Extension ONE –Crime Writing

Past HSC Questions

2011: In Crime Writing, composers not only scrutinise justice but also experiment with textual formsand features in response to different contexts.Evaluate this statement with reference to TWO prescribed texts AND texts of your own choosing.

2010:

Significant texts in any genre arise from specific social and cultural conditions and possess an enduring relevance.

Write an essay in which you explore the extent to which this is true of the texts you have studied in your elective.

In your response, refer to TWO prescribed texts AND texts of your own choosing.

2009:

Write an essay in which you explore the interplay of the traditional and innovative in Crime Writing. In your response, refer to TWO prescribed texts and texts of your own choosing.

2008:

Crime Writing explores the unraveling of mystery from different angles.

Write an essay in which you evaluate the extent to which this is true.

In your response you must refer to TWO prescribed texts AND at least TWO texts of your own choosing.

2007:

Passion is at the heart of Crime Fiction. Yet detachment is also crucial.

Write an essay in which you evaluate the extent to which this is true of TWO prescribed texts AND at least TWO texts of your own choosing.

2006:

Crime Fiction locates us in places of mystery and discovery.

Write an essay in which you evaluate the extent to which this is true of TWO prescribed texts AND at least TWO texts of your own choosing.

2005:

‘I’ll commit the perfect crime: a murder with no trace, no clues, no body. With no evidence, there can be no solution. As if nothing had happened. No motive to be discerned. Have I even committed a crime if it cannot be pieced together? If its story cannot be told? No-one can outwit me, not even you.’

The provided text reveals an imagined character’s thoughts.

Evaluate the extent to which these thoughts express the conventions, ideas and values of Crime Fiction.

In your response, refer to the provided text AND TWO prescribed texts AND other texts of your own choosing.

2003:

Genre sets a framework of conventions.

How useful is it to understand texts in terms of genre? Are texts more engaging when they conform to the conventions, or when they challenge and play with the conventions?

In your answer, draw on your knowledge of at least TWO of the prescribed texts from your Elective, as well as other texts of your own choosing.

2002:

One view is that ‘The appeal of crime fiction is in its teasing-out of order from disorder.’

What do you see as the grounds for the enduring popularity of crime fiction? In your answer, refer to at least TWO of the prescribed texts as well as other texts of your own choosing.

2001:

How do the conventions of the genre you have studied for this module limit or support the impact of the composer’s vision?

In your discussion, draw on your knowledge of at least TWO of the prescribed texts and other related texts.

Practice Questions

1. As an expert in crime fiction, compose the speech you make that examines the value and limitations of the genre to society.

2. ‘Crime fiction exposes both the potency and impotence of murder.’ Is this true from your study of the genre?

3. How does crime fiction reflect the context in which it is written? As the composers of the texts you have studied, write a series of journal entries that addresses this aspect of the crime fiction genre.

4. ‘Whilst the individual plots and contexts may change, the underlying values of crime fiction remain the same.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?

5. ‘Crime fiction is more than simply a tale of murder, it constitutes a comment on the society it describes.’ Write a radio segments where a pair of experts discuss this aspect of crime fiction.

6. ‘Whilst there is a definite recipe for crime fiction it is flexible enough to allow individual composers to be creative and make their messages clear.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?

7. The modern crime fiction has deviated from the classical form. In a feature article explore how and why this has occurred.

8. Crime Writing provides a solution for the crime, but not for the more complex problems raised in the texts.

9. In an age of computer technology, what does Crime Writing have to offer the public?10. Aspects of crime in particular contexts are the main concern of the elective Crime

Writing. How are these aspects given significance in the texts studied for this elective?

11. Boundaries challenge rather than restrict the individual. Evaluate this statement in terms of the texts you have studied. (2006 CSSA Trial)

12. Any Crime Fiction text expends most of its energy creating suspense and complex plots. This reduces its ability to offer serious social comment. Write an essay in which you evaluate the extent to which this is true of TWO prescribed texts AND at least TWO texts of your own choosing. (2008 ARC Trial)

13. One of the values of Crime [Writing] is that this genre bears a witness to what it is to be human; that humans have strengths and limitations. Evaluate this statement. (2008 Independent Trial)

14. ‘While the genre of crime writing covers a wide diversity of texts, these texts all engage with investigating a crime and associated social and moral issues.’ Evaluate this statement. (2009 Independent Trial)