LITERATURE

The study of VCE Literature fosters students’ enjoyment and appreciation of the artistic and aesthetic merits of stories and storytelling, and enables students to participate more fully in the cultural conversations that take place around them. By reading and exploring a diverse range of established and emerging literary works, students become increasingly empowered to discuss texts. As both readers and writers, students extend their creativity and high-order thinking to express and develop their critical and creative voices.

Unit 1

Students consider how language, structure and stylistic choices are used in different literary forms and types of texts. Students also explore the concerns, ideas, style and conventions common to a distinctive type of literature seen in literary movements or genres.

There are two areas of study in this unit:

1. 1. Reading practices

2. 2. Exploration of literary movements and genres

Unit 2

Students explore the voices, perspectives and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and creators. Students also develop an understanding that contextual meaning is already implicitly or explicitly inscribed in a text, and that textual details and structures can be scrutinised to illustrate its significance.

There are two areas of study in this unit:

1. Voices of Country

2. The text in its context

Unit 3

Students focus on how the form of a text contributes to its meaning. Students explore the form of a set text by constructing a close analysis of that text. Students also develop their own interpretations of a set text, analysing how ideas, views and values are presented in a text, and the ways these are endorsed, challenged and/or marginalised through literary forms, features and language.

There are two areas of study in this unit:

1. Adaptations and transformations

2. Developing interpretations

Unit 4

Students focus on the imaginative techniques used for creating and recreating a literary work. Students also attend closely to textual details to examine the ways specific passages in a text contribute to their overall understanding of the whole text.

There are two areas of study in this unit:

1. Creative responses to texts

2. Close analysis of texts

History

The events of World War II and the Vietnam War have shaped the development of Australia and the world. The study of the past allows us to understand why Australia and the rest of the world have developed the way they have and to gain an insight into the way people behave throughout the course of time. The study of History advantages the student in numerous ways, sharpening English skills, communication, comprehension and critical thinking. Students of History have been offered wide ranging tertiary courses including Arts, Law, Commerce, Business Studies, Science, Media Studies, Journalism and Education. History units are suitably combined with Geography and Global Politics and go naturally with Languages, Art and Graphics.

Unit 1: Rise of Nazi Germany 1918-1945

Students study the rise of nationalism in Germany and the implementation of Nazism. They analyse the historical factors that contributed to the dramatic shift in public support for Hitler. As part of this exploration, they examine the varied effects Nazism had on different cultural groups within Germany and wider Europe, including the Holocaust. Assessment tasks are deliberately designed to prepare students for Units 3&4, including graphic analysis, essay writing and the use of historical schools of thought.

Unit 2: Vietnam and the Cold War

The second half of the twentieth century was characterised by indirect conflict between the two superpowers (USA and USSR) and their competing ideologies of Communism and Capitalism. Vietnam was the scene of one such conflict. Students evaluate both the culture of Vietnam and the involvement of American and Australian involvement in the War. Assessment tasks include the evaluation of competing arguments for involvement and a primary source activity in which students are required to interview a Veteran or Vietnamese Civilian. This unit involves a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Museum in Philip Island.

History Revolutions

Unit 3: The Russian Revolution

Political intrigue, romance, blood and gore: The Russian Revolution has it all!

The amazing mind of Lenin is examined in the way he brought about a Communist dictatorship after the collapse of the rotting Russian Empire. The colourful character of holy man Rasputin and his unholy relationship with the Russian queen makes for fascinating study as the king, who only wants to be a family man, leaves the power in that lady’s hands.

Stalin’s emergence from the ordinary man in the shadows to the feared, yet loved, dictator is a study of the manipulation of power. All of these areas are examined through essays, document studies and short answers.

Unit 4: The American Revolution

The American Revolution is a coming of age story that plays out on the global stage. In what begins with disagreement over taxes on stamps and tea ends with the War of Independence led by George Washington. Students of this course will also learn about the writing of the Constitution and how it is still shaping contemporary America. The plight of colonial women, Native Americans and African Americans is studied also. Ultimately, this course will give you a greater understanding of both the admirable and deeply troubling foundations of the United States of America.

Geography

With temperatures rising, volcanoes erupting, bushfires burning, glaciers melting, deserts expanding and populations growing there has never been a more crucial time to study Geography. Geographers will study the cause of these events, their environmental, economic and social impacts and how these impacts are managed around the world. On a local scale, students will study the interconnection between the human and natural world by going on field trips including Marysville, which was recently devastated by fires, tourism in Phillip Island and an example of land use change in Melbourne’s urban area. Geography involves the regular use of a variety of technologies including satellite imagery, on line mapping, data analysis and virtual reality. With no experience required and a guarantee that you will study relevant and interesting topics, there has never been a more useful time to study Geography.

Unit 1: Hazards

Spectacularly featured in nightly news, hazards impact dramatically on the lives of many people. We will study examples like the 2004 Tsunami that affected most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 people in 14 countries and the recent earthquake in Nepal. Hazards such as bushfires affect us on a local level and we will study the causes, impacts and responses to these events, which will include a field trip to Marysville.

Unit 2: Tourism

Tourism is a growth industry that offers future employment. This unit will feature a case study of Phillip Island and include a field trip to the island to evaluate the sustainability of the tourism to the local people using the Penguin Parade as a specific case study. International case studies will also be studied to debate the conflict between accessing easy income to compromising the needs of the local people and environment.

Unit 3: Changing the land

Students will explore the causes, impacts and responses of melting glaciers and deforestation across the globe. A critical part of this study will be exploring how geospatial technology is used to assess and manage these impacts. On a local scale, students will explore how land use change has impacted various parts of Melbourne. This will include a fieldwork investigation of an area that is in the process of urban development.

Unit 4: Population issues

The world’s population is continuing to grow at an unprecedented scale. This will bring with it a number of challenges including overpopulation, a lack of resources and an ageing population. Students will research a variety of case studies including population issues in Saudi Arabia and Germany while evaluating responses to these complex issues.

Politics

Global Politics provides students with an insight into the political, social and economic forces that shape our rapidly changing world. Students develop a critical understanding of the world in which they live and of contemporary global issues. In doing so, students are provided with the opportunity to develop the awareness and the critical thinking skills that underpin active citizenship and an ability to more deeply appreciate and contextualise the global environment in which they live. Given the dynamic nature of the subject, students will be expteced to read online articles on a regular basis, and assessment comprises both extended responses and essays. In recent years, high attaining Mazenod Global Politics students have embarked on Bachelor Arts, Law and Global Studies degrees at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.

Units 1 & 2 - Politics

Students do not need to have studied Politics before to take VCE Politics - all they require is an interest in current affairs and an ability to write extended responses and essays.

Unit 1: Politics, power and political actors

In Unit 1, students learn that politics is about how political actors use power to resolve issues and conflicts over how society should operate by studying a range of political actors and issues. A political issue will involve a conflict between political actors with different interests and perspectives. Students consider the concept of power by examining why and how political power is used, with special attention to the way national and global political actors exercise power and the consequences of that use.

Unit 2: Democracy: stability and change

In this unit, students investigate the key principles of democracy and assess the degree to which these principles are expressed, experienced and challenged, in Australia and internationally. They consider democratic principles in the Australian context and complete an in-depth study of a political issue that inherently challenges basic democratic ideas or practice. Students also investigate the degree to which global political actors and trends can challenge, inhibit or undermine democracy, and evaluate the political significance of these challenges. In previous years, Year 11 students have considered such questions as:

• How did social media challenge power during the Arab Spring?

• Why is Australia ranked higher than the United States in the Democracy Index?

• How do non-government organisations exercise power?

• How has Coca-Cola challenged the power of governments around the world?

• Can governments stop terrorism?

• Why did Donald Trump withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement?

Unit 3 & 4 – Global Politics

Students do not need to have studied Global Politics before to take Units 3 & 4 Global Politics - all they require is an interest in current affairs and an ability to write extended responses and essays. In recent years, the highest attaining VCE Global Politics student has previously taken Units 3 & 4 History in Year 11, having not taken any Politics courses before. In Unit 3 students use contemporary evidence to analyse the aims, roles and power of key global actors such as intergovernmental organisations, transnational corporations and non-government organisations in the 21” century. Students also examine the way in which Australia uses power to achieve its national interests within the Asia Pacific region. In Unit 4, students investigate key global challenges facing the international community. They examine the debates surrounding key ethical issues such as human rights and people movement, and analyse the effectiveness of the global community’s response to these issues. Students then examine and analyse a range of contemporary crises in global politics including international terrorism and climate change.

A sample of case studies include:

• The power of corporations over states

• Greenpeace’s use of ‘ecotage’ to shape public opinion

• The Australia-US alliance, and the rise of China

• How is globalisation changing the world power balance?

• Will war criminals be held to account for their crimes?

• The role of Australian aid in the Pacific

• Should governments uphold human rights?

• The rise (and fall?) of Islamic State

• The politics of climate change

• How should the world respond to the refugee crisis?

• The IMF and the Greek debt crisis