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Author Topic: VCE English Question Thread  (Read 847389 times)  Share 

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heids

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #435 on: June 29, 2015, 01:44:39 pm »
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Hey Lauren, I feel bad asking questions to help me out with tutoring... but I'm totally stuck on conclusions.  I used the foolproof method of never getting far enough in an essay to reach the conclusion, but can't exactly teach this to my students :P

People always say conflicting things:
> 'Don't just summarise - say something new and profound'
> 'Don't ever introduce new information'

When you question this, the response is impossibly vague: 'Just try to find the right balance'.  Since in general, I finish my intros with about the most 'profound' sentence I can come up with, the conclusion is a sad and sorry rehash as I have nothing left to say.  So any hints on conclusions - mainly TR, but context and LA would be nice too? :D
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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #436 on: June 29, 2015, 03:52:20 pm »
+1
Hey Lauren, I feel bad asking questions to help me out with tutoring... but I'm totally stuck on conclusions.  I used the foolproof method of never getting far enough in an essay to reach the conclusion, but can't exactly teach this to my students :P

People always say conflicting things:
> 'Don't just summarise - say something new and profound'
> 'Don't ever introduce new information'

When you question this, the response is impossibly vague: 'Just try to find the right balance'.  Since in general, I finish my intros with about the most 'profound' sentence I can come up with, the conclusion is a sad and sorry rehash as I have nothing left to say.  So any hints on conclusions - mainly TR, but context and LA would be nice too? :D

not Lauren, but maybe something i say will strike a chord and help :)
when i look at my conclusions they're often very similar to my introductions but theyre 'backward.' Like if you go for the standard intro of :
  • contention: broad statement
    ts1
    ts2
    ts3
my conclusion will always end up starting with the third topic sentence and working its way back to the broader starting contention. i'd then sort of use the final statement to discuss my contention holistically, in reference to my broader interpretation of the text.

this is basically my default position, but honestly it depends on the prompt and the type of essay i want to write. some times i find it helpful not to bother with a recap and to instead examine different textual interpretations. other times i'm more interested in the central thematic concerns which pervade my essay. most of the time it's a combination of all these things. perhaps get your student to go with the basic model then try out different styles?? good-luck! hope this helps :)

heids

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #437 on: June 29, 2015, 04:39:41 pm »
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Thanks, much appreciated and definitely helpful, I forgive you for not being Lauren :D

One thing:

i'd then sort of use the final statement to discuss my contention holistically, in reference to my broader interpretation of the text.
I'm afraid I don't get what this actually means, in concrete terms.  That was my problem with English - you know, the teacher just waves their hands artistically, kinda abracadabra style, and they're like, 'So then just draw that to an holistic profound summation'.

Do you have any examples?  What do you mean exactly by 'holistically' - do you mean the crux of your overall argument (so, essentially repeating how I finished the intro)?  And 'broader interpretation'?
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thaaanyan

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #438 on: June 30, 2015, 01:36:40 pm »
+1
Thanks, much appreciated and definitely helpful, I forgive you for not being Lauren :D

One thing:
I'm afraid I don't get what this actually means, in concrete terms.  That was my problem with English - you know, the teacher just waves their hands artistically, kinda abracadabra style, and they're like, 'So then just draw that to an holistic profound summation'.

Do you have any examples?  What do you mean exactly by 'holistically' - do you mean the crux of your overall argument (so, essentially repeating how I finished the intro)?  And 'broader interpretation'?

ok so i was sort of thinking of lit when i wrote that, it's a very literature thing to do, but sometimes i sort of do it in english as well. like, holistically is sort of mean look at the bigger picture - for example looking at the 2014 topic on mabo about pride mabe i would conclude through examining the deeper consequences of the idea. how is pride a intrinsic facet of human nature?
so like, my 'holistic' summation of the central argument in my essay would mainly focus on:
what the intricacies of eddie's personality reveal about pride/ his struggle

and then my conclusion (if i went with the 'broader interpretation' idea) would just briefly highlight something about the way pride is clear in the human condition, or just generally what i think pride reveals about people's intrinsic humanity.

i just sort of made the 'broader interpretation' model of conclusion up - it's not something i know other people to do.
my teacher's typically go with the 'general summary' model but i get tired of writing essays the same way over and over (though it's a perfectly valid method), mostly i just vary it however i would like to, though it also really depends on the stuff you've argued in your body paragraphs.
it's not so much 'mystical' as kind of made up on the spot, like you look at the flow of your paragraphs, see what your writing style is like and then conclude depending on how lazy your feeling or what you had for breakfast.
ultimately there's no right or wrong way to do a conclusion as long as you provide a sense of finality and closure in your essay. i do it by extending the scope of my argument, but you could still do it equally as well through following the "backward general summary" style.
hope this helpsss :)
thank - you for your forgiveness!

heids

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #439 on: June 30, 2015, 05:12:28 pm »
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hope this helpsss :)

Surrreee thing, I gotcha.  Thanks!

(what does this show about me, as a tutor, asking current yr 12s for help ::) that's why I'm tutoring people who are struggling, not people like you who are gonna get 50s, I'm soooo ignorant)
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thaaanyan

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #440 on: June 30, 2015, 06:48:36 pm »
+9
Surrreee thing, I gotcha.  Thanks!

(what does this show about me, as a tutor, asking current yr 12s for help ::) that's why I'm tutoring people who are struggling, not people like you who are gonna get 50s, I'm soooo ignorant)

whether or not i get a 50 or a 20, i think it shows a level of humility and humbleness to approach others on behalf of your students needs. i think it highlights a sense of modesty and a lack of ego, which are likeable facets of any individual's personality. and i've read your posts, i have no doubt you're a very skilled english tutor. your students are very lucky. :)

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #441 on: July 01, 2015, 10:33:33 am »
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Hi,

I just confused about connotation of some words. For example, in Language analysis, I often use words like "the author, [utilizes, employs, uses, apply, employ] technique a,b,c...
But what are the difference between these words (utilise, employ, use, ? I heard that used incorrectly, you can sound quite off and weird. I also read somewhere that it's better not to use "latter, former" kind of writing in my writing because there are so many ways to do it wrong. Is this true? Also what is the difference between Assume, presume and postulate? I always treated them as same things.

Also what the hell are doubled up auxiliary verbs...

Are there any common errors such as these, where students misuse words (because they don't understand the connotation of the words attached to it?)

Thank you in advance!
2015: Mathematical Methods CAS [42]

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heids

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #442 on: July 01, 2015, 02:20:23 pm »
+1
To utilise, employ and use can be used completely interchangeably; apply is a bit different, like it just doesn't quite sound right to say, 'the author applies inclusive language to create a sense of…'.  I can’t quite explain why, it’s just that apply =/= use.
   
Presume and assume can be used interchangeably, but postulate is a bit different - it means more to present a new idea or suggestion – to pose, suggest, present.

Latter/former lends itself to complex, confusing and cumbersome sentence structures.  Avoid it, in general - especially you personally, because you have a bit of an issue with big long tangled unwieldy sentences.  And unless you're really comfortable with it (I am coz it's used commonly in the books I tend to read, older ones like Dickens) you really risk making mistakes.

No clue what doubled up auxiliary verbs are.  Google ‘em :)

Anyway, it's often just about what 'feels' right (though that's based on grammatical reasons generally).  Try this example that you'll easily get: 'mention' and 'refer'.  'The author mentions Jim Carey' sounds right; 'The author refers Jim Carey' you just know is wrong (I hope :P).  You know that you have to put a 'to' in there - refers to - because you've absorbed it.  But if you just learnt it off a list of synonyms, how would you know that they need to be used slightly differently?  Or, 'suggest' (in some senses) = 'present'. 'The author suggests that...' - fine, 'The author presents that...' - wrong.  You need 'the idea that...' or something for it to make grammatical sense.  This is why assessors often encourage people to stick to ‘small’ words they're comfortable with, because nothing grates more than a ‘big’ word crammed in incorrectly where it doesn't fit.

So.  You honestly can't sit and learn a list of what words to use exactly where, and how exactly they fit into the structure.  Never learn a new word from a vocab list without trying to find some examples of where it's used in proper sentences.  Read over a number of different sentences a number of times, you gradually get used to the 'feel' of words, exactly how they're used, and exactly how they make sense in a sentence.  This is why wide reading for the sake of it gets you a long way :))



... oh and thanks thaaanyan, encouraging :)
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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #443 on: July 01, 2015, 02:34:27 pm »
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Thanks bangali_lok!

Great help as always (: I guess the real solution to these kind of questions is just reading :P

It may be that English isn't my first language, but sometimes I have trouble identifying connotations in words :P
Thank you! (:

2015: Mathematical Methods CAS [42]

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heids

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #444 on: July 01, 2015, 02:43:54 pm »
+1
No matter how long you've known a language for, still it takes time to get that 'feel' for any new words - like if I tried to use some of the words Lauren does...  Don't despair, the more you read you really will pick it up, and maybe ask anyone reading over your work to point out EVERY time you use a word slightly incorrectly, and what you should have used instead.  And as I said always look for sentences with the words in them - try Googling 'define _word_', it generally supplies a sentence or two, plus lots of synonyms to give you a feel for the word.  PM me if you ever want some sample sentences with specific words in them, or to check if you can use a certain word in a certain way. It's definitely harder as a second language learner, though :(
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cosine

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #445 on: July 02, 2015, 06:11:57 pm »
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Urgent help needed.

I am sitting on a B+ average for english. For my school this is not bad, but for the state this is honestly around a low C. My concern is, every year the people who even average A+ at my school do not end up with anything above 37.. So I am a bit worried. I took on bangali_lok's and literally lauren's help, to just write and even if it doesnt make sense, just put pen to paper. This has helped me improve of course, but there is still a LOT more room for improvement. I will leave this here for anyone to answer so all of us can benefit. I really want to improve and am willing to work for it, so please anyone, I have a text response SAC in 5 weeks. I am GOING to start now, what should I do?

Thank you
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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #446 on: July 02, 2015, 06:27:21 pm »
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Urgent help needed.

I am sitting on a B+ average for english. For my school this is not bad, but for the state this is honestly around a low C. My concern is, every year the people who even average A+ at my school do not end up with anything above 37.. So I am a bit worried. I took on bangali_lok's and literally lauren's help, to just write and even if it doesnt make sense, just put pen to paper. This has helped me improve of course, but there is still a LOT more room for improvement. I will leave this here for anyone to answer so all of us can benefit. I really want to improve and am willing to work for it, so please anyone, I have a text response SAC in 5 weeks. I am GOING to start now, what should I do?

Thank you

Apart from reading your text i recommend to read other books as well, this might help improve your vocabulary. Apart from that why dont u post one of your sample essays so i can look at it? I am no expert but maybe i can give u a tip or something
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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #447 on: July 02, 2015, 06:42:58 pm »
+1
Urgent help needed.

I am sitting on a B+ average for english. For my school this is not bad, but for the state this is honestly around a low C. My concern is, every year the people who even average A+ at my school do not end up with anything above 37.. So I am a bit worried. I took on bangali_lok's and literally lauren's help, to just write and even if it doesnt make sense, just put pen to paper. This has helped me improve of course, but there is still a LOT more room for improvement. I will leave this here for anyone to answer so all of us can benefit. I really want to improve and am willing to work for it, so please anyone, I have a text response SAC in 5 weeks. I am GOING to start now, what should I do?

Thank you

Hi, cosine!

What are you having trouble with in particular? Are you having trouble with formulating ideas or is it more the writing side of it (expression/sophistication)? If it's a case of the latter, this is something that takes time and practise but can easily be worked upon. It's important you can write well and express yourself well. So this is going to be your focus for the next few weeks. For now, I wouldn't worry about time or exam conditions. Keep your texts out, notes, thesaurus, etc and refer to this while writing. When you've perfected this and you're hitting that A+ standard, you can start writing under exam conditions. What you learn from writing without timed responses you will (hopefully) retain in exam conditions. Basically, learn to write well and then you can work this down into a shorter time frame.

If it's the former though, this boils down to not knowing your texts well enough. Re-assess your study techniques and we can help you from here. Alternatively, maybe you're fine with both of the above and I've gone on a tangent. :P Let us know how you get on.

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #448 on: July 02, 2015, 06:54:17 pm »
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Apart from reading your text i recommend to read other books as well, this might help improve your vocabulary. Apart from that why dont u post one of your sample essays so i can look at it? I am no expert but maybe i can give u a tip or something

Prompt: "Jason's decisions are based on reason and careful judgement; Medea's decisions are based on passion and selfishness"

Here is my introduction and first paragraph only from my first text response. I got a B+ (77%) for it. Just by reading this, any specific improvements can be made to the into structure and paragraph?

In the tragedy, 'Medea', Euripides distinctively explores the social differences between men and women in their era, particularly through the actions of the female protagonist, Medea. Throughout the play, she is constantly bewailing the disadvantages that women have because of men, imploring their 'wretched' existence. Euripides further portrays this view by representing the men as the logical ones, carefully analysing their decisions before they act, whereas the women are deeply are 'deeply concerned' with their reputation. However, through the Nurse and the Chorus, it is also evident that Jason was initially led by his desires for a more advantageous marriage, this abandoning his family.

In the early stages of the play, Jason's egotistic actions are made clear, as he is depicted to be the villain. Euripides thoroughly explores gender inequality as the play proceeds, and the main reason for the tragedies in 'Medea' are because of the social differences between men and women. As the Nurse alludes to the prior events that consequently lead to the conflict between Medea and Jason, she emphasises the fact that Jason dishonoured Medea, thus stands 'plainly convicted as a traitor to his friends.' Jason's irrational passion to live a 'royal' life disallows him to act morally, eventually abandoning his family to seek a 'royal match'. As Medea confronts him with a 'swarm of words', Jason claims that he left her to 'produce royal offspring', so that they could live a life without being in need, but later admits to having left for a better personal life. Jason's neglect of Medea's feelings and well-being emphasises Euripide's depiction towards gender antagonism, that women must be 'obedient to their husbands, and must not refuse a man his rights'. Jason's egocentric desires eventually lead him to commit irrational and regretful actions.
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cosine

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #449 on: July 02, 2015, 06:55:27 pm »
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Hi, cosine!

What are you having trouble with in particular? Are you having trouble with formulating ideas or is it more the writing side of it (expression/sophistication)? If it's a case of the latter, this is something that takes time and practise but can easily be worked upon. It's important you can write well and express yourself well. So this is going to be your focus for the next few weeks. For now, I wouldn't worry about time or exam conditions. Keep your texts out, notes, thesaurus, etc and refer to this while writing. When you've perfected this and you're hitting that A+ standard, you can start writing under exam conditions. What you learn from writing without timed responses you will (hopefully) retain in exam conditions. Basically, learn to write well and then you can work this down into a shorter time frame.

If it's the former though, this boils down to not knowing your texts well enough. Re-assess your study techniques and we can help you from here. Alternatively, maybe you're fine with both of the above and I've gone on a tangent. :P Let us know how you get on.

I usually know the texts I read and enjoy reading them. I understand most/some of the themes that appear. My main problem I think is just interpretting it into an english sentence that actually 'expresses' the ideas i am trying to portray.
2016-2019: Bachelor of Biomedicine
2015: VCE (ATAR: 94.85)