smile+energy:
The rebuttal isn't compulsory provided your contention is well-developed, but if you are committed to one, or your teacher prefers it: ask questions! Look at the prompt from different angles and you should be able to find a new point of discussion. There's no "smartest way" to do any of this, only what works for you and what doesn't.
If a prompt cannot be directly challenged (these will usually be structural ones, eg. 'How does the author maintain a sense of tension throughout the text?' to which you can't just say 'yes' or 'no') then you have to have a good contention that looks at the different ideas and implications. These essays will require a different approach to the 'standard' character and theme questions, so maybe talk to your teacher if you're considering these.
Blondie21:
{I'll be writing up a Term 3-4/SWOT-VAC study guide when I get a chance, so there'll be more detail there... and possibly a checklist of what you should already know vs. be working on +other miscellaneous things... depending on how lazy I get. I'll put a link in my sig when it's done}Don't worry too much about the other classes, but if you feel uncertain about L.A. (or anything for that matter) you should definitely work on it sooner rather than later. In short, I balanced my time by knowing what I needed to devote it to... if that makes sense. Rather than writing three essays at a time over and over again, I might just go through compiling a bunch of topic sentences for a difficult T.R. prompt, or come up with a good contention and list a few examples for a context piece. If there's an area that you're struggling in, devote more time to bringing that up to scratch since everything is weighted equally in the exam.
I know many teachers abandon L.A. after the Semester 1 SAC,
(correctly) assuming it can be taught quickly in the weeks leading up to the exam. Trouble is, if you wait till then you're missing out on a year's worth of developing your skills and working on your weaknesses. Might be worth going to your teacher and asking for some extra help/work if you're really struggling, otherwise see how you go writing a piece yourself and then get some feedback. At this level, teachers are usually pretty receptive to students taking initiative in their own learning. If not, there's always AN
Paulrus:
I didn't feel confident about context until I got my study score :p Even then I was quite surprised for a couple of days. But I would argue that
not feeling confident was kind of helpful in that I never had a chance to get complacent. On the other hand you don't want to be panicking, so I guess I'd say a good aim would be to have the three essay formats and the textual content well and truly covered before Term 4, then you can work on fine tuning bits and pieces.
With regards to timing, it really depends what you're having issues with. If the ideas aren't coming to you or you can't link them fluently then it's probably an issue with your focus (ie. a convoluted contention doesn't lend itself well to a seamless integration of ideas) Whereas if you know what you want to say and just can't express it, then it's a conceptual problem. This is arguably easier to fix since it just involves exposure to as many prompts as possible. Since you're at that high level anyway, write on the tricky ones.
Being 20 mins over isn't too much of a problem, but it's best to aim for under an hour so, either:
- Force yourself to write things in an hour. Be aware of the time and wrap discussion up quickly if you need to. The first few pieces you write like this might seem a bit stagnated or underdeveloped, but eventually it will become more natural.
- Or, keep doing what you're doing: take as long as you need but time how long you're going over. As you get more confident with your style and content, the time will probably end up going down on its own.
(Of course there'll be instances where you're trialing a new idea/example/format in which case don't feel obliged to time yourself; 'formative' or developmental essays completed over a few days to let the ideas ferment can be an excellent way to break up the monotony.)
In the end my context prompt was still a surprise, and it messed with a lot of students' results, but you have to expect all eventualities.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best
24bauer12:
1. I don't know if 'summarised' is the right word, but your contention should definitely be clearly and concisely stated in your intro and conclusion. Don't fall into the trap of redundantly tacking it onto the end of ever discussion point though, try to segue from your discussion of the textual evidence back to your main argument.
2. I always hated the formulaic topic sentences, so I pretty much let my contention drive the discussion. So long as your T.S. is expanding upon your contention (which in turn will be an expansion of the prompt) then you should be fine. VCAA isn't that strict; a quick glimpse through some high scoring practice pieces will show there's a hundred different ways to do it well.
3. Yes, the challenge paragraph can be sufficient
if used well. In some sense your argument should already be considering these multiple viewpoints though, (eg. 'Whilst this character could be dismissed as irredeemable, there are in fact various facets to his identity that hint at a possible redemption.')
90ATAR:
Sorry about the late reply, hope your SAC went well
This paragraph is good so if you wrote as well as this you should be fine. Some things to watch out for though:
- This is a very text-dominant paragraph and you need to move beyond the set reading (if not within this paragraph certainly in your piece as a whole) lest it sound like a Text Response.
- Another good way to avoid this 'T.R. feel' is to zoom out and look at the broader ideas. Ends of paras are usually the best (but not only) place for this. You finish on a point of evidence without really explaining its significance. The connection to the prompt might be obvious to you, but you need to make it super-clear to your assessor as well.
AceVCE777:
Again, sorry about the delay
For Year 9 (and 10 for that matter) do whatever your teacher recommends. There's no sense learning a VCE level response since that's not what they're asking of you. Basically the skills you develop will assist you later on, but they don't want to bombard you with criteria atm. For the intro I suppose you could use some historical/authorial context if it's relevant to what you're studying. Paragraphs are usually structured by themes at most levels unless you're deliberately going beyond that. Don't do a standard character-by-character response though.
I'm afraid no student in the history of time and space has ever gotten a clear answer to the 'how many quotes?' question. My personal recommendation is that 3 should be your minimum, but I've seen plenty of flawless paragraphs with less than this. The more important thing is how you're using these quotes. Can you integrate them well? Are they all relevant to your discussion? Are they relatively short (ie. less than 1 1/2 lines) so you're not wasting time? Can you modify them appropriately? If you're confident with these then you'll be cruising through T.R. quote usage in Year 12
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