gemita said:
For 'different readings of the speeches', is that essentially to do with their reception in different contexts, or is it more about the different ways the speeches can be interpreted? I've never even heard this phrase when talking about this module! Gaah!
Oh and also...I would think that 'reception in different contexts' refers also to the way it was recieved at the time of the speechmaking. For example, with Lincoln, the crowd rected well while the newspapers and critics reacted more harshly.
Here are a few HSC style questions in a booklet from my teachers:
"Your local library is running a series of lectures that explore how the nature of the audience affects the way texts are received and valued. You have been asked to speak about different receptions of your prescribed text. Compose your speech explaining how you have valued your prescribed text and evaluating a different way it has been responded to and valued. In your response you should consider the structure, language and ideas of the text. You must refer to at least TWO speeches."
"'Once responders understand that the effect of context and the varying questions of value mean we each read a text differently to some degree, we understand that there can be no agreed value.' Write a transcript of a dialogue which debates the quotation above with reference to the text studied. Base your answer on the consideration of at least TWO speeches set for study"
"You have been asked to represent your school at a forum where students are presenting talks on Module B: Critical Study of Texts set for the 2004 HSC. The focus for the evening is: 'Text and Context: different places, different times, different values.' Write the text of a speech that explains how different places, different times or different values have influenced the distinctive qualities of a speech. In your speech you should refer to at least THREE speeches."
So yeah, from those you can see how they might want you to respond to the syllabus requirement of "reception in a range of contexts".
