Hey Guys!
I'm in Year 11 (HSC class of 2019), and I'm trying to decide whether or not to pick up Extension 2 English next term. At this point I'm doing Maths, Ext Maths, Eng Adv, Eng Ext 1, Chemistry, Biology, Ancient History (the 3U of Maths are accelerated, so I won't have them next term). I really love writing and my Ext Eng teacher wants me to do Ext 2 English. I think it would be really great to have a finished product at the end of Year 12 to be proud of and a creative subject with (relative) freedom as a break from everything else.
However, I'm a bit worried about the workload of Ext 2. I also tend to be a person who does assignments (at least creative writing) the night before, I still tend to do pretty well, but that obviously isn't going to work for Ext 2. I'm mainly worried that I'll be too indecisive and have trouble deciding on a topic and/or stress out about the major work and so leave it too late.
Anyway, I'm mostly just wondering how people have found it. What's been been the hardest parts of the course? Any tips on how to do it well? Pros and cons? And yeah, is it worth it?
Thanks!
Hey, Jess!
Welcome to the forums!
I'm in the graduating class of 2018 and I did Extension 2 English for my HSC
It's great that you're considering Ext 2 Eng because it is definitely one of the most rewarding courses you can pick up
There is something incredibly liberating about the way you can essentially design your own learning in this course! You get to choose what resources you want to use for your Major Work, how you wish to compose it and what you want to contribute to the literary pool of NESA. I chose Poetry for my Major Work and I really enjoyed writing my suite because I found that the chances I had to write poetry in class was very limited. If you love to write, Ext 2 is the perfect course
You're definitely right about the prospect of looking back on a product of a year's worth of work and being proud of it. During my last few days of intense HSC studying, I have been returning to my poems and just realising how awesome it is that one unit of my HSC is already done and dusted
It makes you feel relieved knowing that.
As for the work load, I found there to not be as much as I thought there would be. Again, you get to design your Ext 2 experience and what you research and write. The key to success in the course is allocating your time to it and dedicating yourself to the Major Work, even on days where you might have writer's block. If you worry about deciding on a topic or working consistently, ask your mentor for help and let them guide you through the process. My experience in the course was largely positive due to a rigorous, self-motivated schedule that I implemented to balance this with my other five Major Works. I assigned myself Checkpoints at the end of every month for my Major Work which summarised all my work up until that point, an evaluation on my progress (I roasted myself plenty of times because I had periods where I was not that productive as I was supposed to be) and a to-do-list to keep you moving forward. You can read about my crazy Major Works journey, including my Ext 2 updates, in my HSC Journal thread here
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=176920.0 If you struggle with time management, treat the Major Work as a release from the rest of the HSC and you'll find yourself coming back to it
The only real con I can think of was the Reflection Statement for me. It was the most difficult part of the submission because I found it so hard to capture my entire journey in only 1500 words. A suggestion I would have would be to make a RS document in advanced and put dot points as a timeline for significant aspects shaping your Major Work, whether it be turning points in your writing, notable research that helped you and how your intention developed throughout the course. This would have saved me heaps of time and it can make the composition of your RS easier to execute.
To conclude my length post, I would say that Ext 2 is a worthwhile investment
I would suggest you pick it up and give it a shot! If you find that it's not right for you, then at least you won't have any regrets dropping it. That's a much better approach than eliminating the possibility altogether and wishing you had picked it in retrospection. You might not believe this but Ext 2 does change your whole outlook on what English is all about and you come out of the course a completely different person, learning many lessons that aren't delivered in a conventional classroom setting
I hope this helps! I am quite biased towards creative subjects
You could use this thread for sharing any questions or updates too
Let me know what you end up deciding to do
Angelina
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