ATAR Notes: Forum
Archived Discussion => QCE Exam Discussion 2020 => Exam Discussions => New South Wales => English Exams => Topic started by: s110820 on October 15, 2020, 04:47:06 pm
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Hey everyone,
The English External Exam is fast approaching (only twelve or so days away!). How are you guys feeling about this exam? What text are you studying? Have you enjoyed studying your texts and if so, why? Sorry if it's a lot of questions, I just wanted to start a conversation on this board and hopefully, keep this conversation rolling as the big day draws nearer.
Keep studying and look after yourself,
Darcy Dillon.
P.S. I was also thinking of creating more specific topics on this board such as a topic for each text, study preparation and what we can do to mentally prepare ourselves for the big day. If you guys have any other ideas, feel free to add more topics to this board as I'm sure the entire QCE community would really appreciate it :)
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Hey,
I'm doing Macbeth for my external exam. Do you have any resources or study tips for this texts. We are suppose to write an essay on a hidden question for the exam.
Anything may be helpful!
8) Soph
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Hey,
I'm doing Macbeth for my external exam. Do you have any resources or study tips for this texts. We are suppose to write an essay on a hidden question for the exam.
Anything may be helpful!
8) Soph
Hey Sophie Lapthorne,
Sorry for the late reply but that's awesome that you're doing Macbeth for your external exam! I studied Macbeth in Year 10 so I'm studying Hamlet for my external exam. But I've heard that a lot of schools are doing Macbeth for their external exams - I'll make a poll on this page to see what's the most popular text.
In terms of resources, here's what I could find as a non-exhaustive list:
You could also use Sparknotes and Litcharts as well just as a backup or an extra source of information but I wouldn't rely too heavily on these as the "knowledge application" requires your knowledge, not someone else's.
If your school/teacher has provided you with worksheets, activities, resources or anything like that, use those too!
And also, your teachers are your best resource! Ask them as much as possible before your exam.
If anyone else has any other English resources that they would like to share, please feel free to add to this forum as I'm sure many QCE students would really appreciate it!
Also P.S: it's getting pretty late at the moment so I'll update this thread with some study tips and tricks in the morning!
Hopefully, that helps :)
Good luck for your exams and kind regards,
Darcy Dillon.
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Hey,
There's a bunch of Macbeth resources here you might be interested in!
Good luck for the exam :)
Edit: typo
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Good luck everybody!
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Hi everyone,
So....the first external exam is out of the way for anyone taking standard English! How does everyone feel? How do you think you went? What book did you study and how did you find the questions?
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Hi everyone,
So....the first external exam is out of the way for anyone taking standard English! How does everyone feel? How do you think you went? What book did you study and how did you find the questions?
Hey XD12345,
I feel pretty good about my exam to be honest - I had a few technical difficulties because I was allowed to type up my response due to my special provisions, but I'm glad that it worked out in the end. I studied William Shakespeare's Elizabethan tragedy Hamlet (1603) and I answered the second question: What is Shakespeare's perspective on family in Hamlet? I used the examples of Ophelia's lack of bodily autonomy and agency due to her male counterparts (her brother, Laertes and her father, Polonius) as they value reputation and control.
I did this exact question in one of my practice essay plans so I definitely had an idea of what I wanted to discuss throughout my essay, including the cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs that underpinned the Elizabethan era such as women should be controlled as well as how women should remain modest and submissive to their male counterparts, so hopefully I went okay.
How did you go? What book did you study and how did you find the questions?
Keep studying and kind regards,
Darcy Dillon.
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Hey XD12345,
I feel pretty good about my exam to be honest - I had a few technical difficulties because I was allowed to type up my response due to my special provisions, but I'm glad that it worked out in the end. I studied William Shakespeare's Elizabethan tragedy Hamlet (1603) and I answered the second question: What is Shakespeare's perspective on family in Hamlet? I used the examples of Ophelia's lack of bodily autonomy and agency due to her male counterparts (her brother, Laertes and her father, Polonius) as they value reputation and control.
I did this exact question in one of my practice essay plans so I definitely had an idea of what I wanted to discuss throughout my essay, including the cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs that underpinned the Elizabethan era such as women should be controlled as well as how women should remain modest and submissive to their male counterparts, so hopefully I went okay.
How did you go? What book did you study and how did you find the questions?
Keep studying and kind regards,
Darcy Dillon.
Hi Darcy,
It’s great that you did a question you had some experience in answering! I studied Burial Rites and did the question, “how is the reader invited to view the concept of violence in Burial Rites.” I was really surprised about this question actually because there are so many amazing concepts in the book such as truth, fate, justice and patriarchy, and I was really surprised to see that violence was an aspect worth talking about. Nonetheless, I still wrote the essay and talked about how violence is the source of Agnes’ stigma caused by generalisation of individuals based on violent actions.
I think it’s great that the qcaa allows circumstances where students can write their answers using their computer, a friend of mine is also doing this (except for maths)
I think I managed to underpin the important cultural assumptions in the book, I put a lot of emphasis on the stigmatisation of ravens and the similarity which is probably one of the most important symbols in the book so I’m glad I found a way to use them. English is not my native language and once I get home I don’t usually speak English until I go back to school but I think I’ve managed to do good on this essay, I can’t thank my English teacher enough.
I’m sure you’ll get the results you want, good luck on your next exams!
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Hi Darcy,
It’s great that you did a question you had some experience in answering! I studied Burial Rites and did the question, “how is the reader invited to view the concept of violence in Burial Rites.” I was really surprised about this question actually because there are so many amazing concepts in the book such as truth, fate, justice and patriarchy, and I was really surprised to see that violence was an aspect worth talking about. Nonetheless, I still wrote the essay and talked about how violence is the source of Agnes’ stigma caused by generalisation of individuals based on violent actions.
I think it’s great that the qcaa allows circumstances where students can write their answers using their computer, a friend of mine is also doing this (except for maths)
I think I managed to underpin the important cultural assumptions in the book, I put a lot of emphasis on the stigmatisation of ravens and the similarity which is probably one of the most important symbols in the book so I’m glad I found a way to use them. English is not my native language and once I get home I don’t usually speak English until I go back to school but I think I’ve managed to do good on this essay, I can’t thank my English teacher enough.
I’m sure you’ll get the results you want, good luck on your next exams!
Hey XD12345,
I'm not exactly familiar with Burial Rites but it does sound extremely interesting, so I'll pop it onto my "to read" list for the near future (probably after my exams to be honest). Your essay does sound extremely interesting though - I wish I could read but nonetheless, we're both one exam down and we have either four or five exams left! Even though we've only had one exam so far, it's a great achievement to make it through your first exam without burning out or having a self-induced anxiety attack (which I nearly did prior to my English exam).
I think that it's great too that the QCAA allows provisions for students who may not cope under normal exam conditions due to issues such as underlying disabilities for example. I for sure, definitely wouldn't have made it through Year 11 and Year 12, without my special provisions so I'm so glad that these accomodations exist! And that's great that you emphasised the significance of the symbols in the text - for me, personally, the author's use of symbols are usually the most foreboding and obvious drivers of their personal perspective on issues such as family and violence.
Again, I'm honestly so proud of you for putting so much time, energy and effort into this exam - it'll definitely be worth it in the long run and having English as your second language is no easy feat, so it's amazing that you were able to jump over this hurdle effectively, especially if your English teachers helped you along the way too :)
Thanks so much and I'm sure you'll get the results you want too! Good luck for the rest of your exams too :)
Have a great week and kind regards,
Darcy Dillon.
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I was truly envious of you guys doing this subject simply because you can do Jane Eyre. I wish we did....
(On the plus side, I'm doing Pride and Prejudice, but still.)
:)