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Author Topic: Bazza's English questions  (Read 20993 times)  Share 

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WhoTookMyUsername

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Bazza's English questions
« on: October 05, 2012, 09:09:07 pm »
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I'll compile all my questions here from now on (some of them which may seem quite tedious / small) :D

1) What would you personally regard as the broad topics for Whose Reality? that could come up on the exam?
Is, for example, something like imagination possible? Seems to be quite 'restrictive' prompt where it's only really relevant to Spies IMO.
Same with memories i guess (although I only know Spies and Streetcar in-depth admittedly).

Thanks :)

WhoTookMyUsername

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2012, 03:35:00 pm »
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In addition to:

1) What would you personally regard as the broad topics for Whose Reality? that could come up on the exam?
Is, for example, something like imagination possible? Seems to be quite 'restrictive' prompt where it's only really relevant to Spies IMO.
Same with memories i guess (although I only know Spies and Streetcar in-depth admittedly).

also
2) Would it be better to memorize individual paragraphs or whole essays for the exam? Whole essays may be a bit more restrictive but are easier to memorize and recall under exam pressure

Thanks :)!

Felicity Wishes

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2012, 04:32:10 pm »
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2) Whole paragraphs seem a bit better. I have a few that I loosely remember and they proved useful when I was given a prompt that I hadn't dealt with as I was able to alter them a bit and put them in. Not sure what others think though.

Off topic, how come your amount of posts is so high but you only have one yellow square?  :o
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pi

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2012, 04:46:20 pm »
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Off topic, how come your amount of posts is so high but you only have one yellow square?  :o

Because he has requested a ban from certain sections of the forum.


As for essays vs paras, I memorised the whole piece mainly because the style I was attempting wouldn't have been useful with individual paras.

VivaTequila

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2012, 11:26:51 am »
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Quote
1) What would you personally regard as the broad topics for Whose Reality? that could come up on the exam?
Is, for example, something like imagination possible? Seems to be quite 'restrictive' prompt where it's only really relevant to Spies IMO.

It's a vague question so there's nothing to provide but a vague answer. The broad topics for Whose Reality will be the ones which aren't specific, and (without wanting to go into a major philosophical discourse) there's no real answer. This is because people find certain prompts objective and some people find them restrictive. For instance last year's exam prompt from recent memory (I looked at it while I was tutoring someone) would have been very similar to, if not exactly:

Shared experience doesn't mean people see things in the same way.

I thought it was very broad - it just says that people have different realities of events that they share. That can be as broad or as closed as you make it - do people physically have to be sharing the same event in the same room and have different realities of it? Or can people be seeing their experiences, which people before them have undoubtedly also engaged in (therefore they share the experience), in a different way to that of others?

However, some people got locked in on this "shared experience" thing and couldn't get past it.

So my point is there's no answer - what's broad to someone is closed to someone else.

The whole thematic pun of saying that "everybody sees prompts differently" is kind of funny considering that we're talking about "Whose Reality?", no? :P

Quote
2) Would it be better to memorize individual paragraphs or whole essays for the exam? Whole essays may be a bit more restrictive but are easier to memorize and recall under exam pressure

Again, this depends.

I had a pretty concrete, solid idea for an essay which could be justified using about 5 different paragraphs. (Read: How to write a 20/20 English piece). That is, I had 5 or 6 different well-thought-out, pre-reasoned, adaptable arguments that could fit my essay mould depending on the general themes that came up in the prompt.

For instance - the whole "Your reality depends on where you come from" (i.e. parents, upbringing, culture) style would have better suited "The Blind Side" (by Michael Lewis) for me, but...

Another prompt, dealing with how "Shared experience doesn't mean people see things the same way" (i.e. difference in opinion / understanding of one's environs) style would have perfectly matched "A Streetcar Named Desire" for my purposes (read the sticky if you want to see why, it's fully explained there).

If you have memorised an ESSAY, then I highly recommend you prepare a whole host of paragraphs that deal with the different general themes in Context prompts you get for "Whose Reality?" so that you can apply them one at a time.

If you have no concrete essay, but instead brainstorm your different contention in every sitting, then make sure you are simply capable of dealing with any style of prompt you might face in the exam.

Here is a whole host of Context prompts you might get. Brainstorm a contention and 3 justifying points (which would become your paragraphs) for each and every one, and you will most definitely not get anything unseen in the exam. Pay special attention to the ones you struggle with, because there's no point writing what you are comfortable with - you won't learn anything. If one is particularly challenging, then stop what you're doing and actually write an essay on it. You will thank yourself later, no matter if one of the prompts is incredibly obscure, because it will force you to practice coming up with good ideas to even the stupidest, most obscure of prompts - a talent which will come in handy in the exam. This is despite the fact that the exam prompt should be broad. People might say "You don't need to practice stupid, particular, obscure prompts that won't be like the ones in the exam" - but it's exactly those people who go into the exam and then accuse the VCAA of giving highly obscure prompts. Practice now, and it won't be for nothing.

"Whose Reality?" Prompts
« Last Edit: October 07, 2012, 11:29:36 am by VivaTequila »

charmanderp

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2012, 07:11:27 pm »
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I don't think it's so much about memorising entire paragraphs or essays so much as writing so much that the ideas and specific phrasing of those ideas become like second nature to you. After you've done enough writing you'll find that you're just writing the same things over and over again without even thinking about it, albeit in more complexity and depth each time.

At least, that's my own philosophy. Personally I abhor the idea of prepared responses and am yet to meet an elite elite English student (upwards of 46) who has used that tactic.
University of Melbourne - Bachelor of Arts majoring in English, Economics and International Studies (2013 onwards)

VivaTequila

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2012, 07:16:58 pm »
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I don't think it's so much about memorising entire paragraphs or essays so much as writing so much that the ideas and specific phrasing of those ideas become like second nature to you. After you've done enough writing you'll find that you're just writing the same things over and over again without even thinking about it, albeit in more complexity and depth each time.

At least, that's my own philosophy. Personally I abhor the idea of prepared responses and am yet to meet an elite elite English student (upwards of 46) who has used that tactic.

Meet me.

charmanderp

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2012, 07:35:11 pm »
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Did you honestly just regurgitate a pre-prepared essay verbatim on the exam? Which section was it, A or B?
University of Melbourne - Bachelor of Arts majoring in English, Economics and International Studies (2013 onwards)

werdna

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2012, 08:06:34 pm »
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100% agree with Chemderp - I definitely find that regurgitating or memorising essays (or even paragraphs for that matter) doesn't work. Sure, it works for some people, but in a general sense it is better that you understand your context inside out, know all your examples and have a pool of complex ideas to write on. With all the experience under your belt, you'll be able to write an essay SPECIFIC to whatever prompt you get on the day. In terms or memorising things, you'd go crazy trying to figure out the exact phrasing in exam conditions, and risk writing an essay that only slightly relates to the prompt...

VivaTequila

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2012, 08:07:40 pm »
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Did you honestly just regurgitate a pre-prepared essay verbatim on the exam? Which section was it, A or B?

B

pi

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2012, 08:47:55 pm »
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Did you honestly just regurgitate a pre-prepared essay verbatim on the exam? Which section was it, A or B?

I did too LOL (section B)

VivaTequila

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2012, 11:30:42 pm »
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There's merits to be had for both approaches. A guy who got 49 at my school also pre-prepared for Section A pieces.

pi

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2012, 01:47:32 am »
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At least, that's my own philosophy. Personally I abhor the idea of prepared responses and am yet to meet an elite elite English student (upwards of 46) who has used that tactic.

Haha, the MHS dux of 2009 (50 english) memorised for section B too :P I think the dux of 2011 did the same as well.

It's actually a LOT more common that you think :)

WhoTookMyUsername

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2012, 07:52:09 am »
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How much time would you guys reccommend:
Doing plans (without writing essays)
Reading criticims
Rereading our own work / trying to memorise
Slowly perfecting pieces after we've done them etc.?
Or is it better to scrap some of the above and just write under timed conditions as much as possible?

VivaTequila

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Re: Bazza's English questions
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2012, 08:58:12 am »
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How much time would you guys reccommend:
Doing plans (without writing essays)
90%

Reading criticims
5% (print off and flick through them before bed)

Rereading our own work / trying to memorise
re-reading work? nah. trying to memorise? what exactly?

Slowly perfecting pieces after we've done them etc.?
don't do it unless you struggled with the prompt - just because you had an off day doesn't mean you can't write normally as good as you would if it was a good day

Or is it better to scrap some of the above and just write under timed conditions as much as possible?

one or two times