Written Task One

Written Task One should demonstrate your ability to choose an imaginative way of exploring an aspect of the material studied in the course. It must show critical engagement with an aspect of a text or a topic. (IBO, 2011) It is not an essay. Word limit: 800-1,000 words Rationale: The rationale is NOT included in the word count (800-1,000 words) and should be 200-300 words in length. It IS marked. In your rationale you must explain: how the content of the task is linked to Part III: Literature and cultural context how the task is intended to explore particular aspects of the course the nature of the task chosen consideration of how audience, purpose and the varying contexts have contributed to your genre and language choices

Content and Purpose

Language choices

Genre

Diction

Register

Language features

Organisation

Narrative devices

Possibilities for a Written Task One in relation to The Things they Carried (suggestions only) a screenplay of a chapter from The Things they Carried the letter from Rat Kiley to Curt Lemons sister (refer to How to Tell a True War Story) a letter from Jimmy Cross to Kiowas parents, (refer to In the Field) a newspaper article reporting on the suicide of returned veteran Norman Bowker (emphasising the remoteness of the town that did not know sh*t about sh*t and didnt want to know) an editorial from the woman who hears the baby buffalo story (dumb cooze perspective) a training guide for soldiers new in the field outlining the tactics of psychological warfare (refer to Ghost Soldiers)

Written Task Two

This task gives you the opportunity to reflect and question in greater depth the values, beliefs and attitudes that are implied in the texts studied. It is an essay in response to set questions. Word limit: 800-1,000 words Outline: The outline is NOT included in the word count and must contain: the question you have chosen to address the title(s) of the text for analysis the part of the course to which the task relates three or four key points that explain the focus of the essay

Set questions:

Reader, culture and text

1. How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? 2. If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ?
Power and privilege 1. How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? 2. Which social groups are marginalized, excluded or silenced within the text? Text and genre 1. How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose? 2. How has the text borrowed from other texts, and with what effects?

Possibilities for a Written Task One in relation to The Things they Carried (suggestions only) Question 1: Comparing and contrasting the way the novel could be read from o the dumb cooze perspective versus that of a Vietnam war veteran o Vietnamese reader versus American reader o pacifist anti-war reader versus a fiercely patriotic pro-war stance Question 2: How this novel would have been different if written in the era of WWI literature (eg. All Quiet on the Western Front / Dulce et Decorum Est) o considering the modern structure of writing from the era how would that work for this novel? o considering that literature from this era either focused on the beauty of war, (eg. Rupert Brookes The Soldier) OR the horror. How would this change the way this novels focus upon overwhelming ambiguity?