These notes are
extracted from a PowerPoint presentation prepared by Helen Sykes for HSC
students attending sessions at the Whitlam Library, Cabramatta, on Thursday
20th and Tuesday 25th November 2014.
Students asked
for the PowerPoint to be turned into notes so that they could refer later to
some of the ideas.
Many of the
ideas listed here have been inspired by one of the best English teachers I've
known, Dwayne Hopwood, who wrote the book Nelson
Belonging: A Text for Senior English Students, for the previous Area of
Study.
Where
to start?
Start with what
you know. Think about what 'discovery' means to you. Talk about it with other
people - family, friends, teachers. Begin looking out for anything to do with
'discovery' or 'discovering' in your daily life:
conversations overhead on the bus
texts that you receive
news headlines, news stories
online
on television
on radio
the reading and research you are doing for subjects other than English
your leisure viewing
television
films
your leisure reading.
Personal writing
·
What
does the word 'discovery' mean to you? Take some time to write down some ideas.
Write quickly at first - the first thing that comes into your head. You can
write in note-form if you wish.
·
Put
it away for a day or two. Come back and re-read what you wrote. Make changes
and additions.
·
Share
it with someone.
Brainstorming
Spend
10 minutes with a group of friends jotting down everything you can think of (no
matter how crazy); for example:
- different kinds of discoveries
- the most important discoveries in history
- discoveries that changed the world
- the people who make discoveries
- how discoveries change people, things, the world
- crazy discoveries and crazy discoverers
- discoveries yet to be made
- personal discoveries - pleasant and unpleasant
Again,
put it away for a day or two. Re-read it and decide which ideas you want to add
to your personal writing.
Setting up a portfolio
·
You
need a file - or, probably, two files - one electronic and one paper. Start
collecting anything at all that you come across that concerns discovery,
discovering, discoverers.
·
Begin
the file with your personal writing and the brainstorming notes.
The
Board of Studies' rubric
Where can you
find it?
What does the Board of Studies mean by 'Discovery'?
What exactly is the concept that you are exploring when you work through your
Area of Study?
Go to http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au.
Click on Syllabuses in the left-hand column.
Choose HSC Syllabuses.
Click on the letter E.
Click on the course you are doing - Standard, Advanced
or ESL.
Scroll down to HSC English Prescriptions 2015-20. You
have the option of downloading this file as a PDF or a Word file.
The Word file is best, because you will be able to
annotate it easily.
For Standard and Advanced, you will find the rubric on
page 9 of the Word file. For ESL it is on pages 22-23.
Ideas for working
with the rubric
You need to understand and know well what the rubric
says. It will make more sense if you have already been thinking quite a lot about
what 'discovery' can mean. However, it is pretty daunting at first, and the
language is quite abstract. It was written for teachers, not for students. These
strategies might help you to deconstruct the rubric:
·
Print
off the rubric with wide margins around it. You might also want to double-space
it. Read through it carefully with a partner – and a bunch of differently
coloured highlighters. Highlight what you think is most important. Write
questions in the margins if there's something that puzzles you. Use a
dictionary to check any words that you're not quite sure about. Take turns to
tell each other in your own words what you think each sentence means.
·
Take
a break.
·
Now,
together, re-write the Board's rubric in note form, as concisely as possible.
You can use headings, dot points, different size fonts, the layout on the page
- whatever you want to set out the main ideas briefly and forcefully. You might
have something that begins like this:
DISCOVERY
Discovering what?
first time
rediscovering
lost
hidden
concealed
Discovering how?
sudden slow
unexpected careful
planning
curiosity
necessity
wonder
— Rephrase
some of the statements in the rubric as questions:
The rubric
An individual’s
discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according to personal,
cultural, historical and social contexts and values.
In question format
How can an
individual’s discoveries and their process of discovering vary according to
personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values?
Continue turning
the statements of the rubric into questions:
— What
types of discovery are fresh and intensely meaningful?
— What
types of discovery can be confronting and provocative?
— Have I
experienced a discovery or a process of discovery that offered me new
understandings and renewed perceptions of myself and others?
Extend the questioning:
— Have I
ever made a discovery that changed me? changed my view of others? changed my
view of the world?
— Have I
read a book or seen a film about a character who made a discovery that changed
him or her? changed his or her view of others? changed his or her view of the
world?
— Have I
seen a film or read a book that changed me?
Re-write the rubric from your own point of view:
—
‘In exploring the concept of discovery, I should …’
The rubric
An individual’s
discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according to personal,
cultural, historical and social contexts and values. The impact of these
discoveries can be far-reaching and transformative for the individual and for
broader society.
Your re-writing
I need to look at
the way in which people’s discoveries will vary, depending on their values and
backgrounds. I need to consider how much a discovery can change someone’s life
– as well as change the world.
Exploring
the meaning of the word 'discovery'
Begin with dictionary
definitions:
The Macquarie
Dictionary
Discovery
1
the act of discovering
2
something discovered
Discover
to
get knowledge of, learn of, or find out; gain sight or knowledge of (something previously
unseen or unknown).
The Shorter Oxford
English Dictionary
Discovery
1
The action or an act of revealing something secret or not generally known;
disclosure.
2
The action or an act of finding or becoming aware of for the first time; esp the first
bringing to light of a scientific phenomenon etc. Also, detection of a person.
3
(An) exploration, (a) reconnaissance.
4
Something discovered or brought to light. A person whose talents
are recognized and made known for the first time.
5
Information or evidence that bring something to light.
Find some synonyms:
an advance identification
analysis innovation
breakthrough introduction
detection invention
diagnosis the
locating of something
disclosure location
encounter a lucky strike
epiphany realisation
experimentation revelation
exploration a sighting
exposure an uncovering
a find an unearthing
N.B. That list comes from just one Synonym website. There
are many more. The list doesn't even cover some of the words from those two
dictionary definitions. You could add:
acquisition
of knowledge
bringing to
light
finding out
gaining
awareness of
gaining
sight or knowledge of
learning
reconnaissance
There are many more.
Find some antonyms:
bury forget
camouflage hide
cloak ignore
conceal lose
confound mask
confuse mislay
cover miss
disguise veil
disregard
Again, there are many more possibilities.
Go to Roget's
Thesaurus.
Begin always with the Index (which is about half the
book).
Look up 'discovery' in the Index.
discovery
discovery 484 n.
manifestation 522 n.
disclosure 526 n.
So there are 3 entries to explore - at 484 the word
'discovery' itself; at 522 the idea of discovery as a manifestation; and at 526
the idea of discovery as a disclosure.
But just above 'discovery' in the Index, you will find:
discover
see
438 vb.
discover
484 vb.
discoverer
precursor
66 n.
producer
164 n.
detector
484 n.
484 is repeated here. But there might be useful words at 438
('discover' meaning 'see'), at 66 ('discoverer' meaning 'precursor') and at 164
('discoverer' meaning 'producer').
When you go to 484, this is what you get:
484 Discovery
N. discovery,
finding; invention; exploration, archaeology, speleology, potholing; excavation
459 search 438 inspection; radio-location 187 location;
water divining; exposure, revelation 522 manifestation; illumination,
realization, lightbulb moment, eureka moment, when the penny drops; hitting upon,
serendipity; strike, find, lucky find, treasure trove; eye-opener 508 lack
of expectation; open sesame 263 opener; disenchantment.
detector, probe; space
probe, spy satellite 276 spaceship; asdic, sonar; early warning system;
radar, radar trap, speed trap; breathalyser, breath test, sniffer torch; finder
442 telescope; lie detector, polygraph; Geiger counter 465 meter;
metal detector; divining road; water diviner; talent scout; discoverer,
inventor; explorer 268 traveller; archaeologist, speleologist, potholer
459 enquirer; prospector 461 experimenter; gastroscope,
auriscope, ophthalmoscope, colposcope 658 diagnosis.
That's a wealth of words - a wealth of ideas. And it's only
the beginning. Every number in that entry is an invitation to explore further.
For example, '459 search' means
that if you want to pursue the idea of 'discovery' as 'a search',
you will find more at 459; '438 inspection' lets you know where to go to research further the idea of 'discovery'
as 'an inspection'.
And as well as all
those possibilities, you can still go back to the Index:
discovery
manifestation
522 n.
disclosure
526 n.
discover
see
438 vb.
discoverer
precursor
66 n.
producer
164 n.
It's only 484 that we've looked at. There's still 522, 526,
438, 66 and 164.
A
work in progress
—
Keep adding to your word lists.
—
Put lists where you can see them – on the classroom
wall, above the desk where you study.
—
Mind map all the words and phrases that you find.
—
Keep extending your mind map.
—
Keep adding more as you discover more about Discovery.
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