English

Introduction to Focus: Inner Journeys

Through this focus students explore the ways in which texts depict journeys of the mind and spirit. Inner journeys involve the exploration of the self, as individuals review their growth and development in the light of experiences which challenge and inspire them. Students examine the underlying assumptions about these inner journeys and consider the power of the inner journey to challenge their thinking. In their responding and composing, students reflect on the ways these inner journeys provide new insights and understanding of the world and themselves.

This focus on the journey is explored through at least one of the following:

Prose Fiction

· Ballard, J G, Empire of the Sun, HarperCollins, 1994, ISBN 0006547001

Drama

· Nowra, Louis, Così, Currency Press, 1994, ISBN 0868194034

Poetry

· Watson, Ken (ed), Imagined Corners, St Clair Press, 1999, ISBN 0949898937

Sujata Bhatt, ‘The One Who Goes Away’; Ivan Lalic, ‘Of Eurydice’; Gwyneth Lewis, ‘Fax X’; Mudrooroo, ‘A Righteous Day’; János Pilinszky, ‘The French Prisoner’; Vittorio Sereni, ‘A Dream’; Xuan Quynh, ‘Worried Over the Days Past’

Nonfiction

· Morgan, Sally, My Place, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1987, ISBN 0949206318

Film

· Benigni, Roberto, Life is Beautiful, Roadshow, 1999

Specific editions of the set texts are listed. Schools, however, may use any suitable edition of the text selected, if the specified edition is unavailable. Where a text is quoted in an examination it will be from the listed edition.