Lesson 7 - Planning and drafting

Woke literature for woke teens!

Teenagers need to be woke! Woke to why age-old feuds can kill our children. Woke to what happens when we construct monsters in attics! Woke to the heritage of our First Nations people! To begin to achieve this, teens simply need to read broadly. But we don't. I am a self-proclaimed bookworm. Loud and proud, I tell anyone who is willing to listen that I'm on a mission to read every novel in our school library before I graduate Year 10. But it wasn't until recently that I realised there is a whole collection of novels I'd never touched. Classics. And that brought me to a big question... Do we need a balance of classic literature and contemporary literature in our curriculum? According to Sally Law, principal teacher of English at Marr College in Troon, Scotland (and writer of 'The Guardian' article Classic works of literature still have a place in today's classroom) our classrooms must "safeguard the teaching of classic literature or risk depriving our young people the wealth of knowledge, enjoyment and sense of heritage and history to be gained from our classics". She goes on to say, “When this balance is achieved, teens will develop the capacity to empathise”. Through reading about the experiences of characters in a world long gone, we come to understand the past. This may then prevent us from making the same mistakes as the Capulets and Montagues. This may then allow us to value the deep connection to land and place. Thus, we need our high school English classrooms to be bursting with conversation about Shakespeare, Austen, Noonuccal and Davies. So, the next time my peers choose a novel, I challenge them to choose something older than them and possibly even their parents!

This is a successful paragraph because the argument is clear and well supported. In addition, features of persuasive writing and the rhetorical triangle are used throughout. Let’s take a closer look at these features.

1. Catchy heading that captures the argument and audience through use of teen slang​

   • ‘Woke literature for woke teens!​’

2. Engaging opening that catches attention through pathos (and uses the rule of three!)​

   • Teenagers need to be woke! Woke to why age-old feuds can kill our children. Woke to what happens when we construct monsters in attics! Woke to the heritage of our First Nations people!​

3. Clear argument, presented in high modality ​

   • teens simply need to read broadly. ​

4. Brief engagement with ethos ​

   • I am a self-proclaimed book worm. Loud and proud, I tell anyone who is willing to listen that I'm on a mission to read every novel in our school library before I graduate Year 10. ​

5. Elaboration on the argument​

   • But it wasn't until recently that I realised there is a whole collection of novels I'd never touched. Classics. And that brought me to a big question... Do we need a balance of classic literature and contemporary literature in our curriculum?​

6. Evidence​

   • According to Sally Law, principal teacher of English at Marr college in Troon, Scotland (and writer of 'The Guardian' article Classic works of literature still have a place in today's classroom) our classrooms must "safeguard the teaching of classic literature or risk depriving our young people the wealth of knowledge, enjoyment and sense of heritage and history to be gained from our classics". She goes on to say, "we should also be open to the idea that more contemporary texts, of varying titles and formats, have a justifiable place in the curriculum too."

7. Evidence​

   • This may then prevent us from making the same mistakes as the Capulets and Montagues. This may then allow us to value a deep connection to land and place. ​

8. Closing ​

   • Thus, we need our high school English classrooms to be bursting with conversation about Shakespeare, Austen, Noonuccal and Davies. ​

9. Call to action​

   • So, the next time my peers choose a novel, I challenge them to choose something older than them and possibly even their parents!'​