Search results

Listed under:  Language  >  Text types  >  Persuasive texts  >  Literary criticism
Text

Find advice as to how to help your students learn to creatively critique each other's work

Find advice as to how to help your students learn to creatively critique each other's work. The resource includes useful questions that can be used as a structure for critique and review.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: The voice of Albert Facey

Albert Facey's 'A Fortunate Life' is one of Australia's best-loved autobiographies. Could it be Facey's 'voice' in his writing that touches the hearts of so many readers? Explore this clip to learn more about how the written word can capture the personality of a writer.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Savouring 'The Magic Pudding'

It's been nearly 100 years since Norman Lindsay's madcap tale of a bad-tempered pudding was published, yet it continues to remain popular with children and adults alike. Over the years it's been a puppet show, cartoon, play, film and even an opera. What are the reasons for its enduring popularity? Explore the real magic ...

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Just for girls? Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca'

Gender and its representation is a significant concern for many writers, readers and critics. Some dismissed Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel 'Rebecca' as a romantic novel, but du Maurier insisted that she was exploring deeper issues of jealousy and power in relationships. Explore these different readings in this discussion. ...

Video

Heywire: Tension in the air

In this Heywire audio story, explore how Marguerite Donaldson builds tension as she recounts a nerve-wracking incident that happened while she was flying one day. Find out what this incident has revealed to her and how she shares her thoughts. Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community? ...

Audio

Heywire: Autobiography of a flood survivor

Imagine if the town or suburb you live in came under threat due to a natural disaster. How would you react? Shelby Garlick from Kerang, Victoria, was a finalist of the 2012 Heywire storytelling competition for young people. Listen to her inspiring story and explore the lessons she learnt as a result of working with her ...

Video

Thinking about story themes

Noa and Francis are two young writers who've had their stories published. Listen as they talk about the main ideas they chose to explore in their stories. Find and watch the clips of Noa and Francis reading their pieces at the Melbourne Writers Festival (also found on Splash). How did they build their stories around the ...

Video

What is spec fic? Rebecca Lim explains

Have you heard of the term 'spec fic'? What is speculative fiction? If you're interested in reading some, why not find out more about the books that Rebecca Lim refers to.

Video

Jennifer Byrne Presents: Teen titles dominate! The YA publishing industry

The Young Adult, or YA, publishing industry has exploded in recent years. But what is driving this surge in novels for teenagers? Join a panel of YA writers as they explore why this once niche market has become a literary phenomenon.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' is a dystopian novel set in the fictional Republic of Gilead. What are some hallmarks of dystopian novels? What are some similarities and differences between this novel and another dystopian novel mentioned in this video, Orwell's '1984'?

Video

The Book Club: Is 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' a "perfect" book?

What makes 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon such a "perfect" book for many of the panellists? If you have read the book, do you agree? If you haven't read the book, do you think you would feel the same way as the panellists based on how they've decribed the book? When you think of your ...

Video

Wuthering Heights: Fantasy and realism

Do you think Wuthering Heights is a fantasy novel? Or is it all too realistic in its descriptions of hardship, cruelty and human frailty? John Bowen, Professor of Literature at York University notes, 'Gothic elements ... haunt the edges of the book.' Yet they never compromise the authenticity of the story. In this clip, ...

Text

The Hunger Games

This web page includes a range of resources to support classroom studies of the novel and film 'The Hunger Ganes'. Resources include a study guide, explorations of characters, themes and issues and tips on writing essays. The resources discuss the use of film techniques to create setting, the genre of dystopia and the concept ...

Online

What is Shakespeare Unbound?

Shakespeare doesn’t get any better than this. Actors from Australia’s famous Bell Shakespeare Company, including Artistic Director John Bell, present key scenes from six of Shakespeare’s best-known works before joining conversations to dissect the playwright’s use of character, plot and language. Custom-made for Australian ...

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: A moral minefield: Christos Tsiolkas's 'The Slap'

'The Slap', a novel from Australian author Christos Tsiolkas, created plenty of controversy when it was published. Why is it that some novels seem to stir people up more than others? Learn how the novel affected a group of panel members discussing popular Australian books.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: The haunting of Manderley

'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.' So begins 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier, the 1938 gothic novel set in the mysterious mansion of Manderley, with all its creepy inhabitants. Learn more about this thrilling novel and the gothic genre in this clip, which is the first in a series of two.

Video

First Tuesday Book Club: Lots to love about 'Cloudstreet'

Judging literature is highly personal. What one person loves about a book can drive someone else crazy. Some books, though, just seem to appeal to everyone! Well, almost everyone. Find out whether this is the case with Tim Winton's novel 'Cloudstreet'.

Video

The Book Club: Solving 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is described by the panellists as part quest and part detective novel. How do they explain this? What are the two 'cases' that the narrator and protagonist 'solves' in the novel, whether deliberately or inadvertently? What is the effect of having the reader know more than ...

Video

Characters in Woolf's 'Mrs Dalloway'

Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs Dalloway' is set in London over a period of a single day in June 1923. What other novel, mentioned in this video, is set over a period of a single day? What might be the consequences of setting a novel over such a short period of time? Other than Mrs Dalloway, name an important character in the novel. ...

Video

Jane Eyre: Tapping into childhood

How was childhood depicted in English literature in the mid-nineteenth century? In this clip from The British Library, two experts in the works of the Bronte sisters discuss the manner in which children were regarded in the 1800s and consider the significance of Charlotte Bronte's accounts of childhood in Jane Eyre. This ...