Creative Writing - Change

Some past HSC paper questions. This section is always worth 15 marks.

HSC 2001
The school magazine committee has asked students to submit stories on the concept
of change.
Write a story for the magazine.
Use ONE of the following as the basis of your story.
(a) ‘Dancing to a different beat.’
Or
(b) ‘Now it’s their turn to choose.’
Or
(c)












HSC 2003
You are entering a writing competition for young writers. The competition is called ‘Pictures of Change’.
Write a story about a picture of change.
Use ONE of the images as the basis for the beginning or ending of your story. You may write from any point of view you choose.

Get Stimulated!

Start what, from where?
Use this as a stimulus for a piece of creative writing.
Thanks to my friend TOA for the pic.



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Gaiman is teh clever

Here, as promised, is the vid footage of Neil Gaiman reading his short story 'Orange'.
Enjoy.

Prince of Denmark!

This is way cool! And here's a picture!

Conformity

An image that helps to illustrate the idea of urban conformity - Collins Street, 5pm by John Brack.

From: http://uk.encarta.msn.com/media_121627984/collins_street_5_pm_by_john_brack.html

Questions:
1. Comment on the colours used. What does this suggest about the composer's ideas of city life?
2. What do the subjects wear? Account for their clothing.
3. How can you tell that this is an Australian painting?
4. Describe the facial expressions of the subjects. Why are they all facing the same way?
5. What do the buildings tell you about the environment they are in? Is the tree significant?
6. What traditionally happens at 5pm in cities?
7. Using your answers to the previous questions, explain how the composer conveys his views on urban conformity.

How much does a Grecian Urn?

Boom Tish.
Photos of Greek urns from the Musee de Aquitaine, Bordeaux. Taken through glass, so they're not great. But you can get the idea of what Keats was looking at.

Read more books!

Hey guys
Welcome to your holidays. I hope you get lots of rest, and have many good adventures.
I've been promising a wide reading list for a while, and here is a kinda list...I feel like it will never be complete, so I would suggest using it as a guide. The idea is to get you reading outside the square, or outside your normal comfort zone.

Films
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
Dark City
Citien Kane
Alice in Wonderland (Disney cartoon)
Brazil
Animal Farm (cartoon)
Any Marx Bros Film - the best is A Night at the Opera
Harry Potter - all of them
Anything and everything by Tim Burton
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Anything by Baz Luhrmann
Shrek
Any Monty Python
Being John Malkovich
Delicatessan or City of Lost Children (French)
Butterfly Effect
Any Miyazaki film - Spirited Away, My Friend Totoro, etc.

Novels and Stuff
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catch 22
Anything by Evelyn Waugh
A Herman Hesse, Gunter Grass, Jean-Paul Sarte, or any other European writer from between 1900 and 1950
Animal Farm, or 1984
All Harry Potter
Anything by Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman
Anything by Mike Morre
Everything by Roald Dahl
Tolkien
Australian authors - Henry Lawson, Patrick White, Tim winton, Peter Carey, John Marsden, Ruth Park, Nadia Wheatley

Anything, and everything else you can! The most important things is that you fill your mind, your imagination with the ideas of others, to know what is possible in your own writing, and ultimately the world!

Have fun!