VCE English Question Thread

[tiredandstressed]

Hey everyone,
Would we be marked down for long essays? I know this is a bit of a weird question but I've found that all the essays I write in exam conditions end up being around 1350 words... I really don't want to lose marks for the length of my essays but I have trouble reducing the amount of what I'm writing. I don't have any issues with rambling/going off-topic, etc, I just write a lot. From the feedback I've gotten my essays are around 8-10/10 but I don't know if VCAA assessors would mark me down for the length of my essays.
Thank you!

Unless you are either repeating yourself or using long quotes I don't this is an issue
I only could write around ~900 words in an hour, so it's great you can get to 1350 as long as you're not going over time then you should be ok/
However, 1350 is quite a bit over 1000 (the typical maximum) how long are your intros and conclusions (they really shouldn't be more than 4 sentences) but considering you're getting positive feedback I wouldn't stress.
Edit your own essays and see if you find anything that could be removed or written more concisely!

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

Unless you are either repeating yourself or using long quotes I don't this is an issue
I only could write around ~900 words in an hour, so it's great you can get to 1350 as long as you're not going over time then you should be ok/
However, 1350 is quite a bit over 1000 (the typical maximum) how long are your intros and conclusions (they really shouldn't be more than 4 sentences) but considering you're getting positive feedback I wouldn't stress.
Edit your own essays and see if you find anything that could be removed or written more concisely!

My introductions are long but my teacher has never been opposed to them. It’s the length of the one which I posted and you commented on one time.

[Sine]

Hey everyone,
Would we be marked down for long essays? I know this is a bit of a weird question but I've found that all the essays I write in exam conditions end up being around 1350 words... I really don't want to lose marks for the length of my essays but I have trouble reducing the amount of what I'm writing. I don't have any issues with rambling/going off-topic, etc, I just write a lot. From the feedback I've gotten my essays are around 8-10/10 but I don't know if VCAA assessors would mark me down for the length of my essays.

Thank you!

The actual word count wouldn't be the reasons you lose marks. If you are just writing fluff, going on tangents and overall just not able to deliver your point concisely then you fall into problems. If the 1300+ words are of high quality you should be fine.

[whys]

Thank you everyone for your input! My intros are about ~150 words for TR and Comparative, and a bit shorter (100-ish) for AA. Conclusions usually 3-4 sentences. The bulk of my essay is the body paragraphs. I'll definitely try work on being more concise and work on elaborating on more specific examples and restricting myself. I feel like if I spent more time planning rather than writing I could have a shorter, higher quality essay rather than one that's longer, since I barely plan and sort of 'write with the flow' if that makes sense.

Thanks again!

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

Is an introduction which is one page for L.A too much? My writing is quite big and this is in on the VCAA paper. I went to a lecture and a VCAA assessor said paragraphs shouldn’t be a page long.

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

Is an introduction which is one page for L.A too much? My writing is quite big and this is in on the VCAA paper. I went to a lecture and a VCAA assessor said paragraphs shouldn’t be a page long.

Sorry to double post but in text response what are “implications”. I’m watching a VATE revision lecture and it states to get an 8/10 you must consider the “implications” of the topics.

[tiredandstressed]

Is an introduction which is one page for L.A too much? My writing is quite big and this is in on the VCAA paper. I went to a lecture and a VCAA assessor said paragraphs shouldn’t be a page long.

My introductions were only like 3-5 sentences max, how long does it take you to write
If you can write the intro within 5 minutes it shouldn't be an issue, it not really an issue if your intro is too long, but more so how much time does it take.

[Snow Leopard]

Hey everyone,
Would we be marked down for long essays? I know this is a bit of a weird question but I've found that all the essays I write in exam conditions end up being around 1350 words... I really don't want to lose marks for the length of my essays but I have trouble reducing the amount of what I'm writing. I don't have any issues with rambling/going off-topic, etc, I just write a lot. From the feedback I've gotten my essays are around 8-10/10 but I don't know if VCAA assessors would mark me down for the length of my essays.

Thank you!

Hey whys,
my English teacher (who has marked VCE Eng exams before) says that the examiners don't care if you go over the word limit as long as what you're writing is quality.

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

For section C must you always say what that technique makes the audience feel and do or sometimes just feel?

[tiredandstressed]

For section C must you always say what that technique makes the audience feel and do or sometimes just feel?

From my experience, stronger essays does both how it makes the audience feel & do (putting it in simple terms)
For instance "the author's appeal to pathos aims to manipulate the audience to believe that if actions are not done to address climate change, their children's future is at jeopardy. Specifically, her emotional plea encourages the audience to support her pursuit to unite and continue to protest against the government until the mining industry is reformed"
You don't necessarily have to do it for every technique, just make sure the "do" is specific to the technique, the link from feel -> do should be logical and when an examiner reads your essay they should see the flow and links of logic to go from the technique -> feelings -> audience's actions

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

Thanks tired and stressed!

Hey everyone sorry for more questions but:

How do you write with enough time to proof read? How much time is required for adequate proof reading? I’m worried my errors could be what brings me down from an 8 to a 7

[The Cat In The Hat]

Thanks tired and stressed!

Hey everyone sorry for more questions but:

How do you write with enough time to proof read? How much time is required for adequate proof reading? I’m worried my errors could be what brings me down from an 8 to a 7

The only thing I can think of is to somehow write faster... I don't know though. I don't proofread my essays except inasmuch as is done while writing them - should I somehow write faster and take time at the end to proofread? I mean sometimes I skim but apart from that nothing. Would that boost my grade, though? (Sorry to add onto your question Coolgal.)

[Sine]

Thanks tired and stressed!

Hey everyone sorry for more questions but:

How do you write with enough time to proof read? How much time is required for adequate proof reading? I’m worried my errors could be what brings me down from an 8 to a 7

I don't think you need a leave a heap of time for proofreading. I think ~5 minutes for each essay is probably more than enough.

For English, your proofreading is going to be likely just fixing some spelling errors, making it a bit more clear, fixing expression, fix grammar, fix duplicated/missed words etc. You can't exactly change the whole point of your essay in the last few minutes.

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

I don't think you need a leave a heap of time for proofreading. I think ~5 minutes for each essay is probably more than enough.

For English, your proofreading is going to be likely just fixing some spelling errors, making it a bit more clear, fixing expression, fix grammar, fix duplicated/missed words etc. You can't exactly change the whole point of your essay in the last few minutes.

Oh okay. I’ve just been told that these small errors can add up taking you from high marks to lower ones because of the “messiness” or whatever- thank you for cleaning that up!!!!

[Coolgalbornin03Lo]

How do you answer “to what extent” or “how does author xyz” prompts?

For the to what extent should you go agree, agree, agree but here’s another possibility erring on the othersides POV?