Prompts

1. 2. Can justice ever be too costly? Social justice is absolutely fundamental: individuals are unlikely to obtain justice within the framework of an unfair system. Is it ever too late for justice to be done? It is easy to see injustice when it occurs elsewhere, more difficult to spot it close to home. Where prejudice is tolerated justice will be hard to find. The Law is needed to protect the innocent: but who will protect the innocent from the Law? Terrible injustices are committed because the Law itself is not above manipulation and abuse. One of the most powerful factors in modern societies is the media. Increasingly, people need more and more protection from the invasion of their privacy and erosion of their rights. Not even the Law is adequate in this respect. The circumstances and events that give rise to injustice are usually varied and complex.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

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10. The major reason why people support injustice is ignorance. If everyone understood clearly the true state of affairs injustices would not occur. 11. To reveal injustice does not mean that it will cease. Discuss. 12. Individuals will go to extraordinary lengthseven fight against an entire, communityin order to seek justice. 13. The road to justice is long and arduous. 14. One of the major reasons why women are sometimes denied justice is because of sexism; unlike men, women are judged and found wanting by the courts or community for moral reasons, because they do not conform to a so-called proper feminine role. 15. The search for justice is not always worth the price the individual has to pay. 16. Justice is invariably denied because those who have the power to grant justice are corrupt. 17. One of the most widespread and shocking causes of injustice in the modern world is racism. 18. The Law has been obeyed, but justice has not been done. 19. The aim of the Law should be to protect the interests and rights of the majority. 20. Any individual seeking to right an injustice is invariably changed by his/her, experiences. 21. Justice represents an ideal that is impossible to attain. 22. The administration of justice has become increasingly arbitrary and class based. Those who are poor, black or different in some way are most likely to be singled out for victimisation. 23. If those seeking justice are not wholly supported by the community, their quest can only be in vain. 24. It is the media more than anything else that influences justice in the community. 25. Events which offend community values inevitably result in an unfair judgment being made. 26. An individual should always put his conscience before the law of the land. 27. The old adage of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth should be the cornerstone of the law in a just

society. 28. A just society may be judged by the way it treats not the majority but rather the minority groups and individuals within the community. 29. Where there is no clear separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature the law is often dictated by the politicians whim.

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Sample Approaches to Completing Assessment Tasks

Imaginative Text Complete a piece of writing such as a narrative or short story that is based on one of the following: When is it possible to do something that is legally permissible but not morally right, or, vice versa, to do something that is morally right but not legally permissible? Present a courtroom situation where someone is on trial for following their conscience. Minorities are often the victims of injustice. Present a situation that illustrates this. Before you write your story, think about: Purpose: the purpose of your piece. For example, your purpose might be to write about an incident to show the reader how minorities are often the victims of injustice, or that some people are prepared to suffer for following their conscience, or to convince your readers that the law should always be obeyed no matter what the cirunstances. Audience: choose your audience carefully and think about how that might influence the content of your story and the language you use. For example, you might want to write a story for your peers, so you will need to think about what characters, situation and language will interest them and help you to achieve your purpose.

Short Story Create an imaginative short story in which you consider some of the ideas about justice you have gained from your reading. For example, you could explore whether sometimes the price of justice is too high, or some of the causes of injustice. You should consider how you could model your own writing on some of the structures, features and conventions used by the creators of some of the texts you have read. You might, for example, think about how you will use the narrative voice to position your reader to think about justice in certain ways, as de Maupassant does in his short story, or how you might use images as Jane Harrison does in Stolen to convey injustice.

Written Explanations (also known as Statement of Intention and various other names throughout different schools), are short introductory pieces to your Writing in Context essay. These Written Explanations are intended to provide your assessor an indication of what they should expect from your piece. Essentially, written explanations are a discussion of your own work. In this case, you are writing to inform the assessor of 5 elements of your essay, commonly known as FLAPC: Form, Language, Audience, Purpose, Context Most assessors are quite lenient with how you want to approach the Written Explanation there is no rigid structure that you need to abide by. As we will discuss below, this allows you to consider what aspects of form, language, audience, purpose and context you wish to include. Each of the points should establish why you have chosen a particular form, or audience etc. Written Explanations are only required for two SACs, both Writing in Context. They are considered as part of your SAC and thus, are marked accordingly. They are however, not examinable during the English exam. Form There are traditionally three forms of writing accepted in assessments: expository, creative or persuasive essay. Recently, hybrids of the three are also accepted for example, expository essay with a touch of creative writing. Whichever form of writing you select, you need to explain the reason behind your choice. 'I chose to write in an expository style, employing conventions of format and style of a traditional essay. This allows me to express my ideas in a logical order while adopting a sophisticated tone.' Language When writing, you choose particular words and phrases to illustrate your ideas. Think about what type of language have you used and why. Perhaps your piece is formal or informal, sophisticated or simple, or, first- or third- person perspective. All these factors are important in shaping your Context piece. Also consider language techniques you may have incorporated such as repetition, rhetorical questions, metaphors, symbolism and more. 'I have chosen formal language in an attempt to demonstrate a comprehensive and thoughtful piece. Inclusive words such as 'we' and 'us' have been incorporated to allow me to connect with the audience. Furthermore, my use of firstperson perspective aims to add credibility to my argument.' Audience You must select a targeted audience for your essay. Your choice can be VCE students to young children, or even to your future self. Make sure your target audience is suitable for your essay select a group that would realistically be interested in your work. 'My piece is to be published in an anthology for VCE students familiar with the subject matter and texts. As they have familiarity with the concepts I discuss, I intend for readers to depart with a greater understanding and appreciation of the ideas in my written piece.' Purpose The purpose section is where you discuss the message you would like to send to your audience. Here you discuss your contention or arguments, whether you completely agree, disagree or a bit of both in regards to your prompt. 'The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that there can be different outcomes from encountering conflict: firstly, that conflicts can change many people through growth in understanding or a sense of self-development and secondly, that there are times when people remain unaffected by conflict and thus, unchanged.' Context Since your essay is based on your Context prompt, you should provide a brief discussion of the basic ideas behind the Context. You can do this prior to your Purpose section since it is a good lead-in. 'In this essay, I explored the idea that 'Conflict inevitably changes people'. Every person encounters conflict. It drives individuals to challenge themselves, and deal with new experiences.'

Different schools will set different word limits for Written Explanations. These can range from 150 350 words. With such a small word limit, be succinct and choose what you will discuss wisely in order to score maximum marks allocated to Written Explanations.