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Author Topic: Structuring the Crime 15 marker  (Read 6126 times)  Share 

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rodero

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Structuring the Crime 15 marker
« on: February 02, 2017, 07:38:49 pm »
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Hi, I need some clarification about the structure of the legal studies HSC paper, as well as how to go about answering the 15 marker on crime

1) First off, is it right to assume that out of the 20 multiple choice questions, 15 are based on crime while 5 are on human rights? Also, will the remainder of human rights always be tested through short answer, with crime always being the extended response? I just need clarification to make sure this is how the paper is structured, and not just a trend that could change any year.

2) How do we go about answering the 15 marker? Modern History lecturers and teachers say that we shouldn't follow the structure of an English paper. Does this apply for legal as well? Is it fine to follow a TEEAL structure for a legal essay? Also, how much are we expected to write to be placed in the top bands, in contrast to the options essays. My school's crime exam was a 15 mark essay with a given question, which we had 40 minutes to write. Is 40 minutes an appropriate amount of time to spend on this response, or should I put more time into the options? Essentially, what i'm asking is how different in time and length should my crime extended response be in comparison to the options?

Thanks for any help :)
HSC 2017:
English (Advanced): 91    Legal Studies: 92    Modern History: 91    Studies of Religion 2: 90    Business Studies: 92

ATAR: 96.75

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jamonwindeyer

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Re: Structuring the Crime 15 marker
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2017, 09:19:08 pm »
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Hi, I need some clarification about the structure of the legal studies HSC paper, as well as how to go about answering the 15 marker on crime

1) First off, is it right to assume that out of the 20 multiple choice questions, 15 are based on crime while 5 are on human rights? Also, will the remainder of human rights always be tested through short answer, with crime always being the extended response? I just need clarification to make sure this is how the paper is structured, and not just a trend that could change any year.

2) How do we go about answering the 15 marker? Modern History lecturers and teachers say that we shouldn't follow the structure of an English paper. Does this apply for legal as well? Is it fine to follow a TEEAL structure for a legal essay? Also, how much are we expected to write to be placed in the top bands, in contrast to the options essays. My school's crime exam was a 15 mark essay with a given question, which we had 40 minutes to write. Is 40 minutes an appropriate amount of time to spend on this response, or should I put more time into the options? Essentially, what i'm asking is how different in time and length should my crime extended response be in comparison to the options?

Thanks for any help :)

Hey Robert! In case no one has said it yet, welcome to the forums ;D

1) Yep, 15 Crime and 5 Human Rights in the MC. Then 15 marks for short answer on human rights, then 15 marks for Crime essay. It always works that way ;D

2) You structure a 15 mark Crime essay the same as any other essay you write (at least in a broad sense) - Introduction, a few body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Obviously there is no analysis of techniques in these paragraphs, but you still follow the general paragraph template you'd be used to. Introduce the idea, give some evidence (cases, laws, media, etc) and link it all to your argument, then conclude the paragraph. Rinse, repeat :)

A Crime essay will be shorter than your Option essays - Mine was about 5 and a half HSC booklet pages (which is smaller than an A4, maybe 3.5-4 A4 pages?) My option essays were about 6 and a half to 7 booklet pages - About a 25% increase in length, which roughly matches the mark increase. This length isn't what is required for a top range mark though - I've seen incredible 20/20 essays for the options with 5 pages. It is quality over quantity. That said, I'd expect a Crime essay to be at least 4 booklet pages, and an Option essay to be at least 5 booklet pages, from what I've seen (not a blanket rule).

I spent a little short of 45 minutes on my Crime essay - So a bit more than prescribed. Roughly my distribution was probably something like:

MC - 10 mins
Short Answer - 25 mins
Crime Essay - 45 mins
Options - Just over 50 mins each, I think I scored a bit of extra time from other sections

elysepopplewell

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Re: Structuring the Crime 15 marker
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2017, 09:30:06 pm »
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Hi, I need some clarification about the structure of the legal studies HSC paper, as well as how to go about answering the 15 marker on crime

1) First off, is it right to assume that out of the 20 multiple choice questions, 15 are based on crime while 5 are on human rights? Also, will the remainder of human rights always be tested through short answer, with crime always being the extended response? I just need clarification to make sure this is how the paper is structured, and not just a trend that could change any year.

2) How do we go about answering the 15 marker? Modern History lecturers and teachers say that we shouldn't follow the structure of an English paper. Does this apply for legal as well? Is it fine to follow a TEEAL structure for a legal essay? Also, how much are we expected to write to be placed in the top bands, in contrast to the options essays. My school's crime exam was a 15 mark essay with a given question, which we had 40 minutes to write. Is 40 minutes an appropriate amount of time to spend on this response, or should I put more time into the options? Essentially, what i'm asking is how different in time and length should my crime extended response be in comparison to the options?

Thanks for any help :)

Hey Robert! I want to say that I love your work around the forums here, I'm super keen to have you around!

For question 1, you're on the money with that trend! This has been the way for many years. Although, there may be times where you come across a multiple choice question and it's a little unclear if it's coming from Human Rights or from Crime (International Crime, specifically). I did have a question once that was an IC question, but had possible answers from Human Rights. It was a bit tricky, but just know that there can be that overlap. As with anything, I suggest being prepared for whatever, but you've definitely identified the form of the paper well. In a trial (or perhaps a half yearly...) I got to use some of my crime knowledge in my short answer when talking about my contemporary human rights issue, because I talked about police powers in relation to slavery/trafficking and warrants. So again, there can be a bit of overlap but things are pretty distinctly organised.

For question 2: Everyone's approach to the exam is different. I actually did my Modern paper from beginning to end, and I did my English paper out of order. I did my Legal paper fairly in order, I always do the multiple choice in the reading time and then the first few minutes of the exam, and that's where I save time to add to the option essays. 40 minutes is an appropriate amount of time to give to the crime essay, but I wouldn't give it any more than that seeing as it is only 15 marks. I also tried to shave time from the crime essay to give to the options. In my HSC exam, I had about 55 minutes for each option essay. Half yearlies are a good time to see how you can tackle the crime essay, how long it takes you, etc. I think my crime essays were about 5 pages long...I THINK. My way of thinking is: the option essays are worth more, so give them more time. But there's no use severely compromising your crime marks for the sake of polishing an option essay. It's about that balance. Give as much time to crime as you think you need to do your best work: but be disciplined. There's no point rambling for an extra 4 paragraphs when you've already made a well supported point that'll get you the marks you desire.

You've already done a crime essay, have you got the results for that back yet? Did you feel like you had enough time to answer the question? :)
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rodero

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Re: Structuring the Crime 15 marker
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2017, 09:48:55 pm »
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Hi Jamon and Elyse, thanks for the replies! They really gave me a better idea of what to expect and how to allocate my time.

Elyse, i've gotten my crime results back and got 14/15 which i'm pretty happy with. Like I said, I had 40 minutes, and had to prepare for two possible questions; One about explaining tension between community interests and individual rights and freedoms, the other on the extent to which the legal system balances the rights of offenders, victims and society. (On the day of the task, the teacher let us pick of the two questions, I chose the first).

Honestly, considering it was a given question, I think I really shouldn't have finished on the brink of 40 minutes, so would definitely need to work on keeping my arguments succinct (I wrote 7 booklet pages). On that note, is a ~15 minute difference really enough time between crime and the options? I can't imagine myself gaining that extra 10 marks in just a 15 minute difference. I was thinking that I should spend about 30-35 minutes on the crime essay and utilise my reading time by answering multiple choice in my head once skimming through the paper. This way I can maximise the time spent on options
HSC 2017:
English (Advanced): 91    Legal Studies: 92    Modern History: 91    Studies of Religion 2: 90    Business Studies: 92

ATAR: 96.75

Need tutoring? Click here!

jamonwindeyer

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Re: Structuring the Crime 15 marker
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2017, 09:59:21 pm »
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Hi Jamon and Elyse, thanks for the replies! They really gave me a better idea of what to expect and how to allocate my time.

Elyse, i've gotten my crime results back and got 14/15 which i'm pretty happy with. Like I said, I had 40 minutes, and had to prepare for two possible questions; One about explaining tension between community interests and individual rights and freedoms, the other on the extent to which the legal system balances the rights of offenders, victims and society. (On the day of the task, the teacher let us pick of the two questions, I chose the first).

Honestly, considering it was a given question, I think I really shouldn't have finished on the brink of 40 minutes, so would definitely need to work on keeping my arguments succinct (I wrote 7 booklet pages). On that note, is a ~15 minute difference really enough time between crime and the options? I can't imagine myself gaining that extra 10 marks in just a 15 minute difference. I was thinking that I should spend about 30-35 minutes on the crime essay and utilise my reading time by answering multiple choice in my head once skimming through the paper. This way I can maximise the time spent on options

Believe it or not - A 10 minute time difference probably is enough to get those extra 10 marks! Try not to consider it as an additional 10 marks to earn on top of the 15 for Crime - It's just a wider scale. Yes, more is expected, but not 10 marks more. If you wrote a Crime essay worth the full 15 marks in an Option, you'd probably get around 20, maybe even a tad higher. That extra 10 minutes is spent giving slightly more detail in your arguments to push yourself up to that 25/25 :)

rodero

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Re: Structuring the Crime 15 marker
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2017, 10:15:29 pm »
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Thanks Jamon! I'll keep this in mind :)
HSC 2017:
English (Advanced): 91    Legal Studies: 92    Modern History: 91    Studies of Religion 2: 90    Business Studies: 92

ATAR: 96.75

Need tutoring? Click here!