Five-Week Plan

Year 11 ATAR Literature • Picnic at Hanging Rock • Five-week sequence

The sequence assumes the novel is read in full. It moves from first response to structure, then to context and critical reading, and finally to writing and discussion. The novel's unresolved ending is treated as a technique to analyse, not a puzzle to solve.

Texts. The novel and the 1975 film are in copyright. This packet does not reproduce the novel's text or any film stills. Students need their own copies of the novel; short quotations are supplied by students from their editions. The sources and provenance page records the rights position.

Week 1 - Context and first reading

Lesson	Focus	Formative checkpoint
1	First response: what kind of story is this? Record questions before supplying context.	Three questions and one observation about the opening.
2	Context and Composition: Lindsay, 1967, the 1900 setting, the film and the "true story" frame.	One contextual detail that changes the reading of a scene.
3	Read the opening and the picnic sequence. Map the school, the Rock and the picnic party.	A setting map with three annotations.
4	Discuss the first disappearance. Separate what the novel reports from what characters believe.	A two-column table: reported / inferred.

Week 2 - Structure, character and narration

Lesson	Focus	Formative checkpoint
1	Plot and Structure: the five movements from picnic to aftermath.	A timeline with the novel's major turning points.
2	Characters and Power: Appleyard, Miranda, Irma, Sara, the staff and the visitors.	A character map showing who has power and who is exposed.
3	Narration and Uncertainty: the frame, the gaps and the pseudo-documentary afterword.	One paragraph on how the narration withholds explanation.
4	Close reading workshop: select one short passage and annotate for what it does not say.	An annotation with one observation, one effect and one question.

Week 3 - Setting, gender and symbol

Lesson	Focus	Formative checkpoint
1	Setting and the Sublime: the Rock as real place, colonial symbol and gothic landscape.	A setting grid with three details and their effects.
2	Gender and Institution: the school as a machine for producing respectability.	One claim about how the school controls the girls, with evidence.
3	Symbols and Motifs: timepieces, clothing, the tower, fire and the Rock.	A motif tracker showing where a detail recurs and what it does.
4	Build a claim: turn a pattern into an argument about the whole novel.	A thesis sentence and one rival reading.

Week 4 - Evidence and critical writing

Lesson	Focus	Formative checkpoint
1	Close Reading and Evidence: how to use short quotations without letting them replace analysis.	An evidence log with three quotations and their effects.
2	Critical perspectives: feminist, postcolonial, gothic and psychoanalytic readings.	One perspective applied to one scene, with a limitation.
3	Draft a critical paragraph using the critical writing guide.	One paragraph with claim, evidence, analysis and link.
4	Peer feedback: evidence, effect, counter-reading.	One specific revision the writer will make.

Week 5 - Creative, oral and seminar

Lesson	Focus	Formative checkpoint
1	Critical and Creative Response: choose a missing scene, a witness statement or a spoken annotation.	A plan that names the gap, the perspective and the intended effect.
2	Studio: draft the creative piece or the spoken walkthrough.	A complete draft, read aloud once.
3	Seminar and Discussion: prepare a position and one piece of evidence.	A seminar note with a claim, evidence and a question.
4	Revision and Retrieval: retrieve the timeline, character map and motif grid.	A completed retrieval grid from memory, then corrected.

The plan is adaptable. If a class needs more time on the novel's structure, move the creative response into Week 5 and shorten the seminar preparation rather than dropping the reading.