VALUES & VALUING VALUES & VALUING TEXTS TEXTS

THE AUSTRALIAN OXFORD THE AUSTRALIAN OXFORD DICTIONARY DEFINITIONSDICTIONARY DEFINITIONS

►Value are ‘Value are ‘one’s principles or one’s principles or standards, one’s judgement of what is standards, one’s judgement of what is valuable or important in life’.valuable or important in life’.

►The way we understand the world and The way we understand the world and the ideas we have about it change the ideas we have about it change over time as do the values that inform over time as do the values that inform our actions and relationships. our actions and relationships.

►We need to consider the cultural and We need to consider the cultural and social assumptions in texts as well as social assumptions in texts as well as how they will change over time and how they will change over time and with different cultural perspectives.with different cultural perspectives.

► Ideas and themes cannot be understood Ideas and themes cannot be understood without understanding the values that without understanding the values that underpin them. E.g you can not underpin them. E.g you can not understand war without understanding understand war without understanding the values that inspire people to fight nor the values that inspire people to fight nor can you understand anti-war protests can you understand anti-war protests without understanding the values held by without understanding the values held by the people who participate in them.the people who participate in them.

► It is also possible for a person or society It is also possible for a person or society to have values that conflict with each to have values that conflict with each other.other.

► Composers of texts implicitly disclose the Composers of texts implicitly disclose the social, historical and cultural values and social, historical and cultural values and assumptions that underpin how their assumptions that underpin how their narrators and characters think, feel, and act. narrators and characters think, feel, and act.

► Characters may illustrate the shared values Characters may illustrate the shared values of their world such as mateship, integrity, of their world such as mateship, integrity, resilience, equality and loyalty. resilience, equality and loyalty.

► Values and cultural assumptions are not Values and cultural assumptions are not universal, they change over time and universal, they change over time and depend on context and culture.depend on context and culture.

► Composers create their texts in different Composers create their texts in different times and places for a contemporary times and places for a contemporary audience. They assume the reader will audience. They assume the reader will understand certain illusions and vocabulary understand certain illusions and vocabulary as well as aspects of the social, historical as well as aspects of the social, historical and cultural context in which they produce and cultural context in which they produce their texts. their texts.

► As Advanced English students you are As Advanced English students you are expected ‘to recognise different ways in expected ‘to recognise different ways in which particular texts are valued’which particular texts are valued’

Ideas, themes and values Ideas, themes and values explored in the text as a whole.explored in the text as a whole.►Composers explore ideas, themes and Composers explore ideas, themes and

values as part of the lived experiences values as part of the lived experiences of characters and the world they of characters and the world they inhabit. inhabit.

►As students you need to develop as As students you need to develop as detailed an understanding as possible detailed an understanding as possible about the ways in which composers about the ways in which composers use language to present ideas, themes use language to present ideas, themes and values.and values.

►Write a paragraph about how the Write a paragraph about how the composer of the related text NRL composer of the related text NRL Racism is spinning out of control has Racism is spinning out of control has used particular language features to used particular language features to develop a theme. develop a theme.