Meet Me at the Intersection

Reading and Understanding

Learning intentions and success criteria
LEARNING INTENTIONS
To understand:
that authors make deliberate language
choices to portray meaning
how writing styles can be manipulated to
add depth
the perspectives of different people who are
considered to be part of a minority group
the views and values of an author
SUCCESS CRITERIA
Surface:
I am able to identify the author’s:
writing style(s)
literary devices
intention(s): main take-home message
Deep:
I am able to make connections between the
studied text and the creative response
prompt (which will help me plan my
response in my next class)
Understanding the task
Task: Develop a portfolio of 3 creative responses
Over a period of 12 lessons, you will:

read and annotate your short stories

plan your creative responses
write your creative responses (under test conditions)
write rationales explaining your creative choices
You will then be given time to edit your portfolio and submit by the end of Week 5
How to annotate for a creative response
The most important part of this task is to make a highly convincing
connection between your chosen short story and your creative response.
Before you can start planning your response, you need to annotate the
important elements that will allow you to demonstrate your understanding.
There must be a tangible relationship present, which means you need to
have an in-depth understanding of the original text’s features. These
features include:

characterisation (what motivates the characters)

setting
plot
themes
author intentions
writing styles
literary devices
connections to the prompt (hint: write your prompt on the front page)
 Example
annotation
Move into reading groups
Creative Response 1
Groups:
1.

1.

1. Dear Mate (Echidnas)

2. Harry Potter and the Disappearing Pages (Dingoes)
3. Stars in our Eyes (Dingoes)
4. Almitra Amongst Ghosts (Emus)
5. The Last Stop (Emus)
6. Autumn Leaves (Emus)
7.

Together you will read and annotate your chosen short story.
Move into reading groups
Creative Response 2
Groups:
1.

1.

1. Sheer Fortune (Emus)

2. Fragments (Emus)
3. School of Hard Knocks (Dingoes)
4. Autumn Leaves (Dingoes)
5. How to be Different (Dingoes)
6. Harry Potter and the Disappearing Pages (Echidnas)

Together you will read and annotate your chosen short story.
Move into reading groups
Creative Response 3
Groups:
1.

1.

1. DNA (Echidnas)
2. Trouble (Emus)
3. Dream (Emus)
4. Night Feet (Dingoes)
5. The Last Stop (Dingoes)
6. The Other Son (Dingoes)
7.

Together you will read and annotate your chosen short story.
Meet Me at the Intersection
Planning
Learning intentions and success criteria
LEARNING INTENTIONS SUCCESS CRITERIA
To understand: Deep:
I am able to plan a creative response that
that authors make deliberate language allows me to demonstrate my understanding
choices to portray meaning of my chosen short story, taking into
how writing styles can be manipulated to consideration:
add depth
the perspectives of different people who are
considered to be part of a minority group writing styles
the views and values of an author literary devices
plot
characterisation
themes
symbols
author intentions
Understanding the task
Task: Develop a portfolio of 3 creative responses
Over a period of 12 lessons, you will:

read and annotate your short stories

plan your creative responses
write your creative responses (under test conditions)
write rationales explaining your creative choices
You will then be given time to edit your portfolio and submit by the end of Week 5
How to plan for a creative response
When you are planning, you need to make sure your creative
response will demonstrate that you read your original text closely
and perceptively. You can do this by acknowledging features of
the text.
Establishing a clear relationship between the original text and
your creative piece does not mean you need to replicate the text
(and to score highly on the rubric you mustn’t do this because the
criteria asks for an original and highly engaging response).
Instead, you can stylistically choose to reject or contrast
elements of the original text (as long as these choices are
deliberate, which your rationale will allow you to clarify).
 Examples of ways to establish a relationship between texts
1. Adopting or resisting the same genre as the original text : e.g. an epistolary genre (written in letters) –
do letters make an appearance in your text? Is that something you want to highlight? What about
writing a monologue or a script if the text is a film or a play?
2.

3. Adopting or resisting the author’s writing/language style : does your writer characteristically write
plainly or with great descriptive detail? What about irony or humour? Consider the length and style of
sentences. Are there frequent uses of symbols or metaphors?
4.

5. Adopting or resisting the text’s point of view : do you want to draw readers’ attention to another
thematic idea that was not explored in the original text? Will you align with the author’s views and
values or will you oppose them?
6.

7. Adopting or resisting the original narrative structure or tone

8.

9. Writing through a peripheral character’s perspective : give a voice to a minor character that didn’t have
a detailed backstory. Find a gap in the text and create and new perspective.
10.

11. Developing a prologue, epilogue or another chapter/scene : what new insight can you add with this
addition and extension of the text? It must add something new – otherwise it is a redundant addition.
12. Rewriting a key event/scene from another character’s point of view : does this highlight how important
narrative perspective is?
13.

14. Recontextualising the original text: by putting the same story or characters into a completely different
context, for example in the 19th century, how does the meaning change in the narrative?
15.

NB: These choices will then need to be explained in your rationale in lesson 4.
Example planning templates

Use one or a combination of the following templates when planning your response. You
may also choose to use your own planning method. Whichever structures you choose,
you must ensure it will allow you to complete both your creative response and
rationale.
You will be able to bring your plan in with you to your writing period (along with a
dictionary and writing materials).
NB: Your plans will be checked at the start of the writing period to ensure you have
only planned your response and haven’t already completed large chunks of it.
\
Example
planning
templates
Meet Me at the Intersection
Writing
Learning intentions and success criteria
LEARNING INTENTIONS SUCCESS CRITERIA
To understand:
that authors make deliberate
language choices to portray
meaning
how writing styles can be
manipulated to add depth
the perspectives of different
people who are considered to
be part of a minority group
the views and values of an
author
Understanding the task
Task: Develop a portfolio of 3 creative responses
Over a period of 12 lessons, you will:

read and annotate your short stories

plan your creative responses
write your creative responses (under test conditions)
write rationales explaining your creative choices
You will then be given time to edit your portfolio and submit by the end of Week 5
 Writing time
50 minutes

Permitted materials
- Writing materials
- Dictionary (no thesaurus)
- Creative writing plan
- Copy of the rubric
- Your Meet Me at the Intersection texts
Meet Me at the Intersection
Rationale
Learning intentions and success criteria
LEARNING INTENTIONS SUCCESS CRITERIA
To understand:
that authors make deliberate
language choices to portray
meaning
how writing styles can be
manipulated to add depth
the perspectives of different
people who are considered to
be part of a minority group
the views and values of an
author
Understanding the task
Task: Develop a portfolio of 3 creative responses
Over a period of 12 lessons, you will:

read and annotate your short stories

plan your creative responses
write your creative responses (under test conditions)
write rationales explaining your creative choices
You will then be given time to edit your portfolio and submit by the end of Week 5
Purpose of a rationale
The rationale (or written explanation) allows you to explain why
you made particular creative writing decisions and how it
demonstrates your understanding of your studied short story.
This will make it easier for your assessor to grade your ‘text
knowledge and understanding’ so make sure you are using the
rubric as a checklist of what to do in this section.
Rationale template

The rationale (or written explanation) allows you to explain why

you made particular creative writing decisions and how it
demonstrates your understanding of your studied short story.
This will make it easier for your assessor to grade your ‘text
knowldge and understanding’ so make sure you are using the
rubric as a checklist of what to do in this section.