home

=​​Welcome to the Year 9 English Wiki page! =

//May 26th 2010//

Our next unit will be: =Issues & Persuasive Writing =  **Assessment Task:** Letter to the Editor (500 words)
 * Due Date:** To be confirmed

= = = = =Introduction to an issue - The burqa ban debate =  Click on the following photo link and watch the **video** featuring **Reverend Fred Nile** and **Muslim author and lawyer Randa Abdel-Fattah** presenting their opposing views on this issue:

​

 Click on the following links to read the **news articles** surrounding this issue:
 * 1) Burqa theft prompts Abbott to echo Howard's concerns
 * 2) Burqa debate stopped in NSW upper house
 * 3) France bans Muslim tourists from wearing veil

Click on the following links to read **opinion articles** supporting both sides of this issue:
 * 1) An open society has no place for the burqa
 * 2) The burqa is a war on women
 * 3) Let's face facts, the burqa is an affront to feminism
 * 4) For Australia's sake, we need to ban the burqa
 * 5) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The burqa's not unAustralian, but banning it sure is
 * 6) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">What women wear is their business
 * 7) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The West veils plenty when it condemns the burqa

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Below are some links to **letters to the editor** on this issue:
 * 1) <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Isolated women will bear brunt

=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Vocabulary =
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**"Subjugation":** 'act of forcing into submission' - the act or process of bringing somebody, especially a people or nation, under the control of another.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**"Paternalism":** 'telling people what is best' - a style of government or management, or an approach to personal relationships, in which the desire to help, advise, and protect may neglect individual choice and personal responsibility.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**"Egalitarian"**: 'believing in equality' - maintaining, relating to, or based on a belief that all people are, in principle, equal and should enjoy equal social, political, and economic rights and opportunities.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">//June 3rd 2010//

=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Writing your own Letters to the Editor... =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Firstly, congratulations again on your fantastic class discussion on this forum about the issue of 'banning the burqa' - you developed some very persuasive arguments for both sides on the issue - well done!

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Your assessment task:** Write a letter to the editor responding to an issue from recent news

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The issue must have been discussed in Australian media in the last 12 months.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">You will be assessed on how effectively you use persuasive techniques to influence the reader, as well as how you have gathered relevant information from various sources.
 * Word limit:** 500 words (one letter of 500 words or two letters of 250 words each considering opposing sides the same issue)


 * Due Date:** Friday 11th June, Period 4

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Your task for today's lesson is:**
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Choose your issue **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> (you can check it with me tomorrow if you have any concerns)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Come up with a contention **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> (a sentence stating what you will be arguing, such as "That the burqa should/shouldn't be banned in Australian society")
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Make notes on this issue from at least 3 difference sources **<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> (keep a record of where the info comes from - look in your school diary for the correct bibliography format)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**List 3 persuasive arguments for/against the issue, with supporting evidence** (statistics, quotes from experts etc)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Consider some persuasive techniques you could use in your letters** (personal anecdote, emotive appeals, rhetorical questions etc.)

Resources: ** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> You can use the resources in the library - not just the newspapers from recent weeks, but also the online information at: https://library.macrob.vic.edu.au/index.html (click on the 'Media' tab and there are online databases you can explore)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">

Another excellent online resource is The Age Education 'Issues in the News' section. This is a weekly exploration of an issue that is currently relevant in Australia and they keep an archive from the past years. You can access that here: http://education.theage.com.au/cmsarchive.php?intcmspageid=135&linkid=168

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Feel free to email me with any questions/concerns.

Good luck - I look forward to reading your letters!

~ Ms Madden :)**