This Resource is for Year 12 Students studying the VCE Curriculum in Victoria and who are preparing revision for the Year 12 English Exam on Tuesday 28^th October, 2025.

Revision Strategies

There is no doubt that everyone learns and studies differently and the best revision plan is to find what works for you and not anyone else.  The important element in revision is to start planning on the September school holidays and your revision then should continue when you return to school for Term 4 for the last 3 weeks. 

Don’t leave your revision until the week before the English Exam. Unless you have a photographic memory, and not many people do, you will be just cramming knowledge into your head and possibly confusing yourself instead of using a sustained revision plan.

My Suggested Revision Plan is:

1. Re-read the texts again from Reading & Creating Texts – if one of your texts is a film, then watch the film again
2. Read past exam papers from VCAA with the Assessor’s comments for Sections A & C and look carefully at the high-level essays and what the Assessors said about why they were of a high standard. https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/vce-assessment/past-examinations/Page
3. Hand-write your notes, don’t type them, then you can practice writing as the Exam is 3 hours of writing so you need to build up your hand writing skills.
4. For each text or film start with summarising the plot / characters / themes / ideas / values of the authors/directors / narrative structure / language / symbols & motifs / film techniques / memorise at least 10 quotes from each text under themes.
5. Look at as many prompts for essays as possible.  I suggest you look at resources such as Insight / VATE / NEAP / ATAR for prompts on topics you have not written essays on before.
6. Plan an essay topic – then walk away and come back later to hand-write the essay without looking at your plan.  Make sure you stick to the 1-hour time limit.  Put your mobile phone timer on and keep to the time.  Then get your Plan out and see if you missed important issues in your essay.  That means you need to learn those elements carefully (self-assessment).
7. You will have sat a Trial Exam from school either in the last week of Term 3 or one of the weeks over the September school holidays. This is a good dry run for how you will be prepared for the real exam in October. Make sure you take note of the Assessor’s comments for each section when you get your Trial Exam paper back. If there are problems, such as in Section B not sticking to the framework or not incorporating the title and stimulus into your piece, then address these issues NOW.
8. Don’t try to write several 3-hour exams – it is better to break the essays up into 3 separate hours – if you keep on sitting 3 hours exams you can burn out by the time the exam takes place.  Please don’t do this.  Think more holistically about your own brain and body and then you will not stress or burn out before the exams. When you feel more confident then sit a 3-hour trial exam.

The English Exam

Consists of 3 Sections that takes 3 hours to complete (plus 15 minutes reading time at the start of the exam).  Make sure you have a watch that you can put on the table and note the times you will use for each essay – 1 hour each.  To score well in the exam you need to demonstrate your skills and knowledge in each of the Sections.  Section A will be knowledge and understanding with analysis of the topic prompt for your single text studied.  Section B will be writing a creative piece that meets the criteria for your specific Crafting & Creating Texts Frameworks. Section C will be understanding of the arguments presented and language and visual features presented to persuade.

My suggested plan to attack the Exam is:

1. During the 15 minutes reading time:
   1. Go to Section A and look at the 2 prompts.  Pick one that you are familiar with the topic and in a brief 2 minutes plan what you will write for the essay in your head.
   2. Go next to Section B and look at the titles and stimulus statements relevant to your Crafting Text Framework.  In a brief 2 minutes plan in your head how you will incorporate the title and stimulus statement into your creative writing you have pre-prepared for the exam.
   3. Go lastly to Section C and read the ‘Background Box’ on the first page and then read the article for a first reading.  Next reading look at where the Main Contention is and the arguments and language around the arguments.  Pay attention to the author and the title, tone and if it changes, persuasive techniques and how they are used by the author to position readers and pay close attention to the intention to persuade.  If there are visuals look at where they are placed in the article and what argument are they next to.  Establish the main contention of the visual and how it aligns with the author’s article.
2. When the 15 minutes reading time is up and you can ‘pick up your pens’:
   1. Go to Section A and pick that prompt you decided on – take 3 minutes to write a brief plan (which you had thought of in your head in the reading time and now you can write the plan properly) that includes your 3 ideas from the prompt – at least at this stage the plan will still be in your head and will definitely help when you get to Section A – don’t write anything else or waste too much time at this stage
   2. Go to Section B and note the title and pick the stimulus statement you decided on – take 3 minutes to write a brief plan how you will incorporate the title and stimulus statement into your pre-prepared piece (which you had thought of in your head in the reading time and now you can write the plan properly) – at least at this stage the plan will still be in your head and will definitely help when you get to Section B – don’t write anything else or waste too much time at this stage
   3. Go back to Section C and read the article again, this time with your pen, annotating the arguments (MC= Main Contention / A1 = Argument 1 etc), language, techniques and how the author positions the readers to Think (Logos) / Feel (Pathos) / Do (Ethos) something.
   4. Keep to the time for each essay and try to not go ‘overboard’ with Section C first and cut yourself short for the other 2 essays.  Check your watch, have you stayed within the first hour so you can then go on to Section A and write that essay, check your watch again, then go on to Section B and write that creative piece. OR Write your Section B piece after Section C as you know it well and you can write it faster than an essay from your text in Section A. This plan is entirely your choice as to what works for you.
   5. If you finish ahead of the 3 hours, go back to each piece of writing and make sure you have written a proper Conclusion for Section A.  If you are short of time when writing the essay in Section A then dot point your Conclusion.  At least the Assessors will know what you wanted to say for your Conclusion.  If you have an empty space, the Assessors can’t mind read what you wanted to conclude.

TO ALL MY YEAR 12 STUDENTS I HAVE TUTORED THIS YEAR

ALL THE VERY BEST FOR THE EXAMS

IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TO TEACH YOU

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Year 12 VCE Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum

Are you a Maths and Science loving student for whom English is a weak point? 

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This Resource is for Year 11 English students studying in the Victorian VCE Curriculum.

The Author Erich Maria Remarque

Erich Maria Remarque was born in Osnabruck, Germany in 1898. He joined the German Army in 1916 to fight in World War 1, and was wounded. After the War ended in 1918, Remarque published his novel ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ – ten years later in 1928.

The novel is very realistic about the harsh realities of being an ordinary soldier in war, including none of the usual glory propaganda. It was a firmly anti-war novel and became an instant international success. In 1930 a film based on the novel was released. As the German Nazi party rose to power and prominence, the novel was being attacked as being anti-German or unpatriotic in 1931, and the film was banned. In 1932 Remarque and his wife fled to Switzerland for protection and by 1933 the Nazi Party banned Remarque’s books and burned them on bonfires.

The fact that ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ is based on the German soldiers’ experiences during War highlights the universal suffering and futility that War brings.

The Novel in Context of World War I – 1914 – 1918 (Estimated 9.7 million military soldiers died)

The First World War was one of the biggest wars that had ever been fought and saw the introduction of weapons of mass destruction such as gas, as well as other new war technology. There are many reasons for the outbreak of World War I, however the trigger was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian student. Other factors included diplomatic fall-outs, irrational nationalism, and a build-up of military might.

Europe was split into two opposing camps. France, Russia and Great Britain were in the Triple Entente and Germany, Italy and Austria/Hungary were part of the Triple Alliance. On July 28, 1914 Austria/Hungary declared war on Serbia, so Russia began to get ready for war, and then Germany declared war on Russia and (later) France. However, when Germany invaded Belgium – a neutral country, Britain joined the war for fear of follow-up attacks. Later the United States joined the Allies.

After Germany moved into France, the trench warfare began. This was a new method of warfare that had never been tried before and had been a military officer’s brainchild. It meant that both sides had dug trenches underground, and the middle became known as “no-man’s land”. The conditions in the trenches were horrific, especially as they were always wet and muddy and filled with rats, lice and disease. There was shelling and firing by guns all day and night, and no protection from the heat or winter cold. Many soldiers not only died from being hit by guns and grenades, but also from the diseases that were rampant in those conditions or deadly poison gas. The War also caused much mental anguish and suffering for the soldiers.

Propaganda in WWI Why Men Enlisted to Fight – Both British & German

If we look back to the time of the break out of World War 1 – 1914 and before this, the world was a much different and slower place. Mass communication, electronic media and global travel were barely available and this may explain the success of war campaigns to lure young men, some still in school, to sign up and fight for their country.

The values of the time were that:

• It was an honour to fight for one’s country in a war
• Those who did not fight were cowards and should be punished
• People who went to war were heroes
• There was much glory and pride in being a soldier

At the time, there were people who were ‘conscientious objectors’, who did not believe in war, but standing out for this cause was seen as a betrayal. Thus, we see that in ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, all of Paul’s class signed up to fight in the war, even though they were so young. The older men in the community were at first seen as too old to fight, so the first soldiers chosen were teenagers and those in their early twenties. The love of country and patriotism was valued highly, even though no one really knew about the horrors of war, back at home. Whilst there were official war photographers, artists, and reporters, most of what they were allowed to report back and produce would have been censored by their governments. All countries used propaganda to create fear amidst their citizens about the enemies, and to reinforce the need for men to sign up as soldiers.

The Truth about the Horrors of War

The truth about the horrors of World War I began to unfold as the soldiers realized they were just fodder for a huge killing machine that was war. Trench warfare was a new ‘idea’ that was being tested, and it allowed for massive amounts of death and disease. Paul and his friends realise when it is too late that there is no glory in this killing machine; they are just here to die. The fact that ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ is written by a German soldier reflects the universality of the horrors of war.

Poetry about War – Wilfred Owen

The same sentiments and experiences are also found in Allied writing, art-works and poetry written by those who were there – for example poems by Wilfred Owen such as ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ about the horrors and pity of war. Owen’s poetry presents the utter brutality of trench warfare truthfully. The experience for the soldiers was a shocking one especially as many of the soldiers were just young teenagers who had been fed propaganda about how noble it would be to fight for one’s country in the War. In fact, the common saying was “How sweet and noble it is to die for one’s country”, but the soldiers quickly realised they had just been sent to killing fields.

Plot Summary of the Novel

Paul Baumer, 19 joins the German Army to fight in World War 1. Several of his friends from his class were inspired to join the War by their patriotic school master, Kantorek. They feel they have been tricked after a few weeks at war, as the soldiers are subject to cruelty, brutality, and suffering, often leading to death. In fact, after just two weeks, Paul’s company of soldiers’ experiences losses of over 50% of the men. One of Paul’s friends Kemmerich, also a classmate is in hospital with gangrene and dying. Another friend Muller becomes pragmatic and hopes for Kemmerich’s boots when he dies.

Life is made very unbearable by the cruel and sadistic Corporal Himmelstross. Life in the trenches is disgusting and many men are struck down by disease or death. Soon there are only 32 of Paul’s company remaining alive. Not only is war hell but Paul realises that when he has leave, he feels nothing and is just numb. When he has time to go home on leave for a few weeks, Paul finds he cannot relate to others. However, he goes to visit Kemmerich’s mother and tells her that her son’s death was painless. This lie makes her happy.

Back at war, Paul is forced to stab a French soldier to death and he is filled with remorse and guilt. He realises that the enemy is just another victim of war like all soldiers. Looking through his identification, he learns the man’s name was Gerard and he has a wife and two children, which upsets him even more. By 1918 just before the War ends, Paul is the only original member of his company left. Paul is killed in October 1918. The novel ends with a statement from the Army report for this day as ‘All quiet on the Western Front’.

The Narrator of the Novel

Who is telling this story? The novel is written mostly in the First person from the perspective of Paul Baumer until the end of the book, where it changes briefly to Third person – as a report excerpt. As such the reader follows the rise and fall of Paul’s sense of life and enthusiasm. We feel his betrayal and despair, his inability to feel pain as it may overwhelm him.

Structure of the Novel

It is divided into twelve chapters, where there is some overlap, reflecting the confusion and loss of time. The reader goes on Paul’s incredible journey from innocent adolescent to jaded and despairing ‘hollow man’ who has lost everything. The last few chapters especially reflect the desperate chaos that ensued once America joined the war and Germany was clearly losing the war. Due to the lack of resources and younger men, the dying soldiers were now being replaced by older men, and the pace became even more frantic and destructive. When Paul dies, and his death is objectively reported in the third person of a military report – “All quiet on the Western Front.”

Themes of the Novel

The Horror of War – The novel presents the horror and brutality of war, which was a sharp contrast to War literature before this novel. Traditionally war books, poems, songs etc. glorified war as a patriotic honour and duty. The novel presents war from the point of view of the ordinary soldier so it cannot hide the truth and the horror of the immense suffering. World War I was a complete shock and introduced a ‘new’ method of French warfare – long, drawn out battles, new technology/weapons, which increased the death toll. The novel ends with all the major characters dead – including the protagonist and narrator, Paul.

Nationalism – The novel depicts the lies behind nationalism, exposing it as a powerful tool. Paul discovers that war has nothing to do with ideals, but rather it becomes a fight to stay alive. Moreover, there is no real sense of fighting an enemy. The enemy becomes the government and authority figures that sent them to the War.

The Effects of War on Soldiers – Clearly millions of soldiers died or were seriously injured by the War. Those that did not die and managed to return home would never be the same again. Months or years of constant exposure to physical danger constant attacks and living with fear had severe consequences on their nerves and emotional well-being. To add to this burden, the trenches were filthy, rat-infested and damp/water logged habitats. The soldiers were also dealing with lice infestations and diseased/decaying corpses all around them. Sleep was disrupted; food was lacking or of poor quality and medical care was very limited and poor. This is a toxic burden that made life for the soldiers unbearable. To survive, many of the soldiers had to disconnect from their feelings. As Paul discovers, although this leads to a general numbness that becomes all pervading, it protected the soldiers from mental anguish to some extent. The men became somewhat desensitized to the suffering and deaths all around them.

Friendship Bonds – The bonds between friends and sticking together seemed to be the only thing that kept the men alive and sane, and sometimes even this was not enough. It is especially touching to see how the more experienced soldiers looked after the new recruits who had never seen so much death and suffering. In Chapter 4, a shell-shocked young recruit seeks comfort from Paul and begins to cry as he is supported and told he will soon get used to it. Throughout the novel, Paul and Kat are very close and have a rare moment of intimacy and celebration of friendship as they eat the goose. (Chapter 5) Paul is constantly watching others die, but at this moment with Kat he acknowledges the humanizing power of friendship and relationships.

Betrayal and the Loss of Innocence – These two themes belong together because when the young men, filled with life and hopes for the future entered the war, they had been encouraged to do so by the very people who had guided them their whole lives – parents, teachers, and other authority figures. As soon as they arrived at the war, they were shocked into the reality of what the war was and the first thing they lost was their innocence, and it would have been impossible to feel betrayed by those they had trusted. In fact, Paul and the others see right through the lies and become quickly aware of the reality, and that they are just part of a giant killing machine, and need to be sacrificed to make the governments ‘plans’ a reality. The horror of war is never-ending and the recruits just keep on coming and being sacrificed for some lofty ideals.

Online Tutoring of English Using Zoom

This Resource is for Years 10/11/12 Mainstream English students studying Analysing and Exploring Argument in the Victorian Curriculum.

Just as writers and speakers use techniques such as exaggeration, tone and emotive language to manipulate and position readers, so too can cartoonists use many highly persuasive techniques. 

Use the same questioning techniques for analysing cartoons as you do for analysing articles. Ask What / How / Why the author uses his/her language with the intention to persuade the audience to Think (Logos) / Feel (Pathos) / Do something (Ethos).

When analysing a cartoon, ask yourself the following questions:

• What is the main point of the cartoon?  Does the cartoon align with the author’s point of view on the issue in the article you are also analysing? Be mindful, if the cartoon is a stand-alone, it may have its own point of view that is either the same or different to the article.
• What is the issue being represented?  What is the context of this issue?
• Who is the target audience the cartoon creator is aiming for?  What is the intended impact/effect of the cartoon on the reader/audience?
• Who are the central figures/characters?  What are they doing or saying?  How are they represented?  For example, a cartoonist may represent members of a group as similar to make a point about their powerlessness, their loss of identity, their mindlessness and so on.  Sometimes animals are used to represent humans in order to critique behaviour or an individual’s point of view.
• What visual strategies are used to persuade the audience to agree with the point of view presented?  Look at:
• Composition of cartoon – number of items/subjects and their position within the text and in relation to one another
• Size of cartoon and characters in connection with composition – are the characters exaggerated
• Layout of fonts used in text – can often use small text but big heads on characters to exaggerate the sarcastic tone
• Colours and shade – what do the colours symbolise
  • Black = evil/power/death
  • White = purity/simplicity/cleanliness
  • Red = warmth/comfort/anger/embarrassment
  • Yellow = cheeriness/frustration/attention seeking
  • Blue = calmness/tranquillity/sadness/misery
  • Purple = royalty/wealth/wisdom
  • Green = calm/tranquillity/nature/envy
  • Brown = earth/nature/strength/security
  • Red+blue+white = flags symbolise patriotism
• The focus and emphasis – where is the reader’s attention drawn to first
• Labelling and stereotypes – often characters are stereotypical ie. blond, blue eyed, suntanned, muscular lifesaver is supposed to be typical Australian male but it is not accurate representation
• Speech bubbles, dialogue, body text can often state contention or reinforce issue
• Loaded language – language that has a deeper meaning than is shown on the surface
• Captions – words outside frame of text can state contention, what do they add and how do they persuade
• Symbols, motifs, icons – images that represent the ideas or concepts, can appeal to the audience
• Angles used and white space ie. blank space left – can draw audience away towards some text to make a further impact on the issue or detract from it
• Obvious tone ie political cartoons are often humorous and sarcastic (use verbal irony)
• Facial expressions – how do the characters expressions compare to one another, are they expressions we would expect
• Context to main issue – does the cartoon support or oppose the main issue
• What is significant about the background and foreground of the cartoon?
• When writing your analysis discuss how the visual language comments on the issue and how the cartoon creator positions the audience by using the visual techniques.  Keeping in mind what the creator’s purpose is and how the cartoonist wants to position the reader – to think (logos) / feel (pathos) / do something (ethos)

All Resources created by englishtutorlessons.com.au Online Tutoring using Zoom for Mainstream English Students in the Victorian Curriculum