Common Module: Texts & 
Human Experience 
 

Introduction to the Module 

 

 
 
 Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences 
 
Task 1: Read through the rubric statement and fill in the missing words as you go. Once 
you have done this highlight each of the verbs within the statement.   

In this common module students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and 
collective human experiences. They _____________ how texts represent human qualities and emotions 
associated with, or arising from, these experiences. Students appreciate,__________, interpret, analyse 
and evaluate the ways language is used to shape these representations in a range of texts in a variety of 
forms, modes and media. 
 
Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and ____________ in human 
behaviour and motivations, inviting the responder to see the world differently, to challenge 
assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally. They may also consider the role of storytelling 
throughout time to express and reflect particular lives and cultures. By responding to a range of texts 
they further develop skills and confidence using various __________ devices, language concepts, modes 
and media to formulate a considered response to texts. 
 
Students study one prescribed text and a range of _______texts that provide rich opportunities to 
further explore representations of human experiences illuminated in texts. They make increasingly 
informed judgements about how aspects of these texts, for example context, purpose, structure, 
stylistic and grammatical features, and form shape meaning. In addition, students select one related 
text and draw from ____________ experience to make connections between themselves, the world of 
the text and their wider world. 
 
By responding and composing throughout the module students further develop a repertoire of skills in 
comprehending, interpreting and analysing complex texts. They examine how different modes and 
media use visual, verbal and/or digital language elements. They ____________ ideas using figurative 
language to express ____________ themes and evaluative language to make informed judgements about 
texts. Students further develop skills in using metalanguage, correct grammar and syntax to analyse 
language and express a personal perspective about a text. 

short  communicate  literary  inconsistencies 

universal  explore  personal  examine 

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 Understanding the Rubric: what you need to know. 
Task 2: Fill the columns using the module description.  
 
What I need to do...   What I need to know... 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 

   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 

   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
 
 

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 Understanding the Rubric: h​uman experiences - plutchik’s wheel of emotion 
● Examine how texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising from, 
these experiences. 
 
HUMAN QUALITIES:​ This can be seen in a philosophical sense, in terms of the​ universal qualities ​that 
make us human- A soul, A capacity for rational thinking (practical reason), ideas & memory, complex 
language, ephemeral nature. It can also suggest ​human 
values attitudes and beliefs ​(trust, love, aspiration, curiosity, 
human dignity, acceptance, empathetic etc)   
 

Every text conveys an attitude or belief about an experience 

and that in turn is about what is valued, whether you agree 
with it or not. ​These attitudes & beliefs can be verbalised 
through dialogue or comments, or seen in action through the 
characters, or they can be implied, confirmed through the 
language used, whether verbal, visual, aural or digital. 
 

ACTIVITY​: Looking at ​Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion​ list all the human experiences that you can think of 
that fit with each of the emotions listed on the colour wheel.  
 
EXTENSION​: Can you think of a text that could represent some of the experience you have listed?  
 

Emotion   Experience  Text 

Ecstasy     
 

Admiration     
 

Terror     
 

Amazement      
 

Grief     
 

Loathing     
 

Rage     
 

Vigilance     
 

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 Consider the table below- applying human emotions to the situations at hand.  
Quotation   Emotion   Human experience that might have lead to this emotion.   
She wanted something to happen –     
something, anything, she did not   
know what.      
 

I’m pretty excited too because I     

had no idea that Laforgue had 
worked for him, before coming 
across a footnote in a book on 
Manet .. 

Sheila [astounded]:     
We fought all the time. You were   
worse than my mother.   
 

Alberto is seeing the Atlantic for     

the first time and is overwhelmed 
by this discovery that signifies an 
infinite number of paths to all ends 
of the earth ... 

I walk, I lift up, heart eyes Down all     

that glory ..   
 

Writing emotions:​ Develop your own emotional imagery. Work with a partner to complete the table below.  
 

Emotions can be conveyed through imagery. ​He felt as if he had been run over ​doesn’t literally mean he was run over but 
it means he was devastated. It is, however, overused and has become a cliché. Another way of showing devastation may 
be: ​He felt as if he was an octopus stranded on a dry beach left for children to poke at with a sharp stick. 
 

Emotion   Link to human experiences  Imagery that captures emotion  

     
Excitement    
 

     
Curiosity    
 

     
Love    
 

     
Hatred    
 

   
 
 
 

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Bewilderment  
 
 
 
 

TED Ed: ​Why humans run the world?  

 
Task​: List these words in the correct order they appear in the talk. (Watch till 7:30min) 
 
 
● Similar  
● Chimpanzee  
● Fiction 
● Imagination 
● Cooperate in large numbers 
● Collective 
● Flexible  
● Control 
● Homosapians  
● Global exchange of ideas 
 
 
Task​: Write a three sentence summary of the video. The list may help you.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Understanding the Rubric: collective and individual human experiences 
● Students [explore how] texts represent Individual and collective experiences…. 

Task​: Define each term before listing some collective and individual experiences below. 
 
Collective:  
 
Individual: 
 

Collective Human Experiences  Individual Experiences 

Part of a collective group  Me as an individual  

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Synonyms for  
Experience... 
 
 
 
 

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Understanding the Rubric: human qualities and emotions

● Examine how texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising from, 
these experiences. 
 
What is it? 
Part of what it means to be human is how we became human. Over a long period of time, as early humans 
adapted to a changing world, they evolved certain characteristics that help define our species 
today.These characteristics manifest in the form of qualities, human qualities are attributes or traits 
that people possess that designate them as human. 
 
Positive Qualities  Negative Qualities  

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
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Homework: TED Talk: ​What does it mean to be human 
 
Consider the following questions. 
 
What does it mean to be human? 

 
 
 
 
 
 
What are the key factors that shape our experiences individually and collectively as humans?
 

 
 
 
 
What are Sanchez’s key messages about what makes a difference to our experiences?
 

 
 
 
 
How does she use language and delivery to convey her key messages? 
 

 
 
 
 
Identify four key language features and three ways that she engages an audience through delivery, such 
as pace, pause and intonation.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Understanding the Rubric: anomalies, paradoxes & inconsistencies  

● Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies 
in human behaviour and motivations 
 

Task​: Look at each of the images below and in the explanation box discuss the human experiences being conveyed.  
 

Image  What experience is being conveyed &  Anomalies and inconsistencies when 
what evidence supports that assumption  considering contextual information.  

   

   

   

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Task:​ Complete the table below looking at how inconsistencies and paradoxes can arise in human behaviour.   
 

Paradoxical statement   Explanation  

We move forward, but keep going   

backwards    
 
 
 

In the modern age of   

communication, it seems we   
communicate less.    
 
 

The city which brings together so   

many people, also isolates    
 
 
 
 

People who think they know   

everything, think they know   
nothing    
 
 

Before you disappeared,   

sometimes i barely noticed you.    
 
 
 
 

Men were plentiful, but scarce    

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I am a part of all that I have met;   

Yet all experience is an arch   
wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd   
world whose margin fades For ever   
and forever when I move​. 
 
(from ​Ulysses ​by Alfred Lord Tennyson) 

Understanding the Rubric: challenging assumptions 

● see the world differently, challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally.  
 
Task:​ ​Assumptions:​ Often anomalies, inconsistencies and paradoxes arise from the assumptions we make 
about humanity. View the following ​trailer ​and complete the activities below with a partner.  
 

Word   Image   What does this evoke? 

Darkness      
   
 

Evil     
    
 

Hate     
    
 

Suffering      
   
 

Forgiveness      
   
 

Faith      
   
 

Hope      
   
 

Love      
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Task 2: Questions: 
What are the opening questions? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What experiences and places does the film share in each scene? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What images accompany each of these words in the latter part of the trailer? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Why have these experiences been chosen? What do they assume that we value? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
How does this trailer interpret human experience? How does it represent human experiences? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What are we supposed to feel? How did you come to this conclusions 
 
 
 
 
 
 
> Select the module statements that this trailer might match 
 
 

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> DISCUSS AND LIST: What does it mean to be human according to this text?   
 

Challenging the text: ​Texts often affirm the structures of society reinforcing positions of weakness or privilege & the 
assumptions we have about different groups of people.  
Which groups/cultures are suffering? 
 
 
 
 
 
Who are the heroes? Describe them in terms of gender, cultural and social background. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Now start to think more critically 
 
 
 
 
 
 
How does this text construct the experiences of each group? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Who is powerful and who is weak? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Does this text affirm or challenge cultural and social assumptions?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Practise Short Answer Questions: 
 
The short film - ‘Oh Wonder - All We Do’ - was made by a range of filmmakers in 
response to the question “What does it mean to be human?” - 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPGREQvK-dQ  
 
Individually respond to the film through the series of reflective questions: 
What was the purpose of this short film? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What perspectives and values of humanity are evident in this film, such as compassion, empathy and 
tolerance?
 
 
 
 
 
 
What is the key message?
 
 
 
 
 
 
How do the filmmakers use images, interviews, words and sound to convey their message about what it 
means to be human? 
 
 
 
 
 

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What is the meaning of the refrain? 
All we do is hide away, All we do is, all we do is hide away, All we do is chase the day, All we do, all we do 
is chase the day, All we do is lie and wait
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mid-Term Break 
BY ​SEAMUS HEANEY 
 
I sat all morning in the college sick bay 
counting bells knelling classes to a close. 
At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home. 
 
In the porch I met my father crying— 
he had always taken funerals in his stride— 
and Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow. 
 
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram 
when I came in, and I was embarrassed 
by old men standing up to shake my hand 
 
and tell me they were 'sorry for my trouble'. 
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest, 
away at school, as my mother held my hand 
 
in hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs. 
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived 
with the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses. 
 
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops 
and candles soothed the bedside; I saw him 

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 for the first time in six weeks. Paler now, 
 
wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple, 
he lay in the four-foot box as in his cot. 
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. 
 
A four-foot box, a foot for every year. 
 

Seamus Heaney, "Mid-Term Break" from ​Opened Ground: Selected poems 1966-1996.​ Copyright © 

YOUR TURN: ​Question​: How does this text reflect upon the experience of death? Write an extended 
response justifying your answer.​ (Hint: Spend some time annotating the text to allow you to consider its 
significance as a reflective text).  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Understanding the Rubric: ​thinking conceptually  
Human Experience/ and Write some statements that relate to each section of the rubric. You may use
human experiences can be.. these later as topic sentences in an essay.

represented ​individually​ and 

collectively 

represents ​human​ ​qualities 

and ​emotions 

may give insight into the 

anomalies​, ​paradoxes​ and 
inconsistencies​ in human 
behaviour​ and ​motivations​,

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challenge​ ​assumptions​, 
ignite​ new ideas or ​reflect 
personally

consider the role of 

storytelling throughout ​time 
to express and reflect 
particular lives and cultures.

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