In Module C: The Craft of Writing, part of the requirements is integrating the stylistic and literary features from your prescribed text into your Mod C piece.Â
If you look at the sample papers, youâll also need to be able to write about how your writing reflects what youâve been reading.
But don’t fret!
In this guide, youâll find the steps needed to make sure you do a great job at integration! So, let’s jump in!
What are Stylistic and Literary Features?
Step 1: AnalyseÂ
Step 2: Write!
Step 3: ReflectÂ
What are Stylistic and Literary Features?
Essentially, literary features are techniques, but the inclusion of âstylisticâ means this definition needs to be expanded.
âStyleâ is a word you would have come across often, but itâs meaning is somewhat hard to explain.
A concise definition for ‘style’ would be the overall effect of the way a work is constructed.
Different styles can refer to the emotional impact of the parts of the work (A work can have a âmelancholyâ style) and others refer to how simply or complexly the work is constructed, like âminimalistic.â
Itâs created through word choice, and the utilisation of literary features. âCraft of Writingâ requires you show, through your own writing, that you understand how these work.Â
Step 1: AnalyseÂ
First, you need to identify what it is you will be âbringing overâ from another text. Itâs time to break out the TEE tables â if you havenât used them before, click here for our guide.
In your creation of these tables, analyse the techniques, and discuss what kind of effect they have.
Remember, youâre not trying to copy the effect outright; youâre trying to use it for your own purposes. How similar the effect is is up to you!
Hereâs an example of a quick analysis of the opening of Ray Bradburyâs The Pedestrian, one of the short stories on the Standard prescribed list:
| Technique | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Imagery, listing | âTo enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock of a misty evening in November, to put your feet upon that buckling concrete walk, to step over grassy seams and make your way, hands in pockets, through the silences, that was what Mr. Leonard Mead most dearly loved to do.â | Here, Bradbury lists imagery in order to create an atsmophere of emptiness, establishing his setting. HIs characterisation of Leonard as a regular walker is established through the listing, which describes his habit. |
Notice that in this table, there is a focus on more than one of this exampleâs functions.
This is because in the example provided later, there will be similar writing which works similarly to this excerpt. The literary features have been identified.
Step 2: Write!
Now, itâs time to consider how, and how much, your own work will take influence from what youâve analysed. Here is an example of a piece of writing which uses the above analysis for influence:
âAfter a few weeks of work at the strip mall cafe he had resigned himself to the routine. Eric would get in during the morning, half-asleep, haul up boxes of bags of coffee beans, keep up the perfunctory but apparently necessary banter with his co-workers with whom he set out the chairs under the pine-topped tables, start the bean grinders. By the time the grey sky was meringued with pink and gold, the first set of suits about to start their long commutes to the city arrived, and Eric found the rest of the shift tolerable, even, occasionally, pleasurable.âÂ
While the setting and the character are different to Bradburyâs, the same techniques have been used for a similar effect.
It’s ultimately up to you to decide what aspects of your text you’d like to incorporate into your own work, whether that be the same genre, themes, structure, techniques or style of writing.
Don’t leave it too late to get support for your English studies! Our Castle Hill English Tutors can help you master key writing skills for your Module C piece.Â
Step 3: ReflectÂ
One of the requirements for Module C is that you have to learn how to âjustify your choicesâ by discussing what you have appropriated from your own readings into your writing i.e. a reflective statement.Â
One way you can do this is through TEE tables â but on your own work!
In the âeffectâ box, use the space to discuss how you have integrated stylistic and literary features of your influences into your work.Â
Just like this:
| Technique | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Imagery, listing | âAfter a few weeks of work at the cafe he had resigned himself to the routine: Eric would get in during the morning, half-asleep, haul up boxes of bags of coffee beans, keep up the perfunctory but apparently necessary banter with his co-workers with whom he set out the chairs under the pine-topped tables." | Within this section of my work, I have taken the use of listing and imagery from Bradburyâs The Pedestrian, by using these techniques to establish my character through a depiction of his habits. However, my tone is different from Bradbury's, as the opening for 'The Pedestrian,â as it is ironic and dry, whereas Bradbury's is mysterious and very sincere. |
For more guidance on how to write a reflective statement, check out this article here!
Notice how not only this table discusses the similarities, but also the difference between the two.
This Is important because it allows for further demonstration that the writer understands their own decisions, and that of the author who has written the original text.
In summaryâŚ
In Module C, you are required to integrate stylistic and literary features into your own writing.
To do this, you need to analyse the texts that have influenced you.Â
It is important to not only talk about the parts of texts that you show influence from, but also where your work is distinct!
We hope this step-by-step guide has helped you to integrate the style and literary features of one of your prescribed texts into your Mod C piece!
Good luck!
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Cameron Croese is a qualified English teacher, who has a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) / Bachelor of Arts (English) from Macquarie University and is currently undertaking a Masters of Education in Melbourne. A long-time Art of Smart coach, Cameron has supported over 60 students from Years 7 to 12! When not studying, Cameron is an avid writer, having won several awards for short stories, including the Alan Marshall Short Story Award.
