Sample 1

Technology. An entity which facilitates learning and breaks distance barriers or, a fad which when grown unregulated, will produce an evil body of corporate power? The global development of technology has had unforeseen impacts on the prosperity and stability of society. Increasing communication and facilitating learning has come at the cost of lost authenticity and control. So, how will technology be used in the future if humans let technology integrate their lives?

A text message to a family member located on the other side of the globe. An online search to locate the nearest grocery store. A personal computer recalling information about 1955 to a group of students. What would society be without this means of technology? From smoke signals to the iPhone, communication between individuals has been widely developed since the creation of technology. Telephone, radio, television, and the internet has brought about a new level of communication, allowing us humans to use online platforms which dismantle the geographical barrier conflicting global communication. Personally, technology has afforded me uninterrupted global communication. I’ve used WhatsApp to receive pictures from family members holidaying in Vanuatu, Skype video chats to catch up with close friends in Virginia USA, and Snapchat messaging to show my friends Caribbean beaches. But beyond personal communication how has technology been used to serve the common good? Technology has had profound impacts on the education of millions of students globally over the past decade. In my world, technology was introduced to schools during grade six when an electronic device was required for assessments and other tasks. The use of such technologies opened my eyes to many never-before-seen resources, allowing me to further develop and understand a variety of different topics. Further to this, this technological experience assisted my transition to the ‘new normal’ brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic easier where Microsoft Teams, Skype, and other digital video conferencing software were used for virtual school attendance. These technologies allowed live chats as well as face-to-face communication with teachers and students in real-time possible regardless of our respective location. And, so, if technology affords us all this opportunity, where could their possible be downsides.

The best way to think about 21st-century technology is that there are about 4.5 billion Truman Shows. Technology has grown extensively in the last century, leashing societies with manipulative algorithms which exploit and control their every move. Within the last decade, one niche of technology has spurred without any regulatory authority: artificial intelligence. Unchecked AI development has undergone serious reflection recently with the development of new systems such as ChatGPT, Sophia, and GPT-3. AI technologies have affected my personal education. The ChatGPT AI tool was widely misused by other students during assessment tasks, spurring concerns over students’ ability to produce original authentic work. This showed the AI technologies' potential to facilitate cheating without detection and is now being linked to the breakdown of ethical and academic integrity. Does this mean technology is training and conditioning a new generation of people to have a digital pacifier? Corporations have created subliminal designs to affect people’s real-world behaviour. By collecting large amounts of information about their users such as friends or interests, corporations can tailor information and media to specific people. This has contributed to recent findings that fake news is 70% more likely to be retweeted than the truth. In my contemporary world, technology has widely contributed to the spread of misinformation and fake news such as that related to politics and modern combat. And yet, in the face of this, corporations and media outlets are still allowed to mislead and feed society a diluted truth.

So… We need to find a balance. A place where the advantages of facilitated learning and global communication weigh the same as the negative impacts of corporation’s power with technology. The problem is, where do we find this?

Justification: 

I have composed a discursive piece of writing which aims to reveal how technology can both positively and negatively impact society. This was achieved through the exploration of how technology currently boosts communication and fosters education, as well as continues to grow unchecked and negatively persuade and influence populations of society. I wrote this piece of work in a discursive style to engage my audience to explore the ideas surrounding technology in modern society.

My composed discursive piece of writing drew from the major themes and issues explored in M.T. Anderson's ‘Feed’ novel. I explored the theme of global communication by evaluating that technology has broken down geographical barriers which once limited communication. This links directly to the use of the feed in M.T. Anderson’s novel where communication is made easier through the use of highly advanced technology. Likewise, I have also used the major theme concerning the impact technology has on schools and its students. I discussed its ability to easily communicate a wide variety of information concerning a large number of topics and how it can positively give students access to a large number of resources not previously accessible.

Within my discursive piece, I also explored the development of new artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT, Sophia, and GPT-3. This is closely related to M.T. Anderson’s novel where the feed technology is essentially an AI entity that is used in the dystopian society within the book. It too has grown unregulated and is beginning to negatively impact the societies' ethical and personal viability. Furthermore, my discursive piece explored corporations’ ability to run society and have all dominance over people. I explored our society where media has been used as a negative influence on members of society very similar to media being used as part of the dystopian societies' influence on negative body image.

In conclusion, I was able to compose a discursive piece of writing which was intended to reveal how technology can both positively and negatively impact society. This was accomplished by drawing influence from M.T. Anderson’s novel ‘Feed’ to develop ideas and issues which current society faces 

Sample 2 

Racism and gender roles were prolific in 1930s Australia, not saying that it’s not still present, it is still very much present. Racism is the prejudice, antagonism, or discrimination by an individual against a person, community, or institution on the basis of their particular racial or ethical group, like Aboriginal people. Gender roles… are roles of a gender (laugh). Question, do you think that Gender Roles still are around?

Racism in the 1930s was recognised as the norm as is seen when Aboriginal peoples were forced to be victims of white colonisation. This had an onslaught of effects including the dehumanisation of them as people as well as being subjected to inhuman circumstances of extreme discrimination including the Stolen Generation, the Assimilation policy, and the overall stereotypes that were imposed on the community that still may stand today. White colonisers only claimed the land as theirs because they simply paid for it and believed themselves owners, but aboriginal people have an irreplaceable and intrinsic kinship with the land that holds value beyond money. Australia had quite a large amount of negative views on the Indigenous and did you know, a common derogatory term used to describe Aboriginal peoples was ‘’blackies’’? The white colonisers didn’t care that Aboriginal peoples were people, they only cared about the land they bought. The White colonisers actually tried to ‘’wash out the black’’ through the Stolen Generation resulting in over 100,000 children being taken from their kin, leaving a prominent and lasting negative impact on the whole Indigenous community. Unfortunately, the Stolen Generation wasn’t just a get over it type issue, it has effected thousands through their whole life making it to be one of the most significant intergenerational traumas still faced by Aboriginal peoples today.

Gender roles where very specific and if you didn’t follow the specific gender roles you were meant to, you were insane. Women were meant to always stay at home, being the housewife, cook, cleaner, and take care of both children and husband. The Wife was allowed to work but the money they got was a lot smaller than a male employees income, about 25% lower. If the wife’s husband sadly passed away, no time for moaning the loss, you had to get a new man as soon as possible. If the women didn’t have a husband, she would have no money for her house, food, or to take care of her child because the pay, if she had a job, would not be enough. The husband, however, was labelled ‘’the bread winner’’ and he went and brought in the money. Due to the great depression a lot of men lost their jobs and would take their lives, about over 120,000 men being found to do this. This can largely be attributed to the pressure of their gender role in such strenuous conditions where they felt great sadness as they simply couldn’t support their family and felt no other way out. Gender roles are not as prolific as they were, women do still have lesser advantages then men but now women are known as the smart ones.

Justification

I have contrasted a discursive piece talking about racism and gender roles in 1930s Australia. My aim in this discursive was to open people’s minds with the use of the language I have chosen. I have written the piece to grab the younger audience attention through the use of slang and simplistic wording which can challenge the mind of the younger audience. My inspiration was Rachel Perkins film “One night the moon”, “Feed” by M.T Anderson and “Dear Mrs. Dunkley” by Helen Garner. The choice of my two topics where based of Rachel Perkins films “one night the moon” as in the movie it clearer shows and identifies the way 1930s Australia can be crudely with racism and gender roles. I also used third person like Rachel did in her film. The language I used was neologism like in the text “feed” I used words like ‘norm.’ the reason I used paragraph structure was so the audience where able to identify which topic I was talking about and when so they would not get confused, which is used in ‘’dear Mrs. Dunkley’ ’as you were able to identify where she was talking about and when she was talking about the topic. The reason of my language was to grab the attention of the audience, younger children these days are very lazy and are glued to technology so being able to connect through just plan simplistic words for example ‘’like’’ is used so commonly and M.T Anderson uses the same type of idea to bring in the younger audience. Then the use of fun facts “describe Aboriginal peoples was ‘’blackies’’?” I used this directly from the film ‘’One night the moon” as it shows the form of racism used in 1930s. Using these words and structure I’m able to grab the audience and challenge their minds to consider the way Australia was and still can be in today.

Sample 3 

Unknown soldier discursive part 1

They say that it was an adventure “too grand to miss”.  

Wouldn’t it be grand if I now wasn’t being missed?  

Wouldn’t it have been grand if I wasn’t one of the 45,000 Australians that died on the Western Front? Or one of the 416,000 Australians who volunteered for the service of World War one. Or, one of 324,000 Australians who served overseas in the war, or one of the 100,000 Australians who have died in a war in this century? 

They’ll never know that I am one of them, and all of the soldiers that have been unrecognised. 

I was a Major General fighting on the Western Front. I left my job to go on this “Grand adventure”. The adventure of a lifetime some would say. I left my faith at my home soil. I left my pregnant wife, never meeting my little girl. I could only dream of her.  

When the landmine went off, the last thing I heard was my lieutenant say, “Mate you gotta’ live for your little girl!”  

My little girl. I imagined her to have blonde hair like my wife and I, I imagined her laugh to symbolise my wife’s contagious giggle. I imagined walking her down the aisle, holding her child, and helping her move out of our home.  

I didn’t die from the pain. I died when I realised that no one would know where I had passed or how much courage and dignity I fought with. I died when I knew my daughter and wife would never know where and how I passed. I died when I realised all of our hard work fighting for this country and our king would never be recognised.  

I thought that the Great War was something to be proud of, not knowing I was too naive to see through the lines. The lines of a furious, wicked, awful battle. Seeing innocent people die in front of my eyes and seeing that the war was more of a political battle because in their eyes the human life was nothing. 

Seeing the posters enticing men to join this “grand adventure”. The feeling of embarrassment and shame with a white feather representing all those who did not endure the war.

I am the unknown soldier that is being recognised for my duties. I represent all unknown soldiers that died on the Western front. 

I, the unknown soldier, honour those whose families know nothing of where they died, or where they are now. My tomb is a reminder of all those that served and died with me. I represent those who need closure. Those who need to be recognised for their duties. 

Reflective writing part 2:

Through Module C I have been able to strengthen and extend my knowledge of the ideas and themes presented across the texts we have studied. I have been able to inform and engage the audience of my ideas that have been inspired by the persuasive text, 'Funeral Service of the Unknown Australian Soldier' by Paul Keating. The main objective of my piece has been to inform individuals of the ideas presented through the brutality of wartime. Furthermore, I intended to demonstrate how war exposes the anonymity of men, specifically those who did not have a proper burial ceremony and are often portrayed as “lost” and “unknown”. Through the inspiration of Keating’s persuasive text, I have been able to construct the development of my overarching ideas and characterisations within.

The structure of my text was dramatically influenced by the structure of Hellen Gardner’s piece ‘Dear Mrs Dunkley’. The short paragraphs and the truncated structure are prominent characteristics for conveying a discursive piece of writing. The utilisation of personal anecdotes, “I was weak at arithmetic”, and the real-life experiences from Gardner’s work, both strongly encouraged me to incorporate this in my piece by repeating, “I am the unknown soldier” to develop the characterisation of brutality of war. The techniques of Keating’s persuasive text have been conspicuous throughout my piece. The use of statistics in my piece of writing, “…one of the 45,000 Australians…” was derived from Keating’s similar statistical provoking’s, “…lost more than 100,000 lives…”. This allowed me to successfully inform audiences of the brutality of war. Furthermore, the rule of three has been evident throughout my text, “lines of a furious, wicked, awful battle”, as used by Keating, “A mad, brutal, awful struggle…”, to engage the audience, and emphasise  the depression and resilience that was seen while fighting in the Great War. Through the ideas of both texts mentioned, I have successfully been able to convey my own unique ideas and perceptions.

The ideas and techniques from the texts in Module C have enabled me to construct my own unique ideas. The ideas of courage, resilience, and recognising those who died unknown and how Australians have depended on their faith to fight for their country, all ideas which were heavily influenced and inspired by Keatings text. Furthermore, my discursive piece has been successfully composed through the inspiration of language and structure from Gardner’s piece. By studying the texts in Module C, I have been able to create an effective discursive piece which emphasises, engages, and informs the audience of my unique ideas that have been inspired by the prescribed texts.

Student 1: 

Draft of a discursive piece that explores how your own identity has changed over time and the factors which influenced this shift. Minimum 200 words.  

We don’t stay the same forever. Things change, people change, our identity changes. Who we are now may not be who we are in the future, or who we used to be. Our identity is who we are and can be made up of many things like our genetics, beliefs, looks, personalities and many other factors.  

There are many things throughout our life that shape who we have become and factors that have influenced these changes. One of the major factors is our education. People who receive a higher or tertiary education are more likely to go on to find themselves a good job with a stable income. This obviously changes who they are and improves how good they are in a particular or range of areas. There are also many factors within our education that can shape our identity, like our peers and teachers. Peers create environments that many of us seek to fit into, and to do this we change our behaviours and even our interests to feel accepted and like we belong. Our teachers are allowing us to learn new things and are giving us or have given us opportunities that can change who we are, therefore changing your identity. 

Education is not the only factor that changes our identity. There are loads of other things that cause our identity to change over time, and this could be influenced by the more personal things we go through. These could be things that happen within our relationships, our families and things that affect our mental aspect of health. Other people might not know that someone's goes through these things but could see a change within their attitude. They may become more confident or even unhappy and have a different perspective on certain things.  

For me personally, one thing that influenced a part of my identity was definitely getting a job. When I first began working, back in 2018, I was not confident at all. As time passed, I gained heaps more confidence this has shaped who I am today. I talk to a lot more people and take part in much more things which are all factors that influence who I am becoming.  

Not everyone's identity will be influenced by the same factors or as many factors. Each individuals is living their own life and has their own identity. We all have different experiences and perspectives on things and there isn't anything wrong with that. We go through so many different things to others and all these things become a part of who we are, making up part of our identity.  

Student 2: 

ENGLISH ASSEMENT – DRAFT: DISCURSIVE 

Our identity such as gender, social class, age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, religion, age and disability play significant roles in determining how we understand and experience the world, as well as shaping the types of opportunities and challenges we face. I have found myself going through phases in life where my identity changes, it's not detrimental to my identity but it does play an important part in it. 

Identity in general, focuses on how it relates to experiences, perceptions, and developmental stages. Personally, my sport and my experiences have been a crucial part in my identity. Getting up at 5am for training 6 times a week teaches you a lot of lessons, for me it was discipline and learning to put in the effort. Having two coaches scream at you because you are not fast enough or not making time and being frustrated and wanting to give up. I am not going to lie I have given up multiple times for example it was a big butterfly set and everyone was swimming shit and coach told everyone if you don’t want to be here, leave. And I left. But I've learned from these experiences and hard times but in the end it's made me who I am today. 

An occupation can affect anyone's personal identity, for me I am a lifeguard at Maitland aquatic centre, it is my first season and it changes how I approach certain situations. Having so much training for first aid, although you are never really ready for you to be in a situation where someone's life is in your hands. I know what to do and have the ability to save a life, but I have no idea how I will respond to a certain situation. There is always that thought going through the back of your head but all you can do is be confident with your ability. Other lessons I have learned are teamwork working with young university students its always enjoyable being on shift with them and talking about literally everything. Its taught me about hard work and pool maintenance whether it be doing pool tests, checking the balance tanks and the boilers. A great part of my job is working with the community, you get your regulars who remember your name and always check on you and sometimes you end up talking to them for an hour and learn about them but then you get these assholes who just make your job harder complaining about lanes and being unreasonable, like I'm supposed to make people leave because there is someone in their lane. But in the end I'm happy with what I do and the people I work with. 

Personal identity is not really shared or talked about; you never really understand who you are as a person until you start looking. Writing this piece made me think a lot. It was hard finding ideas about what I should write about even though my life has changed so significantly. I could've chosen any topic or part of identity to talk about but I decided to go with work as a lifeguard and my time swimming as I've found it has made a considerate impact on my life an identity. From swimming for 6 years, it's given me discipline and the ability to put in the work, I will be forever grateful for my two coaches who have not only helped me through my swimming career but always being there for someone to talk to and for putting up with my shit. And my lifeguarding career of a couple of months has been an experience that I would never forget, from given the opportunities to work with others and improving how I look on certain situations. Overall identity is clearly a significant factor in my life and has been influenced many times, I have no regrets on my decisions on the past as it has made me who I am today.