Ask Jay: Why do we need to study scripts?

Hey Jay, My son has been reading more scripts recently in his study with you, but honestly he doesn’t understand why he needs to spend so much time studying scripts. Could you help us understand this a little better? Thank you!

Hey, No problems. I think many people feel the same way, and it is very important that we understand why we do what we do. Let me explain why it is crucial that we study scripts from the earliest years of high school:

1) He will likely study these texts: The texts he has been cover are those that are usually covered by grade 9-12 in many Australian Schools. The Australian Curriculum/ state curriculum will have students analysing usually 1-2 scripts every year, especially through senior school. So to be prepared for future work he will be doing with scripts, which will likely include the very scripts he has been reading recently, we are preparing now.

2) The visual component: Most schools will require students to analyse visual texts at both the level of language and imagery. This is what learning scripts and their presentation in film is all about and something that we have been addressing over these last few weeks.

3) Preparation for studying Shakespeare: Most Australian Schools teach plenty of Shakespeare. All of Shakespeare's works are scripts, and they are very hard. If a student doesn't prepare for reading scripts well, they will be unprepared when he begins to read Shakespeare in the future. Students who usually get A's in English will get B's or C's in Shakespeare because they weren’t fully prepared. Our focus on Scripts now is to prepare the students for their work in Shakespeare later in their high school career.  

4) Preparation for Final exams: Grade 12 Finally exams are usually one of Shakespeare' plays (Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello etc.). Ill prepared students do poorly in this exam and it dramatically affects their overall grade.

5) Preparing early: good preparation begins early. Some schools begin in grade 8. A student, with a full schedule of classes, does not have the time in grade 11 and 12 to become sufficiently versed in Shakespeare to confidently tackle their final exams. Some schools only begin looking at Shakespeare in grade 11. This generally leaves students woefully unprepared.

As for relevance, I hope that the above points clarify the relevance of studying scripts. But, to be more specific, the below should address any other concerns:

1)     Your Son’s school curriculum: I have spent a great deal of time reading through school curriculums. I have also read the curriculum for your Son’s school specific to his grade and future grades. What your school plans for is consistent with what most schools in Australia will be practising and studying. The two aspects I want to draw your attention to are the focus on imagery and the use of scripts. As it is with most schools, your son will need to look at the composition of some visual text, that may be a documentary or movie. Our work with the films made from these scripts addresses this. Further, as mentioned previously, your son’s school (like most schools in Australia) requires students to analyse one of Shakespeare’s plays before reaching grade 12. Like I said our work now on scripts addresses this and will help him.

2)     Analysis at your school and in the Australian Curriculum: Your son’s school, as with most schools in Australia, places a great deal of emphasis on analysis and specifically on how to analyse literary texts. Our work on analysis mirrors and amplifies the Australian curriculum’s focus to help produce strong and clear thinkers. Without this skill no other form of writing would work.

3)     Writing: The primary problem with the students currently has been their ability to formulate a clear point of view, marshal arguments, and clearly organise their thoughts in support of their opinions. Your son and the others have only recently been seeing success in this area of their writing. Without first being able to do these things effectively, learning how to write new genres won’t be very effective. That being said we will be looking at different writing genres and skills in the near future.

Your son has gone from struggling to read complex literature to analysing it with a high degree of success. He has gone from not being able to write clearly about what we are reading to be being able to structure and clearly communicate his thoughts. This all happened in only 20 hours of classes. That is a massive improvement in a very short amount of time.

I hope this addresses some of your concerns.

Regards,

Jadon Irwin
Humanities and English Studies Tutor
J. P. Irwin Tutoring