Reading & Creating Texts - Unit 1
Writing the Written Explanation, or Reflective Statement Reflective writing is a personal response to something—in this case, your own writing. A reflective statement is written in the first person and is less formal than other pieces of writing you will submit for assessment—with the possible exception of creative pieces—because it is purely about you and your writing process.
A REFLECTIVE STATEMENT The VCE English Study Design asks you to be able to 'explain and justify decisions made in the writing process'. The purpose is to acknowledge and articulate what insights you have gained into the original text. You should be able to explore your own writing in juxtaposition with that of the author of the original text. You must use appropriate language to describe what you wrote in your creative response to text and how you wrote it You should explain your process, and describe your intended audience. Rationally assess your piece to see whether you met your aims, explaining your thought processes about your own work. You should also be able to explain cogently and clearly what it was in the original text that inspired you, what elements of the original text you used and which ones you rejected—and why.
COMMENT CATEGORIES The categories to consider as you reflect on your writing are: purpose, links to the original text, organisation and structure, mechanics of style and writing, and developmental process (as outlined in Tables 2.5.1a-e). These questions will assist you in writing your reflective statement. • • • • • • • • •
PURPOSE Why did I choose to write in this way? Why did I select this aspect of the text? Which audience did I write for? Why did I choose this audience? What assumptions have I made about this readership? Would this piece appeal to the selected audience? Where might this piece be published? What was my aim in writing this piece? Did I achieve it? What did I want my audience to think, do or feel as a result of reading this piece?
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LINKS TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT How am I making the connections to the original text apparent? What elements of the original text did I choose to use? How did I alter/add to the original text? How does my piece connect with the original text? Is this a stand-alone piece or does it fit into the original text? If so, where and why? What were the parts of the original text I wanted to keep?
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What were the parts that I wanted to subvert, challenge, adapt or corrupt? Did I use language in the same way as it is used in the original text? Can the audience see the connections to the original text? Are there interpretations they might question or ideas that I have not explored? Why did l/did I not use the same setting or characters? Have I stayed true to the original characters and characterisations? Why did I choose to make certain creative decisions? What did I try to imitate? What was I faithful to in the original text? Why did I make those alterations, changes or additions to the text?
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ORGANISATION AND STRUCTURE Which genre did I choose to write in? Did I address all the elements of that genre? How successfully does my piece work as an example of that genre? What elements of the original text did I retain? Why? How can I justify my decision to remake or remodel the original text in this way? Why did I decide to change the mode of the text? What changes to the original text were necessitated by the choice of a new mode or genre?
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MECHANICS OF STYLE AND WRITING What narrative style am I using in the piece? Is the tone appropriate for my purpose/audience? What sentence structure and length did I use? Why? Which ones seem most effective? Do I have any persistent grammatical, spelling or expression problems that I have to be aware of in my writing? What elements of the original authors writing style did I attempt to emulate? Was I successful in doing this? What were the hardest elements of the original author's style to copy? Were there any elements of the original text's structure that I tried to incorporate into my writing? Did I get to know more about any of the original characters as a result of writing this piece? What did I learn about the original author's style or language? What did I find difficult to achieve or render? What particular literary techniques did I choose to employ in your piece? Why did I choose these and why are they effective? Do I use the same literary techniques as the original author does in their text? Why? Why not?
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DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS Did I change in any way what I set out to do? How is what I produced different from what I intended when I began to write? Why did I choose to respond in the way that I did? What was I trying to explore from the original text? How and why did I decide to create in the manner that I did? What prompted or inspired me to respond in this manner? Which parts of the piece am I proudest of? Why?
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SELECTING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS When reflecting, you should be in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of your writing. You only need to answer the questions that are relevant to the style of piece that you have chosen to write. You can then use these questions to inform the reflective process and consider the whole of your creative response in your reflection.
PLANNING YOUR REFLECTION Annotating your text When you are preparing your reflective commentary, cast a critical eye over what you have done and identify what elements you were trying to achieve in your own writing. You can use the questions in Tables 2.5.1a-e to shape your observations. A drafting process can also be a useful tool for thinking about the elements that you are using well and to flag areas for further development.
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THE FINAL PRODUCT At the end of this process you should have the following: • the original text • your creative response to the text • your reflection on your own writing.
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REFLECTION Throughout my piece on fan McEwan's Atonement I aimed to shed light on the vague death of Robbie Turner. McEwan heavily emphasises Robbie as a character, especially as he is the central victim of Briony's misguided crime, but towards the end of the novel he reveals his death m one plain sentence. It is because of this that while reading the text, I imagined how Robbie would die, and the things he would be thinking, and the situation he would be in when he eventually did. Throughout the whole novel, but during Robbie's narration especially, McEwan uses very vivid detail, which I tried to mimic. He also follows the character's train of thought and it was challenging for me at times to maintain a sequence of events throughout my own piece. In unison with this, I also had to carefully incorporate the gradual dehumanisation of Robbie in the deterioration of both his physical and mental state. I achieved this by including a snippet of a man lying in agony at Bray Dunes, which also mirrored the physical pain that Robbie endured with the throbbing wound in his side. In reading the original text, I also noticed how McEwan only refers to Robbie as Turner or 'Guvnor in part two, so I adopted this method as well. It was imperative that I adopted McEwan's way of paragraphing also. During the entire second part of the novel, McEwan hardly makes use of paragraphs, and the text is very clumped together and heavy. This was a more minor challenge for me, but it also forced me to think about the details that I had to include within them. This ties into the last paragraph of my piece, which I wrote in order to show what truly happened after Robbie's death. In some way, it allowed me to conclude Robbie's life on a positive note, and at the same time emphasis the great characteristics he still had, despite the circumstances he faced at war. My piece is told from Robbies perspective as a missing section of part two in the novel. Robbie was a character who intrigued me from the beginning and after McEwan's unsatisfactory explanation of his death, I felt as though it would be a great opportunity for me to create the scene on my own. I have continued on from McEwans description of Bray Dunes, and the lodging situations that Robbie and Nettle have found there. However, I have taken it further in that I have broadened the description of the place, and also the personal afflictions that this had on Robbie and his struggle with his injury. At times, it was very difficult for me to describe minute details, and I had to do a fair bit of external research about war conditions in France before I was able to write my piece at all. This was especially true m the
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section about invading German troops and forces, and the ways in which the British were forced backwards towards the beaches for immediate evacuation. I believe that I have remained faithful to the conditions and experiences that McEwan presents in the original text, but have taken it to another level with my piece. In writing this piece, I have gamed insight into the character of Robbie and his progressive deterioration. I had originally intended to incorporate the motif of intertextuality in my piece. I made sure to reference the bundle of letters and photographs that Robbie keeps in his pocket during the war, which references his desire to return home to Cecilia, which is ultimately one of the major consequences of Briony's crime. I also included this in order to bring some level of satisfaction—that Robbie too was thinking of Cecilia in his final moments. Emily B., VCE student
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