TAFE Assignment One Feedback (Write Reviews)

Assignment One has been marked and I gained a C. Assignments are given grades of A to D, and then at the end of the semester, the grades are worked into a grade of Pass, Credit, Distinction.

Given I haven’t had to write a review for a long time (probably since High School) I am guessing a C isn’t that bad. Especially given that writing reviews at High School and writing reviews as a professional writing activity are somewhat different.

On that note, I will now go back to working on the second topic and assignment two. Essentially, for the second assignment, part one will be looking at the context of the work in relation to the author and the process I went through to get through to gain the information. Second part of the assignment centers around Establishing the socio-political context  of the work, the particular aspects of our times, or the time in which the work is set.

Write Reviews - Assignment One by Sarah Jones ©2012

Part One: Plot Notes

Book One – Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden

Main Characters:

Ellie Linton                             Homer Yannas

Lee Takkam                            Kevin Holmes

Corrie MacKenzie                   Robyn Mathers

Fiona Maxwell

Main Points:

·         Ellie organizes a camping trip to a local spot called Hell for herself and 6 friends from school.

·         While away, it was noted that a number of planes flew overhead in the middle of the night.

·         Upon return home, homes deserted and animals left dead or close to death. As a group, they set about checking everyone’s homes.

·         While doing a undercover check of the town, they are shot and Lee is injured.

·         Almost get caught while searching the town, almost get captured, but get out of the situation with a front end loader

·         Return to Hell campsite and set up base camp to work from.

·         Raid nearby houses for food and other supplies

·         Move towards fighting the invaders, by blow up the main bridge out of Wirrawee. In the ensuring skirmish, Corrie is injured.

·         Kevin takes Corrie to the Hospital. While it is not explicitly states, it is implied he has given himself up to get Corrie the hospital treatment she needs.  

Book Two – Australian First Aid by St John

Title: Australian First Aid, 4^th Edition

Author – St John

Main Points:

·         Designed to be used on its own, as a reference.

·         However, also advisable to have attended a course.

·         Given to people attending Senior First Aid Courses run by St John

·         Has colour coded chapters, for the common illnesses and accidents faced within Australian conditions.

·         Helps people deal with these situations until trained help is gained (via ambulance service or until the person is able to access a GP or hospital)

·         Provides pictures to accompany text, giving step by step instructions.

 Summary:

This book is a useful resource for those needing to undertake a senior first aid course for work, personal development or community organisation requirements. The diagrams and the step by step instructions provide a guide on what to do in different situations.

The book is generally given to people who have paid into and attended the Senior First Aid courses run by St John Australia. It is also up dated regularly as their training changes over time.

Part Two: Plot Summary – Recommendation to a friend

To XXXXX,

When you wrote and asked me what I had read recently that was a good teen novel, I immediately thought of Tomorrow When The War Began by John Marsden.  It is written by an Australian Author, and is set on the east coast of Australia. It is the first book in a series titled ‘Tomorrow’, written by John Marsden. Having recently read the book, it is certainly one that I can see appealing to the teen market.

The book is about Ellie, who organises a week camping trip in the bush with her friends for a week, heading to the remote area of bush known locally as “Hell”, a very isolated and secluded spot. While away, a large number of plans are seen flying overhead with no lighting.  While it was commented on, being teenagers, and away from their parents, it wasn’t given much thought at the time. Unknowingly, the country has been invaded while they are away.

The story follows their discover of the invasion upon their return from the camping trip, the evasion of capture by using a fuel tank to create a diversion and plotting to blow up the main bridge used to get into and out of town. However, in the ensuring fight, Corrie is shot. Kevin takes her to the occupied town hospital.

The book is ideal for both male and female teen readers. It has also been listed by the Education Department in NSW as a book to be read by those in the mid years of high school.

 I believe that it would appeal to both male and female readers. The main character is female, and romance, which may appeal to female teen readers. There is action, fighting and bloodshed (although not overly done and certainly not the main focus of the book) that would appeal to the male teen readers. I believe that this is a book that is written for both male and female readers alike. The depth of the story, and the manner in which it is written would allow teen readers to identify with the characters.

It captures the essence of growing up and of the need to stretch the boundaries by organising the camping trip. Then having to deal with the sudden discovery that your parents and support networks are no longer there to guide you or to protect you from the unknown. It is shows how people can come together to utilise the different skills that people possess. As a book, it allows the reader to understand that the characters are concerned about their family and friends, combined with having to face up the challenges of having to rely upon themselves, finding depths of character that they most likely didn’t know they possess.

It is certainly a book that I would recommend for the teen looking for something different to read. For those who are not avid readers, I believe the movie version of the book would also appeal to the discerning teen.

Sarah Jones ©2012

Tafe Subject - Write Reviews

This semester, I am doing two subjects for my TAFE course in Professional Writing. One of these subjects is ‘Write Reviews’.

I have started the reading required to do the reviews. The short version is that I will be reading a book a week and doing a review on it. This is obviously in addition to the class work. At this stage, I am not sure if I am doing it internally or externally. I have enrolled internally (face to face class) but when I went to the 1^st class on Thursday, there was only myself and another student. We are not sure what happened as we hadn’t received any email to say that there was not enough interest to do the class internally.

Either way, I can see this blog as being a good opportunity to share my reviews with a wider audience and gain feedback (hopefully). In part, I guess this is why it was suggested that we start one if we hadn’t already for one of our subjects. I had already created it, so will be continuing to use this as a platform to share my writing (this semester, it will be my reviews that I am doing) and other bits and pieces. Lately that’s been a lot of GetUp information, but the mix will be added to once again now I am going to create other piece to be added.

At the moment, I am reading the 1^st two books for the reviews I have to do for the 1^st assignment. Review will be placed here when I have finished the readings etc. In the mean time, below are two sites for those who are interested in exploring reviews further.

http://katepolicanisreviews.wordpress.com/

http://www.writing-world.com/freelance/asenjo.shtml

Writing a local history project

I have been busy taking photos of scout halls today, amongst everything else that I do. In Semester one, I did a TAFE subject called Write History. Below is the recent explanation that I did for the facebook and blogger pages I did on the subject as the project was not, by any stretch, completed. I am using both mediums to try and capture as many people as I can to gain further information.


If people are able to help me, my email address for contacting me on is 0456826@tafesa.edu.au

My name is Sarah Jones and in 2011, I continued working on my Advanced Diploma of Arts (Professional Writing), through TAFE SA.

In semester one of 2011, I did a TAFE subject called “Write History for Publication”. This is one of the electives that are on offer for my course – Advanced Diploma of Arts (Professional Writing. The topic that I chose to look at is the Scout Groups that existed and their history in Elizabeth.

By many standards, Elizabeth, as an area, is not old. I felt a need to start to record the history of the Scout Groups that existed within Elizabeth area before the people involved with these groups were no longer with us. Sadly, many of the Scout Groups (along with other organizations) are no longer active within our community, although several groups have survived and continue to operate.

I have been in touch with several people, and have a few other people to follow up on for interviews re different groups, who have kindly emailed me information.
However, one thing that I have discovered is that there is still a lot of history missing. At one point, there were 12 groups within the Elizabeth area. The Elizabeth Library – History Section has also been helpful and been able to provide some information as well.

Overall, I only just scratched the surface with what I handed up at the end of Semester One 2011. I know there is a lot more information around that I haven’t yet started to access. If anyone knows of people who may be able to help me with completing this project, or making more inroads into the project, I would be more than happy to hear from there. I have created two places for the sharing of information. For those involved with Scouting at any point from 1958, when scouting started in Elizabeth, they can check out either the blog set up at http://scoutinginelizabeth.blogspot.com/  or if they are on facebook, via the following page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/History-of-Scouting-in-Elizabeth-South-Australia/187219737967218
Thanking people in advance for their help

Monday rantings

One of the reasons I have set up this blog, was to share the many different aspects of my live. I realise that it has been rather slanted, and I offer my apologies for that. I am going to endeavor to work on providing a more ‘balanced’ overview of my life.


One thing that has happened around the house in the last fortnight is a start to clearing out. We’ve filled the garden waste bin – twice within a week. Lucky it was a week that was the fortnightly empty. It should now be ok waiting for the next pick up in just over a week and half’s time. Mainly grass cuttings, with some twigs and sticks thrown in for good measure. I did have to put some grass cuttings into the compost bin, but that’s ok as well. One of the many places you can put it

I am also waiting for my TAFE course books to arrive. I have started some pre planning for one of my subjects (‘Write Fantasy’). But the other subject (‘Edit for Publication’) is a bit more difficult to do anything for until I get the course outline.

Other than that, I just need to print a pile of stuff for scouting for the term. Also, print the story I am planning on submitting for a writing competition that has to be in by Thursday. This is not so daunting anymore, given I submitted a story to a writing competition 2 weeks ago. That 1st step is always the hardest.

Then I have a meeting tonight regarding District Joey activities (don’t ask – I am doing Joeys as well as Cubs for the foreseeable future, until we get another adult on board to do look after the Joey Mob). Oh, and type up another interview for the personal project (started as a assignment for ‘Write history for publication’ – track my progress at http://scoutinginelizabeth.blogspot.com/)

Off to reduce the pile of jobs that needs to be done. Take care, and enjoy the week, no matter where you are in the world.