VCE English Question Thread

[Escobar]

thanks 

[vanessa14]

sometimes i have trouble coming up with topic sentences    I dont know where to start and what words to use  any help?

[literally lauren]

sometimes i have trouble coming up with topic sentences    I dont know where to start and what words to use  any help?

Do you not know what to write, or do you not know how to write it?

^That should always be the first question you ask yourself for problems like this.
For starters, don't think about the words. Don't worry about making it sound pretty and essay-ish, just get the ideas out as plainly as possible. It can be as clunky as 'This character does a lot of bad stuff in the book, but we still like him.' You'd obviously never want to write something that bad in an essay, but at the very least, you know what you want to express. Focus on the ideas you want to communicate, and then build it up piece by piece rather than all at once.

eg.
'The character does' --> are we talking about acts he perpetrates, or dark thoughts he has, or evil desires he harbors...? What does he 'do,' exactly?
'lots of bad stuff' --> 'Bad' how? Physically repulsive? Morally dubious? Psychologically confronting? Are these things bad for himself, or others? What kind of 'bad' are we talking about? (Looking up words like 'bad' in a thesaurus gives you an idea of just how broad the definition can be)
'but in the end we still like him' --> Do we admire him? Do we sympathise with him? Do we pity him? Do we only like him compared to other, worse characters? Do we like him in spite of his flaws, or because of them?

So after thinking about each of these weak areas ('does,' 'bad stuff' and 'we like him,') we can turn an embarrassingly simple sentence into a sophisticated one:
Character X commits many morally dubious acts throughout the text, however audiences are still inclined to sympathise with him because of his self-awareness and constant feelings of regret.

On the surface, it's as simple as that, but admittedly it does take practice and exposure before these words start coming to you naturally. I'm yet to meet a good writer who isn't also a good reader, so try and read widely so things like sentence structures and vocab can be naturally acquired, rather than painstakingly laboured over.

[paper-back]

Does anyone have any non-copyright "The White Tiger" prompts?

[literally lauren]

Some original ones in the Prompts thread.
Otherwise your best bet is to pester your teacher, since I haven't found very many resources for most of the new texts.
You could always write your own, too. It's quite a helpful exercise

[vanessa14]

On the surface, it's as simple as that, but admittedly it does take practice and exposure before these words start coming to you naturally. I'm yet to meet a good writer who isn't also a good reader, so try and read widely so things like sentence structures and vocab can be naturally acquired, rather than painstakingly laboured over.

once again thank you so much  this is really helpful.

[Adequace]

Hey Lauren,

Do you mind giving me feedback on my oral? If you have time of course. University Deregulation Oral Feedback

[theBRENDAN97]

Hi Lauren,
This Friday at school we are watching a performance for the play No Sugar, just wondering what i should look out for in terms of construction, like what about stage direction, etc.
Thanks.

[cosine]

Jason's actions are supported by careful judgement; Medea's actions are supported by selfishness and passion

Can someone help me break down this prompt or look at my interpretation of it, thanks:

Paragraph 1: Initially as the play commences, Jason is depicted as the villain as we see his actions are lead by his desires
Paragraph 2: However, as the play proceeds we see him mature and come to realisation of the importance of family and decides to take care of his children
Paragraph 3: Medea thoroughly displays egocentric actions as they are driven by her fearsome passion

These are my paragraph arguments, any opinions? Thankyou

[thaaanyan]

hi, i was just wondering if anyone could help me with understanding how to weave in authorial/directorial b.ground in an intro?? like in what prompts do you think it's be acceptable and how would you do it?? thank you. i've been raised with stock standard TR formula (which i can do fine) but now im finding variation a bit difficult. i appreciate any help!!

[JackSonSmith]

hi, i was just wondering if anyone could help me with understanding how to weave in authorial/directorial b.ground in an intro?? like in what prompts do you think it's be acceptable and how would you do it?? thank you. i've been raised with stock standard TR formula (which i can do fine) but now im finding variation a bit difficult. i appreciate any help!!

It's my belief that things that are not specifically referenced in the text should not be in your essay. For example, in Mabo the director's own father was an activist so she would be able to sympathise with Eddie Mabo's family. However, when writing an essay, I would simply state that ''the director showcases the hardships faced by the Mabo family through...''.

Knowledge of the author's/ director's background can be useful when studying a text, but you should only discuss elements of a text that are at least implicitly implied and certainly not things that never see any mention.

Of course those are just my own interpretations/beliefs, sorry if I am wrong.

[Cogglesnatch Cuttlefish]

Can somebody help me unpack the following prompt:
"Contrary to expectations, it is the women of Cloudstreet that drive the narrative". Do you agree?
Im especially struggling with what the word "drive" is meant to mean in this context, and how "contrary to expectations" would be considered when formulating a contention/ideas and the like.

[JackSonSmith]

Can somebody help me unpack the following prompt:
"Contrary to expectations, it is the women of Cloudstreet that drive the narrative". Do you agree?
Im especially struggling with what the word "drive" is meant to mean in this context, and how "contrary to expectations" would be considered when formulating a contention/ideas and the like.

I'd look at:
Which women drive the narrative?
Is it their story? Their actions? Their words?
What may other expectations be?

[kimmytaaa]

Hi
I just want to know your opinions, so I have an English sac on the 16th or 17th but it has been week 6 without any practice essays to do and apparently all we do is summary of chapters of each chapter. On Tuesday next week, we are wasting our time watching the movie instead of doing anything. But the teacher said we are going to to the practise sac on Friday its a bit too late in my opinion, what do you guys think? On Friday next week, she is expecting us to do our practise essays in class and hand it up by the end of the lesson.

[kimmytaaa]

You could always do your own practice essays and submit them to your teacher. They're more than likely to correct them and you can always find topics if you ask your teacher, or look around online.

true, but my teachers don't even bother to look tho it so I use my tutors since they are more helpful than school teachers