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Author Topic: QCE English Question  (Read 4457 times)

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chantal.duffy

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QCE English Question
« on: July 13, 2020, 06:11:25 pm »
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Hello! Hope everyone is well. I'm from Qld and this is our first year of ATAR so we have zero past papers to refer to. The book I'm studying for English is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and my teacher has told us that HSC & VCE students study it. I've tried really hard by combing back through lots of practice papers to find some questions to help my revision and I've had no luck in finding any reference to the book. Could anyone possibly direct me to where some past papers are on the Poisonwood Bible for HSC? It's quite possible that the syllabus has been changed or something, and I know that HSC has many more kinds of English that QCE so I might be missing it. It could be in another kind of HSC English syllabus, so if you know which one, please let me know.
Any help would be much, much appreciated! Thank you :)

angewina_naguen

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Re: QCE English Question
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2020, 10:23:05 pm »
+5
Hello! Hope everyone is well. I'm from Qld and this is our first year of ATAR so we have zero past papers to refer to. The book I'm studying for English is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and my teacher has told us that HSC & VCE students study it. I've tried really hard by combing back through lots of practice papers to find some questions to help my revision and I've had no luck in finding any reference to the book. Could anyone possibly direct me to where some past papers are on the Poisonwood Bible for HSC? It's quite possible that the syllabus has been changed or something, and I know that HSC has many more kinds of English that QCE so I might be missing it. It could be in another kind of HSC English syllabus, so if you know which one, please let me know.
Any help would be much, much appreciated! Thank you :)

Hey, chantal.duffy!

Welcome to the forums  ;D Unfortunately, that text hasn't been on the HSC syllabus ever so we don't actually have any questions for it. I'm not particularly versed in QCE English either so I don't want to provide any false information or assumptions.

The best thing you can do is ask your teacher to write practice questions for you or write your own using the syllabus concepts. I think it's definitely more reliable this way. Let me know if that helps and hopefully someone from QCE this year can offer some more guidance for you!

Angelina  ;D
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literally lauren

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Re: QCE English Question
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2020, 09:29:37 am »
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Hey Chantal!

I think your teacher may have gotten mixed up, as The Poisonwood Bible hasn't ever been on VCE or HSC text lists. It is studied in South Australia (SACE) but their exams are structured differently so that probably isn't much use.

(I assume you're doing this text for Literature, since that's what QCAA has it listed under, but correct me if I'm wrong! The below advice is assuming you're looking for Literature-style exam questions. If you just need some general analysis guidance, the litcharts site might be helpful!)

Your best bet is probably to write some questions yourself, which might sound silly, but it's actually a fantastic way to think critically about the text and put yourself in the shoes of the assessors.

The QCE Literature exam questions are all about the structural features of the texts; the two sample prompts are:
  - Analyse Kingsolver’s representation of mid–twentieth century Congo and its influence on one of the novel’s characters.
  - Discuss ways that Kingsolver’s use of multiple narrators invites the reader to view the character of Orleanna.

Generally they seem to focus on things like setting, narrative POV, or the representation of certain ideas/places. So all you need to do is make a list of these sorts of things in the text, and then turn them into essay prompts. For example:

   - Discuss how Kingsolver represents the fallacies of imperialism as seen by the characters in the novel.
   - Analyse Kingsolver's use of symbolism in inviting readers to understand the Congo.
   - Discuss ways that Kingsolver's narrative structure affects readers' interpretations of the Price family.

These are only based on the sample exam, so the structure and nature of the questions might be different on the actual paper (I'd hope not, but who knows! Maybe check with your teacher? But if they're not sure either, don't worry - everyone's in the same boat!)

Either way, this should hopefully help give you a foundation so you can start constructing plans, practice paragraphs, or full essays. And then no matter what the exam prompt looks like, you will have had some super valuable practice in analysing parts of the text :)

Hope that helps!