AustLit
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By the time you come to this page, it is assumed that you have developed definitions of Speculative Fiction and perused the cover of a range of titles in the Exhibition.
From the exhibition, what are the books you would like to read? Based on what you have seen, develop a personal reading list like the one below.
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Borrow them from your local or school library. If they aren’t available, speak to the librarian and request that the titles be purchased.
When you are finished reading, share your thoughts with others. Here are two ways you can do this. Firstly, write a book blog. Here are examples of blog posts about two fantasy books, the novel Worldshaker by Richard Harland and the short story anthology Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan.
Alternatively, if you are over thirteen years of age, for a quicker alternative (140 characters to be precise), use Twitter and create something like this:
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Don’t forget to include some hashtags to make your review easier to find.
If you are doing this as part of your school studies, check with your teacher before using the Internet to post your reviews.
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Writing Reviews
If students are unfamiliar with reviews, they will need some help, including:
- Exposure to multiple examples of good reviews
- Knowledge about the context, structure and key language features of a book review
- Watching the teacher creating a review and jointly constructing one with the teacher and other students.
Using the Internet to Publish Reviews
Ensure students are familiar with school policies about posting work on the Internet. In addition, make them aware of issues around privacy, as well as allowing comments on the review (and the potential for negative, possibly abusive feedback). Finally, even if students do not like the book they are reviewing, they should be aware that civility is still required, and defamation of the author must be avoided.
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