Year+13+Unit+Standards

Teacher in charge: Libby Anderson


//Look on English Online for example units for 8834:// A media studies investigation into a future dystopia A research assignment culminating in a class seminar

= Crisis and Change =

// (Unit Standard 8834: Investigate a theme across a range of selected texts and evaluate the outcomes of the investigation) //
A crisis can be a personal thing that affects you or your family, or it can be a national problem like a war or a depression. People react in different ways to crises, but every crisis leads to a change of some sort. This unit standard requires students to investigate the theme of "crisis and change" through written, oral and visual texts and present their findings in a report.

Bear in mind when choosing texts that at least two of them should have an established critical reputation (for example, won an award). You also need to have texts from male and female perspectives, contemporary and historical perspectives, and a range of cultural perspectives. The teacher must verify that the student has read the texts. This could be done through:

The student could demonstrate their knowledge about a specified character, a specified incident, a specified idea, specified setting, particular effects, or aspects of presentation.
 * A static image based on one of the texts
 * A one-on-one discussion with the student about one of the texts
 * A speech about the texts
 * A test, for example the film unit standard

//The Dark Knight//, directed by Christopher Nolan //Hotel Rwanda//, directed by Terry George //Once Were Warriors//, directed by Lee Tamahori //Into the Wild//, directed by Sean Penn
 * Visual texts** (at least two)

//Dustbins//, short story by Witi Ihimaera //Breaking Dawn//, novel in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer //Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence//, novel by Doris Pilkington //Saving//…, articles from //North and South// //Vanishing Act//, article from //Waikato Times// //White Feathers//, poetry anthology edited by Terry Locke et al. World War I poetry
 * Written texts** (at least four)

Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Address //Tarnz’s Story// (interview, works well with //Once Were Warriors//)
 * Oral texts** (at least two)