Do you have an example of that? Would you need to compare the two or just analyse the visual as a single analysis?
In the event you get something similar to last year's exam, you'd just have to focus on the main piece, integrate some visual analysis where relevant, and compare the main contention to that of the comment once or twice in order to analyse the comment.
Cope of an answer from a few pages back in this thread:
If you're getting one main article, two visuals, and a comment:Paragraph 1:
3/4: main article +
1/4 visual (1)Paragraph 2:
3/4: main article +
1/4 commentParagraph 3:
3/4: main article +
1/4 visual (2) + (comment - if not sufficiently covered in other para.)---------------------------------
So each paragraph contains at least two 'texts' (ie. the main piece and one other; either visual or written) but no paragraph is burdened with having to deal with every single text all at once. This'll let you draw sufficient connections across the material and cover the whole scope of the thing without comparing at the expense of analysis.
That's how I'd do it anyway, and it probably suits a key player/ sub-argument method best, so if you have your own way of handling things, it might be best to stick with that at this point of the year. Ultimately the assessors care way more about the quality of your analysis anyway - the format and essay structure should be aspects that enhance (or at least don't hinder) your analysis anyway, so don't stress too much.
Is the second topic of The Complete Maus always about the graphic novel and it's relationship to exploring the narrative?
I noticed Free Original Practice Exams - 2015 does for all four practice exams, as does the 2014 one from VCAA.
I seem to score better on these, and find it easier because you can use a lot of visual evidence, which I find easier to recall than quotes. It would be comforting to know that it will be an option on the exam.
EDIT: Also, an interesting but somewhat annoying thing about Maus quotes is that a lot of them are intentionally grammatically incorrect, which makes for an interesting thing to analyse but at the same time makes remembering quotes word for word a difficult task. If I provide a quote but accidentally correct its grammar, will I lose marks for "misquoting" the text?
I wrote those 2015 prac. prompts because the 'Discuss the graphical features' structural prompts tend to be more difficult than the standard 'Discuss Artie and Vladek's relationship'-style character/thematic prompts, but if you're on top of analysing the visual elements then you should be fine for those ones.
There's no guarantee that VCAA will give you something like that, but in general, you tend to get one 'close' prompt that's zoomed in and provides a fairly narrow idea hinting at specific evidence, and then one 'big-picture' prompt that's about the author's intentions, the text as a whole, or decisions that the author makes. My suspicion is that VCAA just don't know what to do with a graphic novel since it's the first time one's ever been on the text list, so half of the prompts from them and by company papers are just like 'err... Discuss the pretty pictures!'
I could imagine something about the visual format and its effects, or perhaps the visual + textual combination coming up, but you should still prepare for other areas too.
With regards to the grammar of quotes, Vladek's broken English can make things tricky, but try to remember the quote in its original form. If you end up slightly altering things, you're not going to be penalised at all, especially not if you're just changing the grammar around. Most essays at the end of the year will have some degree of misquoting by virtue of it being a timed assessment task, so as long as the original meaning of the quote is preserved, you'll be fine.
Can someone please explain how to effectively do tonal analysis in the bodyparagraphs?
how much depth do we need to go into?
You can treat it like any other technique:
The author's optimistic tone, as evidenced by his proclamation that he is "so excited for the exam tomorrow!!!" coupled with the abundance of exclamation marks is designed to elicit...Alternatively, you can use the tone as a point of transition, especially when there's a notable shift. Tone analysis can also be a single word (usually an adverb like aggressively, warmly, stoically, emphatically etc.) before the verb, so sentences like 'The author enthusiastically wishes students the best of luck for Wednesday' is incorporating tone analysis through that adverb 'enthusiastically.'
Just don't overdo it, but a bit of tone analysis (maybe once per paragraph?) can be a good thing.
What is a good method to conclude a comparative analysis?
Have one or two sentences about the main author's contention, and the intended effect on the audience. If there's a single comment, then you can do the same for that one and write something brief about the piece overall, but if there's multiple comments, I'd probably just focus on the main article rather than tick the boxes for every single text.
For context expository essays:
My plan is to do
Intro
text
external
external
conclusion
When I write my external paragraphs, should I link back to my main text?
That outline seems totally fine. There's no requirement to go back to the text, but the occasional reference can go a long way. Don't spend multiple sentences trying to tie things together, but you could have a quick 'Just as
>character from set text< experienced a conflict of belonging (or w/e you're talking about for your Context,) so too did
>this external example< involve a similar case of...'
That half-sentence parallel can make your piece feel more cogent overall, and less like three entirely separate discussions. In the event those links aren't possible, you'll still be safe enough writing about your external evidence in isolation though.
are 300-word paragraphs too long for context?
Nope! So long as you can write at least three body paragraphs within the time constraints, that's fine. But you might want to cut down and make your writing more concise if you're worried you might end up taking too long.
Most of my paragraphs in English were at least a page long, (and I think my lit ones were usually a page and a half,) but I was told if your focus is clear and you're not rambling, you're all good
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