Outcomes and Skills
These outcomes describe what students should be able to do by the end of the unit. They are formative: use them to plan, self-check and give feedback. They do not rank students or record results.
Knowledge
- Know the novel's central thought experiment: what happens when genetic technology is treated as a product.
- Know how the novel combines science fiction, thriller and disaster conventions.
- Know how the park's systems depend on people, software and assumptions.
- Know how multiple viewpoints shape the reader's understanding of events.
- Know how motifs such as control, chaos, gates, eyes and weather build meaning.
- Know how adaptation changes character, theme and emphasis.
- Know how to build a contestable argument with short, accurately contextualised evidence.
Skills
| Skill | What it looks like | Next step if it is not yet secure |
|---|---|---|
| Contextualising | Connects the novel's concerns to the science and business culture of its moment without reducing it to a message. | Write three sentences: what the novel assumes, what it fears and what it hopes. |
| Analysing genre | Explains how a convention shapes tension, pace or meaning. | Name the convention, then say what it makes the reader expect. |
| Mapping structure | Traces causes and consequences rather than just listing events. | Draw an arrow from each decision to its later effect. |
| Analysing worldbuilding | Explains how scientific detail, logistics and jargon create plausibility. | Ask what the novel makes seem normal that should seem strange. |
| Analysing character | Treats characters as positions in an argument, not just personalities. | Ask what each character represents in the debate about the park. |
| Analysing viewpoint | Explains what a particular perspective reveals and what it cannot see. | Ask who is absent from the scene and what they would notice. |
| Using evidence | Selects a short quotation, gives its context and explains what it shows. | Use the pattern: context, quotation, explanation, link. |
| Building an argument | States a contestable claim and supports it with distinct reasons. | Use the because test twice. |
| Comparing adaptation | Explains a change in emphasis rather than simply listing differences. | Ask what the change makes the audience feel or believe. |
| Creative response | Uses the novel's concerns in an original form without copying its text. | Write a scene the novel leaves out, in your own words. |
What progress looks like
| From | To |
|---|---|
| Retelling the plot. | Explaining how a choice or system produces a consequence. |
| Saying the park fails because of bad luck. | Explaining how human decisions, assumptions and incentives make failure likely. |
| Treating Malcolm as the author's mouthpiece. | Examining what Malcolm sees, what he misses and how other characters respond. |
| Quoting a line without context. | Introducing the moment, quoting briefly and explaining its significance. |
| Listing themes. | Showing how a motif develops across the novel and supports a claim. |
| Treating the film as a copy of the novel. | Explaining what the adaptation changes and why those changes matter. |
Formative success criteria
- I can explain the novel's central thought experiment in one sentence.
- I can describe how the park's systems depend on human behaviour.
- I can explain how a motif develops across at least three moments.
- I can analyse a short quotation in context.
- I can write a contestable claim with two distinct reasons.
- I can name and answer the strongest counterargument.
- I can explain a meaningful difference between the novel and its adaptation.
- I can write a creative scene that illuminates the novel without copying it.
- I can contribute a claim, evidence and a question to a seminar.
These criteria are formative. They are not a ranking tool. Use them in conferences, peer feedback and self-checks, and revise your judgement as your understanding changes.