Venn diagram
Instructions
After you have explored three texts, make a 3-way Venn diagram to show how the texts are similar or different both in terms of theme, style and context. You can use any tool to create your Venn diagram, such as Google Draw, Canva.com or even three large jars that you trace with a pen onto paper. Write key words in the fields of the diagram that overlap. You may want to work in pairs or use this Venn diagram to record a classroom discussion. In your portfolio explain why you chose these three text. Furthermore, explain how you turned discussion notes and research into a diagram, using the digital tools.
Model portfolio entry
WHAT: Here is the 3-way Venn diagram that I created in response to The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, The Finkelstein 5 by Nana Kwame Andjei-Brenya and Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer.
WHY: I wanted to create a Venn diagram to help me see the similarities and differences between the three short stories that we read. We will be writing a comparative essay on two of the three texts as an end of the unit assessment, and this will help me prepare.
HOW: I used Canva.com to create this. I worked on it with Mark. Mr. Philpot asked us to fill out the diagram after we read Finkelstein 5 and The Lottery. Then we read Country Lovers and worked on it some more. During the classroom discussion on all 3 stories, Mark and I wrote more key words and phrases directly into Canva. This is why our product looks very similar to everyone else's.
SO WHAT: The strangest thing about all of this is how I started to notice more similarities and differences between the first two stories after introducing a third story. The classroom discussion helped us steal other people's ideas. In the end Mr. Philpot said it didn't matter if our diagram looked like everyone else's. He said that good artists create and great artists steal. Actually Steve Jobs said that Picasso said that. But Picasso never really said that.
Tips
This activity is good for visualising the relationships between texts. Try using it with 3 poems by the same author (literary work), or 3 ads from the same campaign (BOW) to prepare for an individual oral. Try comparing 3 novels or plays to see which 2 you would like to explore for Paper 2.