Page 177 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: English, 2007 (Revised)

1. Writing, Writers, and the Writing Life: demonstrate an understanding of writing as an art, a craft, and a career as they explore the work of a variety of Canadian and international writers.
1. Writing, Writers, and the Writing Life
THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | English
By the end of this course, students will:
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
Writing Models
1.1 read a range of teacher- and self-selected mod- els of effective writing to become familiar with the art, craft, and world of writing (e.g., read a variety of narrative texts that reflect diverse cultural and geographical perspectives, including work by Aboriginal authors; read work by beginning and local authors published in quar- terlies and small publications; read a variety of online writing by both professional and amateur writers)
Teacher prompts: “Which of the pieces in this quarterly seem most ready for a wider audi- ence? Why? Which, in your opinion, are not appropriate for a wider audience? Why?” “What types of writers and audiences are served by this publication?”
The Art and Craft of Writing
1.2 demonstrate an understanding of the art and craft of writing after examining interviews with and articles by writers about their writ- ing practices, processes, and beliefs (e.g., com- pare the ideas about writing and the writing process described by two authors in two different articles; describe a new understanding of the writer’s craft that they acquired by attending a public reading of an author’s work; research
recent works on freedom of expression and the importance of global communities of writers by writers affiliated with international organiza- tions such as PEN or Amnesty International)
Teacher prompts: “If you were interviewing this writer, what questions would you want to ask about the process involved in writing this piece?” “What role have writers played
in countries where freedom of expression is controlled or denied?” “What do the writers you have researched have to say about the importance of a writing community?” “Role- play a writer you have been studying who is being interviewed on the creative challenges of writing poetry.” “What did you notice about this work when you heard the writer read it aloud that you hadn’t noticed before?”
Elements of Form
1.3 analyse and assess the effectiveness of the ways in which writers use elements of form (e.g., verse structure in poetry; stage directions in drama; character, setting, and point of view in fiction; headings and sidebars in magazine arti- cles; charts and graphs in textbooks; colour, images, and fonts in advertisements) to commu- nicate meaning (e.g., identify the stanzaic pat- tern used in a poem, and suggest reasons why the poet chose to use it; examine and assess the effectiveness of the persuasive interplay between fact and opinion in two reviews of a popular film; explain how the authors of a fictional nar- rative and a personal essay on the same theme have used the different forms to convey their similar messages, and assess which one is more effective; explain how character development is used to propel the plot of a narrative text; explain how headings and sidebars are used in magazine articles to highlight key points; explain how charts and graphs are used in text- books to summarize and explain key ideas; explain how an author uses local colour to develop setting)
Teacher prompts: “How does the point of view in the story affect the reliability of the narrator?” “How does the writer use cause and effect to make his claim more persuasive?” “How do the stage directions provided in this play offer insight into the characters and
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A. INVESTIGATING WRITING OVERALL EXPECTATION