Developing a Thesis Based Response

1. Developing a Thesis Based Response Area of Study: Belonging – Section 3

2. Contents • Developing a thesis • Exploring a thesis in prescribed and related texts – the process • Synthesis of ideas • Planning and writing a response • Examination Strategies

3. What is your line of argument? 1. Developing a Thesis

4. Remember the Rubric • The examination question will be based on at least one idea taken from the Board Descriptor or Rubric for ‘Belonging’. • What do you remember about the rubric? • TASK – Write down as many ideas from the rubric that you can remember in 60 seconds.

5. Did you remember: • Perceptions and ideas of belonging, or of not belonging, vary. • These perceptions are shaped within personal, cultural, historical and social contexts. • A sense of belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger word. • Students may consider aspects of belonging in terms of experiences and notions of identity, relationships, acceptance and understanding. • The potential of the individual to enrich or challenge a community or group. • They may reflect the way attitudes to belonging are modified over time. • Texts may also represent choices not to belong, or barriers which prevent belonging • Aresponder may experience and understand the possibilities presented by a sense of belonging to, or exclusion from the text and the world it represents. • This engagement may be influenced by the different ways perspectives are given voice in or are absent from a text.

6. We can group these ideas into questions about: • Perceptions about belonging • Connections • Experience • Notions of identity • Acceptance and understanding • The power of the individual • Changing attitudes to belonging • The choice not to belong • Barriers to belonging • The possibilities of belonging or not belonging

7. Developing the Idea in the Question • As a part of your revision – make sure that you are able to develop a thesis statement for all of these possibilities. • Using other resources such as famous quotations can be helpful.

8. Responding to a question on acceptance and/or self identity: • According to ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ the need for love, acceptance and belonging is fundamental. • You could develop the following thesis: • The basic human need to be accepted and belong can cloud our judgements and direct our actions.

9. TASK – Match the following thesis ideas with the question types: THESIS STATEMENTS • When your cultural identity is marginalised you can feel dislocated and displaced, and believe that you do not belong to your culture or the dominant culture. • The need to belong to a group or a community shapes our behaviour, attitudes and actions. • When a person is marginalised by society they will seek other means to belong. QUESTION TYPES • Perceptions about belonging • Connections • Experience • Notions of identity • Acceptance and understanding • The power of the individual • Changing attitudes to belonging • The choice not to belong • Barriers to belonging • The possibilities of belonging or not belonging

10. The Process 2. Exploring a thesis in prescribed and related texts

11. Brainstorm Your Thesis Idea in Your Prescribed Text

12. Repeat the Process for Two Related Texts (you will probably only use one) • Remember:

13. Using your thesis to full advantage 3. Synthesis of IDeas

14. Linking Ideas in your Texts • The most effective way to synthesise your ideas is through your thesis statement. • Mention your thesis: • In each topic sentence • At the end of each paragraph • In your conclusion • Your texts will automatically be synthesised. • You can make throw back comments to your first text as you move onto your second but don’t feel the need to chop and change texts in each paragraph.

15. Ensure that you do this for all possibilities. 4. Planning and Writing a Response

16. Planning and Writing a Response • Develop your thesis statement • Brainstorm references/quotes, techniques, effect and links to the thesis in your prescribed and two related texts • Pick out your best examples and plan a clear direction of argument • Make an effort to use the features of the text-type the question outlines: essay, speech script, feature article…

17. Extended Response Structure

18. If faced with other text-types: • Do not panic! • For a speech – turn your thesis into a rhetorical question and throw in some uses of 2nd person pronouns and witty engagement with the audience • For a scripted interview – turn your topic sentences into questions and your main body paragraphs into answers • Just make sure that you still remain focused on your thesis statement and that you use quotes/ references and you analyse techniques.

19. Make your response stand out – in a good way! 5. Exam Strategies

20. You too can be a ‘roaring’ success • Plan your attack • Lift key words from the question – USE them in your thesis • Make sure that each topic sentence mentions your thesis • Make sure that each analysis of an example links back to your thesis • Deal with at least 6 good examples from each text – 10 is a much healthier number. • Integrate your quotes as a natural part of the sentence and keep them as short as possible. • Always mention a technique with your quotes/ references • Referring to a structural pattern in a poem or a particular mise en scene in a film is the same as using a quote.

21. Examination Style Questions • Understanding nourishes a sense of belonging. A lack of understanding prevents it. Discuss this view with details reference to your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own choosing. • To what extent do different groups to which we belong define who we are? • What do you think are the most powerful influences that impact on an individual’s sense of belonging?