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March 29, 2024, 10:18:26 pm

Author Topic: VCE English Question Thread  (Read 847583 times)  Share 

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Splash-Tackle-Flail

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #255 on: March 26, 2015, 06:56:49 pm »
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(sorry I'm not Lauren :P)

Still really helpful haha! Thank you so much!
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JackSonSmith

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #256 on: March 26, 2015, 07:31:35 pm »
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I just wanted to clarify something.

So long as you reference ideas in your selected text and respond to the prompt, you can write anything in context?
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literally lauren

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #257 on: March 26, 2015, 08:00:30 pm »
+3
I just wanted to clarify something.

So long as you reference ideas in your selected text and respond to the prompt, you can write anything in context?

*suspicious glance* Define "anything."

scarletmoon

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #258 on: March 26, 2015, 08:58:13 pm »
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How do you convert 28/30 into a score out of 10?
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JackSonSmith

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #259 on: March 26, 2015, 08:58:19 pm »
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*suspicious glance* Define "anything."

Some ideas I had: expository/persuasive essay, opinion piece, speech, collection of short stories, brochure?, cartoons?
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JackSonSmith

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #260 on: March 26, 2015, 08:58:50 pm »
+1
How do you convert 28/30 into a score out of 10?

Probably 9/10, as 28/30 = 0.933.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2015, 09:00:44 pm by JackSonSmith »
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literally lauren

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #261 on: March 26, 2015, 10:33:06 pm »
+3
Some ideas I had:
expository/persuasive essay ✓ this would be absolutely fine, and is the most popular form

opinion piece/ speech ✓ ditto, very common, good opportunity if you're a naturally persuasive writer

collection of short stories ✓ valid, but keep in mind this is a ~1 hour writing task, so don't over-reach

brochure? - not sure how you'd do this without folding up your exam papers (and there's probably some ridiculous rule about that) or needing to format weirdly. You can definitely create an informative/expository style piece that would contain the same information as a brochure, but the idea is to have a cohesive piece of writing rather than little tidbits.
Having said that, I did have a few students last year who wrote newspaper/ opinion pieces and actually wrote in columns down the page (ie. they would have taken up maybe five pages of exam paper, but each one would be vertically divided down the middle with a little gap, so the formatting is permissible provided the content is valid.)

cartoons? - I doubt you'd get away with this. I'd love for it to be allowed, but to be honest VCAA have only recently even acknowledged cartoons and multimodal texts as a form of literature; I don't think they'd accept it for a "writing task."
If the concepts and creative progression in graphic novels inspires you, by all means implement that in your writing, but don't stray too far from the idea of an essay if you want to remain in safe territory.

So I guess I should change my Context motto to: 'Anything* goes!*subject to terms and conditions

scarletmoon

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #262 on: March 27, 2015, 04:22:15 pm »
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Is it bad to start a conclusion with "In essence..."? I like it but my teacher told me to avoid conclusions that start like this and I'm not sure why.
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Chang Feng

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #263 on: March 28, 2015, 09:39:00 pm »
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Just wondering, how would you go about structuring your context notes? like i know for text response, you should do character profiles, and thematic analysis. so for context would you do the same things or, what should you do???
THANKS
if that makes sense

JackSonSmith

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #264 on: March 28, 2015, 10:54:23 pm »
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Just wondering, how would you go about structuring your context notes? like i know for text response, you should do character profiles, and thematic analysis. so for context would you do the same things or, what should you do???
THANKS
if that makes sense

So far, I've been making my context notes and filling them under events. eg. Vietnam war: Conflicts that are in parallel with events in Every Man in This Village is a liar.

Essentially I'm just putting my ideas down and then I plan to group them and organise them into categories at a later date, once I have more confidence with my knowledge.
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Escobar

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #265 on: March 29, 2015, 12:11:54 pm »
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this may seem like a weird question but...
this is from Edrolo:

as you can see, the answer is A) and C)
how is the answer A) when it is asking for money, not talking about saving money?


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JackSonSmith

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #266 on: March 29, 2015, 12:54:11 pm »
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this may seem like a weird question but...
this is from Edrolo:
(Image removed from quote.)
as you can see, the answer is A) and C)
how is the answer A) when it is asking for money, not talking about saving money?

Perhaps they are appealing to the 'hip-pocket' of the team. eg. the team needs donations to stay afloat.
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literally lauren

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #267 on: March 29, 2015, 09:19:59 pm »
+4
Is it bad to start a conclusion with "In essence..."? I like it but my teacher told me to avoid conclusions that start like this and I'm not sure why.
It's not inherrently bad, but if your teacher doesn't like it, then avoid at all costs.
You might be using it in a strange way, ie. you use a linking phrase but the ideas themselves don't link; you can't just say 'In essence,' at the start unless you're actually talking about the essence of the author's point or your contention. Otherwise it's just a regular conclusion with an odd starting phrase.
In the exam, no teacher would dock marks just for using a word or phrase like this, you just have to be careful that your usage is appropriate.

Just wondering, how would you go about structuring your context notes? like i know for text response, you should do character profiles, and thematic analysis. so for context would you do the same things or, what should you do???
THANKS
if that makes sense
First, go through a bunch of prompts for your Context (there's a big collection in the Resources thread on the main English page if you need) and pick out the major thematic areas you find

eg. Encountering Conflict
- causes of conflict
- the role of power and its effects
- whether conflict is fair/ justifiable
- the lessons we learn from conflict
        ect.

Under each of these umbrella sections, start fleshing out your examples and research. There'll be some overlap, so it's up to you whether you double up and explain the same examples in different ways multiple times, or whether you just type a big version out once and then put (refer to...) in other sections where relevant.
This'll also be an excellent way of finding out where the gaps in your knowledge/ research are. If you find that you have absolutely no examples for, let's say, 'the victims of conflict,' then if you got a prompt pertaining to this area you'd be in trouble. Not only does this help you collate all your examples, but if can help you brainstorm what else you should be reading and exploring for the sake of covering as much of the context as possible.

this may seem like a weird question but...
this is from Edrolo:
as you can see, the answer is A) and C)
how is the answer A) when it is asking for money, not talking about saving money?
I've never heard of Edrolo before so I have no idea what their quality is like, but this seems like the sort of pedestrian analysis the assessors have been criticising lately. Just looking at a dollar sign and calling it an 'appeal to hip-pocket nerve' is like calling anything with a question mark in it a 'rhetorical question' - even if it's true, it's not analysis!

I guess if you're abstractifying the idea of an appeal to financial concerns to mean 'any technique pertaining to the mere mention of money' then this might be accurate, but I'd say you're more likely to elicit an eye roll from an exam marker if you used the 'hip-pocket nerve' as part of your analysis here.

I'm getting strong vibes from Assessor's Reports and the teacher grapevine that the exam will be gearing well away from this kind of technique-labelling anyway. You'd be much better off practicing commentary on kinds of language (eg. imperative, superlative) or understanding the context of persuasion. Techniques are still a good starting point, but they're just a starting point.

edit: JackSon's suggestion would make sense too, but Answer C seems much more sensible. Idk why they've said that  ::)

Escobar

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #268 on: March 29, 2015, 09:40:14 pm »
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Thanks for your reply :)
our school paid for access to Edrolo, which is a website with lectures
the person in the video is supposed to be an assessor and have a lot of qualifications so seeing that answer was really strange


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literally lauren

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Re: VCE English Question Thread
« Reply #269 on: March 29, 2015, 10:11:28 pm »
+2
Thanks for your reply :)
our school paid for access to Edrolo, which is a website with lectures
the person in the video is supposed to be an assessor and have a lot of qualifications so seeing that answer was really strange
Since the question was out of context, maybe their explanation made more sense, but objectively speaking it seems like a fairly weak (if not totally wrong) analysis.
Doesn't mean the rest of the content isn't valuable though - almost all teachers have their own strange preferences and recommendations that don't really gel with an exam-perspective, but they're still capable of giving good advice in other areas.
Still, never hurts to double check here or with your teacher if you're ever unsure about something :)