Questions thread!

[heids]

Hi,
I'm also doing texts and traditions and am aiming really high 47+ however I got my sac mark back and was kind of concerned as I got a 92%, which is not good enough. What mark should I roughly achieve to get a 47+ throughout all SAC's? Thanks in advance

Hello

From my experience, I got 97% SAC average, rank 1 in cohort, for both T&T and HHD - and I got a 46 in one of them and a 50 in the other, because I did well in the HHD exam and badly in the Texts exam.  Remember that your SAC scores will be scaled by the exam/cohort strength.  I'd say 95+ but once it gets into the VCAA machine, SAC scores are twisted so much.

Also this one SAC is probably worth 7-8% of your final study score; a perfectly good 92 isn't going to kill your score!  Figure out how you lost marks and try to fix it in future SAC and the exam.  It's what you do in the future that will determine your score.  Don't stress about scores, just do your best in all SACs and prepare thoroughly for the exam.

Keep aiming high (though recall that only about 4-5 people get 47+ in this subject - you could be one of them ) and ask any questions you have!

[Sardothienn]

Thank you so much for the advice! I'll keep that in mind

[Sardothienn]

Hi,
With the t&t exam looming around the corner I was wondering what is the most efficient way of studying? There are really no prac exams for this subject and all I've been doing is memorising as much quotes as I can, going over my exegesis notes for the passage of special study  and memorising literary terms etc; (I've really went OCD on trying to memorise content for ALL my set texts , ) should I go all out on practice exegesis'/ essays or just go over the notes till exam time? Also I'm currently Rank 1 with 95% sac averages and was wondering what study score I'm looking at if I were to do fairly well on the exam?

[anat0my]

Hi,
With the t&t exam looming around the corner I was wondering what is the most efficient way of studying? There are really no prac exams for this subject and all I've been doing is memorising as much quotes as I can, going over my exegesis notes for the passage of special study  and memorising literary terms etc; (I've really went OCD on trying to memorise content for ALL my set texts , ) should I go all out on practice exegesis'/ essays or just go over the notes till exam time? Also I'm currently Rank 1 with 95% sac averages and was wondering what study score I'm looking at if I were to do fairly well on the exam?

I'll give in my 2cents - I'd recommend going over all the exegesis, as you won't know which passage will come up, so that way you will be prepared for anything that does come up. Also make sure to go over the themes and try make links between the themes into a possible exam question. (I did this and happened to predict an exam question!). Most importantly try and complete a practice exam (you can try to create your own) in the allocated time given. You want to make sure you're able to write the 3 essays to completion and not run out of time. Also make sure to read through the assessor's reports for general insight/advice.
In regard to study score estimates, I can't say for sure, but if you obtain an A+ for the exam (which is actually quite doable) you're definitely in the running for a 40+ SS. Don't worry much about the marks though. Concentrate on delivering 3 killer essays Best of luck!

[heids]

Hi,
With the t&t exam looming around the corner I was wondering what is the most efficient way of studying? There are really no prac exams for this subject and all I've been doing is memorising as much quotes as I can, going over my exegesis notes for the passage of special study  and memorising literary terms etc; (I've really went OCD on trying to memorise content for ALL my set texts , ) should I go all out on practice exegesis'/ essays or just go over the notes till exam time? Also I'm currently Rank 1 with 95% sac averages and was wondering what study score I'm looking at if I were to do fairly well on the exam?

Try past VCAA exams!  There's heaps of past questions there - in fact I've attached them for all four sections. (EDIT: Site too busy, so another day I'll attach.)

I studied mainly through planning extended responses, essays and exegeses, and studying my notes through these.  I also definitely did some timed responses because I found timing the hardest thing to master in T&T (as I always had waayyyyy too much to say).

So, planning and related study was my hugest thing.  Going through those questions attached, I would brainstorm ideas for each question and plan a skeleton of an answer; if I found I didn't know enough on the topic, then I'd research and study that general area more, and then write some concise study notes on the topic.  Same with exegesis - I'd grab a passage and dot-point out the sorts of things I'd probably talk about - if I was shaky, I'd revise there.  Then, after doing that, I'd also write my own essay questions/extended responses on all themes and major pieces of historical background or literary techniques, and brainstorm for them.

Basically, I constantly tested all the areas I could think of that I'd be tested on, practised formulating answers using my knowledge, and then brushed up and revised the areas this showed I didn't know.  (This would be stuff like memorising nice phrases to use for each theme, learning historical facts, learning the most relevant quotes for each topic, etc.)

By actually applying your knowledge, you get heaps further than just memorising it, I found.

Note: I don't believe you have to be prepared for exegesis for all passages; since they give you one at the start, middle and end of the book, you can probably pick 1-2 chapters you don't like as much and give them only very shallow preparation, because chances are if they get picked you'll still have 1-2 other options.  This means you can do more memorising in detail of the passages you DO want to do, so it's more efficient.

You have potential of basically anywhere in the 40s range, depending on your exam performance.  Don't rely on your SAC marks as some schools make them far easier than the exam, but then again, you definitely have promise of something awesome if you work all out at it!

[Sardothienn]

I'll give in my 2cents - I'd recommend going over all the exegesis, as you won't know which passage will come up, so that way you will be prepared for anything that does come up. Also make sure to go over the themes and try make links between the themes into a possible exam question. (I did this and happened to predict an exam question!). Most importantly try and complete a practice exam (you can try to create your own) in the allocated time given. You want to make sure you're able to write the 3 essays to completion and not run out of time. Also make sure to read through the assessor's reports for general insight/advice.
In regard to study score estimates, I can't say for sure, but if you obtain an A+ for the exam (which is actually quite doable) you're definitely in the running for a 40+ SS. Don't worry much about the marks though. Concentrate on delivering 3 killer essays Best of luck!

Thank you! I've been reading most examiners reports and picked up things my teacher hasn't bothered explaining ( didn't even know we had to put theological terms in our essay until today !)

[Sardothienn]

@bangalilok; thank you for the advice; I think I'll be doing plans/ skeletons under each practice exam question instead of write the whole essay as it's quite time consuming and writing  too much strains my hand; yeah right now by just reading my notes I feel like I'm not studying efficiently so looks like I'll be planning out/ jotting notes for all AOS's including the essays exegisis/ extended responses

[Sardothienn]

I was trying to answer Part B of 2014 exam Q7 but I'm not sure on how to approach it;
It's for The Quran section

"Discuss how reward and punishment in the Hereafter are related to the idea of divine justice and guidance"

The question I feel only refers to one set text (Maryam) but only briefly, how would I go about answering this question?

[Sardothienn]

In the criteria sheet for exegesis ( significance to the original community) is it okay if we link this with themes or literary devices; how these particular things impacted the original community? Or do we have to talk about how the passage given in general impacted the original community? So far throughout all my exegesis' I've been linking literary terms and themes to the way it has impacted the original community but my teacher told me its best if I just talk about how the overall passage affected the community. I feel as though this way is too simplistic and you get marked on the level of sophistication so I was wondering what is the best approach?

[heids]

In the criteria sheet for exegesis ( significance to the original community) is it okay if we link this with themes or literary devices; how these particular things impacted the original community? Or do we have to talk about how the passage given in general impacted the original community? So far throughout all my exegesis' I've been linking literary terms and themes to the way it has impacted the original community but my teacher told me its best if I just talk about how the overall passage affected the community. I feel as though this way is too simplistic and you get marked on the level of sophistication so I was wondering what is the best approach?

Can you give any examples?  I'm not totally sure what you mean.

Remember that if you get too caught up in small details without looking at how overall it impacts the community, then that's being 'unsophisticated' in itself because you're missing the big picture, the big overall message.  How I did it was explain impact of specific details throughout, and then 'zoom out' with more general explanations (e.g. 'The fact that an outcast receives salvation would encourage Luke's primarily Hellenistic audience that they too could be saved....' and all that nonsense) in my last paragraph.

[Sardothienn]

Can you give any examples?  I'm not totally sure what you mean.

Remember that if you get too caught up in small details without looking at how overall it impacts the community, then that's being 'unsophisticated' in itself because you're missing the big picture, the big overall message.  How I did it was explain impact of specific details throughout, and then 'zoom out' with more general explanations (e.g. 'The fact that an outcast receives salvation would encourage Luke's primarily Hellenistic audience that they too could be saved....' and all that nonsense) in my last paragraph.

I see what you mean. Basically what I'm trying to say is upon explaining themes or literary terms (like an aphorism that might accentuate God's conviction and might) I would link it to how this would have impacted the original community (enjoins believers to appreciate the consistent favours God blesses then with ..) I would do this throughout my essay but didn't really see a point in discussing the overall impact as I've discussed it already; so should I talk about the overall significance/ impact of the original community only or is it better to do both? Sorry if I'm not making sense

[anat0my]

I was trying to answer Part B of 2014 exam Q7 but I'm not sure on how to approach it;
It's for The Quran section

"Discuss how reward and punishment in the Hereafter are related to the idea of divine justice and guidance"

The question I feel only refers to one set text (Maryam) but only briefly, how would I go about answering this question?

Hey I'm not familiar with this years set texts, but for this essay you could discuss what the rewards and punishments are, why they're necessary, i.e how justice is given by reward/punishment and the prospect of being rewarded/punishment allows for guidance. Do let me know if you're still struggling with this prompt.

Also, if you happen to be studying the Quran section, do check out the thread I made for resources/advice for the quran section, I've provided links to exegesis that may further explain such topics in regard to your set texts.

[xsangan]

Hi,
Since the Text and Traditions Exams are very close (4 days left), I was wondering about the Short Answer Questions in Part A; is it mostly restricted to set chapters or it can be anything from the entire gospel?

[anat0my]

Hi,
Since the Text and Traditions Exams are very close (4 days left), I was wondering about the Short Answer Questions in Part A; is it mostly restricted to set chapters or it can be anything from the entire gospel?

I'm not familiar with the set text you're studying, however I think usually the questions from section A are specific to chapters. Best thing is to take a look at the past exam paper to get an idea of what the questions will look like .

[heids]

Hi,
Since the Text and Traditions Exams are very close (4 days left), I was wondering about the Short Answer Questions in Part A; is it mostly restricted to set chapters or it can be anything from the entire gospel?

It can definitely be anywhere in the Gospel (like for questions 4a/b we had a passage out of our chapters, and not even about any of our themes... )  But they're unlikely to ask for much factual/historical detail from outside your chapters - it'll mostly focus on special chapters.

I see what you mean. Basically what I'm trying to say is upon explaining themes or literary terms (like an aphorism that might accentuate God's conviction and might) I would link it to how this would have impacted the original community (enjoins believers to appreciate the consistent favours God blesses then with ..) I would do this throughout my essay but didn't really see a point in discussing the overall impact as I've discussed it already; so should I talk about the overall significance/ impact of the original community only or is it better to do both? Sorry if I'm not making sense

How do you structure an exegesis?  If you use a ‘chronological’ style, where you chronologically disucss each ‘feature’ of the passage with a mixture of background/literary/themes/meaning to audience, then what you’re doing sounds great (though I might finish off with a short ‘conclusion’ that’s more general/broad/overall meaning).  But I blocked it in chunks with headings under VCAA's bullet points.

Longer answer - I still don’t know if this answers your question though ::) … not totally understanding the question still.

Basically, in the bodies, I tried not to link to the audience too much.  Like, see how there's this 'formula' you use in the bodies?

1.  Technique/example: His use of an aphorism in ____
2.  Immediate effect: accentuates God's conviction and might
3.  Impact on audience: encouraging believers to appreciate the consistent favours...

I mainly did 1-2 rather than 1-2-3 unless it was super clear, just because there wasn’t time.  That's what I'm saying - do it occasionally but not too much so you can put more in the conclusion.

Then I did a much broader 'profound'-style conclusion, where I wouldn't reference any specific nitty-gritty details (e.g. I definitely wouldn't mention a technique) - instead I'd be like 'This passage would have encouraged believers, struggling with ____, to appreciate the consistent favours of God.’  OR: ‘The fact that so-and-so receives salvation would have reassured…’

In other words, I did a mixture – some ‘specific’ meaning ot audience throughout, and then more generalised profound at the end.