussed incredibly thoroughly (and by all means go ahead and do it), but it is also very important to consider the novel as a whole and talk about, if not more thoroughly, on the minor characters. While characters such as the De Laceys, villagers and the rustic in the forest can be used to highlight the injustices brought upon the creature and people’s natural instincts of self preservation and prejudice, innocent characters such as Elizabeth and Justine can be used to emphasise the injustice of society and the consequences of unchecked ambition and isolation.

Henry Clerval (like previously mentioned) can be contrasted against Walton and his best friend Frankenstein to show that as long as we have a balanced lifestyle and companionship, ambition will not lead us to ruin. Characters such as the Turkish merchant can also have parallels drawn with Frankenstein in telling how our selfish desire and actions, born out of inconsideration for their consequences, can backfire with great intensity. Lastly the character of Safie (someone I used a lot in my discussions) can be compared and contrasted with the Creature to show the different treatment they receive despite both being “outsiders” to the De Laceys due to their starkly different appearances.

Mentioning these characters and utilising these contrasts can be monumental in showing your understanding of the novel and by extension, your English analytical ability.

[Video Transcription]

‍ Hey guys, I'm Lisa, welcome back to Lisa's Study Guides. Today, we're going to be talking about Frankenstein and breaking down an essay topic for it. So in the past, I've done plenty of videos looking at different types of essay topics and breaking them down by looking at keywords and then going into the body paragraphs and looking at those ideas. This time round, the takeaway message that I want you to leave with is understanding what types of evidence you should be using inside your body paragraphs. Specifically, I wanted to talk about literary devices or metalanguage. Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein uses so many literary devices that it's impossible to ignore. If you are somebody who is studying this text or other texts that you use and are heavily embedded with literary techniques, then it's really important that you don't just use dialogue as part of your quotes, but actually reading between the lines. I'll teach you on how it's not just about finding dialogue, which you include as quotes inside your body paragraphs, but reading between the lines, so looking at literary devices like metaphors, symbols, imagery, so let's get started. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein constitutes escaping critique of the prioritization of scientific advancement over human welfare and relationship. Dr. Frankenstein is fascinated with science and discovery, he is consumed with the idea of a new and more noble race by stitching up dead body parts from a cemetery. He feverishly works away at his experiment until one day the creature is born. Frankenstein is horrified at the living thing he has made and completely rejects the creature, leaving it without a parental figure. The creature is left alone to look after himself. He educates himself and on repeated occasions tries to approach people in society, however, is rejected every time because of his monstrous appearance. As a result, the creature becomes enraged at humanity and Frankenstein's unfair treatment towards him and consequently exacts revenge on Frankenstein and his family. The essay topic we'll be looking at today is, Our sympathies in this novel ultimately lie with the creature. Discuss. So in previous videos, we've looked at keywords, how to identify them and how to define them. Since it's pretty straightforward for this essay topic, I thought I would skip that part and then go into the more nitty gritty with the body paragraphs. But, if you are unfamiliar with these steps, then I'll link them in the card above and also in the description below so you can have a look at how I went ahead and did the keyword section in my planning, now back to the prompt. Unequivocally within Frankenstein, Shelley portrays sympathy as spread throughout the text through depicting the creature as innately human through his desire for relationship and the challenges he faces at the hands of the prejudice enlightenment society he's born into, Shelley elicits sympathy for his situation. However, through the notable absence of the female gender throughout the text, Shelley portrays those silent within society as most deserving of sympathy. So, with this in mind, here are the potential paragraphs in response to this prompt. Paragraph one, Shelley's depiction of the creature as innately human motivates support for his challenges at the hands of a prejudice society. The action of the creature to open his dull yellow eye, symbolic of his nature as a human being alongside a green wrinkled on his cheeks, with one hand stretched out, indicates his simple desire for paternal connection. Through constructing the creature's actions as innately human Shelley acts proleptically of the inequitable experiences the creature will experience throughout the structural architecture of the text. And through doing so, depicts his character as worthy of support. Similarly, through the metaphor of fire, Shelley explores the duality of progress and innovation of which the creature desires. The fire, one that gives light as well as heat, yet also causes a cry of pain, indicates the hardships of the creature in his isolation, whereby, his forced to withdraw from his desire for education. Upon viewing himself in a pool, the creature becomes "fully convinced that I was in reality [a] monster" with the consequent sensations of despondency and mortification granting the reader the opportunity to sympathize with the creature in order to indicate the intensely negative social prejudices that are inflicted upon the creature. So you can see that we've looked at symbols of the creature's nature and the metaphor of fire to support our topic sentence. Using literary techniques is what's going to make the difference between you and another student who might be saying the same thing. Why? Because when you look at literary devices, it means that you're reading just beyond the lines, just beyond what's in front of you. You're now introducing your own interpretation, so you're looking at fire and thinking about what that means in connection to the text, and why Mary Shelley would use the term of a fire and revolve her discussion around that. So let's see how we keep doing this in the next body paragraph. Paragraph two, Shelley indicates the significance of relationships as a key element of human nature that the creature is denied, motivating affinity from readers. In replacement of human relationships, the creature rather seeks comfort within the natural world. The metaphorical huge cloak that the creature takes refuge within indicates this, illustrative of an ecosystem, the forest allows the creator to surround himself with life. The subsequent attempts to "imitate the pleasant songs of the birds" reveals the desperate urge of the creature for companionship as he is abandoned by the paternal relationship represented by Victor Frankenstein, which forms a core of human relationships. Again, here we've discussed the metaphorical huge cloak and its connection with the forest, I strongly encourage you to have the goal of discussing at least one literary device per body paragraph. And no, there is no such thing as talking about too many literary devices because it's really just about whether or not your argument is concise and whether or not you're backing that up with evidence. Paragraph three. However, it is Shelley's depiction of the submissive female sex within Frankenstein that becomes most deserving of sympathy. Each female character is characterized as passive, disposable, and they're serving a utilitarian function, namely as a channel of action for the male characters within the text. Notably, the complete lack of absence of Margaret Saville, functioning only as an audience for Walton's letters exemplifies this. Margaret's role within the text is simply to enable Walton to relay the story of Frankenstein and as such were the most necessary character of the texts whilst the most distant. This ironic dichotomy enables Shelley to exemplify the difficult role of the female within society, arising sympathy from the readership. Here, even the purposeful emission of a character is discussed as a language technique. So, this type of literary device definitely tops the cake because you're literally looking at what's not even there. That's definitely reading between the lines. Frankenstein is a very complex novel, and sometimes that's what makes it a difficult text to study. But, it lends itself to many unique interpretations and it's heavily dressed with heaps of literary devices or metalanguage, however you want to call it. So, that's what makes it an absolutely fantastic text for high school students to study. If you wanted to find out more on how to nail a Frankenstein essay, then I'll link you to my blog just down below, because there are definitely more tips there to help you excel in this particular text. Thank you so much for watching, and especially even if you're not studying this text, I hope you've been able to take something away from this video. And I'm confident that you have because talking about literary devices is definitely a topic that isn't necessarily the fore front of discussion in classrooms, and it's something that a lot of people struggle with. So, I hope you are able to walk away with a new goal in sight in order to improve your English essays. So, I will see you guys next time, thank you so much for joining me, see you guys soon. Bye!

The Erratics is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

‍ Setting is a literary element that refers to the context of where a story takes place, usually alluding to the time and location. Your expectations of a story that takes place in Victorian England would differ greatly from a story set in late 2000s Australia, showing us that the historical, social and geographical aspects of the setting shape the meaning of the text.

In the memoir The Erratics, the setting plays a vital role in Vicki Laveau-Harvie's storytelling. From the beginning of the novel, Laveau-Harvie uses both the title and prologue to foreground the importance of the Okotoks Erratic (a geographical phenomenon in Alberta, Canada) to establish the role that place and belonging have played in her life. Further reinforcing the importance of the setting, the memoir’s narrative follows Laveau-Harvie’s experience flying back to Alberta, Canada (her hometown), after having moved to and started a new life in Australia. 

Why Focus on Setting When Writing a Text Response?

The setting can be useful evidence to have in your repertoire as it helps you show that you not only have an understanding of the ideas of the text but also how those ideas are constructed . When looking at the criteria you will be marked against in the end-of-year exam you will see that to score a 7 and above in Section A you need to consider the ‘construction’ of the text ( read more here ). Construction refers to your ability to discuss the parts that make up a text through the use of metalanguage as evidence to support your views. The setting is just one of the ways you can address construction in The Erratics, but, as a text so focused on physical environments, it’s a good type of metalanguage to start with.

Famous for producing Justin Bieber and maple syrup, Canada has a similar history to Australia. Canada has an Indigenous population who inhabited the land for thousands of years before British and French expeditions came and colonised the land. In the 1700s, due to various conflicts, France ceded most of its North American colonies while the United Kingdom stayed. Over time the country gained greater autonomy and, like Australia, it is now a constitutional monarchy with a prime minister but recognises the British royal family as its sovereign. Further mirroring Australia, Canada also has a colonial past that it is still reckoning with as recent headlines about the human remains of hundreds of Indigenous people at a residential school reminds us. 

Vicki is specifically from Alberta, and the majority of the novel is about her experiences returning there after having moved to Australia (at the start of the memoir she had been estranged from her parents for 18 years). Known for its natural beauty and its nature reserves, Alberta is a part of Western Canada. Alberta is one of only two landlocked provinces in Canada which is interesting considering that Vicki leaves it for a country famous for its beaches and coastal cities. 

When annotating the text , highlight the descriptions of the setting. You’ll notice that when  Laveau-Harvie describes Alberta or Canada as a whole she presents the country as being dangerous and hostile. An example of this is the blunt statement that the ‘cold will kill you. Nothing personal’. However, Laveau-Harvie does find some solace in the landscape, observing the beauty of the ‘opalescent’ peaks and the comfort in predictable seasons. 

Vicki’s Parent’s Home

The first description Laveau-Harvie gives us of her family home is to call it ‘Paradise, [with] twenty acres with a ranch house on a rise, nothing between you and the sky and the distant mountains.’ The idyllic image foregrounds the natural landscape but is then immediately juxtaposed with the description of the home as a ‘time-capsule house sealed against the outside world for a decade’. This description heightens Vicki’s mother and father’s isolation from the outside world and alludes to the hostility of the home that is reaffirmed with the doors that ‘open to no one’. The family home becomes an extended metaphor for Vicki’s parents themselves, with the description of it as a ‘no-go zone’, hinting at the sisters’ estrangement from their parents who have shut them out. 

Moreover, the land the house sits on does not produce any crops despite it being such a large expanse of land, heightening the home’s disconnect from the natural world. This detachment from the natural world is furthered by her labelling her parents as ‘transplants from the city’ and contrasting them to locals who ‘still make preserves in the summer’. Vicki’s mother in particular is at odds with nature due to materialism, such as her wardrobes being full of fur coats.

The Erratics + Napi

In the prologue we are introduced to the Okotoks Erratic as being situated in ‘a landscape of uncommon beauty’ with the Erratic itself being something that ‘dominates the landscape, roped off and isolated, the danger it presents to anyone trespassing palpable’. The memoir then immediately shifts to Vicki’s experience in the hospital trying to convince the staff that she is her mother’s daughter, drawing a parallel between the dominating and dangerous landscape to the dominating and dangerous mother. In the memoir, the Erratic is an extended metaphor for the mother with both the land and the mother being described as ‘unsafe’, ‘dominat[ing]’ and a ‘danger’. Moreover, the structural choice of opening the novel with the Erratic makes its presence felt throughout the novel even though it is not mentioned again until the end of the text. 

In contrast to the prologue, the epilogue has a feeling of peace and reconciliation as the mother and what she has represented to her family is reconciled with the landscape. This is particularly pertinent as the geographical and spiritual origins of the rock revealed in the epilogue is a story of stability after a rupture. This alludes to the ability of Vicki’s family to heal after the trauma inflicted on them by the mother. The epilogue could also be understood as a reminder of humanity's insignificance in the face of nature and larger forces, as represented by Napi.

While Laveau-Harvie does not directly address Canada's colonial past in her memoir outside of the inclusion of Napi, the colonial presence is felt throughout the memoir through the setting of both Australia and Canada. These settings allude to how living on stolen land means that while individuals - particularly middle-class, white individuals - may not always recognise and address the colonial history of the land they live on, the fact that land was never ceded is still felt. 

As discussed before, Canada and Australia are similar as they are both former British colonies that are now constitutional monarchies, so why would Vicki want to move to a place that is similar to where she already lived and experienced trauma? 

There are a few potential answers, the first being the geographical distance. There are over 1300kms between Sydney and Alberta and, considering the trauma Vicki and her sister have experienced, it stands to reason that she would want to put distance between her childhood home and her adult life. This leads to the second reason, travelling to ‘Far flung places’ as a method to deal with trauma. While in Canada, Vicki reminisces about the ‘boozed-up Brits on Bondi’ that embodies her life in Australia. The evocative, alliterative image creates a stark contrast between warm and carefree Australia and cold and emotionally taxing Canada, reinforcing how travelling provides individuals with a means to survive their traumatic childhoods and create new lives for themselves. 

When writing about setting you do not need to be an expert in geography. As this blog post has shown, to understand Laveau-Harvie’s use of setting in The Erratics you only need to know about two countries, so next time you write a text response, consider using your understanding of setting to show your teacher or examiners that you’ve thought about the text’s construction.

If you'd like to dive deeper into this text, Zac breaks down key themes and quotes in The Erratics over on this blog .

We've curated essay prompts based off our The Golden Age Study Guide which explores themes, characters, and quotes.

Before getting started on your own essay writing using our essay topics, feel free to watch the video below where Lisa brainstorms and breaks down the topic:

"The Golden Age is primarily a tragic tale of isolation. Discuss"

If you're looking for more support, including a sample The Golden Age essay, Vindhya (English study score of 46) offers her take on how to write an essay in Dissecting an A+ Essay .

LSG-curated The Golden Age essay topics

1.     “Being close made them stronger.” In The Golden Age , adversities are tempered by camaraderie. Do you agree?

2.     Despite the grim context, The Golden Age highlights and celebrates the potential of life. Discuss.

3.     Memories of past successes and failures have significant lingering effects on characters in The Golden Age . Is this an accurate assessment?

4.     “[I would be] a fox, following a Palomino.” How do animals such as these contribute symbolically to The Golden Age ?

5.     It is largely loneliness which defines the struggles of the children in The Golden Age . Discuss.

6.     In what ways is The Golden Age a novel of displacement?

7.     Fear of the unknown is something which permeates The Golden Age . Is this true?

8.     What is the role of family in Joan London’s The Golden Age ?

9.     Isolation in The Golden Age exists in many oppressive forms. Discuss.

10.  Throughout The Golden Age , London draws attention to beauty rather than to suffering. Discuss.

11.  In spite of their youth, it is the children of The Golden Age who understand best what it means to be an individual in the world. Do you agree?

12.  How do characters from The Golden Age learn, grow and mature as the novel takes its course?

13.  Due to the range of different onset stories, each of the children and their families in The Golden Age face a different struggle with their identity. Discuss.

14.  “Home. She hadn’t called Hungary that for years.” In spite of all their struggle, the Golds never truly feel any sense of belonging in Australia. To what extent do you agree?

15.  Explore the factors which drive Joan London’s characters to persevere.

The Golden Age is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

‍ This blog was updated on 05/10/2020.

2. Characters

4. Literary Devices

5. Important Quotes

6. Sample Essay Topics

7. A+ Essay Topic Breakdown

Pride and Prejudice is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice , follows the titular character of Elizabeth Bennet as she and her family navigate love, loyalty and wealth.

When Mrs. Bennet hears that a wealthy, young and eligible bachelor, Mr. Bingley, has moved into the manor of Netherfield Park nearby, she hopes to see one of her daughters marry him. Of the five daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia, Jane takes an early liking to Mr. Bingley despite his friend, Mr. Darcy, initial coldness and apathy towards her younger sister Elizabeth. Though Mr. Darcy’s distaste soon grows to attraction and love.

While Jane and Mr. Bingley begin to fall for each other, Elizabeth receives and declines a marriage proposal from her supercilious cousin Mr. Collins, who eventually comes to marry Elizabeth’s dear friend Charlotte. While Mr. Darcy is in residence at Netherfield Park, Elizabeth finds and enjoys the company of a young officer named Mr. Wickham who too has a strong disliking for Mr. Darcy. Mr. Wickham claims it was Mr. Darcy who cheated him out of his fortune, which then deepens Elizabeth's initial ill impression of the arrogant man.

After a ball is held at Netherfield Park, the wealthy family quits the estate, leaving Jane heartbroken. Jane is then invited to London by her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, which Mr. Darcy fails to tell Mr. Bingley as he has persuaded him not to court Jane because of her lesser status.

When Elizabeth visits her newly married friend Charlotte, she meets Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s (Mr. Darcy’s Aunt) other nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam. While there, Mr. Darcy appears and proposes to Elizabeth unexpectedly claiming he loves and admires her. To Mr. Darcy’s surprise, Elizabeth refuses as she blames him for ruining Mr. Wickam’s hopes of success and for keeping Jane and Mr. Bingley apart. Mr. Darcy later apologies in a letter and admits to persuading Mr. Bingley not to pursue Jane, but argues that her love for him was not obvious. In the letter, he also denies Wickam’s accusations and explains that Wickham had intended to elope with his sister for her fortune.

Elizabeth joins her Aunt and Uncle in visiting Mr. Darcy’s great estate of Pemberley under the impression he would be absent. It is there that Elizabeth learns from the housekeeper that Mr. Darcy is a generous landlord. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy then have a chance encounter after he returns home ahead of schedule. Following her previous rejection of him, Mr. Darcy has attempted to reform his character and presents himself amiably to Elizabeth’s Aunt and Uncle as she begins to warm up to him.

Mr Darcy happens upon Elizabeth as she receives the terrible news that Lydia has run off with Wickam in an event that could ruin her family. Mr. Darcy then going out in search for Wickham and Lydia to hurry their nuptials. When Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy return to Netherfield Park, Elizabeth is pleased to see him though Darcy shows no sign of his regard for her. Jane and Mr. Bingley soon become engaged.

Soon thereafter, Lady Catherine visits the Bennets and insists that Elizabth never agree to marry her nephew. Darcy hears of Elizabeth's refusal, and when he next comes, he proposes a second time which she accepts, his pride then humbled and her prejudices overturned.

• Elizabeth Bennet
• Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy
• Jane Bennet
• Mr. Charles Bingley
• Mrs. Bennet
• George Wickham
• Lydia Bennet
• Mr. Collins
• Miss Bingley
• Lady Catherine De Bourgh
• Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner
• Charlotte Lucas
• Georgiana Darcy
• Mary Bennet
• Catherine Bennet

Within the text the theme of pride is ever present as it plays a major role in how Austen’s characters present themselves, their attitudes and how they treat each other. For much of the novel pride blinds both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth of their true feelings and hence becomes something both characters must overcome. While Darcy’s pride makes him look down upon those not immediately within his social circle, Elizabeth takes so much pride in her ability to judge the character of others that she refuses to amend her opinions even when her initial judgements are proven wrong. Indeed, this is why Elizabeth despises the benign Darcy early on in the text, but initially takes a liking to the mendacious Wickham. By the denouement of the novel, both Datcy and Elizabeth have overcome their pride by encouraging and supporting each others own personal evolution. Indeed, as Darcy sheds his elitism Elizabeth comes to realise the importance of revaluation.

The tendency of others to judge one another based on perceptions, rather than who they are and what they value becomes a point of prolific discussion within Pride and Prejudice . Indeed, the title of the text clearly implies the related nature of pride and prejudice as both Darcy and Elizabeth are often shown to make the wrong assumptions; Darcy’s assumptions grounded in his social prejudice whereas Elizabeth’s is rooted in her discernment led astray by her excessive pride. As Austen subtly mocks the two lovers biases, she gives the impression that while such flaws are common faulting someone else for the prejudice is easy while recognising it in yourself is hard. While Austen’s representation of prejudice is aligned with personal development and moral growth as she wittingly condemns those who refuse to set aside their prejudices like Lady Catherine and Caroline.

The family unit that Austen displays with Pride and Prejudice becomes the social and domestic sphere as it forms the emotional center of the novel in which she grounds her analysis and discussion. Not only does the family determine the social hierarchy and standing of its members but provides the intellectual and moral support for its children. In the case of the Bennet family, Austen reveals how the individuals identity and sense of self is molded within the family as she presents Jane and Elizabeth as mature, intelligent and witty and lydia as a luckless fool. Not only this, Austen reveals the emotional spectrum that lives within every family as shown through Elizabeth’s varying relationship with her parents; the tense relationship with her mother and sympathy she shares with her father.

At the center of its plot, Pride and Prejudice examines the complex inequality that governs the relationships between men and women and the limited options that women have in regards to marriage. Austen portrays a world in which the socio-economic relationship between security and love limits the woman and her choices as it based exclusively on a family’s social rank and connections. Indeed, the expectations of the Bennet sisters, as members of the upper class is to marry well instead of work. As women can not inherit their families estate nor money, their only option is to marry well in the hope of attaining wealth and social standing. Through this, Austen explains Mrs. Bennet’s hysteria about marrying off her daughters. Yet Austen is also shown to be critical of those who marry purely for security, thereby offering Elizabth as the ideal, who initially refuses marriage as she refutes financial comfort but ends up marrying for love.

Class and Wealth

As Austen focuses much of her novel on the impacts of class and wealth, she makes clear of the system that favours the rich and powerful and often punishes the weak and poor. Characters like Lady Catherine, whose enforcement of rigid hierarchical positions often leads her to mistreatment of others. Other characters like Mr. Collins and Caroline are depicted as void of genuine connection as they are unable to live and love outside the perimeter of their social standing. In contrast, characters such as Bingley and the Gardiners offer a respectable embodiment of wealth and class through their kindness and manners. Indeed, Austen does not criticise the entire class system as she offers examples that serve to demonstrate the decency and respectability. Darcy embodies all that a high-class gentleman should as though he is initially presented as flawed and arrogant, it becomes clear as the novel progresses that he is capable of change. Always generous and compassionate, his involvement with Elizabeth helps to brings his nurturing nature to the foreground, evident in his attempts to help the foolish lydia. Ultimately, Austen suggest through Darcy’s and Elizabeth's union that though class and wealth are restrictive, they do not determine one’s character nor who one is capable of loving.

• Symbolism, imagery and allegories
• Writing style
• Three Act plot

Important Quotes

• “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (ch.1)

When writing on any text in Text Response, it is essential to use quotes and analyse them.

Let’s take this quote, for example.

“it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”

This is the opening line of the novel. It is satirical, ironic and mocking in tone. Austen makes fun of the notion that wealthy bachelors must be wanting to marry in order to be valued in society. By using this tone, she subverts this “truth universally acknowledged” and encourages readers to question this societal presumption of wealth and marriage.

Have a look at the following quotes and ask yourself, ‘how would I analyse this quote?’:

• “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.” (ch.3)
• "An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do." (ch.20)
• “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” (ch.34)
• “They were all of them warm in her admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!” (ch.43)
• “You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.” (ch.58)

Essay Topics

1. What do the various relationships shown in Pride and Prejudice tell us about love, marriage and society?

2. Austen shows that even those of the best moral character can be blinded by their pride and prejudice . To what extent do you agree?

3. Elizabeth Bennet holds a radical view of marriage for her time . What impact does this attitude have on the other characters' lives and relationships ? Discuss.

For more sample essay topics, head over to our Pride and Prejudice Study Guid e to practice writing essays using the analysis you've learnt in this blog!

Essay Topic Breakdown

Whenever you get a new essay topic, you can use LSG’s THINK and EXECUTE strategy , a technique to help you write better VCE essays. This essay topic breakdown will focus on the THINK part of the strategy. If you’re unfamiliar with this strategy, then check it out in How To Write A Killer Text Response because it’ll dramatically enhance how much you can take away from the following essays and more importantly, to then be able to apply these in your own writing.

Within the THINK strategy, we have 3 steps, or ABC. These ABC components are:

Step 1: A nalyse

Step 2: B rainstorm

Step 3: C reate a Plan  

Character-based Prompt: Elizabeth Bennet holds a radical view of marriage for her time. What impact could this attitude have on the other characters' lives and relationships? Discuss. 

The following comes essay topic breakdown comes from our Pride and Prejudice Study Guide:

Step 1: Analyse 

Elizabeth Bennet holds a radical view of marriage for her time . What impact could this attitude have on the other characters' lives and relationships ? Discuss.

A character based essay prompt is pretty self-explanatory as the prompt will have a specific focus on one character or a group of characters. While they may look relatively simple and straightforward, a lot of students struggle with character based questions as they find it is hard to discuss ideas in a lot of depth. With that in mind, it's important that we strive for what the author is saying; what is the author trying to convey through this specific character? What do they represent? Do they advocate for specific ideas or does the author use this character to condemn a certain idea and action?  

Step 2: Brainstorm

This question is looking at the attitude Elizabeth Bennet has in regard to the expectation and institution of marriage and how her view could impact the lives of the people around her. As always, we want to make sure that we not only identify our key words but define them. I started by first defining/ exploring the attitude Elizabeth holds towards the institution of marriage ; as marriage was not only an expectation in the times of regency England but a means to secure future financial security , Elizabeth’s outlook that an individual should marry only for the purpose of happiness and love was not only radical but dangerous . Her outlook, while noble, could and did put her family at jeopardy of being cast out from their estate as without a union between one of the Bennet daughters and Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins would have every right to do so as the only male inherent. I also looked at the wider implications Elizabeth’s outlook could have on the lives of the other characters such as Charlotte , Darcy and Bingley .

Step 3: Plan

Contention : Your contention relates to your interpretation of the essay prompt and the stance you’re going to take – i.e. are you in agreement, disagreement, or both to an extent.

While radical for her time, Elizabeth's progressive view of marriage can be seen to advocate for the rights of women and love and happiness but also, can jeopardise the livelihoods of those around her as Elizabeth is guided by selfish motives. 

P1: The radical view of marriage Elizabeth holds can be viewed as selfish and guided by her own self interest which is shown to negatively impact the lives of her family. 

P2: As Elizabeth diverts from the traditional approach to marriage, she encourages her friends and loved ones to follow their own hearts and morals rather than society's expectations. 

P3: Because Elizabeth is depicted as a bold and beautiful woman, she is unable to recognise that her radical view is a luxury that not all characters have access to. 

If you'd like to see an A+ essay on the essay topic above, complete with annotations on HOW and WHY the essays achieved A+ so you can emulate this same success, then you'll definitely want to check out our Pride and Prejudice Study Guide: A Killer Text Guide! In it, we also cover themes, characters, views and values, metalanguage and have 4 other sample A+ essays completely annotated so you can kill your next SAC or exam! Check it out here ."

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Picture this: you’re sitting down at your desk, fumbling your fingers, inspecting the new stationary that you convinced yourself you needed for year 12, resisting the urge to check your phone. Your text response SAC is in two weeks. You’re freaking out because you want, no, need an A+. You decide to write a practice essay for your English teacher. Practice makes perfect, right? You stay up for hours, pouring your heart and soul into this essay. The result? B+. Where did I go wrong?

That’s where I come in! Writing an A+ essay can be really tough without examples and specific advice. Before reading on, make sure you've read our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response and Golden Age blog so you are up to scratch.

In this article I will be explaining some basic dos and don’ts of writing an essay on The Golden Age , providing a model essay as an example. At the end of this blog is also a video based on another essay prompt to help you prepare for your Golden Age studies!

The following prompt will be referenced throughout the post;

‘The Golden Age’ shows that everyone needs love and recognition. Discuss.

Planning: the silent killer of A+ essays

I’m sure your teachers have emphasised the importance of planning. In case they haven’t, allow me to reiterate that great planning is compulsory for a great essay . However, flimsy arguments aren’t going to get you an A+. The examiners are looking for complex arguments , providing a variety of perspectives of the themes at hand. From the above prompt, the key word is, ‘discuss’. This means that you should be discussing the prompt, not blindly agreeing with it . Make sure you don’t write anything that wouldn’t sit right with London. ‍

Don’t plan out basic arguments that are one-dimensional. This may give you a pass in English, but won’t distinguish you as a top-scoring student.

For example:

• Paragraph 1: The children at TGA need love and recognition.
• Paragraph 2: Ida and Meyer need love and recognition
• Paragraph 3: Sister Penny needs love and recognition.

The above paragraphs merely agree with the statement, but don’t delve into the many aspects of the novel that could contribute to a sophisticated essay.

Do create complex arguments, or paragraphs with a twist! If you can justify your argument and it makes sense, include it in your essay. There are many ways that you could answer this question, but my plan looks like this:

• Paragraph 1: Frank Gold yearns for mature, adult love, not recognition from onlookers or outsiders
• Paragraph 2: Ida Gold does not seek recognition from Australia, but love and validation from herself
• Paragraph 3: Albert requires love from a specific kind of relationship – family, and Sullivan may view love from his father as pity which he rebukes

See the difference?

The introduction:

How to start your essay off with a bang.

Personally, I always struggled with starting an introduction. The examiners will be reading and marking thousands of essays, so if possible, starting your introduction with something other than Joan London’s ‘The Golden Age’… is a great way to make you stand out from the crowd. Having a strong start is essential to pave the way for a clear and concise essay. You could start with a quote/scene from the text! This is not essential, but it’s a great way to mix things up. This is my start:

Perhaps nothing exemplifies the power of love and recognition more than the bond between Albert Sutton and his older sister, Lizzie, in Joan London’s ‘The Golden Age’. Many of London’s characters exhibit suffering that requires compassion and support to heal and grow, to distinguish present from past. However, London explores the perspectives of such characters from different aspects of trauma, and emphasise that love and recognition do not always work to heal and mature. Frank Gold, the novel’s resident “sneaky” boy who adjusts to newfound life in the Golden Age Convalescent Home seeks love as an adult, rather than eliciting sympathy as a supposed victim. Here love and recognition are unsuccessful in amending Frank’s troubles when given from the perspective of an outsider, a judgemental onlooker. In a similar sense, Ida Gold seeks recognition not from Australia, who she views as a ‘backwater’, but validation in herself after having been ousted from her Hungarian identity. London, however, makes sure to emphasise the impact that Sullivan has on Frank Gold’s life. Sullivan, a boy only a few years older than Frank, seems content with his future, with his fate, despite his sacrifice of rugby and conventional life.  There is a lacking sense of urgency for love and recognition in Sullivan’s life, rather, it appears that Sullivan accepts his fate, regardless of his father’s sympathy or support. Thus, London explores a myriad of ways in which love and recognition may or may not heal wounds inflicted upon individuals.

Remember, there are many other ways you could start your essay.

The body paragraphs: To TEEL or not to TEEL?

I’m sure you’ve heard of TEEL countless times since year 7. Topic sentence, evidence, explanation, link. The truth is that these elements are all very important in a body paragraph. However, following a rigid structure will render your essay bland and repetitive. It is also extremely important to note that you should be using evidence from multiple points in the text , and you should be making sure that your paragraphs are directly answering the question . Write what feels natural to you, and most importantly, don’t abuse a thesaurus . If you can’t read your essay without rummaging for a dictionary every second sentence, you should rewrite it.  If vocabulary isn’t your strong point (it definitely isn’t mine!), focus on clean sentence structure and solid arguments. There’s nothing worse than you using a fancy word incorrectly.

Don’t overuse your thesaurus in an attempt to sound sophisticated, and don’t use the same structure for every sentence. For example:

Prematurely in the paperback London makes an allusion to Norm White, the denizen horticulturalist of The Golden Age Convalescent Home…

That was an exaggerated example generated by searching for synonyms. As you can see, it sounds silly, and some of the words don’t even make sense. I mean, “denizen horticulturalist”…really?

Do mix up your paragraph structure! If vocabulary is your weak point, focus on clean language.

Here’s mine:

Early in the novel, London makes reference to Norm White, the resident groundskeeper of The Golden Age Convalescent Home. Norm White hands Frank Gold a cigarette, “as if to say a man has the right to smoke in peace”. Here, there is a complete disregard for rule and convention, an idea that London emphasises throughout the text. This feature provides a counter-cultural experience for Frank, pushing him to realise that he is a strong human being rather than a mere victim. This is a clear contrast to the “babyishness” of the home, and is used as evidence of true humanity in an era where society judged upon the unconventional. Frank yearns for a traditional Australian life after his trauma in Hungary; “his own memory…lodged like an attic in the front part of his brain”. Hedwiga and Julia Marai’s caring of him pushed him towards fear and reluctance to trust, yet also pressured him to seek acceptance in a world that ostracises him for his Jewish heritage and polio diagnosis. This here is why Frank desires a mature, adult connection – love that regards him as an equal human being. Frank seeks Elsa’s love and company as she too loathes being reduced to a victim, an object of pity. Frank thereafter uses humour to joke of his wounds; “we Jews have to be on the lookout”. Elsa sees “a look in his eyes that she recognised”, thus their bond enables both characters to heal. London alludes that Frank requires love and recognition not from the perspective of a sorrowful onlooker, rather he longs to be recognised as a mature adult.

To learn more about using the right vocabulary, read 'Why using big words in VCE essays can make you look dumber'.

The conclusion: closing the deal

I firmly believe in short and sharp conclusions. Your body paragraphs should be thoroughly explaining your paragraphs, so don’t include any new information here. A few sentences is enough. Once again, write what feels natural, and what flows well.

Don’t drag out your conclusion. Short and concise is the key to finishing well.

Do write a sharp finish! Sentence starters such as, “Ultimately…” or “Thus, London…” are great.

Although trauma is often treated with love and compassion, London details different perspectives on this idea. Whilst Frank Gold requires a specific kind of recognition, Ida and Meyer seek validation in themselves and their relationship, whilst Sullivan is at ease with his fate and does not yearn sympathy from his father.

‍ To learn more about A+ essays, you should also have a read of 10 easy English points you're missing out on .

I'll finish off by giving you an exercise: brainstorm and write up a plan for the essay topic shown in the video below. I'd recommend you do this before watching Lisa's brainstorm and plan. That way, you can see which of your ideas overlapped, but also potentially see which ideas you may have missed out on. Good luck!

• Introduction to William Wordsworth and Romanticism
• Key Features of Romantic Poetry
• Poetic Analysis Examples

1. Introduction to William Wordsworth and Romanticism

William Wordsworth was a British poet and primary co-founder of the Romantic literary movement. He strongly believed that the poetry of the nineteenth century was much too fast-paced and too mindless to be able to evoke a meaningful message to the reader. Contending that ‘all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling,’ he wished to pioneer Romanticism to create a genre of poetry that reminded the reader of the very essence of humanity.

As such, Wordsworth and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge founded a new style of poetry through their co-written 1798 Lyrical Ballads , a collection of poetry which attempted to unite the human condition with the tranquility of nature. 

As a resident of England’s picturesque Lake District, Wordsworth enjoyed becoming one with nature by wandering through the neighbouring hills, moors and lakeside views, while mentally composing poems inspired by its glorious elements. 

William Wordsworth: Poems Selected by Seamus Heaney is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

2. Key Features of Romantic Poetry

The Romantic movement of poetry was founded during the Industrial Revolution, a period in which people were growing farther from the serene comfort of nature and closer towards modern mechanisation and mass manufacturing. As such, a primary characteristic of Romantic poetry is nature, as poets attempted to remind humanity of its meditative respite, and the comfort it could provide in the backdrop of the pollution that accompanied the growing industrialisation of England. 

Wordsworth was a pantheist and believed that God was within every aspect of the natural world. In addition to this, he categorised himself as an ardent ‘worshipper of nature’. Thus, much of his poetry explores nature in a sacred and religious sense, presenting goodness and naturalness as synonymous - aptly displaying his belief of nature as a living, divine entity that could only to be ignored at humankind’s peril. 

Emotionalism 

Romantic poetry subdues reason, intellect and the scientific truth in order to place more focus on the ‘truth of the imagination’. As a result of the harsh rigidity and rationality of the Enlightenment era, all human sentiments, from melancholiness to hopefulness, were celebrated by Romantics as important instruments in poetry to remind the common people of sentimentality in a modern and intransigent era. 

As Romantics believed that these feelings allowed one to look deeper into one’s self, the theme of powerful emotions constructs the very essence of Romantic poetic poetry. As a result of this, rather than placing much importance on sense or sensibility, much of Wordsworth’s poems scrutinise his own effusion of feelings and the universal truths that these help him discover, speaking as the characteristic Romantic poet occupying a sentimental place of alienation.

Rebellion and Individualism

The Industrial Revolution oversaw the creation of distinct class differences between the extremely wealthy class of businessmen, and financially struggling workers and entrepreneurs. Poets, like all other artists, were forced to become increasingly independent and needed to rely on their unique vision and style in order to succeed in their gradually declining line of work. The Romantics subsequently began to view themselves as heroes who challenged and overcame the social challenges that arose; as champions of independence and self-awareness. As such, Romantic poetry often features characters or symbols of valiant heroism, as the poet acts as a visionary figure in his work, like a prophet telling of poetic self-awareness. 

The Sublime

In accordance with their celebration of human emotions, Romantics also became fascinated with the literary conception of ‘the sublime’, a mental state that Classical authors such as Longinus defined as ‘physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual, or artistic greatness’ that is of such magnificence that it cannot be measured. 

The Romantics explored these extraordinary experiences in their poetry, describing the power of such sublime experiences on one’s senses, mind and imagination. Wordsworth expressed in his essay that a sublime experience is what occurs when one’s mind attempts to attain ‘something towards which it can make approaches but which it is incapable of attaining’. For example, his biographical poem, The Prelude recounts his ascent of Mount Snowdon and the sublime emotions he experiences as a result of its powerful atmosphere. 

Many have viewed Wordsworth’s view of the sublime as the Romantic standard, as his poetry focuses equally on both the alluring and devastating aspects of such sublime experiences. His work focuses on the intertwined pleasure and terror that is generated as a result of such experiences, and how either end of the spectrum is ultimately beautiful and inspiring.

Context is really important when engaging with a text in VCE English, so be sure to read Context and Authorial Intention in VCE English .

3. Poetic Analysis Examples 

Example passage 1.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife: Come, hear the woodland linnet, How sweet his music! on my life, There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings! He, too, is no mean preacher: Come forth into the light of things, Let Nature be your teacher.

This passage, taken from Wordsworth’s Tables Turned; An Evening Scene on the Same Subject , is a primary example of a poem displaying the Romantics’ propensity and reverence for the natural landscape.  

Thematic Analysis

The speaker of the poem contrasts the ‘endless strife’ of book-learning to the spontaneous and liberal method of learning through interacting with nature. The description of the ‘woodland [linnet’s]’ song as ‘sweet’ music evokes an image of heavenly bliss associated with the charms hidden within nature. That ‘there’s more of wisdom in’ such nature works in tandem with this, as the speaker asserts that the natural landscape is able to teach a lesson of a magnificence incomparable to the monotony of the ‘dull’ studying thorough book-learning. 

The speaker’s evocation of ‘blithe’ emotions through sound is continued in the second stanza, in which ‘the throstle’ delivers another divine ‘song’ in an attempt to entice the reader. The speaker furthers his advocation for natural learning through a condemnation of route learning, as he attacks teachers of such as ‘mean preachers’. The directly following use of a pun emphasises this contrast, as the ‘light of things’ symbolises both the enlightenment that will accompany nature’s teaching, as well as the literal ‘light’ of nature underneath the sun. 

The final line of the passage summarises the speaker’s persuasion aptly, as the phrase, ‘let nature be your teacher’, rings similar to a passage which can be found in the Bible; the speaker thus implies that the natural world is the all-superior entity and source of knowledge that one should take lessons from. 

Stylistic Analysis

The rhyme and the rhythmic beat of the poem give it a sound comparable to a nursery-rhyme. This works in tandem with the Romantic viewpoint that great poetic language should be simple, accessible and conversational; as understandable to the common people as a nursery rhyme is to a child. This similarity also works in accordance with the authorial message of the poem, that nature should be a universal ‘teacher’, as nursery rhymes are often employed as enjoyable sing-songs that educate children on a moral level. As such, Wordsworth here strengthens his viewpoint through his poetic words; that nature should be a mentor to all. 

Example Passage 2

‍ For thou art with me here upon the banks  Of this fair river; thou my dearest Friend,  My dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch  The language of my former heart, and read  My former pleasures in the shooting lights  Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little while  May I behold in thee what I was once,  My dear, dear Sister! and this prayer I make,  Knowing that Nature never did betray  The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege,  Through all the years of this our life, to lead  From joy to joy… Therefore let the moon  Shine on thee in thy solitary walk;  And let the misty mountain-winds be free  To blow against thee: and, in after years,  When these wild ecstasies shall be matured  Into a sober pleasure; when thy mind  Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,  Thy memory be as a dwelling-place  For all sweet sounds and harmonies; oh! then,  If solitude, or fear, or pain, or grief,  Should be thy portion, with what healing thoughts  Of tender joy wilt thou remember me,  And these my exhortations! Nor, perchance—  If I should be where I no more can hear  Thy voice, nor catch from thy wild eyes these gleams  Of past existence—wilt thou then forget  That on the banks of this delightful stream  We stood together; and that I, so long  A worshipper of Nature, hither came  Unwearied in that service: rather say  With warmer love—oh! with far deeper zeal  Of holier love. Nor wilt thou then forget,  That after many wanderings, many years  Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,  And this green pastoral landscape, were to me  More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake!

This passage is taken from the final section from Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey , a critical work in Wordsworth’s poetic career. Tracing the growth of his mind in different periods of time, the poem is a condensed, spiritual autobiography of Wordsworth himself as it views his younger self from the perspective of his older self, weighing the sense of ‘loss’ suffered against the belief that the years have brought him ‘abundant recompense’. 

After recalling his experiences with nature over his formative and adult years, the speaker now addresses his younger sister Dorothy, as he gives her heartfelt advice about what he has learnt. Here, Dorothy becomes a ghost of his former self, as he hears ‘the language of his former heart’ when she speaks and perceives his ‘former pleasure’ in the ‘soothing lights of [her] wild eyes’. 

The speaker depicts his loyalty to nature and its reflective loyalty to him, by the expression that ‘nature never did betray [his] heart’ that loves Dorothy, and this is the reason they have been living from ‘joy to joy’, lending nature a role of salvation. 

The speaker then directly addresses the moon as a kind of separate entity, in order to ask it to bless his sister by shining on her ‘solitary walk’, so that when she is an adult her mind may become a ‘mansion for all lovely forms’. This is an ode to the harshness of the society at the time, in which the privileged businessmen and factory owners possessed a monopoly over British wealth, and accompanying prejudices clouded social judgement. As such, the speaker expresses his desires for his beloved sister to be exempt from such hardship that he was once subjected to, so that she can enjoy ‘sweet sounds and memories’ without experiencing the vexations of an unrelenting human society. 

The conclusion of the poem is cyclic, as it takes the speaker back to the ‘green pastoral landscape’ of the beginning of his meditations. This symbolises the omnipresent timelessness of nature. As the speaker muses upon his ‘past existence’, he wishes to convey his own reverence for nature to his beloved sister, as he expresses that she will not forget the ‘steep woods and lofty cliffs’ upon which he first understood and respected nature. 

The language utilised in this poem is lucid and natural, characteristic of Romantic poetry. The simplicity of the words chosen by Wordsworth effectively communicate the honesty of his own emotions towards nature. The elevated blank verse structure furthers this simplicity, as its familiar and easy tone is like that of a comfortable heartbeat or pulse that runs throughout one’s body in a serene state of mind. 

Ultimately, the unconstrained and liberating tone of the poem, in accordance with its free blank verse structure emphasises Wordsworth’s belief that nature is within our very selves. Just as the poem runs smoothly and continuously, akin to a human pulse, Wordsworth suggests that nature too runs within everyone as an incessant heartbeat, necessary in order to experience a ‘warmer’ and ‘holier’ love for this universe.

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