Well, I can't give you explicit advice for your topic, as I'm doing journeys, but a for general English advice:
Firstly, look at your text as a whole. What does the composer say about change? Brainstorm a little. 3-4 ideas is ideal.
Then think about HOW the message of change is shown for each of the ideas you just brainstormed? Was it a specific scene, a quote, the protagonist's response to the change? Brainstorm, and then look through your text to get the details. i.e. What is happening in this scene, page no. Try and find three strong 'HOW's.
These HOW's are called techniques. They're just ways in which the composer chooses to show his idea. It could be linguistic, like a simile or alliteration or stylistic, such as tone, structure of the text or the way in which his ideas of his text may be saying something about the nature of humanity, or society or change on a wider scale.
Also, remember to examine techniques that are specific to the type of text. If it's a film, filmic techniques like camera angle, close-ups, far shots, colour etc. If it's an image, vector lines, colour etc
Look at these HOWs and ask yourself:
- Why did the composer choose to express the concept of change in this way, rather than in a different way?
- What effect does this have upon the reader?
- To what extent does the composer, through the techniques he has used, express the concept of 'Change in perspectives.'
Write all your thoughts down, no matter how dumb they may seem.
And THAT is the hard part. When you look at that, you have constructed 3 topic sentences for paragraphs (your first ideas on what the composer says about change), and 3 solid supporting techniques and the effect and significance of the techniques employed (the last questions).
So if you were to clean that up and make your points clear and concise- you've got yourself an essay.
With incorporating supplementary texts, my teacher has said to focus on either COMPARING or CONTRASTING texts, on a THEMATIC or a TECHNICAL basis rather than looking for links in the plot. For example, with journeys, say both of the protagonists in two texts are migrants. Umm... That doesn't really have much depth for thematic textual analysis. Rather the process of forced displacement, of both a physical and emotional detachment does affect the individual, with both positive and negative implications as shown by the composers of the texts.
The great thing about supplementary texts is that you can just branch off of your main brainstorm for your prescribed text, by either comparing or contrasting, thematically or technically, to show similar/ different points of view on the matter of change.
In order to push into the higher bands, you need to look at why the composer uses the techniques that he does and how successful is it in proving his point. For example, poetry serves as a mask for outlandish anti-war propaganda as Sassoon and Owen manipulate their own war experiences to create a horrific image of war in order to stop the mass support for it. Or the cynicism of consumerist life that Bruce Dawe employs acts as an imperative for people to re-orientate their values from materialism to self-discovery and sentimentality.
Spending the hour or so thinking about your texts and the intentions and ideas of the composer and how it shines through in the text, will really help you in English.
You might want to look at the short film 'Harvie Krumpet' by Adam Elliot as a supplementary text for change. Harvie embracing 'Carpe Diem' really turns his life view around. The angle of the statue and the last 'fakt' are good techniques to focus on too.
