Media and Dystopia

This comprehensive four-week English unit for a composite Year 9/10 class, 'Analyzing the Power of Persuasion,' immerses students in the art and science of influencing thought and action. Students will develop critical analytical skills to deconstruct persuasive texts across various forms, including written, spoken, and multimodal examples drawn predominantly from Australian contexts. The unit begins by establishing foundational understandings of persuasion, purpose, and audience, before progressing to a detailed analysis of language features, rhetorical devices, and structural choices. Students will explore the ethical implications of persuasive language, identifying explicit and implicit biases, values, and assumptions. The culmination of the unit involves students planning, drafting, and refining their own persuasive texts, demonstrating their ability to strategically employ persuasive techniques to achieve a specific effect on an intended audience. Through a differentiated instructional approach, both Year 9 and Year 10 students will engage with challenging content tailored to their developmental levels, fostering sophisticated literacy, language, and literature capabilities.