This course offers a historical overview and critical exploration of Indigenous media producers, writers, directors, and audiences around the globe. We will survey a wide range of mediums from film, radio, animation, video games, and new media and explore how they have been taken up by Indigenous media-makers to serve local needs and reach a wider audience. We will maintain a global perspective throughout the course, examining discourses about Indigenous peoples formulated from contact to the post-colonial era, highlighting issues of representation, modernity, and cultural continuity. In understanding how these discourses have been shaped through local assertions of cultural specificity and appeals to global Indigenous identity, the course maintains a critical interest in how Indigenous people have been defined and how they are now using media technologies to speak back and define themselves. We will also consider case studies while engaging with theoretical works that investigate the phenomenon of global Indigenous media movements. Through group presentations, we will also learn about many other Indigenous cultures, politics, and media efforts.
Overarching Learning Objectives
- Survey key foundational films and texts in Indigenous media studies
- Learn skills for analytical reading and discussion
- Apply readings and discussion to analyze and interpret media productions
- Analyze media production using theories and themes from readings in class discussion and in papers
- Understand Indigenous media production
Weekly Discussion Post 30%
You are required to write a reading response of about 250 words 10 times throughout the semester (you pick which 10 days you want to submit responses). These responses should have two paragraphs: in the first paragraph, you should summarize the readings and main points; in the second paragraph, you should reflect on the screening for the week and put it in conversation with the readings. The second part does not need to be a formal analysis but should not resort to merely saying what you liked or disliked. It should offer a sense of what was most interesting to you or surprising, and what questions you had about them. Paper copies only!
Group Presentation 10%
In groups of 2-3, sign up to give a 15- 20 minute presentation during one class of the semester. These presentations will inform the class on an Indigenous tribe/group around the world. Information that should be addressed in the presentation includes the region/nation where the tribe currently resides, current population, terminology, significant historical events associated with the tribe. You should also put this tribe in conversation with other Indigenous peoples we discuss throughout the semester and relate the local issues that seem important to this tribe to the global issues and aims of Indigenous peoples (i.e. modernity/technology, language, strategic traditionalism, land rights, globalization, environmental justice, intellectual property, etc.)
This assignment ensures that our conversations and generalizations about global Indigenous peoples consistently returns to and negotiates the specific histories and cultures of particular Indigenous communities. On a practical level, it also enables us to at least briefly discuss Indigenous communities we would not otherwise have time to include and are not as commonly discussed in Indigenous media studies. It provides opportunity to continue conversations early in the semester about who is Indigenous and what Indigenous media refers to. It also gives students experience with researching, navigating the communication and preparation of group work, and presenting.
Close Reading Assignments 30%
On four dates (detailed below in the syllabus) you will write a 500-word close reading of an assigned scene or sequence from that week’s screening. Your goal in these close-readings is to interpret, not to summarize what happens in the scene. A good close reading addresses the technical aspects of the medium as well as major thematic concerns. Links to clips will be sent out on Thursdays nights; and writing assignments will be due Monday night.
This assignment helps students practice writing a close reading/analysis that they will need to incorporate into their final papers. It is an opportunity to give feedback on student’s writing as well and ensures that there are scheduled occasions throughout the semester to return to the objective to develop students’ skills with research and writing about media, both through written feedback on these assignments and in class discussion about them.
Attendance and Participation 10%
Attendance both at screenings and in class sessions is mandatory.
Instructors who do not have the ability to schedule a separate screening time will need to consider if the screenings can be assigned as homework (many stream for free or cheaply online), or if some class time will be designated for screening/showing clips.
Final Paper 20%
Write a 6-8 page paper on a topic of your choice that explores a film or a theme that we have discussed in class. Should include close analysis and will require sources outside of what we read this semester.
This assignment gives students experience with research, developing an argument, and writing a longer paper that demonstrates what they have learned throughout the semester.
Loft, Steven and Kerry Swanson. Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art. University of Calgary Press, 2014. [free e-book available through Calgary Press]
Global Indigenous Media: Cultures, Poetics, and Politics. eds. Pamela Wilson and Michelle Stewart. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2008.
WEEKLY COURSE PLAN
All the readings not listed above will be available as PDFs or through links.
Week 1: Introductions
- Indigenous Media. Pamela Wilson, Joanna Hearne, Amalia Cordova, and Sabra Thornton. Oxford Bibliographies Online. .Oxford University Press, 2013.
This reading provides an accessible overview to the field of Indigenous media, introducing key themes of the semester that can be useful to build upon what students already know about Indigenous cultures, minority media production, etc.
Week 2: What is Global Indigenous Media?
- Introduction to Global Indigenous Media, “Indigeneity and Indigenous Media on the Global Stage.”
- Barclay, Barry. “Celebrating Fourth Cinema.” Illusions 35 (Winter 2003): 7-11.
Screening: short videos: Melissa Henry’s Horse You See (8 min.); Taika Waititi’s Two Cars, One Night (12 min.), Dustin Craig’s 4wheelwarpony (10 min.); Marcella Ernest Because of Who I Am (4 min.); excerpt from Tracey Moffatt’s BeDevil (90 min. total, but 3 chapters that an be viewed separately)
The readings this week are foundational works in Indigenous media studies and will be essential for forming the basis of their understanding about the context and history of Indigenous media, as well as the growing movement and aims of Indigenous media makers. The screenings this week should reinforce students’ understanding of the heterogeneity within Indigenous media.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 1
Week 3: Globalization, Media, and Indigenous Peoples
- Ginsburg. “Indigenous Media: Faustian Contract or Global Village?” Cultural Anthropology 6.1 (1991): 92–112.
- Ginsburg. “Native Intelligence: A Short History of Debates on Indigenous Media and Ethnographic Film.” Made to be Seen: Perspectives on the History of Visual Anthropology. ed. Marcus Banks and Jay Ruby. University of Chicago Press, 2012.
- Chapter 15 Global Indigenous Media, “Rethinking the Digital Age.”
Screening: Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr’s Ten Canoes (2006); 92 min.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 2
Students will be introduced to the history of visual anthropology and its relationship to Indigenous peoples. This raises issues of commodification, cultural appropriation, and globalization that point to Indigenous media as a site for negotiating control over representation and knowledge. The Ginsburg readings also highlight issues of the digital divide and the stratified production of Indigenous media. The screening will introduce students to the modes of storytelling and appropriation of Western media conventions, as the film plays with ethnographic conventions and uses tropes such as the first person storyteller.
Week 4: Politics of Interrelation
- Barnouw, Erik. Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film. 2nd Edition. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. p. 34-51
- Rothman, “The Filmmaker as Hunter: Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North.”
Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2014.
- Pack, Sam. “Reception, Identity, and the Global Village: Television in the Fourth World.” M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture. 3.1 (2000).
Screening: Flaherty, Nanook of the North (1922); 79 min. and excerpts from Massot, Nanook Revisited (1990); 60 min. this is a lot of screen time for one week!
Assignment Due: Reading Response 3 and Close Reading Assignment for Ten Canoes
The readings for this week should help students unpack and problematize the classic documentary Nanook of the North. It should generate discussion about whether Nanook is an Indigenous film because of Indigenous involvement, or if the exploitation of Indigenous peoples by a Western filmmaker keeps us from understanding it as an Indigenous film. What is at stake in this definition? The second film for the week, Nanook Revisited, also raises questions about intended audience and processes of recognition.
Week 5: Case Study – Native American Film and Media Production
- Singer, “Introduction: Thinking Indian Thoughts,” Chapter 4 “Native Filmmakers, Programs, and Institutions,” and Chapter 5 “On the Road to Smoke Signals.” Wiping the War Paint off the Lens: Native American Film and Video. University of Minnesota Press, 2001.
Screening: clips from Masayesva, Imagining Indians (1992) and Chris Eyre’s Smoke Signals (1998); 89 min.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 4
The readings and screening for this week demonstrate the range of styles and interests of Native American film and mediamakers. Smoke Signals is a more mainstream independent production where Imagining Indians is an experimental film. Both should lead to conversations about self-representation and negotiation with Hollywood stereotypes.
Week 6: Political Activism and Cultural Expression
Gaines, Jane. “Political Mimesis.” Collecting Visible Evidence. University of Minnesota Press, 1999. 84-102.
Leuthold, Steven. Introduction to Indigenous Aesthetics, University of Texas Press, 1998. 1-13.
Screening: Alanis Obomsawin, Kaneshatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993); 119 min.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 5
This week focuses on the relationship between Indigenous media and political activism. We will also consider the assumptions about documentary film and activism, and evaluate the efficacy of Indigenous documentaries as a global platform to inspire meaningful change.
Week 7: Case Study – Inuit Film and Media Production
- Raheja, “Visual Sovereignty, Indigenous Revisions of Ethnography, and Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner).” Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans on Film, University of Nebraska Press, 2010.
- excerpts from Evans, Isuma: Inuit Video Art, Mc-Gill-Queen’s University Press, 1998.
Screening: Kunuk, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) (2001); 172 min.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 6
By viewing one of the most written-about Indigenous films, students will be introduced to a case study that was critically successful even as it challenged Western conventions. We will talk about Indigenous storytelling, aesthetics, visual sovereignty (or the idea that representations stand in for discussions about sovereignty over land, knowledge, and culture), and cultural reenactment.
Week 8: Post-Colonial Identity and the Western Imaginary
- Hall, Stuart. “Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation.” Framework. 36 (1989). 68-81.
- Hall, Stuart, “Encoding/Decoding.” Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1972-79 London: Hutchinson, pp. 128-38.
- Huhndorf, Shari. Introduction to Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2001. 1-18.
Screening: Bowman, Navajo Talking Picture (1986); 40 min. 1491’s “I’m an Indian Too”
Assignment Due: Reading Response 7 and Close Reading Assignment for Atanarjuat
Bowman’s Navajo Talking Picture is viewed as one of the most problematic films because Bowman, an Indigenous woman, insists on filming her grandmother with whom she cannot communicate, but who apparently wants no part of the project. The film and reading highlight issues of Indigenous identity and appeals to authenticity. The readings, foundational works by Stuart Hall and Shari Huhndorf will invite students to grapple with the problems of self-representation and strategic traditionalism (the idea that Indigenous people strategically reclaim an essentialized traditional identity for political efforts), as well as the ways that Indigenous identity has been informed by the colonial imaginary, and to consider the relationship between Indigenous media and other minority representations.
Week 9: Case Study – Maori Film and Media Production
- Barclay, Barry. “A Fitting Companion”. Our Own Image: A Story of a Maori Filmmaker. University of Minnesota Press, 2015. 9–18.
- Chapter 2 Global Indigenous Media, “‘Lest Others Speak for Us’: The Neglected Roots and Uncertain Future of Maori Cinema in New Zealand”
Screening: Barclay, Ngati (1987); 92 min.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 8
This week will explore Maori cinema. It is a good moment to invite comparison with other films and case studies we have seen so far, and to think through questions of local specificity of media development and aims vs. the narrative of the global emergence of Indigenous media. Barclay is a prominent figure in Indigenous media, both as a filmmaker and theorist. Both of the readings and the film display Maori concerns for communicating with outsiders on their own terms.
Week 10: Case Study – Kayapo Film and Media Production
- Turner, “Defiant Images. The Kayapo appropriation of Video.”Anthropology Today, Vol.8.6 (1992), pp. 5-16.
- Carelli, Vincent, and Dominique Gallois. 1995. “Video in the Villages: The Waiapi Experience.” Center for Media, Culture and History, NYU. 7-11.
Screening: Selections from Carelli, Video in the Villages.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 9
This week, we will discuss Vincent Carelli’s project with the Kayapo people in Brazil. Some of the sequences are accusatory or even threatening to Western audiences. Discussion could focus on the politics of visibility, intended audience, and modes of address. The project highlights aspects of hybridity and collaboration, and invites discussion about the relationship between visual anthropology and media production. Although the readings pertain to Kayapo video production, it can be a good week to reference the Ginsburg readings from earlier in the semester.
Week 11: Radio, Podcasts, and Journalism
- Chapter 6 Global Indigenous Media, “Transistor Resistors: Native Women’s Radio in Canada and the Social Organization of Political Space from Below”
- Chapter 7 Global Indigenous Media, “Weaving a Communication Quilt in Colombia: Civil Conflict, Indigenous Resistance, and Community Radio in Northern Cuaca”
- Chapter 10 Global Indigenous Media, “‘To Breathe Two Airs’: Empowering Indigenous Sami Media”
Screening: Indian and Cowboy Network’s podcast Metis in Space (2015)
Assignment Due: Reading Response 10 and Close Reading Assignment (Boy)
This week offers a broad survey of radio, podcasts, and TV news productions. The readings and screening for this week show us local production practices as part of a global emergence of Indigenous broadcast media, and particularly sound across four communities in three countries. It is one of the few times throughout the semester that we talk about the Sami or Indigenous peoples of Colombia, so it is an opportunity to discuss regions where media production has not been as closely studied, factors preventing its growth compared to other communities, and background on why radio and local television is typically a more cost effective form of media production.
Week 12: Indigenous Animation
- Chapter 4 Global Indigenous Media, “Indigenous Animation: Educational Programming, Narrative Interventions, and Children’s Cultures”
- Twist, “Indigenous Animation Movement Rising, (available at: http://www.nativepeoples.com/Native-Peoples/November-December-2007/Indigenous-Animation-Movement-Rising/)
Screening: Carol Geddes’ Two Winters (2004); Joseph Erb’s Messenger (2004); episode of Raven Tales (2006); Kinnie Star’s Haida Raid 3: Save Our Waters (2014)
Assignment Due: Reading Response 11
Through the reading and screening this week, we will survey Indigenous animation from U.S. and Canada. The readings highlight the potential for children’s media to counter hegemonic, acculturating English language media with media presented in traditional languages. The screenings show the range of Indigenous animation from publicly broadcast morning cartoons like Raven Tales, experimental animation by Geddes, animations by Erb with Muscogee Creek children made in community youth and education programs, and political music videos like Star’s Haida Raid 3.
Week 13: Indigenous Video Games
- Chapter 3 Coded Territories, “A Better Dance and Better Prayers”
- Lewis and LaPensee, “Call it a Vision Quest: Machinima in a First Nations Context” from Understanding Machinima: Essays on Filmmaking in Virtual Worlds. ed. Jenna Ng. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.
- Guidelines for Game Analysis (available at: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/comparative-media-studies-writing/cms-300-introduction-to-videogame-studies-fall-2011/assignments/game-analysis/MITCMS_300F11_GameAnaGuide.pdf )
Screening: Upper One Game’s Never Alone (2014); Elizabeth LaPensee’s Invaders (2015); Spirits of Spring (2014); “Skins 2.0 Documentary” (available on vimeo)
Assignment Due: Reading Response 12
Drawing on conversations we have had throughout this semester, this week prepares students to extend their understanding of Indigenous media to video games. The readings introduce the goals and ideals of Indigenous video game development, strategies for “modding” and adapting current games and software to produce Indigenous content, and offers students experience with game analysis. The games we will play reflect commercial production, independent production, and community-based youth gaming programs. The readings also illustrate the gap between a tight knit community of game developers and scholars working as activists independent arenas compared to commercial production targeted to a mass global audience.
Week 14: New Media
- Chapter 13 Global Indigenous Media “Recollecting Indigenous Thinking in a CD-Rom”
- Nakamura, Lisa “Indigenous Circuits: Navajo Women and the Racialization of Early Electronic Manufacture” American Quarterly 66.4 (December 2014): 919-941.
- Chapter 7 Coded Territories, “Mediacosmology”
Assignment Due: Reading Response 13 and Close Reading Assignment from Animation/Video Game
Readings look at how traditional art practices and communication technologies can be preserved and built into the structure of new media technologies. The reading by Nakamura illustrates a situation where Indigenous involvement in early media production is convincingly read as exploitative on the basis that it employs narratives of traditional knowledge and culture as a skill set that justifies their labor in the production of computer circuits. This contrasts with the other readings which call for an understanding of new media technologies as an extension of traditional culture. The websites provide access to Indigenous content on the web, with Isuma as the Indigenous equivalent of YouTube.
Week 15: Decolonizing Media Studies
- “Introduction” and Chapter 8 “Twenty-five Indigenous Projects” from Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Dunedin: University of Otego Press, 1999.
Screening: Selections from the 1491s.
Assignment Due: Reading Response 14
Smith’s book is a key work in the field that challenges the research methods and epistemological approaches to studying Indigenous peoples. She problematizes potential research agendas and illustrates what research that contributes to the larger project of decolonizing research and knowledge through work on Indigenous culture can look like. This will be useful in preparing students to write their final papers and to think about the ethics of engaging with and writing about Indigenous media production as an object of study. Previous discussions should clarify the stakes that Smith identifies. The screening provides an opportunity for a more lighthearted final note, with videos from the comedy group the 1491s on YouTube.
Final Paper Due: submit electronically by 5PM on the day of our scheduled final. No final exam.


Keeping You Informed in Year 8
As part of our aim to keep you informed, we outline here the content of the curriculum studied by students in Year 8. We hope this will help you keep track of what is being taught and assist you in understanding the school curriculum.
In Term 1 of Year 8, students study a range of famous literary fiction which features animals.
Term 1 assessment task: critical response to opinion statement on unseen text. This links to GCSE Language Paper 1 Question 4.
In Term 2, students read a novel as a class to develop a deeper understanding of literary techniques. Students study the way characters are presented, the development of setting and how suspense is created. Key chapters will be analysed in detail to develop the students’ ability to comment on language and other features of writing.
Term 2 assessment task: descriptive writing – description of a place. This links to GCSE Language Paper 1 Question 5.
In Term 3, students explore poetry. During this project, students study a variety of poems linked with the theme of conflict.
Term 3 assessment task: comparative analysis of two poems. This links to GCSE Literature Paper 2 Section B.
During Term 4, students look at a range of non-fiction writing.
Term 4 assessment task: non-fiction writing of an argumentative article based on an opinion statement. This links to GCSE Language Paper 2 Question 5
In Term 5, students study a modern play. During this project, students develop their analytical skills when interpreting language, characters and the way the play has been structured.
Term 5 assessment task: analysis of language and structure in a play. This links to GCSE Literature Paper 2 Section A.
Term 6 begins with exploring a range of different non-fiction stories centred on survival, leading to students producing their own survival stories.
Term 6 assessment task: non-fiction writing to advise in the form of a letter. This links to GCSE Language Paper 2 Question 5.
In Year 8 we use our own teaching plan built around stages that is designed to support and develop students from their ability on entry to success at GCSE.
Terms 1 and 2
Students cover work on patterns, numbers and the number system, calculation, shape and space, algebraic manipulation and fractions.
Terms 3 and 4
Here we look at statistics, equations, probability and symmetry.
Terms 5 and 6
During these terms we study proportion, graphs and measurement.
Students are required to be equipped with a scientific calculator and geometry set for every Maths lesson. These can be purchased from the mathematics department through parent pay at no profit to us.
Students are assessed on 13 key skills each year. Three fortnightly tests concentrate on the same set of skills, allowing students to improve and consolidate their understanding, before moving on to a different set. In between the key skills tests, students are assessed on their ability to apply their understanding and reason mathematically when faced with longer worded questions. A couple of times a year, students sit longer review papers that help us to make predictions about the likely GCSE grade that might be achieved.
Homework is set once a week for approximately 60 minutes and will be taken from various sources including online using MyMaths.
In KS3 Science at Willingdon out Year 8 students will study topics in biology, chemistry and physics. Our schemes of work are based on the KS3 Hodder scheme and have key skills embedded in each topic. All topics have learning objectives for each lesson and students will complete a core and summative assessment for each topic.
Year 8 areas of study
C7 Periodic Table
P5 Magnets & Electromagnets
B6 Food & Digestion
C8 Extracting metals
B7 Lungs & Gas Exchange
C9 Reactions of acids
P7 Domestic & Static Electricity
C10 Describing reactions
P8 Waves and Sounds
B9 Muscles and Bone
C11 Earth and Atmosphere
B10 Inheritance and Evolution
C12 Innovative materials
P10 Application of Forces
B11 Drugs and Health
P11 Heat Transfer
P12 Exploring Space
Modern Languages - French
In Year 8, students will learn to recognise and produce phrases in tenses other than the present. This will include talking about what they did in the past tense and their ambitions using the near future. They will extend work from Year 7 to give opinions about a variety of topics. Students will also learn to talk about eating out and travel. Students follow the ‘Studio’ course. Students will also develop an understanding of grammar as well as an insight into French culture.
Homework will be set once a fortnight. There will be a variety of tasks ranging from vocabulary learning, reading tasks, and listening tasks. They will also be set speaking and written tasks to prepare for their assessments.
Assessments will be in the form of regular vocabulary tests, where spelling will matter, and more formal tests based on reading, writing, speaking and listening. They will be assessed on two skills per term: speaking/ reading and writing/ listening.
MODULE 1: Youth culture: TV, cinema, the internet and reading.
- Assessment 1: Speaking (talking about going to the cinema, reading and the internet) and reading
MODULE 2: Paris: saying what you can do there/ what students like doing and what they did when they visited different places.
- Assessment 2: Listening and writing (a description of yourself name, age, family, etc., your interests, what you like did while on holiday in a different town)
MODULE 3: My identity: talking about relationships, music/ clothes and last weekend.
- Assessment 3: speaking (talking about yourself, somebody, somebody you get on well/ do not get on well, what you do with them and describing an event in the past) and reading.
Modern Languages - Spanish
Year 8 students will follow a programme of study focusing on communication, sentence building and basic grammar to help them discover a passion for languages and giving them the basic skills in the language to be able to take it for GCSE. Students will be encouraged to use online resources to support their learning and become more independent learners. There will also be opportunities for students to do project work and to learn about Spanish and Latin American culture.
During Year 8, studies include the following topic areas:
- Learning the numbers, alphabet, pronunciation
- Understanding teachers’ instructions
- Knowing how to say the items in the classroom and school equipment
Module 1: Mi Vida/My Life
- Introducing yourself (name, age, how you are feeling)
- Describing your personality
- Talking about animals and pets
- Understanding dates
- Writing skills
Module 2: Mi Tiempo Libre/My Free Time
- Giving your opinion
- Describing the weather
- Talking about sports and leisure activities
- Using the Present Tense to talk about hobbies
- Speaking Skills
Module 3: Mi Instituto/My School
- Giving your opinion on school subjects
- Describing your school
- Present Tense (-er and –ir verbs)
Homework will be set once a week. There will be a variety of tasks to practice reading, listening, speaking and writing skills as well as vocabulary lists for students to learn.
Year 8 geography covers the following topic areas outlined below.
Unit 1: Young Geographer of the Year A chance for students to enter a national geography competition with the potential to win a trip to the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Unit 2: Food security Looking at supply and demand of food nationally, globally, and linking concepts to the rise of food banks in the UK.
Unit 3: Weather and Climate This highly relevant unit considers the need for change in the face of the effects of climate change.
Unit 4: Extreme environments An exciting topic where students get to look at a range of phenomenal environments.
Unit 5: Resource Management Students will think about how to provide for the daily needs of people and how different countries try to meet this need.
Unit 6: What shapes the land A first look at the central processes of erosion and deposition in physical geographical study. This unit links to our field trip to Eastbourne beach to experience basic fieldwork planning and techniques.
Unit 7: Global Issues Another opportunity for students to lead their own learning and research some of the geographical issues facing the world today with a primary focus on the plastic revolution.
The scheme of work has been designed to prepare students for the KS4 course and also introduces students to the types of command words and other transferable skills that they can expect to employ in later study. It is adapted to suit different learning styles and abilities. This layered learning approach means that students study issues in depth whilst getting to enjoy a huge variety of study which is delivered in range of forms. We also use an online Geography homework system which will be used to extend learning at certain points in the year and vary the homework options for the students.
There is a unit assessment that follows each topic of study. Within each assessment, there are questions that meet three assessment criteria and test the student’s ability:
a) To retain geographical knowledge and memorise key terms, facts and figures
b) To be able to link conceptual understanding with resources provided and answer in paragraphs using specialist terminology, accurate grammar and logical structure.
c) To be able to apply learned geographical skills to unseen data/ graphs/ maps. After each assessment is marked, the students receive their mark and follow up with DIRT (Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time) which allows them to work on their individual areas for development. The data gathered allows us to support students going forward, to provide advice on revision techniques and arrange additional support where required.
During Year 8 students will investigate the making of the modern world. Through a study of the transatlantic slave trade students will engage with themes such as racism, power and beliefs. Students will then move on to an enquiry on the changes in Britain 1750-1900. They will study the religious, social, political and economic changes of this period and consider how it affected different groups of people within society. Students will also investigate Britain’s place in the world at the turn of the twentieth century with an enquiry into how the British Empire should be remembered.
Finally, Year 8 students will delve into the horrors of the trenches of World War One. Students will investigate why the war began, who fought and the impact of the conflict.
During the year students will experience a variety of teaching and learning activities. Homework is used to consolidate and extend class work. Students are set a variety of tasks, appropriate to them including project work, descriptive writing and preparation for assessments. We will encourage students to carry out research to increase knowledge.
Students complete four formal assessments over the year:
Term 1: The English Reformation and interpretations of Mary I
Term 2: The Abolition of slavery
Term 3+4: Changes in Britain 1750-1900
Term 5+6: World War One
Ethics & Philosophy
In Ethics and Philosophy, we explore themes that emphasise concepts across and between religions (including alternative belief systems) and cover issues that impact students’ everyday life. In Year 8 these themes are; Environmental Issues and Peace and Conflict.
We also undertake systematic study of the content of a particular religion which leads to a coherent understanding of what it means to belong to that religion. In year 8 we study Islam.
We investigate contemporary ethical issues, focusing on the Holocaust and explore fundamental questions of human existence and right or wrong. In Year 8 such questions include- Why are people persecuted for their beliefs? Is it right to go to war? Is it our responsibility to care for the environment?
Students will be set key assessments which will include:
- Environmental Issues
- Peace and Conflict
Students will be set in single sex groups and will be set on their ability.
Students will study activities from the following programme:
- Mountain Biking
- Table Tennis
- Striking and fielding
- Outdoor and Adventurous Activities
- Demonstrate, apply and analyse the factors that underpin performance and involvement in physical activity and sport.
- Demonstrate and apply relevant skills and techniques in physical activity and sport.
- Analyse and evaluate own performance to identify areas of improvement.
Drama at Willingdon Community School aims to develop students’ skills as creative individuals, independent learners, and also effective group workers. The Drama curriculum builds distinct opportunities for students to develop key skills such as communication, negotiation, compromise and self-assertion. Students are encouraged to show confidence when speaking and their vocabulary is extended when they adopt roles and characters. Students will gain an understanding of subject-specific vocabulary and will also acquire a growth mindset through reflecting on and appraising their own work and the work of others. All of these skills are again highly transferable across other subjects and into employment.
The Year 8 programme of study builds on the performing and group working skills developed in Year 7 – with a focus on naturalistic and abstract performance.
Year 8 Drama
Crime and Punishment
This scheme is based on an historical crime. It intends to prepare pupils for devising work and builds on student’s abilities to use their imagination. They will explore stereotypical assumptions, a character’s motivation, non-verbal communication and marking the moment.
Physical Theatre – Metamorphosis
In this scheme students will identify and employ the concept of using physicality to represent character and objects. They will work cooperatively to present the story Metamorphosis using physical theatre and abstract techniques.
Our Grimm Tales scheme will enable students to develop skills in storytelling and textual analysis. They will examine how fairy tales have developed over time and how stories can be deconstructed to create new versions.
Students will investigate relationships between characters in Private Peaceful, particularly Tommo and Charlie
They will explore the experiences of young people at war and be able to empathise with them. They will create a performance in a Brechtian style.
At the end of each topic students will be set an assessment which aims to check their understanding of the topic, as well as developing their performing and writing skills.
The Drama curriculum offers a broad, coherent and rigorous course of study. It aims to inspire creativity in students. All assessments at KS3 will provide opportunities for students to make and understand drama, recognising it as a practical art form in which ideas and meaning are communicated. The assessments will prepare students with the knowledge and understanding required at GCSE.
Students in Year 8 will learn to develop confidence and technical skill through a thorough investigation of painting skills in different contexts. Students will also be building upon their skills developed in year 7 and drawing and observational skills will continue to feature in the curriculum alongside painting. They will learn effective painting techniques, focusing on experiments with paint consistencies, colour mixing techniques and brush control. They will learn aspects of colour theory and how to work from observation as well as secondary sources, using their research as an effective tool to inform class work studies.
Throughout the year, projects are linked to key artists and art movements so that students can develop their research and writing skills. Literacy is also focused on during the year and students learn how to analyse art works and be confident writers in expressing their observations and ideas in writing as well as analysing and evaluating their own work and that of their peers. Homework is set weekly to fortnightly; students are expected to spend a minimum of 30 minutes on homework tasks. Often the homework tasks may be ongoing as students develop a long term drawing or project which may extend over a number of weeks but will be monitored each week. Students are also required to collect research images and information about an artist or movement to support their class work project. The following explains what will be the key objectives which students will be assessed on throughout the year.
- Contextual research - To develop ideas using research of historical and contemporary artists, designers and craftspeople
- Media - To use a range of media, materials, techniques and processes to explore and refine your ideas.
- Drawing and recording ideas - To record ideas and use a range of drawing and recording techniques (including pencil, pen, painting, printing and photography and image manipulation)
- Final response - To complete a final, personal response in conclusion to the project in connection with your studies and research.
Projects usually span from 1-2 terms and finish with a final piece which is assessed in class before teacher assessments. Examples of previous projects include:
- Colour mixing and colour theory, focusing on the watercolour studies of Paul Klee
- Landscape painting inspired by the work of David Hockney
- Print making informed by ‘bugs and butterflies’ and looking at the work of E. Seguy and Damien Hirst
At Willingdon Community School students study a wide range of different musical styles and genres. Music plays an important role in the daily life, with all students being encouraged to participate in music-making and fostering musical ability at the highest level. The department is a "Champion School" for Musical Futures with KS3 following this learning method. With a Vocal Group, Warriors Band, School Ensembles, Rock and Pop bands, numerous music projects with outside agencies and a wide range of specialist music staff, the Music Department is one of the busiest and liveliest departments in the school.
Music is a unique form of communication that can change the way students feel, think and act. Music forms part of an individual’s identity and positive interaction with music can develop students’ competence as learners and increase their self-esteem. Music brings together intellect and feeling and enables personal expression, reflection and emotional development. As an integral part of culture, past and present, music helps students understand themselves, relate to others and develop their cultural understanding, forging important links between home, school and the wider world.
In Year 8 students will cover the following topics:
- Beats and Rhymes
- Image Junction
- Band Skills
- Exploring Technology
- Rhythms of the World
- The Blues
Assessment in music covers performance, composition and listening.
East Sussex Music Services
'Wherever music takes you, start your journey with East Sussex Music'
'If your child is interested in learning an instrument, they can sign up for lessons through East Sussex Music service’ Most students learn in a group with three or four other players so that every student can benefit from learning with others and making music together. If required, we also offer individual lessons. Lessons are held weekly for 30 weeks over the school year.'
Information & Communication Technology
During Year 8, students will continue to develop their awareness of e-safety, use higher order data handling skills, update their multimedia website, unpick the architecture of a PC and develop their coding skills in Python and Scratch.
- E safety speech
- Bits, Bytes and Binary
- Coding in Python
- Future Technology website
Design & Technology
Design & Technology is taught to all Key Stage 3 students. Years 7, 8 and 9 experience three main focus areas: Product Design, Systems and Control and Food Skills. ICT is used in each module.
In Year 8 we continue to develop Design and Technology capability and we build upon the skills, knowledge and understanding from Year 7. Whilst the projects may appear to result in very different outcomes, the essential core element of designing and making is evident, whatever the product. This enables students to realise that behind every product lies a common ‘design process’. It teaches students to understand, appreciate, make and evaluate products, and gives them an insight into methods of design and production.
Students are taught in groups of maximum 20, (mixed gender and ability), for a period of 7 weeks in one focus area by one teacher. They then move on to the next teacher for a different focus for a similar period until three modules have been completed across the year. Each module will have regular homework set. Typical homework will include research and investigation into existing products related to the topic, identifying and carrying out customer interviews and recording feedback; learning key vocabulary and appropriate, innovative design tasks.
For 2019/20 we offer the following range of modules and projects:
Module 1: Students learn about prototypes, the importance of good quality and packaging. They develop their CAD/CAM skills by designing jewellery,
for which a mould is made and a prototype cast in pewter. The project will involve designing and making. Students will work on practical tasks to produce a quality item.
Module 2: Developing skills associated with product design and production. Research and investigation into existing products. Core skills in designing by hand, transferring the design to a digital form and independent manufacture of a commercially viable product, developing enterprise skills and creating laser cut jewellery
Module 3: Focus of learning in Year 8 is about special dietary needs and the role protein plays in the diet. Students are shown how to make dishes
using different proteins that are suitable for these specific needs along with advanced cutting techniques. Assessment is based on practical work, literacy, homework and a written knowledge test.
Assessment for DT
For each of the three modules, the assessment will be based on:
- Technical knowledge
Assessment for Food
- Practical Skills
- Theoretical work including homework
- Written assessment
The delivery of PSHE education at Willingdon Community School acknowledges and addresses the changes that young people are experiencing, beginning with transition to secondary school, the challenges of adolescence and their increasing independence. It teaches the skills that will equip them for the opportunities and challenges of life. Pupils are encouraged to manage diverse relationships and the increasing influence of peers and the media. PSHE education allows them to be more confident in addressing the challenges of effective learning and making a full and active contribution to society.
At Key Stage 3, students build on the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding they have acquired and developed during the primary phase. PSHE education acknowledges and addresses the changes that young people are experiencing, beginning with transition to secondary school, the challenges of adolescence and their increasing independence. It teaches the skills that will equip them for the opportunities and challenges of life. Pupils are encouraged to manage diverse relationships and the increasing influence of peers and the media. PSHE education allows them to be more confident in addressing the challenges of effective learning and making a full and active contribution to society.
The programme of study at Key Stage 3 and 4 follows 3 core themes as identified by the PSHE Association. The 3 themes are covered throughout terms 1-6.
CORE THEME 1: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
This core theme focuses on
- How to manage transition
- How to maintain physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing;
- How to make informed choices about health and wellbeing matters including drugs, alcohol and tobacco; maintaining a balanced diet; physical activity; mental and emotional health and wellbeing; and sexual health
- Parenthood and the consequences of teenage pregnancy
- How to assess and manage risks to health; and to keep themselves and others safe
- How to identify and access help, advice and support
- How to respond in an emergency, including administering first aid 8. The role and influence of the media on lifestyle
CORE THEME 2: RELATIONSHIPS
This core theme focuses on:
- How to develop and maintain a variety of healthy relationships within a range of social/cultural contexts and to develop parenting skills
- How to recognise and manage emotions within a range of relationships
- How to deal with risky or negative relationships including all forms of bullying (including the distinct challenges posed by online bullying) and abuse, sexual and other violence and online encounters
- The concept of consent in a variety of contexts (including in sexual relationships)
- Managing loss including bereavement, separation and divorce
- To respect equality and be a productive member of a diverse community
- How to identify and access appropriate advice and support
CORE THEME 3: LIVING IN THE WIDER WORLD
(Economic wellbeing, careers and the world of work)
This core theme focuses on:
- Rights and responsibilities as members of diverse communities, as active citizens and participants in the local and national economy
- How to make informed choices and be enterprising and ambitious
- How to develop employability, team working and leadership skills and develop flexibility and resilience
- The economic and business environment
- How personal financial choices can affect oneself and others and about rights and responsibilities as consumers
At Willingdon we attach great importance to the links that exist between home and school, since we believe it is by working together that we can ensure the best possible education for your child.
One important aspect of this joint effort is HOMEWORK.
The school believes that homework is an essential part of learning. It can contribute very effectively to raising achievement, for the following reasons:
- It gives students an opportunity to work independently, and to take responsibility for their own learning;
- It helps students to recognise the link between good study habits and higher standards of achievement;
- It helps teachers check that students have understood class work;
- It can be used to extend work covered in class;
- And it can strengthen liaison between home and school.
We believe that students can best benefit from the work they bring home if they have full parental support, and it is for this reason that we have taken this opportunity to outline the school’s policy on homework and the part you can play in ensuring that your child develops and maintains good homework habits.
Timing and Quantity of Homework
Key Stage 3 - Years 7 – 9
Students should expect to be set homework weekly in the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, French and Design Technology, and at least fortnightly in Geography, History, Ethics, Art, Music and ICT. Students should therefore expect to have homework to do in one or two subjects each evening.
A range of homework tasks will be set, as appropriate to individual subject areas, including written and reading tasks, learning, collecting information and objects, conducting simple experiments or making models, sketching or designing, and carrying out surveys and interviews. It is important to note that homework does not always take a written form.
It is difficult to draw up a formal homework timetable with specific evenings allocated to specific subjects, since students in any one tutor group belong to a number of different teaching groups being taught a particular subject at different times of the week. We need, therefore, as teachers and as parents, to help students see the importance of planning their time sensibly, so that work does not accumulate, and deadlines are not missed.
Adequate time will always be allowed for completion of work. Staff will avoid requiring homework to be done for the next day as far as possible, realising that students may have family or extra-curricular commitments on certain nights.
Students in Year 7 should be spending approximately one hour per evening on homework. We do not, of course, wish to discourage students from spending more time than this if they are keen to do so, but we would not expect your child to struggle on throughout the evening with a piece of work that he or she found too difficult. We encourage students to carry out their homework tasks in a quiet place away from distractions, but recognise that this may not always be possible.
Failure to complete or hand in homework.
Students can be given a break-time detention or an after-school departmental detention. If the problem continues, individual departments or your child’s Director of Student Progress will inform you of the situation, and may suggest a meeting to discuss the problem. Where there are problems in a number of subjects, a student may be put on a Homework Monitoring Report until the situation improves.
We hope that the above outline of our policy on homework will help you to support your child and to monitor the work that he/she brings home. If you.


The Elements of Structure
Foundations: Central Concepts
In Dramatica, there are some central concepts that prove immediately useful. Presenting
these up front reveals the practical side of the theory and provides a firm foundation for
more in-depth explorations to come.
These central concepts are:
1. The Story Mind
2. The Four Throughlines
3. The Objective Story Throughline
4. The Main Character Throughline
5. The Obstacle Character Throughline
6. The Subjective Story Throughline
7. The Grand Argument Story
The Story Mind
One of the unique concepts that sets Dramatica apart from all other
theories is the assertion that every complete story is a model of the mind's problem
solving process. This Story Mind does not work like a computer, performing one
operation after another until the solution is obtained. Rather, it works more
holistically, like our own minds, bringing many conflicting considerations to bear on the
issue. It is the author's argument as to the relative value of these considerations in
solving a particular problem that gives a story its meaning.
To make his case, an author must examine all significant approaches to resolving the
story's specific problem. If a part of the argument is left out, the story will have
holes. If the argument is not made in an even-handed fashion, the story will have
Characters, Plot, Theme, and Genre are the different families of considerations in
the Story Mind made tangible, so audience members can see them at work and gain insight
into their own methods of solving problems. Characters represent the motivations of the
Story Mind (which often work at cross purposes and come into conflict). Plot documents the
problem solving methods employed by the Story Mind. Theme examines the relative worth of
the Story Mind's value standards. Genre establishes the Story Mind's overall attitude,
which casts a bias or background on all other considerations. When a story is fully
developed, the model of the Story Mind is complete.
The Four Throughlines
It is not enough, however, to develop a complete Story Mind. That
only creates the argument the audience will be considering. Equally important is how the
audience is positioned relative to that argument.
Does an author want the audience to examine a problem dispassionately or to experience
what it is like to have that problem? Is it more important to explore a possible solution
or to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of alternative solutions? In fact, all of these
points of view must be developed for a story to be complete.
An author's argument must go beyond telling audience members what to look at. I must also
show them how to see it. It is the relationship between object and observer that creates
perspective, and in stories, perspective creates meaning.
There are four different perspectives which must be explored as a story unfolds in order
to present all sides of the issue at the heart of a story. They are the Objective Story
Throughline, theMain Character Throughline, theObstacle Character
Throughline, and theSubjective Story Throughline.
The Objective Story Throughline
The first perspective is from the Objective Story Throughline,
so called because it is the most dispassionate look at the Story Mind.
Imagine the argument of a story as a battle between two armies. The Objective Story view
is like that of a general on a hill overlooking the battle. The general focuses on
unfolding strategies and, from this perspective, sees soldiers not by name but by their
function on the field: foot soldier, grenadier, cavalryman, scout. Though the general may
care very much for the soldiers, he must concentrate on the events as they unfold. Because
it emphasizes events, the Objective Story Throughline is often thought of as
plot, but as we shall see later, plot is so much more.
The Main Character Throughline
For a story to be complete, the audience will need another view of
the battle as well: that of the soldier in the trenches. Instead of looking at the Story
Mind from the outside, the Main Character Throughline is a view from
the inside. What if that Story Mind were our own? That is what the audience
experiences when it becomes a soldier on the field: audience members identify with the
Main Character of the story.
Through the Main Character we experience the battle as if we were directly participating
in it. From this perspective we are much more concerned with what is happening immediately
around us than we are with the larger strategies that are really too big to see. This most
personally involved argument of the story is the Main Character Throughline.
As we shall explore shortly, the Main Character does not have to be the soldier leading
the charge in the battle as a whole. Our Main Character might be any of the soldiers on
the field: the cook, the medic, the bugler, or even the recruit cowering in the bushes.
The Obstacle Character Throughline
To see the third perspective, keep yourself in the shoes of the Main
Character for a moment. You are right in the middle of the story's battle. Smoke from
dramatic explosions obscures the field. You are not absolutely sure which way leads to
safety. Still, before there was so much turmoil, the way was clear and you are confident
in your sense of direction.
Then, from out of the smoke a shadowy figure appears, solidly blocking your way.
The shadowy figure is your Obstacle Character. You can't see well enough to
tell if he is friend or foe. He might be a compatriot trying to keep you from stepping
into a mine field. Or, he might be the enemy luring you into a trap. What to do! Do you
keep on your path and run over this person or try the other path instead? This is the
dilemma that faces a Main Character.
To completely explore the issue at the heart of a story, an Obstacle Character must
present an alternative approach to the Main Character. The Obstacle Character Throughline
describes the advocate of this alternative path and the manner in which he impacts
The Subjective Story Throughline
As soon as the Main Character encounters his Obstacle, a skirmish
ensues at a personal level in the midst of the battle as a whole. The two characters close
in on one another in a theatrical game of "chicken," each hoping the other will
The Main Character shouts at his Obstacle to get out of the way. The Obstacle Character
stands fast, insisting that the Main Character change course and even pointing toward the
fork in the road. As they approach one another, the interchange becomes more heated until
the two are engaged in heart-to-heart combat.
While the Objective Story battle rages all around, the Main and Obstacle Characters fight
their private engagement. The Subjective Story Throughline describes the
course this passionate battle takes.
The Four Throughlines Of A Story You Know
Here are some examples of how to see the four throughlines of some well known stories.
Completed stories tend to blend these throughlines together in the interest of smooth
narrative style. From a structural point of view, however, it is important to see how they
can be separated.
Objective Story Throughline: The Objective view of Star
Wars sees a civil war in the galaxy between the Rebels and the evil Empire. The
Empire has built a Death Star which will destroy the Rebels if it isn't destroyed first.
To even hope for a successful attack, the Rebels need the plans to the Death Star which
are in the possession of a farm boy and an old Jedi master. These two encounter many other
characters while delivering the plans, ultimately leading to a climactic space-battle on
the surface of the Death Star.
Main Character Throughline: The Main Character of Star Wars is Luke
Skywalker. This throughline follows his personal growth over the course of this story.
Luke is a farm boy who dreams of being a star pilot, but he can't allow himself to leave
his foster parents to pursue his dreams. He learns that he is the son of a great Jedi
Knight. When his foster parents are killed, he begins studying the religion of the Jedi:
the Force. Surviving many dangerous situations, Luke learns to trust himself more and
more. Ultimately he makes a leap of faith to trust his feelings over his computer
technology while flying into battle as the Rebel's last hope of destroying the Death Star.
It turns out well, and Luke is changed by the experience.
Obstacle Character Throughline: The Obstacle Character of Star Wars
is Obi Wan Kenobi and this throughline describes his impact (especially on Luke Skywalker)
over the course of the story. Obi Wan is a wizened old Jedi who sees everything as being
under the mystic control of the Force. He amazes people with his resiliency and ability,
all of which he credits to the Force.
Subjective Story Throughline: The Subjective Story throughline of Star Wars
describes the relationship between Luke and Obi Wan. Obi Wan needs Luke to help him and he
knows Luke has incredible potential as a Jedi. Luke, however, needs to be guided carefully
because his desires are so strong and his abilities so new. Obi Wan sets about the
manipulations which will help Luke see the true nature of the Force and learn to trust
To Kill A Mockingbird
Objective Story Throughline: The Objective view of To
Kill A Mockingbird sees the town of Maycomb with its horns locked in various
attitudes over the rape trial of Tom Robinson. Due-process has taken over, however many
people think this case should never see trial. As the trial comes to fruition, the people
of the town argue back and forth about how the defense lawyer ought to behave and what
role people should take in response to this alleged atrocity.
Main Character Throughline: The Main Character of To Kill A Mockingbird
is Scout and her throughline describes her personal experiences in this story. Scout is a
young tom-boy who wants things in her life to remain as simple as they've always been.
Going to school, however, and seeing the town's reaction to her father's work introduces
her to a new world of emotional complexity. She learns that there is much more to people
than what you can see.
Obstacle Character Throughline: The Obstacle Character point of view in To
Kill A Mockingbird is presented through Boo Radley, the reclusive and much talked
about boy living next door to Scout. The mystique surrounding this boy, fueled by the
town's ignorance and fear, make everyone wonder what he is really like and if he's really
as crazy as they say.
Subjective Story Throughline: The Subjective Story view of To Kill A
Mockingbird sees the relationship between Scout and Boo Radley. This throughline
explores what it's like for these two characters to live next door to each other and never
get to know one another. It seems any friendship they might have is doomed from the start
because Boo will always be locked away in his father's house. The real problem, however,
turns out to be one of Scout's prejudice against Boo's mysterious life. Boo has been
constantly active in Scout's life, protecting her from the background. When Scout finally
realizes this she becomes a changed person who no longer judges people without first
trying to stand in their shoes.
Summary - The Grand Argument Story
We have described a story as a battle. The overview that takes in
the full scope of the battle is the Objective Story Throughline.
Within the fray is one special soldier through whom we experience the battle first-hand.
How he fares is the Main Character Throughline.
The Main Character is confronted by another soldier, blocking the path. Is he friend or
foe? Either way, he is an obstacle, and the exploration of his impact on the Main
Character is the Obstacle Character Throughline.
The Main and Obstacle Characters engage in a skirmish. Main says, "Get out of my
way!", and Obstacle says, "Change course!" In the end, the steadfast
resolution of one will force the other to change. The growth of this interchange
constitutes the Subjective Story Throughline.
Taken together, the four throughlines comprise the author's argument to the audience. They
answer the questions: What does it feel like to have this kind of problem? What's the
other side of the issue? Which perspective is the most appropriate for dealing with that
problem? What do things look like in the "big picture?"
Only through the development of these four simultaneous throughlines can the Story Mind
truly reflect our own minds, pitting reason against emotion and immediate advantage
against experience in the hope of resolving a problem in the most beneficial manner.
Now that you've added Story Mind, Objective Story
Throughline, Main Character Throughline, Obstacle Character Throughline, and Subjective
Story Throughline to your writer's vocabulary, you have all the background you need to
explore a whole new world of understanding: the Dramatica Theory of Story.
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The Dramatica theory was developed by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley
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What They Do
Dramatica is a tool to help you
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By itself Dramatic appeals to
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READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Radiocarbon Dating – The Profile of Nancy Athfield
Have you ever picked up a small stone off the ground and wondered how old it was? Chances are, that stone has been around many more years than your own lifetime. Many scientists share this curiosity about the age of inanimate objects like rocks, fossils and precious stones. Knowing how old an object is can provide valuable information about our prehistoric past. In most societies, human beings have kept track of history through writing. However, scientists are still curious about the world before writing, or even the world before humans. Studying the age of objects is our best way to piece together histories of our pre-historic past. One such method of finding the age of an object is called radiocarbon dating. This method can find the age of any object based on the kind of particles and atoms that are found inside of the object. Depending on what elements the object is composed of, radiocarbon can be a reliable way to find an object’s age. One famous specialist in this method is the researcher Nancy Athfield. Athfield studied the ancient remains found in the country of Cambodia. Many prehistoric remains were discovered by the local people of Cambodia. These objects were thought to belong to some of the original groups of humans that first came to the country of Cambodia. The remains had never been scientifically studied, so Nancy was greatly intrigued by the opportunity to use modern methods to discover the true age of these ancient objects.
Athfield had this unique opportunity because her team, comprised of scientists and filmmakers, were in Cambodia working on a documentary. The team was trying to discover evidence to prove a controversial claim in history: that Cambodia was the resting place for the famous royal family of Angkor. At that time, written records and historic accounts conflicted on the true resting place. Many people across the world disagreed over where the final resting place was. For the first time, Athfield and her team had a chance to use radiocarbon dating to find new evidence. They had a chance to solve the historic mystery that many had been arguing over for years.
Athfield and her team conducted radiocarbon dating of many of the ancient objects found in the historic site of Angkor Wat. Nancy found the history of Angkor went back to as early as 1620. According to historic records, the remains of the Angkor royal family were much younger than that, so this evidence cast a lot of doubt as to the status of the ancient remains. The lesearch ultimately raised more questions. If the remains were not of the royal family, then whose remains were being kept in the ancient site? Athfield’s team left Cambodia with more questions unanswered. Since Athfield’s team studied the remains, new remains have been unearthed at the ancient site of Angkor Wat, so it is possible that these new remains could be the true remains of the royal family. Nancy wished to come back to continue her research one day.
In her early years, the career of Athfield was very unconventional. She didn’t start her career as a scientist. At the beginning, she would take any kind of job to pay her bills. Most of them were low-paying jobs or brief Community service opportunities. She worked often but didn’t know what path she would ultimately take. But eventually, her friend suggested that Athfield invest in getting a degree. The friend recommended that Athfield attend a nearby university. Though doubtful of her own qualifications, she applied and was eventually accepted by the school. It was there that she met Willard Libby, the inventor of radiocarbon dating. She took his class and soon had the opportunity to complete hands-on research. She soon realised that science was her passion. After graduation, she quickly found a job in a research institution.
After college, Athfield’s career in science blossomed. She eventually married, and her husband landed a job at the prestigious organisation GNN. Athfield joined her husband in the same organisation, and she became a lab manager in the institution. She earned her PhD in scientific research, and completed her studies on a kind of rat when it first appeared in New Zealand. There, she created original research and found many flaws in the methods being used in New Zealand laboratories. Her research showed that the subject’s diet led to the fault in the earlier research. She was seen as an expert by her peers in New Zealand, and her opinion and expertise were widely respected. She had come a long way from her old days of working odd jobs. It seemed that Athfield’s career was finally taking off.
But Athfield’s interest in scientific laboratories wasn’t her only interest. She didn’t settle down in New Zealand. Instead, she expanded her areas of expertise. Athfield eventually joined the field of Anthropology, the study of human societies, and became a well-qualified archaeologist. It was during her blossoming career as an archaeologist that Athfield became involved with the famous Cambodia project. Even as the filmmakers ran out of funding and left Cambodia, Athfield continued to stay and continue her research.
In 2003, the film was finished in uncertain conclusions, but Nancy continued her research on the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. This research was not always easy. Her research was often delayed by lack of funding, and government paperwork. Despite her struggles, she committed to finishing her research. Finally, she made a breakthrough. Using radiocarbon dating, Athfield completed a database for the materials found in Cambodia. As a newcomer to Cambodia, she lacked a complete knowledge of Cambodian geology, which made this feat even more difficult. Through steady determination and ingenuity, Athfield finally completed the database. Though many did not believe she could finish, her research now remains an influential and tremendous contribution to geological sciences in Cambodia. In the future, radiocarbon dating continues to be a valuable research skill. Athfield will be remembered as one of the first to bring this scientific method to the study of the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on you answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
1 Nancy Athfield first discovered the ancient remains in Cambodia.
2 The remains found in the Cambodia was in good condition.
3 Nancy took some time off from her regular work to do research in Cambodia.
4 The Cambodia government asked Nancy to radiocarbon the remains.
5 The filmmakers aimed to find out how the Angkor was rebuilt.
6 Nancy initially doubted whether the royal family was hidden in Cambodia.
7 Nancy disproved the possibility that the remains belonged to the Angkor royal family.
Complete the flow-chart below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
The Career of Nancy Athfield
During her mid-teens, Nancy wasn’t expected to attend 8……………………..
Willard Billy later helped Nancy to find that she was interested in science.
Her PhD degree was researching when a kind of 9………………………., first went into New Zealand.
Her research showed that the subject’s 10………………………… accounted for the fault in the earlier research.
She was a professional 11………………….. before she went back to Cambodia in 2003.
When she returned Cambodia, the lack of 12……………………….. was a barrier for her research.
Then she compiled the 13……………………… of the Cambodia radiocarbon dating of the ancients.
After that, the lack of a detailed map of the geology of Cambodia became a hindrance of her research.
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Are Artists Liars?
Shortly before his death, Marlon Brando was working on a series of instructional videos about acting, to he called “Lying for a Iiving”. On the surviving footage, Brando can he seen dispensing gnomic advice on his craft to a group of enthusiastic, if somewhat bemused, Hollywood stars, including Leonardo Di Caprio and Sean Penn. Brando also recruited random people from the Los Angeles street and persuaded them to improvise (the footage is said to include a memorable scene featuring two dwarves and a giant Samoan). “If you can lie, you can act.” Brando told Jod Kaftan, a writer for Rolling Stone and one of the few people to have viewed the footage. “Are you good at lying?” asked Kaftan. “Jesus.” said Brando, “I’m fabulous at it”.
Brando was not the first person to note that the line between an artist and a liar is a line one. If art is a kind of lying, then lying is a form of art, albeit of a lower order-as Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain have observed. Indeed, lying and artistic storytelling spring from a common neurological root-one that is exposed in the cases of psychiatric patients who suffer from a particular kind of impairment. Both liars and artists refuse to accept the tyranny of reality. Both carefully craft stories that are worthy of belief – a skill requiring intellectual sophistication, emotional sensitivity and physical self-control (liars are writers and performers of their own work). Such parallels are hardly coincidental, as I discovered while researching my book on lying.
A case study published in 1985 by Antonio Damasio, a neurologist, tells the story of a middle-aged woman with brain damage caused by a series of strokes. She retained cognitive abilities, including coherent speech, but what she actually said was rather unpredictable. Checking her knowledge of contemporary events, Damasio asked her about the Falklands War. In the language of psychiatry, this woman was “confabulating”. Chronic confabulation is a rare type of memory problem that affects a small proportion of brain damaged people. In the literature it is defined as “the production of fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted memories about oneself or the world, without the conscious intention to deceive”. Whereas amnesiacs make errors of omission, there are gaps in their recollections they find impossible to fill – confabulators make errors of commission: they make tilings up. Rather than forgetting, they are inventing. Confabulating patients are nearly always oblivious to their own condition, and will earnestly give absurdly implausible explanations of why they’re in hospital, or talking to a doctor. One patient, asked about his surgical sear, explained that during the Second World War he surprised a teenage girl who shot him three times in the head, killing him, only for surgery to bring him back to life. The same patient, when asked about his family, described how at various times they had died in his arms, or had been killed before his eyes. Others tell yet more fantastical tales, about trips to the moon, fighting alongside Alexander in India or seeing Jesus on the Cross. Confabulators aren’t out to deceive. They engage in what Morris Moseovitch, a neuropsychologist, calls “honest lying”. Uncertain and obscurely distressed by their uncertainty, they are seized by a “compulsion to narrate”: a deep-seated need to shape, order and explain what they do not understand. Chronic confabulators are often highly inventive at the verbal level, jamming together words in nonsensical but suggestive ways: one patient, when asked what happened to Queen Marie Antoinette of France, answered that she had been “suicided” by her family. In a sense, these patients are like novelists, as described by Henry James: people on whom “nothing is wasted”. Unlike writers, however, they have little or no control over their own material.
The wider significance of this condition is what it tells us about ourselves. Evidently, there is a gushing river of verbal creativity in the normal human mind, from which both artistic invention and lying are drawn. We are born storytellers, spinning, narrative out of our experience and imagination, straining against the leash that keeps us tethered to reality. This is a wonderful thing; it is what gives us out ability to conceive of alternative futures and different worlds. And it helps us to understand our own lives through the entertaining stories of others. But it can lead us into trouble, particularly when we try to persuade others that our inventions are real. Most of the time, as our stories bubble up to consciousness, we exercise our cerebral censors, controlling which stories we tell, and to whom. Yet people lie for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that confabulating can be dangerously fun.
During a now-famous libel case in 1996, Jonathan Aitken, a former cabinet minister, recounted a tale to illustrate the horrors he endured after a national newspaper tainted his name. The case, which stretched on for more than two years, involved a series of claims made by the Guardian about Aitken’s relationships with Saudi arms dealers, including meetings he allegedly held with them on a trip to Paris while he was a government minister. Whitt amazed many in hindsight was the sheer superfluity of the lies Aitken told during his testimony. Aitken’s case collapsed in June 1997, when the defence finally found indisputable evidence about his Paris trip. Until then, Aitken’s charm, fluency and flair for theatrical displays of sincerity looked as if they might bring him victory, they revealed that not only was Aitken’s daughter not with him that day (when he was indeed doorstepped), but also that the minister had simply got into his car and drove off, with no vehicle in pursuit.
Of course, unlike Aitken, actors, playwrights and novelists are not literally attempting to deceive us, because the rules are laid out in advance: come to the theatre, or open this book, and we’ll lie to you. Perhaps this is why we fell it necessary to invent art in the first place: as a safe space into which our lies can be corralled, and channeled into something socially useful. Given the universal compulsion to tell stories, art is the best way to refine and enjoy the particularly outlandish or insight till ones. But that is not the whole story. The key way in which artistic “lies” differ from normal lies, and from the “honest lying” of chronic confabulators, is that they have a meaning and resonance beyond their creator. The liar lies on behalf of himself; the artist tell lies on behalf of everyone. If writers have a compulsion to narrate, they compel themselves to find insights about the human condition. Mario Vargas Llosa has written that novels “express a curious truth that can only he expressed in a furtive and veiled fashion, masquerading as what it is not.” Art is a lie whose secret ingredient is truth.
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Unsuccessful deceit
ii Biological basis between liars and artists
iii How to lie in an artistic way
iv Confabulations and the exemplifiers
v The distinction between artists and common liars
vi The fine line between liars and artists
vii The definition of confabulation
viii Creativity when people lie
14 Paragraph A
15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 20-21 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements about people suffering from confabulation are true?
A They have lost cognitive abilities.
B They do not deliberately tell a lie.
C They are normally aware of their condition
D They do not have the impetus to explain what they do not understand.
E They try to make up stories.
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 22-23 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements about playwrights and novelists are true?
A They give more meaning to the stories.
B They tell lies for the benefit of themselves.
C They have nothing to do with the truth out there.
D We can be misled by them if not careful.
E We know there are lies in the content.
Complete the summary below.
hoose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
A 24………………………. accused Jonathan Aitken, a former cabinet minister, who was selling and buying with 25……………………… Aitken’s case collapsed in June 1997, when the defence finally found indisputable evidence about his Paris trip. He was deemed to have his 26…………………….. They revealed that not only was Aitken’s daughter not with him that day, but also that the minister had simply got into his car and drove off, with no vehicle in pursuit.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
What is Meaning
—Why do we respond to words and symbols in the waves we do?
The end, product of education, yours and mine and everybody’s, is the total pattern of reactions and possible reactions we have inside ourselves. If you did not have within you at this moment the pattern of reactions that we call “the ability to read.” you would see here only meaningless black marks on paper. Because of the trained patterns of response, you are (or are not) stirred to patriotism by martial music, your feelings of reverence are aroused by symbols of your religion, you listen more respectfully to the health advice of someone who has “MD” after his name than to that of someone who hasn’t. What I call here a “pattern of reactions”, then, is the sum total of the ways we act in response to events, to words, and to symbols.
Our reaction patterns or our semantic habits, are the internal and most important residue of whatever years of education or miseducation we may have received from our parents’ conduct toward us in childhood as well as their teachings, from the formal education we may have had, from all the lectures we have listened to, from the radio programs and the movies and television shows we have experienced, from all the books and newspapers and comic strips we have read, from the conversations we have had with friends and associates, and from all our experiences. If, as the result of all these influences that make us what we are, our semantic habits are reasonably similar to those of most people around us, we are regarded as “normal,” or perhaps “dull.” If our semantic habits are noticeably different from those of others, we are regarded as “individualistic” or “original.” or, if the differences are disapproved of or viewed with alarm, as “crazy.”
Semantics is sometimes defined in dictionaries as “the science of the meaning of words”— which would not be a bad definition if people didn’t assume that the search for the meanings of words begins and ends with looking them up in a dictionary. If one stops to think for a moment, it is clear that to define a word, as a dictionary does, is simply to explain the word with more words. To be thorough about defining, we should next have to define the words used in the definition, then define the words used in defining the words used in the definition and so on. Defining words with more words, in short, gets us at once into what mathematicians call an “infinite regress”. Alternatively, it can get us into the kind of run-around we sometimes encounter when we look up “impertinence” and find it defined as “impudence,” so we look up “impudence” and find it defined as “impertinence.” Yet—and here we come to another common reaction pattern—people often act as if words can be explained fully with more words. To a person who asked for a definition of jazz, Louis Armstrong is said to have replied, “Man. when you got to ask what it is, you’ll never get to know,” proving himself to be an intuitive semanticist as well as a great trumpet player.
Semantics, then, does not deal with the “meaning of words” as that expression is commonly understood. P. W. Bridgman, the Nobel Prize winner and physicist, once wrote, “The true meaning of a term is to be found by observing what a man does with it, not by what he says about it.” He made an enormous contribution to science by showing that the meaning of a scientific term lies in the operations, the things done, that establish its validity, rather than in verbal definitions.
Here is a simple, everyday kind of example of “operational” definition. If you say, “This table measures six feet in length,” you could prove it by taking a foot rule, performing the operation of laying it end to end while counting, “One…two…three…four…” But if you say—and revolutionists have started uprisings with just this statement “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains!”—what operations could you perform to demonstrate its accuracy or inaccuracy?
But let us carry this suggestion of “operationalism” outside the physical sciences where Bridgman applied it, and observe what “operations” people perform as the result of both the language they use and the language other people use in communicating to them. Here is a personnel manager studying an application blank. He comes to the words “Education: Harvard University,” and drops the application blank in the wastebasket (that’s the “operation”) because, as he would say if you asked him, “I don’t like Harvard men.” This is an instance of “meaning” at work—but it is not a meaning that can be found in dictionaries.
If I seem to be taking a long time to explain what semantics is about, it is because I am trying, in the course of explanation, to introduce the reader to a certain way of looking at human behavior. I say human responses because, so far as we know, human beings are the only creatures that have, over and above that biological equipment which we have in common with other creatures, the additional capacity for manufacturing symbols and systems of symbols. When we react to a flag, we are not reacting simply to a piece of cloth, but to the meaning with which it has been symbolically endowed. When we react to a word, we are not reacting to a set of sounds, but to the meaning with which that set of sounds has been symbolically endowed.
A basic idea in general semantics, therefore, is that the meaning of words (or other symbols) is not in the words, but in our own semantic reactions. If I were to tell a shockingly obscene story in Arabic or Hindustani or Swahili before an audience that understood only English, no one would blush or be angry; the story would be neither shocking nor obscene-induced, it would not even be a story. Likewise, the value of a dollar bill is not in the bill, but in our social agreement to accept it as a symbol of value. If that agreement were to break down through the collapse of our government, the dollar bill would become only a scrap of paper. We do not understand a dollar bill by staring at it long and hard. We understand it by observing how people act with respect to it. We understand it by understanding the social mechanisms and the loyalties that keep it meaningful. Semantics is therefore a social study, basic to all other social studies.
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
27 What point is made in the first paragraph?
A The aim of education is to teach people to read
B Everybody has a different pattern of reactions.
C Print only carries meaning to those who have received appropriate ways to respond.
D The writers should make sure their works satisfy a variety of readers.
28 According to the second paragraph, people are judged by
A the level of education.
B the variety of experience.
C how conventional their responses are.
D complex situations.
29 What point is made in the third paragraph?
A Standard ways are incapable of defining words precisely.
B A dictionary is most scientific in defining words.
C A dictionary should define words in as few words as possible.
D Mathematicians could define words accurately.
30 What does the writer suggest by referring to Louis Armstrong?
A He is an expert of language.
B Music and language are similar.
C He provides insights to how words are defined.
D Playing trumpet is easier than defining words.
31 What does the writer intend to show about the example of “personnel manager”?
A Harvard men are not necessarily competitive in the job market.
B Meaning cannot always be shared by others.
C The idea of operationalism does not make much sense outside the physical science.
D Job applicants should take care when filling out application forms.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 32-35 on you answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
32 Some statements are incapable of being proved or disproved.
33 Meaning that is personal to individuals is less worthy to study than shared meanings.
34 Flags and words are eliciting responses of the same reason.
35 A story can be entertaining without being understood.
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
36 A comic strip
37 A dictionary
39 A story in a language the audience cannot understand
40 A dollar bill
A is meaningless.
B has lasting effects on human behaviors.
C is a symbol that has lost its meaning.
D can be understood only in its social context.
E can provide inadequate explanation of meaning.
F reflects the variability of human behaviors.
G emphasizes the importance of analyzing how words were used.
H suggests that certain types of behaviors carry more meanings than others.
2. NOT GIVEN
3. NOT GIVEN
6. NOT GIVEN
24. national newspaper
25. arms dealers
33. NOT GIVEN