Themes and Identity

Overview

This is lesson 7 of 25 in Justice or Just Us? Students build on prior viewing and discussion of In My Blood It Runs by identifying and analysing the documentary’s major themes, particularly identity and inequality. They will connect recurring ideas to film evidence, representation and audience response.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify key themes in the documentary.
• WALT explain how events, people, setting and film choices develop themes.
• WALT analyse how the documentary represents identity and inequality.
• WALT use evidence to communicate an analytical response.

Success criteria

• I can identify a major theme in the documentary.
• I can select a relevant scene, quotation, image or film detail as evidence.
• I can explain how the evidence develops the theme of identity or inequality.
• I can explain how the theme may influence an audience’s response.

Curriculum links

• Literature — analysing how features of literary texts influence readers’ preferences and responses.
• Literacy — analysing how representations of people, places, events and concepts reflect contexts.
• Literacy — analysing and evaluating how language features represent a perspective.
• Literacy — planning and creating analytical texts with sequenced, supported ideas.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Reconnect and hook. Open with the documentary hook question and display: “Is identity something we choose, inherit or are given by others?” Students complete a silent quick-write, then share one idea with a partner. Invite two contrasting responses and explain that today’s focus is on recurring ideas, or themes, rather than simply retelling events.

2. 5–12 min · Teach theme and evidence. Use the theme and evidence explanation to define a theme as a significant idea explored across a text, not a one-word topic. Model the difference between a topic (“identity”) and a thematic statement (“Identity can be shaped by culture, family, language and the expectations of institutions”). Briefly introduce an evidence chain: theme → documentary detail → technique or representation → audience effect.

3. 12–25 min · Evidence investigation. Distribute the theme evidence analysis worksheet. In groups of three, students review their viewing notes and identify evidence connected to identity and inequality. They record a specific scene, person, setting detail, quotation or documentary choice, then explain what it suggests. Students should consider Arrernte identity, family and community, schooling, language, cultural knowledge and the unequal treatment of Aboriginal young people. Circulate and prompt groups to replace general comments such as “this is unfair” with precise explanations of how the documentary represents the situation.

4. 25–33 min · Compare interpretations. Display the group comparison prompts. Each group chooses its strongest evidence and prepares a 30-second explanation using: “The documentary develops the theme of ___ through ___. This represents ___ as ___. It may make the audience feel/consider ___.” Groups share with a neighbouring group, which identifies one strength and asks one clarifying question. Emphasise that different interpretations are valid when supported by evidence.

5. 33–41 min · Analytical writing. Use the analytical paragraph model to model a concise paragraph using contention, evidence and explanation. Students write one paragraph answering: “How does In My Blood It Runs develop the theme of identity or inequality?” Require one precise documentary detail and an explanation of its effect on the audience. Encourage students to analyse representation rather than make unsupported judgements about individuals or communities.

6. 41–45 min · Plenary and exit check. Students complete the final section of the theme evidence analysis worksheet: “One major theme is ___. The strongest evidence is ___. This influences the audience by ___.” Invite volunteers to read responses, collect the worksheets and clarify that the next lesson will develop these ideas into a longer analytical response.

Resources

• the complete theme analysis slide deck
• the theme evidence analysis worksheet
• Students’ viewing notes and access to previously viewed documentary scenes
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Exercise books or devices
• Timer
• Highlighters in two colours

Assessment

• Listen during group investigations for accurate identification of themes and relevant evidence.
• Check whether students move from topic to thematic statement and explain representation or audience effect.
• Collect the written paragraph and exit response to assess evidence selection, contextual understanding and analytical explanation.

Differentiation

• Provide dyslexia-friendly copies of the theme evidence analysis worksheet using a clear sans-serif font, generous spacing, short instructions and coloured headings. Allow students to listen to scene descriptions or replay brief sections where available.
• Support students with a word bank containing theme, identity, culture, inequality, representation, perspective, evidence and audience. Offer the sentence frames on the worksheet and pair students strategically.
• For students requiring additional support, accept a labelled storyboard or recorded oral response before transferring ideas into a paragraph. Conference with groups using one question at a time.
• Extension: students analyse how two different documentary choices, such as interview, setting, juxtaposition, music or editing, develop the same theme, then evaluate which choice most strongly influences the audience.