SAC Essay Structure for HSC

[aidanleahy]

 Hey ATARNOTES, just wondering if anyone can help me with a simple structure for a SAC HSC Essay.
Something I feel behind on is the structure of a Band 6 HSC response - I.e Is there something like TEAL / STEAL (etc)
Breezed through Prelim and Year 12 mostly getting mid 80's but I really want to bring up my SAC marks.
Thank you in Advance, Regards

[beatroot]

The thing about SAC is that there isn't a definite way to structure your essay. I've seen a mixture of Band 5/6 responses (from the NESA SAC workbook) that have different structures. Some would have an intro, 2/3 paragraphs and then a short conclusion. Others would just have their entire essay in full, without any paragraph breaks at all. The structure of your paragraph, however depends on how the question is worded.

The following paragraph structures were introduced by my teacher:

Question: Outline; explain; compare; contrast; distinguish; define
S: Statement (define)
E: Explanation (to demonstrate your understanding)
E: Example (clarify)

Question: Evaluate; assess; account; to what extent; how well does; justify
S: Statement
E: Explanation
E: Example
J: Judgement

Question: Analyse; discuss; explain
S: Statement
E: Explain
E: Example
L: Link back to question

Question: Analyse; critically analyse
S: Statement
EA: Explain with analysis
E: Example
L: Link back to question

I know there's so much to memorise but pretty much the definite structure for SAC paragraphs is having a Statement, Explanation, Example and Linking sentence. Very similar to TEEAL/STEAL but without the in depth analysis. It is important to include the course's fundamental and additional concepts, as well as the concepts from your elective options. The markers are testing you on how you can relate your topic back to the concepts. That's what SAC is basically is in a nutshell. If possible, try and include a social theory. For example, the conflict theory is perfect for Social Continuity and Change for China.

When in doubt, check out these sample responses https://arc2.nesa.nsw.edu.au/view/default/course/15350

Hope this helps!

[Ci101]

Hey so betroot gave a really awesome structure. I'd probably also like to add that the most important thing in essays is strong judgments. The markers don't want to you to sit on the fence, so even if you show both sides of the argument use words like "highly" and "overall" to emphasise that you're still mainly arguing that one point is better than the other. In order to make sure you're effectively answering the question make sure you keep returning to question in the main body and using phrases like "this shows/demonstrates" to link back to the question. Also, for each paragraph you need a clear topic sentence that answers the question and you need to keep returning to question with multiple specific examples. Just in general try to apply higher-order concepts (ideology, acculturation, and theory) because it heightens the sophistication of the essay. And some key themes that I often find I can talk about are gender, power and authority and technology.

Overall, for a 15 marker our teacher said you should be aiming for 600 words in 30 minutes

Hope this helps!