o.bi.sess
You feeling lucky, punk?
Okay, I've been browsing this forum and it seems that every thread is about choosing related texts or asking whether insert title is a good related text for physical journeys.
The following are just some points to consider when choosing your ORTs and to answer the few questions that seem to to pop up all the time, just with different texts.
The One Thing Your ORT Must Have:
A physical journey.
As "duh" as this sounds, lots of people seem to be choosing texts that have nothing to do with physical journeys. Some of the texts don't even have a physical journey in it! People, the name of the AoS is Physical Journeys - this implies that your ORT must have a physical journey in it! So, for the love of God, please choose an ORT that has a physical journey in it before you start asking about its value as a related. Because, if it doesn't have a physical journey in it, it'll never be a good ORT. Ever.
A physical journey, btw, does not mean a trip down to the shops. I'm talking about treks halfway across the country/round-world trips/swimming the English Channel type stuff. This makes it clear that you understand what the AoS is about and chose ORTs accordingly.
The Other Majorly Important Thing Your ORT Should Have:
More than one idea about physical journeys. When you are studying physical journeys, you will come across ideas such as that physical journeys brings about changes, physical journeys have obstacles, physical journeys lead to "greener grass" etc., etc.
Therefore, it is a wise idea to choose ORTs that display more than one idea about the physical journey so that you don't box yourself when it comes to the HSC. You're screwed if your ORT is just about the obstacles encountered on a physical journey and the question asks about the opportunities offered by an ORT.
Films:
If you're doing a film, the techniques encompass everything in the film such as music, lighting, dialogue, setting, props etc. It is never just the story! The story will tell you whether the film is about a phyiscal journey, but you need to analyse the text as a film by mentioning the above things to support the physical journey that is being made.
Talking about just the story is not enough!
Try to avoid animated films as they are perceived to be "kiddie" by markers. Especially Disney films. Unless you can analyse the crap out of it, an animated film will always be seen as inferior when compared a non-animated films, regardless of whether the animated film is suited towards the AoS or not.
Road trip movies are particularly good - Motorcycle Diaries, Wild Hogs, Little Miss Sunshine, Two Men in a Tinnie.
Novels:
Again, you need to analyse more than the story. You need to look at characters, plot, textual techniques such imagery, etc. Doing a book makes it look as if you've put in a lot of work for the AoS unit because a book is much harder to analyse than other texts.
Most novels will have a physical journey in it of some kind. Fantasy novels are usually good ORTs because the protagonist will typically go on a physical journey to fulfill a quest. Even some of the original fairy tales (not the Disney crap) such as Alice in Wonderland and Hansel and Gretel will be good ORTs.
Btw, never write "book" in your response - it is always "novel".
Poems:
Personally, I hate poetry. But if you decide to do it, make sure that you are comfortable with the techniques used in it, otherwise you're only hurting yourself if you come across as someone who has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
Since I know nothing about physical journey poetry, I really can't recommend anything.
Cartoons:
Again, need to analyse the cartoon in terms of the techniques and not the story. You also need to be exceedingly comfortable with techniques such as positioning (foreground, background), colour (if any), humour (if any), etc.
I'm not comfortable enough with cartoons to be able to suggest anything.
Songs:
This has got to be my most hated ORT option. It is my firm belief that only people with a sound knowledge of music and/or music techniques should choose songs as their ORT simply because most people tend to have no idea what the technical names of the techniques used.
It is no good to talk just about the lyrics - they are only a little bit of the entire song. You need to be able to recognise and coherently state techniques used in songs to be able to use it as an ORT. If you have no idea what the proper name when the music changes speeds then you probably shouldn't be doing it as an ORT.
Magazine/Newspaper Articles:
Make sure they're recent (ie from the time your HSC starts). Do not choose articles from two years ago. This makes it seem as if you just borrowed related texts from an older family member/friend and didn't bother to do your own searching.
Again, analyse more than the story. You need to talk about techniques.
Newspaper articles: try the travel section of SMH or the Telegraph. It is a good idea to get a student subscription to the SMH. It only costs around $40 a year and you'll get the paper everyday during the weeks you are at school (ie no paper during the holidays). This includes the Saturday and Sunday SMH as well.
Magazine articles: try National Geographic. That is the best magazine in my opinion to find physical journey articles. Just grab a stack from your local library one afternoon and spend it flicking through them. Photocopy the ones that seem good and you're set.
Please don't just pick a text at random, come online and ask "Is thiz a gud text 4 physical jOurneyz?!?!?!?" when it is obvious that it isn't. No one ever said that finding texts was a simple and fast process. It takes time and more importantly, it takes effort. You need to actually go out and actively try and find/be on the look out for good ORTs throughout the entire year.
The following are just some points to consider when choosing your ORTs and to answer the few questions that seem to to pop up all the time, just with different texts.
The One Thing Your ORT Must Have:
A physical journey.
As "duh" as this sounds, lots of people seem to be choosing texts that have nothing to do with physical journeys. Some of the texts don't even have a physical journey in it! People, the name of the AoS is Physical Journeys - this implies that your ORT must have a physical journey in it! So, for the love of God, please choose an ORT that has a physical journey in it before you start asking about its value as a related. Because, if it doesn't have a physical journey in it, it'll never be a good ORT. Ever.
A physical journey, btw, does not mean a trip down to the shops. I'm talking about treks halfway across the country/round-world trips/swimming the English Channel type stuff. This makes it clear that you understand what the AoS is about and chose ORTs accordingly.
The Other Majorly Important Thing Your ORT Should Have:
More than one idea about physical journeys. When you are studying physical journeys, you will come across ideas such as that physical journeys brings about changes, physical journeys have obstacles, physical journeys lead to "greener grass" etc., etc.
Therefore, it is a wise idea to choose ORTs that display more than one idea about the physical journey so that you don't box yourself when it comes to the HSC. You're screwed if your ORT is just about the obstacles encountered on a physical journey and the question asks about the opportunities offered by an ORT.
Films:
If you're doing a film, the techniques encompass everything in the film such as music, lighting, dialogue, setting, props etc. It is never just the story! The story will tell you whether the film is about a phyiscal journey, but you need to analyse the text as a film by mentioning the above things to support the physical journey that is being made.
Talking about just the story is not enough!
Try to avoid animated films as they are perceived to be "kiddie" by markers. Especially Disney films. Unless you can analyse the crap out of it, an animated film will always be seen as inferior when compared a non-animated films, regardless of whether the animated film is suited towards the AoS or not.
Road trip movies are particularly good - Motorcycle Diaries, Wild Hogs, Little Miss Sunshine, Two Men in a Tinnie.
Novels:
Again, you need to analyse more than the story. You need to look at characters, plot, textual techniques such imagery, etc. Doing a book makes it look as if you've put in a lot of work for the AoS unit because a book is much harder to analyse than other texts.
Most novels will have a physical journey in it of some kind. Fantasy novels are usually good ORTs because the protagonist will typically go on a physical journey to fulfill a quest. Even some of the original fairy tales (not the Disney crap) such as Alice in Wonderland and Hansel and Gretel will be good ORTs.
Btw, never write "book" in your response - it is always "novel".
Poems:
Personally, I hate poetry. But if you decide to do it, make sure that you are comfortable with the techniques used in it, otherwise you're only hurting yourself if you come across as someone who has absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
Since I know nothing about physical journey poetry, I really can't recommend anything.
Cartoons:
Again, need to analyse the cartoon in terms of the techniques and not the story. You also need to be exceedingly comfortable with techniques such as positioning (foreground, background), colour (if any), humour (if any), etc.
I'm not comfortable enough with cartoons to be able to suggest anything.
Songs:
This has got to be my most hated ORT option. It is my firm belief that only people with a sound knowledge of music and/or music techniques should choose songs as their ORT simply because most people tend to have no idea what the technical names of the techniques used.
It is no good to talk just about the lyrics - they are only a little bit of the entire song. You need to be able to recognise and coherently state techniques used in songs to be able to use it as an ORT. If you have no idea what the proper name when the music changes speeds then you probably shouldn't be doing it as an ORT.
Magazine/Newspaper Articles:
Make sure they're recent (ie from the time your HSC starts). Do not choose articles from two years ago. This makes it seem as if you just borrowed related texts from an older family member/friend and didn't bother to do your own searching.
Again, analyse more than the story. You need to talk about techniques.
Newspaper articles: try the travel section of SMH or the Telegraph. It is a good idea to get a student subscription to the SMH. It only costs around $40 a year and you'll get the paper everyday during the weeks you are at school (ie no paper during the holidays). This includes the Saturday and Sunday SMH as well.
Magazine articles: try National Geographic. That is the best magazine in my opinion to find physical journey articles. Just grab a stack from your local library one afternoon and spend it flicking through them. Photocopy the ones that seem good and you're set.
Please don't just pick a text at random, come online and ask "Is thiz a gud text 4 physical jOurneyz?!?!?!?" when it is obvious that it isn't. No one ever said that finding texts was a simple and fast process. It takes time and more importantly, it takes effort. You need to actually go out and actively try and find/be on the look out for good ORTs throughout the entire year.
