Hey Lauren,I don't think there's a definitive answer to this, because each examiner is going to have their own preferences. That said, I'm more inclined to agree with your teacher. If the quote isn't highly relevant to the prompt, it'll make your essay look a bit pre-prepared - and if it is relevant, it'd be better used in a body paragraph, where you can actually get credit for using it to substantiate your ideas. So personally, I'd avoid it :)
Would you recommend starting a text response essay with a quote as the first sentence in the introduction? My tutor says that examiners apparently love students starting with a quote, but my teacher tells me to avoid it.
I have started all my subjects besides english. Should this be worrisome?Ideally you should have started by now, but there's still plenty of time. You should definitely begin by reading your texts as soon as you can. I don't think you necessarily have to read all of them these holidays, but if you're feeling short on time you should familiarise yourself with your unit 3 texts at the very least. You'll find that the year goes extremely fast and you won't have much time to read them once it's begun.
Also, I think the reason why I haven't started is because I don't know where to begin... Someone who got 40 told me to read my books, but I cant even look at it lol :/
Hey Lauren,
Would you recommend starting a text response essay with a quote as the first sentence in the introduction? My tutor says that examiners apparently love students starting with a quote, but my teacher tells me to avoid it.
I have started all my subjects besides english. Should this be worrisome?It's never too late to start English ;D
Also, I think the reason why I haven't started is because I don't know where to begin... Someone who got 40 told me to read my books, but I cant even look at it lol :/
Could someone please explain what this means and perhaps provide an example where this is evident. (regarding a 9 to 10 out of 10 for text response essay)
‘demonstrates an understanding of the implications of the topic, using an appropriate strategy
for dealing with it, and exploring its complexity from the basis of the text.’
Could someone please explain what this means and perhaps provide an example where this is evident. (regarding a 9 to 10 out of 10 for text response essay)
‘demonstrates an understanding of the implications of the topic, using an appropriate strategy
for dealing with it, and exploring its complexity from the basis of the text.’
Okay, so I miraculously read my book twice... now what? lol what should I do now?Still more reading to go :)
Hi Lauren! I love writing and reading, however I have never been able to bring myself to read a novel twice. I am wondering how you persevere and tackle even the most sullen of VCE texts.VCE texts are not to be read for fun. Except Shakespeare, who is God.
Also, I am really struggling with Language Analysis. I am a fairly proficient writer, however have always found difficulty in this part of English. I have read your sample essay, which by the way is out-of-this-world awesome, but I do not know how I can work towards that. I have also read through your guide but still have trouble in actually composing sentences and paragraphs that flow nicely and are cohesive. How would you suggest I proceed?
I had a go at thinking, and have come up with a revised contention for my practice essay on "This Boy's Life". Am I on the right track?Way better contention, man! Well done!
Prompt: Discuss the conflict between Jack's desire for freedom and his desire to belong.
Original contention: Jack has an internal conflict between wanting to be free and wanting to belong.
Contention after thinking: Jack's desire to belong, despite it requiring him to betray his true self, suggests that he does not truly wish to be free – but to be free of the person that he was. (modeled after Lauren's example)
As for language analysis, I believe I know 'what' to write - I'm fairly good at identifying the techniques used by the writer - however am constantly struggling to find a way of fabricating a piece of writing that isn't just:Alrighty: your current issue is that you're only using what and how statements. So you clearly need to involve the why component in some capacity, which I'll explain below, but just to clarify:
technique --> effect on audience
technique --> effect on audience
etc, etc etc,
Literally my essays just look like dotpoints right now, which obviously doesn't earn you the high scores.
Any suggestions in how I can generate more fluidity in my writing?
I was wondering if anyone could please distinguish between
1.) Campaign meeting
2.) Conference
3.) Convention
4.) Forum
5.) Summit
I am trying to choose the setting for my oral presentation, to see which will be best suited to my persona (Aboriginal welfare expert) but I'm unsure of which one would be most appropriate?
I have googled these, but I was still a little confused, as some seem a bit similar?
Thanks, any help would be appreciated!
I would think that either a conference or forum would be best suited to your presentation. They, to me - carry the connotation of an open discussion about an issue. Summits sound a bit more global ie. "economics"/"health issues". Of course these are just my own interpretations of these words.
Thank you for bringing this up! I'd given up refreshing the VCAA page every week or so since I figured they wouldn't release any more details until later this year.
Okay, so I just read through all these new documents and my soul wants to die.
Yes, apparently this year is NOT the last year under the current system because VCE English teachers can't use numbers.
So the class of 2017 will be the first to experience the new system, meaning that next year during the transitional phase, Year 11s and Year 12s will be studying something different.
you'd think if that was the plan all along they'd say 'the accreditation period will end in 2017' but who needs logic when you're a curriculum authority -.-
Cheers to another year of Context! *facedesk*
On the plus side, the Literature course makes slightly more sense than the current one.
I'm still mad though >:(
Hey Lauren!2015 is the first year that White Tiger is implemented for the English Exam :)
I'm kinda confused with my why I'm meant to read the white tiger at my school this year because I can't find it or a prompt for it on the 2014 exam? Just searching for some clarification. Thankyouuuu! :)
Adiga, Aravind, The White Tiger, Atlantic Books, 2008 (1)
Set in modern-day India, The White Tiger follows Balram Halwai from his early life of rural poverty to his eventual
success as an entrepreneur and wealthy urbanite. Narrated as a series of letters to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, the
novel charts Balram’s journey out of the slums populated by the poor and lower castes, and celebrates his eventual
triumph as he breaks free from a life of servitude and obeisance. The novel explores the divisions between the rich
and the poor, and considers how social structures operate to reinforce class hierarchy. Adiga’s darkly comic novel
also raises questions about the reliability and integrity of the narrator, and asks whether success is ever possible
without moral compromise.
2015 is the first year that White Tiger is implemented for the English Exam :)Ohhh! Thankyou so much! I'm excited for that then, I loved the book 👍
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/documents/vce/english/vce_engeal_text_list.pdf
A small summary within the above document by VCAA:
Okay, so I think i have a good understanding of the text i am reading now, well its a play...If you feel confident enough in your understanding of the text, you might look into reading some analyses (depending on which play you're studying, there might be proper academic analyses out there, or you may just have to use VCE level essays; both have their advantages.)
So what now? I have read some online summaries, plots, character profiles and stuff... what do i do now?
(ps, i dont know why, but im starting to like english, wtf....?)(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1XAzIkSK23s/TSIeffF2ZhI/AAAAAAAAABY/sGq0a4hwYdE/s320/a-cunning-plan.jpg)
I was wondering if anyone could please distinguish between1.) Campaign meeting = ever seen a news interview with a politician who's just won an election and is standing in a room full of screaming groupies who'd applaud anything he/she said? That's the kind of audience that would be at a campaign meeting; you're essentially 'persuading' people who already believe you (or else, why would they be a part of the campaign?) :P
1.) Campaign meeting
2.) Conference
3.) Convention
4.) Forum
5.) Summit
I am trying to choose the setting for my oral presentation, to see which will be best suited to my persona (Aboriginal welfare expert) but I'm unsure of which one would be most appropriate?
I have googled these, but I was still a little confused, as some seem a bit similar?
Thanks Lauren for clarification. :)
i was just wondering what did you mean by this part."because VCE English teachers can't use numbers."
Hey Lauren!Yeah, like IL said, it's a totally new text so there are very few resources available at the moment. At some stage throughout the year I'll update this thread once some samples start cropping up. There'll also be some original ones in around about August/September, or possibly over the June break depending on how busy I get :)
I'm kinda confused with my why I'm meant to read the white tiger at my school this year because I can't find it or a prompt for it on the 2014 exam? Just searching for some clarification. Thankyouuuu! :)
Hey Lauren,Both are commonly used. The stakeholders approach was the one I used because ANY article will have numerous stakeholders. Stakeholders don't have to be a person - it's just something the author has an opinion on. Eg. racism could a stakeholder in Luther King's speech. It's really easy to identify and it's effective because there is clear separation in what you are analysing.
With regards to your lecture today, particularly with language analysis, I've previously been told to structure my ideas into different effects on stakeholders, and the different tonal shifts/language/etc. used for each stakeholder and how they vary according to whom the writer is "talking to". (e.g. in Martin Luther King's speech, he addresses the American people, the American government, and his fellow black Americans - and so you would structure your paragraphs around these three groups of targeted audiences). However, as you said today, we should perhaps aim to split our paragraphs into ideas and concepts raised. My question is, could you explain your way of splitting it into ideas and concepts a bit further, and would you recommend using one or the other, or can you use a mix of the two? If so, how would you go about doing this?
Awesome lecture today by the way!
Much thanks! :)
Would reading books improve my english skills? And is it a good idea to read other books in year 12 besides our school ones? ThanksYes and yes :).
Yes and yes :).
Hey Lauren,
With regards to your lecture today, particularly with language analysis, I've previously been told to structure my ideas into different effects on stakeholders, and the different tonal shifts/language/etc. used for each stakeholder and how they vary according to whom the writer is "talking to". (e.g. in Martin Luther King's speech, he addresses the American people, the American government, and his fellow black Americans - and so you would structure your paragraphs around these three groups of targeted audiences). However, as you said today, we should perhaps aim to split our paragraphs into ideas and concepts raised. My question is, could you explain your way of splitting it into ideas and concepts a bit further, and would you recommend using one or the other, or can you use a mix of the two? If so, how would you go about doing this?
Awesome lecture today by the way!
Much thanks! :)
Stakeholders don't have to be a person - it's just something the author has an opinion on.I think the issue many people have with this kind of terminology is that every teacher/ school has their own definitions. So what Zezima describes as stakeholders, I would call non-abstracted key players. Whereas the 'stakeholders' I learned about were the people with vested interests in the issue; <-- an essentially useless label because there's not always multiple persons or groups involved.
For example, this is how you would use the stakeholder approach would work.This would be a variation on the example I gave in the lecture, except I tended to expand the players to incorporate part of the contention (kind of like what you were doing with tone)
Body paragraph one: American society (analyse everything said about this)
Body paragraph two: Racism; repeat above
Body paragraph three: Racist people; repeat above.
Would reading books improve my english skills? And is it a good idea to read other books in year 12 besides our school ones? ThanksWithout a doubt, and good god yes.
Hey lauren,Definitely, but you'll be adding to your quote bank throughout the year, so don't feel like you have to pick up on everything on the first/ second read-through. In fact, you kind of need to experience running into a prompt you can't handle in order to discover new themes/ Views&Values messages, so that you can then return to the text and look for how these themes or V&Vs would be present.
I am currently reading my book again and composing quotes and important things to note, is this a good idea?
Definitely, but you'll be adding to your quote bank throughout the year, so don't feel like you have to pick up on everything on the first/ second read-through. In fact, you kind of need to experience running into a prompt you can't handle in order to discover new themes/ Views&Values messages, so that you can then return to the text and look for how these themes or V&Vs would be present.
Start on the major stuff now, but keep it open as a work in progres (at least until you choose which text you'll write on for the exam.)
Now that the lecture is over, I'm in the process of compiling a full guide to the whole 'key players' thing, since I felt like a raced through it and I know some people will be totally unfamiliar with those concepts. It'll be posted here when ready :)
I think the issue many people have with this kind of terminology is that every teacher/ school has their own definitions. So what Zezima describes as stakeholders, I would call non-abstracted key players. Whereas the 'stakeholders' I learned about were the people with vested interests in the issue; <-- an essentially useless label because there's not always multiple persons or groups involved. This would be a variation on the example I gave in the lecture, except I tended to expand the players to incorporate part of the contention (kind of like what you were doing with tone)
Eg.
BP1: The way American society should strive to be more inclusive
BP2: The damaging effects of racism
BP3: How racist people are extremely misguided
Or some such variation of the above. The exact focus would be up to you; the assessor's don't have a set list of right/wrong breakdowns, it's just about what suits your writing style, and what helps you give a full sense of the piece(s).
I guess it comes down to the semantics of what an 'argument' is; <-- a very interesting discussion that would be best to ignore for the sake of not over-complicating VCE English :P
So like I said yesterday, if you have a system that works for you, stick with it!
The reason I recommend having longer, more expansive ideas is because if you're a student who's been structuring by techniques, or barely considering structure at all, jumping straight into dividing arguments and ideas can be daunting, so that contention provides more focus. I've also found it way simpler for the more difficult articles where there's either only one real 'stakeholder' (a la 2011 exam) or when there are so many stakeholders that grouping them becomes unrealistic.
But I made a deliberate effort to explore other structures as well, since provided you're aware of the potential drawbacks in structuring by tone and/or argument, you'll be thinking on your toes and they shouldn't be too much of a concern.
Without a doubt, and good god yes.
Alright cool, I'll be sure to try to use both then :PRecite what would be said to the prisoner pre-execution. "eg... "Applying sponge. Attaching electrodes. Do you have any last words?" (obviously not the words lol... not even sure if there's a procedure for it), and then be like "YO FOOLS WOULD YOU WANT THIS SAID TO YOU I DON'T THINK SO".
Thanks Zezima and Lauren for the help!
Just another question regarding the year 12 oral, I am just looking for some ways to start off an oral? Lauren, you said in the lecture yesterday that we perhaps could use an anecdote, but are there any other interesting ways?
I quite like the idea of cutting straight to a news story/real life scenario, but looking for others.
E.g. I'm doing the issue of capital punishment.
Thanks again!
Recite what would be said to the prisoner pre-execution. "eg... "Applying sponge. Attaching electrodes. Do you have any last words?" (obviously not the words lol... not even sure if there's a procedure for it), and then be like "YO FOOLS WOULD YOU WANT THIS SAID TO YOU I DON'T THINK SO".Bahahahha I like how you automatically assume that s/he would be against capital punishment ;)
Just another question regarding the year 12 oral, I am just looking for some ways to start off an oral? Lauren, you said in the lecture yesterday that we perhaps could use an anecdote, but are there any other interesting ways?Depends what you want the audience to feel. First, try to set up your issue in a more complex way; 'doing the issue of capital punishment' doesn't give you much direction. See if you can construct a contention that's more sophisticated than just 'CP = good/bad.' After that you can start to consider how you want to persuade their audience, eg. will your primary focus be on injustice, thereby appealing to the audience's trust (or lack thereof) in the legal system, or would you focus on the emotional/moral side? etc.
I quite like the idea of cutting straight to a news story/real life scenario, but looking for others.
E.g. I'm doing the issue of capital punishment.
Hello everyone,IFI was on the English list ages ago (~2002 I think) and since the format for Text Response back in the day was ostensibly the same, you might be able to find some study guides or online materials around.
For English, my school is doing a new text for Unit 3: "I for Isobel". I have read it- and imo it was painful to read :( but I did it in the end. However now I've read it once I really don't know what to do- and while there are some study guides on the internet, most of them are paid and/or aren't catered to the VCE course. What do you think I should do for this text? Especially since I'm quite set on doing war poems for the exam, but I still have to do a sac on I for isobel -.- .
Edit: Just read OP, and realised this probably relates to text specific advice (but could be extended to all new texts?) Sorry! Would it be possible to move this post to a new thread somehow?
I just wished to check this- is there a difference between how you write a text response for a Unit 3 SAC compared to a Unit 4 SAC?Short answer: No, the Semester 1 and 2 Text Responses are the same, just on different texts.
'Cos the performance descriptor for the Unit 3 text response says 'Analyse, either orally or in writing, how a selected text constructs meaning, conveys ideas and values, and is open to a range of interpretations'
...whereas the performance descriptor for the Unit 4 text response says 'Develop and justify a detailed interpretation of a selected text'
And if there is a difference between the responses required for each unit, would you write in the Unit 3 or the Unit 4 style for the exam's section 1?
Thanks! :)
When mentioned in criteria or questions what "social, cultural and historical values are evident".Every T.R. text is chosen for, amongst other things, its ability to relate to a social or historical context. This might be in the time the text is set (eg. This Boy's Life, Stasiland) or the time the author is writing (eg. Cloudstreet, Brooklyn) or both (eg. Henry IV, White Tiger.) Most texts still support both discussions, so what the assessors are looking for is an awareness of how certain values can be seen or presented in the text. You can look at this from either the author or audience's perspective. Not every argument lends itself to this kind of discussion, and you shouldn't base your entire contention on a wider message, but the socio-historical stuff makes for good 'zoomed out' discussion. It's usually pretty hard to form a proper interpretation of the text without an understanding of what the author is trying to say overall; just don't rely too heavily on it in your essays.
What does this actually mean.
what do they want us to state or expect us to include in our writing.
This is kind of bridging into knightrider's question:Every T.R. text is chosen for, amongst other things, its ability to relate to a social or historical context. This might be in the time the text is set (eg. This Boy's Life, Stasiland) or the time the author is writing (eg. Cloudstreet, Brooklyn) or both (eg. Henry IV, White Tiger.) Most texts still support both discussions, so what the assessors are looking for is an awareness of how certain values can be seen or presented in the text. You can look at this from either the author or audience's perspective. Not every argument lends itself to this kind of discussion, and you shouldn't base your entire contention on a wider message, but the socio-historical stuff makes for good 'zoomed out' discussion. It's usually pretty hard to form a proper interpretation of the text without an understanding of what the author is trying to say overall; just don't rely too heavily on it in your essays.
Pro tip: If you're integrating some background information, weave it into a sentence with textual discussion
Rather than: 'The idea of body image is something that has plagued young people throughout modern age. The Very Hungry Caterpillar critiques the idea that self-worth should be derived solely from one's external appearance.'
Transition more fluidly: 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar critiques the idea that self-worth should be derived solely from one's external appearance, thereby forming part of Carle's commentary on the wealth of body dysmorphic problems in the modern age.'
In that first example, you risk not getting credit for the first sentence because it doesn't relate to the text; you're just commenting on the context. In the second, however; you can almost trick the assessor into seeing the connection just by combining the sentences.
So in terms of the actual range of interpretations part:
The words whilst, although, despite, and whereas are your greatest allies. You're not expected to spend a great deal of time on alternate interpretations, but an easy way of doing it is to say something like:
'Whilst the caterpillar's journey could be viewed as one of blissful ignorance, there is an underlying sense of self-realisation and enlightenment in the text.'
I've just drawn a distinction between my contention (self-realisation is important to the caterpillar's journey) and an alternate interpretation (the caterpillar is blissfully ignorant.)
Words like 'although,' 'whilst' etc. force you to add that extra clause as a way of challenging interpretations, so include them every so often and you should be fine for this category.
Of course, there's every possibility that your teacher will have a totally different 'interpretation' of the criteria ;) so check with them in case there are any bizarre requirements they want you to fulfill.
Thank you so much Lauren :)The most important be-all-and-end-all ultimately majorly critical 'do this or the English Gods will slap you' criteria is relevance. So if the socio-historical context is relevant to your discussion, then you can use it. However, if you're tying it in where it doesn't belong, especially if you're only doing it to ratchet up points for sounding sophisticated, the assessors are very likely to not only notice, but potentially penalise you.
i was just wondering in terms of the response what criteria do the VCAA examiners usually stick to as they would have to be consistent with there marking.
The most important be-all-and-end-all ultimately majorly critical 'do this or the English Gods will slap you' criteria is relevance. So if the socio-historical context is relevant to your discussion, then you can use it. However, if you're tying it in where it doesn't belong, especially if you're only doing it to ratchet up points for sounding sophisticated, the assessors are very likely to not only notice, but potentially penalise you.
Though you won't often lose marks directly for writing something of tangential relevance, you are indirectly missing an opportunity to gain marks in other areas. It also makes a bad impression on assessors, whose biggest pet peeve seems to be rote-learning formulaic responses. (No joke, every Assessor's Report since 2001 has bemoaned this approach!)
Only once relevance is assured can you get credit for the quality of ideas and writing. I'm generalising here, since I know there are assessors who find it acceptable to give credit for exploration and expression, even if what you're exploring and expressing isn't on the right track, but the most helpful way to approach the task is by prioritising relevance, and letting your discussion reflect that priority. :)
How's religion in context essays? For example, the prompt is "conflict is inevitable" and I adopt the view that God creates conflict and some of the assessors may not necessarily believe in God. Are my chances of getting a high mark smitten as a result?
If you're using that premise as the basis of your contention then you might have an issue, but if you're using the concept of religious faith as an example to demonstrate a point, then that should be okay.Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Lauren :D
(Assuming you're writing an expository/ expos-hybrid piece, you should be using other evidence anyway?)
I actually think it could be really interesting to look at the way different religions resolve the whole 'God is good, but bad stuff happens' dilemma, especially for the prompt you're writing on. I can't speak for your classroom teacher, but I know the end of year assessors are told not to let personal biases when it comes to political/ social/ religious issues skew their marking. Provided your writing is logical and interesting, I can't image them having a problem with it.
Hey Lauren,You can refer to him/her as 'the editor' as well. Technically you can even use the newspaper's title, eg. 'The Herald Sun contends that...' or just 'The article/editorial...'
Just wondering when analysing an editorial, how would you reference the author of it? I constantly use "the writer ...", are there any other better phrases which can be utilised?
Thanks! :D
Hi all :)It's perfectly okay to disagree, but your contention can't simply be 'yes' or 'no.' Ask yourself why you disagree, and try to come up with a more complex argument so that your essay doesn't sound one-sided. Not every Text Response has to deal with both sides (and you don't want to sound non-committal) so perhaps address the alternate interpretations but round things back to your overall contention.
Just a quick question about a prompt/structuring my response.
The prompt I have been given for my text response essay is one that I quite heavily disagree with and there are many pieces of evidence to prove why I do. I know I shouldn't completely favour my essay to one side, so I was just wondering if its enough to mention the 'affirmative' side only in my introduction?
The prompt is a "to what extent do you agree?" type.
Thanks in advance :)
During your second reading how do you what quotes you should highlight i.e. quotes of significance?It's impossible to get all the useful quotes in one go, so start with the simpler themes and major characters. As you study the text in class, you'll uncover more and more facets of the text. You might even find a prompt that deals with an idea or theme you haven't considered before; that's when you go back to the text and try to find evidence (quotes) to support an interpretation.
For the English Persuasive Oral SAC is it necessary to include a rebuttal paragraph?Nope, the beauty of persuasive speeches is that you don't need to be balanced. You can be as biased as you want. But, depending on what you are arguing and your target audience(s), you may want to address some of the points that the "other side" or your opponents are espousing to sound moderate (again, optional).
Also what hand gestures would be recommended during the speech? I usually feel really awkward and I feel like my hands don't have anything to do during a speech (Especially a memorised one, because there are no cue cards to hold!)
Thanks in advance for any of the replies :)
Is it right to be commending people/institutes referred to in context pieces(expository mainly)? E.g "As stated by the renowned Abraham Maslow..." or "... draws parallels to the arduous energy expended by the late Martin Luther King Jr."For context you can commend, critique or censure as much as you like. Just don't do anything like it in a Text Response essay, as it can sound sycophantic and isn't worth anything.
For context you can commend, critique or censure as much as you like. Just don't do anything like it in a Text Response essay, as it can sound sycophantic and isn't worth anything.B-b-but... I thought mentioning the human condition was an instant guarantee for full marks..?!
Topic sentences like '>Author's< novel '___' is a hauntingly beautiful evocation of the human condition...' just make assessors' eyes roll :)
B-b-but... I thought mentioning the human condition was an instant guarantee for full marks..?!
Hi Lauren :DYou're absolutely right to want to challenge the prompt, and no, the evidence doesn't have to be the sole factor in your arguments. Obviously you need to do a substantial amount of exploration, but there's no requirement to 'prove' in English; you just need to suggest.
I have a english context speech on whose reality and the prompt that we are doing is 'Our reality is influenced by place and time'. The book we are studying is The Shark Net. I don't know how to go about it, because of the word 'our'.
What I mean is i can think of numerous examples where Robert's reality is influenced by place and time, but what am i meant to do seeing as it is not ' A reality can be influenced' instead 'OUR reality...'. Does that mean that I have to talk about everyone, 100 people to show its 'our', 3 people to show its 'our' or can I just simply refer to a couple examples with different people.
I can see what most of my year is going to do - something along the lines of 'Robert lived in 'orderly' melbourne and then when he got to perth he thought it was isolated because his reality of what a place to live in was influenced by his place in melbourne.' I want to do something different and explore it a bit deeper ;D 8)
Thanks for any help you can give :) :) :)
Hey18th of Feb. 2:33 pm. Beginning practice essays at this exact time will guarantee full marks.
I got my sac date for my first english essay. Its on the 3rd of march, when would be suitable for me to actually start writing practice essays, better more what else should i do to REALLY prepare for this date? The text im reading is a play called 'Medea'. Thank you
Okay so I am freaking out. Can you totally 100% confirm that 3&4 English in 2016 will still follow the old study design?! I seriously had a panic attack over this because I graduate next year and I'm just a little - okay, a lot - stressed about this change.I can 100% confirm that the VCAA website states, in annoying equivocal jargon, that Year 12s in 2016 will be doing the current study design. There's really no point stressing over something like this anyway; 2/3 of the essay types are remaining the same, and it's looking like the third will only undergo minor changes. The marking scheme and a few odd SACs are the most significant alterations, unless you're doing EAL in which case there'll be a listening component like other SL subjects.
HeyGot my first essay on the same day, thinking of filling out character profiles to have a really in depth understanding of them and put together a few practice paragraphs. Thats all I've got in mind other than full practice essays based on prompts. Does anyone have any idea what aspects of the play they would want us to explore through the essay?
I got my sac date for my first english essay. Its on the 3rd of march, when would be suitable for me to actually start writing practice essays, better more what else should i do to REALLY prepare for this date? The text im reading is a play called 'Medea'. Thank you
Okay. I feel slightly better now. Panic attack over.Technically speaking, the new study design begins in 2016 because that's when the Year 11s (ie. class of 2017, currently year 10s) will start studying it. But if you're in year 11 now you have nothing to worry about.
Because apparently some kids at my school were being told that they were being implemented next year by their teachers and I'd been told that they weren't and I was freaking out and gahhhhh. I feel slightly better now knowing everyone shall be in the same boat come 2016 English exam.
Worst case scenario, the whole state does horribly in English next year because they're ill prepared and the assessors feel bad and give us all a 50 SS because they screwed up the implementation.
Okay, so it's a little bit of wishful thinking on my part...
Hi, can anyone please tell me if know any English tutorial class for year 11 student or where I can find one. Thank youYou can search the tutoring section of Atar Notes if you're looking for a one-on-one tutor, but I'm afraid I can't vouch for any of the particular groups (ie. commercially organised programs.) You might be able to find an answer in some of the tutoring businesses thread.
Got my first essay on the same day, thinking of filling out character profiles to have a really in depth understanding of them and put together a few practice paragraphs. Thats all I've got in mind other than full practice essays based on prompts. Does anyone have any idea what aspects of the play they would want us to explore through the essay?Sounds like a good plan for such a character-driven play. Just make sure you don't neglect the themes and values in the text, as going from character profiles to full essays can be a bit of a jump.
Would it be of much use if i posted my paragraph/short answer here for someone to edit for me and lend me some helpful advice, or not because the play i am doing (Medea by Euripides) you all may not have read? Thanks
Hey Lauren.Definitely split the quotes into categories. It'll depend on which text you're studying, as you could either go by characters (quotes said by, about, or to them) or by themes/ ideas.
How did you memorise your quotes for your sacs?
Also how did you group your quotes like how did you split them up?
What categories do you think are good ideas to be splitting your quotes into.Like themes etc.
Thanks :)
How can I practice for essays? People say do paragraphs, do this and that... But what do I do them on? Where am i meant to get the prompts and questions from?
How can I practice for essays? People say do paragraphs, do this and that... But what do I do them on? Where am i meant to get the prompts and questions from?
Hey, I notice a common theme in text response essays that are really good is that there are a lot of words to describe characters, their actions, themes etc. which I have never heard of. How do you learn to be able to find such good sophisticated words that are specific to the part of the text that you are discussing? ( I know that there is a lot more to a good TR essay apart from metalanguage, but still..)
For example, in a paragraph from someone on here i found: proclivity, amiable, pertinently, hedonistic, repartee, jovial (haha i think you get the point) :P
You could do what a lot of students do and just download & memorise a list of "sophisticated" words, but what I'd recommend is going through your own work (whether it's stuff from previous years, or pieces you write throughout this year) and replacing words you find yourself repeating, or believe to be too simple.Where were you when I chucked out my yr 10 english exams??? >:(
thesaurus.com is a wonderfully quick way of finding alternate words, and lets you browse their definitions.
Fair warning, you'll probably make a fair few mistakes as you adjust to words you may never have heard before, but the only way to improve vocab sophistication is to make these mistakes and learn from them. Some teachers can get frustrated when students deliberately use words they don't fully understand, but I'd argue it's the only way to improve.
After a point (esp. in actual SACs) you only want to be using language you're comfortable with, but challenge yourself early on, and you'll reap the rewards later :)
Where were you when I chucked out my yr 10 english exams??? >:(Haha, don't worry about it - you'll still have this entire year to reread and fine-tune your work. And you can do the 'alternate words' exercise with any piece of writing, be they VCE English essays, or professionally written compositions. It's just a matter of finding a starting point so your exploration isn't too aimless.
Hello Lauren,VCAA took down the 2011 exam due to an incredibly amusing copyright violation, so there aren't any copies online like there are with previous years. I do have a scanned version from my Year 12 teacher (that has my annotations and scribbles, but better than nothing) so feel free to PM me your email address and I can link you a copy.
I was jut viewing your 'power of ink' essay. It's really good! Really, really fantastic.
I was just wondering where is the original article?
I want to give it a go before referring to your example, but i can't find the article.
Any help?
Im speaking on behalf of a friend who is doing English.
"With the oral, does doing badly/amazing affect our study score AT ALL. I mean sure it does have an affect but honestly does it mean anything? i got a 19/20 and many people in our year level got 18s-19s and couple of 20s and then those who got 15s and under, just in terms of ranking and all that, lots of people did well including the non- academic ones who dont care (e.g. 15-16)
Hi,
I'm currently studying stasiland, but I still don't really understand the text, even though I have read the book. I have a sac on it in 3 weeks and we've barely done anything in class (answering questions). And I have no idea how I'm able to write a good essay on it, if I don't understand the themes, and there's too many characters to remember. What can I do to gain a good understanding of the text?
Hi, Im a student who's doing EAL.Hey!
I have a few questions according to EAL.
1. I am finding it difficult to get the Main contention of an article. It is unlikely for me to find the main points if I dont know what the article is REALLY about( Main Contention ). So is there a qay to practise finding the main contention of an article? I can ask my teacher to help but that's just too slow and she probably wouldnt be available all the time.
2. The 'Key Player' Method is particularly effective to make the entire L.A piece coherent. However it seems time-consuming, I'm an EAL student and we have to write a Note-Form-Summary, I dont think we have as much time outlining the Key Players as those in Mainstream do. What if I structure my L.A bodyparagraphs by the Main Points I used from my Note-Form-Summary? Will this be coherent as Key Player Method?
3. I have some confusions regarding to N.F.S, like how much details(dot points) should we add to each Main Point? What kind of N.F.S structure works for which kind of article/opinion piece? How to write a N.F.S for multiple pieces? How to decrease the time wasting on "Converting sentences to Note-Form"?
Many thanks, all replies are appreciated!
(≧▽≦)
Hi, Im a student who's doing EAL.I'll go through this article later as an example if you need, but two questions you should ask yourself:
I have a few questions according to EAL.
1. I am finding it difficult to get the Main contention of an article. (e.g like this one http://m.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/linda-dessau-ticks-all-the-boxes-for-governor-role/story-fni0ffsx-1227216525121 ) It is unlikely for me to find the main points if I dont know what the article is REALLY about( Main Contention ). So is there a qay to practise finding the main contention of an article? I can ask my teacher to help but that's just too slow and she probably wouldnt be available all the time.
2. The 'Key Player' Method is particularly effective to make the entire L.A piece coherent. However it seems time-consuming, I'm an EAL student and we have to write a Note-Form-Summary, I dont think we have as much time outlining the Key Players as those in Mainstream do. What if I structure my L.A bodyparagraphs by the Main Points I used from my Note-Form-Summary? Will this be coherent as Key Player Method?I'm in the process of writing up some EAL-geared resources cause I know it's a sparse area on AN and elsewhere.
3. I have some confusions regarding to N.F.S, like how much details(dot points) should we add to each Main Point? What kind of N.F.S structure works for which kind of article/opinion piece? How to write a N.F.S for multiple pieces? How to decrease the time wasting on "Converting sentences to Note-Form"?Use the samples in the Assessor's Reports for EAL on the VCAA website, as these are the only good indicators I've found. Having not done EAL myself I can't vouch for any particular method, but something tells me most teachers would advocate a bunch of different approaches, meaning VCAA have to be flexible with what they accept.
Hello,
I often lose marks because I do not directly answer the prompt :P But if I do, I cannot come up with original ideas that will make my essay stand out
I'm currently studying "Shark Net" and "whose reality?"
How do you make sure that you DO answer the prompt? Many assessor's reports and my teachers always emphasize on making sure that we answer the prompt but I tend to wander off...And how do you come up with original ideas while answering the prompt? To what extent can you explore a prompt without seeming as you are not answering it?
Also, I am meant to do an expository style essay on a prompt (that is unseen). In the previous years when we did context, I would always do a creative piece or persuasive so i'm not used to the idea of expository... How would you structure your essay? What is the purpose of expository? I heard that you explore the issue at hand, so do you always need to consider both sides of the prompt?
Also, since the prompt is unseen, how can I prepare myself?
Gahh, I am so worried. Although I do love English, I am far from good ::)
Please help me :)
Same with me, I always fall under the impression that im not fully answering the prompt in an essay, and consequently i lose motivation throughout the essay and sort of give up at the end. What can I do to ensure I can analyse the prompt well, and be able to come up with good arguments/ideas? Thanks
For example, the prompt: 'Our identities are always changing'In hindsight, the conclusion I've drawn at the end of that paragraph is a bit dodgy, but that's mainly because I've only done two sentences of evidence-unpacking: your essays will obviously go into more detail, and hopefully draw from multiple sources, not just one scene in one text.
My paragraph might begin by looking at the idea of change, rather than just assuming the reader knows what I'm talking about. Obviously you don't have to give definitions, but it can be helpful to clarify
eg. 'Change is an inevitable part of our lives, but that is not to say all things are changing all the time. Often there are parts of our personas that remain stagnant until external events prompt us to reconsider ourselves, or to react in different ways.' {I haven't used any examples yet, I'm just breaking down some theory. Then I'd work on linking it to a specific idea or piece of evidence}: 'Nowhere is this change more obvious than in adolescence; a time of transition when we are forced to consciously reevaluate our selves in relation to society. In Bruce Beresford's Paradise Road, the majority of the cast are adult actors dealing with adult concepts, and it is easy to forget the children and teenagers that were likewise subject to the harsh conditions of POW camps in WWII. Following one of the choir's productions, we see boys as young as 15 and 16 being sent away to the men's camp as their mothers cry in the background 'no, please, he's just a child!' {I'm paraphrasing here, it's been ages since I saw the movie :P} One can only imagine the irreparable psychological damage this caused the boys. The separation of a child from their mother is incredibly traumatic, and a further indictment of how the brutality of war pervades all aspects of life. Who we are is, of course, a fluid concept, but our identity as a whole isn't entirely self-determined - we cannot ignore the role of external factors.'
Orange: abstract discussion
Purple: specific examples, from the text or otherwise
Rather than thinking of it as "answering" the prompt, try to see your essays as taking the prompt a step further.Let the upvotes rain.
Let's say you're doing Conflict and the prompt is It is not what we learn, but how we learn from conflict that is important.
The simplistic, middle-band pieces would have contentions like 'yes' or 'no.' You don't want to fall into that chasm of simply repeating a bunch of evidence that demonstrates the same point. Your piece must have a contention, and it should be at least a sentence long (preferably more.) For instance, I might want to argue that 'how we learn' tells us more about who we are and what we value, whereas the lessons learned (ie. 'what we learn') have to be filtered through our understanding of the world. 'How we learn' is a process, 'what we learn' is simply the result; it's almost like 'what we learn' is a subset of the 'how.' Therefore the former is more important because it's an all-encompassing journey, not an end-goal.
Note how I haven't gone straight for the text, or any of my examples. I'm simply rationalising what the prompt is suggesting on an idea-level. Ultimately, you could boil down my contention to 'yes,' but the important thing is that I've got my reasoning here. I've done the development, and so the outcome is a way more powerful contention than it would have been if I'd just considered the prompt for 30 seconds and gone 'yeah, I guess that sounds about right.'
So that's the most beneficial thing you can do: develop your thinking so that you're not stifling yourself into repeatedly saying 'yes,' or just talking about the key words in the prompt.
But I know this seems risky when you don't know the right questions to ask, or if your discussion is actually relevant.
The question now becomes 'how do I maintain relevance while still conducting sufficiently broad and deep exploration?' To which I say the answer is weaving!
Usually I explain this with hand-drawn diagrams, so I'll see if I can upload something later when I have access to a scanner. Also, this is geared mostly towards expository pieces; different rules can apply for the other forms.
What you want to do is weave your discussion through to different levels. For anyone who knows anything about sewing, you'll know that the needle and thread have to be woven from one side of the material to the other, and back again. But if you prick the needle too close to the hole you just made, you can end up ripping the material and creating a hole that's too big, and can't be woven through. At this bottom level that the thread is trying to get to: you have the very close examples, often from the set text, though not always. This can have seemingly little to do with the Context itself, so the way you make it relevant is by slowly weaving it through the upper levels. However, using too much evidence to illustrate the same point is the equivalent of sewing too close together: you can't do any more sewing in that area, and you can't get to the next stage.
In the middle, you have 'theorisation,' which is where you're drawing conclusions from the examples, but not necessarily going all the way out to the Context yet. You might be discussing the meaning of an event, or comparing it to other occurrences for the sake of drawing parallels or contrasts. This is where you're actually passing through the material and connecting one level with another.
Where you chose to do this theorisation is incredibly important. I'll explain that more in the section on essay structure below.
Then towards the top you have the Context and the prompt, a.k.a. the umbrella that everything else must be under. This is where you start to tie everything together with a 'Therefore...' statement, and hammer home the relevance to the assessor. It's not enough to just conduct an exploration and assume your reader can piece together its relevance - YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM EXPLICITLY!
One of the worst things you can do in an expository piece is allow your marker to get to the end of a paragraph and ask 'so what?' You've brought up the example of post-war America and how people tried to learn from their mistakes... so what? You've reflected upon a past experience when you felt you learnt an important lesson... so what? You've tied together several historical and psychological examples about the way people learn in the midst of conflict... SO WHAT? Why are you saying this? What has this discussion taught us? What contention are you trying to reinforce here??
Answer these questions in your writing, and don't give your assessor the chance :)
This relates quite neatly to your question about essay structure as well. I usually recommend the following format to people as a starting point, as it'll make apparent the amount of discussion you have to do at different levels, as well as help you find areas of weakness in a very obvious way. Just a note for anyone else: even if you're dead set on writing an imaginative piece or w/e, you should write at least one expository essay anyway. It spells things out in the clearest way possible, which, when it comes to something as messy as Context, is pretty useful.
Overall (and this is a massive generalisation, not a hard-and-fast rule) you should aim for an even ratio of general abstract theorisation about the Context, to close evidence-based discussion.
Think of it like this:
(http://sewingschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tension.jpg)
In the second image, there's not enough on the upper (ie. general Context stuff) level, meaning the final product is going to have a whole lot literal and metaphorical loose threads hanging at the bottom (evidence) level. The reverse could also be true: if you've gone a heap of talking about the Context but don't have anything to back it up, you won't be getting credit for all the loose loops up the top.
If you want your essay to be tight ;) you have to not only balance the amount of discussion you do on either side, but you also have to know when and how to transition. Let's say you had a metre long piece of material to sew and you only made five stitches - one every 20 cm. It'd hardly look like an appropriate sewing job, and it wouldn't hold things together. Similarly, make too many stitches and you end up wasting thread (ie. wasting your time.) You also want to avoid making inconsistent transitions. Take a look at any piece of clothing you own; good stitching is evenly spaced out. Miss out on one of those spaces, and things fall apart.
To move away from my slightly tortured sewing metaphor now... you'd want your essay to look something like this:
---------------
----------------- <-- intro exploring the prompt, all general
----------------- <-- maybe an example at the end to lead into the B.P.
--------------- <-- body paragraph, T.S. starts off general
----------------- <-- start integrating evidence
----------------- <-- draw out some conclusions so you can link your discussion
----------------- <-- more evidence, adding to, not repeating your point
----------------- <-- lastly moving back out to the prompt and reinforcing your contention
---------------
----------------- <-- conclusion tying things up, all general, though
----------------- perhaps calling back to something mentioned in the intro (=bookending)
Here's an example I wrote in response to a similar question last year:
In hindsight, the conclusion I've drawn at the end of that paragraph is a bit dodgy, but that's mainly because I've only done two sentences of evidence-unpacking: your essays will obviously go into more detail, and hopefully draw from multiple sources, not just one scene in one text.
Hopefully that addresses the bigger questions, so to clarify the little ones in case you're still unsure:
- The purpose of the expository style is to expose facets of the prompt. It's giving you a literal, usually fairly straightforward assertion, and you have to take that and explore the implications.
- You don't need to consider 'both sides' because there are more than two sides. You need to consider many, but have your considerations fall under the umbrella of your contention. They're giving you an opportunity for limitless exploration, but you only have to explore what's most relevant to you.
- Rather than preparing for specific content like you would in other subjects (ie. 'this maths SAC is going to test these areas, in this format, probably with questions similar to last year' etc.) English is more about preparing a skillset that can handle anything. Collect examples, make a conclusive list of major prompts, write practice paragraphs and essays - do whatever you think will help you solidify your understanding.
Apologies for the verbosity, but 'how to answer a Context prompt' is a huge area, so I figured I'd tackle it from the ground up. If you have further questions, please let me know, as this definitely hasn't covered everything :)
Hey there guys.Dw man, in some ways Lit is better preparation for English because it helps you analyse and discuss things more closely. So long as you're across the basic 3 essay types in English, you're not really behind.
Just to preface this, I should clarify that last year I did 1/2 Literature as opposed to mainstream English. As a result, I'm a bit behind in terms of having practised the different types of responses necessary for the subject, but I don't find them overly difficult to adapt to.
My question relates to doing a context piece. I should clarify that I am particularly interested in writing a creative piece for my SACs/exam as this is the text type I am most comfortable with, it being something I greatly enjoy and have done a lot in the past outside of school. That being said, I am not entirely sure how one is supposed to link into studied texts they've read while still maintaining cohesion and originality in a response. Are there any examples of how I can incorporate textual reference in a creative piece that I should read? To clarify, I'm doing encountering conflict with the texts The Lieutenant and Every Man In This Village Is A Liar.Just so I can answer this properly, what sort of creative piece are you doing? Short story, letter, reflective piece, hybrid? There are slightly different rules for each format, so maybe give us a general overview of what one of your pieces might be dealing with. (You don't have to post a full essay or anything, just a brief outline)
On top of this, what are the best pieces of advice you can provide for someone who is keen on doing a creative piece for context, but has not had much experience with regular English before? I've read some threads on here for context which were quite helpful, but there don't seem to be a great deal of resources for people in my specific position. Thanks in advance.Like I said above, write an expository piece anyway. You can definitely stick with creatives for your SACs and the exam, but expository pieces are the easiest way to grasp the requirements of the task, and the balance of your discussion. Not having done English 1&2 really isn't a disadvantage, and a lost of people I know (myself included) weren't exactly top-of-the-range in Year 11, but compensated by working hard in Year 12 when it mattered. Other than that, I'll wait till I know your preferred writing style before I go into more depth in terms of text integration :)
Rather than thinking of it as "answering" the prompt, try to see your essays as taking the prompt a step further.
Let's say you're doing Conflict and the prompt is It is not what we learn, but how we learn from conflict that is important.
The simplistic, middle-band pieces would have contentions like 'yes' or 'no.' You don't want to fall into that chasm of simply repeating a bunch of evidence that demonstrates the same point. Your piece must have a contention, and it should be at least a sentence long (preferably more.) For instance, I might want to argue that 'how we learn' tells us more about who we are and what we value, whereas the lessons learned (ie. 'what we learn') have to be filtered through our understanding of the world. 'How we learn' is a process, 'what we learn' is simply the result; it's almost like 'what we learn' is a subset of the 'how.' Therefore the former is more important because it's an all-encompassing journey, not an end-goal.
Note how I haven't gone straight for the text, or any of my examples. I'm simply rationalising what the prompt is suggesting on an idea-level. Ultimately, you could boil down my contention to 'yes,' but the important thing is that I've got my reasoning here. I've done the development, and so the outcome is a way more powerful contention than it would have been if I'd just considered the prompt for 30 seconds and gone 'yeah, I guess that sounds about right.'
So that's the most beneficial thing you can do: develop your thinking so that you're not stifling yourself into repeatedly saying 'yes,' or just talking about the key words in the prompt.
But I know this seems risky when you don't know the right questions to ask, or if your discussion is actually relevant.
The question now becomes 'how do I maintain relevance while still conducting sufficiently broad and deep exploration?' To which I say the answer is weaving!
Usually I explain this with hand-drawn diagrams, so I'll see if I can upload something later when I have access to a scanner. Also, this is geared mostly towards expository pieces; different rules can apply for the other forms.
What you want to do is weave your discussion through to different levels. For anyone who knows anything about sewing, you'll know that the needle and thread have to be woven from one side of the material to the other, and back again. But if you prick the needle too close to the hole you just made, you can end up ripping the material and creating a hole that's too big, and can't be woven through. At this bottom level that the thread is trying to get to: you have the very close examples, often from the set text, though not always. This can have seemingly little to do with the Context itself, so the way you make it relevant is by slowly weaving it through the upper levels. However, using too much evidence to illustrate the same point is the equivalent of sewing too close together: you can't do any more sewing in that area, and you can't get to the next stage.
In the middle, you have 'theorisation,' which is where you're drawing conclusions from the examples, but not necessarily going all the way out to the Context yet. You might be discussing the meaning of an event, or comparing it to other occurrences for the sake of drawing parallels or contrasts. This is where you're actually passing through the material and connecting one level with another.
Where you chose to do this theorisation is incredibly important. I'll explain that more in the section on essay structure below.
Then towards the top you have the Context and the prompt, a.k.a. the umbrella that everything else must be under. This is where you start to tie everything together with a 'Therefore...' statement, and hammer home the relevance to the assessor. It's not enough to just conduct an exploration and assume your reader can piece together its relevance - YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM EXPLICITLY!
One of the worst things you can do in an expository piece is allow your marker to get to the end of a paragraph and ask 'so what?' You've brought up the example of post-war America and how people tried to learn from their mistakes... so what? You've reflected upon a past experience when you felt you learnt an important lesson... so what? You've tied together several historical and psychological examples about the way people learn in the midst of conflict... SO WHAT? Why are you saying this? What has this discussion taught us? What contention are you trying to reinforce here??
Answer these questions in your writing, and don't give your assessor the chance :)
This relates quite neatly to your question about essay structure as well. I usually recommend the following format to people as a starting point, as it'll make apparent the amount of discussion you have to do at different levels, as well as help you find areas of weakness in a very obvious way. Just a note for anyone else: even if you're dead set on writing an imaginative piece or w/e, you should write at least one expository essay anyway. It spells things out in the clearest way possible, which, when it comes to something as messy as Context, is pretty useful.
Overall (and this is a massive generalisation, not a hard-and-fast rule) you should aim for an even ratio of general abstract theorisation about the Context, to close evidence-based discussion.
Think of it like this:
(http://sewingschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/tension.jpg)
In the second image, there's not enough on the upper (ie. general Context stuff) level, meaning the final product is going to have a whole lot literal and metaphorical loose threads hanging at the bottom (evidence) level. The reverse could also be true: if you've gone a heap of talking about the Context but don't have anything to back it up, you won't be getting credit for all the loose loops up the top.
If you want your essay to be tight ;) you have to not only balance the amount of discussion you do on either side, but you also have to know when and how to transition. Let's say you had a metre long piece of material to sew and you only made five stitches - one every 20 cm. It'd hardly look like an appropriate sewing job, and it wouldn't hold things together. Similarly, make too many stitches and you end up wasting thread (ie. wasting your time.) You also want to avoid making inconsistent transitions. Take a look at any piece of clothing you own; good stitching is evenly spaced out. Miss out on one of those spaces, and things fall apart.
To move away from my slightly tortured sewing metaphor now... you'd want your essay to look something like this:
---------------
----------------- <-- intro exploring the prompt, all general
----------------- <-- maybe an example at the end to lead into the B.P.
--------------- <-- body paragraph, T.S. starts off general
----------------- <-- start integrating evidence
----------------- <-- draw out some conclusions so you can link your discussion
----------------- <-- more evidence, adding to, not repeating your point
----------------- <-- lastly moving back out to the prompt and reinforcing your contention
---------------
----------------- <-- conclusion tying things up, all general, though
----------------- perhaps calling back to something mentioned in the intro (=bookending)
Here's an example I wrote in response to a similar question last year:
In hindsight, the conclusion I've drawn at the end of that paragraph is a bit dodgy, but that's mainly because I've only done two sentences of evidence-unpacking: your essays will obviously go into more detail, and hopefully draw from multiple sources, not just one scene in one text.
Hopefully that addresses the bigger questions, so to clarify the little ones in case you're still unsure:
- The purpose of the expository style is to expose facets of the prompt. It's giving you a literal, usually fairly straightforward assertion, and you have to take that and explore the implications.
- You don't need to consider 'both sides' because there are more than two sides. You need to consider many, but have your considerations fall under the umbrella of your contention. They're giving you an opportunity for limitless exploration, but you only have to explore what's most relevant to you.
- Rather than preparing for specific content like you would in other subjects (ie. 'this maths SAC is going to test these areas, in this format, probably with questions similar to last year' etc.) English is more about preparing a skillset that can handle anything. Collect examples, make a conclusive list of major prompts, write practice paragraphs and essays - do whatever you think will help you solidify your understanding.
Apologies for the verbosity, but 'how to answer a Context prompt' is a huge area, so I figured I'd tackle it from the ground up. If you have further questions, please let me know, as this definitely hasn't covered everything :)
How can I improve on my expressiveness and fluency? Sometimes when others read my paragraphs, they don't seem to know what I'm trying address and it's becoming a real worry
Any tips would be much appreciated
Thanks!
For context, do examiners prefer that the outside examples you use are Australian?
The examiners have many weird preferences, but I don't believe this is one of them. Looking back, I didn't bring up a single Australian example in my exam since I had better stuff at my disposal. If you have Australian evidence that works really well then by all means go for it, but pick it because it's interesting, not because it's Australian :)
If your teacher is pushing you down this direction for the SACs though, you should definitely be researching his/her "recommendations," and then maybe do a bit of your own research on the side for the exam, if you think it's necessary.
Having said that, keeping it country-specific would only be a weakness for a pure expository essay. If you were going for a slightly creative/hybrid twist, like a news article, or a piece for an essay competition, then a thematic focus like 'what are the true Australian values in times of crisis?' or 'is the idea of an 'Australian identity' dangerously exclusive?' could be quite useful. Even then, though, you could zoom out and compare our nation with others where applicable - it's really up to you :)
1. For the oral, my school does things differently-we do the oral in groups (individual marks) and that the entire cohort does the same topic (Freedom of Speech is regards to section 18C and D in the Racial Discrimination Act). Would my approach be any different as a result? Is there anything to look out for/be aware of?I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here... are you all conveying the same contention as a group? Like, does one person speak per minute or something? Apologies, but I've never head of this format before so I can't really help; could you give me more information?
2. For the context (Whose Reality-Death of a Salesman), my teacher prefers current examples (apparently it shows that we're well read...), but the problem is that I feel that because the context is quite abstract, it's difficult to incorporate current examples.Do you have trouble incorporating examples because they're current, or because you don't know how to incorporate examples? :) You'd use current news events or situations the same way you would any other story, so I doubt that's it. If you're having issues with general integration, it might be because you're going from abstract discussion (ie. 'Reality is a manifold concept...') to close details (eg. Tony Abbot's comments about how Indonesia owe us for giving them foreign aid were very misguided) without actually connecting the dots. The best way to do this is via theorisation. If you're using something political, look at some political theory or philosophical ideas, as this can make the transition much smoother.
3. For the prompt 'It is sometimes easier to live in a world of illusion, than it is to face reality', how should I address the point that ' It is easier to face reality, than to live in illusion'? I personally wouldn't say facing reality is easier, but is necessary in order to live a meaningful life.What do you mean 'how do I address the point?' You've got a contention that's totally based on the prompt. You're challenging the prompt, and going against what it is suggesting, but this is totally fine; in fact, I'd probably recommend this over just churning out a long list of evidence to back up the prompt without any development beyond 'yup, I agree.'
hey. Im usually a very competent student (talking about Eng Lang for this question - essentially same as Eng), and have been getting A+s during my VCE. However we had a sac for eng lang, and it had an essay component which i totally stuffed up. I havent received my mark yet but my teacher is a realyl harsh marker which makes it worse and am expecting 50-60% (havent got this low since year 7 lol). I know how ranking and all that works and if she marks harshly for everyone, but say the average of the class is sub 70-80s, if i do well in all my other assessments is 45+ feasible?If I said no, would you give up? Would you totally stop trying for English? Would you quit VCE and life and say goodbye to your family and run away to Mexico?
I'm not entirely sure what you're saying here... are you all conveying the same contention as a group? Like, does one person speak per minute or something? Apologies, but I've never head of this format before so I can't really help; could you give me more information?
Do you have trouble incorporating examples because they're current, or because you don't know how to incorporate examples? :) You'd use current news events or situations the same way you would any other story, so I doubt that's it. If you're having issues with general integration, it might be because you're going from abstract discussion (ie. 'Reality is a manifold concept...') to close details (eg. Tony Abbot's comments about how Indonesia owe us for giving them foreign aid were very misguided) without actually connecting the dots. The best way to do this is via theorisation. If you're using something political, look at some political theory or philosophical ideas, as this can make the transition much smoother.
eg. Reality is a manifold concept often riddled with truth, lies, and everything in between. And although we may regard our world as one with a roughly even balance when it comes to these concepts, often there are parts of society where mistrust and deception run rampant. Nowhere is this more evident than in the shady world of politics, where contests of popularity outweigh moral decisions and overrule conscientious objections. This was seen quite recently when many Australians expressed utter indignation over their Prime Minister's assertion that Indonesia should be compelled to release two Australian citizens on death row because "his country" had offered Indonesia aid almost a decade earlier. By implying that our aid was conditional, Tony Abbot essentially isolated himself from many voters who see disaster aid as an ethical obligation, not a political power move that deserves indemnity or recompense. And yet these people are not politicians, for the most part. Their reality is one not plagued by the same knife's-edge posturing and broadcastable rhetoric that people in power experience. So even if we could objectively judge Abbot's views to be ill-expressed or distasteful, we cannot hope to cast judgement upon an individual without some comprehension of the context they are in. Hence, although our realities may overlap with one another's, an awareness of why untruths or embellishments might be necessary can assist us in reconciling misunderstandings, and closing the gap between different realities.
General context-y stuff
Theorisation and transitioning
Example/evidence-based discussion
Not every essay/paragraph has to weave in and out in this order, but practice like this first so you know how to conduct a flowing discussion.
{Also that paragraph came out weirdly pro-Abbot, this is just because of the prompt and areas I chose to explore. The views in this colourful explanation do not necessary represent those of the creator :)}
What do you mean 'how do I address the point?' You've got a contention that's totally based on the prompt. You're challenging the prompt, and going against what it is suggesting, but this is totally fine; in fact, I'd probably recommend this over just churning out a long list of evidence to back up the prompt without any development beyond 'yup, I agree.'
Even if you don't necessarily agree with what you're writing, it can be useful to argue against yourself and build up the strength of your piece in that manner. You're more likely to find the flaws or logic-gaps in your writing if you're in this hyper-critical mode anyway.
We've never done individual orals in our school, even for year 11. Everyone speaks for 3-4 minutes on a different aspect of the issue, discussing the different viewpoints as a group. As everyone’s doing the same issue, it will probably be difficult to separate people arguments-wise. It’s the first part of a two-part SAC, the second part being a language analysis on the same issue.In that case, your approach won't be too different from normal English orals, but you will have to work closely with your group to ensure your arguments work well together as well as individually. It's worth chatting to your teacher as well, since I'm not sure whether they'd expect it to all flow like one 15 minute long speech from different people, or you hand over to one another (eg. 'And now Jacob will talk to you about the wider ramifications of this issue on a global scale...') or whether everything should be self-contained. But it sounds like you'll be able to do your own thing within a designated area (eg. just looking at the financial side of things, or the ethical/moral components of the issue) and so long as your contention is in harmony with the rest of the group, you should be fine.
I find current political issues difficult to write about because they usually don’t provide me with much depth for discussion compared to philosophical theories and interesting stories. I was also unsure how to tie in current political issues with abstract discussion about reality (but you explained it pretty much).Yes, exactly. You can only talk about theories for so long without it becoming dense and detached. Almost all good philosophical concepts will have links to real world examples, even if they're only hypothetical, but what you've listed here should be fine. The trick is to 'abstractify' things, so that you're not just talking about Salvador Dali's life, you're talking about how escapism can be more productive than mere avoidance, for instance. Not everything has to have a wealth of context and evidence, but it all has to be connected in a satisfying way. If you're doing a whole lot of theorisation with not a lot to back it up, that might be problematic.
Also how can I avoid my essay from becoming too philosophically dense? I plan of writing hybrid-feature article style. Most of my examples are philosophy based-Descartes, Schopenhauer/Buddhism, Iris Murdoch, Plato, surreal art-Salvador Dali, North Korea etc. Should I contextualise the philosophical theories with real world examples?
Another note about examples, should they strictly complement the book (Death of a Salesman), because I’m wary that my examples may be introduced in an awkward way and not blend in?If you're clever enough with your transitions then not all of them have to be. Remember, the priority is always the ideas here, so you need to find some common thread between DoaS and whatever else you want to discuss. It doesn't have to be very detail-oriented (eg. this character in the text was born in Ireland - Iris Murdoch was also born in Ireland!) Relate stuff back to the context and just weave your way around.
I’m unsure of scenarios where facing reality is easier than living in an illusion because it may be better, but not necessarily easier.Sorry, this sentence has lost me... are you arguing that facing reality is easier, or isn't??
Hey everyoneUnfortunately there is no 'do the activity an instantly get full marks' secret for English. I know it's frustrating when you don't have a textbook or a list of questions to work off of sometimes, but that's because you need to direct your study!
I have my first english sac on a text response on a play we read in class. What should i do right now to prepare please i feel like im lost :(
Hi,The second and third B.P.s are looking good, but the first one seems a bit weak. These paragraphs will be a few hundred words long each, and do you really want to devote a third of your discussion to a point as simple as 'power changes reality?' Your other points have more depth , but this one is essentially just saying 'yes' to the prompt, so you want it to be a bit more impactful.
for an expository essay, and if the prompt was : the powerful changes reality,
Would you structure your essay like this:
1st paragraph: generalisation
Body paragraph1 - contention: powerful does change reality + evidence
Body paragraph 2- contention: powerful can only change exterior reality of someone but cannot change one's personal, interior reality +evidence
Body paragraph 3- contention: Sometimes it is not even clear who is more powerful +evidence
Long story short, would you have a contention you are trying to make for each paragraph and put evidence in for each?
Or would you have 1 main contention that you are trying to make and use the paragraphs to put in your evidence?
E.gNow this is a slightly different problem. I'd say your first plan looks stronger because it's driven by ideas. This outline (and I know it's only a brief skeleton) is too limited by its evidence. From a Context perspective, it's much easier to go into a paragraph knowing what you're trying to say, than knowing what examples you'll draw from. Think about how much direction 'the powerful can only change exterior reality of someone but cannot change one's personal, interior reality' gives you as opposed to 'I'm going to write about Shark Net.'
Main contention: powerful can only change exterior reality of someone but cannot change one's personal, interior reality
1st body paragraph: George Orwell's 1984 (example only, no separate contention)
2nd paragraph: Shark Net
3rd paragraph: something else
Also how would you do a conclusion for expository?To not lose credit: summarise your contention and main arguments, and end on a satisfying note.
Where can I post my practice essay for someone kind to read? Thanks
Hey lauren ;D I'm unsure on what makes up the paragraphs for an expository essay.I'd avoid using the first approach you outlined, because that seems similar to a lot of low-range text responses where people just say 'yes' to the prompt, and then use a different character for different paragraphs that all say the same thing. The way you'd choose your paragraph topics is honestly pretty similar to a text response. You're going to have a pervading contention, and then explore different facets of that within your paragraphs.
Like for T.R, it's pretty much 1 paragraph = 1 point that justifies contention.
Say you had a prompt for an expository piece that was: 'There are such things as colours'
What would be a better approach:
BP1: There are red colours
BP2: There are green colours
BP3: There are blue colours
I hope that weird analogy makes sense :-\
------------------------------
or
BP1: Explaining how t.v was black and white in the olden days
BP2: Then talk about the history of scientists researching the electromagnetic spectrum and finding the wavelengths of visible light
BP3: Summarize what colour is
Thanks bangla_lokA very easy way to do it is to just start with a contextualising sentence that sums all that stuff up. In my exam I used "Informed by his own experiences as a soldier, Wilfred Owen's anthology 'The War Poems' elucidates/illustrates/demonstrates/whatever ______"
What elements do we need to include in the introduction of a text response?
I know we must include the author, title of the book and etc.. but how exactly do we embed these? Thanks
Is it bad to memorise a good introduction and keep using that throughout all your text responses whilst just changing the arguments?Technically you could do this, but you'd need to make sure that you can do it in a way that sounds natural, because VCAA will crucify you if they think your writing is formulaic. In a standard intro though, you'd probably be better off just having a solid, malleable opening line that you can reuse and then continue from there. You don't really need to memorise a whole intro, but if you have a couple of phrases that you like using in every intro, then that's perfectly fine.
'Some conflicts have a history that make them impossible to resolve'.OK YES!!!!!! I have to ask you about the parts that I highlighted in red ;D
- Certain ideologies can become engrained in society’s collective psyche to the extent that it becomes impossible to challenge them. When people refuse to re-examine traditional perspectives simply because they are long-established, society itself begins to stagnate.
-Striking comparisons can be drawn between certain conflicts from completely different eras and cultures - the unfortunate implication is that any attempt at resolving conflict is ultimately fruitless, as it is continually destined to repeat itself.
- However, we are often able to learn valuable lessons through our history, allowing us to learn from past mistakes in conflict.
You get me? So you've got an overall contention (that tradition and history can be dangerous when they lead to complacency), and you're trying to examine different facets of the prompt. That way you're able to make pretentious sweeping statements about the human condition and score hella gud points with your assessors ;)
OK YES!!!!!! I have to ask you about the parts that I highlighted in red ;DWell it's not so much the conflicts themselves that are complacent, it's more the fact that an over-reliance on tradition can make us complacent in our ideologies. Like, if we just accept things as being right because they're long established, that can be dangerous cos we're not reexamining those beliefs - therefore that history can make it harder to resolve conflicts. If that makes sense :P
So the prompt is saying pretty much that there are conflicts that because of past circumstances they cannot be resolved.
Then in your contention you give the implications of the prompt, that because some conflicts in history are complacent, it means unresolved conflict which is dangerous.
Haha sorry, I didn't really make the link explicitly clear in the topic sentence. It would have been more obvious in the essay but I don't think I have that any more.
However, that third point is somewhat related but unrelated to the contention. What I mean is that nowhere in the prompt does it talk about being able to learn from past mistakes in conflict. But, learning from past mistakes from conflict is an implication, or facet of the prompt. It's an idea that is generated from the prompt, but isn't in the words of the prompts itself. That's why i made the words 'different facets' in red as well.
Because that last point is a facet of the prompt, like the prompt is a clue to that third point, but it is not explicitly stated in the prompt.
What i'm trying to say is, and i'm sorry but it's really hard to explain, is that what you have are three ideas that are somewhat suggested by the prompt, not written in big bold letters in the prompt. And that's what makes an essay good, it's what I need to know more about.
So say the 'other' way of tackling the prompt will call method #1Haha I think approach 1 there is too narrow, but approach 2 is a bit too broad. I feel like the prompt itself is incredibly narrow though, and there's not really much room for exploration. Don't worry, you won't ever get anything that bad in VCE haha
The other advanced way you have shown can be called method #2
For a prompt, say 'Humans are inventors of new technology'
#1 would be
- We invented a telephone
- We invented a lightbulb
- We invented a calculator
#2 could be something more like
- Humans through science over time have learnt how to take old technology and make it better
- Technology takes much time and effort to make it better
- Inventing technology, like fashion, is a non-stop process
Ahh i really hope you can see what I mean. Is this the better way to do it? As in #2 is just a lot more exploration, and it is not just a bunch of points that re-word the prompt. But is this way of writing the essay too broad? Should it simply be three points that justify the prompt? Because with the example you gave, it seemed as if that third point was just an implication of the prompt, and not clearly written in the prompt at all. And saying that we can learn 'valuable lessons' doesn't seem to be told by the prompt at all, but is a well-written idea that you have thought of :)
Sorry to drag on, but my teachers at school are going to spend 1 LESSON on how to write an expository piece, which is utterly stupid to me ::) ::) ::)
For a prompt, say 'Humans are inventors of new technology'The problem with method 1 is that it's evidence based. You haven't made a point on an idea-level, you've just listed a bunch of cases that conform to the prompt's inference. Although you're allowed to agree with the prompt if you want, doing so blindly isn't a good way of tackling the task.
#1 would be
- We invented a telephone
- We invented a lightbulb
- We invented a calculator
#2 could be something more like
- Humans through science over time have learnt how to take old technology and make it better
- Technology takes much time and effort to make it better
- Inventing technology, like fashion, is a non-stop process
So I have this prompt " we need some degree of conflict or tension to experience to richness of being fully alive" and I can't think of any good ideas for this prompt pls help :'(
Lauren, i need your help urgently.
I know the book, i know the prompt, i know the arguments, i know the quotes. However, i dont know how to put them into words. I sit here for hours, literally, whilst the ideas pop up in my head, but I CANT get them to paper, i just cannot find the appropiate words to sentence these ideas of mine :(
Thank you heaps. I know i have time to perfect myself, but my sac is next week and thinking that a week before the sac, that i cannot even write a single sentence about the book is destroying me. You see, why can't i write? Oh... :(
Lauren, i need your help urgently.
I know the book, i know the prompt, i know the arguments, i know the quotes. However, i dont know how to put them into words. I sit here for hours, literally, whilst the ideas pop up in my head, but I CANT get them to paper, i just cannot find the appropiate words to sentence these ideas of mine :(
Lauren, i need your help urgently.I am having a very similar problem like you. I started writing an essay at 3 and now it's 6 and I still haven't finished my essay (expository). I know it's my first time and all but I have a SAC next week and I am kinda blank on how I am going to write a full essay in like an hour. What do I do?
I know the book, i know the prompt, i know the arguments, i know the quotes. However, i dont know how to put them into words. I sit here for hours, literally, whilst the ideas pop up in my head, but I CANT get them to paper, i just cannot find the appropiate words to sentence these ideas of mine :(
I am having a very similar problem like you. I started writing an essay at 3 and now it's 6 and I still haven't finished my essay (expository). I know it's my first time and all but I have a SAC next week and I am kinda blank on how I am going to write a full essay in like an hour. What do I do?
Oh my god
I started writing an essay at 3 and now it's 6 and I still haven't finished my essay (expository). I know it's my first time and all but I have a SAC next week and I am kinda blank on how I am going to write a full essay in like an hour. What do I do?
If you get stuck in a paragraph, start the next paragraph on a new page (always remembering to number pages so the teacher doesn't get lost), you can come back later. A technique I often used when I had NO CLUE what I was going to discuss - write an impressive-sounding sentence in the intro/topic sentence, but then don't write any of the paragraph, since you have no idea. You can leave multiple paragraphs unfinished, but always ensure you complete one just to show you know how :)
Thank you so much banga_lok and literary lauren, although im still not confident :(That's alright, but turn that lack of confidence into something constructive, rather than allowing it to work to your detriment. In my book, not feeling confident is a better motivation for work that feeling confident; just give yourself some tangible targets to reach and those feelings will become more manageable.
Euripides’ play, ‘Medea’, explicitly explores the instant this isn't really true of the text; the repercussions of both Jason and Medea's actions take awhile to come to fruition repercussions that betrayal and guilt may lead to. The author’s depiction ofthejusticesystemone of the noteworthy features of Medea is that there is no institutionalised justice system, and that Medea must seek her own (vigilante) justice is made evident, as the protagonist of the play, Medea, gets away from expression is a little weak (but at the very least, I know what you're trying to get across, so don't worry too much.) Something like 'escape the consequences of' might work better here her barbaric actions unharmed, and guarded by the gods. Throughout the course of the play, both Jason and Medea demonstrate a degree of social injustice, as they both contribute to the corruption that Euripides condemns. However,after the concluding events,Medea’s guilt exceeds that of Jason’s, as she commits the most ‘unholiest of all deeds.’ Despite Jason instigating the conflict between them, Medea took it one-step further and surpassed Jason’s guilt, as her egocentric nature would not tolerate humiliation. Everything else up until this sentence is okay, but you want to end your intro on a strong/ contention-driven note, rather than a specific piece of evidence. Since I don't know what prompt you're writing on, I can't really give you an example, but try and round this off so you don't end up repeating arguments (ie. 'Medea exceeds/surpasses Jason's guilt')
That's alright, but turn that lack of confidence into something constructive, rather than allowing it to work to your detriment. In my book, not feeling confident is a better motivation for work that feeling confident; just give yourself some tangible targets to reach and those feelings will become more manageable.
If you're posting essays, please use the Submissions sub-forum instead, but I might start making an exception for practice paragraphs...
I think understanding the Text Response criteria might help put your mind at ease.
The number one thing teachers are looking for is your relevance to the prompt. If you're continually answering and exploring the question, you're on the right track, and you've pretty much already secured yourself a 6 or so. Secondly, they're looking for the quality of your ideas. If your only argument is that Medea did a bad thing by killing her children, therefore her character is worse - you're unlikely to score well in this area. Comparing and contrasting characters is usually a good starting point for adding sophistication (eg. yes, Medea commits multiple murders, but why is Jason's murdering of Medea's hopes less significant? What is Euripides saying about the two characters' actions? Do they cancel out?)
Lastly, you're assessed on your use of language and expression. This won't sway the mark as much as you think; it can definitely be an inhibiting factor for breaking into the A+ range, but if you're communicating solid ideas sufficiently, this criterion isn't really a big deal. Your language has to be fit for purpose; it doesn't have to comprise of stellar "ten-dollar" words that the assessor's never heard of.
Just based on this introduction, it seems like vocab is an issue for you, since you'll either lean on paraphrasing yourself, or using slightly colloquial language to get your point across. BUT YOU ARE GETTING YOUR POINT ACROSS! I can read that intro and have a good sense of your contention, and your main arguments, which is more than I can say for a lot of "high-scoring" responses in the Assessor's Reports that score 8s and 9s. I'm not saying that's how highly you'd score - especially since this is only an intro, and a minor part of the marking scheme, but I'm saying good clarity and sophisticated ideas are more important than sounding sophisticated. Don't beat yourself up about your writing not sounding like it's a profound explication of a classic text. It's a high school essay, and it's barely the start of the year.
Chances are, your teacher will be marking with leniency at this point since you're not expected to have the entirety of Text Response under wraps and ready for the exam right now. And in the even s/he's a strict marker, everyone at your school will be in the same boat, and the marks will be moderated in scaling.
Keep at it, and don't let a lack of confidence stop you from becoming more confident :)
Hi Lauren,There's a fair bit of Context-related stuff on the previous page of this thread, and the very first page has a collection of FAQs for each area, so check those out first and see if your questions have already been answered.
I am a little bit stuck on how exactly to generate my ideas and get them down onto paper. Also with the styles, I am really confused as to which direction to take for my context piece (my SAC is in two weeks :l).
How did you generate discussion when you began to write? Would you recommend doing a full expository length piece or should I mix it up with a personal anecdote or example?
So do you think my language/vocab is a little weak? If so, how can I improve on this?Like I said above, start with the words and phrases you know you need to improve upon. For a text like Medea, you know you'll probably be dealing with concepts like vengeance and justice in almost every essay, so it's worth finding some synonyms for these. Brainstorm these (with the help of a thesaurus) and then consciously implement these words in your writing. You'll have to make this a deliberate process at first, but it'll become automatic before too long. Going through some general 'good word' lists for Year 12 English can't hurt either.
Should I categorize examples for my context, eg. subjectivity, memories, illusion/perception and conflicting realities? I find that some of my examples suit illusion-related prompts and not memory-related prompts. I've seen some students manage to mould their examples to suit a range of prompts, but I'm personally more comfortable with examples for specific prompts.
Can someone guide me on how I write expository pieces? I'm spending hours staring at a prompt trying to make 'ideas' but they are always so weak. I have the sac on monday, my teacher can't help me the slightest. I have a very high level of understanding of my set text, I have external references up my sleeve - plato's cave, anecdotes, stanford prison experiment, etc and etc. I understand the context whose reality but I can't get anyone to tell me what the hell you have to do with the prompt. I've been told to agree/disagree, generate ideas (although i have no clue what it means to generate ideas from a prompt), and when i do come up with something and try to write on it nothing comes to mind. Like i study for methods and I got 100%, studied for chem and got 99% but i'm spending freaking ages on this silly context expository practice and am getting literally nowhere ::)
EDIT: Looking at my english book now i have 8 prompts to which I have tried to explore and create a piece on but all I have to show for it is a bunch of shitty comments i have made about the prompt
Regarding prompts, what's the difference between a "do you agree?" and "discuss"?There is no difference :) In every essay you will be discussing whether or not you agree, so it's just a way of VCAA to change up the questions slightly.
Lit 1&2 is of some benefit, but you don't need it to do 3&4.
Simply put, English consists of 3 essay types (and an oral) and each of these three essays will be tested in the exam. It's 3 essays in 3 hours, but there's a bigger, more evenly spread cohort, so it's technically not as hard to score well.
Literature is 5 different essay types, only one of which you'll have to do in the exam. The exam is 2 essays in 2 hours, but a higher standard is expected, and the cohort is more competitive.
Essentially if you're English-inclined, you'll enjoy Lit more, but English objectively easier to score well in, especially if you consider yourself more maths/science-y. Lit is a little trickier to get a handle on unless you enjoy the idea of analysing texts and language.
In terms of assessment, I'm assuming you're at least a little familiar with mainstream English (exam = 1 Text Response, 1 Context piece, 1 Language Analysis.) Literature is a whole other kettle of fish: you have to do what's called a 'Passage Analysis' where you're given three extracts from the text you studied (you can see the VCAA Past Exams website for examples) and your task is to discuss how the language of the text is used to create meaning. So it's essentially the opposite of a Text Response essay:
TR: you're given a prompt/focal point and told to find evidence to back yourself up
Lit: you're given the evidence, and have to impose your own focus, analysing as you go.
There's a breakdown of Lit assessment with some comparison between how you'd approach English as well here. I know this is a pretty broad overview, let me know if you need any more clarification :)
What are some websites that are similar to "The Conversation" and "The Age" ?What do you mean by 'similar to?' If you're just looking for general news sites, the Google News browser feature is a good way of comparing sources. Or if you're looking for similar opinions/ biaises, perhaps googling similar issues covered by these papers would be useful. Sorry, not entirely sure what you're looking for, but Google is probably better than me here :)
Hello!You can make a new thread on the Lit boards if you need to ask something specific. I'm guessing your first SAC is the Adaptations and Transformations one? Make sure you're clear what the task is asking you to do first, and then it'll be easier to determine what you need to work on.
I have a sac on Lit next week and I have no idea how to approach it. I know the structure in general terms: make language your central focus. I learn through examples and I tried reading them but I can't understand it (yes, that's how bad I am)
Please help me. The lit thread doesn't have the Q & A thread like here so I'm posting it here. Hopefully someone can help me? By the way, the text we are studying is Kinglake 350
Hi guys,Definitely VATE, 100%. Insight is marginally helpful with the really basic textual stuff (plot, character maps/development, sometimes themes) but VATE is basically all analysis. Even their summaries are filled with good analysis, so unless you're struggling with the comprehension of your text, you''ll get much more use out of a VATE guide than Insight or NEAP or TSSM if they're still running.
In terms of study guides, which companies produce the best ones? I'm stuck on getting either Insight or VATE. Also, are study guides for context theme useful? I'm doing Whose Reality if that helps.
Thanks!
Does anyone know an example in real life where because someone had been lured into believing a false memory, that it led to that person getting a false version of reality?
Hi Callum,Oh wow, that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for! Thank you very much for finding it! ;D
Have you come across Loftus and Palmer's studies on reconstructed memory? I didn't do English, so I'm not sure if it will be relevant, but it seems to fit the bill.
P.S. Grouse school!
Does anyone know an example in real life where because someone had been lured into believing a false memory, that it led to that person getting a false version of reality?
Hi Lauren!Will do. It seems everyone has a big round of SACs at the moment so I haven't had much time, but I'll get there :)
Could you please have a look at my context essay as well on the thread?
I also tried to incorporate your advice into mine but I am not sure whether I did a good job of it or not.
It's been on there for a couple of days but no one answered :'(
Thank you! :)
How important is the inclusion of film techniques when writing an essay on Mabo? I was told that I wouldn't get over 14/20 if I did not include a plethora of detailed film technique analysis in my essays.Fairly important, but you don't need to go overboard. Most teachers like to overemphasise film techniques or metalanguage because it's better to overdo it than underdo it. Just stick to whatever your teacher is suggesting for your SAC; if they say you must include seven film techniques in every paragraph, then that's exactly what you should do. Or maybe include eight if you're looking to challenge yourself :P After awhile, you'll probably get a sense for how necessary it is to delve into close, technique-based detail. If it feels like it's stunting your analysis, then maybe cut down, but if you feel like you're being to general, fit more in. It really depends on the essay, and the prompt.
Instead of repeating myself and say 'In Euripides' play, 'Medea',..'Just varying the sentence structure in your intro should be enough,
Is there any other good ways to start an introduction? And, after saying the above, what should I continue with?
Thank you
Hello!
I was just wondering, if you could give me some tips on how to make my analysis more critical? And I was wondering how you structured your essay paragraphs and maybe if you have an example to show me? Im always repeating myself and not doing much analysis...
Tips would be most helpful! Thank you.
What do you mean 'more critical?' I'm guessing this is something your teacher has told you that you need to work on, in which case it's probably worth sitting down with them and getting a clearer picture of where you're going wrong.
Like, are your essays at the moment just summarising the text? Or are you taking too much knowledge for grated and not going into detail? Or are you just agreeing with the prompt and don't develop a complex contention? All of these things could be classed as 'not critical,' but you need to be specific if you want to know how to improve.
Essay structure is a matter of personal preference. I usually recommend opening with a general idea or concern in your Topic Sentence; interweaving discussion, analysis, and evidence throughout, and then ending by linking back to your contention. But there's a whole lot of room for originality in there, so it's just a matter of practicing to find your strengths and weaknesses.
With regards to repeating yourself, are you saying the same ideas over and over again, or are you just using the same words? The first is a problem with your understanding of the content, meaning you have to go back to the book and expand your knowledge. The second is a problem with expression, meaning you should consult some resources and start building up your vocabulary so you can tackle more analysis.
I have a good understanding of the text but when It comes to analysing quotes, I seem to just be rewording it somehow and not doing critical analysis.A little trick you might find helpful is nominalisation, which basically means noun-ifying things.
I've tried sitting with my teacher but my essay marks are always the same, and no matter how I change my style of writing, it doesn't seem to get into that A band.Assuming you're in Year 12, tough it out. Even if you think your teacher's advice is unhelpful, or wrong, they're still the ones marking your SACs! Most students in this position will be learning two courses; one is the methods for essay writing that their teacher mandates, and the other is what is objectively safe to write in the end of year exam. If you're lucky, there will be a lot of overlap, but for now, you have to focus on catering to your teacher.
I know my expression needs working on- so any advice for that? ::)What about your expression needs work? Are your sentences too long? Is your syntax all over the place? Is your vocab really weak? If you ask a specific question, you'll be able to get a more specific answer,
And yes I guess I don't go into as much detail as I'd like too while explaining quotes. And when I said repeating myself, I'd provide a quote, then explain it and then I write another sentence underneath all that, rewording what I wrote the first time, and it just goes downhill :'(If you're aware of the problem, then just stop yourself from doing this :) Consciously remind yourself to discuss the quote, not just paraphrase it. Assume your marker has read the text - you don't need to contextualise quotes and go into heaps of detail before or after - just give them sufficient information so that they know what you're talking about, and move straight into analysing the significance of the quote on a broader level.
Oh and one more thing ::) Im not quite sure how to explain the metalanguage the author uses while i'm explaining the quotes I've chosen... any ideas?Not quite sure what you're asking here, but if it's just a general vocab issue, going through some sample word lists is probably your best bet. As a last minute thing, go through the essays you're writing/ have written and find instances where you haven't been able to explain a word properly. Look these words up in a thesaurus, and take note of any viable synonyms that you could use. Although you can acquire words passively, going out of your way to expand your vocab is often more productive. You don't want to be spending several minutes in a SAC just trying to word your response properly; sophisticated language is efficient language, so build it up early so you have a wealth to draw from if you need it :)
Just a quick question, can we use 'readers' in text response essays? Or is it not recommend if so why not? :)It depends on the format of the text you're studying.
If you ask a specific question, you'll be able to get a more specific answer,
eg. 'My expression needs work.'
--> 'My ideas flow, but not my writing.'
--> 'I can't write long sentences.'
--> 'I'm not using enough conjunctive words (eg. 'and,' but,' 'therefore,' 'contrarily,' etc.)'
--> 'I should try using those words to combine similar ideas.'If you're aware of the problem, then just stop yourself from doing this :) Consciously remind yourself to discuss the quote, not just paraphrase it. Assume your marker has read the text - you don't need to contextualise quotes and go into heaps of detail before or after - just give them sufficient information so that they know what you're talking about, and move straight into analysing the significance of the quote on a broader level.
Okay so consciously reminding myself not to paraphrase it might just work! :) thanks for that suggestion. And yes I am in year 12 (: My expression needs some working on because (for example) I was referring a character doing something beneficial and I wrote, 'its gives out a positive image' Saying that out loud to myself does make me realise that the expression is funny, but how do I avoid doing this during my SAC? Sometimes I read over my essays but under exam conditions and with 2 minutes left, things like this slip my mind. :(Two options:
I also tend to write things that are too informal... Are these minor errors? If so and if not, how do I avoid such things?
ps: thank you so much for the help you've provided me with already (: you're awesome! ;D
Two options:
1) Reread your work constantly. This is probably better in the long run since it teaches you to pick up on mistakes as you're making them, or just after. Perhaps make yourself reread every three or four lines depending on how bad the problem is, and then you can edit as you go.
I'd also recommend writing on every second line, since it'll let you make the necessary adjustments in a much neater way.
2) Allow yourself editing time after you've finished. This is what people usually do in timed constraints, though it has some drawbacks. For one, you might not get time to edit - then it becomes a question of 'is it better to have 3/4 of a really good essay, or a finished piece that's rushed and kind of average?' To which I would answer, the first one.
But if you find it easier, allocate maybe 10 minutes before your SAC finishes to go through your sentences with a fine toothed comb, even if you need to silently mouth the words or read really slowly; you'll get faster, and it'll get easier.
The fact that you know your grammar is iffy is actually a good sign. If you didn't know what the problem was, then you'd have issues with your understanding. But if, when you read your work, you know a sentence sounds clunky or has some letters/ words it shouldn't have, you'll probably be able to correct yourself. This may take some getting used to, and you may even want to go back to your old essays and correct those for practice, but the more you do it, the more likely you are to pick up on these sorts of errors as you're writing --> thereby cutting down on your editing time --> thereby giving you more writing time --> thereby letting you write more, and better :)
For formality, that's probably just a vocab concern. Usually the reason people use informal language is because they don't have a formal alternative up their sleeve; or they do, and they just don't spend time thinking about it. Go through your practice pieces and find instances of this informal language, and see if you can find a better word or phrase to communicate your point. If not, thesaurus.com :) Wherever possible, brainstorm some other possible words that could convey the same, or a slightly different point. Even if you don't use these in the very next essay you write, you have no way of knowing whether they'll come up in the next essay, or later in Context studies, or even in the exam.
HelloThe text-centricity of your SAC pieces is at your teacher's discretion. They want you to use the whole text and nothing but the text, then stick it in every paragraph. Or if they're happy for you to mention it once or just reference the ideas, then that's all you need.
How text- centric does my context piece have to be? Is one paragraph enough, I'm just wondering because I've seen some pretty text dense ones out there.
Also can someone help me dissect the prompt 'It is difficult to look objectively at our lives because we are always looking from inside out'. I'm not too sure about whether I'm interpreting the prompt correctly.
Thanks!
The text-centricity of your SAC pieces is at your teacher's discretion. They want you to use the whole text and nothing but the text, then stick it in every paragraph. Or if they're happy for you to mention it once or just reference the ideas, then that's all you need.
The danger is when you write an exam piece that's only catering to your teacher; for Context in particular you kind of have to learn two ways of writing throughout the year. SAC writing is simple because you have your marker there in front of you, and you can ask him/her whether you should do more or less of something and why.
In the exam, however; you're aiming to write something that could appeal to the majority of assessors, so that's where your understanding of the task requirements is critical.
Broadly speaking, one paragraph should be enough. That's all I did in my exam, and that's usually what I recommend to students. That doesn't mean the text-heavy ones are wrong by any means, just that they're maybe not as efficient as they could be.
For that Context prompt, what do you think you're misinterpreting? Are there words you don't understand, or is it the overall concepts or ideas that you find strange?
See if you can simplify the prompt's point and develop a contention around that :)
Can someone read my hopeless intro please :(There's nothing hopeless about it. I would perhaps take issue with your interpretation at the end there, I don't think you could feasibly argue that Euripides is totally pro-men and rejects Medea's potential for caring. After all, this 'greater force' that you mention was born from her love for Jason, was it not? (<-- not rhetorical, this is a genuine debate you could have.)
Prompt: ‘Medea is ultimately careless of family ties, while the men – Creon, Jason and Aegeus – are obsessively concerned with their family interests’
In the tragic play, ‘Medea’, the perception of family differs accordingly to the characters. Euripides represents the social standards of 400BC, that women are self-centered, as the female protagonist Medea, the ‘loathsome creature’, delivers unholy deeds in the name of ‘moderation’. Although Medea demonstrates some love and compassion towards her family, there is a greater cause that is controlling her thoughts. The social views and values that she follows overthrows her love for her two children to the extent that she ‘sees no joy in seeing them.’ Whilst Medea is alienated in her own desires, Euripides depicts the men as the only civilized people in the play as they demonstrate affection towards their families. Aegeus and Creon display their utmost love for their family; however, Jason’s position is questionable, as he was willing to endure Medea’s exile.
My teacher prefers more external examples, but the examiners reports contains text dense context pieces. She doesn't mind if our first context essay doesn't contain much external references because we didn't have that much time but I'm pretty well-versed with the external examples so one paragraph of the text works well for me.
Speaking of teachers, what is your opinion of using books outside the set text. My teacher doesn't like us using books outside of the set text as external examples because 'students too much story-telling as a result'. Obviously I would stick to the set text in my SACS but should I consider using them later on?
As for the prompt, I think I'm misinterpreting the main idea of the prompt. This is my interpretation 'We are looking at reality/the way things are from our own narrow perspective and as a result unable to view things objectively/big picture'
Hey Lauren,Maybe it's just me, but I reckon reading would be more efficient than just sitting down and memorising words. There is an element of rote-learning, granted; but you have to acquire the words first.
I've been trying to read books to expand my vocabulary, but I can't seem to find time to read much of my book unless it is in the holidays. However, I still want to continue expanding my vocab.
Should I just go through lists of words and memorise them and their meanings? Should it be VCE-specific or just any sort of word?
I was planning on learning the words on an image you posted in an EL post. It was a circle with synonyms for particular words, good idea?
Hi Lauren :)I'm not sure if you've been given a specific prompt or thematic area to explore, but I'd guess that's what your teacher is expecting you to cover? So angling your exploration around an idea like 'The minor characters in Maus have a significant effect on our understanding of the text, or of theme X.' I guess Francoise
So I have an oral SAC which needs to be completed for my AOS 1 text (a graphic novel [The Complete MAUS]) and I've chosen a topic which will be "exploring minor characters" within the graphic novel.
What should I be looking for when I'm determining the characters which I will be analysing as well as the type of analysis which I could be doing? Also is a supporting character the same as a minor character (because mainly I've been picking examples where the character at hand is made obvious but only features for 1-2 pages at most-ish compared to a character which occurs throughout the graphic novel as such).
Thanks!
I'm not sure if you've been given a specific prompt or thematic area to explore, but I'd guess that's what your teacher is expecting you to cover? So angling your exploration around an idea like 'The minor characters in Maus have a significant effect on our understanding of the text, or of theme X.' I guess FrancoiseThanks Lauren! Great to see you still remember things about Maus LOL xD
or Vlad and Anja's fathers might be interesting to look at; it depends on your interpretation of 'minor.' (Soz, it's been ages since I read Maus.) Since there are so many characters in the text, you pretty much have your choice of discussion topic. Just ensure you're going into enough depth with a few characters, and giving a sense of the full text as well :)
Thanks Lauren! Great to see you still remember things about Maus LOL xDI think, if you feel up to it, you could actually conduct an interesting examination of what it means for a character to be 'minor.' You have the obvious surface level meaning which is 'a character that isn't in the text much,' but it's usually more complex than that. Infrequent characters can have a profound effect on the story, or even on other characters who in turn influence the story.
The prompt I've chosen is: "It is though the minor characters that the detail of the story is communicated." And yeah that's what I was wondering whether there was a particular definition of "minor" character since there are some which I would definitely like to talk about (provided I can find evidence to back up my points that is)!
Last question (so far that I can think of), but in the prompt, they've stated "that the detail of the story is communicated", what exactly do they mean by 'detail' and 'communicated' because I feel as though 'communicated' is the use of graphic novel techniques (except I'm not too sure if that's right) whilst 'detail' I don't really know what to think of..
Can someone please help me analyse this essay prompt:The first half of this is badly worded, but essentially it boils down to 'We can't justify Medea's actions, regardless of her past. She's not a hero of women, she is a vengeful witch.'
No amount of past hurt can condone Medea’s acts of cruelty. Rather than being a feminist hero, she is a vengeful witch. Discuss.
How would I address this prompt?
In text response, when a quote is given in the prompt, how should it be used in your essay?
sometimes i have trouble coming up with topic sentences :-X I dont know where to start and what words to use :'( any help?
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.
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!! :)
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.
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
Hey! I don't know if this question has been answered or not but I was wondering how would you write the conclusion for a comparative language analysis?You could get away with doing either, but it depends on the spread of the material. For something like the 2014 exam where the first piece was definitely the 'core,' you could just have dealt with that one section in your conclusion. However, if you had two articles of around equal length, it would be more conventional to draw on both of them when you wrap things up.
Would you talk about the first article, second, or both?
Thank you
I need help finding some external examples for the promp conflict can discriminate. I already have some examples for racial discrimination just wanting to find examples of other types of discrimination caused by conflictYou could go for the typical forms of discrimination, like sexism, ageism, ableism, classism, heteronormativity, etc.
Hi Lauren,
After doing a practice Context SAC for Encountering Conflict, I've found that I've having difficulty finishing a piece under the time limits because I'm struggling to think of relevant external examples. Do you think it's just a matter of practicing to improve on this?
Also, I also find that my paragraphs are basically being written as arguments for my contention. (My intro is basically like "This is my contention" "Because, X, Y and Z".) Is this the way to go or should I be doing more exploration of the prompt?
Thanks!
Hey Lauren,
Just another quick question about comparative LA - how would you structure one with 2 articles of the same length?
I just read one that someone else posted and they had their intro, 6 body paras and conclusion..
This seems like a bit too much, is there another way of doing this?
If you're referring to this essay, I had to analyse a third cartoon as well. But I prefer to keep my ideas separate as opposed to combining them into one big mush. The number of paragraphs doesn't really matter, as long as each paragraph explores an idea thoroughly from start to finish, I suppose
It doesn't seem that bad when you look at it on paper.
(http://i.imgur.com/EZGEnC2.jpg)
Hoping someone can clarify this for me:The 'upper-range'/'high band' essays at the end of the year can be anything from an 8 upwards. For the record, 'upper-mid range' usually means between 6-8, though sometimes the exact numbers are debatable. You can occasionally get 'borderline' responses that could be either a 7 or an 8, for instance. In the exam this just evens out to 15/20.
On the examiners report for English, provided are student examples from the exam that are labelled as "high scoring responses".
What exactly does this mean? Are the examples always a 10/10 - or are they anything from about an 8/10 to a 10/10.
I ask this because example 10/10 pieces seem to be a fairly useful way of identifying the standard of work I should work towards (I understand that english isn't a science and that I'm not following a formula for a perfect essay, but it would still be nice to have some examples of what the examiners like).
As an extension to this, are the example responses on ATAR Notes roughly a 10/10?
Hi Lauren,Like JackSon said, knowing your stuff will help cut down on time significantly. Are you practicing to an essay-per-hour time limit? Because unless your SAC is under those conditions, there's no reason why you should aim that high at this stage of the year. I know it's easy to get caught in the 'how the hell am I going to do this in an hour, this one essay took me three hours over a week' mentality, but trust me, it's a necessary process.
After doing a practice Context SAC for Encountering Conflict, I've found that I've having difficulty finishing a piece under the time limits because I'm struggling to think of relevant external examples. Do you think it's just a matter of practicing to improve on this?
Also, I also find that my paragraphs are basically being written as arguments for my contention. (My intro is basically like "This is my contention" "Because, X, Y and Z".) Is this the way to go or should I be doing more exploration of the prompt?
Thanks!
Hey Lauren,Structure for L.A. SACs should be geared to whatever your teacher wants. Some love many paragraphs that cover as much of the article as possible, others prefer a standard essay format with 3-4 body paragraphs and clearly outlined focus points. I tend to advocate for the bigger paragraphs since the assessors seem more concerned with depth than breadth recently, but both are still important, so go for whatever you feel would give you the best opportunity to demonstrate your skills.
Just another quick question about comparative LA - how would you structure one with 2 articles of the same length?
I just read one that someone else posted and they had their intro, 6 body paras and conclusion..
This seems like a bit too much, is there another way of doing this?
Hey lauren
What scores am i looking for a 35 minimum?
I know it depends on my cohort, exams etc.. But surely there's some sort of sac average that would lead to a 35. Thankyou, just worried :3
With Text response, it seems as though when they give two prompts for a text, that one prompt is harder than the other- would the prompt difficulty have any influence on their marking scheme? Also, for analysis prompts (going by these categories http://www.vcestudyguides.com/types-of-essay-topics) I've been told that my essays for these types of prompts are almost too analytical and explicit in my analysis that it sounds more like a Language Analysis (e.g. "Through the author's use of the metaphor, (insert metaphor here), he/she exemplifies to readers the importance of ___). Do you have any tips on how to more subtly talk about what the author does to convey a certain meaning? Apparently I needed to focus more on the readers concerns and values rather than the language used to show what she is concerned about.
If I'm doing a feature article for context, for the audience section is it enough to say 'readers of The Age' etc.? On that note, what kind of newspaper/magazine would it be appropriate to have a moderately sophisticated feature article (but with a couple of current/societal examples) focusing on 'how illusions/dreams/ feeling/internal self affect the way one perceives reality'?is this for your statement of intention????
With Text response, it seems as though when they give two prompts for a text, that one prompt is harder than the other- would the prompt difficulty have any influence on their marking scheme? Also, for analysis prompts (going by these categories http://www.vcestudyguides.com/types-of-essay-topics) I've been told that my essays for these types of prompts are almost too analytical and explicit in my analysis that it sounds more like a Language Analysis (e.g. "Through the author's use of the metaphor, (insert metaphor here), he/she exemplifies to readers the importance of ___). Do you have any tips on how to more subtly talk about what the author does to convey a certain meaning? Apparently I needed to focus more on the readers concerns and values rather than the language used to show what she is concerned about.The difficulty of prompts is a matter of preference. Although some are objectively simple or difficult, VCAA are quite good at disguising things. Often a short, to-the-point statement can have a whole lot of hidden implications, while a complex looking structural prompt with an embedded quote or some difficult vocab can actually be boiled down to a very straightforward question. For 'analysis' type questions, you'll pretty much just have to transition between close textual evidence (structural features, language, meta-devices, that sort of thing) and the wider text's messages.
With a comparative language analysis piece, what structure would you suggest to write with? Some teachers say analyse them as completely separate pieces (Eg: Analyse the first article on its own, then analyse the second comparing/contrasting to the first) whilst another teacher told me to compare/contrast in the same paragraphFor your SAC, do whatever your teacher wants :)
What should i do?
When starting essays with a quote, what is the maximum length of the quote? For example is this quote " conflict is the gadfly of thought, it stirs us to observation and memory. It shocks us out of sheeplike passivity and sets us at noting and contriving" too long to put at the start of an essay?
If I'm doing a feature article for context, for the audience section is it enough to say 'readers of The Age' etc.? On that note, what kind of newspaper/magazine would it be appropriate to have a moderately sophisticated feature article (but with a couple of current/societal examples) focusing on 'how illusions/dreams/ feeling/internal self affect the way one perceives reality'?
Hi Lauren - again,If that's the case, then make your brainstorming/notes better before attempting essays. It's perfectly fine, especially at this stage of the year, to need a whole heap of exploration for your evidence. In the exam, it'll probably be enough for you to scribble 'Malala,' 'Aztecs' and 'Spiderman' just to jog your memory.
So I've figured out why I'm taking so much time (mostly because of running out of ideas/examples and inefficient brainstorming). I'm in the process of collecting more examples but am not too sure on what exactly I should do.
I've been providing some general overviews on examples, but I seem to have trouble relating them to ideas. I dunno, I feel like they aren't complex enough?? :-X Like I'm not going deep enough with the ideas?
(e.g. for Malala Youfazai - I've related her and the events associated with her to: culture and religion causing conflict, individuals showing courage and bravery amidst/after conflict, "positive" consequences)
Can you give an example of how to extrapolate ideas out of examples well?
The difficulty of prompts is a matter of preference. Although some are objectively simple or difficult, VCAA are quite good at disguising things. Often a short, to-the-point statement can have a whole lot of hidden implications, while a complex looking structural prompt with an embedded quote or some difficult vocab can actually be boiled down to a very straightforward question. For 'analysis' type questions, you'll pretty much just have to transition between close textual evidence (structural features, language, meta-devices, that sort of thing) and the wider text's messages.
I suppose the best way to force yourself into this is to use the format of the question. Structural ones will usually begin with 'How...' as in 'How does the author's use of X create a sense of Y?' Occasionally some part of the equation will be missing and you'll have to fill in the blanks, eg. 'Discuss the author's use of X' or 'How does the author create Y?'
It all comes down to two questions though: if you've made a statement about the text, how do you know, and why is this important?
eg. Starting point: The character of Marlin in 'Finding Nemo' is initially unsympathetic.
How do I know: He's portrayed as an overbearing, didactic parent who does not allow his son to explore and grow, as is exemplified through the juxtaposition of Nemo with his more liberated peers. (--> seahorse, that other fish... a pink octopus I think?)
Why is this significant: This early representation serves as a contrast to the Marlin we see at the end of the film, thereby highlighting the importance of trusting one's child in order to be a cautious parent, but not overly so.
Thank you so much! loved the example hah!
honestly speaking, if you get 50% on a sac are your chances of 50 gone? lets assume the class overall did well (say 80% ave)Honestly speaking, I have no earthly clue what anyone's chances of a 50 are. 'Assuming the class did well' is pretty vague; you could 100% everything from now on which would bump you up the rankings, but realistically, going from 50% to 100% doesn't happen overnight. Plus, there's so much score-changing behind the scenes, so I can't possibly say definitely yes or definitely no. I wouldn't even be confident guessing even after all the SACs are over, let alone after the very first one :P
This is how I feel right now for english. There's no hope for me. It seems as much as I try I just see no improvement haha
We have our first essay sac tomorrow and basically I need help incorporating metalanguage/author's craft in. How are you supposed to do it?
how often are you guys doing practice essays etc?
I haven't got 50 yet (%) but I just feel bad about my sac haha....
Just gotta put the hard work in , and I guess doing awesome on the exam will help significantly.
Do you think teachers will ever accept bribes? Honest question
This is how I feel right now for english. There's no hope for me. It seems as much as I try I just see no improvement hahaOkay, I know the posts above are at least partly in jest, but I'm going to answer these seriously because I think there's an underlying problem here that's unique to English subjects.
Here is a link to my personal favorite essay of all time. (The first essay in the report)I'm assuming you mean the Bypass Text Response piece?
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/exams/english/english_assessrep_11.pdf
What would the weaknesses of this essay be? What are your opinions of this essay?
Opinions are welcome from everyone.
In his meandering tale Bypass: the story of a road, Michael McGirr leads his readers on a journey down 'Australia's main street,' there's no need to quote this; it accomplishes nothing the Hume Highway ensuring that the stretch of bitumen is seen in a unique and refreshing way. This is a filler sentence. I know a lot of people use these just to kick off their intros, and I know some teachers even advocate for them, but personally I find them kinda irritating. General summations of the text and what it accomplishes don't tell me anything new or interesting, and engaging with the prompt from the outset would have been a much better starting point. From his bicycle saddle, McGirr is able to make use of his keen eye for detail as he this could easily be summed up with a couple of words in a much less clunky manner, eg. 'conveys' or 'hones in on.' It's also teetering on that dangerous brink of fawning! >:( >:( >:( Any sentence that's saying something like 'The author's expert elucidation of the human psyche is skillfully crafted to make readers weep with appreciation and joy' is so pointless it makes me weep with boredom. Admittedly, since this text was actually being marked by the author of the poxy text I guess this might have been a strategic thing, but VCAA have since raised their standards, so I'd advice everyone else to steer clear observes, ponders, and enlightens on w.c. You can't 'enlighten on' something the intricacies of human behaviour. Not only does his unique and honest narrative structure bleh, get to the point detail his journey from Sydney to Melbourne, it also offers an insight into the personal and spiritual journey that McGirr has embarked on. FINALLY we get some facet of the prompt being addressed! This is a good starting point, it's just a shame it's the third sentence instead of the first ::) His physical journey is accompanied by anecdotes from the past, historical insights and aspects of his immense knowledge of literature, as well as the constant embellishment of self-deprecating humour. It's a bit 'list-y' and I'm squinting to see the relevance, but this is getting better. From all Big no-no. Never use absolutes like this, no matter how confident you are aspects of the journey that McGirr includes in his memoir minor quibble, but I can see it a lot in this piece: it's very inefficient. Here the student has written "the journey that McGirr includes in his memoir" instead of just "McGirr's journey" or even just "the text." There's a lot of redundancy and over-clarification - which admittedly is better than under-clarification, but is still a slight flaw his readers are able to learn more of the man himself. In this way, Bypass: the story of a road proves not only to be a detailed account of a bike ride *sigh* have I mentioned how glad I am that this text is gone? but a collection of opportunities to lean about McGirr's own character.Based on this paragraph alone: meh/10.
What scores do you generally need to achieve a 40 in English?
Both Sacs and exams.
Cheers
Hi Lauren,
I have trouble 'analysing' or going more in-depth when it comes to Text Response.
I also have difficulties trying to write with clarity and tightening my expression
Is there some kind of structure/formula when writing with complexity?
Thanks :))
Hi,Not sure why a didactic tone is necessary, but to break it down: didactic means 'designed to teach,' so the tone you're going for would be a sort of aggressive school teacher barking commandments at you. You want to go for very definitive and informative sentences; I'd imagine most newspaper opinion pieces would be good examples of this :)
I am trying to write sentences with a didactic tone, but i am struggling.
I have this thus far.
Children have become immune to their phones, back in the day we would play outside. Is this an example of a didactic tone ?
Could i also have some more examples please .
Hi Lauren,Mostly okay, but there are a few little issues. 'extols the virtue' is a little clunky, but understandable. 'Connotes' means 'hints at,' but it's usually meant to be used when referring to single words or phrases (eg. the word 'leader' connotes strength and influence, or the phrase 'deaf as a doorknob' connotes ignorance or being unwilling to consider new ideas.) In this case it might be better to use a word like 'suggests' or 'shows.'
I'm not sure if this sentence makes sense? It's just a topic sentence for a paragraph I'm trying to write but I'm not confident I even understand fully what I have said (mainly the extols the virtue of family bit)
'Adiga extols the virtue that family is the most critical feature to an individual and essentially connotes that a “man” must place family at the foremost of his life.'
Thankyou!
Hi Lauren,You're very welcome! Hope it didn't scar you too much :s In terms of linking it to WR, I probably wouldn't use it as an expository-type example, but funnily enough it relates really well to the idea of utopia and ideal realities. Without spoiling too much for those who haven't seen it, suffice it to say that the two conflicting groups in the series both believe they're doing what's right, and the show plays with that idea in an interesting way.
I just want to thank you for the recommendation to watch Utopia as part of Whose Reality. After season 1 I was hooked but couldn't quite work out the relevance to my area of study.
I've just finished Season 2 - All I can say is WOW, talk about messing with my head and making me see reality from different perspectives. A brilliant TV series and really thought provoking stuff :)
I'm devastated there's no Season 3 :-X
You could link it to some of the real world ideologies that take a similar view to The Network, and perhaps even link this into a discussion of terrorism and whether these realities can be effective, or the extent to which their coming into conflict is a beneficial. Mainly just a source of inspiration for you to get started :)
This is exactly how it's helped me ! I've been trying to explore ideas around Daesh and foreign fighters. I've been really focused on propaganda and was a bit lost how people could buy into it all. But Utopia has really made me think deeper about the impact of an ideologies on your reality. (and how easy it is to be swayed to a different belief system ... no spoilers, but there was a point where I was wondering if Leporidae was right and should be successful)
In text response, when writing a prompt, do we have to cover all major events in the novel? No. Only evidence relevant to your discussion.
Also, would evidence not covered in class (aka minor evidence i guess) create a better impression of your essay to examiners, rather than just using the events discussed by the teacher? The examiner won't know what the teacher taught you. Still, using minor events shows deeper, wider knowledge of the text rather than shallow surface level, while turning points/major events show you understand the 'big moments', the crux of what's going on. So I'd use a mixture. Definitely analyse in depth at home by yourself, do your own investigation rather than just relying on the teacher. It'll add complexity and insight to your ideas.
How relevant does our response have to be to a prompt, as far as trying to discuss ideas that may go off on a tangent? Relevance is vital! You can try to weave in stuff you know well, but still have to make it as relevant as possible. Every single exam report has stressed 'don't be formulaic', i.e. don't rely on pre-prepared somewhat irrelevant stuff. Everything you say should be trying to discuss the implications of the prompt, not what you would have liked the prompt to be.
(sorry I'm not Lauren :P)
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."
How do you convert 28/30 into a score out of 10?
Some ideas I had:expository/persuasive essay ✓ this would be absolutely fine, and is the most popular form
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
this may seem like a weird question but...
this is from Edrolo:
(http://i.imgur.com/E04yipp.png)
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?
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.
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???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
THANKS
if that makes sense
this may seem like a weird question but...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!
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?
Thanks for your reply :)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.
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
I'm not sure what this prompt means "Brooklyn is in essence an exploration of place"
I'm not sure what this prompt means "Brooklyn is in essence an exploration of place"Make it what you want it to mean. As long as it is structured well and obviously relates to the text still. There is often questions out there like this which allow you to show your own interpretation of the prompt and show the examiner (or whoever) an alternate discussion . Just make sure to define the key terms the way you see them and are going to explore them :)
For a text response essay.
for every evidence you provide, such as a specific scene, how much explanation do you need to give it. cause teacher said i have tendency to not explain things in enough detail before i move on to next evidence.
Also for the end of year exam are we required to have multiple interpretation for text response and if so how would you implement it in.Also do we need social, historical context for end of year text response essay to.
thanks
THanks.Quotes are not essential (unless your teacher says they are.)
and also for context, are we required to have quotes from the set text. Or do we need to only take evidence from set text and then analyse how this is relevant to the broader context ie encountering conflict.
How should I learn the play Macbeth? We are starting it for T.R week 2 of next term, and I'd like to know the play before then. My problem is with Shakespeare plays, just reading the Shakespearean English confuses me, and if I just read it alongside the modern translation I find it incredibly boring and don't get the 'big picture' of what is happening.No Fear Shakespeare do the side-by-side translations, so if you're not a fan of the Bard then I'd either get a copy of their version or just read it online. But unless you're a die-hard-English-fanatic, that whole 'you have to read the text first before you read summaries/resources' is nonsense. Read a summary, watch the sparknotes video, watch a film adaptation if you find an accurate one. Watch this.
I'm not sure what this prompt means "Brooklyn is in essence an exploration of place"Ergh, this is one of those 'The text is about _____' kinds of prompts that VCAA are really fond of >:( They're kinda boring and hard to write on, but it can be boiled down to 'Discuss the exploration of place in Brooklyn' if that makes it easier.
Make it what you want it to mean. As long as it is structured well and obviously relates to the text still. There is often questions out there like this which allow you to show your own interpretation of the prompt and show the examiner (or whoever) an alternate discussion . Just make sure to define the key terms the way you see them and are going to explore them :)I mostly agree, but be careful not to 'topic dodge' by going off on too distant a tangent.Provided you're working within the confines of the prompt, you're fine, and totally free to define words however you like.
For language analysis.Do you mean when you're given multiple articles and have to contrast their approaches? Because this just means discussing their contentions and the means by which they express them; ie. 'Where Author A contends that ___, Author B, by contrast, argues that ____' and 'Author A uses inclusive language in order to... However, Author B uses...' etc.
When they say to analysis the writer's different approach. what does it mean by approach??.
Thanks you.
if you understand what i mean
For a text response essay.a) you need to give as much explanation as is necessary. You can assume your assessor has read the text, but if you jump around too much then it can get confusing. Best to defer to your teacher here because they'll be more familiar with your writing than I am.
for every evidence you provide, such as a specific scene, how much explanation do you need to give it. cause teacher said i have tendency to not explain things in enough detail before i move on to next evidence.
Also for the end of year exam are we required to have multiple interpretation for text response and if so how would you implement it in.Also do we need social, historical context for end of year text response essay to.
thanks
Should it matter if you branch out from an essay topic a bit?
I'll give some background to this question - we recently completed our first English SAC at school, and I received a lower mark than I was hoping for, and to be honest, lower than I expected (before you write me off as arrogant, pleaselistenread!).
Below is a fairly generic representation of the topic we were given.
"Event A is driven solely by cause B. To what extent do you agree?
To which I responded with something like this...
1. Cause B is influential - here's why it's influential - here's how it came about
2. Though Cause B was influential, Cause B itself was actually the product of something much broader, which due to it's impact on Event A, is of a much higher significance than Cause B
3. Both of my previous paragraphs are relevant, but here's what I think actually drove Event A
As you can see, the first two paragraphs stuck fairly closely to the topic, and made specific mention of what the topic included, whereas the 3rd paragraph was entirely original - I didn't completely agree with the topic ("To what extent do you agree? ..."), therefore I wrote about what I actually thought, even though it was different to where the topic would lead you.
(If this is a bit ambiguous, I can provide the actual essay topic, and what I actually wrote about if necessary.)
Fundamentally, my question is this: Could that third paragraph be a problem?
The feedback we got for the SAC was pathetic - all we received were numbers.
The Criteria: (each out of 10)
1. Close analysis and understanding of the chosen text 9
2. Ability to interpret text in response to the task 9
3. Control of the conventions of the English language 10
Yes, this doesn't look like a bad mark on the surface, but a lot of students got 26+/30 who don't write anything original, and don't usually show much depth of thought. Point and click. (This is not an assumption - I have proof read their work in the past) Typically, Criteria 1 and 2 are my strengths! (based on feedback from past few years) I'm better at thinking about, and exploring a topic than using long and fancy vocab - yet I lost marks for the first 2, and actually got full marks for criteria 3. Both my second and third (especially third) paragraphs were original - something the examiners supposedly look for - no one else would have had the 'same' ideas.
English is meant to reward people who think, and my frustration is that I believe thinking cost me marks here - my argument was original, it was relevant and showed logic and depth of thought. But the marks I got lead me to believe that I was penalised because I branched out from the topic. According to my markers, I didn't 'interpret' the prompt properly.
Again, if specifics are required - either because you don't understand what I'm asking, or because you're sceptical (I'm not concerned if you are) - I will provide.
What is your opinion?
Should it matter if you branch out from an essay topic a bit?Theoretically: no; so long as you're careful.
I'll give some background to this question - we recently completed our first English SAC at school, and I received a lower mark than I was hoping for, and to be honest, lower than I expected (before you write me off as arrogant, pleaseFor a prompt like this, I'd say you're meant to question absolutes like "solely." An essay that just takes this statement as fact and provides evidence to support it would be quite weak, regardless of how well the discussion was conducted - it'd still be reductive. Having said that, it may depend on the circumstances, so could you let me know which text & prompt you were dealing with.listenread!).
Below is a fairly generic representation of the topic we were given.
"Event A is driven solely by cause B. To what extent do you agree?
To which I responded with something like this...This seems safe, but it could have come across as contradictory if you didn't have a clear, overarching contention. The trouble with 'challenge' paragraphs is that they can subvert your discussion if you don't do them properly; they're meant to give the illusion of challenging your points whilst in reality strengthening your contention.
1. Cause B is influential - here's why it's influential - here's how it came about
2. Though Cause B was influential, Cause B itself was actually the product of something much broader, which due to it's impact on Event A, is of a much higher significance than Cause B
3. Both of my previous paragraphs are relevant, but here's what I think actually drove Event A
As you can see, the first two paragraphs stuck fairly closely to the topic, and made specific mention of what the topic included, whereas the 3rd paragraph was entirely original - I didn't completely agree with the topic ("To what extent do you agree? ..."), therefore I wrote about what I actually thought, even though it was different to where the topic would lead you.If this was the case, you probably should have been challenging the prompt from the start rather than going along with it for half an essay and then introducing a contrary point. You are allowed to disagree with the prompt*in the exam
Fundamentally, my question is this: Could that third paragraph be a problem?Yes, but it's more likely that your contention was problematic rather than one specific paragraph letting you down. (This is just conjecture for the moment, so just based on the plan you've outlined) I think you may have lost sight of the implications of the prompt and just been focusing on individual arguments.
The feedback we got for the SAC was pathetic - all we received were numbers.Urgh, I hate it when teachers do this; I feel your pain, man. If possible, maybe sit down with your teacher and ask him/her whether there are any specific areas where you could improve? Most will be open to this, and it's a good way to show them you're committed to improving.
The Criteria: (each out of 10)
1. Close analysis and understanding of the chosen text 9
2. Ability to interpret text in response to the task 9
3. Control of the conventions of the English language 10
Yes, this doesn't look like a bad mark on the surface, but a lot of students got 26+/30 who don't write anything original, and don't usually show much depth of thought. Point and click. (This is not an assumption - I have proof read their work in the past)That sounds frustrating and unjust, but short of some Freaky-Friday-teacher-student-brain-swap, there's nothing you can do to change other people's marks. Most of the time, students like this get the marks they deserve at the end of the year when exam criteria comes into play, so I wouldn't worry about it for now. The only thing that's in your control is your own score, so just do what you can to beat your own record rather than other peoples'.
Typically, Criteria 1 and 2 are my strengths! (based on feedback from past few years) I'm better at thinking about, and exploring a topic than using long and fancy vocab - yet I lost marks for the first 2, and actually got full marks for criteria 3. Both my second and third (especially third) paragraphs were original - something the examiners supposedly look for - no one else would have had the 'same' ideas.Firstly, your strengths will likely fluctuate, and whilst it's good you're aware of what you're confident in, you won't always be losing marks in the same area every time. Secondly, yes the examiners look for originality (and yes, your method is definitely preferable to the passive 'Yes, because A B and C' approach a lot of other students take) but that's more of a secondary component of the criteria. No. 1 is RELEVANCE! Id what you're writing isn't relevant, you could be doing absolutely everything else perfectly but that wouldn't matter.
English is meant to reward people who thinkEnglish is meant to do a lot of things. Unfortunately English is run by English teachers who are flawed at best and downright petty at worst. I'm not saying this to make you cynical or pessimistic, but you need to be aware of this subject's... subjectivity. For the most part, if you're hitting the criteria then you're safe, but you'll still be relying on the assessors to recognise what you're doing is right.
and my frustration is that I believe thinking cost me marks here - my argument was original, it was relevant and showed logic and depth of thought. But the marks I got lead me to believe that I was penalised because I branched out from the topic. According to my markers, I didn't 'interpret' the prompt properly. Again, if specifics are required - either because you don't understand what I'm asking, or because you're sceptical (I'm not concerned if you are) - I will provide.If you want a second/exam-based opinion I'm happy to offer one, but the most helpful thing to do at this juncture would be to talk to your teacher/markers whenever possible. Even if it turns out what you're doing is completely acceptable from an exam point of view, you'll still have three or four more in-house SACs to complete where you're writing for your teachers, not the examiners. It appears you're in the unfortunate situation of needing to learn two ways of writing; one that hits your teacher's preferences, and an objectively 'safe' way to write for the end of the year. Luckily the two shouldn't be too radically different (your teacher hasn't given you fours when you deserved tens) but you'll still need to split your mindset between these two modes of writing.
When language analysis articles contain quotes, are we supposed to analyse the persuasive devices within that quote?You can discuss the fact that the author chooses to include a certain quote, but in terms of conducting an analysis on what the author of the quote was intending, then no.
...considering the reasonably high marks that some other students got, I honestly believe I was marked much more stringently.This might have been intentional. Again, I'm not your teacher so I don't know what standards they're using, but I do know that not every teacher applies the same objective end-of-year standards to all students. Some people benefit from ridiculously high (even unattainable?) standards as this encourages them to work harder; others prefer to be given credit for every minor improvement they make in order to show them what they need to do to change the mark. (Basically one group of people will prefer to get 6/10 all year from an exam perspective and then gradually work up to 10/10, whereas others like getting 10/10 from a March/April perspective, and then having the criteria and standards change as they do.) To give your teacher the benefit of the doubt, perhaps s/he ismarking you by different standards, but is doing this deliberately for the sake of your improvement ???
Usually when I write, I land somewhere in the middle of the given essay topic. Which is sort of what happened in the SAC. But would this be a problem generally - do you need to ultimately agree/disagree with a prompt?Think of it like a spectrum:
In response to your suggestion about going through it with my teacher - I will do that, but it will be useless.Do it anyway.
All my teacher will do is point out some areas that she thinks don't have good enough expression. To which I will respond by reminding her that I got full marks for expression.... I actually asked her if I could take the essay to another teacher (who I've had in previous years) - she didn't allow it....Trust me, I totes know where you're coming from on the 'unhelpful teacher' front; sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and be a tad manipulative. Without sounding too judgmental, is there a chance your teacher took your request to get a second opinion as an insult about her own impartiality or competence? There is a world of difference between approaching a teacher and saying 'Hey Miss, I know I've done fairly well on this SAC but I was wondering if you could clarify a few points for me... you said I've used poor expression in these places: do you have any strategies or examples so I can do this better?' and 'Hey Miss, I don't think this SAC mark is what I deserve; mind if I go next door and consult with this other teacher who I like better?' I'm sure you weren't that obvious, but still, think about the questions you're asking. (Make them as specific as the ones you're asking here - because these are spot on!) Your first priority is remaining on your teacher's good side; your second priority is getting her to answer your questions and help you... but you can't get the second without the first.
Medea suggests that the world is depressing and chaotic, where evil triumphs and innocence suffers.Hmm... this is clunkily worded...
To what extent do you agree?
But once again, I would say the strength of this essay is that it's original, and explores the topic with a bit of depth.Relevance > Originality every time. You don't want to focus too much on originality because after a point it just gets risky. There's no requirement to blow the assessor's mind with a never-before-seen interpretation; it's enough to talk about the prompt with sophistication and in a way that flows logically. Based on the few Medea essays I've read so far, I'd say your interpretation is pretty standard (which is not in any way a bad thing; it just means that you won't necessarily stand out on that level alone.) And you shouldn't want to. The markers can't give you full credit for all the little things you're doing right if you've totally shell-shocked them with a world view they've never considered before, so rather than reaching for the stars, think of your English essays like neat little criteria-fulfilling devices that are being programmed to do everything the assessor wants. Originality is a very small part of that very big picture.
Ways to "spice" up context essays
My English teacher has told me that assessors do not like "straight" essays and that they are pushing more more creative/imaginative pieces.
I was wondering, are there any good ways to integrate some "salt and pepper" into a plain essay, as these are what I am comfortable writing?
I believe the assessors are pushing creativity, but this doesn't necessarily mean they want people to write in a completely imaginative style.
It depends how radically you want to change what you're doing at the moment; if your expository skills are bang on, then it would just be 'salt and pepper' seasoning, as you put it, that could help you stand out. But if your pieces are lacking development or complexity, then these creative elements would require more careful thought and might be trickier to implement straight away.
Some options: (mainly focusing on what to do structurally; let me know if you need clarification with content as well)
- bookend
For those who aren't familiar with what a 'bookend' is:
(http://img.designswan.com/2010/01/bookEnd/2.jpg)
They're basically devices for keeping a stack of books together on a shelf, with or without stylised designs like above. In essay terms, this translates to doing something at the start and at the end of your piece that 'holds it all together,' so to speak. It could be just a brief quote or idea, or it could be an entire paragraph, but the aim is to have something that frames your piece by being on either end of your essay.- 'thread'/weaving
This is similar to bookending, only it will occur constantly. In essence you have a 'thread' that is continually woven back and forth throughout your piece (which also serves to 'hold things together' and provide cohesion.) For instance, you might maintain a focus on a certain culture, eg. Malaysia, so that all of your examples revolve around this idea.
--> P1: Dutch colonisation and how their culture changed; P2: military culture (compulsory army service at age ~17 I think); P3: globalisation and its impact on more remote lifestyles ... obvs haven't lined to the context here, and you could use supplementary points where needed, eg. juxtapose their colonisation with more/less brutal ones in other nations.- reincorporation
Kind of the halfway point between a bookend and a thread; this is where you bring up a similar idea/quote/point/metaphor/thing a couple of times, but give it a different meaning each time. It shouldn't be as in-depth as a properly woven 'thread,' but it also doesn't have to occur just at the start and the end like a bookend does.- interpolation
Also known as 'interruption' or 'criss-crossing' where you are essentially writing two pieces (eg. a normal expository essay + a creative POV short story) but you alternate between paragraphs. If done properly, this should result in a dual piece that explores similar concepts in two different ways, ie. the expository sections takes care of the necessary theorisation and links to context, and the creative parts show these ideas in practice.- blend
This one's really open ended, but it essentially just means turning a purely expository piece into more of a hybrid (which is gradable; there are different levels of 'hybridisation' so you don't have to go all in.) Often this is where news feature articles or creative background contexts (as in, pretending you're a war correspondent or a major world leader) come into play.
If any of these pique your interest and you want more info or some examples of how they work, let me know and I'll try and hunt down some of my old pieces or other links :)
Is it possible to over analyse in language analysis? Such as over analysing what the effect of a particular technique has on the audience?I was also wondering the same. My language analysis doesn't really have a grouped structure but instead from top to bottom to build up the intended effect which positions the readers to do something overall... My teacher said that it depends on the significance of the effect and suggested I pick out the predominant persuasive techniques.
Is it possible to over analyse in language analysis? Such as over analysing what the effect of a particular technique has on the audience?Yes, definitely. Though there's a distinction to be drawn between over analysis and wrong analysis.
I was also wondering the same. My language analysis doesn't really have a grouped structure but instead from top to bottom to build up the intended effect which positions the readers to do something overall... My teacher said that it depends on the significance of the effect and suggested I pick out the predominant persuasive techniques.If you're looking for a means of structuring things, I can recommend the key player method (check the first post in this thread for links to explanations - then you can get back to me if anything doesn't make sense.)
Okay turns out the examples I had from Year 12 aren't as great as I remembered :p looking through them now there's so much stuff that looks clunky and out of place, so I might just write up a new one over the weekend so I can demonstrate the different ways of doing things. I'll post it in the Resource & samples thread when I'm done :)
Okay turns out the examples I had from Year 12 aren't as great as I remembered :p looking through them now there's so much stuff that looks clunky and out of place, so I might just write up a new one over the weekend so I can demonstrate the different ways of doing things. I'll post it in the Resource & samples thread when I'm done :)Hello, so I take it from "Be the system to beat the system" that you adhered to the structure (assumption) set by your school or was not far off? If so, was your ability to do a comparative analysis much simpler when you followed the normal structure?
Hi,Will upload on Saturday with the other bits and pieces :)
Did you by any chance have a hybrid essay or a feature article? I'm looking at doing one for context
If you could upload one or PM me one that would be great :)
Hello, so I take it from "Be the system to beat the system" that you adhered to the structure (assumption) set by your school or was not far off? If so, was your ability to do a comparative analysis much simpler when you followed the normal structure?I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'normal structure,' but yes, I caved to the recommendations my school provided (though admittedly I got lucky with my teacher and he was pretty chill about our individual approaches) and the way I wrote in the exam was slightly different, but not by much.
The thing is, with my structure of language analysis, there's no comparison of the techniques or key arguments but more a comparison of the approach, intended effect and positioning... Would I be better off trying the standard structure?
Thanks.
Will upload on Saturday with the other bits and pieces :)
#still writing year 12 essays to procrastinate from writing uni essays.....
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'normal structure,' but yes, I caved to the recommendations my school provided (though admittedly I got lucky with my teacher and he was pretty chill about our individual approaches) and the way I wrote in the exam was slightly different, but not by much.
In terms of comparison, it really isn't a big deal. There aren't any marks assigned to it, and you should never compare at the expense of analysis. In fact many of the exams in previous years (5/7 in the current study design, actually) haven't involved any comparison between different articles at all - it's just been one core text and then one or two visuals. The only exceptions were 2011 *spits* and 2014 which is probably a better one to practice :)
When you do need to compare articles, you can either do it by transitioning between them by commenting on their overall contention (ie. Author A argues ____, whereas Author B disagrees and instead suggests ____) or you can find a connection on the language/technique level and say 'Author A uses _____ in order to... However, Author B uses a different technique to the same effect//or// uses the same technique to a different effect.'
There's no inherent advantage in doing it one way or the other, and so long as your piece shows an awareness of both levels (ie 1. the broad, big picture contentions and sub-arguments and 2. the close features and language employed by the author(s)) then you should be fine.
Hope that answers your question, though I don't know what 'standard structure' you're referring to. If it's the key player method I mentioned, that's not technically 'standard;' it's just what I wholeheartedly recommend as being the most efficient way to order your essay, whether you need to do comparative analysis or not :)
How important is a sophisticated vocabulary, in order to do well on the English exam? :)
If you had a normal vocabulary but well-written pieces with good ideas etc, would the fact that you aren't the most sophisticated of writers, be a major issue?
Because often teachers tell me I am too verbose, and that I would be better off and clearer if I used simpler words, but when I read high-scoring sample responses, or even examples from teachers - the wording does tend to be quite sophisticated?
Thanks!
How important is a sophisticated vocabulary, in order to do well on the English exam? :)
If you had a normal vocabulary but well-written pieces with good ideas etc, would the fact that you aren't the most sophisticated of writers, be a major issue?
Because often teachers tell me I am too verbose, and that I would be better off and clearer if I used simpler words, but when I read high-scoring sample responses, or even examples from teachers - the wording does tend to be quite sophisticated?
Thanks!
Will upload on Saturday with the other bits and pieces :)
#still writing year 12 essays to procrastinate from writing uni essays.....
I need to write a persuasive essay on the prompt, "In conflict, anything is justifiable" I need some help on external resources I can use to support this prompt
I was just wondering, for language analysis, if I get 4 or 5 texts (short), 2 with the same contention and 2 with the opposing contention, and one that is an image on its own, can I say the image supports both contentions or do I have to choose one?
Just a bit confused on what to do! Im writing a practise essay and I'm not sure if I can use the image for both contentions...
Sorry, my bad. "Standard" structure was referring to the key argument-based analysis' or technique-based analysis'. I've never heard of one based on key players... Would you be mixing up the arguments and the techniques to show their intended effect on the audience? So like a build up?Yes, it's essentially a 'build up' of analysis so it gives your piece a bit of direction - meaning you don't have to just float between random points of analysis and you can comment on overall persuasion by the end. It's not necessarily like 'mixing up the arguments' though; if anything you're structuring by argument (eg. one para on how the author manipulates the idea of censorship, one paragraph on how he wants us to feel about governmental responsibility, and one on the idea of freedom and security.)
Open question to everybody.DO IT!!! I'm a sucker for these kinds of metaphors/puns/all-round-bad-humour, so that sort of stuff can work wonders for making your writing more engaging.
What are your views/ recommendations about the use of comparisons and analogies in context pieces.
For example, studying encountering conflict, would I be able to successfully compare people to trees. ie. if someone is rooted in the place that they grew up in with their beliefs passed to them by their fore-bearers, they are unlikely to change their views, which in turn leads to long lasting conflict
etc.
I am not sure where to look for the files you have uploaded in particular the hybrid essay / feature article. Could you please direct me to where they are :)Yeah, so... my precious little laptop gave itself an aneurysm and so the drafts I had are now on a hard drive I'm desperately trying to recover. Or, more accurately, a hard drive that my tech-inclined mate is desperately trying to recover while I prod him with sticks. I'm on a phone at the moment so writing whole essays isn't really an ideal option.
What exactly goes into an expository essay, and what's the structure like?That's a little like asking 'what exactly goes into a cake'?
My sac is next week and I have not yet written any practice essays, nor any form of practice. Where can I start? I mean my teacher hasn't given us any prompts so thats a disadvantage.
My sac is next week and I have not yet written any practice essays, nor any form of practice. Where can I start? I mean my teacher hasn't given us any prompts so thats a disadvantage.
I totally understand because (especially for my evil enemy Context >:() I always felt like this soon before English SACs.
Chansena's advice is great. Firstly you should have some background ideas and examples - from the text and external - about your context, a step that always overwhelmed me so I got into context SACs clueless. This close to the SAC, I wouldn't stress so much about this, as I think you need to practise planning and writing an essay. See Lauren's list of examples to help you. When the SAC is over, please start researching for the future.
For prompts, see Re: Prompts and Sample Language Analysis Articles. With a really long list of prompts, I never knew which to start with. So I'd put them in a numbered list, and then use a random integer generator to randomly select one. I suggest you decide to do say 10 plans + 2 full essays/pieces before the SAC (that was arbitrary, do however many you want/can), and randomly select prompts for these. (Obviously cross off a prompt once you've done it).
Plans are great. If you're doing expository, brainstorm the prompt, trying to think of it from all angles, etc. etc., and trying to throw in examples from your text and external examples. Then gather your notes into a proper plan: write your contention, your 3-4 main ideas, and then dot-point how each paragraph will run - the examples you'll use, and what you'll draw out of them etc. The more detailed you do it, the more valuable it is. But it's not as scary or time-consuming as actually writing an essay. It's crucial to write lots of plans and/or essays, since you'll be exposed to a random prompt in the SAC and have to actually write it. Doing lots of random samples beforehand really helps boost your confidence and skills.
Finally, don't think it's too late to do anything and panic. Write a list of what you want to achieve before the SAC (i.e. specific things, like 'write 5 detailed plans on randomly selected prompts') and tick them all off as you go. Remember, anything you do - even if you just write one essay or come up with one external example the night before - is still going to be beneficial. Try not to feel so overwhelmed that you don't even start. I totally understand how tempting it is to do this, but breaking it down into small specific steps can help :). Come up with something to do EVERY DAY between now and then.
EDIT: inserted a couple of smileys to make you feel better :D
An intelligent and well constructed Language Analysis that demonstrates a very high understanding of persuasive techniques and how these devices are used to position readers.
The introduction contains all of the necessary information required in this kind of essay. The contention and tone are clearly and accurately identified.
The body paragraphs offer a thoughtful analysis of specific words and phrases and the manner in which they are used in an attempt to persuade
Excellent analysis of the visual material
The essay does not contain a concluding paragraph. This has affected the overall grade.This is strange. I have been told before that All marks in language analysis come from the analysis. I did conclude my essay my summarizing the last techniques the author used and how readers were made to feel after they read the opinion piece.
The written expression is sophisticated and highly fluent
Does this make sense:
We cannot see ultraviolet radiation, nor x rays, for our cones are not sensitive to thee
don't think I used thee in the right context, but it sounds right :D
Is there a way to improve on this issue?I'm literally not Lauren, so wait for her to answer properly :-\ All I can say is to write some essays, and then afterwards imagine you're the tutor and go through and tear it apart. Don't stress about finding ways to FIX the issues, just try to FIND the issues. Then go to the tutor, get them to go over your issues, check if you've got them right, and ask for their help in fixing them. Repeat this again and again - always try to find your own issues before you ask the tutor to point them out. Before long, you'll be more aware of them as you write.
Received a B+ on my Language Analysis :-[ Absolutely devastated.
Can anyone please for the love of god tell me that the comments I received suggest I should have got a much higher grade? I feel like my teacher has legitimately slapped me in the face...after all that hard work to receive a bloody B+ in a damn year 11 essay...
My teacher says that we must mention persuasive techniques in the introduction; how can this be accomplished without listing?
For IDB I'm trying to think of an example for yes ones identity and belong is shaped constantly.For the first instance, think about whether you'd consider yourself the same person now compared to who you were three years ago. Now would you say there was a dramatic shift in your identity at some point, or did you just gradually change in little increments every time? And for the second, you could consider any 'good person gone bad' stories or examples whereby someone who was once very moral, considerate, and level-headed then becomes callous, foolish, or naive.
and an example for yes ones identity does change but for the worst
I cant think of an external / real world example, event / quotes .
Any ideas ?
For context is it bad to have the first sentence being a quote (expository essay)? It's a general broad quote not about my text, but the context and the prompt more generallyThat would be fine so long as you used it well. Most essays that open with quotes tend to just stick something profound that they googled before the SAC right at the start, and then write a piece that doesn't deal with the kinds of ideas that the quote raised.
Could someone please explain what is meant by the persuasive technique of 'rationalisation' in language analysis?It depends on the context. The word itself means 'to make rational' (obviously from 'rational' + '-ise' + 'ation') so on the surface it would be used to refer to when the author makes something seem rational. This could be in the form of justification (eg. 'The author rationalises the concept of fearing change and explains that it is a natural human instinct.') Alternatively, the author might be reasoning or showing the logic behind something (eg. the equivalent of 'showing your workings' in maths: 'The government isn't allowing these people access to basic needs, and if those basic needs aren't met, they will die. So how can we support a government that knowingly allows people to die?') This'll usually be present in the form of 'leading logic' where the author creates this chain of A --> B --> C --> D etc. and implies that the final result is a natural, unavoidable consequence of A (eg. if I don't buy a 24 pack of pens for my exam, I might run out of pens, then I won't be able to finish, then I'll fail Year 12, then my parents will disown me, then I'll be forced to live on the streets, then I'll have to eat pigeons to survive. So if I don't buy these pens, I'll have to eat a pigeon. QED.) It's obviously a fallacy, but it's very common in Language Analysis pieces :)
:) Thanks
Hey Lauren,For Macbeth, as well as many Shakespeare tragedies, there's only one real question: who's to blame?
I've finished reading Macbeth for text-response - I used a combination of watching the movie, reading the modern translation while reading the Shakespeare at once and I have a solid understanding of the plot.
What should my next step be? Thanks :)
Hey Lauren :),Sooooo, atarnotes won't let me upload the scans since they're too big >:( If you want, I could email them to you, otherwise I'll try and upload them in the actual Notes section (though I have no idea how soon they'll be published/ when you'll be able to access them though) - sorry!
The resources for Year of wonders would be extremely helpful as I can't seem to find many academic articles on it.
Thanks in advance!
Hi all :)Read.
So I really like English (i.e. reading, writing, debating and communicating etc.) and was wondering if you guys could give me some tips on how I could further my knowledge in the area. I read texts such as The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, The Kite Runner, The Hunger Games, Wild Cat Falling, Autobiographies, non-fiction, the newspaper, and AN essays people have posted up. The biggest issue is that while in english class at school, everyone mucks around and I end up being quite unproductive.. I'm also worried that students at selective schools are getting an unfairly large advantage over me and my low-grade private school..
Any tips/ ideas/ advice?
Thanks!! :)
Anything with an element of uncertainty/mystery or any kind of book that forces you to think, whether it be about the plot or looking at real life society as a whole. I like things related to science but I'm guessing like most people there is a limited amount of pleasure I can draw from pages of chemical formulas and drawn out equations. I autobiographies of doctors in particular and I find adventure fiction pretty neat.
Read.
Read read read read read read read.
There's not much need to read VCE-level essays really, though I suppose you could peruse some Language Analysis or Text Response essays if you really wanted to. Those tend to be rather dry reading though (unless you're an oddball like me.)
What'll really help is reading. Novels of any genre, non-fiction texts on any subject matter - just go for whatever you're interested in. I owe at least half of my study score to the contents of my bookshelves.
The best thing you could do for yourself at this stage is to set yourself up with a solid intuition of grammar and sentence composition. Unfortunately, if you try and learn this deliberately, you'll likely just end up confused. Actually "learning" grammar is kind of counter-intuitive; most people are better off picking up on it subconsciously when they take in new information. So as great as it would be if you found a few authors or genres you really enjoy, the more you expose yourself to, the more chances you'll uncover something that will (implicitly) help you later down the line.
If you're really desperate, perhaps suggest a few areas of interest and I might be able to recommend something you like?
what form for context (ie feature article, etc) would be most similar to an essay style expository piece (basically the sample ones on the AN guide or Connect Education guide if seen those)? cause right now all i can write really is a generic expository essay style piece, but this would obviously have no purpose, so i was thinking which would be most similar and easiest to adapt from this essay form.
thanks.
WIth language analysis, is it okay if we refer to certain devices with more specificity?Actually, I'd be even more specific than that! What kind of 'metaphorical imagery' is the writer using? What metaphor is being called upon? Just labeling something 'metaphorical imagery' doesn't tell us much.
For example:
The writer's use of metaphorical imagery causes..
Is it okay to refer to certain devices with verbs?
HELP
I need external ideas for the prompt "Anything is justifiable in conflict"
I need to do an oral presentation on this soon
Thanks Lauren!If you've argued your point effectively, then it's rare for the assessors to take marks off for disagreeing. Of course, this understanding will be strengthened throughout the year, and it'll get to a stage where you know saying something like 'therefore the author attacks other people to make them more sympathetic' is probably unlikely.
Also what if I can pick up a technique, and I think, for example, it's sarcasm being used to draw attention on how ridiculous something is, what if the examiner/marker does not agree with me or does not think that's the reason of the use of sarcasm in that context?
Thanks Lauren, again :P
Where can I get good/interesting (non-pointless) articles where I can read them and annotate so that I can be quick at it!? :)
It depends what you're wanting to practice.
If you need to get better at comprehending contentions and just understanding the author's arguments, then going for shorter texts will be more efficient. The comments section in The Australian (underneath the cartoon, next to the editorials; not the really short/twitter comments on the far right, but the centre of the page that contains Letters to the Editor and other bits and pieces) is quite good for this.
On the other hand, if you need to practice picking out techniques, then you could go for the longer editorials, or perhaps even online magazine articles. Generally though, for the SACs you should seek materials from your teachers (especially SACs from past year levels) and beyond that, for exam practice, you should just use official practice exams.
There's no shortage of company papers (CSE, Insight, Neap, VATE <-- esp. this one) that are really good for practice purposes, or you could even go through the past VCAA exams and see how you fare.
With regards to annotations, it's not all about being quick, though. You kind of need to develop a plan of attack for how you'll approach the task under timed conditions. Are you going to go through the whole article and highlight every single persuasive device you find? How are you going to structure your essay? Will you write whole words/sentences in your annotations so you can refer back to them, or will you just write really brief reminders to yourself so as to devote as much time to the essay as possible? Often the people who do extensive annotations aren't actually being as efficient as they could. As a practice exercise, doing heaps of annotations can help you get used to recognising what you need to analyse, but be smart about the process. Don't just annotate for the sake of doing so - work out what's most helpful to you and take things from there :)
Thanks Lauren, again!
What would you recommend for a beginner? Short or long ones? :)
hey lauren,That section you've bolded would probably be one of the bits you'd leave out in analysis. That's not to say there isn't some worthwhile language to discuss, but it just doesn't seem very central to the argument. Most of it is just an outline about the history of the process that serves as a backdrop for the 'new idea.' Overall, this doesn't seem like a very persuasive piece though. It's more like the sort of thing you'd see in a scientific journal than a VCAA exam :)
I'm reading this article:
and i'm not quite sure what the author is trying to say about the 'artificial haemoglobin' in comparison to the new stem cel ideology.
I get that the article is trying to lead readers more into the stem cell version, because they say its the 'new idea', but they didn't really say what's wrong with the 'artificial haemoglobin' version. is it just presented there for the author to seem like she knows her science?
How should you break down a text response prompt and then answer it?There is no 'one' breakdown and there is no 'one' structure. In fact, it's better if you build off what you know and try to shape that into something suitable than adopt someone else's methods completely. There are some recommendations on the first page of this thread, and you could always read practice essays to get a sense for what works well and what doesn't, but ultimately there are so many things you could do right and wrong, sometimes it's best to just sump in and work on little things gradually rather than trying to formulate a fool-proof format before you know your own strengths and weaknesses.
What structure should i be looking as a guideline to my writing?
Hi Lauren,
Regarding shortening quotes, my teacher says to shorten them to 5 or 6 words but I'm finding it hard to shorten quotes from "Maus". I find that if I try to shorten them, I lose the a lot of the significant of the quote so it doesn't prove the point I'm trying to make.
Also, for remembering quotes, should I write the quotes under categories of themes or categories of what the character says?
Thanks
In general, how do you go about memorizing quotes? Do you just sit down a stare at them for ages, or is there a technique you use? Also, how many quotes should I try and memorise for each text that I'm studying?I'll deal with these together since it seems like there's some overlap.
Thanks Lauren for the thorough reply,So for that first quote, you'd probably want to concentrate on the last part that sounds a bit like a threat: "then you could see what it is friends" and perhaps the bit before that as context. But this is a great idea of where paraphrasing can come in handy, eg. The character declares that "if you lock them together in a room', only then would their true loyalties be revealed. That way, you're capturing the essence of the quote without using the whole thing.
A couple of the quotes are:
”Friends? Your friends...? If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week...then you could see what it is friends."
"It sounds like you're feeling remorse - maybe you believe you exposed your father to ridicule... And now that you're becoming successful, you feel bad about proving your father wrong."
Also, this might sound silly but do I have to include the page number in the quote and should I remember the entire quoted or a shortened version of the quote?
Thanks again!
^Not answering, just linking you to another of Lauren's posts for more advice on quotes :): Re: English Q&AFor a very brief overview, watching the commercial news (probably Channel 9, or The 7pm Project or w/e it's called nowadays) will give you a quick and often slightly skewed run-down of current stories. However, on busy news days, this often isn't sufficient to get a full sense of the interesting stories, and on slow news days, you have to watch a lot of dull filler like 'studies have shown brunettes are more likely to be good at tennis' or 'this family bought a puppy today' shout-out to the first 30 seconds of this
But far more important (:P) is my own question: I want to start reading the news to get some vague understanding of what's going on in the world. I'm the most ignorant current-events person you've ever met. But I don't know where to start - I don't know what sites to look at, or how to cope with the fact that I start reading an article and don't have the slightest clue of what's going on because I have no background. Can you point me to any good (+ free) site or newsfeed or give me any newspaper-reading advice Lauren?
Thought I'd throw the question here because reading the news is great for language analysis and external examples for context (not that I ever did it). Thankye kindly, your help is always much appreciated!
What's been the usual A or A+ cut off for unit 3 and 4? Just wondering and cant seem to find it anywhere
what form best suits the below purpose of writing (for context):It does depend on which type you are better at doing. It is likely that most people will do expository essays in the exam or for SACs. So less individuals will do imaginative and persuasive styled essays. I have heard from our school that an ordinary expository will get less marks than an ordinary creative or persuasive. However, saying that the other two forms are also tough. And also, remember that a good essay is a good essay regardless of the style that you use. If you write a good expository essay, you will get a good mark. Simple as that :)
so i'm writing an expository piece in which i am explaining the reasons for different ideas of the topic (ie conflict occurs between the powerful and powerless). -so some of my ideas are that since the powerful wants to maintain power they will dismiss any ideas that contradict them, and these ideas of contradiction usually come from the powerless individuals of society. so i would go on and explain why this happens, since like it is human nature to have a greed for power.... and then use set text to provide evidence of this. and then provide an evaluation of the consequences of such conflict. Then provide a solution/ action of what we individuals should do in the future/ why thus conflict cannot be erased and will keep lingering on in society and thus the consequences we individuals have to face.
(thanks for the advice).
and is it acceptable to write an expository essay for context?? Since the audience, form, language choice and purpose must relate.You certainly may write an expository. Just ensure that you state your audience, form, language choice and purpose clearly in the statement of intention, and also refer to your text and key ideas. As long as you follow your SOI, your essay should be good given that it does explore the key ideas in the text.
Can anyone give me some oral topics please? My oral presentation is in the first week of term 3 and I have not yet started :(
^ I decided a couple of days ago to start marking stuff (that is, from now onwards, not catching up on past ones); I've always thought I wasn't good enough, but while my marking won't be high calibre, hopefully it'll be still helpful in pointing out major issues. So go for it occasionally, I'll give it a go if I have time. Can't hurt if you post and don't get a response, anyway. How about you try giving bits of feedback to others? You'd learn a lot out of that yourself, and give the board a boost! :DWell said!
Anyway, PLEASE READ ALL THIS ADVICE as it is the most important thing I could ever say to a year 12. You get way more out of the year if you work actively for yourself, rather than relying on being spoonfed or giving up because you're 'disadvantaged' by your SES/school/teachers/parents/situation. I followed this advice for my 3 best subjects (which was why they became my top subjects), and felt totally on top of them; but I didn't for English ==> was completely unsure, confused and terrified; I kept harping on the fact that "I didn't know" and "I didn't have enough resources" (I hadn't really looked at AN, unfortunately).
OK, so. I understand it's frustrating having limited resources (I couldn't afford to pay anything other than school fees for English), but the most valuable skill you can learn is being able to teach yourself with the resources you've got (actually, you have access to more than you think, it just depends on how you use it). Because if you can learn what is required of a good essay, you'll then be able to see your own strengths and weaknesses by yourself.
- Read VCAA exam reports and know the criteria inside out
- Read through advice threads in the Eng resources thread, and at VCE study guides etc. (there's a ridiculous amount of free stuff if you just search for it!), and watch vTextbook; don't just read/watch, actively take notes
- Critically go through high scoring responses; break down their arguments into detailed dot-points; watch how they do topic sentences; steal phrases or ways of expressing themselves really clearly; go through how they're different to yours; and so on. Pull 'em apart.
- Go through feedback given to other essays (i.e. read through the Compilation of Text Response/Context/Lang Analysis Feedback stickies in the Work Submission board). In all probability, you will have fallen into the same pitfalls or have the same high points as some of the markers point out to other people. You can learn SOOO much to apply to yourself!!! TAKE NOTES. It's almost as good as direct feedback on your own, since Ned Nerb and Darvell gave great feedback.
- Read through Lauren's 50 in English, available for queries :) and this year's Q&A; sure, skip irrelevant stuff, but I tell you there is sooo much gold that you don't want to miss like I did last year. And again, taken notes.
Essentially what I'm saying is, actively use your resources. If you really try, you can teach yourself how to write a good essay, and what things to avoid. You can teach yourself how to mark your own work and find your own issues. (Never just write an essay without critically self-marking). If you find a problem you can't solve, ask about it in this thread. And use that occasional 'true' feedback from other experts to help you become even more of an expert!
Finally, try essay-swapping. Give your friend an essay to mark, and you mark one of theirs. Sure, it won't be the best feedback, but you'll be able to help each other; and actually, marking other people's work really helps you discover faults and try to come up with ways to fix them.
tl;dr (though I hope you did read >:( :P): RELY ON YOURSELF, and actively use the resources you already have to teach yourself: AN, high-scoring essays, feedback on essays in the WM&S board, Lauren's Q&A threads, etc.
P.S. Some day I will learn the skill of writing a short post. Some day.
Well said!
Is this applicable to a Year 10 student? I've been trying to do what you've stated above and tried using their language used within their essays but I find that I'm trying to drastically write an essay that I'm capable right now. I also find that I can't fully understand interpret VCE study guides and then applying the knowledge becomes essentially impossible.
Additionally, I have an english exam in a week and it's a text response. I've decided to prepare earlier than my class since I don't think I'll be prepared if I go at my teachers pace. I've found a T.R structure Essay Formula- Text Response and will probably just follow this until the end of VCE. Good idea?
I've also lost my trust in my teacher and now find myself disregarding her information about essay structure as I think she's just trying to teach us how to write like a normal Year 10 student. Although, this could obviously work against me, should I just listen to her?
Does anyone have a structure for persuasive writing for context? I have no idea how to write a persuasive essay, and it seems like I've forgotten everything to do with context because I don't know where to start.The structure of a persuasive piece will depend largely on what form you choose to write in (e.g. speech, opinion piece, etc.) However, you will be required to create and build upon an argument so it should contain the following:
And for an imaginative/creative piece, how do we relate it to the main text we discussed in class? Does it have to relate to it, and be of a characters point of view, or can we just write a creative story relating to the prompt alone?For a creative piece, such as a short story, you should be drawing on your selected text in some capacity. For example, if you were studying Identity & Belonging and your selected text was 'Skin' you might choose to draw on this through the use of symbolism (e.g. doll, white/black, segregation, etc.) However, you should never explicitly state your text (e.g ...like in Skin where...) but rather represent the 'big ideas' overtly - make it obvious that your story relates to the context and the ideas studied in your selected text.
Remember to also use your persuasive language techniques!
Thank you so much! That was really helpful!emotive language, repitition, facts, opinions, quotes, triple construction, metaphor, real life examples and placing people in the situation (sort of like retorical questions?)
Is there a specific way to include my techniques? I've only used a rhetorical question so far :'( ... Can you give me a quick example of any other techniques I could include and how to do it?
Is there a specific way to include my techniques? I've only used a rhetorical question so far :'( ... Can you give me a quick example of any other techniques I could include and how to do it?
Hey everyoneI'm not sure if you meant how to begin the presentation or begin preparation. Anyway...
Where/when/how do i start with my oral presentation? I have a topic chosen but have no idea where to start, and how.. :(
I have a text reponse exam next week and I'm confused since my teacher says I have to address this hidden question no matter what. "How does the author create meaning", do I address this in all of my paragraphs including the introduction or do I only have to mention it once?That's a weird way to put it... essentially, it just means that you've got to keep referring to the author and how they are intentionally doing things. They intentionally structure the book the way they do, intentionally choose language, intentionally set up characters in certain ways (e.g. they might make a poor person very likeable, heroic and strong while a rich person is harsh and horrible, to challenge the upper classes' focus on money) etc etc. They also probably have messages to that society or humankind in general. Basically you've just got to be always showing awareness that the author is the driving force behind everything, and they're carefully creating their text to convey their views/values to the audience as powerfully as possible. Though I bet the authors didn't mean 1/100 of the things that students attribute to them :P. Read this post.
Should each of my body paragraphs be saying how the author uses characters and their actions to imply a message or can I talk about a character or theme specifically?
My teacher said to sign post my arguments in my introduction, but obviously at VCE level I shouldn't, or do it so obviously? Do I have to mention what I'll be saying in each paragraph in my intro, or can I just start off with a broad idea in my intros and then focus on specific events in each of my body paragraphs?Huh!? I know I wasn't great at English, but I signposted paragraphs' arguments in the intro... Obviously that doesn't mean writing bland formulaic 'firstly, secondly, finally' statements in the intro and then rehashing them at the start and end of your body paras and in the conclusion; you should mix it up a bit more... but I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with it, I think you'll find yourself getting more and more subtle as you go so don't stress yet.
@Apink!, I didn't answer because it looks kinda silly to state, 'I don't know' :PThanks for clearing up my misconceptions.
That's a weird way to put it... essentially, it just means that you've got to keep referring to the author and how they are intentionally doing things. They intentionally structure the book the way they do, intentionally choose language, intentionally set up characters in certain ways (e.g. they might make a poor person very likeable, heroic and strong while a rich person is harsh and horrible, to challenge the upper classes' focus on money) etc etc. They also probably have messages to that society or humankind in general. Basically you've just got to be always showing awareness that the author is the driving force behind everything, and they're carefully creating their text to convey their views/values to the audience as powerfully as possible. Though I bet the authors didn't mean 1/100 of the things that students attribute to them :P. Read this post.
So it's not a requirement of 'PUT THIS ONCE IN THE INTRO AND ONCE IN EACH PARAGRAPH', it's more changing your overall way of writing to constantly acknowledge authorial intent and reference the messages the author is trying to convey.
Huh!? I know I wasn't great at English, but I signposted paragraphs' arguments in the intro... Obviously that doesn't mean writing bland formulaic 'firstly, secondly, finally' statements in the intro and then rehashing them at the start and end of your body paras and in the conclusion; you should mix it up a bit more... but I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with it, I think you'll find yourself getting more and more subtle as you go so don't stress yet.
I feel like Lauren's mentioned that she wrote pretty vague intros without too much signposting because the ideas just flowed from her mind as she went, but that's just coz she's Lauren ::) :P. Check here for her intro hints.
And note that paragraphs shouldn't be centred so much round EVENTS as IDEAS, read this post for a couple of hints. The events support the ideas.
Hi guys
Im having troubles with how to write up language analysis paragraphs :( I know what to write, but I dont know how to write it
Hi guys
Im having troubles with how to write up language analysis paragraphs :(
What are you caught up on? Can you be more specific?
Hey,From the sounds of things, your teacher seems to be pushing the 'text as a construct' angle that's explained in the post bangali linked above
I have a text reponse exam next week and I'm confused since my teacher says I have to address this hidden question no matter what. "How does the author create meaning", do I address this in all of my paragraphs including the introduction or do I only have to mention it once?
Should each of my body paragraphs be saying how the author uses characters and their actions to imply a message or can I talk about a character or theme specifically?
My teacher said to sign post my arguments in my introduction, but obviously at VCE level I shouldn't, or do it so obviously? Do I have to mention what I'll be saying in each paragraph in my intro, or can I just start off with a broad idea in my intros and then focus on specific events in each of my body paragraphs?
Well I am in the process of writing one up now. We have to compare multiple articles with each other. I have never done this before so I do not know how to structure my paragraphs, and what do I say in the introduction and conclusion?
Thank you coffee (nice name haha :P)
How do you make an expository essay less text response like. Like how is an expository essay different from a text response. Also how would you go about making an expository less dry, and more interesting to the reader so that they are captivated by it. (cause apparently my expository essays are to text response like, but not sure how to change it and also a bit dry.
THanks for the advice.
For the play macbeth, do I refer to the audience as 'viewers', 'playgoers', 'audience' or something else?'Audience' is the conventionally accepted term, with 'playwright' (preferred) or 'author' being used for Shakespeare. You could use 'playgoers'/'theatre-goers' if you wanted, but only in moderation. This'd more likely be the case if you were saying something about Jacobean society at the time, and how those specific theatre-goers in Shakespeare's day would've responded to something; in contrast to how 'audience' members (read: anyone who is viewing the play) could judge a certain character or infer a certain idea.
Just a quick question ::) For Context, how do I explain a quote I've chosen that relates to my prompt as an example?... I know I have to mention the author's name but is there a specific amount about what I have to say about the author or do I just mention his/her name and write the quote and then explain how it relates to the prompt?It depends how well known the person is. If you're quoting, say, John Lennon, then you probably don't have to clarify which John Lennon you're talking about, so specifications like 'Renowned British pop singer, and counter-culture activist John Lennon who was born on...' is going to sound superfluous. However, a brief adjective or two can be a good way to sum up a certain person; eg.
And is a single quote enough for one paragraph? (I know that examples arent meant to take up the whole paragraph)
Any ideas?
Oh and if it helps, im writing a persuasive speech! :)
Also a very straightforward question...I'm of the opinion that having cue cards in front of you is fairly sensible, even if you feel like you've memorised everything entirely... it's a good security blanket in case your brain just flies out the window when you need it most. Also, for someone who never knew what to do with her hands whilst giving a speech unless I had something to hold, it can kind of detract from the awkwardness in a weird psychological-boundary-between-you-and-the-audience sort of way.
I have my English Oral SAC tomorrow. I feel very prepared as I've been refining and practising my speech since the beginning of the term. As a result, I can recite my entire piece without fault (i.e. I've memorised it quite well) to the extent that I can perform it without any cue cards/notes at all. With this being said, I would like to know which would be preferable of two possibilities: should I perform my speech without any aids at all, or should I perform it with cue cards in my hand without necessarily referring to them? I understand this might seem like a ridiculously stupid question, but could the skill of being able to interact/articulate your ideas without any aid make it seem to the assessor as if you're of a higher calibre, or does it make your presentation seem arrogant/disorganised?
The reason I ask it is because, while I would've gone with cards in hand to the actual speech to begin with, I was present at a VCAA Plain English speaking competition today. The winner was commended on his prepared speech above all, particularly for the fact that he did so without any notes. Is this a subjective assessment that the assessor will make, it is objectively better to be able to perform in this manner if you have very good interaction abilities when speaking? Thanks in advance and sorry for the unusually niche nature of this question.
It depends how well known the person is. If you're quoting, say, John Lennon, then you probably don't have to clarify which John Lennon you're talking about, so specifications like 'Renowned British pop singer, and counter-culture activist John Lennon who was born on...' is going to sound superfluous. However, a brief adjective or two can be a good way to sum up a certain person; eg.
In her monumental address to the United Nations summit, then political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi said "quote"
The same can be done for lesser known figures, or even completely random people you found by searching 'quotes about conflict/reality/identity.' We've all done it :P
So long as it doesn't detract from the flow of your speech, you should be fine.
As to the ratio of quotes to examples/explanation, I'm afraid your teacher will have to answer that because it's very subjective. Technically you don't need any quotes at all in Context - you just need 'evidence' of some kind. The most important thing is that your essay is able to find a balance between Context-based discussion, and example-based discussion - how exactly you do this is totally up to you.
I've heard some teachers say things like 'you have to have three or more quotes in every paragraph' while others say 'never use quotes; they're clunky and awful' so definitely check with your teacher to see if they have a hard-and-fast-rule either way. If you're lucky, they'll be cool with whatever you choose, and so it'll be up to you to determine whether your speech feels balanced or not.
ie. does it seem like
a) there are two many quotes and you can't explore them in enough depth, meaning the rest of the speech is compromised because you don't have enough time to talk about the bigger ideas?
b) there aren't enough quotes, so you end up stretching out the ones you do have to the point where you're reading too much into them, or they become sort of over-worked - OR - there aren't enough quotes and the whole thing feels like a stack of huge, lofty ideas with nothing supporting it underneath
or c) none of the above, so pretty much fine :)
I'm wondering if I should remember ideas of our studied text before heading in to an exam or is there something that just sparks your memory in the exam? It seems that I don't fully retain what I read on a less so obvious important part of the novel which may be an issue since I want to write an original essay.
Also, should I be learning the context of the quotes I'll be using in my essay? I found some good quotes on the Internet but have a vague understanding of the context but I do think I can link the quote up to a major theme.
Guys, stressing over my oral :(Hi cosine,
Alcohol advertisements should be banned from being publically viewed. But i have absolutely no ideas/arguments :( Someone pls help me, my oral is in 3 days!
I have a couple of articles that i need to compare which are mainly comprised of just an anecdote the whole way through, and i don't really know how this is persuasive and/or effects the reader. I know this effect is something i should have learned in year 10/11, but i just don't really know what to write about these articles.
Thanks guys :)
Can you identify any PLTs within the anecdote? Has the author used emotive language or hyperbole in his/her retelling of a story? What about sensationalism or irony? Evidence? Bias? Has the author praised or attacked a specific group? Take a look at this PDF http://www.vcestudyguides.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2010/09/Persuasive-Techniques-Insight-Outcomes1.pdf that explains PLTs and their intended effect with examples.Okay thanks :) For one of them, i can't really identify any link to his contention in his anecdote. It does still relate to the issue though. Can i still talk about how he is propositioning the readers to feel about the issue for when he does reveal his contention? It might not make sense without the article here, but thanks for the help anyway. I had that PDF last year and i used it all the time, so thanks for showing me that again :)
Okay thanks :) For one of them, i can't really identify any link to his contention in his anecdote. It does still relate to the issue though. Can i still talk about how he is propositioning the readers to feel about the issue for when he does reveal his contention? It might not make sense without the article here, but thanks for the help anyway. I had that PDF last year and i used it all the time, so thanks for showing me that again :)You can discuss the use of anecdotal evidence as long as it is relevant to the author's attempt to persuade. So if the author uses anecdotal evidence but it doesn't quite relate to the overall contention, but it's essentially setting the audience up to agree; then it is an attempt to persuade the reader to agree with his/her contention. Does that kind of make sense?
Okay thanks :) For one of them, i can't really identify any link to his contention in his anecdote. It does still relate to the issue though. Can i still talk about how he is propositioning the readers to feel about the issue for when he does reveal his contention? It might not make sense without the article here, but thanks for the help anyway. I had that PDF last year and i used it all the time, so thanks for showing me that again :)Coffee is right, so long as you can link the technique to the contention, you're fine. Language Analysis isn't just about pointing out the devices that the author is using; in fact the examiners have recently been *subtly* reminding students that they have to do more than just state 'the author uses a rhetorical question as seen in this quote: "_____".' It's way more important that you make an attempt to talk about how this language is used to persuade. On their own, techniques aren't persuasive. So, an 'analysis' that does nothing but point out a list of techniques with no concept of the overall arguments is going to be literally pointless :)
Hey literally Lauren.We're still working out the time-breakdown so I don't know how long I'll be spending on different areas (most likely 3x45 minute sessions, but idk) so at the moment it's looking like:
Just wondering what will you be covering in the unit 4 headstart lectures for english.
We're still working out the time-breakdown so I don't know how long I'll be spending on different areas (most likely 3x45 minute sessions, but idk) so at the moment it's looking like:
- One session dealing with 'sophisticated' interpretations of Section A texts and how to better your analysis (in both Sections A and C) in order to increase your understanding beyond the surface-level stuff.
- One session about what makes a good contention, incl. how to write proper topic sentences and get a reliable essay structure for all three Sections (though less of Section B since not everyone will be writing a conventional essay with topic sentences; I'll touch on it briefly since I recommend writing a few normal essays even if you do plan to write creatively/persuasively/hybrid-ly, but the focus will again be on A&C primarily)
- On session on improving expression and essay flow; making your writing 'better' regardless of what level you're at and how confident you feel. This'll be geared more so towards Sec. B since 'quality of writing' is a fairly major part of the marking scheme, but it'll have trickle-down effects for the other sections too.
I've been trying to incorporate all of the suggestions people have been sending me, and I'd welcome any more recommendations you have! There'll be time for questions and queries on the day, of course, but judging by the February lectures, I probably won't get a chance to address everyone's concerns - so the more I know beforehand, the more I can cover.
And please don't hesitate to shoot me a message if you think 'oh, it's only a problem for me' or 'she'll probably think this is a stupid question.'
Because a) if you're having trouble with something, chances are, someone else is too. And they're going to be so grateful to know that someone else brought it up and that they're not alone :p Also, you may be aware of a problem that others are experiencing without realising it - so I don't consider it 'time wasted' even if we're dealing with a seemingly small concern.
And b) I spent the first half of Year 12 English in a state of 'meh, this is fine, I'll get by' before caving and asking my teacher 'how the hell do I do any of this??' Then I just spent the next few months asking as many questions, stupid and otherwise, until I reached a point where I felt like I understood the task and how I could best meet the requirements. Self-study can get you far, but unless you know what to do and how to do it, you'll end up kicking yourself at the end of the year - trust me.
Some wisdoms:
(http://www.dailythoughts.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/confucius-quotes-2.jpg)
If I had a prompt:I guess the way you tackle the prompt is no defined way.
"one has little control over one's reality"
What would I discuss in each paragraph, and what would be a good contention?
I can't think of a sophisticated contention, and how to develop this contention coherently in each paragraph.
It's a context expository essay
Thank you in advance! (:
Hey Lauren,
In regards to exploring the possibilities of a prompt, where can we go when we have that 'type' of prompt that has about 3 elements in it, e.g 'Reality is influenced by place, time and people', rather than those ones which are more of a central focus like 'Reality is an ever changing concept'
While I have put a lot of effort this year on focusing of my ability to explore the prompt and not just say I agree because a,b and c, I feel those one's with numerous elements are just forcing me to write:
- Reality is influenced by place
- Reality is influenced by time
- Reality is influenced by people
How can I avoid doing this? Can I just be like stuff you teachers I'm gonna talk about place and then lead that onto another facet of the prompt, but not time or people?
Thanks :D
Anyone ?We'll get to it (I can try to tomorrow) but please don't bump like that after only an hour, people round here do their best to answer quickly but remember it's free help! (and I've got to go to bed -.- :P)
For an expository essay, do I have to actually mention the text that it is based around?
Thanks.
Technically, no. Actually, yes.
The requirement is that you draw ideas from the text in order to aid your discussion; so long as you're dong that, you're fine. The trouble is that this criterion is stupidly vague and I doubt even VCAA could provide a concrete example of what they mean by this. So for safety's sake, I'd advise most people to use an overt link like
'Similar ideas are reflected in Barry Levinson's film 'Wag the Dog' when...' or 'As can be seen in Bertolt Brecht's play 'Life of Galileo'...'
especially for an expository essay where those sorts of links can be done smoothly, without disrupting the flow of something like a creative narrative of a speech.
If you're in the same position I was in that you don't want to write about the set text, or find other ideas waaaaaaaay more interesting, just get it out of the way really quickly. Unpack some key ideas from the text in your first paragraph, then you can move on to better territory afterwards :)
First body paragraph :)
Bur if you're doing something slightly creative, you're free to use the text in your intro as well. Many students like to adopt the voice of the author or a character and do a mini-imaginative piece for the intro and conclusion.
In 'traditional' expository pieces, the intro is just for opening up your ideas, but starting off with examples is a great way of capturing the reader's interest; it just depends what your strengths are and what you're willing to experiment with. :)
When I did my context SAC (Unit 1/2) a few weeks ago, I aced it and received full marks. I wrote it as an Imaginative/Expository TV interview, which worked really well for me.Hi, I'm not overly sure about the introduction, but I would think that that is allowed as it does give the examiner insight to what you'll speak of since they don't have any prior information about it. I would personally have started mine of with dialogue in an interview transcript.
However, on my English exam the other day, I wrote a standard expository essay, and I feel like it limited my ability to express my ideas; resulting in a poor performance.
As I progress through VCE English, should I stick with the TV interview format, or should I experiment around a little?
Also, if I were to stick with the interview/dialogue format, how should I start the piece. On my SAC I wrote a little paragraph at the start, something like:
The following is a television transcript from an interview conducted between (Person 1) and (Person 2), originally broadcast on the (Television Network) on (Current affairs program) at (Time) on the (Date):
This intro didn't feel right. Should I alter it, or just leave it out altogether?
In context, how much of our nominated text do we need to draw from?It depends on your style of writing.
I was very confused, do we need to have at least 25% of our writing to be based on our selected text?
Are a few references enough?
How much do we need to 'satisfy requirements' ?
When analysing and writing about the visual in language analysis, say I have 3 articles in the piece (one main one and two comments), what do i have to include? Like do I need to only write about the main article and it's relation to the image (since it would have been published to aid their argument/persuasion)? Thankyou!You definitely have to include an analysis of the visual with respect to its accompanying article. As for the other two comments:
In an exam, is it wise to include quotes form the article, into the introduction of a language analysis essay?Don't have anything too big quoted in the intro, maybe one or two quoted words/phrases, but try to keep most stuff for the analysis.
Also how long does the english exam go for, and we need to write 3 essays right?
In an exam, is it wise to include quotes form the article, into the introduction of a language analysis essay?My teacher said to include a couple of quotes, I think Lauren says not to. Take your pick :P (lol love the way I'm starting to quote Lauren at every turn). In the end I think it's a matter of personal choice, but don't put in more than 1-2 and make sure they're integrated very smoothly.
Also how long does the english exam go for, and we need to write 3 essays right?
My teacher said to include a couple of quotes, I think Lauren says not to. Take your pick :P (lol love the way I'm starting to quote Lauren at every turn). In the end I think it's a matter of personal choice, but don't put in more than 1-2 and make sure they're integrated very smoothly.
15 mins reading time, 3 hours writing. Yes - one TR, one context, and one LA. Definitely check out a couple of past exams to get a feel for the layout and how it all works.
EDIT: beaten by SP :(
In an exam, is it wise to include quotes form the article, into the introduction of a language analysis essay?My logic is that the only time you should be quoting in L.A. is to analyse. If you're not analysing a quote, then it's there for summary, and summary is useless. (Note: not wrong, just useless. You don't lose marks for it, but you don't gain any either.) But you're not meant to be analysing anything in the intro, you're just introducing the piece and its contention. So if you were bringing up quotes and analysing them, then it's no longer an intro... more of a body paragraph.
Also how long does the english exam go for, and we need to write 3 essays right?
Thanks guys :DKnow what you're doing well and badly at the moment. Use teacher feedback, but also be your own critic. What do you find easiest or most difficult? And as always, be as specific as possible if you want to be efficient with your improvement.
How can I prepare myself for the english exam? What can I do now to ensure I can improve that when come exam time, or study periods, I don't panic (hopefully) and will feel optimistic about the exam?
Also do you recommend on doing the essay that im the weakest on during the exam first, or the one im best at?
My logic is that the only time you should be quoting in L.A. is to analyse. If you're not analysing a quote, then it's there for summary, and summary is useless. (Note: not wrong, just useless. You don't lose marks for it, but you don't gain any either.) But you're not meant to be analysing anything in the intro, you're just introducing the piece and its contention. So if you were bringing up quotes and analysing them, then it's no longer an intro... more of a body paragraph.
And yes, Prodigy is right; the exam time averages to one essay per hour, but that doesn't mean you have to stick to the same time breakdown. If you only need 50 minutes to write a good Context piece, then you can give yourself an extra 10 minutes to deal with Language Analysis, if that was your weakness.
Know what you're doing well and badly at the moment. Use teacher feedback, but also be your own critic. What do you find easiest or most difficult? And as always, be as specific as possible if you want to be efficient with your improvement.
Exam order should be either CAB or CBA (where Section A is T.R., B is Context, C is L.A.) I am yet to hear a convincing argument for any other order.
The majority of your reading time will be spent on the L.A. material, since you only have three other half-sentences to read: two T.R. prompts, of which you will choose one, and then the Context prompt. So if you spend ~13 minutes going through the L.A. material, and then write a T.R. essay first only to go back to L.A. second/third, you're essentially wasting time just transitioning between the different pieces. Get L.A. out of the way while it's all fresh in your mind; what you do after that is up to you. I usually advocate doing T.R. first since you have to use memorised quotes, whereas Context is a lot more fluid. AND if you're severely running out of time, you don't have to abide by any formal structure for Context, unlike in T.R. where you're expected to have 3 or 4 paragraphs + an intro and concl. But in the end, I went with CBA just because the Section B prompt was atrocious and I wanted to get it out of the way ;D
Ideally you'll be able to get all three essay forms up to a stage where you feel confident enough with each of them, and then you can decide on the day which prompt you want to tackle first. But all the essays equally weighted, so there's no sense putting all your eggs in one basket :)
How do the assessors mark? Like say if you didnt have time to write the last essay, but like absolutely smashed the others as you devoted the 3 hours to it, would they really take off the whole 10 marks off the essay?
Also say you didn't have enough time to write up the conclusion of the last essay, what happens? In terms of marks :)
Wonderful, thanks!!
How do the assessors mark? Like say if you didnt have time to write the last essay, but like absolutely smashed the others as you devoted the 3 hours to it, would they really take off the whole 10 marks off the essay?
Also say you didn't have enough time to write up the conclusion of the last essay, what happens? In terms of marks :)
How would I respond to a context prompt in an expository essay? I was told not to answer the prompt like a question (yes/no) but rather 'explore'.
For example using the 2012 conflict prompt "The experience of conflict changes people's priorities", I was told not to write my expository essay using 'the experience of conflict changes people's priorities and the experience does not change people's priorities' as my points because I'm responding to the prompt as if I'm answering a question. But how would I explore?
Hi Lauren (or anyone else)
I need help with this poem called "The owl and the pussycat" by Edward Lear, which is basically about a cat and an owl in love and getting married. Somehow I need to connect the poem (which is a pretty childish poem, I think) to the values of Victorian era such as marriage, courtship etc.
I'm completely blank. I was wondering if you could help me out?
Hi,
I have made some very good notes following your advice! Thanks!
However, I am having trouble figuring out the overall message/ contention that the poet was trying to say in this.
Could I have your help again?
Much appreciated!
When researching external examples to use in my context essays what should I be looking for? My context is encountering conflict.Look for stuff other than the standard war, physical brutality or the overused ones going around. You can use like any issue as a conflict but it depends on your text and the prompt given. Some ideas would be stuff like domestic violence, rivalries and arguments between individuals,societies or groups. Whatever you decide to use, remember that it does not have to effect wide scale.
Hey Lauren (or anyone else),Hi, not Lauren but I hope I can help.
I read some of your language analysis essays that I found on AN a while ago and I was in absolute awe of your amazing vocabulary.
How do I expand mine to get to even a tenth of yours? Even though I'm averaging A+, I don't write anything like that. I know you did incredibly well in English, but I don't want to write mediocre essays in the exam -- I'd really like to impress my assessors with the language I use lol.
Teachers and the like always say read to have a better vocabulary but I find that a little passive I don't really learn anything from it. Do you have any other tips to improve?
Hi, not Lauren but I hope I can help.
I was in a similar situation at the start of the year. I needed to make my essays more sophisticated. It really helped to read the sample text responses, language analysis' and context pieces on both Atarnotes, VCAA past exams and on other websites. The best method of improving is through writing essays, trying out new words, and then asking your teachers or people on AN to read your essay.
However, saying that, in your attempt to impress the assessors by using new words and all that, it's probably not recommended to add new words just for the "flare" (as in, no thesaurus.com, but rather checking each and every word in a dictionary). Just consider, that by the time you do your exam, you want words that will stand out but also ensure that your arguments are short and concise.
Hope this helps :)
Hi what's the best way to go about reading/rereading a book?Read the book first so you can take everything in. Don't take notes/highlight/etc, just focus on the material. Everyone has a different idea as to how many times you should read a book (because it really depends on you) but I think the majority would agree that 2-3 times is sufficient. The second and third time should be for highlighting key points/quotes/etc.
thank you for your advice :) Do you know where I could find really good samples to download? I'm fine with going through the forums but it's really time consuming (and fuels my tendencies to procrastinate), especially having to read everything to find quality work :sI'm not HighTide but I thought I might just pop in and help you while I'm at it.
Read the book first so you can take everything in. Don't take notes/highlight/etc, just focus on the material. Everyone has a different idea as to how many times you should read a book (because it really depends on you) but I think the majority would agree that 2-3 times is sufficient. The second and third time should be for highlighting key points/quotes/etc.
I'm not HighTide but I thought I might just pop in and help you while I'm at it.
Here are some essays from the VCAA Examination Reports: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/studies/english/englishexams.aspx
Sample High Scoring Responses: English Resources and Sample High Scoring Responses
There's quite a few essays there so hopefully it's enough to get you started. :)
Hey Lauren, I feel bad asking questions to help me out with tutoring... but I'm totally stuck on conclusions. I used the foolproof method of never getting far enough in an essay to reach the conclusion, but can't exactly teach this to my students :P
People always say conflicting things:
> 'Don't just summarise - say something new and profound'
> 'Don't ever introduce new information'
When you question this, the response is impossibly vague: 'Just try to find the right balance'. Since in general, I finish my intros with about the most 'profound' sentence I can come up with, the conclusion is a sad and sorry rehash as I have nothing left to say. So any hints on conclusions - mainly TR, but context and LA would be nice too? :D
i'd then sort of use the final statement to discuss my contention holistically, in reference to my broader interpretation of the text.I'm afraid I don't get what this actually means, in concrete terms. That was my problem with English - you know, the teacher just waves their hands artistically, kinda abracadabra style, and they're like, 'So then just draw that to an holistic profound summation'.
Thanks, much appreciated and definitely helpful, I forgive you for not being Lauren :D
One thing:
I'm afraid I don't get what this actually means, in concrete terms. That was my problem with English - you know, the teacher just waves their hands artistically, kinda abracadabra style, and they're like, 'So then just draw that to an holistic profound summation'.
Do you have any examples? What do you mean exactly by 'holistically' - do you mean the crux of your overall argument (so, essentially repeating how I finished the intro)? And 'broader interpretation'?
hope this helpsss :)
Surrreee thing, I gotcha. Thanks!
(what does this show about me, as a tutor, asking current yr 12s for help ::) that's why I'm tutoring people who are struggling, not people like you who are gonna get 50s, I'm soooo ignorant)
Urgent help needed.
I am sitting on a B+ average for english. For my school this is not bad, but for the state this is honestly around a low C. My concern is, every year the people who even average A+ at my school do not end up with anything above 37.. So I am a bit worried. I took on bangali_lok's and literally lauren's help, to just write and even if it doesnt make sense, just put pen to paper. This has helped me improve of course, but there is still a LOT more room for improvement. I will leave this here for anyone to answer so all of us can benefit. I really want to improve and am willing to work for it, so please anyone, I have a text response SAC in 5 weeks. I am GOING to start now, what should I do?
Thank you
Urgent help needed.
I am sitting on a B+ average for english. For my school this is not bad, but for the state this is honestly around a low C. My concern is, every year the people who even average A+ at my school do not end up with anything above 37.. So I am a bit worried. I took on bangali_lok's and literally lauren's help, to just write and even if it doesnt make sense, just put pen to paper. This has helped me improve of course, but there is still a LOT more room for improvement. I will leave this here for anyone to answer so all of us can benefit. I really want to improve and am willing to work for it, so please anyone, I have a text response SAC in 5 weeks. I am GOING to start now, what should I do?
Thank you
Apart from reading your text i recommend to read other books as well, this might help improve your vocabulary. Apart from that why dont u post one of your sample essays so i can look at it? I am no expert but maybe i can give u a tip or something
Hi, cosine!
What are you having trouble with in particular? Are you having trouble with formulating ideas or is it more the writing side of it (expression/sophistication)? If it's a case of the latter, this is something that takes time and practise but can easily be worked upon. It's important you can write well and express yourself well. So this is going to be your focus for the next few weeks. For now, I wouldn't worry about time or exam conditions. Keep your texts out, notes, thesaurus, etc and refer to this while writing. When you've perfected this and you're hitting that A+ standard, you can start writing under exam conditions. What you learn from writing without timed responses you will (hopefully) retain in exam conditions. Basically, learn to write well and then you can work this down into a shorter time frame.
If it's the former though, this boils down to not knowing your texts well enough. Re-assess your study techniques and we can help you from here. Alternatively, maybe you're fine with both of the above and I've gone on a tangent. :P Let us know how you get on.
I usually know the texts I read and enjoy reading them. I understand most/some of the themes that appear. My main problem I think is just interpretting it into an english sentence that actually 'expresses' the ideas i am trying to portray.I would recommend gaining a better understanding of the themes first. Do you think you've covered all of them/the most important. I definitely found myself in trouble with this text when I was given a prompt on fate and destiny. Obviously I considered these themes and I did cover them, but not well enough. I was focused on other themes that I was sure would be on the exams/sacs but they didn't end up on it. So if you feel like you know 'some' or even 'most' of the themes, think about what you might have missed.
Just read the above response. I studied Medea as well (and loved it!) That prompt was also on my sac. Did you by any chance have the option of "Medea claims that all women are afflicted with the most 'wretched' existence on earth. How is gender explored in the play?" (I wrote on this one) :P
I would recommend gaining a better understanding of the themes first. Do you think you've covered all of them/the most important. I definitely found myself in trouble with this text when I was given a prompt on fate and destiny. Obviously I considered these themes and I did cover them, but not well enough. I was focused on other themes that I was sure would be on the exams/sacs but they didn't end up on it. So if you feel like you know 'some' or even 'most' of the themes, think about what you might have missed.
As for interpreting, I assume you mean you don't know how to say it/get it across to the audience. As I said previously, keep writing without exam conditions. Use all the resources you need and spend as much time as you need learning how to word things properly. Get feedback from teachers, peers, or from the AN community. It doesn't matter if it takes you 6 hours or even a day to write an A+ standard essay. Once you know how to write one and you can do this consistently, we can learn to cut down on the time it takes you.
Thank you coffee xD
Nah the other prompt was something about Euripides.. doesn't even make sense..
I am doing 'The Complete Maus' now by Art Spiegleman, did you also read this comic book?
I LOVE THIS TEXT :D
In the tragedy, 'Medea', Euripides distinctively explores the social differences between men and women in their era, particularly through the actions of the female protagonist, Medea. The actions of Medea defy the conventions of that era, while you do explain that Euripides explores the social inequities between men and women you leave unclear whether or not Medea was trying to emancipate herself or exalt herself to a position where it was possible to commit an act of revenge/justice. This ties in with the prompt - were her actions based on passion? Keep in mind you can argue against the prompt, and in this case I personally would (Hint = there was careful planning from her) Throughout the play, she is constantly bewailing the disadvantages that women have because of men, imploring their 'wretched' existence. Euripides further portrays this view by representing the men as the logical ones, carefully analysing their decisions before they act, whereas the women are deeply are 'deeply concerned' with their reputation. Excellent use of a quote. Your contention is rather ambiguous; on one note you mention that Medea is constantly complaining, while this is true, it is best to go deeper, such as her being the spokeswomen for women, on the other note men are shown to make logical decisions... however did they allow themselves to be manipulated? (Hint - consider how she managed to get refuge)Keep in mind it is about Jason though.
However, through the Nurse and the Chorus, it is also evident that Jason was initially led by his desires for a more advantageous marriage, this abandoning his family. Its good to mention Euripedes here, maybe best starting the sentence with 'EURIPIDES however, through the USE the Nurse...' This shows that you understand what Euripides is doing. The word 'this' would be replaced with 'thus'.
So you provided an excellent quote. :) I think in order to improve your introduction has to be taken a notch higher. For me, its the most important part of the essay. Its the first thing the examiner will judge. Think of it as a first date; chances are you arent gonna get a 2nd date if you arrive unclean or misbehave during it. You want to impress in that date :) Just like an essay.. a well versed introduction will make the examiner NOT look for mistakes but the look for the things that emulate your excellent intro.
Your vocabulary is very good, word choice could be better though. Your not in a bad state though, it wont take much to get better at that aspect :)
Your contentions need to more clear. Think about your 3/4 paragraphs and try to summarize into a sentence or two to put in your intro. It is important to include Euripides as well, as you make the ready acknowledge that you understand what he is conveying across.
The structure isn't A+. You go around a point. As i mentioned its best to go directly with Euripides, or Medea/Jason did this blah blah :)
Alright so the introduction is the most important part, how can I improve it then? Like what is the basic structure to follow?
Alright so the introduction is the most important part, how can I improve it then? Like what is the basic structure to follow?A basic structure is as follows:
A basic structure is as follows:You can deviate from this a little though. It doesn't have to be so formulaic. So something I wrote on one of the prompts I mentioned earlier was:
- Introduce the title of the text and the author in the first sentence.
- Include background information on the text.
- State your opinion on the topic and outline the main points that will contribute to your argument.
Euripides' play 'Medea' was first presented to the Ancient Athenian audience during the festival of Dionysus and tells the tale of a woman scorned. Despite it's reception it was ultimately unsuccessful and Euripides was the first Greek poet to suffer the fate of so many of the great modern writers. Rejected by his contemporaries, however now admired by many, modern audiences can learn from both the characters and themes as demonstrated in John Davie's translation. This explores the politics of gender within patriarchal Greek society and the power of patriarchal ideologies, constructs and conformity. Euripides enquires into the peril implicit with patriarchal views on women in Ancient Greek society.
^ By no means an amazing piece but it addresses the criteria/structure.
I know but he asked for a basic structure. If one is struggling with structure then there is no reason to deviate from a basic structure that does its job. Once he gets better at it he may create his own structure, or a deviation just like u have :)The above is a basic structure and the example deviates very little from what's listed above. And I wasn't trying to contradict what you posted. You just replied quicker than me. :P
The above is a basic structure and the example deviates very little from what's listed above. And I wasn't trying to contradict what you posted. You just replied quicker than me. :P
Prompt: "Jason's decisions are based on reason and careful judgement; Medea's decisions are based on passion and selfishness"In the early stages of the play,Initially, Jason's egotistic actions are made clear, as he is depicted to be the villain. Euripides thoroughly explores gender inequality as the play proceeds, and the main reason for the tragedies in 'Medea' are because of the social differences between men and women. Look back at the prompt. Now I know you can always stray a bit from the prompt a bit, but I can't see the link very well - you need to 100% spell out the relevance to me, even if it's crystal clear in your own head. This sort of sentence is probably more for later in the essay though, as it's a conclusion you draw from the prompt about Euripides' views and values which he shows through how he presents these two characters. As the Nurse alludes to the prior events that consequently lead to the conflict between Medea and Jason, she emphasises the fact that Jason dishonoured Medea, thus stands 'plainly convicted as a traitor to his friends.' Jason's irrational passion to live a 'royal' life disallows him to act morally, eventually abandoning his family to seek a 'royal match'. As Medea confronts him with a 'swarm of words', Jason claims that he left her to 'produce royal offspring', so that they could live a life without being in need, but later admits to having left for a better personal life. All that underlined region is a bit too ‘story-telly’ – the last sentence especially. Stuff like "As Medea confronts him with a ‘swarm of words’" feels like you put it there JUST to show that you have a quote available. See how I've stripped it down a bit:
‘Nurse labels him a 'traitor' for dishonouring Medea. Jason's irrational desire to live a 'royal' life is not compatible with maintaining his morality. While originally Jason claims that he left Medea to ‘produce royal offspring’, his later admission that he left for a better personal life REVEALS... '
So, this cuts out unnecessary detail and story-telling (though it then doesn't flow well, I'm just showing how to cut out unnecessary description; avoid having a whole sentence that just describes what happens, the description should be a 'jumping off' point at the start of the sentence that leads on to some analysis). The noun, 'his later admission', forces you to continue the sentence with some analysis. I underlined the verb, because verbs like that bridge between description of the story and analysis of what that actually shows, what the whole point of your evidence is. Try to use as many verbs like that as possible! reveals, conveys, demonstrates, exposes, highlights, underscores, illustrates etc. Jason's neglect of Medea's feelings and well-being emphasises Euripide's depiction towards gender antagonism, that women must be 'obedient to their husbands, and must not refuse a man his rights' Again, specify exactly what you mean. Like, you haven't actually said exactly what Euripides thinks; you've only stated (I think) that he's against the notion that women must 'be obedient'. Unpack it a bit more; explain to me how exactly this neglect shows Euripides' values. Jason's egocentric desires eventually lead him to commit irrational and regretful regrettable actions. P.S. You should probably discuss a bit in this paragraph about how, through these actions, Jason shows that he ISN'T being rational/using careful judgment. In what way does Euripides show him as rash?
sorry if i sounded harsh :( my badNo, no. I just didn't want you to think I was trying to contradict what you said. It's all good, man. :)
Hi Lauren,
I am doing literature and was wondering how I should structure an adaptions and transformations SAC on amadeus?
:D
I was wondering what is the best way to re-read a text?If you have a pretty complete grasp of the plot, characters, and basic major themes, you're dissecting for the details here. (If not, read like the first time, just reading it like a 'story'). Have a couple of Word documents open and add to them as you go through; mainly it's up to your intuition, but some pointers:
Also how can I focus on the current area of study my school is focusing on and also study back other t.r texts, context and language analysis all at the same time?
What would be the structure for an expository context essay body paragraph?Hard question, because there are no rules and exact structure in context!
You guys always tell me to 'just' write, and so I have been following that and there has been improvements, so very grateful (bangali_lok youre the best...)
But it's time for some serious business. I don't just want 'slight' improvements, its time for seriousness. What do you guys recommend, writing in pencil or typing up practice essays, be honest with me please xD
Also would reading random books really improve my essays? And my teacher says I need to enhance my vocabulary, which ways can I take to ensure this is achieved?
Please offer serious help, and even if it sounds too hardcore, I am willing to follow the advice, be it reading the dictionary in my spare time :P
You guys always tell me to 'just' write, and so I have been following that and there has been improvements, so very grateful (bangali_lok youre the best...)
But it's time for some serious business. I don't just want 'slight' improvements, its time for seriousness. What do you guys recommend, writing in pencil or typing up practice essays, be honest with me please xD
Also would reading random books really improve my essays? And my teacher says I need to enhance my vocabulary, which ways can I take to ensure this is achieved?
Please offer serious help, and even if it sounds too hardcore, I am willing to follow the advice, be it reading the dictionary in my spare time :P
Do you have a list of your problems? Do you know exactly what some of your issues are? Please, I haven't said 'just write' - I've said, write, then identify a problem, then write again fixing up that problem. If you haven't got a list of your specific specific problems, then tomorrow, I assign you homework: sit down with a couple of your essays/feedbacks, and try to write a dot-point list of little things you can do to improve. If you don't get anywhere, feel free to post an essay for feedback in the work submission forum; I'm willing to work on pointing out little specific issues and ways to improve them, if you tell me whether you want me to be harsh or gentle.
EDIT: Another thing is brainstorming and detailed plans - they save a lot of time since writing a whole essay is really time-consuming. Then show the plans to your teacher to point out your overall flaws. Or try just practice paragraphs, rather than whole essays. You can generally find your issues even in just one paragraph.
Write in pen, ideally. :P
Vocab: (copy-pasted from a big post I'm compiling on vocab/expression in my worst procrastinating moments, stay tuned):
1. Write something.
2. Go through it, or get someone else to go through it, and list any ‘problem’ words – words that are commonly repeated (e.g. ‘the’… no not that), don’t quite express what you wanted, or are vague and generic (e.g. ‘good’).
3. Thesaurus it. I love verbising.
4. From this, build a bank of synonyms.
5. Similarly, read other people’s writing and steal any great words you see them use.
6. Stick up sticky notes or mindmaps of good synonyms on your wall, in your locker, anywhere you’ll look at them.
7. Practice writing the words in single (ideally analytical) sentences to get used to them. Get other people to check them to make sure they make sense.
8. When writing essays, have the bank there and refer to it as you go, trying to incorporate new words. Or, write ‘closed-book’ essays, and go over them afterwards, replacing weaker words with stronger ones from your bank.
9. If you have especial trouble with repeating one word, focus the next time you write an essay on NEVER using that word, and always trying to put in a synonym.
10. Repeat. Ad infinitum.
And yes, wider reading will help just with better expression. Probably, at this point in the year, I'll break it to you that it won't have much impact on your essays because it's more a long-term gradual change. BUT, it will really help you with EVERYTHING you ever write in the future, at uni or whatever.
Cheers xDIt won't be optimal, but I can still point out some stuff, probably. I hain't read Medea, either.
I will write some paragraphs (extended answers) tomorrow and post them, but what if you haven't read the book (The Complete Maus) ?
Can you start me off with a good word that I have used more than once in this interview with you (:P) and provide me with a synonym for it?Yes - 'synonym'. :P
Cheers xDI'll happily jump in if there are any interpretative errors or comments about the text that you're not sure are completely accurate, but the majority of essay feedback will centre on things like relevance, clarity, and idea development (as well as grammar and general good expression) so an inside-out knowledge of the text isn't completely necessary.
I will write some paragraphs (extended answers) tomorrow and post them, but what if you haven't read the book (The Complete Maus) ?
I really love that synonym idea, will definitely do it! xD Can you start me off with a good word that I have used more than once in this interview with you (:P) and provide me with a synonym for it?
Cheers xDThere's your word! :P
I will write some paragraphs (extended answers) tomorrow and post them, but what if you haven't read the book (The Complete Maus) ?
I really love that synonym idea, will definitely do it! xD Can you start me off with a good word that I have used more than once in this interview with you (:P) and provide me with a synonym for it? No, not testing your vocab skills haha
But seriously, thank you for the constant help and encouragement!
There's your word! :P
It's not an essay, so I don't think I should post it on the essay marking, but could someone have a look on the extended response question I answered, please?
Book: The Complete Maus
1. What makes someone a survivor like Vladek?
To become a survivor, much like Vladek, an individual must have endured, and essentially have overcome such challenging experiences. The events that Vladek went through can be seen as incomparable, the inhumane treatment, scarce supplies and the deadly diseases that the Jews had to witness overall, just to suffer another day. The conditions so bad and the food so scarce, that it was the perfect recipe to "die even more slowly". To give up and “to die, it is easy”, “But you have to struggle for life!” A person is classified as a survivor when they overcome situations where it is much easier to give up, then to persist and conquer. Surviving situations like this requires not only physical strength, but, more importantly, one must have the correct mindset and emotional stability to endure the conflict. That is what it takes, to become a survivor like Vladek.
It's not an essay, so I don't think I should post it on the essay marking, but could someone have a look on the extended response question I answered, please?
Book: The Complete Maus
1. What makes someone a survivor like Vladek?
To become a survivor, much like Vladek, an individual must have endured, and essentially have overcome such challenging experiences. The events that Vladek went through can be seen as incomparable, the inhumane treatment, scarce supplies and the deadly diseases that the Jews had to witness overall, just to suffer another day. The conditions so bad and the food so scarce, that it was the perfect recipe to "die even more slowly". To give up and “to die, it is easy”, “But you have to struggle for life!” A person is classified as a survivor when they overcome situations where it is much easier to give up, then to persist and conquer. Surviving situations like this requires not only physical strength, but, more importantly, one must have the correct mindset and emotional stability to endure the conflict. That is what it takes, to become a survivor like Vladek.
not the best..i been doing homework since 9am.. just a different idea
The events that Vladek went through can be seen as incomparable, the inhumane treatment, scarce supplies and the deadly diseases that the Jews had to witness overall, just to suffer another day. The conditions so bad and the food so scarce, that it was the perfect recipe to "die even more slowly". Surviving situations like this requires not only physical strength, but, more importantly, one must have the correct mindset and emotional stability to endure the conflict. To become a survivor, much like Vladek, an individual must have endured, and essentially have overcome such challenging experiences. A person is classified a survivor when they have overcame situations where it is much easier to give up, than to persist and conquer.
Cheers fruitcake, but do you have any specific improvements for me?
6. What changes do people experience, if any, after they have lived under tyranny for so long?
When people live under tyranny for so long, they start to reform their lifestyles and habits, adjusting them just to survive the oppression. 'Adjusting themselves' would be a better phrase. When you reform your lifestyle and habits, it means that you are adapting to the situation. You change your mindset, personality..ect. So its best to summarise all this by 'Adjusting themselves'. It tackles the reform question through a holistic approach.
Vladek constantly stated that he remains a "strong man" throughout the Holocaust, “I was still strong, I could sit through the snow all night”. Good use of embedding quotes
The war took a toll on Vladek, however, after the war had ended, Vladek had changed forever. Very ambiguous sentence. Your vocabulary and structure is letting your ideas down. Its best to make the ideas clear then work on vocabulary. For example, a more clear way of expressing yourself here would be - The war took such a toll on Vladek, that it transformed him forever. Yes you get marked on vocabulary, but you lose way more if your ideas aren't clear. Keeping things short and clear allows you to write more, which means more ideas and concepts to talk about later.
The skills and ideas that Vladek developed during the war to survive became permanent, and he continued to express them in New York. The skills and ideas that Vladek had adopted to survive have become perpetual throughout his later life. The reoccurring problem with your answers is the subtle repetition of ideas. We know from your before sentences that he was in the Holocaust, which means that you dont have to explain later that 'during the war'. You still demonstrate solid ideas which is good.
The reason behind Vladek's substandard behaviours is due to the scarce conditions he endured, and the only way that he could persevere throughout the war was to cherish and hold on to humanity. Although the war made Vladek stronger and more respectable, it was slowly destroying Anja’s life. Anja was not as strong as Vladek, and thus her post-war experience was dark and depressing. Anja fell victim to depression and was in a world of confusion, which ultimately lead to her death. Anja committed suicide because she could not handle the stress of the war, the overflowing drama and paranoia.Good ideas here... i feel like though your vocabulary is lacking in flair. This might just be me.. however it seems a bit dry. For example i bolded what could be change. This is just some ideas and by no means correct, its just me :) And by all means it could be wrong
What i would say of it is that its got very good content but vocabulary is at times lacking profoundness .
What I would recommend is to read complex-written books to expand on your vocabulary. Otherwise good effort. I did criticize heavily though and by no means all of what i wrote is correct, i am not an English teacher and i could be mistaken :P
Thank you so much _fruitcake_ that was actually very helpful, I will definitely be posting more soon!
Yah I know, my vocabulary needs improvements, my teachers tell me this too, so you're not mistaken :P
What books do you recommend me reading? Cheers.
1. What makes someone a survivor like Vladek?
To become a survivor, much like Vladek, an individual must have endured, and essentially have overcome such challenging experiences. The events that Vladek went through can be seen as incomparable, the inhumane treatment, scarce supplies and the deadly diseases that the Jews had to witness overall, just to suffer another day. Rephrase: 'The inhumane treatment, scarce supplies and deadly diseases Vladek faced daily were incomparable in their brutality.' The conditions were [need a verb or else the sentence is incomplete/a fragment] so bad and the food so scarce, that it was the perfect recipe to "die even more slowly". To give up and “to die, it is easy”, “But you have to struggle for life!” Never write sentences that are solid quote. Something more like: "While dying is presented as 'easy', [author] underscores the need to 'struggle for life'." You are writing the sentence, not relying on quotes to write it for you; you should just pinch a word or phrase here and there and integrate them smoothly into your own sentence. P.S. A person is classified as a survivor when they overcome situations where it is much easier to give up, then to persist and conquer. Surviving situations like this requires not only physical strength, but, more importantly, one must have the correct mindset and emotional stability to endure the conflict. That is what it takes, to become a survivor like Vladek.
Notes:
> Tense. Not important, but people often slip between tenses in essays which is bad, so practising writing ENTIRELY in present tense is helpful.
> Until the second-last sentence (which was your best sentence), you didn't actually fully address the question! Boiling it down, you've said - to be a survivor, you must... er... survive. You've more defined what a survivor is, than explained how one becomes a survivor, what characteristics someone must have to survive. You should be delving more into what specific qualities the author is upholding, as qualities important for survival (be even more specific and use quotes/evidence/events to back it up). Can you contrast him with another character who doesn't survive? Just because it says 'like Vladek' doesn't mean you're restricted to solely discussing him, like you can say 'X character WASN'T a survivor like Vladek because, unlike Vladek, he...'
> Stick more closely to the text. Extended responses aren't essays, sure, or phrased like essays (though, while Idk the text, there could actually possibly be an essay question based on this idea!), but you should still treat them like text response essays since that's what you're practising for. In a text response, you CAN'T come to conclusions without referencing them through the lens of the text, like you can't say, 'surviving situations like this requires not only physical strength, but...' - you have to say 'Vladek's blah blah blah demonstrates that surviving situations...', or '[author] suggests that surviving situations...'. This is why in text response those verbs, reveals, demonstrates, conveys, illustrates etc. are REALLY REALLY vital; they help you to move between evidence from the text, and what message that shows. In context, sure, you're discussing the ideas, and the text is just a vehicle, but in text response, you can't ever make statements about life except in as far as the author or text demonstrates that.
> You need MORE specific textual evidence, exact examples where a certain quality of Vladek helps his survival or something.
> P.S. Picking on your quoting from the other ext response: Vladek constantly stated that he remains a "strong man" throughout the Holocaust, “I was still strong, I could sit through the snow all night”. The 'strong man' quote is perfectly embedded, you see how it fits smoothly into your own sentence? BUT, the second quote isn't embedded; to be grammatical, you'd need a semi-colon before the quote, but even then that's just tacking on a chunk without fitting it into your flow. "Vladek's claim that he 'could sit through the snow all night', and constant statement that he remains a 'strong man'..."
Hey,
I feel like I'm all out of ideas for context (ID&B) and I want to shake things up a bit.
Are we allowed to discuss controversial or explicit material? For example (not that I will do this exactly), can we write a creative about a drug-affected drag queen? (totally random I know)
I go to a "religious" school so probably not in a SAC, but would this be ok for the exam? Or are examiners really conservative?
I don't actually know, but I personally would say - do the bold, daring thing, rather than trying to play it safe (except, as you say, on SACs). In general, I think examiners quite like something provocative, interesting and different because they're bored so sick of 'Identity is a key multidimensional aspect of our lives...'. You want to wake them up and stand out. Controversial is definitely fine; they've said before in exam reports that they can totally disagree with what you say as long as you write it well and it thoroughly relates to the prompt (avoid something super controversial like gay marriage though). And most of them would be fine with explicit - you might by chance get someone conservative, but look, when are English teachers conservative?
Hey,
I feel like I'm all out of ideas for context (ID&B) and I want to shake things up a bit.
Are we allowed to discuss controversial or explicit material? For example (not that I will do this exactly), can we write a creative about a drug-affected drag queen? (totally random I know)
I go to a "religious" school so probably not in a SAC, but would this be ok for the exam? Or are examiners really conservative?
I'm inclined to say no, because 'being controversial' just for the sake of being controversial doesn't get you any marks :p
If you had a valid reason for exploring a prompt from the perspective of a drugged-up transsexual, then by all means go for it. But if you're just writing a standard piece that shows how some people choose not to belong, or how sometimes our identity changes over time, then there's no real reason to be using that distinctive character or voice.
The question isn't really about whether the examiners will be on-board with more liberal ideas, or if they'll just faint at the mere mention of anything more scandalous than an ankle, but rather what your response has to gain by mentioning certain examples, or writing from a certain point of view! If you think you can offer a more profound insight by using an example that's a bit left-of-field, then I can't imagine too many assessors having a problem with it.
HOWEVER ( ;) ) the aim of the exam is to write what is safe. If you're like me and don't care too much about your score, then you can take some risks here and there (...pretty sure my Context piece contained more than a few silly puns) but ultimately, you don't know who will be reading your piece! I wrote in a completely different way for most of my SACs because I knew who my teacher was and what he was looking for. In the exam, though, you're writing what should suit the majority of teachers around the state.
This is why I generally advise against bringing up any religious or political examples unless they're purely expositional. The last thing you want is to write a piece about why Buddhism is a poor way of dealing with conflict, or why Julia Gillard had a weak sense of self... only to find out your assessor is the most hardcore Labour Buddhist in the state :p
The assessors are MEANT to put aside their biases when marking - and the good one's will - but they're only human, and it's hard for them not to be more critical if you've offended their sensibilities.
But it sounds like you're quite committed to fleshing out this idea and not doing what my friends did by thinking 'imma write from the point of view of a drunk hobo for the lolz' and provided you're doing the research and writing it in a sophisticated way, you should be absolutely fine.
Some optional reading, if you're looking for some different perspectives. Reading things like this can also help you get a sense of the 'voice' in a creative piece, which is just a fancy way of saying 'the pretend person you create as your writer.' Obviously you can't just open the story by saying 'Well as a drag queen junkie, I think identity is a fluid concept' because that would be ridiculous... so you have to find away of creating a character as well as telling a story or reflecting on certain ideas- that's the true challenge of imaginative writing.
Let us know if you've had any thoughts about how you'll go about this - I'd be interested to see how things turn out for this hypothetical cross-dressing drug addict (or whichever character you create) :P
^ I always dive in and give it a go, figuring I'll assume Lauren's too busy to answer all questions and she'll contradict me when I'm wrong :P so take my answers with a teaspoon of salt
Thanks Lauren :D
No your advice is just as valuable! Seriously, I look at your Guide to HHD almost religiously, and I have shamelessly stalked your posts to find answers to questions I have... (sorry) 8)Dw, I shamelessly stalk all Lauren's posts 8) 8) 8)
Dw, I shamelessly stalk all Lauren's posts 8) 8) 8)
... and feel free to ask any questions directly :P !
...she'll contradict me when I'm wrong...There is no "wrong" in English :P
I care about my score but I think I'm more afraid of boring my assessor than shocking them tbh...It's probably better to fall on the side of caution than to deliberately "WOW" them with some never-before-seen insight into Identity and Belonging. That's not to say your piece shouldn't be interesting to read and write - if you can engage with the material and produce something that responds to the prompt in a creative and insightful way, then that's absolutely awesome.
After reading the book several times, and I have completed all comprehension questions, what do I do now? (text response essay in 3 weeks)If you feel like you need to do more reading of study guides or from the text in order to consolidate your knowledge, then do so. Otherwise, you're probably ready to start writing.
How do you thoroughly explain and discuss evidence? I often find that my 'explanation' sentences are too short and when I do try to expand upon my explanations; my sentences become very repetitiveWhich essay type(s) would this apply to? Or could you give us an example of the kinds of too short and/or repetitive sentences that you're writing? :)
Thanks
Guys what is a 7/10 on an exam considered to be? (lower part of the upper range, mid range etc.)
and what study score do would three 7's net you in the end of year exam?
7/10 for exam is considered a 42/60 which is a low A.
GA1 - 70% = mid B+
GA2 - 70%= mid B+
GA3 - 70%= 42/60 in the exam is a low A
This would net u 34-37 depending on other factors.. if sacs scale down or up and rank as well
Guys how hard is it to get 8/10 in the exam for english on all three sections? What about 7/10?
Text responseHoping Lauren will help me out here, a question I've often wanted to ask!
For example; the prompt: "Ordinary people with ordinary emotions, like the chorus, are often caught between sympathy towards, and horror at Medea's actions"
I'd get evidence that shows the chorus showing sympathy, but then I'd just be like "So this demonstrates that the chorus show's sympathy towards Medea's actions" without being able to thoroughly explain/discuss the significance of the quote and I end up with a paragraph that consists of the same re-phrased sentence throughout
How would I improve my sentence structure? Whenever I'm writing essays my sentences seem to be too "clunky"?
Hoping Lauren will help me out here, a question I've often wanted to ask!
My best guess is that you need to spend some time developing more complex ideas. If you have a paragraph with the sole argument of "the chorus shows sympathy towards Medea's actions", of course you're going to keep repeating it because you don't have anywhere further to go.
If you spend more time questioning the prompt, however, e.g.:
> what are 'ordinary people' and 'ordinary emotions'? in what way is the chorus 'ordinary'?
> are there other 'ordinary' characters? is the chorus 'ordinary' in contrast to other characters?
> is it different for other non/un/in-ordinary characters? do they have different feelings about her actions?
> do her actions evoke both sympathy and horror at once, or do some evoke sympathy and some other ones horror?
> ... etc.
then you might end up with paragraphs with more complex/broad focuses, rather than ones just trying to prove one narrow point. If you have more than just one thing to say, you'll inevitably repeat yourself less.
And please don't put an apostrophe in 'shows', it hurts me :( :P
Text response
For example; the prompt: "Ordinary people with ordinary emotions, like the chorus, are often caught between sympathy towards, and horror at Medea's actions"
I'd get evidence that shows the chorus showing sympathy, but then I'd just be like "So this demonstrates that the chorus show's sympathy towards Medea's actions" without being able to thoroughly explain/discuss the significance of the quote and I end up with a paragraph that consists of the same re-phrased sentence throughout
hey y'allYou can; just make absolutely sure that it's not on the current English list, or the current Lit. list either. If it is, the assessors are allowed to just cross out everything you've written on that text and only give you marks for what's left.
are we allowed to use old VCAA texts as supplementary texts for context pieces?
I was thinking of writing an expository essay sometime soon using one of my school texts as well as an old Whose Reality text (however my context is ID&B)
if I can make it work would this be ok?
Hey,
At school we're going to start learning how to write comparative essays to prepare for the upcoming study design changes. I'm quite ignorant on how to write a comparative essay, so if someone could enlighten me on the basics, that would be appreciated :)
I forgot what to include in an introduction of a Text Response Essay. Also how/what is the best to start an intro?Read Ned Nerb's post and literally lauren's, they know more than me.
Hey guys when a questions says 'To what extent do you agree?' e.g (‘The women of In the Country of Men are totally powerless.’
To what extent do you agree?) Can you argue both ways, or do you have to show one side only?
Agh..
I don't know what to do. I have been sitting here trying to write something and I have come up with the most irrelevant introduction and a trash of a body paragraph. I read the book but I have no idea what to write... I know my topic/arguments but i cant put it to words :(
Hey guys when a questions says 'To what extent do you agree?' e.g (‘The women of In the Country of Men are totally powerless.’
To what extent do you agree?) Can you argue both ways, or do you have to show one side only?
Yes definitely go both ways. Incorporating both sides of the argument is crucial.
Okay but then how do you conclude? Do you end with your own personal opinion about who holds more power or conclude in the sense that both genders hold power?'Do you agree' is actually nothing to do with your own viewpoint; if you see a 'do you agree' prompt, rewrite it with 'discuss', because they mean exactly the same thing.
'Do you agree' is actually nothing to do with your own viewpoint; if you see a 'do you agree' prompt, rewrite it with 'discuss', because they mean exactly the same thing.
Definitely don't have an essay discussing all viewpoints and then suddenly slam us at the end with 'well actually of the arguments I presented, this one's right and the others can all go to hell'. If you present multiple viewpoints, that should be your contention, your argument throughout the whole essay: that in most situations X but in some situations Y. Don't introduce something 'new', some new conclusion, at the end - it has to be consistent with your whole essay.
I shall now regurgitate slightly mutated slabs of what I've heard Lauren say, about challenging the prompt. Lauren draws a spectrum that from memory looks something like this:
disagree | X ---------------------*---------------------X---------------------*---------------------X | agree
You have a prompt, and you have to sit somewhere on that spectrum, between 'I 100% agree that in ALL cases for ALL people this is definitely the case' and 'I 100% disagree, this is NEVER the case'. The Xes are bad points to sit. You don't want to fence-sit with 'yeah women don't have much power but actually men don't either and women do have some power, actually it's a bit of both', because it sounds wishy-washy and contradictory. But you don't want to say 'yes all women are always, in every situation, totally powerless', because it's probably not true and as soon as someone can pick one example when women have power, your whole argument collapses.
So, you want to sit at one of the asterisk sweet spots, where you pretty much say, 'Yes, but... [in a few special cases we see...]' or 'No, but...'
'The women of ITCOM are powerless'.
So here, you'll want to think of different characters in the story, and different types of power (physical, power to make their own decisions, power to survive without men, power to influence others' lives, etc.). So your contention may be that while in general women are relatively powerless, they do wield certain types of power in certain circumstances. Plus you should go into the author's intentions and why they present it in a certain way: are they condemning the patriarchal society? are they suggesting that certain characteristics are important to achieve power? etc. You could perhaps go off and talk a bit about how men are powerless, too, but that risks going off topic, because the topic is about women, not men.
Some good structures you could use in your intro or conclusion:
'Although X, ultimately Y.'
OR: 'Ultimately for [author], despite X, Y is the case.'
(Where 'X' is your 'but' in a 'Yes, but' or 'No, but' structure).
Wow this is great! Thank you so much for the pointers, they've helped me so much on how to attack 'discuss' and 'do you agree' prompts. Also, in the future, can I send you some of my essay for some feedback?Feel free to post essays in English Work Submission and Marking, I try to swing past all the essays there :) (slowly, still got one to do -.-)
Thanks :D
I have a few questions regarding text response essays:
1. How much background information needs to be included in the essay. In a recent essay I wrote, I basically included a plot summary in the introduction. My teacher said that this was unnecessary, and that I should try and condense the amount of summarising. How can I condense this, and much much of the plot (if any) should be summarized throughout the essay?
2. Should "controversial" themes in the text be discussed in an essay? My teacher told me that a recent essay included some discussion that may offend certain readers, and that I should leave that sort of discussion out. Of course, in a SAC, I would do what the teacher prefers, however I fail to understand why this is wrong; as long as I am providing relevant references to the text.
3. When writing paragraphs, is it okay to break them up into smaller paragraphs for sub-ideas, or should this be avoided? I feel that some of my paragraphs are becoming too long, but my teacher has said to try and use one paragraph per "broad idea" from the text.
4. How to I write about different ways that the text can be interpreted? I know what to write about, I just on't know how to insert it into my essays without disrupting the flow.
Thank you in advance ;D
how do you write an engaging and interesting introduction and conclusion (for a standard expository essay for context)See Re: English Q&A.
for bookending; are we meant to signpost our body paragraph ideas through the utilization of ie. explaining external examples interestingly? or do you mean to first do that, and then continue on with the proper intro (of signposting paragraph ideas?)Either. Context is 100% flexible, but it's easier to head into an intro-style paragraph after your more creative chunk, rather than trying to weave it in. However it may be a briefer intro than you would otherwise have written. Give a few a go (you don't have to write the whole essay to try out bookend + intro) and give them to your teacher for feedback!
thanks.
Hi everyone!!! >:( >:( :( :( :) :) :)
Im doing english 3/4 in 2 years time. I feel that my english vocabulary, comprehension and writing skills are poor. I need to get my foundation right so i can do well in 3/4
Any serious suggestions as to how to improve them before i take the 3/4?
P.s. I do not want a tutor
Just wondering if i can write my whose reality essay in an interview structure, also would this be considered as a creative piece or a hybrid? Thanks in advance.
I wrote my pieces in an interview style, which I consider to be hybrid.
Feel free to have a cheeky suss http://atarnotes.com/pages/?p=notes&a=feedback&id=748
Thanks, really helpful! Also are the people you put in the interview connected to the text you were studying or completely separate?
Is talking about terrorists in a context essay a risky thing to do?
Is talking about terrorists in a context essay a risky thing to do?
It's risky to be racist because you don't know who's reading your piece. If you're not conveying any racist messages, there shouldn't be an issue.
???? no???? in what way??? (presuming this is for encountering conflict) if you're explaining that conflict may provoke extreme reactions from individuals, who feel politically and/or religiously threatened by differing ideologies and may therefore commit violent crimes, then it seems like a valid argument. i think the issue comes when you specifically stigmatise a minority group as the sole cause of terrorist behaviour - which isn't true, and likely isn't what your planning on arguing. so it's fine.
if you think it's risky because it's over done in context essays, then it kind of depends on how you argue it. old examples can be rewritten in a clever and insightful way. :) good-luck!
Thanks guys. I was planning to use it in Identity and belonging to show how the the notion of a sense of belonging can sometimes become detrimental (in regards to radicalization in Australia) - Is this even a good example?
No, I wasn't intending to use it in a racist/stereotypical manner
Just thought it might be a sensitive topic these days, I don't know why
Is it a bad idea to use the same quote twice in a Language Analysis Essay? Obviously they will be at different points in the essay?
Is it a bad idea to use the same quote twice in a Language Analysis Essay? Obviously they will be at different points in the essay?
I think it depends on how you structure your LA.
This is going way back, but from memory, the main two ways people structured an LA:
1) By "techniques"
2) By "arguments"
If you swear by method 1), which I think is an inferior method (but that's a post for another time and don't change now!), then maybe it would be fine to use the same quote twice. Although, it might sound clunky and disorganised, and hence, may not bode well with examiners.
If you swear by method 2), then you won't have this issue at all as that quote would probably be part of one particular argument, from which you can dissect the various "techniques" from it at once without it sounding clunky.
As above, keep waiting for the experts to have their say though :P
I always structure my LA by arguments, so I guess it's a bad idea.
I think it depends on how you structure your LA.
This is going way back, but from memory, the main two ways people structured an LA:
1) By "techniques"
2) By "arguments"
If you swear by method 1), which I think is an inferior method (but that's a post for another time and don't change now!), then maybe it would be fine to use the same quote twice. Although, it might sound clunky and disorganised, and hence, may not bode well with examiners.
If you swear by method 2), then you won't have this issue at all as that quote would probably be part of one particular argument, from which you can dissect the various "techniques" from it at once without it sounding clunky.
As above, keep waiting for the experts to have their say though :P
I wouldn't tbh, my teachers penalise this. However, if you're using different sections of the same quote it should be fine.Absolutely no expert, but anyways... I don't see why you would, if you're structuring by argument (especially since I'd recommend 1-3 word quotes); however, if you draw different messages from the same quote, it'd be okay. Do you have an example of where you've done it, Cosine?
/but lets wait to see what the experts have to say ;)/
Thank you guys, means a lot.To structure:
I always structure my LA by arguments, so I guess it's a bad idea.
Also for language analysis essays, how would you structure a certain paragraph?
For example, I use method 2 so topic sentence obviously addresses the argument. Then how can/should I structure the rest of the paragraph, including the link/last sentence?
Thank you
Sorry for sounding like a noob but would structuring by techniques be writing a paragraph analysing all the uses of a particular technique, while by arguments gives you paragraphs that discuss multiple techniques?That's it :)
I never even considered two ways of writing an LA, I just write depending on how I'm feeling...
ALL PREPARE FOR A RIDICULOUSLY LONG SEMI-RELEVANT IDEAS DUMP POST because I have other stuff I have to do so I did
Hey. I'm not 100% sure because i haven't studied this context at all; but reading that it's kind of like what your saying is the sense of belonging individuals feel to an extremist cause/group identity can cause them to partake in radical actions?? I guess you could consider it a motivator, though I would generally consider political oppression/ foreign intervention larger sources of extremist action. You could look at the concept from a different perspective/add depth to this original idea: alienation and exclusion of identity; a lack of belonging due to the stigmatization and demonizing of ethnic and cultural groups results in minorities seeking to find endorsement and cultural acceptance in more radical places.
It is a plausible example, but there are tons of stuff you could use for 'the sense of belonging being detrimental.' From a global historical perspective you could talk about how majorities in power seek to enforce their understanding of identity for purposes of consolidating power. Like when nations take over other nations - settler sovereignty imposes sexuality, religion, language, skin colour, culture and jurisprudence in specific ways on First Peoples. Forcing people to conform to a specific identity can be seen as an extension of the genocidal apparatus of colonisation; as a more modern Australian example, think of the stolen generation, and how there was awful policy which aimed to 'breed out the colour' from Aboriginal First Peoples.
Or like, the whole process of citizenship which initially revolved around the exclusion and expulsion of first peoples; making them 'other' or alien in their own nations, while transforming outside colonisers into exalted 'citizens.' Identity which is used to exclude and to marginalise is historically present throughout all global + historical imperial relations. I'm just throwing ideas out there and hoping they stick, but basically there's tons of scope here to have interesting and insightful discussion!
And while I recognise it was probably because you didn't want to alienate an examiner, i still would like to say thank- you for understanding and being wary of stereotypes. As someone who faces a lot of them on this issue specifically, I appreciate it when people go out of their way to be more empathetic and understanding of what minority groups go through, or at least choose not proliferate some of the bigoted rhetoric that's prominent in the media these days. Thank-you to pi as well. :)
Hope this helps you, paper-back! :)
Wow! You're a genius. I didn't even think of the stuff you've mentioned in your post before, although ironically enough I view these things occurring everyday
Thank you too, it helps a lot!
Hey everyone,
In a context piece, if your tone changes from an analytical/scientific tone to a more personal/reflective tone, can you justify this in your explanatory piece by saying something like, 'the tone changes constantly because it represents the fluid nature of our identity, and how it cannot be fixed, just like the tone throughout the piece'? Or should I be safe and stick with one tone throughout the whole piece?
(Identity & Belonging Context)
Thanks! ;D
For Context (expository style) is it better to write about 1 idea in a paragraph and thoroughly explore it, or to have multiple ideas in a paragraph that are briefly explored?I think that it might be best to have one idea per paragraph that you can explore thoroughly because it'll show your teacher/assessor that you have a good understanding of the text and the context, and that you can express complex ideas that others might not have thought of (in my opinion, that would probably get you higher marks than having a bunch of unexplored ideas in the one paragraph).
Is anyone thinking of doing Medea for the text respond part of the exam?
I can't decide between Medea or the Thing Around your Neck.
Yep! I'm doing Medea! I was gonna be totally biased an start extolling the virtues of Euripides, but then i just google Thing Around Your Neck and i found out it's by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who is an absolutely perfect human being. Americanah is the only thing i've read by her but omg. man. now i'm insanely jealous you got to learn both! (i have no advice btw i just wanted to say how flawless Adichie is) pun unintended
Is anyone doing The White Tiger??? Trying to decide between that and Medea
For anyone else doing Medea, I solely beg you, would you mind reading my Medea essays for feedback and improvements, and I can do the same for you too. Let me know.. :)
In the exam, I read that we can get another answer booklet. Can this be used as planning paper? It would just seem easier rather than flipping through pages to get to my rough plan on the blank pages...even though i probably should avoid wasting time writing a plan for the prompt...
Hey, guys, I am a year 10 student and I am quite indecisive about what English subject I am going to be choosing next year. I am not sure what to choose between English Language or Standard English :( I want to go into biomedicine and I still have not entirely made up my mind on my English subject for next year. Any tips?Choose which one you enjoy, and are better at (usually one and the same)
Hey guys I'm an year 11 student this year and I was wondering how I should be preparing for next year English.Why aren't you prepared for the topic? Is it simply a lack of knowledge and understanding about your texts? Are you exploring them in depth enough? Say you're studying Medea and you have a great understanding of passion/rage/revenge/etc and you know you can write anything on those topics, but then you get to the exam and it's asking you about how gender is explored in the play and you have no idea. Is it like this, or something else? If this is the case then you just need to work on understanding your texts better. Read them and reread them, use resources (mind maps, flash cards, etc) to connect and develop ideas. If you know your text well you should see improvement.
I feel that my language is pretty good, but I always stuff up because I'm not prepared for the topic given to us on the assessment task.
Should I be writing an essay each week? How do I improve my ability to understand texts and write for any prompt?
I also feel like I need a very good English tutor. If anyone knows an English Tutor in South eastern suburbs, could you please help me out? Thank you.
Can someone please mark my Language essay, the article is: Article 6 found: http://digeng.global2.vic.edu.au/files/2014/09/Using-Language-to-persuade-booklet-25ad3km.pdf
Someone please..?I'd just started doing it just then :)
For my context piece (essay), I'm thinking of having it structured with four pieces of evidence. Two of which are texts, one is a film (skin) and the other evidence will be personal stuff. Is four types too much or too little? And I'm also concerned about whether I shouldn't double up on using two texts as my supplementary sources? thanks
roughly how long is a good essay?
my teacher says 600 words is enough at the end of the year but I feel like it is a bit short
When doing Language analysis, I sometimes have trouble explaining 'HOW'/'WHY' an author uses a particular phrase/technique to persuade the reader even though I have a faint idea in my head, it's like I'm unable to express this idea in words though I know what it's trying to do. How do I fix this?
I also have trouble elaborating on my 'HOW' and 'WHY' sentences without them becoming too repetitive
For those of you guys who have done english, how many practice exams did you do? And how many practice essays (as in practice exam essays not prep for SACs or anything)? It's just so much harder to do with it being 3 hours and all..
When doing Language analysis, I sometimes have trouble explaining 'HOW'/'WHY' an author uses a particular phrase/technique to persuade the reader even though I have a faint idea in my head, it's like I'm unable to express this idea in words though I know what it's trying to do. How do I fix this?
I also have trouble elaborating on my 'HOW' and 'WHY' sentences without them becoming too repetitive
EDIT: What are some 'synonyms' for: Through doing so/By doing so? (Need some L.A. sentence starters)
When doing Language analysis, I sometimes have trouble explaining 'HOW'/'WHY' an author uses a particular phrase/technique to persuade the reader even though I have a faint idea in my head, it's like I'm unable to express this idea in words though I know what it's trying to do. How do I fix this?
I also have trouble elaborating on my 'HOW' and 'WHY' sentences without them becoming too repetitive
EDIT: What are some 'synonyms' for: Through doing so/By doing so? (Need some L.A. sentence starters)
When doing Language analysis, I sometimes have trouble explaining 'HOW'/'WHY' an author uses a particular phrase/technique to persuade the reader even though I have a faint idea in my head, it's like I'm unable to express this idea in words though I know what it's trying to do. How do I fix this?
I also have trouble elaborating on my 'HOW' and 'WHY' sentences without them becoming too repetitive
I sometimes have this exact same problem :(
For those of you guys who have done english, how many practice exams did you do? And how many practice essays (as in practice exam essays not prep for SACs or anything)? It's just so much harder to do with it being 3 hours and all..I realise I'm probably in a minority here, but I wouldn't have even made double digits with my practice essays in the last stretch of the year. I probably wrote three for Sec.A, three and a half for Sec.B and one for Sec.C - BUT they were the most efficient learning-tool essays I ever wrote. Churning wasn't how I learnt, so I'd write one piece, but then wring everything I could from it: getting feedback from my teacher or other sources, evaluating my own performance, editing anything I was unhappy with, considering any weak points or areas that I wasn't confident about, comparing it to other essays in terms of what was done better/worse, etc. In terms of full three hour sessions, don't force yourself into these unless you want to practice timing. You don't want to be doing huge three hour study sessions only to find you need to work on tiny things like quote integration or topic sentences. It's easy to be intimidated by the concept of writing for three hours straight, but for now, I think it'd be more helpful if you just think about it as 3 x 1 hour sessions rather than 1 x 3 hour one, so break it down first, and then you can concern yourself with getting through the whole 180 minutes once you've tidied up all the smaller stuff.
What is a word/phrase I could use to describe the time period of King Henry IV Part 1? For example, you could describe the time period when Shakespeare wrote the play as Elizabethan.
guys,
what the hell are key players in language analysis? I've NEVER heard this until I saw it somewhere one day on a thread
edit: it happens to be that Lauren mentioned this on her above post, but I still have no idea lol 8)
Don't worry; it's kind of something I made up/ adapted from existing L.A. stuff.
Brief explanation here; just skip over the part about the orals. But the easiest way to think about it is that 'key players' are things which sub-arguments are based on.
In every piece, the author will have a variety of sub-arguments which support their overall contention, and in my opinion, the best way to structure an L.A. response is to focus on one sub-argument or 'key player' per paragraph.
Simply put: if the contention is 'People should read books instead of e-books' (see: 2012 exam) then one of the sub-arguments would be: 'Books are more permanent and reliable than e-books.' So the key player is: 'the permanence/reliability/trustworthiness of hard copies of books.' Then, one of your paragraphs can explore how the author establishes this idea of books being more reliable, and at the end of the paragraph, you'll link this sub-argument back to the overall contention.
Hopefully that clears things up; let me know if there's anything about this you don't understand :)
Hey guys,
For the ones who are doing Medea for their end of year exam, attached is a document with 3000+ words of quotes and my own explanation/view of the quote. Enjoy xD
Don't think these are from the John Davie translation, but rather the James Morwood version. You would lose marks on the exam for writing these quotes.i was told by my teacher that the John Davie translation is only a recommendation
i was told by my teacher that the John Davie translation is only a recommendation
i think vcaa released a bulletin confirming this
So is the Mede and other plays (A new translation by James Morwood) accepted?http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/bulletin/2015/vcaabulletin005feb15.pdf
I realized that one of my biggest weakness in writing a timed language analysis piece is that I'm not able to select the 'right' language to analyse. Normally, I write my first two paragraphs analysing maybe the first quarter of the article (with lots and lots of bullshit), then realizing that I have only 20 minutes left I tend to do a rushed analysis even though most of the good techniques are usually at the end. Do you guys have any tips to prevent this? Or tips on how to be more selective with your choice of devices? I think I subconsciously fear running out of stuff to analyse so I tend to analyse every little device and effect I see.
Cheers :)
I've got a few questions for Context:
1. Just out of curiosity, for those who have done the exam, or those with a clear idea on what you're going to write on, what form did you adopt for the exam (i.e creative, persuasive, hybrid etc)? Did it work out in the end?
2. For the whole year I've basically stuck to writing in a newspaper article/editorial kind of format, with basically a few threads (only got two at the moment :/ )- current affairs/issues to act as the foundation to my piece. However this brings about a few issues. What do I do if I get a prompt that is really specific and my 'threads' won't work very well (e.g. if they give a prompt only focusing on conflict between two people; I would genuinely be screwed if this happens)? Will they do this in an exam? I think my threads are fairly versatile and can be adapted to an extent.
3.If so, how can I prepare for this in case they do (like would you recommend writing individual paragraphs based on different issues, but exploring different ideas- 'cause then I need to find a way to bring these issues all together, because I'm writing a newspaper piece so I can't simply link something like domestic violence to the recent asylum seeker crisis? And how would you link these recent issues to something like A Separation, which (although the ideas can be linked) is mostly irrelevant. At the moment (and in past sacs) all I've been doing is saying something like "perhaps some important lessons can be found in Asghar Farhadi's ____.....", but is just seems so forced!
how closely related does a context piece have to be to the prompt?Very closely related. That's the point of the piece - to discuss the implications of the prompt. Take it from me, ensuring that your whole essay is relevant to the prompt will already give you a marks-boost. It's your first, vital consideration in writing an essay.
eg if the prompt is ‘Our surroundings can be both threatening and comforting.’ can i just ignore the 'threatening' part
also, does the whole essay have to address the prompt or can i explore other ideas of the context (imaginative landscape)?
1. Expository. (Spent like 35 mins on it though, finished only one body + started the other two, and... yeah.)
2. Collate all the prompts you can find, and then try to invent as many more whacko prompts as you can. Don't let yourself be scared by a nameless fear of 'what prompt could they invent', try to come up with as many prompts as you can. (e.g. you mentioned a prompt about conflict between two people; try to think of a few concrete one-sentence prompts like that, and then think about how you'd address those specific prompts. If you can't think of one, chances are that they won't ask a prompt like that.)
Then go through the list one-by-one, really fast - like devote 1-5 min to each prompt, thinking out how you could adapt your current threads to meet the prompt. If after 5 min you can't figure out how to do it, highlight it and come back to delving into that prompt later.
3. Answered above.
I didn't do creative/hybrids, so have no practice; my guess is that you've gotta use transitional phrase, even if it's clunky. Experiment with writing as many as you can until you hit some that sound less clunky; 'As I was lately reading Asghar Farhadi's ___, it really struck me that...', or 'we'd all do well to read ___, which shows...', or - well up to your inventiveness.
Very closely related. That's the point of the piece - to discuss the implications of the prompt. Take it from me, ensuring that your whole essay is relevant to the prompt will already give you a marks-boost. It's your first, vital consideration in writing an essay.
Thanks :) so you'd recommend quick plans, instead of full practice essays first??A mixture.
should we be memorising our context pieces?
I know the assessors' report often says not to but I've heard from a few teachers and successful past students that we should???
I feel like this might be a good option for me since I struggle with conjuring up a context piece on the spot, but I'm also scared that I won't address the prompt and my mark will suffer :'(
On that note: four adaptable pieces seems like quite a lot, how different were they, and do you think the same thing could be done with say, two?
See for yourself! http://atarnotes.com/pages/?p=notes&a=feedback&id=748
I haven't read those essays in a few years, but pretty sure each was on a different theme in the context, with 2 essays loosely based around each book we studied. I ended up pretty much re-writing a piece I wrote for one of my SACs in the actual exam, which was awesome because I knew it was of a decent standard and I could smash it out in 30-40mins and save time for other things.
Could probably do two, I just did more because I had absolutely no faith in my English skills and wanted to cover all bases haha, so went for more rather than less :P Still have no idea how I got out of those 3 hours alive hahaha
You must answer the question, the whole question, and nothing (much) but the question. The point of that prompt is that our surroundings can be both good and bad, both scary and nice, etc. - so you're not answering it if you just say 'they're nice', because you're not exploring how there can be multiple and even contradictory aspects/influences of the environment, which is the crux of the prompt.thanks for the response, just wanna make sure:
The whole essay must address the prompt. Okay, the prompt is a pretty wide playing field, and thus you'll find yourself discussing various ideas in the process - e.g. you might discuss the impact of changing your place, or how our surroundings define our identity, because they're related to the threatening/comforting nature of surroundings. But unless it's closely linked to the prompt and your contention about the prompt, you can't just go talking about other unrelated ideas because you know them well.
this does sound really sophisticated and I'm not sure if I can pull it off...
this whole year I've just used a chronological method, going through the article and analysing until I've run out of ideas... however, I realised that for comparatives, this isn't very efficient -- so if faced with 2 pieces to analyse, should I try to find similar key players in both and then compare and contrast each author's use of techniques etc to argue these mini-contentions? Or would you recommend doing a big comparison paragraph at the end of these essays?
Whenever I'm writing, I seem to write really long body paragraphs, because it seems like the only way for me to explore ideas/analyse with enough depth to make me happy, and also means I don't have to come up with as many ideas so to speak. This means I can only churn out 3 body paragraphs in the given amount of time. However, upon reading all the sample pieces, it seems most people write more, shorter paragraphs, and I'm wondering if my longer paragraphs would be penalised in some way??My writing was just like yours (except in LA where I'd do like 5 shorter bodies). If you're still addressing the prompt thoroughly and exploring all your ideas, can't see why they'd penalise you - don't stress. If you really want, you can generally split one paragraph into two similar, but slightly different ideas.
thanks for the response, just wanna make sure:
can someone confirm that you must address a context prompt completely?
the teachers at our school have taught us that you do not need to use the whole prompt. eg in a handout they gave us "You must use the prompt in some way, but you do NOT have to use every part"
Weaker scripts did not show critical thinking about the idea the prompt was communicating or ignored the prompt altogether. The more successful responses explored the core ideas of the prompt instead of treating it like a text response. Students need to be reminded that there is an important distinction between the Context they have studied and the task they have to complete in the
exam. They are asked to ‘explore the idea’ that is represented in the prompt; students should not present prepared responses that relate to the concepts/issues central to their Context study and ignore the idea the prompt is communicating. While the prompt can be seen as a springboard for effective writing, the ideas of the prompt must be explored. It is important to demonstrate an understanding of the core of the prompt.
How can I avoid makin Language Analysis essays too long? Whenever I write one I analyse everything chronologically, but this takes a long time, so I end up analyzing the beginning very closely; whilst the end lacks a thorough analyse. How can I improve?
Thank you ;)
It sounds really hard, but in reality it's not that hard (for most articles). With a bit of practise, you'll be able to easily list things the author tries to present in a certain way: e.g. the author, the audience, the opposition, the government, dolphins, soft drinks, taxes, trees, whatever. They use certain language to try and present these in certain ways, and you then analyse why they present them like this, and how it influences the reader's perception of the overall contention.
...
Hey guys I'm kinda stuck- not sure which text response to do for the final exam.
I can do Henry IV, which I'm quite interested in though,but haven't really out much work in it, so will 2odd weeks be alright to study it?
Or the other book we did for unit 3, although I've done a lot of work on it, and don't want to waste it, it just doesn't seem that fun anymore (maybe because it was a long time ago)
Any advice please help?
Hey guys I'm kinda stuck- not sure which text response to do for the final exam.Try to make your decision ASAP so you can put your full energy into learning one text instead of poorly learning two. For Section A there's always two prompts so it's not like you'll get 2 prompts you have no clue for compared to something like context where you only get one. My point here is that while I could see the value in learning two context books, learning two TR ones is basically useless.
I can do Henry IV, which I'm quite interested in though,but haven't really out much work in it, so will 2odd weeks be alright to study it?
Or the other book we did for unit 3, although I've done a lot of work on it, and don't want to waste it, it just doesn't seem that fun anymore (maybe because it was a long time ago)
Any advice please help?
Try to make your decision ASAP so you can put your full energy into learning one text instead of poorly learning two. For Section A there's always two prompts so it's not like you'll get 2 prompts you have no clue for compared to something like context where you only get one. My point here is that while I could see the value in learning two context books, learning two TR ones is basically useless.
I'd ask your teacher which text she/he thinks you're better at based on your tests and class discussions and then weigh that up with which text you enjoy the most. You're more likely to do well with texts that you really like to study than ones that simply get done by strong students.
You very likely have enough time to relearn a book from Unit 3, but I'd put a lot of effort into it if you want to have a strong control over author's craft. Best wishes.
Hey guys I'm kinda stuck- not sure which text response to do for the final exam.
I can do Henry IV, which I'm quite interested in though,but haven't really out much work in it, so will 2odd weeks be alright to study it?
Or the other book we did for unit 3, although I've done a lot of work on it, and don't want to waste it, it just doesn't seem that fun anymore (maybe because it was a long time ago)
Any advice please help?
I have read somewhere on this forum to write on every second line in an essay so that you can have space for editing. Is this for in exams or just for SAC's and practice essays. Like, do the assessors mind???
Also, I have got a problem where in the context section of the exam I always write my piece in 15-20 min. Then I get another idea, which i think 'hey that will be a lot better' and then i write that one for the remaining 30 min. What do you think i should do??? It seems pointless writing two, but I never seem to be able to get the other idea unless i write the first one.
Someone able to read my Medea essay for me please. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
In thecaptivatingplay, ‘Medea’, Euripides explores the strife that may exist between husband and wife through actions that are primarily lead by passion and ‘fierce emotions’. You are judging the play, it deviates from your academic tone that you showed throughout your essay. Good embedded quotes in your intro.
The heart of the play lies within Medea’s attempt at seeking her own form of justice in the male-dominated society of 480 BC Greece. The play charts Medea’s emotional transformation, a progression from suicidal despair to sadistic fury;andher devoted love towards Jason, to her unspeakable destruction of him. Medea, feeling obliged to some form of revenge for being dishonored, embarks on a rally of crime in which she believes is the ‘terrible but necessary’ thing to do; to redeem herself and bring justice and honor to the female sex. Nonetheless, the central characters of the play; the Nurse, Jason and the Chorus immensely condemn Medea’sexpenditure(expenditure sounds like she went shopping, which is something a woman would do.. ouch pls dont kill me.. but a different word such as 'actions' or 'exertions' or 'efforts' would satisfy better in this context) and do not believe that it brought injustice to not only Jason, but also the innocent victims of Medea’s witchcraft.
Some things from the intro. Try to not show a biased view of the text; such as mentioning it was captivating, for me i didn't connect with the novel, which is why i wont be talking about it on the exam. I changed a few of your commas to a semicolon. There is just a few words that dont apply in the context. However you do show a good knowledge of text and you use embedded quotes well :)
Jason’s abandonment and dishonoring of Medea serves to assist in her desires for justice and revenge. Euripides opens the play with the Nurse foreshadowing, and hence informing the audience, of the recent events that haveleadled to the current conflict between Medea and Jason, which proves to encircle the majority of the play’s plot. Medea, ‘utterly destroyed’, has nothing to live for; hence she ‘surrenders her body to her sorrows, pining away in her tears’. Jason’s abandonment has struck Medea so unexpectedly and because she had sacrificed all, ‘her heart unhinged in her love for Jason’, Medea now has nothing, ‘no mother, no brother, no fatherland’, and at the beginning scenes of the play, Medea is at the outset of her vulnerability. Through the Nurse and the Chorus’ continuous downplay of Jason, the audience is encouraged to sympathize with Medea and understand her need for justice, because she is rightfully obliged to ‘exact revenge from Jason’. Ultimately, Medea’s unfortunate circumstances grant her the right to seek justice, for she was ‘wronged unprovoked’.
Good paragraph just a few things i picked up. Its best to analyze what Medea did for Jason. From what i observe, is why should i sympathize with Medea? True Jason acted like she was his little bitch but what did she do? Maybe its best to mention how she helped Jason, and then got back stabbed. Such as helping him to get the Golden Fleece, and receiving no recognition. This would increase the level of sympathy that Medea receives from the reader. I also like the manipulation of your words, that Medea has nothing..'no brother'. Thats cos she killed him :'), I wouldn't include that she doesn't have a brother, because it sets her up as a murderer, cos there is no justification why she killed him.
Although Medea is entitled to some form of revenge, the audience, Jason, Chorus and the Nurseallcondemn Medea’s sense and intentions of justice. Its either sense of justice, or intentions for justice. Intentions of justice doesnt sound the best Medea’s perception of revenge is far off from justice. The targeting of innocent characters (would most likely) evoke a sense of outrage in the audience of the play as well as the Nurse and Chorus,andupon discovering that Medea is planning to murder Glauce, King Creon and her two children stop here. The sympathy that Euripides initially creates for Medea fades into an underlying sense of disgust and shame. The Chorus and the Nurse initially sympathize with Medea and understand the fact that she had been cursed with a ‘sea of woes’ and miseries, and hence acknowledge the normal human nature of revenge. This sentences does not fit with the flow of the paragraph. Something like 'The Chorus and Nurse initially acknowledge Medea's 'seas of woes' and then continue with 'However, when Medea.. However, when Medea reveals her true intentions, the Corinthian women and the Nurse retaliate and censure her ‘lioness’ morality, as the princess, King Creon and the two children had ‘no role in their father’s (Jason) wrongdoing’, and did not deserve to pay the price of Medea’s violent and immoral nature.
Surprisingly, though, Medea seems to be completely satisfied and fulfilled at committing the most ‘unholiest of deeds’. Despite her actions being heavily censured, Medea’s ameliorated witchcraft and manipulationallowedallows her to fulfill the deed, and successfully murdersthe Princess, Creon and her two children. Medea now acknowledges that what she has done will haunt her for the rest of her life, but she dismisses this at the thought of ‘stinging’ Jason’s heart, as all her ‘sorrows are well repaid if you (Jason) cannot laugh at me’. Fucking good points Medea has officially proved a tragic hero, she herself feels accomplished and justified at her crimes, because her ‘fury against Jason is stronger than her counsels of softness’ and she brought ‘honor to the name of women’, that is, only in her eyes, as she flees the murder scene in a chariot handed down by her grandfather, the Sun-god, leaving Jason to vividly regret his abandonment. This is a deus ex machina. It would be best to include why Euripides allows her to escape. Something like 'Euripides use of Deus ex machina, as Medea escapes unpunished in a chariot drawn by dragons, supports Medea's cause and leaves Jason to vividly regret his abandonment
Good essay :) u should be fine for the exam. I would give this an 8.5/10
Someone able to read my Medea essay for me please. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Well wow.. This is good, very good. Thank you for the feedback I really loved how some parts you got enthusiastic about haha xD
About the 'captivating' part in the intro, I always start off the intro in the same way and decided to change things around, so no opinions, right? Obviously examiners will be reading heaps of these intros, and good ways to spice the first sentence a bit?
Thanks heaps fruitcake, really do appreciate your help and will definitely work to utilise your inputs! Which book are you writing about instead?
Hey,
I just finished marking this, so I figured I'd put it up! Guess you get double feedback! :) Hope this helps cosine
Thaaanyan
For the Medea intros - try use something like 'Euripides' Greek tragedy epitomizes.. or Silhoutted against the backdrops of Ancient Greece.. etc"
Cheers. Also anyone got some good introduction starters, besides 'In Euripides'...'
Also when we quote on the real essay, do we use " - " or ' - ' ? I am assuming " - " because someone is saying the quote in the play?
What about in LA essays, which one do we use?
Also also in LA essays, if we use the argument per paragraph approach, is it better to incorporate the visuals in the paragraph that supports the argument in the visual or should visuals ALWAYS be a paragraph of their own?
And for conclusions of LA essays, what needs to be stated? Is it necessary to restate the publication of the article etc ?
Cheers for that, although you destroyed me xD I see that you say I go off topic a lot, I know this is the case, but how do I fix this?
Like for that prompt, there really was not much to talk about, so I had to fill in some spaces otherwise it would be very short. What are your tips to do when the prompt given is not your best friend? Is it a matter of mastering the text more or is it luck, depending on the prompt?
Cheers. Also anyone got some good introduction starters, besides 'In Euripides'...'
Also when we quote on the real essay, do we use " - " or ' - ' ? I am assuming " - " because someone is saying the quote in the play?
What about in LA essays, which one do we use?
Also also in LA essays, if we use the argument per paragraph approach, is it better to incorporate the visuals in the paragraph that supports the argument in the visual or should visuals ALWAYS be a paragraph of their own?
And for conclusions of LA essays, what needs to be stated? Is it necessary to restate the publication of the article etc ?
No problem,
Glad I helped! :)
There was actually a lot to discuss with this prompt, the trick is reading in between the lines.
For example, if we map out your para 1 real quick:
BODY PARA 1: Medea is justified in believing her actions to be 'just' against Jason because Jason has broken his oath and committed a crime against her.
- you can discuss everything Medea has sacrificed for him
- you can discuss the nature of Medea's pain
- you can discuss that "the thing is common" (Chorus), and is a reflection of the way men use deceit to string women along
- you can talk about the greater social degradation of women and link that to Jason's crimes
- you can discuss the self interested nature of Jason's actions.
BOOM! Massive paragraph haha, as long as you link each of your ideas it's all good. Your main topic sentence is "Jason's crime against Medea" but all these other things connect to the crime of perjury: the consequences felt by Medea both as an exile and as a woman, the nature of Jason's betrayal highlighting his douchebag nature etc.
I believe it's a matter of understanding the text. I have been given some dodgy ass prompts but i know if you study hard enough and argue laterally enough it all works out haha...nah i just spend longer picking it apart at the start
But yeah I think Cristiano's advice pulls together a lot of my thoughts, but generally i have a rule of thumb for intros and that's don't put in any unnecessary bs.
like if my essay prompt is on women only then will i write in my intro "Composed in a highly dichotomous society where the degradation of women was......." if my essay prompt is on revenge, i will start by talking about revenge. Anybody, and I mean anybody can shove in a pre-written intro with socio-historical context for the prompt. But i'm betting that not a lot of kids can make it relevant.
ultimately it's what makes you feel comfortable at the end of the day, if you feel like having a couple of back up stock phrases are going to make sure you feel confident and you can fluently mold the rest of your essay to the prompt then go for it. it's not a massive thing it won't hurt you, and people have written great essays with pre-written first lines so don't feel like you're obliged to do anything you're not cool with, but generally that's just my stance on 'em.
also for conclusion i was taught differently; to conclude by analysing how the author concludes their piece. i'm guessing there's no set way, just do what you've been taught or what sounds good.
What I meant about the prompt is the whole idea of it not just those paragraphs. I think this might be my main issue, ideas to discuss? I mean I have a pretty good knowledge of the play but I think linking things is my issue. How can I improve this, you seem very knowledgable about it, what did you do to be able to think outside the box to interlink the ideas together and manipulate it?
About the introduction sentence, what about just a quick historic background to provide some context for the assessor? Like just mentioning the era of Medea's production etc? And then getting straight into the prompt?
Cheers.
I would have mentioned in the main intro that there was a response to the article.. so you would say something like "In response to abc, xyz contends that... in their comment"
Then talk about the main bodies for the first article, then after you're done you can say; in comparison to abc, xyz (comment section) says etc and analyse that
then just have one big conclusion which sums up both sides! so you dont need 2 intros or 2 conclusions just one but tie the other article/comment in :)
if the language analysis article has no named author, will we get penalised for referring to them with gendered pronouns?
Also, I was wondering if I can get a 40 raw if my GA's are 90, 93, and 49/60 respectively.
Thanks!
Is writing 3 body paragraphs in an exam dangerous? Should we aim for at least 4? (but with three paras, obviously the word limit will be reached)?
Hi, which would be a better text to write on so I can get a higher score for text response: Stasiland or Medea?
Someone mind reading my Medea essay for me, please? Any feedback is greatly appreciated, many thanks.
Hey guys
I just finished a practise language analysis and I was wondering whether anyone would be able to mark it and perhaps give it a score out of ten?
Also, for some context, the piece I analysed is in the last few pages of this PDF: https://proffpoet.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/vate-english-exam-2015.pdf
Thanks in advance and sorry if its dodgy (especially the second paragraph and conclusion, was struggling to think of things to analyse), haven't done language analysis since the term 1 sac :P
Someone mind reading my Medea essay for me, please? Any feedback is greatly appreciated, many thanks.
Why can I just not concentrate now. Moral: don't try to mentally work after way too many hours with dementia patients. Nah, for some reason marking anything but LA has been mashing my brain for the last month or two and I'm never happy. Apologies for the mediocre quality of feedback, but hope it's helpful nonetheless!
hey there ,
I looked through your piece and attached some feedback
Hope I've helped :)
On the exam, what if I can't come up with a third argument/paragraph? For example, for the prompt: 'Consider some key points of difference between men's and women's experiences of life in this play. Is Euripides a feminist?'
Arguments:
- Euripides acknowledges the patriarchal, male-dominated society of 431BC and this is evident through Medea's downplay by the men of the play.
- However, Euripides is a feminist, and this is highlighted through Medea's ascension and rally of crimes as she fights for equality of rights as men.
- ?
If this was the case during an exam, what would you do?
I wanted to know that if I start a text response with a really long sentence is that a bad thing?hey guys can you please answer this, im kinda stuck :)
Here is an example: " Sketching a tale of the harsh and gruelling conditions endured by the indigenous Australians during Australia’s Great Depression, Jack Davis’ play ‘No Sugar’ depicts how some minority groups act out in communal defiance against the oppressive environment they lived in." And if there is any way I could word this in a more sophisticated manner, I would like to know.
Thank you :)
hey guys can you please answer this, im kinda stuck :)
hey guys can you please answer this, im kinda stuck :)Not doing the play but here:
Anyone mind reviewing my text response for 'In the Country of Men' and giving it a mark out of 10?
cheers :)
Anyone mind reviewing my text response for 'In the Country of Men' and giving it a mark out of 10?
cheers :)
No problem.
Attached. :) Hope this helps.
hi guys, can you please read this practice essay on 'No Sugar' and rate it out of ten plus some constructive feedback? thanks :)Not attached!
hi guys, can you please read this practice essay on 'No Sugar' and rate it out of ten plus some constructive feedback? thanks :)sorry i thought i had :) here it is
Hi! I was wondering if anyone could help me with this Medea prompt? I've got a few ideas but not enough to write a whole essay on, especially in an exam.
This is the prompt:
‘Characters display both cool logic and fiery emotion in Medea, but Euripides is supportive of neither.’ Discuss.
These are my ideas so far:
Cool logic -
Jason’s reasons for abandoning Medea - betrayal leaves her distraught. Euripides doesn’t approve of this
Fiery emotion -
Medea’s decision to kill 4 ppl leads to the end of Jason’s legacy and a kingdom with no royalty - he is left with nothing. Euripides doesn’t approve of this but approves of balance.
I want to have at the least 3 body paragraphs, maybe even 4. Can anyone give me some ideas??? It would be much appreciated :)
- Although Euripides supports Medea's fiery emotions, the characters of the play don't and detest Medea for her unnatural crimes.
for the english exam how many body paragraphs do you think is best to write for each essay. My english teacher has told my class to do 2 body paragraphs to make sure we fit into the time constraints, however some other english teachers at my school have said to do 3 so i'm not quite sure how many i'm meant to do.
Euripides doesn’t approve of this but approves of balance.
Hey bangali lok,Hopefully someone else can provide another response but:
Is it alright if I make a conclusive statement about Euripides on the exam/essay? For example say that euripides thinks this... thought that... reveals this.... through major events in the play?
Like the essay I uploaded on the essay correction page, I had one paragraph talking about how euripides supported Medea's plight and how it was evident through allowing her to escape with haven.
For prompts such as this : “Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own”. In what ways is Agnes disempowered in Burial Rites?"
Is it OK to talk about both disempowerment and empowerment? Or is it just asking for the ways in which Agnes is empowered all throughout?
For context, is having external references a must? or can we provide just examples from the text/movie we choose to talk about
Secondly, since we study 2 context texts and choose to talk about one on the exam, if we talk about the 'other' text does that count as external reference or not?
Thanks
For context, is having external references a must? or can we provide just examples from the text/movie we choose to talk about
Secondly, since we study 2 context texts and choose to talk about one on the exam, if we talk about the 'other' text does that count as external reference or not?
Thanks
I'm going to write a speech for section B and i'm unsure if its a good idea for my score to make my purpose etc as explicit as this-Transcript of speech delievered by...Re: making this explicit, you can integrate this within your piece by having the speaker say things like 'As the Chairperson of the Domestic Violence Prevention Committee, I would like to say...' or 'I would like to thank my fellow Members of Parliament for attending this afternoon's conference on...'
At the ....
On the...
The given title of the speech is …
other than that, what else is a good way to elevate a speech and address different aspects of a prompt i.e. is it too simple to agree with a prompt and try to persuade the audience to that perspective or do I definitely need to go further. thanks
How do you incorporate an author's 'Bias' into the introduction? Like for the 2010 Biodiversity exam how is Lee biased, as he is a professor - he may contend etc.Bias isn't a technique, and you shouldn't bring this up as it can seem evaluative. Think about it: if you're calling the author biased, then you're suggesting that his arguments aren't persuasive, or otherwise you're using the background information and saying something about his role in the issue, which isn't what the task is meant to be about.
How do you word this and smoothly weave it into the intro?
Any suggestions would be great as i am a bit lost :) Thanks
I wanted to know that if I start a text response with a really long sentence is that a bad thing?Long sentences are fine, and I wouldn't even say that one was too long. So long as it's grammatical, the assessors have no problem with it. But I'd recommend having one or two of these malleable intro sentences instead of using the same one for every essay. Let's say you get a No Sugar prompt about the importance of survival, or of power and family dynamics - are you going to begin with the same line about communal defiance every single time? It's best to engage with the prompt from the outset, if possible. Other than that, this is worded fine though, and I'm sure it'd work for a significant number of prompts, so it'd be good to keep up your sleeve.
Here is an example: " Sketching a tale of the harsh and gruelling conditions endured by the indigenous Australians during Australia’s Great Depression, Jack Davis’ play ‘No Sugar’ depicts how some minority groups act out in communal defiance against the oppressive environment they lived in." And if there is any way I could word this in a more sophisticated manner, I would like to know.
Hey guys I'm kinda stuck- not sure which text response to do for the final exam.Hopefully you've chosen by now, but I would absolutely recommend King Henry - there's heaps to talk about, and it's one of the few interesting texts on the list this year. Happy to help with this one since that was my exam text back in the day. There was a thread dedicated to HIV1 discussions last year, so you could hunt around for that if you were looking for some resources or interpretations. Otherwise, just knowing the prompt really well and being able to talk about wach of the characters both individually and comparatively will help a lot. Also, familiarise yourself with as many themes and combinations of themes as you can. Some structural evidence wouldn't go astray either, since it's a fourth year text and you'll likely get some tricky prompts this year, so looking into the symbolism of time, the presence of order, manipulation of language etc. would be a good starting point.
I can do Henry IV, which I'm quite interested in though,but haven't really out much work in it, so will 2odd weeks be alright to study it?
Or the other book we did for unit 3, although I've done a lot of work on it, and don't want to waste it, it just doesn't seem that fun anymore (maybe because it was a long time ago)
Any advice please help?
hi :)I get where you're coming from, and I can't advocate going into the exam completely blind and just expecting that you'll be able to come up with the right words on the spot. In reality, there's a reason you study your texts all year (or half a year if it's your Sem. 2 text) and the assessors expect that you'll be familiar with certain elements.
I am hoping for some advice on vocab in text response.
In the past, I've found that the most effective way of weaving fancier, less common words into text essays is to read scholarly articles, literary reviews and alike.
But what if there is nothing available? My text is Burial Rites, and as it is so new there is effectively nothing online to read about it, other than just a couple of brief reviews which don't really help much.
I understand that the likely response here is something along the lines of 'thought counts more than vocab', and while I agree that that is unquestionably true, I think you also have to be realistic. The essays approaching the highest end of the mark spectrum always have an impressive collection of phrases and terms fairly cleverly embedded, and to get the high marks that same approach needs to be taken.
I would say that naturally, my use of vocab is strong and expressive; it; it makes sense, but it doesn't have that wow factor unless I have quite a bit of time to 'craft' a piece, as opposed to pumping out 3 in as many hours. I would also like to make the point that I only use words if I am confident with them; I don't build my essays around language in the hope to impress, because I know that doesn't work.
Having said that, the language I use in my text response probably won't get my the marks I'm hoping for at the moment, and I was hoping for some advice on how to work past this.
Is it a good idea to 'craft' some perfect sentences/paragraphs and memorise them, instead of smashing out essays as often as possible?
What sort of stuff should I read to pick up vocab? Literary reviews of other books, extracting relevant ideas where necessary?
What do you guys think would be the optimal ratio between writing about your text and external examples in an expository essay for Context?My standard recommendation is to talk about the text in a fair amount of detail in your first body paragraph, and then reference it again in your ~3rd B.P. just for a sentence or two. ie say something like 'Just as >character in the set text< was forced to confront the significance of their actions, so too did... >lead to external evidence<'
I have read somewhere on this forum to write on every second line in an essay so that you can have space for editing. Is this for in exams or just for SAC's and practice essays. Like, do the assessors mind???Re: skipping a line, yes, it's completely fine, and I'm actually recommending it to students who have big/small/messy handwriting. If you're writing's big, it lets you space it out across the page and makes things easier to read - if you're writing's small, it kind of forces you to write a bit bigger and more legibly by virtue of having more space to do so. And if you're a messy writer, it gives you the room on either side of a line to make edits and corrections where needed.
Also, I have got a problem where in the context section of the exam I always write my piece in 15-20 min. Then I get another idea, which i think 'hey that will be a lot better' and then i write that one for the remaining 30 min. What do you think i should do??? It seems pointless writing two, but I never seem to be able to get the other idea unless i write the first one.
Im having trouble doing an LA piece. I am doing it on the 2014 LA part. There is the main article and a comment section.Alternatively, here's a structure I'd recommend
So far i got
1 - intro for main article
2- Body Par 1 about main article
3 - Body Par 2 about main article
4- Body Par 3 about main article
Im stuck here, what should i do?
5- conclusion about main article?
6- intro for comment section?
7- Body par 1 for comment section?
8- conclusion for comment section?
if the language analysis article has no named author, will we get penalised for referring to them with gendered pronouns?The 2013 VCAA exam had no author, and that annoyed me to no end because that was my exam and I'm pretty sure I alternated the phrases 'the writer'/'the author'/'the piece' so often that to this day my hand makes the motion of writing those words in my sleep.
Also, I was wondering if I can get a 40 raw if my GA's are 90, 93, and 49/60 respectively.
Thanks!
OKay so I've been trying to fix this problem of mine for a while now and I just keep doing it... I tend to overwrite in language analysis due to my innate fear of running out of things to analyse (I somehow feel bad if I don't analyse every good persuasive technique or connotations because it would feel like a waste to not analyse it-weird huh?) and because of this, I tend to spend too much time on L.A or spend half of my time analysing the first quarter of the text and the last doing a rushed analysis of the rest. Anyone have any tips? I tend to favour really large chunky paragraphs so maybe I should just start writing a lot of short paragraphs?Keep up with the longer paragraphs, as they tend to be stronger, but prioritise the stuff that you find most important, rather than just 'ooh! I can say something about this part!' Is it a worthwhile 'something?' If so, keep it. Or, if it just seems like a bit of filler analysis/ something you've already said before and better, cut it.
Cheers
Hi everyone,I hate your teacher. I had a Lit. teacher like that in Year 12 and I'm still kind of bitter over the way she dismissed students who were doing 'well enough not to warrant any attention' -.-
Was wondering what the difference between a 9 and a 10 in an essay is? Is it just expression and cohesion?
Personally I've gotten 10s for text and 10s for context before, but keep getting 9s for section c :/ !!!!!
I've spoken to my teacher and she says I shouldn't be complaining LOL
Help would be much appreciated
Thanks
Is writing 3 body paragraphs in an exam dangerous? Should we aim for at least 4? (but with three paras, obviously the word limit will be reached)?Not dangerous at all. Three or four is totally fine, no less, and no more unless you're really prolific and quick. Aiming for five+ is usually deleterious to overall quality, but there's no inherent advantage or disadvantage to doing three instead of four.
In a context piece, for the film that we are studying, are we able to use the actors, director etc and make up like a talk show interview session or a Q and A session for a magazine. The information however would be all made up and may not accurately reflect their own real personal views. For example for the film skin, I could interview the director - Anthony Fabian - and ask him a question such as his decision for directing the film, and the response from him would be completely made up by me and not actually real and or as to why he chose to direct the film. Would this be allowed?Absolutely - I had a few students attempt something similar over the course of this year. Just try to ensure that you move beyond the text, ie. don't have Fabian talking about the significance of all the stuff in Skin and nothing else, because that'd be more like an extensive text response from a weird perspective. Whereas, if you use his voice to talk about other things (eg. his inspiration, real world parallels, his own life- if relevant(?) or other points of interest) then it's totally fine. Just make sure whatever your doing comes across clearly to the assessor so they don't have to get 600 words in before realising 'oh I get it - he's the director!!' A brief bit of explanation at the start goes a long way :)
Thanks, I hope you all sorta understand what I'm trying to say haha
Heyy, for English Context- Standard Expository essay style. Can we have like a creative- personal story type of introduction that implicitly signposts the ideas later on in the essay? or is that changing the style of writing to much from the standard expository essay body paragraphs.That's totally fine, provided it isn't too clunky ŕ la:
What do you guys think about memorizing essays. I'm really bad at English and will be happy with above 30, over the moon with 35. With the little time time in the exam, I'm thinking of taking a gamble and hoping that the prompts are similar to what I wrote a good essay on and modifying it with little effort compared to writing a completely new essay. What do you guys think?I've spoken at length about this... somewhere on this board... but in short: memorise parts of essays, not whole chunks of essays. You're setting yourself up for failure if you just commit paragraphs to memory and churn them out on the day, but if you have set points of analysis that you're familiar with, and a good understanding of the overall message of the text + some sentences to demonstrate this, there's nothing wrong with using what's familiar to you and fitting it to your exam prompt. Just be aware that relevance rules everything, and you shouldn't compromise the integrity of your piece by just using half-baked bits and pieces from other essays and stitching them together. That's what's known as an Ugly-Frankenstein-Essay... which I'm going to have to find another word for since Frankenstein is genuinely going to be on the text list next year :-\
How would you start revising for the exam , I have no idea where to start.Know what your weaknesses are, and start there. Once you know what those weaknesses are, then you can either work on them yourself if the path is obvious, or let us know in this thread what you feel you need to work on, and someone can help you along :)
for the english exam how many body paragraphs do you think is best to write for each essay. My english teacher has told my class to do 2 body paragraphs to make sure we fit into the time constraints, however some other english teachers at my school have said to do 3 so i'm not quite sure how many i'm meant to do.At least three. ^See above advice in response to cosine's question
For language analysis, do we have to begin by introducing the issue and what sparked it or could we go straight into introducing the actual piece?There's no requirement to include background info, but a lot of people do out of habit anyway. If you think it's relevant then go for it, but you're free to just jump in and outline the necessary biographical details (ie. author, title) and the contention if you want. If you are including the spark/issue though, be sure to keep it to one sentence or less - going overboard is typical of mid-range essays that have nothing better to do :P I'd favour the more direct route, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of 'Following the recent...' to get you started.
For prompts such as this : “Everything I said was taken from me and altered until the story wasn’t my own”. In what ways is Agnes disempowered in Burial Rites?"Only use empowerment as a reference point for talking about disempowerment, which is the focus of the prompt (and the quote for that matter.) Having a whole paragraph devoted to empowerment would probably be too much, but you could bring it up in a few B.P.s just as a means of clarifying what you're talking about. Keep it close to the focus of the prompt though, and you should have plenty to talk about.
Is it OK to talk about both disempowerment and empowerment? Or is it just asking for the ways in which Agnes is empowered all throughout?
Depends i think, is it a 'Discuss' prompt? if so, then yes to your question.Different teachers will say different things, but there's not really much substantial different when it comes to the 'discuss'/'do you agree'/'to what extent' questions used in English prompts. Realistically, you're always 'discussing the extent to which you agree,' so it's just a matter of phrasing that they use to spice things up. The more definitive statements tend to get the 'Do you agree?' marking, but you can treat them as though they're the same.
But if a 'do you agree?' type question or 'to what extent?' then i would think no.
chances of getting an exam similar to the 2014 one (ie main piece with a comment) again this year is quite high, but you didn't hear that from me *nudge nudge
Nothing concrete; just some patterns I've noticed and some rumours on the ol' grapevine.
I could be wrong, but it can't hurt to prepare for a comparative exam just in case :)
How do u prepare for a comparative exam? The questions cant be the same.
Nothing wrong with a comparative, the trial exams for this year have been comparative - probably included as a result of last year's shock and downfall of some.
Practicing, it's fairly simple as you don't have to analyse the first article as you normally would and the response usually has contrasting views. If you've done the trial exams/2014 VCAA you'll know, if not then attempt the Section C of Lauren's 2015 free practice exams.
if we're given a comparative that has a lot going on eg. 3 comments, how do we address the comments?I would just quickly mention in the intro that there were three responding comments to the piece and then later on just analyse them one by one. (In contrast ABC contends...) Likewise, 123 argues .... and Similarly, 999 asserts that..) If one of the comments are supporting the original article then state that 'Supporting the views of the (Author), 999 asserts)
do we state all of their contentions in the intro? do we analyse them all separately as though they were an article?
I would just quickly mention in the intro that there were three responding comments to the piece and then later on just analyse them one by one. (In contrast ABC contends...) Likewise, 123 argues .... and Similarly, 999 asserts that..) If one of the comments are supporting the original article then state that 'Supporting the views of the (Author), 999 asserts)
That's how i'd do it and have done it, not sure if it's entirely correct but someone can verify this hopefully :)
Because of Wag the Dog is in this year's Whose Reality text list, would it be safe to assume that prompts pertaining to memories, shared experiences etc. will not appear this year? For instance, last year (the first year Wag the Dog appeared on the text list), the prompt was ‘Misrepresenting reality can have serious consequences', which fits perfectly with Wag the Dog, because the film is all about manipulating people's reality for political gain and the consequences which arise from doing so.
Surely the prompt must relate well to all four texts for Whose Reality? Or does VCAA expect you to know more than one Whose Reality text? Because we did Death of a Salesman as well, but I don't want to have to prepare for both texts for Context...
The prompt may still include memories and shared experiences with the first year novel Foe appearing. This novel is not certainly based on memories, but certain parts you could draw upon are to do with past experiences. So don't completely rule this one out as we don't know what could appear, but ad least have a plan for what to do if it does. (most likely wont appear but yeah, be ready)
I know that other texts would definitely pertain to shared experiences/past experiences, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Wag the Dog doesn't whatsoever, so surely VCAA wouldn't leave all Wag the Dog students up shit creek without a paddle? Or would they expect you to make do or know another text?
I know that other texts would definitely pertain to shared experiences/past experiences, but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Wag the Dog doesn't whatsoever, so surely VCAA wouldn't leave all Wag the Dog students up shit creek without a paddle? Or would they expect you to make do or know another text?
Because of Wag the Dog is in this year's Whose Reality text list, would it be safe to assume that prompts pertaining to memories, shared experiences etc. will not appear this year? For instance, last year (the first year Wag the Dog appeared on the text list), the prompt was ‘Misrepresenting reality can have serious consequences', which fits perfectly with Wag the Dog, because the film is all about manipulating people's reality for political gain and the consequences which arise from doing so.
Surely the prompt must relate well to all four texts for Whose Reality? Or does VCAA expect you to know more than one Whose Reality text? Because we did Death of a Salesman as well, but I don't want to have to prepare for both texts for Context...
Oh, I see. Correct, i am doing "Foe" and "WTD" so
1) No, the prompt MUST be relatable to all texts, you won't be required to know another text as it should suit all 4
2) Brean and his team have constructed an imaginary war, which means (something on imagination could come in) and also the fact that their songs such as "303" permit those Americans in the way they remember the war..
Not sure, but it's highly unlikely there'd be one on memories as it is too specific and probably doesn't relate that well to all texts.
What type of prompt are you hoping for? I have a feeling one either on power (imposed reality) or subjective reality will be on it!
I'm hoping for consequences of manipulating/constructing reality, the difficulty of trusting in (objective) reality or believing illusions over reality. I reckon it'll almost definitely be one of these three or subjective reality or imagination (the latter two I'm not prepared for)
For constructing reality, do you mind giving an example of consequences of this in WTD or /other examples?
I think i'd be fine with the other two, Subjective reality would be great :) though it might be something like 'those with power can construct reality....' etc.
Cheers :)
Moral consequences for the propagandists, and also think about the people on the receiving end of the propaganda, how it would affect their perceptions of reality and the loss of freedom (since you're essentially manufacturing their consent).
Just wondering what you did for subjective reality? Even some a couple of points would kick-start me, thanks :)
UNRELATED: Does anyone feel like one hour is way too little to annotate one/two language analysis pieces AND write an 800-1000 word piece? Has anyone in the past tried an exam structure like:
Section A - 50 minutes
Section B - 50 minutes
Section C - 1 hour 20 minutes
I agree that memories/past experiences can be safely ruled as impossible.
UNRELATED: Does anyone feel like one hour is way too little to annotate one/two language analysis pieces AND write an 800-1000 word piece? Has anyone in the past tried an exam structure like:I do the English exam in CAB order and find that I always hit 60-70 minutes before I finished Section C. Personally, I find it is the one you have to devote the most amount of time because you can't take in as many ideas that you've already considered in the past. As a result, I don't spend as much time planning for section A/B, but this doesn't really hurt my work.
Section A - 50 minutes
Section B - 50 minutes
Section C - 1 hour 20 minutes
Moral consequences for the propagandists, and also think about the people on the receiving end of the propaganda, how it would affect their perceptions of reality and the loss of freedom (since you're essentially manufacturing their consent).
Just wondering what you did for subjective reality? Even some a couple of points would kick-start me, thanks :)
UNRELATED: Does anyone feel like one hour is way too little to annotate one/two language analysis pieces AND write an 800-1000 word piece? Has anyone in the past tried an exam structure like:
Section A - 50 minutes
Section B - 50 minutes
Section C - 1 hour 20 minutes
Thanks, for subjective realities i based mine on the novel Foe but i would say for WTD:
a) the singular perspective the story is told from, we only see one side of the story- the reality manipulators
b) We know that it is false, whereas the american public dont (the way you see things)
with the second question.
yes, i have done 50,50, 1.20
This is achieved by:
Reading Time: Plan A,B , Read over C twice.
Writing time= Finish A in 50 mins, Finish 5 in 50 mins, devote the rest of the time to write as much as possible on section C.
I actually prefer this method apart from the fact that u need to quickly do the other two and may have to re-read the article :) let me know if theres anything else i can answer!
I do the English exam in CAB order and find that I always hit 60-70 minutes before I finished Section C. Personally, I find it is the one you have to devote the most amount of time because you can't take in as many ideas that you've already considered in the past. As a result, I don't spend as much time planning for section A/B, but this doesn't really hurt my work.
What's your advice on made up stories for context?There's no point telling the truth, since that'd just be dull, and it's not like the assessors are giving you marks on how accurate your story is (ie. if you write about a fight you had with your siblings but they somehow stalk your VTAC number and find out you don't have any siblings... they don''t care, so long as the ideas are good.)
In Henry IV, Hotspur gets furious by reading a letter outlining the dangers of the plans for the rebellion. (Act 2 Scene 3)I think that letter is from the Archbishop of York, which really isn't made plain so I can't blame you for not knowing - it took me a few readings and I thought I knew that text well :P
Might have misread, but does anyone know who wrote this letter?
Cheers
if we're given a comparative that has a lot going on eg. 3 comments, how do we address the comments?
do we state all of their contentions in the intro? do we analyse them all separately as though they were an article?
I would just quickly mention in the intro that there were three responding comments to the piece and then later on just analyse them one by one. (In contrast ABC contends...) Likewise, 123 argues .... and Similarly, 999 asserts that..) If one of the comments are supporting the original article then state that 'Supporting the views of the (Author), 999 asserts)✓ Verified :)
That's how i'd do it and have done it, not sure if it's entirely correct but someone can verify this hopefully :)
Because of Wag the Dog is in this year's Whose Reality text list, would it be safe to assume that prompts pertaining to memories, shared experiences etc. will not appear this year? For instance, last year (the first year Wag the Dog appeared on the text list), the prompt was ‘Misrepresenting reality can have serious consequences', which fits perfectly with Wag the Dog, because the film is all about manipulating people's reality for political gain and the consequences which arise from doing so.As mentioned, your context prompt will relate to all four texts, but some will fit better than others. Inevitably some texts have a natural advantage some years, but since it's what you do with those ideas that matters, you shouldn't have to worry too much. So long as you've endeavored to connect the core of the prompt with the core of the text somehow, you'll be fine.
Surely the prompt must relate well to all four texts for Whose Reality? Or does VCAA expect you to know more than one Whose Reality text? Because we did Death of a Salesman as well, but I don't want to have to prepare for both texts for Context...
Does anyone feel like one hour is way too little to annotate one/two language analysis pieces AND write an 800-1000 word piece? Has anyone in the past tried an exam structure like:If you can't get Language Analysis done in under an hour, then you're probably doing a lot of unnecessary work, or demonstrating the same skill over and over to no effect. I'd argue L.A. is the one piece you want to finish in less than an hour, and Sec.A and B are the ones where you can spend more time fleshing out ideas. L.A. is ludicrously formulaic, and you shouldn't have to annotate them too extensively. Are you just finding persuasive devices? Or do you link them to effects and to other parts of the article too? Either way, try to cut your planning/annotating time down, and then be as efficient as possible when you're writing. 1000+ words is kind of excessive for L.A. hitting around there is pretty much necessary for T.R. and Context if you're aiming high (~though depending on your style for Context.)
Section A - 50 minutes
Section B - 50 minutes
Section C - 1 hour 20 minutes
1) Spend 15 min reading time going over C and analyzing, make points in the head- Write for 1 hour. Do not look at Section A + BThis definitely works well if you find yourself overwhelmed by having to mentally plan all three tasks at once. Some people might prefer to let the prompts churn over in their heads, but it depends how you approach things. A good halfway point would be to plan one essay ahead at all times, so
2 hours + 15 min left at this stage.
2) Spend 2-3 min on structure/points of your text response and write for 1 hour. Again Do not look at Section B
1 hour + around 10 min left
3) Spend 2-3 min on structuring points/essay for Section B. Write for 1 hour
Around 5 min left
4) Go back and pray u didnt fuck anything up
The best thing about English is when it's over haha.Don't taunt them, man. They've still got three days left :P
Similar question:
Does anyone think there will be a prompt about change and personal growth for ID&B? My teacher fucked us over for our SAC and gave us 'Sometimes we need to accept change in order to grow' (VCAA 2013) when The Mind of a Thief wasn't even on the text list in 2013... (I think)
My other text is Skin and of course there are changes in MOAT and Skin but no one really grows because of it -- it ends up being destructive? Does anyone agree? (I really struggled with this prompt)
I'd argue L.A. is the one piece you want to finish in less than an hour. You shouldn't have to annotate them too extensively. Are you just finding persuasive devices? Either way, try to cut your planning/annotating time down, and then be as efficient as possible when you're writing. 1000+ words is kind of excessive for L.A.
Sec A and B are the ones where you can spend more time fleshing out ideas. Hitting around 1000 words is pretty much necessary for T.R. and Context if you're aiming high (~though depending on your style for Context.)
IM DOING I&B TOO! Also I see what you mean. I studied Mind of a Thief too and could not write an essay about change (it was extremely difficult) so I wrote about Summer of the Seventeenth Doll instead, I find that for mind of thief, the prompts that are suited for it are mainly about culture and place, whereas the Doll is more about change. SO, hopefully to cater to all of the texts VCAA will make the I&B prompt really broad like last years :)
I hit 1000 words for Context in 50-55 minutes because I know my piece/s pretty much back to front, but I'd definitely struggle to hit 1000 for Text Response. For my trial exam, it took me about 60 minutes to write ~700 words for This Boy's Life and the assessor gave me 19/20. Do you think I should be writing more (if I'm aiming for a very high score) and do you think maybe the assessor was being a bit too lenient then?
What's a good amount of time to be spending annotating? During annotation, I usually write down the contention/s and highlight language devices and elements of any graphics. I use three colours to link the devices in three 'categories' (arguments, techniques etc. depending on the text) and then I start writing. Annotating takes me 15 minutes usually, or 20 minutes for comparative. Then I write for about an hour, in which I'll produce ~700 words :\
I hit 1000 words for Context in 50-55 minutes because I know my piece/s pretty much back to front, but I'd definitely struggle to hit 1000 for Text Response. For my trial exam, it took me about 60 minutes to write ~700 words for This Boy's Life and the assessor gave me 19/20. Do you think I should be writing more (if I'm aiming for a very high score) and do you think maybe the assessor was being a bit too lenient then?
When doing a timed Section C, i don't waste time highlighting the page and annotating and instead just do this in my head. If i have to i will underline the words and just write about it. In that 20 mins you were planning and highlighting you could have been writing, and the assessors don't mark you on your highlighting skills - they don't even get to see it as you take the task book home!
So in reading time i would suggest just going over techniques and persuasive methods in your head and thinking of what you are going to write, rather than wasting valuable time as you could be up to 800-900
It really depends. Quality over quality. One with 700 words but is written very concisely should score higher than a 1000 word one but is very waffly. However, i do think that if you want to get 45+ then you should be hitting the 1000 word mark for each section, even 900 words would suffice if it has good quality.
Well maybe not 1000, though it should be the shortest - if you are concise. 800ish words would score a 10/10 if it was of really good quality. (Last year's Yergon piece, in examiners report scored, the student scored 10/10 and was roughly 800-850 words.)
1000 words might score a 7 or 8 if it didnt meet the criteria (Didnt analyse images) or maybe it was restating the contention every sentence and some parts were irrelevant.
Again. Quality > Quantity.
Edit: The 10/10 piece was 871 words (calm down, it was a comparative piece lol)
When doing a timed Section C, i don't waste time highlighting the page and annotating and instead just do this in my head. If i have to i will underline the words and just write about it. In that 20 mins you were planning and highlighting you could have been writing, and the assessors don't mark you on your highlighting skills - they don't even get to see it as you take the task book home!
So in reading time i would suggest just going over techniques and persuasive methods in your head and thinking of what you are going to write, rather than wasting valuable time as you could be up to 800-900
Update: Massive vouch for this method! I annotated for about 5 minutes instead of 15-20 and my word counts in an hour went from 650 -> 700 -> 750 -> 800 in just three practices! It just takes some time/practice to get used to, but it's fucken amazing :)
A side note, I got my hands on the 2011 VCAA Language Analysis (PM if anyone wants, because of copyright and shit), but I hear that it's really really shite, is it worth doing for practice?
Its kinda like literature close-analysis aye? I spend the least time on LA as i can pick up techniques they author used just like in close-analysis.
Hey do you get penalised for referencing two texts you have studied this year in your context piece?
I know that we are supposed to have one text that you have to focus most of your attention on but can you briefly include an example of the other text in a paragraph?
My teacher strictly told us not to do itOn the ABC Radio English exam panel earlier today the English examiners said that it is fine as long as the one you have noted as your main text is emphasised a lot more.
On the ABC Radio English exam panel earlier today the English examiners said that it is fine as long as the one you have noted as your main text is emphasised a lot more.
Not sure why your teacher said so :o
On the ABC Radio English exam panel earlier today the English examiners said that it is fine as long as the one you have noted as your main text is emphasised a lot more.
Not sure why your teacher said so :o
Hey guys.
Does anybody know what the average mark out of 10 is for the English exam? I'm hoping to at least get 35 (pre req. for my course) but am worried!! I mostly get 7-8 on practice pieces.
BTW, has anyone done 2011 VCAA Lang Analysis? (the plagiarised one) I've got a copy but not sure if it's worth it to do
Worth doing. Found it to be quite different to anything I had looked over, especially because it was hardly persuasive hahaha. Traumatising af.
For language analysis, if there are two pieces (ie. a blog and a comment) then do we mention both in the introduction?In my experience, yes. Obviously if there are 3 comments you wouldn't have to go one by one with the author, but it's nice to give them a mention. As a general rule, if I'm going to spend more than a sentence or two analysing it, it will get signposted in the introduction.
For context, what are your guys experiences with just memorising a piece and bringing it in?Never done it, I use expository. Adaptable pieces are probably better though, or else a bad prompt will completely destroy your section B score.
Hey do you get penalised for referencing two texts you have studied this year in your context piece?Just to clarify here, you are allowed to mention both so long as you still have a 'primary text drawn upon.' However, since you're being marked on the quality of exploration, only using the set texts (or having one in each B.P. + one external example) might limit you somewhat. If none of your other evidence fits, then by all means use your set texts, but it'd be better if you were able to draw from different sources ideally.
I know that we are supposed to have one text that you have to focus most of your attention on but can you briefly include an example of the other text in a paragraph?
If there are comments in a Section C, do you have to state the contentions of all of them in the introduction?Re: the 2011 exam, it is worth looking over just to get a feel for how badly things could get in the exam, but I highly doubt VCAA would go down that route again.
I just had a crack at VCAA 2011 (10 mins reading + 60 mins writing on pen and paper); would anyone mind having a look at it? (it's in the spoiler below) I found it surprisingly okay, but a question I have is if a Section C has comments, do you have to discuss all of the comments?
For language analysis, if there are two pieces (ie. a blog and a comment) then do we mention both in the introduction?For L.A. if you get something like the 2011 exam, just say 'Day's piece was also accompanied by a variety of comments spanning different views from members of the public.'
For context, what are your guys experiences with just memorising a piece and bringing it in?
For context, are you required to quote your texts?
So you can just describe characters/situations whilst relating it back to your point?Relating characters/situations to the prompt = fine
(At my school, they ALWAYS tell us to quote, so I'm not sure how to go about linking the text otherwise, just in case I can't think of a quote that ties in on the day.)
Hi,Yeah, I've heard all sort of mutually exclusive recommendations about this. The best way to think of it is on a spectrum of:
For language analysis would you lose marks if you made absolute statements? e.g. "instills fear within readers", "compels readers to..."
I've read many high-scoring essays and they seem to make such statements.
However, during my trial exam the examiner cautioned against this, advising me to say "may instill fear" and "allay possible fears".
I feel that using 'may' and 'might' weakens my language analysis. So I'm quite confused. :S
What's a good way to conclude a Language Analysis? The general trend seems to be just to summarise the contention, tone and the nature of the techniques employed, but I feel as if that's just rehashing the intro and adding no value? Is it acceptable to finish with analysis or is waffling for a couple of lines at the end a necessary evil?My conclusions were usually just two sentences. A good format is to begin with saying 'By >using some big overall technique, like a dichotomy or creating an implication< the author seeks to engender >&describe effect here.<' Then just revisit the contention, and you're done. It's really just a structural requirement, so there isn't as much weight put on it as there is in T.R. and Context where you're expected to reach a more satisfying conclusion. I remember being told 'just don't screw things up so badly in the concl. by writing something ungrammatical or repetitious that they'd be inclined to take a mark off.' Beyond that, you're usually fine to write whatever general summative statement seems appropriate.
Got a few qns:1. Try not to. If you get a character-based prompt, then it's fine, but ideally you want to be giving your assessor a general overview of your argument, rather than zooming in on your evidence. Easiest fix for this:
1. Should you include character names in topic sentences? (TR)
2. For context, is it wise to include the text studied into the introduction? (if so, what should be stated about it?)
3. For context, can you weave in both the texts you studied as evidence to support?
Also, you guys:
http://blogs.abc.net.au/victoria/2015/10/sunday-school-2015-english-exam-.html
About 19:48 onwards when they're talking about Language Analysis:
"...[students]'ve got to look at the material as give, and the way it connects. Because it won't be coherent. It'll be in bits." {Other teacher: "Yes."} "So they've got to find a way to actually connect this; it's all on one issue - one concern, one controversy - and they've got to find a way through that."
This could just be a way of saying techniques will be scattered throughout the piece, but I'd take this as a very strong indication that the exam will be comparative.
That is all.
edit: lol@21:27 "I think [Context] is the most beautiful section on the exam" ::) ::)
Wait, are those guys actual VCAA examiners - who have seen the 2015 exam? I thought they were just normal English teachersMost of the prompts at the end of the year are written by various teachers, so some of them might have written sections. Also, gossip tends to get around, so they may have heard rumours. Still, it's nothing definitive - just another indicator that you should all be prepared for a comparative task just in case ;)
I'm writing a hybrid-ish piece for context (whose reality) and I want to quote some parts a book that isn't in the same genre as The Lot, but lends to similar issues and ideas. Is it okay if the quote is several lines long?
Can someone please give me a rundown on what to include in the intro of context? I am doing expository and identity and belonging
For language analysis, if a device you want to point out seems kind of obscure (e.g. citing "eight per cent" instead of "8%" hides the statistic since it blends in with the other words), should we scrap it? Or should we justify it by saying why we think it's significant, in brackets? For instance, "(figures are usually used in conjunction with percentages)"
Is there any benefit of bringing a dictionary in to any English SAC/exam, I have a pretty good dictionary but it's also a thesaurus so it won't be allowed. I'm just wondering if I should buy a new dictionary for VCE English...I'd rather not tbf :P
There's like a mini section in my dictionary in the middle which goes over grammar and stuff... would this be allowed? I've been using it the whole year for SACs and stuff but not sure about the exam.
There's like a mini section in my dictionary in the middle which goes over grammar and stuff... would this be allowed? I've been using it the whole year for SACs and stuff but not sure about the exam.
Can someone please give me a rundown on what to include in the intro of context? I am doing expository and identity and belonging
For language analysis, if a device you want to point out seems kind of obscure (e.g. citing "eight per cent" instead of "8%" hides the statistic since it blends in with the other words), should we scrap it? Or should we justify it by saying why we think it's significant, in brackets? For instance, "(figures are usually used in conjunction with percentages)"Ideally you'll have enough language to talk about that you won't need to mention everything you come across, so if there are some points that are kind of dodgy or not as efficacious as others, definitely showcase your ability to be selective by leaving them out. Statistics tend to be kind of pedestrian techniques to point out anyways ('Author uses numbers because numbers are persuasion' tends to be the gist of most analyses) so unless you think it's especially pertinent, it'd be better to focus on the more important stuff.
In regards to text response, how much "construction"or metalanguage do we need to employ for the 9-10 marks.1) depends on the prompt, and the text come to think of it, but I'd say try to have a minimum of one structural thing in each paragraph ~that's really arbitrary though; you could easily flout that 'rule' and still get a perfect score. In terms of metalanguage, almost all your sentences should contain metalanguage because you'll be discussing and analysing the text.
And in regards to in depth analysis of particular quotes and scenes, how much in detail are we meant to go?
How many outside sources at the least do we need for context? I've got 2 but my third one is a bit hazy still..I'd aim to have more than you need, so perhaps read up on some other ones tomorrow and give yourself four in total, just in case. If the three that you've got are incredibly flexible, then you might be okay, but you'd want to be as prepared as you can be.
Is there some sort of trick to identify the 'key players' in L.A faster? I tend to spend along time during reading time trying to identify them and make links between the article, comments and visuals.1. What is the contention? eg. space exploration = good
THANKS!
Hi Lauren!
So with a comparative language analysis, which format is best??
1. Analyse main text
2. Linking sentence (ie: on the contrary ___ contends___ through.....)
3. Second text? <-- this is best!!
or
1. Analyse main text
2. Analyse second text
3. Comparative Paragraph <-- if you were doing it this way, this paragraph would be unnecessary. You don't get any marks for comparison, so it's better if you can weave in the secondary texts together with your discussion of the main text, using a related idea as a pivot
can you do it like this?
1. Analyse main text
2. Analyse second text weaving in comparisons/differences? <-- yes, if you have to, but the first method would be preferable.
In other words:Is it fine to have 2-3 paragraphs on the main article and then a separate for the sub-article? Or will that not allow for much comparative analysis?
Each paragraph would have:
- 75% worth of analysis of the main piece
- 25% of visual and/or comment analysis
very approximately, of course, the assessors aren't too fussed about the breakdown.
Having said that, if you're more familiar with a different method, then I'd recommend just refining that for the exam.
Just a small grammatical question, would the film Wag the Dog be underlined or wrapped in quotation marks? Same goes for websites in Language Analysis (e.g. this opinion piece was published on the website Activism Australia)
quotation marks
Also this is probably a stupid question, but are we allowed to use dictionaries during reading time?
For both? I've been underlining films my whole life and a website can be likened to an anthology of sorts, so wouldn't that be underlined too? Sorry for doubting, just very confused
Is it fine to have 2-3 paragraphs on the main article and then a separate for the sub-article? Or will that not allow for much comparative analysis?Yes, that's fine if you can't find a way to incorporate ideas from the comment(s) in to your main body paragraphs, but you really want to try and bring it up when it's relevant, rather than just stick it at the end.
Just a small grammatical question, would the film Wag the Dog be underlined or wrapped in quotation marks? Same goes for websites in Language Analysis (e.g. this opinion piece was published on the website Activism Australia)Convention is to have the text in single quote marks, and things the characters say are in doubt quotes, so in 'Wag the Dog' the Connie says "A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow." But so long as you're consistent with whatever you're doing, the assessors won't mind.
In other words:
Each paragraph would have:
- 75% worth of analysis of the main piece
- 25% of visual and/or comment analysis
very approximately, of course, the assessors aren't too fussed about the breakdown.
Do you have an example of that? Would you need to compare the two or just analyse the visual as a single analysis?In the event you get something similar to last year's exam, you'd just have to focus on the main piece, integrate some visual analysis where relevant, and compare the main contention to that of the comment once or twice in order to analyse the comment.
Is the second topic of The Complete Maus always about the graphic novel and it's relationship to exploring the narrative?I wrote those 2015 prac. prompts because the 'Discuss the graphical features' structural prompts tend to be more difficult than the standard 'Discuss Artie and Vladek's relationship'-style character/thematic prompts, but if you're on top of analysing the visual elements then you should be fine for those ones.
I noticed Free Original Practice Exams - 2015 does for all four practice exams, as does the 2014 one from VCAA.
I seem to score better on these, and find it easier because you can use a lot of visual evidence, which I find easier to recall than quotes. It would be comforting to know that it will be an option on the exam.
EDIT: Also, an interesting but somewhat annoying thing about Maus quotes is that a lot of them are intentionally grammatically incorrect, which makes for an interesting thing to analyse but at the same time makes remembering quotes word for word a difficult task. If I provide a quote but accidentally correct its grammar, will I lose marks for "misquoting" the text?
Can someone please explain how to effectively do tonal analysis in the bodyparagraphs?You can treat it like any other technique:
how much depth do we need to go into?
What is a good method to conclude a comparative analysis?Have one or two sentences about the main author's contention, and the intended effect on the audience. If there's a single comment, then you can do the same for that one and write something brief about the piece overall, but if there's multiple comments, I'd probably just focus on the main article rather than tick the boxes for every single text.
For context expository essays:That outline seems totally fine. There's no requirement to go back to the text, but the occasional reference can go a long way. Don't spend multiple sentences trying to tie things together, but you could have a quick 'Just as >character from set text< experienced a conflict of belonging (or w/e you're talking about for your Context,) so too did >this external example< involve a similar case of...'
My plan is to do
Intro
text
external
external
conclusion
When I write my external paragraphs, should I link back to my main text?
are 300-word paragraphs too long for context?Nope! So long as you can write at least three body paragraphs within the time constraints, that's fine. But you might want to cut down and make your writing more concise if you're worried you might end up taking too long.
The exam is obviously pretty close. Before we sit it, however, I just want to extend my gratitude to the English mod team and any others that have helped in the Q&A thread this year. On behalf of us all, I think it goes without saying that your help has been massively useful. Personally, my gratitude cannot be summed into just a few lines of text, so hopefully everything goes as planned tomorrow and we can put your lessons to action.
Going into 3/4 English, I had very little idea what to expect as I had never done 1/2 English at all. That being said, reading all of the guides over the summer holidays, asking (sometimes trying to answer!) questions, and analysing high-scoring responses has made me a whole lot more confident with English, and I feel like I can now say it's the subject I feel best about for exams.
So especially to Lauren, who is dedicating her weekdays to answering our last minute cramming questions, but also to others such as bangali: thank you so much!!!
We'll do you proud.
what would be a reasonable length for a good essay?
We'll do you proud.
Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight. *plays the violin*
Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight. *plays the violin*
if the LA article has comments, do you mention them briefly in the intro? And is it encouraged to begin LA with a contextualising statement?
Just wondering when we bring our equipment for tomorrow.
How are we meant to bring it(sorry if this sounds like a dopey question)
Like do we bring pens/ whatever we need tied together with an elastic band.
Also are we allowed to bring our equipment in a plastic folder that is see through?
Also how will we get our vcaa student number
Good luck to everyone for tomorrow!
Have a few questions about context: (expository, ID+B)1) Totally fine to have no quotes at all from your Context text. Reference the ideas, and try to talk about what the text has to say about the prompt - that's all you need.
- Is it alright if you include hardly/zero quotes, but actually include references.events from selected texts and other examples?
- How many references do we need to make to the text we studied? Once per paragraph, or?
- Can we include inclusive language like we/us/our?
- Anyone have any external sources for identity and belonging?
- Can you make up sources? Like make up a book and make up a story (this is all for expository)
Thank you, Lauren.
Can we also use generalised external sources, like the overall issue of refugees and how this questions one's true identity etc..?
What marks do I need to get a 40? I think I can pull 9/8/8, but would that only get me high 30s? What if I only get 8/8/8?
hey guys,
when Medea says she's crying (line 900 p 74 in the John Davie translation) is it because she's thinking of the fact that she will lose her children or is she thinking of how Jason hurt her?
there is a stage direction stating that she's remembering Jason's treachery, but wouldn't that just make her angry at this stage?
At the thought of "Jason's treachery", Medea is reminded of the fact that, as a result of Jason's egocentricity, the children "must be killed" and she realizes that they will experience a horrific death, ultimately in order to fulfill her quest for vengeance. Thus, she weeps and laments that "What a wretched creature I am" and in turn, her eyes are "fill[ed] with tears" at this thought, which may be Euripides' attempt at displaying Medea's underlying passion for redemption.
Hi just looking to clear some things up before the exam. My biggest problem this year is that I always feel lost when writing a Context (Identity + Belonging) piece. My approach so far has been to treat the prompt like a I would a text response then make 3 main points which supports my contention and provide examples from my text + external sources. I know that if I continue this way into the exam my section B would be marked quite low. Recently for my exam prep, I have been trying to write in a more "philosophical manner" for my context, exploring the implications and different sides to the prompt rather than simply trying to argue my stance. Is this a better approach? Honestly I still feel very lost as I do not have any solid ideas :S
How many persuasive techniques should we aim to discuss in our body paragraphs for language analysis? is around 3 enough?Three would be sufficient, but try to aim for more if you get a chance. Again, stick with what you know, so if you're used to analysing three (give or take the visual and/or comment(s)) then that'll be perfectly fine.
In this article: http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/04/12/high-speed-rail-just-doesnt-add-up-time-to-move-on/, the author says in the second paragraph: "For anyone who can add up, the high-speed rail phase 2 study released yesterday (or, if you were a newspaper journalist, Wednesday) should bring to an end the flirtation Australia’s polity is having with the idea of a high-speed rail network.".I'm pretty sure the reference to Wednesday is just because journalists usually get an advanced copy of these things the day before to ensure they can report on them accurately. The idea of flirting is more like figurative language (implying Australian policy is some effete, silly thing) and the 'for anyone who can add up' is just an offhanded remark to elicit derision. Those articles don't tend to be very persuasive though. At least, not in the same way the VCAA exams are.
I can see that he's trying to use humour (i.e. "flirting"), but when he says "or, if you were a newspaper journalist, Wednesday", what is he attempting to do through this? Is he making a joke of some sort?
Also, how would you describe what the author is trying to do when he says "For anyone who can add up"?
For text response if we structure our body paragraphs like below is that considered 'sitting on the fence' and not taking a stance or is it acceptable?This'd work for Context, but a safer method for T.R. would be to either cut one paragraph, or change one so that it does the opposite, and you have a 3-1 majority instead of a 2-2 split.
B1: agree
B2: agree
B3: disagree
B4: disagree
Thanks
URGENT!!Tbh at this point, if you're not prepared for a prompt about Jason or the theme of ambition, you'd probably need to spend some time tonight or tomorrow going back to the text. Try to think about Jason's flaws in general; would you consider him a very flawed character, or is he a good person in a bad situation who is taken advantage of by other characters? And would you call him ambitious? Does he follow his ambitions and prioritise his own concerns above those of others? Just try to unpack the prompt a little bit until it's more familiar to you, and build on the understanding that you have, rather than try to find some elusive 'ideas.'
I need ideas for this Medea prompt!!
"Jason's only flaw is his over-ambition. Discuss."
~~~Just for the sake of visibility!!!
I'll be hanging around the forums all night and in the early hours of the morning tomorrow, so whilst I'd advocate getting a good night's sleep, if people want to drop their essays in on the forums someplace, I will get to everyone's, including anything that's slipped under the radar this week, so feel free to post a couple of things tonight, and then you'll hopefully get a chance to read through the recommendations tomorrow morning.
~~~Just for the sake of visibility!!!
I'll be hanging around the forums all night and in the early hours of the morning tomorrow, so whilst I'd advocate getting a good night's sleep, if people want to drop their essays in on the forums someplace, I will get to everyone's, including anything that's slipped under the radar this week, so feel free to post a couple of things tonight, and then you'll hopefully get a chance to read through the recommendations tomorrow morning.
Lauren you are absolutely amazing! So nice of you to help everyone out!!!!
Wow, you're so amazing! Legit would've been my dream to have a teacher with the same dedication as you!!!Will attach this essay along with your Id&b one in the Prac. Exam thread once I'm done so we can keep this for questions, but feel free to post more there or on the Submissions Board and I'll get to them :)
Anyway, I'm just going to post this text response on In the Country of Men, and if you get the chance have a look :)
My teacher advocates using 2 main texts for the conflict expository that i would write, is this fine and what text would i write in the nominated text?If you're writing three body paragraphs, then it'd be better to just use one text in your first para, and make your other two explorations based on external evidence. If you're writing four paragraphs, then you can use two texts, but perhaps use one of them in your intro, or reference it in another paragraph, and then you can state that one to be your main text drawn upon.
How can we incorporate views and values statements in our text response?Views and values statements would be things like 'The author suggests that...' or 'The audience is made to feel sympathetic towards...' They're good for the intro, conclusion, and the ends of your body paragraphs.
do we usually leave it to then end or? could you provide an example
Thanks
For text response, for example with Euripides' view are we allowed to use a whole paragraph just talking about his view on a certain prompt? Say for example it is about how everyone in the play is equally repugnant, can we discuss in the first two paragraphs about how each character displays their own levels of repugnancy and then on the last para, talk about Euripdies' ultimate view on which character is more repugnant, and include evidence to back this up? (or maybe not definitively say Euripides does this or does that, but make supportive statements like 'Euripides seems to present the notion that Medea's actions were indeed justified'.)Yes, if you really wanted to, but I think you'd need to mention Euripides in your other paragraphs too. I don't know how you'd argue that one of the characters displays a trait without implying that the author is the one conveying this sense, so a better approach might be to examine certain characters' thoughts or intentions which strike you as notably harrowing or unjustified, then discuss some actions which might fall in to that category, and then finally consider whether any one character can be called 'completely' repugnant, or whether they all have some redeeming qualities.
Richard suggests "luck" is an excuse that "losers give to their own failings", but achieving success is through your will "to win". This demonstrates that Richard believes achieving success or submitting to failure is solely dependent on the amount of effort you invest.This is getting across your point clearly, but notice how you've got one sentence that is just summarising what Richard says, and then the second sentence is where you analyse it by saying 'This demonstrates...'? This can easily be combined into a more efficient bit of analysis using the magic of NominalisationTM - now available in 4 easy payments of $19.99
(I tried reading highly scoring TRs but I haven't read the novels and the language used is sophiscated as hell..)I can absolutely understand not being able to trek through some of the really verbose essays on these forums, but I'd say keep looking at those high scoring responses. They can take a while to grasp, but when you can start evaluating what they're doing right and wrong, you'll be able to improve your own writing too. Plus, all that hellishly sophisticated vocabulary will be stuff that you can write down, look up, and start using in your own writing where appropriate :)
Edit:Not quite sure what you're teacher is trying to say here, but based on what you've written here, perhaps s/he wants you to better spell out the connection between the evidence and your analysis. In other words, why is this quote evidence?
In a similar response to a similar quote, my teacher told me I just had to provide evidence then it would be okay. I thought the quote was the evidence?
Is it acceptable to change the form of a word when quoting in an essay?
For example, if I was quoting: "Fly, Mr Pelican, despite your broken wing. You know you can do this with the power of positivity!
Would it be acceptable to write something like this?: The author illustrates the "power" of approaching situations with a "positive" point of view by showing Mr Pelican "flying" with his "wings"; despite "breaking" one of them earlier in the novel.
Thanks for your help ;D
Is it acceptable to draw ideas from more than one text in Section B (providing that they're on the VCAA English text lost)?
Do you mean, that you've studied two context texts and you draw upon them both in an essay?
No, I mean are you allowed to draw ideas from multiple texts from the same context?
Thank you for your help ;D
No, I mean are you allowed to draw ideas from multiple texts from the same context?
Thank you for your help ;D
This is for anyone who has read This Boy's Life, when do I refer to Tobias Wolff as Jack and when do I refer to him as Toby?
When discussing the character, pick either Jack or Toby and stick with that name throughout your discussion. When referring to the author, use 'Wolff'. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter which name you use to refer to the character, as long as you're consistent.Aha cheers
I have a question with drawing ideas from my text, This Boy's Life. I've noticed how Wolff comments on Chinook, and how due to the mountains light rarely reaches town. This kinda draws a similarity with his life in Chinook, he does not find any happiness with Dwight and feels miserable living with him and longs for his mother. In other words, physical environment <=> living with Dwight, there's a big reflection.
My problem is, if this were a fictional novel I could say how the author has chosen for the landscape to reflect the life living with Dwight. However, because This Boy's Life is a memoir, it actually HAPPENED that way, in other words, I cannot create meaning from this link between the environment and life with Dwight because that's how it actually physically was in real life. So how do I integrate that into my essays given what i've said above?
I have a question with drawing ideas from my text, This Boy's Life. I've noticed how Wolff comments on Chinook, and how due to the mountains light rarely reaches town. This kinda draws a similarity with his life in Chinook, he does not find any happiness with Dwight and feels miserable living with him and longs for his mother. In other words, physical environment <=> living with Dwight, there's a big reflection.
My problem is, if this were a fictional novel I could say how the author has chosen for the landscape to reflect the life living with Dwight. However, because This Boy's Life is a memoir, it actually HAPPENED that way, in other words, I cannot create meaning from this link between the environment and life with Dwight because that's how it actually physically was in real life. So how do I integrate that into my essays given what i've said above?
The fact that he chose to include it in his memoir is what makes it something you can mention. This is true for any non-fiction text. Just because it actually happened that way, doesn't necessarily mean you can't give reference to it as an author's choice in a text response. The author could have easily not mentioned the landscape in your text, but they chose to for specific reasons (or at least that's how you have to think as an English student).Cheers!
Sorry for shortness, posting from phone. Lmk if you need further clarification of what I mean.
A'lot of the time, the book is symbolic for a lot things. An instance of this in Page 62 after visiting Dwight's place in Chinook and Dwight shows him the salmon. In this section Wolff is metaphorically suggesting that Jack and Rosemary’s movement away from their home into the unknown is doomed. More broadly, he is examining the way that the constant journey looking for change and security is futile. More than that, the toll it takes is as visible as the ‘strips of flesh’ hanging from the body. You can find that environments + symbolism throughout the novel is quite significant.I love you for that haha. So basically, it's the fact that Wolff CHOSE to put it in the memoir, he has a wide array of things he can talk about, but it's the fact that he chooses to talk about this because he wants readers to realize what his life was like in Chinook through this analogy...
Another the environment of the home in Chinook, when Dwight paints the whole house white before Rosemary arrives. In this instance it shows Dwight trying to literally paint over the inadequacy of what he has to offer to Rosemary. In doing so, in trying to make everything perfect, he makes the strangeness more pronounced and highlights his own inability to fix things.
It is important to recognize that the book is a memoir. However it is Wolff who decides what goes in and for what purpose, and most of the time its got a symbolic purpose, and you can talk alot about that.
You could also talk about it in relation to the retrospective nature of the text - I've found that to be a fairly big concern when dealing with TBL; how reliable is Wolff as a narrator? How much of this story is an accurate reflection of Jack's life, and how much if it is coloured by the advantage of Wolff's hindsight?Hey lauren, with the idea that you have mentioned above, where would I go with it? As in, how can I start putting that knowledge into practice? Like if I were to talk about that in an essay, what would I be saying?
Hey lauren, with the idea that you have mentioned above, where would I go with it? As in, how can I start putting that knowledge into practice? Like if I were to talk about that in an essay, what would I be saying?
I saw some people mention early last year that it was really important to read other books than our English books set for this year. Knowing that it is imperative to read our set texts multiple times and also do work for our other subjects, I cant see how people find the time to read other novels etc. Could someone please explain why reading other texts in important for year 12 english
Reading more makes you write better. It broadens your vocab and just makes good grammar and expression feel right and flow naturally - so you can convey your ideas much more clearly to the assessor (and in general whenever you have to write something in life). Finding time was easy for me because reading a good book is my favourite form of relaxation, so I didn't see it as study but as a break.
In regard with English orals and chosen topics, whats a unique way to starting and grabbing the audience attention, aside from rhetorical questions or anecdotes?
In regard with English orals and chosen topics, whats a unique way to starting and grabbing the audience attention, aside from rhetorical questions or anecdotes?What's your speech about? and what's your persona? I reckon those both come into play haha. Take into account most people will tend to start with such flare that when they set out their arguments it seems like they've only perfected the start.
In regard with English orals and chosen topics, whats a unique way to starting and grabbing the audience attention, aside from rhetorical questions or anecdotes?
Poet-actor, Stan Lee, once said: ‘with great powers comes great responsibilities’.
On the night of 21st of August, this power and its associated responsibilities, were put in the hands of five men - 4 independents and 1 Green, as we stared down the barrel of the first hung federal parliament since the early 1940s.
...
Imagine a world where governments lie to their citizens; a world where governments secretly conduct illegal activities, and a world where these actions occur on the false premise that it is all for your own protection. Well, that’s what our world is turning into.
And all that’s between us, and the lies, hypocrisy and deception of those in power are ‘two’ things- the moral conscience, often non-existent in the political and corporate world, and Wikileaks.
...
For my English orals:Agreed, thanks. Would it also be okay to start with a real story that was featured in a recent article? For example displaying a photo and speaking of a patient that has recovered from medical marijuana recently, then proceed with introducing the topic and my stance?
1) A quote, preferably from someone famous or relate-able:
2) Paint a picture
Regardless of how you start, if your confidence is what matters most. If you're not confident even the best speech won't win you the audience. Other important things include appropriation of your voice (volume, tone, pace), use of hand gestures, not appearing to be reading the speech, etc.
Hey guys, I'm struggling to pick out an English oral topic.It doesn't really matter if the context/issue of your oral is something that others do. You shouldn't let this influence your decision, as you can always stand out from the crowd. Sometimes, doing these topics is a better idea because there's more room for putting a unique spin on it. If you're interested in the topic and it has garnered enough media attention, try it out. You won't be disadvantaged for doing a similar topic to others because you can't control what other people do. It's just about how well you deliver your own one.
I originally decided to do it on public school vs private schools, and the impact of families on a student's education... but after reaching near write-up stage I had to finally admit that the issue was not contentious enough.
So I'mback to stage 1.
I'm really knowledgeable on IS and terrorist organisations... but like that's too mainstream and I don't think it's a good topic for me to write an oral on (I'm predicting half my cohort will do this topic :P)
So... any ideas for topics? The issue im leaning towards is Indigenous deaths in custody.. but tbh I have no knowledge on this issue.
What would be the arguments on both sides for this issue?
Thanks :D
It doesn't really matter if the context/issue of your oral is something that others do. You shouldn't let this influence your decision, as you can always stand out from the crowd. Sometimes, doing these topics is a better idea because there's more room for putting a unique spin on it. If you're interested in the topic and it has garnered enough media attention, try it out. You won't be disadvantaged for doing a similar topic to others because you can't control what other people do. It's just about how well you deliver your own one.yeah that's true... but the way I view it is that I can do a good job with the over-used topic and get an 8/10.. or I can do the same quality work on a unique issue, and because this issue isn't used often my ideas come out as especially unique and allows me to stand out more than I would with the other
yeah that's true... but the way I view it is that I can do a good job with the over-used topic and get an 8/10.. or I can do the same quality work on a unique issue, and because this issue isn't used often my ideas come out as especially unique and allows me to stand out more than I would with the other
you should do the topic you're most interested in -- you'll be naturally passionate about it which will shine through the delivery of your speech & it will also allow your writing to have a 'voice'
I agree with Swagadaktal. From experience, in public speaking competitions and last years oral SAC you don't necessarily have to argue a topic that you are passionate about. One of the fundamental aims of this SAC is to convince your audience to concur with your view - persuasion is a skill, a skill that can be learned. The more you practice a speech, practice intonation the more convincing you'll sound.
Even though teachers may say otherwise, the more a topic is used the harder it is to standout and engage your audience (unless it outshines the other speeches on the same topic) and subliminally even, the teacher will be not as intrigued in your arguments (most of which are likely to have been covered by other students) than if you chose a unique topic with fresh arguments and ideas.
Ultimately, no matter what topic you choose you should be able to imbue it with a 'voice' however vague and abstract that sounds.
In my opinion, choose a speech topic that your audience may not have even considered - get them thinking.
Good luck
ok guys, thanks for the responses (love you all xx) : an update, I am doing my oral on the way the government deals with indigenous disadvantages.
My contention: The government is not taking enough action to support the indigenous community. So far my body paragraphs go as follows: B1: indigenous deaths in custody - An aboriginal person is 20 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-aboriginal people, and the chances of them dying in custody is significant - The government has cut fundings to the Aboriginal Legal service which attributes to these deaths as they dont have proper representation.
B2: The government is only now considering to represent the indigenous in the constitution. - 2 points to this A) the government has waited too long to do this, B) It's not really achieving much
B3) Ways to improve treatment of our indigenous
Thoughts? ilys <3 you can pm me if you want to go more in-depth and stuff
thanks guys :D
sounds great!aha that's really reassuring
definitely interested -- during all my years of doing and listening to oral presentations, I have never heard or presented a speech on this topic!
ok guys, thanks for the responses (love you all xx) : an update, I am doing my oral on the way the government deals with indigenous disadvantages.
My contention: The government is not taking enough action to support the indigenous community. So far my body paragraphs go as follows: B1: indigenous deaths in custody - An aboriginal person is 20 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-aboriginal people, and the chances of them dying in custody is significant - The government has cut fundings to the Aboriginal Legal service which attributes to these deaths as they dont have proper representation.
B2: The government is only now considering to represent the indigenous in the constitution. - 2 points to this A) the government has waited too long to do this, B) It's not really achieving much
B3) Ways to improve treatment of our indigenous
Thoughts? ilys <3 you can pm me if you want to go more in-depth and stuff
thanks guys :D
I'd save Body 3 for the "solutions" section of your oral (towards the end).Um how about this, " Critics argue that plenty of government resources, time and effort has been placed in hopes of helping the indigenous community, but the community is not willing to change." - then rebut it using my solution.
Instead, consider a rebuttal for your third body. For example: the government deems spending more money on the indigenous peoples as a waste - then, shut it down with evidence that justifies further expenditure on aboriginals (i.e. the irreversible hurt they incurred in the past, stolen generation, poverty gap etc.)
Um how about this, " Critics argue that plenty of government resources, time and effort has been placed in hopes of helping the indigenous community, but the community is not willing to change." - then rebut it using my solution.OOh a critical point I left out, is that although the government is providing resources, they are not utilising the resources provided effectively. We need to use the same resources in different ways
Which is to give more jobs to indigenous community, and reflecting on methods proven by other governments (inbox me if you want the whole thing, not sure about how much detail you guys want in order to give me feedback :P)
hey i was wondering if anyone could give me a suggestion on how to improve this paragraph topic sentence. it seems quite dull for a topic sentence... its about using weapons especially in government for power.Weapons are often prioritised by governments over the wide range of alternatives due to their coercive nature.
'Despite the common use of weapons to settle disputes, there is a diverse range of other alternatives to combat problems and successfully govern. Weapons are often resorted to, primarily for the induced fear towards victims...'
Any help would be appreciated :)
hey i was wondering if anyone could give me a suggestion on how to improve this paragraph topic sentence. it seems quite dull for a topic sentence... its about using weapons especially in government for power.
'Despite the common use of weapons to settle disputes, there is a diverse range of other alternatives to combat problems and successfully govern. Weapons are often resorted to, primarily for the induced fear towards victims...'
Any help would be appreciated :)
Weapons - cold, mechanical instruments designed to inflict harm by those who control them. Unfortunately, in many cases, the guise of defence is purported while the responsibility of those who yield such instruments is unnervingly abrogated in the pursuit of power, control and intimidation - a propensity which thrives off the innocence and acquiescence of those their used to protect.I actually had to google 3 of those words.. damn
I actually had to google 3 of those words.. damn
Same :') i always got told that examiners dont like using their dictionaries.. cant argue with a 50 thois that what it takes to get a 50?
is that what it takes to get a 50?
coz my vocab isnt that deep its just good enough for l.a and text responses :3
is that what it takes to get a 50?
coz my vocab isnt that deep its just good enough for l.a and text responses :3
is that what it takes to get a 50?
coz my vocab isnt that deep its just good enough for l.a and text responses :3
Meaning no offence to Champ101, I reckon the original TS was better, simply because it was simpler and clearer. I wouldn't recommend trying to imitate that complex/wordy style because it sounds just a touch pretentious and confusing (I explain my reasoning in detail here). But I got the 43 and they got the 50, so :Pomg bangali stop that sweet talk of yours, if I was a diabetic I wouldn't be able to handle you
I liked Swagadaktal's though - very clear, crisp and to the point. (y)
omg bangali stop that sweet talk of yours, if I was a diabetic I wouldn't be able to handle you
Remember that I just criticised someone else (soz), so it's clearly not sugary flattery :PIt's a compliment boo :P
(still undecided about whether you were complimenting me or not LOL)
I actually had to google 3 of those words.. damn
I've been told that it's more argument focused but not sure what that means. Thanks :)
Weapons - cold, mechanical instruments designed to inflict harm by those who control them. Unfortunately, in many cases, the guise of defence conceals the responsibility of those who yield such instruments, responsibility which is ultimately abrogated in the pursuit of power, control and intimidation - a propensity which thrives off the innocence and acquiescence of those their used to protect.
Hey everyone,IIRC it will be some sort of creative writing task.
For Year 12 English in 2017, I know that there will be no context essay for the end of year exam. Anyone have any idea what it is being replaced by for the exam?
Thanks :)
In Stasiland, the theme absurdity is used to highlight the ruthless and fundamentally sinister nature of the GDR's secret police.
Funder notes that, "despite his family history", Torsten was still sought after by the Stasi to see if "he would inform for them". This preposterous notion that a victim of the Stasi himself would agree to working for them illustrates how irrespective of an individual's experiences with the state, the Stasi desired total control. Ergo, they preyed on the most unlikely candidates to spy for them. In this way, Funder suggests that the Stasi were completely unforgiving when it came to achieving their set goals.
hi superalexnguyen,
At this stage of your paragraph, you'll be explaining and expanding on the general idea or premise that you brought up in your topic sentence. It can also mean explaining the evidence preceding the sentence. This means that the "E" will be an extension of what you've already written; you're taking your logic a step further and explaining the impact or intricacies of your initial statement to the reader. Don't feel obliged to very strictly follow this format, however. English is very flexible and there's on definitive way of setting out every paragraph. That being said, I'll show you what I mean with an example, because such a structure is a good way of ensuring your essays are coherent.
Let's say I'm writing an essay on Stasiland and the prompt asks me to discuss the theme of absurdity. I plan out my essay and this is for the first body paragraph that I write.
Above is the topic sentence of my paragraph. I've got a central idea that Anna Funder employs a theme in order to make a particular point about what she thought. However, as you see it right now, I've only got a very limited amount of information. I haven't actually explained what this means and I haven't given evidence. Below is an example of what a sentence might look like explaining this idea.
Using this explanation, I've given reason for why I've chosen my idea that was in the first sentence of the paragraph. At the start, I brought up my evidence, and then I've gone on to explain my evidence after that. Hope this makes sense.
There is also a compulsory creative SAC during the year, which is what the above poster may be thinking of.You're probably right haha! Doesn't effect me really :P
What intermediate steps should I take between reading the texts and writing essays?Build your own interpretation of the text
Build your own interpretation of the text
Hi guys i need some help with my oral regarding formulating some solid arguments to back up my contention. My topic is child vaccination laws and to give you some background info, the government is basically going to be restricting parents from receiving government child benefits if they do not get there children immunized.Your contention is solid, but I'd agree that you need to broaden your arguments a bit more.
My contention is that instead of penalizing parents, we should focus on the real roots of the issue which is the lack of education and misinformation people are fed when it comes to vaccinations. The part I am struggling with is to come up with 3 solid arguments.
So far I have something along the lines of 1. parents need more education so that there misconceptions can be corrected. 2. There needs to be a ban on over exaggerated stories of the rare side effects of vaccinations as this simply feeds more misinformation to the public. I am not sure what my third argument should be and also not sure how I can clearly distinguish my first two arguments from one another since they are quite similar. Would appreciate any help or even suggestions on bettering my first 2 arguments because I don't feel too confident in them :(
Your Thoughts on Prison ReformWhat kind of prison reform are you looking at exactly? Is this specifically in relation to Australian prisons, and if so, what proposed reform are you considering? US prisons are a horse of an entirely different and more problematic colour, so comparing the two is a little difficult.
Current ideas
-rehabilitation in prisons over punishment to reduce recidivism rates (Using Norway as an example comparing to US and Aust)
- Solitary confinement in prisons resulting in mental illnesses
There's no perfect/set amount of quotes you need. About four sounds pretty good as a rule of thumb, but you could arguably fit a few more depending on how well you embed your quotes within your response. Just don't add quotes for the sake of adding them, and try to actually justify your mentioning of them in the essay. If you were to put a bunch of quotes throughout section A without ever explaining their significance whatsoever, you may as well not put any at all (which is a bad idea for obvious reasons).
There's no one that can definitively tell you how many quotes to actually have in each paragraph! Generally, it's better to have more than one, but less than 6 (or depending on how big your paragraph is, more or less). Even still, you have complete agency over how many quotes you want to include. The point is that if you want one quote, you've got to analyse it soooooooo much that there's literally no more analysis left to be done. If you do this, you're proving how amazing you are at deep and insightful analysis - THIS IS GOOD.
But at the same time you want to show your knowledge of the text you're studying, so inherently you'd want to write a couple of techniques or quotes for each theme/paragraph you write. This is where you take control of your essay. Write as many quotes as you feel will prove whatever point you are trying to make.
BUT in saying this, if you've got 17 quotes (hypothetically), you have the physical space of about 5 words per quote to get your analysis done. If you cram your paragraph with quotes, you've got no room for deep analysis and explanation. Essentially, you must be the final judge and decide whether the amount of analysis and quotes per paragraph is enough to prove your argument - not just enough, but totally sufficient. Leave no room for doubt - GENERALLY, as a totally basic, average, 'guesstimation' of how many quotes students have per paragraph is 4 or 5. But like I said, you can stop at 1 quote if you feel that that one quote is the best piece of evidence for your argument and you've analysed it 100%.
Less is more... (if you can do it well).
hi,Yea I did and used it in the exam. I can't remember everything that happens in it, but here's some ideas:
has anyone read the lieutenant by kate Grenville? if anyone has can you give me some external ideas that are relevant to the conflicts that arises in the novel?
Thanks
Yea I did and used it in the exam. I can't remember everything that happens in it, but here's some ideas:
1. Sense of duty vs morality- Rooke and his fellow soldiers are embroiled in a land of rules, notions of honour and duty, and a rather emphasised hierarchy. Subordinates, such as Rooke and Gardiner, are required to follow higher orders unquestionably, and the consequences of "mutiny". These consequences also tie in ideas of fear- in the start of the book you should remember Rooke witnessing the execution of soldiers who betrayed the marine forces (I forgot what they did but you get the point).
2. It is often easier to remain a bystander- Rooke's slowly emerging moral scruples with how the governor treats not only his people, but also the Cardigal tribe are suppressed by the tempting ease of simply watching- he is not directly hurting the convict who attempted to steal potatoes, so it was much easier/less personal risk for him to just watch and make a presence. This is also quite related to the first idea- as if he encouraged dissent towards the lashings, he would certainly be punished. Contrast these first two ideas to Rooke's actions at the end of the novel, where he realises "if you were part of the machine, you were part of its wrong" (or something Idk the quote anymore-used it in the end of year though :P), and openly challenges the Governer's order to capture of slaughter 6 Aboriginal men.
3. Communication barriers- There is not only a language barrier between the settlers and the Cardigal tribe, but also a stark contrast in values and culture. This heightens the growing conflict between the two "sides" as genuine compromise and cooperation is hindered.
4. Understanding/lack of open-mindedness- the settlers in the novel are quite 'pushy' with imprinting their values on the Cardigal tribe, to the extent of kidnapping and forced immersion. They also have quite rigidly instilled prejudiced views against people of 'colour'. This creates difficulties, as there is no sense of mutual respect, instead, it's tainted cultural superiority, and a perceived justified subjugation of fellow human beings.
That's all I can think of at the moment, but hope it helps :)
Hey guys, need help with All About Eve.
I'm struggling to remember the movie, so I'm going to keep watching it until I can hopefully remember it. But more importantly, how do I do more close scene analysis?
I'm trying to write an essay on the prompt "The only values to succeed in the theatre is egotism and ruthless ambition. Is this true?"
My contention is that these qualities are definitely important and can be used to be successful, however they are not the only qualities that can be used to succeed. My first argument is that other qualities such as loyalty is a requirement to succeed (also talk about what success means... coz is eve really successful?) - My second argument is that egotism is important, but only in moderation. and my third argument is that ruthless ambition alone will not make someone successful, but it must be used in conjunction with talent.
Now, I have some quotes here and there but I need to analyse more film techniques, and I need to do more close-scene analysis. But currently I'm struggling to find some...
Anyone got any ideas?
My advice would be to not jump ahead and start writing an essay, but rather analyse the film part by part first. This way you'll memorise and gain a sound understanding of the film.Yeah I see what you mean.
How should we structure our evidence/interpretation through close analysis of the text? By Themes or Characters or something else
Structure your paragraphs by arguments or ideas - then, use your evidence/interpretation to prove these arguments/ideas.sorry wasn't talking about essays just general notes. Thanks :)
Heeeeelp.Anaphora is a type of repetition.
What's the difference between anaphora and repetition??? Can you say anaphora is a language technique? Can someone give me an example of anaphora and how to use the word in a sentence?
heyWhich ideas have you explored already? And which relationships do you think you could talk about in the text? Obviously Rooke's dynamic with the other characters is worth talking about, but you could also examine the relationships between groups (eg. the white settlers and the indigenous people).
can someone who did 'the lieutenant' give me with another idea for my prompt 'conflict creates a stronger relationship' ?
Heeeeelp.Repetition is the recurrence of a word, phrase, technique, or idea throughout a text.
What's the difference between anaphora and repetition??? Can you say anaphora is a language technique? Can someone give me an example of anaphora and how to use the word in a sentence?
Its probably been said one thousand times, but it wouldnt hurt to answer one more.
I'm in year 11 and how can I really improve my english to have strong foundations for year 12.Doing mainstream english btw.
Its probably been said one thousand times, but it wouldnt hurt to answer one more.
I'm in year 11 and how can I really improve my english to have strong foundations for year 12.Doing mainstream english btw.
Write essays. Get feedback (from a tutor/teacher etc.) Learn from the feedback. Repeat.^ +1
Which ideas have you explored already? And which relationships do you think you could talk about in the text? Obviously Rooke's dynamic with the other characters is worth talking about, but you could also examine the relationships between groups (eg. the white settlers and the indigenous people).
But I'd recommend going for the ideas first, and then zooming in to find textual evidence afterwards ie. once you've already got a good sense of what you want to convey in that paragraph.
Repetition is the recurrence of a word, phrase, technique, or idea throughout a text.
Anaphora can be one or two things:
1. Grammatically, it's when the author uses a pronoun as a replacement for a noun.
For instance:
'The Prime Minister has said that he doesn't want to invade the arctic tundra.'
- 'The Prime Minister' = Noun (technically Proper Noun, but whatevs)
- 'he' = Pronoun
This is in contrast to cataphora, which is where the pronoun comes before the noun
'Following her recent interview in which she revealed that she hated puppies, the Vice Chancellor resigned in disgrace.'
It's basically a natural thing for English speakers to do, since otherwise you end up with sentences like:
'The Prime Minister has said that the Prime Minister doesn't want to invade the arctic tundra'
and
'Following the Vice Chancellor's recent interview in which the Vice Chancellor revealed that she hated puppies, the Vice Chancellor resigned in disgrace.'
So.. in a way... anaphora is a way for the author to avoid repetition by changing the phrasing around and assigning meaning to certain pronouns.
...but...
2. It also refers to repetition that occurs at the start of successive sentences.
For instance:
'I can't believe that I only scored a 19/20 on my last SAC. I can't believe my teacher could be so stupid. I can't believe I'm anything less than 100% perfect. And I can't believe that she wouldn't give me the extra mark when I begged on my hands and knees.'
In terms of its effect, it's quite similar to repetition, only calling it 'anaphora' when you see it can be a nice way to show off, and it allows you to comment on the way the author might want to create a link between those sentences.
eg.
'There's no justice for the teachers who have been fired. There's no justice for these innocent victims. There's no justice for good, honest people who are just trying to make the world a better place.'
^So in the above, I'm trying to make you view the teachers as innocent victims and good honest people, and the anaphora is helping me accomplish this be creating that rhetorical link in the phraseology.
In a sentence, you'd refer to it like you would any other technique,
eg.
'The author draws attention to the injustice of the issue through her use of anaphora in the phrase "there is no justice" which is reiterated throughout the piece. Not only does this amplify the sense of unfairness, but it also aids the author in establishing a link between the "good, honest" teachers and the notion of "victim[hood]"'
Hope that helps!
Hey Lauren,If you're doing a standard expository essay, you don't necessarily have to use the text in every paragraph. In fact, your piece will likely be a lot stronger if you can integrate external evidence and stop things from being too 'text response-y.' So you could look into some real world parallels that pertain to the ideas in the text, eg.
I have explored the relationship between Tagaran and Rooke, how her arrival changed his perspective. Also, I have talked about what he did for the Indigenous people.
If you're doing a standard expository essay, you don't necessarily have to use the text in every paragraph. In fact, your piece will likely be a lot stronger if you can integrate external evidence and stop things from being too 'text response-y.' So you could look into some real world parallels that pertain to the ideas in the text, eg.
• The Colonial History of Australia
• The Stolen Generation (possibly a bit overused, but still interesting if explored well)
• Kevin Rudd's Sorry Speech
• The 'Closing the Gap' Campaign
• Charity Programs like AIME
• This Debate (started by a radio shock-jock who said we should have another stolen generation for their own good because Indigenous culture is rife with alcohol abuse and low SES living conditions -.-)
• Other examples of racial tension, especially between native and colonial cultures.
Alternatively, if you have to use another example from the text for some reason, consider using it to explore the prompt in some other capacity so that you're not just proving it right. For instance:
'Conflict creates stronger relationships.'
- Why does it create them?
- Do we try to create stronger relationships, or do they happen automatically?
- Is it the conflict that creates these relationships, or our response to the conflict?
- How are these relationships 'stronger?' What does stronger mean? Is stronger better?
- Is this always true? Are there some relationships that are damaged by conflict?
- Why are these relationships important?
Hopefully that'll help get you started :)
Will do; I'm happy to give general tips via PM, but if you want full corrections/feedback, post it here and I'll get back to you :)
hey Lauren
are you able to read my essay if you are free? Ill message you
If i decided to write an essay each week, what could I write about and how can I motivate myself to continue this routine throughout the year as I often slack off. :-\If you're the kind of student who doesn't stick to timetables and study regimes normally, then committing to an essay per week is probably just going to burn you out and leave you detesting English by the end of the year.
Hey, i don't know if this is a bit of an obvious question but how would you introduce an argument into an oral. Would you just go straight in for example ' a common argument is...' or would you introduce the argument somewhat secretly and very smooth?
Thanks in advance :) :)
Hey, i don't know if this is a bit of an obvious question but how would you introduce an argument into an oral. Would you just go straight in for example ' a common argument is...' or would you introduce the argument somewhat secretly and very smooth?That depends on whether this is an argument, or your argument. Obviously if it's your contention then you don't want to introduce it as something "common," and if it's a counterpoint that you want to disagree with, then you should characterise it as such.
Thanks in advance :) :)
I'm studying Medea for Reading and Responding.
Medea argues that she would never "think of leaving sons of mine... for those who hate me to insult", thereby validating (to some degree) the infanticide that closes the play as an act of love, performed to save her sons from becoming a vehicle through which others may seek to hurt her.
What I don't get is this: Why doesn't Medea just take her sons with her to Athens?
What I don't get is this: Why doesn't Medea just take her sons with her to Athens?
I'm studying Medea for Reading and Responding.I've just read the book and I haven't done much on it (doing it in term 3 sooooo)
Medea argues that she would never "think of leaving sons of mine... for those who hate me to insult", thereby validating (to some degree) the infanticide that closes the play as an act of love, performed to save her sons from becoming a vehicle through which others may seek to hurt her.
What I don't get is this: Why doesn't Medea just take her sons with her to Athens?
Ok guys, I need help structuring my bodies (ik its year 12 i should already be good at this shit, but I think what I've learnt in year 11 isn't effective in year 12) -- I structure my bodies as: T.s - evidence 1 - explain evidence 1 - relate evidence 1 to argument. Then, evidence 2 - explain evidence 2 - relate evidence 2 to argument - link evidence 1 and 2 to the argument - link evidence 1 and 2 to a greater idea (eitehr a different perspective, or a social/historical context or really just bring home the values of the author) - but I find that i always end up re-telling the plot and it's just simply not effective. How do I structure my bodies so that I have continuous embedded quotations and have better flow throughout the whole body?ok update: I understand the integration of quotes and development of ideas...
Like I write my topic sentence.. and then what? Do i go into my argument and then use quotes whilst simultaneously explaining what the author is doing to show that?
ik its year 12 i should already be good at this shit, but I think what I've learnt in year 11 isn't effective in year 12
Hello, was a straight D student last year. somehow got A+ for the oral. now im doing a film "All about Eve" how do i get A+ on this. SACs in 4 weeks :D
pl
Ok guys, I need help structuring my bodies (ik its year 12 i should already be good at this shit, but I think what I've learnt in year 11 isn't effective in year 12) -- I structure my bodies as: T.s - evidence 1 - explain evidence 1 - relate evidence 1 to argument. Then, evidence 2 - explain evidence 2 - relate evidence 2 to argument - link evidence 1 and 2 to the argument - link evidence 1 and 2 to a greater idea (eitehr a different perspective, or a social/historical context or really just bring home the values of the author) - but I find that i always end up re-telling the plot and it's just simply not effective. How do I structure my bodies so that I have continuous embedded quotations and have better flow throughout the whole body?
Like I write my topic sentence.. and then what? Do i go into my argument and then use quotes whilst simultaneously explaining what the author is doing to show that?
ok update: I understand the integration of quotes and development of ideas...Okay, I could write thousands of words about this but in the interests of keeping things concise, your B.P.s for T.R. should look something like:
I just need to know where to go from a topic sentence? Do i go strraight into evidence and yolo it from there? What's your first sentence after the topic sentence?
Hey Guys,Have a read through the links on the first page of this thread under the 'Text Response' heading. Hopefully that'll give you some foundation for understanding, and just let us know if there's anything you're still unsure of :)
I'm in need of some help. So I've got a SAC coming up real soon, which is a text response, and I haven't really learnt how to write a proper essay. I've tried writing a couple and I just can't think of any ideas to write after the first paragraph. Not only that, I also don't know how to find arguments and how to elaborate on them properly.
Please Help! :)
Hi,See above; the first page of this thread has some good links to discussions about unpacking prompts and formulating contentions, so have a read through those first. Also, consider whether this is a problem with you feeling as though you don't know the text well enough, or just not being able to word your ideas in a more complex way. Simply put: do you not know what to say, or do you not know how to say it, because those are two very different issues that require fairly different approaches.
I'm having a massive problem developing a complex, well-developed contention for a prompt:
For example, if I had received this prompt: The strength of Wolff's memoir is his readiness to cast himself in the worst possible light
I would have no idea what to write, and would probably end up discussing things that's really really basic and shallow. Or I could try to come up with a complex contention and waste my writing time. How can I develop a complex contention? Thank you so much :)
edit: I study This Boy's Life
Hey guys,Okay, so you're getting a B+. But why are you getting a B+? <-- if you can answer that question, then improvement will be easy, but if you get stuck in the mindset of 'I want to be scoring A+s and I'm not,' then it'll be really hard to facilitate qualitative improvement.
I am struggling to get my writing to an A+ level, which is the required level to get the score I am after. Currently, I write one essay a week, hand it to my teacher, get feedback 4-5 days later, re-read and check what I need to improve on - sometimes I rewrite and improve on the mistakes but due to time constraints this rarely occurs.
The issue is that although my teacher has said that I have improved, I still cannot score past a B+ (I was a B+ from start of year 11 and am still a B+ in year 12). I do not understand how I have improved so much, which I have felt and can see in my writing if I am still getting the same score.
Overall, I need to get my essays up to an A+ but I have run out of ideas. The text I am studying right now is ‘In the Country of Men’ for text response.
Any responses will be appreciated.
Hey Lauren,All good man, the above wasn't even slightly directed at you; it's more the people spamming me with four or five essays and then demanding an explanation as to why I haven't responded within 24 hours ::) - I'll try and get some comments back to you later tonight :)
I completely understand were you are coming from. Sorry for any misunderstanding - you must be sick of essays.
Peace :)
All good man, the above wasn't even slightly directed at you; it's more the people spamming me with four or five essays and then demanding an explanation as to why I haven't responded within 24 hours ::) - I'll try and get some comments back to you later tonight :)Wait is this an invitation to send you an essay :O - Like once every while (not too often, maybe 1 or 2 a term?)
Wait is this an invitation to send you an essay :O - Like once every while (not too often, maybe 1 or 2 a term?)This is a... polite reminder that there are hundreds of other people sending me essays so if you do intend to send me things, you shouldn't expect instantaneous replies :P I'd much prefer you post on the submissions board since you have no idea how frustrating it is to have like twenty people send you essays on a certain text and ask you for sample essays about that text since if they'd all put theirs up on the forums, they could all benefit from one another's work. Alas, I know people labour under the delusion of not wanting to give an advantage to anyone in VCE, so if you do want to message me, just know that I'm usually tackling half a dozen other pieces on any given day, so your patience will be appreciated. Not trying to come across as standoffish, but I just wanted to say something here about how essays are welcome(-ish) but the 'y u no mark my essay yet!?' messages... not so much... Also this is just a bit of a catch-all for some of the PMs I've neglected recently - I will get there eventually :P
Hello everyone,
I was wondering if I could receive assistance on how I can move away from very simple ideas per paragraph. I'm studying This Boy's Life at the moment. If I got this prompt:
"I didn't come to Utah to be the same boy I'd been before. I had my own dreams of transformation" Ultimately, the text demonstrates that everyone covers up or transforms in some way.
Immediately seeing this, this is how I would structure it (and it's bad)
Par 1: Examples of people who covers up (to agree with prompt)
Par2: Examples of people who transform (to agree with prompt)
Par3: Examples of people who don't cover up or transform (to disagree with prompt)
I know I'm doing this wrong. How can I come up with insightful ideas to discuss (quickly). Please help! :) :)
And if you get a really simple 2 mark text response prompt, HOW can you discuss more in dept ideas when the prompt is asking you something fairly simple?
Sometimes you're simply bound to the prompt, and its simplicity can be creatively prohibitive. Your primary concern is addressing the prompt. Resorting to several broad and simple point does not spell doom. In fact, it can be refreshing and very powerful if it is persuasively argued.On that point, do our contentions need to be really mind blowing? As well as our topic sentences/ arguments. Or could they just be insightful body paragraphs that have good use of evidence and relate it to the author's ideas and what not?
On the other hand, if the prompt enables nuanced arguments to be made, locating those arguments comes with practice. Spend lots of time thinking about potential prompts before an exam/SAC, and think deeply about the issues those prompts raise. Come exam/SAC time, you should have an itinerary ready to adapt to the specific prompt to which you're asked to respond.
Hope that's of some assistance.
Hello everyone,Just going to break this up a bit...
I was wondering if I could receive assistance on how I can move away from very simple ideas per paragraph. I'm studying This Boy's Life at the moment. If I got this prompt:
"I didn't come to Utah to be the same boy I'd been before. I had my own dreams of transformation" Ultimately, the text demonstrates that everyone covers up or transforms in some way.
Immediately seeing this, this is how I would structure it (and it's bad)
Par 1: Examples of people who covers up (to agree with prompt)
Par2: Examples of people who transform (to agree with prompt)
Par3: Examples of people who don't cover up or transform (to disagree with prompt)
I know I'm doing this wrong. How can I come up with insightful ideas to discuss (quickly). Please help! :) :)
And if you get a really simple 2 mark text response prompt, HOW can you discuss more in dept ideas when the prompt is asking you something fairly simple?
I was wondering if I could receive assistance on how I can move away from very simple ideas per paragraph. I'm studying This Boy's Life at the moment. If I got this prompt:The best way to go from simple ideas to complex ones is to create a sophisticated contention. The way I explain this makes more sense visually when I can make
"I didn't come to Utah to be the same boy I'd been before. I had my own dreams of transformation" Ultimately, the text demonstrates that everyone covers up or transforms in some way.
Immediately seeing this, this is how I would structure it (and it's bad)Okay, so in each of those paragraphs, you've got evidence but no argument. It is possible to structure an argument around the evidence that you've presented, but you can't go into a paragraph thinking 'I'm going to write about the characters who transform in the text' because all you'll do is talk about those characters, and there won't be any broader point that helps your contention.
Par 1: Examples of people who covers up (to agree with prompt)
Par2: Examples of people who transform (to agree with prompt)
Par3: Examples of people who don't cover up or transform (to disagree with prompt)
I know I'm doing this wrong. How can I come up with insightful ideas to discuss (quickly). Please help! :) :)
And if you get a really simple 2 mark text response prompt, HOW can you discuss more in dept ideas when the prompt is asking you something fairly simple?Not sure what you mean by a '2 mark text response prompt,' but in the event you get a really simple prompt like: This Boy's Life is about accepting change. Discuss. then it's up to you to make things more expansive. Question things in order to broaden your discussion and try to construct your own arguments rather than relying solely on the prompt to provide three obvious talking points.
On that point, do our contentions need to be really mind blowing? As well as our topic sentences/ arguments. Or could they just be insightful body paragraphs that have good use of evidence and relate it to the author's ideas and what not?If you can manage to write something 'mind blowing,' then go for it, but ultimately your teachers will be reading hundreds of essays (and might have been doing so for multiple years) so the chance of you stumbling onto a never-before-seen amazing argument that's totally unique and utterly impressive is fairly low :P Most people who try to write 'mind blowing' stuff end up doing irrelevant stuff with really tenuous links to evidence, but it's more than sufficient to be insightful. A competent essay that takes a safe line of argument but does all the important structural stuff well is going to be leagues ahead of someone who goes out of the way to have a special snowflake contention at the expense of actually hitting the criteria :)
I would just like to ask you one more question - the quote.
Alter has already mentioned that I should discuss them, as the quote reveals a direction of the prompt.
Using the previous prompt, could you please help me see HOW the quote reveals a direction to my argument? Because to me, that just sounds like any other quote about transformation. Is this, by any chance a cue for me to discuss different motivations of transformations and covering up of different characters? (... I had my own dreams of transformation. Indicating individual, unique motivation behind transformations). Also, how can I show that I have thought about the quote? Should I just embed it somewhere and analyse it?
That's an interesting coping strategy :P - extremely nerdy but extremely efficient because you're so proficient with your vocab!
I'm stressed so I'm just casually reading the dictionary in the hopes of relieving some of my stress.
This was given to our class as a bit of analysis practise and i've tried to plan my analysis by identifying key players, as outlined in some of the guides up here.These seem perfectly fine to me! :)
Here's what I got for key players:
The wealthy- and how they're given extra/special treatment by everyone
Depp- Depp's recent actions illustrate the entitlement the wealthy have
The common person- and how we yearn for wealth yet despise those who have it out of envy
The air travel business- who allow this disparity to continue by providing special benefits to the wealthy and largely disregarding common people. But also their ineptitude for failing to properly check Depp when he entered the country.
I wrote a contention and topic sentences to a prompt. Please let me know if there is anything wrong about it. Because I put in the characters' name in my topic sentences, it sounds like I'm just listing evidence. Please help me if you can! :)^edited these a bit to make them more general and topic sentence-y. Notice how even in the last one where I've used Jack's name, I'm still talking about the text as a whole and am focusing more so on broader points as opposed to specific evidence? The stuff that you've got here is a good indication of where your direction should go after the T.S. but you want to make sure you don't start off by saying: "Sister James and Mr Howard are really nice to Jack!" ...that's obviously an exaggeration and your current examples are nowhere near that bad, but you can see what that sentence would be a bad introduction to a discussion, right? Your job in each paragraph is to discuss a point that aids your contention, but beginning that point and making it too narrow means it's harder for you to then zoom out at the end and think about the bigger picture.
Jack has no positive role models in his life, adult or otherwise. Discuss
Contention: While many exert power over Jack and stump his path to self-actualisation and emotional growth,it is by some individuals that Jack realisesother individuals enable Jack to realise the goodness of people, and the possibility to have a life characterised by fostering love and pursuing dreams.
Par 1: Dwight and Marian stump Jack’s own formation of his identity, by forcing Jack to accept their negative idea of him onto himself as well. --> Wolff shows how negativity and abuse can be transmitted and warp the mindset of an impressionable youth.
Par3: However, Jack learns that those with power do not necessarily abuse their power (Like Dwight and Roy) through Sister James and Mr Howard. --> However, the text reveals that those with power do not necessarily always abuse their power.
Par2: Furthermore, the unconditional love Rosemary showers Jack, despite his frequent rebellious behaviour, teaches Jack the possibility of love, and the need to assume the role of the protector towards the weak. --> Furthermore, the loving relationships in the text provide a more optimistic example for Jack.
URGENTMachinations: noun the inner workings or plottings that happen in a person's mind; usually connoting some sinister motives or propensity for calculated schemes
I have my English SAC tomorrow and I'm stressed so I'm just casually reading the dictionary in the hopes of relieving some of my stress.
My English teacher's one of those savage VCAA assessors that's been marking probably since dinosaurs were around and he's insanely into contextually correct use of words. *cries*
How do I use the word machinations in a sentence?
More specific: Can I refer to the Medea's plot to kill her sons as a machination? No idea how to use it in a sentence. Would love it if you could provide an example specific to Medea because it's how I'd best be able to understand it.
So machinations is a direct synonym to schemes/plots/whatever? Or is that not on?Yes, but don't use it as a verb or things get muddled. But it comes from an old word for 'contrive' that means 'to bring into being' or 'to bring a plan to fruition,' so it is closely related to the idea of scheming. If it helps, think of it as being like a 'mind-machine' ie. 'Medea's mind-machine (/machinations) are evident in her use of the words...' etc.
My English teacher is going to MURDER me if I can't use my words in the right context. He legit took away 6 marks in a practice essay because he was feeling grumpy and didn't like how often I was screwing up my word usage. *cries*He sounds fun :P It can be kind of advantageous to have a really brutal marker though; better than someone who gives out full marks like they're tictacs and offers you no constructive criticism :P
Yes, but don't use it as a verb or things get muddled. But it comes from an old word for 'contrive' that means 'to bring into being' or 'to bring a plan to fruition,' so it is closely related to the idea of scheming. If it helps, think of it as being like a 'mind-machine' ie. 'Medea's mind-machine (/machinations) are evident in her use of the words...' etc.
He sounds fun :P It can be kind of advantageous to have a really brutal marker though; better than someone who gives out full marks like they're tictacs and offers you no constructive criticism :P
Hello,One thought is whether you should branch out a bit more than just his identity as an issue? Maybe not.
Could I have some assistance? Please check over if I've done good ;D
"I was tempted by the idea of belonging to a conventional family." To what extent was the lack of a conventional family responsible for Jack's issues?
Contention:
Rather than the mere lack of a conventional family, it is Jack’s feverish wish to belong to a conventional family and its subsequent bitter disappointments that are responsible for Jack’s issues concerning his inconsistent identity
Par 1:Despite the glorified depiction of the conventional family in the ‘50s, Wolff asserts that happiness can be pursued without one; thus positioning Jack’s issues as not sourcing from a mere lack of a conventional family.
Par2: Wolff demonstrates that having a conventional family sometimes only serve to appease the society’s expectation but often does not foster real connection between family members.
Par 3: Ultimately, Wolff shows that the bitterness sourcing from inability to belong to one’s family is what causes Jack to adopt various poses (issue)
Thank you :) :)
urgent
are there any other words I can use instead of conflict? Whenever I write I end up using conflict, like I use it everytime I have a chance to because if I try another in it doesn't make any sense at all?
One thought is whether you should branch out a bit more than just his identity as an issue? Maybe not.
One thing does confuse me a little tho. In Body paragraph one, you've said that it's not the lack of a conventional family that causes his issues because it is possible to be happy without one. However, in body paragraph 3 you're contradicting that by saying 'inability to belong to one's family' i.e by Jack not having a conventional family he generates issues.
Probably a bit harsh but just my 2c :)
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/conflict
BEWARE: If you use a thesaurus, make sure you understand what the word means (not all words are direct synonyms) and make sure you know how it's used (best way is to google "______ in a sentence" and you get a whole tonne of ways you can use the sentence). Keep in mind, also, that sometimes, the best way to convey an idea is sometimes the simplest way.
Hi,Omg thanks for the observation that is so damn good! I'm stealing this idea no matter what sorry not sorry :P
Might be a really stupid question, but I noticed that in This Boy's Life, there is a lot of mention about hamburgers:
-When Rosemary tells Gil and Judd that Jack likes hamburgers
-When Dwight tells Jack, 'are you afraid of a hamburger?' when he is told to pick up the dead beaver but doesn't
-After killing the beaver, Dwight buys Jack a hamburger.
Why so many hamburgers in one book?
Any ideas? (This might be pointless but.. it's fun!) :)
Well Callum,Give me $100,000 and I'll refrain from calling the armed forces to pull you out of the SAC on Wednesday ;)
If I make the observations, you make the interpretations. I'm stealing this too #sorrynotsorry
;D ;D :P
Give me $100,000 and I'll refrain from calling the armed forces to pull you out of the SAC on Wednesday ;)
I'm serious
Hey guys!
I want to do something about the refugee/asylum seeker stuff that's been going on for my oral. But that's about all I've decided. Can I talk about the refugee stuff that's going on in Europe or does it have to be specifically to do with Australia? I want to talk about the whole mass migration stuff from the Middle East (?) and why developed countries need to offer more help as a collective. Is that an okay contention that fits all of the criteria for our oral topics (after September 1, published in AUS media, etc).
I'd ask my English teacher but he scares me.
Hey guys my school has just started section B. This year we are doing Invictus. I am going to be doing an expository, most likely a hybrid/expository. Could anyone offer some advice on potential ideas of what to include. Also, how to start or plan this piece.Firstly, there's this from ages ago that contains a bunch of potential external examples for your perusal, and there are a bunch of links to previous questions regarding Context on page one of this thread. I can also recommend this if you don't know much about the Context criteria (and I can't blame you because the VCAA way of explaining it is nonsensical :P)
My SAC is first day back from holidays.
Thanks guys
Hi,
Just a general question.
I got Bs for my first two sacs. (Was expecting higher but anyway) What scores should I aim to get if i want to get a study score of over 35 in English (if its still possible) regardless of how my class goes.
Thanks in advance :)
It's really hard to tell. It depends on your cohort, your ranking and your exam performance. After all, your SAC scores are subject to moderation from your exam! There's no way of telling you for sure "hey, you MUST get x/30 if you want a 35" or really predicting your end SS so early on in the year imo. At this stage, anything is still possible in theory.
Hey Guys,
Lauren actually I'm new to all of this but I would like to improve my English skills
so if u could link me to stuff that has language analysis, text response and
comparative essay resources and samples I would really appreciate it.
Thanx
RIP to Context. You will be missed.noo I hate context :(
For Text Response, how many quotes per body paragraph should you aim for?Enough quotes to justify why your interpretation is 'correct', shouldn't limit yourself to the number of quotes.
I'm aiming for 4/5 (that I am properly analysing), but sometimes I struggle to find one that supports my argument (leaving me with 3), and am left with a shortish essay.
Any other tips for getting up the word count? I am struggling to make it to 800/900 words :-\
For Text Response, how many quotes per body paragraph should you aim for?
I'm aiming for 4/5 (that I am properly analysing), but sometimes I struggle to find one that supports my argument (leaving me with 3), and am left with a shortish essay.
Any other tips for getting up the word count? I am struggling to make it to 800/900 words :-\
Can I use the term "white person" in an essay or is it too colloquial?
Hey guys, planning my oral response with the criteria sheet in mind and I seem to be confused by one of the requirements in the 17-20 mark area. What does it mean by: "In an oral response, the skillful use of highly appropriate oral language conventions to engage an audience"
It is individual acts of defiance that makes Stasiland so engaging. Discuss.
Thank you so much Lauren, you always appear with your advice when I'm struggling hehe ;DI am indeed the Beetlejuice of ATAR Notes. Say 'essay' three times and my spectral essence will be summoned.
I tried to come up with 4 topic sentences and I'd love to hear your opinion on what I have written :D1. That these vignettes affect the perpetrators doesn't seem wholly relevant, but if you swap out the end of that sentence with something more audience-based, you should be fine. eg. 'The text (not play, btw) shows how the individual vignettes of defiance against authority can be both inspiring, and harrowing.' (<-- this will let you look at the effect on the perpetrators/ other characters (including Anna, if you want, though that might make this paragraph a bit too long) as well as the audience.)
1. The play shows how the individual vignettes of defiance against authority have profound and lingering effects on the perpetrators.
2. Throughout the text, individuals have to come to terms with the consequences of their acts of resistance against society's morals.
3. Ultimately, the characters who follow through with their acts of defiance and harness it to fuel their aspirations are rewarded despite the struggles faced.
4. However, this topic neglects the myriad of sources that permeate the narrative which make it engaging.
Are there any certain factors assessors look for while marking creative pieces (like the use of metaphorical language)?
"essay, essay, essay..."
I'm a bit confused about how you would challenge throughout the essay instead of having a challenge paragraph. Would this plan work instead? I've listed what could be explored in each para.
Para 1: How individual acts of defiance are engaging
Para 2: How the greyness of morality is engaging
Para 3: How defiance humanises the characters and exposes readers to their darker, more selfish sides which makes it more engaging
Some new worries...
Does having all challenge paragraphs but 1 work? So in this case, 2 challenge paragraphs. (I've tried to base them on how the text can be engaging for different reasons)
I'm scared I'm going off topic with 3 challenge paragraphs! :(
I didn't want my contention to simply be "Yes I agree." I wanted to be something along the lines of this : "Although individual acts of defiance make the text engaging, ultimately there are also other factors which render the text engaging in different ways."
Para 1: How individual acts of defiance are engagingFew questions/notes:
Para 2: How the greyness of morality is engaging
Para 3: How defiance humanises the characters and exposes readers to their darker, more selfish sides which makes it more engaging
Does having all challenge paragraphs but 1 work? So in this case, 2 challenge paragraphs. (I've tried to base them on how the text can be engaging for different reasons)You can mostly challenge/disagree with prompts, but not all prompts would let you do this. You don't have to just agree as your default option because there will be other prompts that actively invite disagreement (eg. 'None of the characters in Stasiland are sympathetic. Discuss.')
I'm scared I'm going off topic with 3 challenge paragraphs! :(
can anyone suggest any topics that I can do my oral presentation on? I wanted to do something that would interest my class therefore I'm trying to avoid the common topics that come up every year like lowering the driving age, vaccinations etc.
Thanks!
what would be some good things to analyse in this image?(issue is about the guilty verdict of drug taking and subsequent 12 month banning of essendon players and whether this is fair or not )Personally I think the illustrator is implying how the punishment was not harsh enough - The AFL are saying Essendon are "cleared for take off" (they can still play) despite ASADA in possession of evidence (the briefcases), that proves they were guilty of doping.
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/36391f6e4fb4c38801fa9bd100d4e747?width=650
what would be some good things to analyse in this image?(issue is about the guilty verdict of drug taking and subsequent 12 month banning of essendon players and whether this is fair or not )
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/36391f6e4fb4c38801fa9bd100d4e747?width=650
need help with my oralWhat exactly do you need help with?
Personally I think the illustrator is implying how the punishment was not harsh enough - The AFL are saying Essendon are "cleared for take off" (they can still play) despite ASADA in possession of evidence (the briefcases), that proves they were guilty of doping.
Disclaimer: I know nothing about football and have been deliberately ignoring all these drug sagas because sportspeople on performance enhancing drugs are way less interesting than sportspeople on hallucinogenic drugs, so I don't care. Hence, this may be a radical misinterpretation of whatever is going on at the moment...
I get the sense the cartoonist is mocking the AFL somewhat since the guy in the control tower is like 'yep, you're all good' and yet we can see that the plane is full of holes and isn't really in any state to fly (i.e. the team's legal defence is 'full of holes' because of how inadequate it is; thus the team is in no state to 'fly'/ play footy.) But whether this reflects worse on the team or the AFL... I'll leave that for you to decide since I'm not entirely sure where the culpability lies in this case. As for the ASADA rep. in the foreground, I definitely agree with Cornrow in that the stuff spilling out of his briefcase would seem to indicate the fact that there's so much evidence against Essendon that it literally can't be contained by ASADA. You might even analyse how that figure looks somewhat incredulous at the idea of the plane being able to take off despite the mountain of evidence he has that suggests they shouldn't be flying/playing. That said, if the efficacy of ASADA is at all relevant to this issue, you may also be able to critique how this guy is rocking up late with briefcases spilling everywhere as an indictment of his own ineptitude --> ∴ Essendon being allowed to play is partially the fault of ASADA's inability to mount a strong enough case (???)
^ignore anything that seems wrong or unsubstantiated here - can't stress enough just how little I know about this story. Seriously, I thought the Fitzroy team still existed until, like, two weeks ago :3
What exactly do you need help with?
Disclaimer: I know nothing about football and have been deliberately ignoring all these drug sagas because sportspeople on performance enhancing drugs are way less interesting than sportspeople on hallucinogenic drugs, so I don't care. Hence, this may be a radical misinterpretation of whatever is going on at the moment...Hi Lauren
I get the sense the cartoonist is mocking the AFL somewhat since the guy in the control tower is like 'yep, you're all good' and yet we can see that the plane is full of holes and isn't really in any state to fly (i.e. the team's legal defence is 'full of holes' because of how inadequate it is; thus the team is in no state to 'fly'/ play footy.) But whether this reflects worse on the team or the AFL... I'll leave that for you to decide since I'm not entirely sure where the culpability lies in this case. As for the ASADA rep. in the foreground, I definitely agree with Cornrow in that the stuff spilling out of his briefcase would seem to indicate the fact that there's so much evidence against Essendon that it literally can't be contained by ASADA. You might even analyse how that figure looks somewhat incredulous at the idea of the plane being able to take off despite the mountain of evidence he has that suggests they shouldn't be flying/playing. That said, if the efficacy of ASADA is at all relevant to this issue, you may also be able to critique how this guy is rocking up late with briefcases spilling everywhere as an indictment of his own ineptitude --> ∴ Essendon being allowed to play is partially the fault of ASADA's inability to mount a strong enough case (???)
^ignore anything that seems wrong or unsubstantiated here - can't stress enough just how little I know about this story. Seriously, I thought the Fitzroy team still existed until, like, two weeks ago :3
What exactly do you need help with?
In a language analysis is it still possible to achieve a 9 or 10 without mentioning tone at all?
So it'd be wiser to have the contention itself as a sort of challenge, rather than having challenge paragraphs for less topic dodging and potential contradiction? :PYES!!! ^THIS x 107%
But now I'm confused about how to change my contention so that my 3rd topic sentence can stay as a topic sentence! From there, how would you divide the contention into the 3 arguments/ form 3 topic sentences so that there is a new idea in each paragraph. Basically, I just want to say that by making the contention a challenge, how do I go about finding 3 topic sentences which support it?K, so it's a bit of a shift in thinking, but look at it this way:
Thanks once again Lauren :D One step closer hahahThat's the spirit!
In a language analysis is it still possible to achieve a 9 or 10 without mentioning tone at all?As Champ mentioned, you absolutely can. But you shouldn't plan to leave out tone because it's 'unimportant.' It can still be helpful in scoring highly, especially if you're able to combine tonal analysis with some other analysis of language (i.e. the author uses an aspirational tone coupled with superlative language in describing that "Australians [could be] the best in the world" at fighting corruption, thus encouraging readers to strive for this "best" case scenario wherein their country is renowned for its strong stance against fraud and malfeasance.)
Hey knightrider, there is no prerequisite to mention tone - examiners expect you to reflect and express your understanding on the methods, meta-language and techniques used to persuade the reader to share his point of view and why he uses specific language. For instance a shift in tone is just one of the many techniques.
Incidentally, I would say that it's not worth commenting on tone and plucking out a memorised word unless it's relevant, however, it's still important to give those nitpicky assessors an opportunity to give you marks, so if you find the piece isn't overtly or clearly Vitriolic or lacking in loaded language, just comment on a few instances here and there. Also, to avoid your piece from appearing formulaic i.e. 'in an opinion piece entitle ... John smith asserts in a didactic tone...' try and turn your tonal words into adverbs - for example - 'John smith didactically emphasises the importance of... and then continue with how he tries to position his readership - 'evoking feelings of guilt to corall the reader into...
As Champ mentioned, you absolutely can. But you shouldn't plan to leave out tone because it's 'unimportant.' It can still be helpful in scoring highly, especially if you're able to combine tonal analysis with some other analysis of language (i.e. the author uses an aspirational tone coupled with superlative language in describing that "Australians [could be] the best in the world" at fighting corruption, thus encouraging readers to strive for this "best" case scenario wherein their country is renowned for its strong stance against fraud and malfeasance.)
Hey,Haven't done context in a while so I'm a bit rusty here - Lauren (or anyone else) could probs give you a more in-depth answer, but a part of the context criteria is something along the lines of "using language that is specific to the form and audience" (maybe something else but i forgot). So if colloquial language relates to your form or your audience then sure. I.E a personal letter to a loved one doesn't have to be formal (it'd be quite weird if you used formal analytical language to your lover) - yeah this is about the extent of my understanding soo
Just have a quick question. Is it good to use colloquial language in creative pieces?
For example: My family will pull off another embarrassing moment.
I am just somewhat confused as my criteria states:SpoilerHighly expressive, fluent and coherent written language that employs the skilful and accurate use of appropriate conventions for stylistic effect. <--any recommendations?
Thanks,
Syndicate
Hey,
Just have a quick question. Is it good to use colloquial language in creative pieces?
For example: My family will pull off another embarrassing moment.
I am just somewhat confused as my criteria states:SpoilerHighly expressive, fluent and coherent written language that employs the skilful and accurate use of appropriate conventions for stylistic effect. <--any recommendations?
Thanks,
Syndicate
So if colloquial language relates to your form or your audience then sure. I.E a personal letter to a loved one doesn't have to be formal (it'd be quite weird if you used formal analytical language to your lover)
Need help tackling this prompt: "When confronted by Conflict, it is always better to take a side". Any advice would be of much appreciation.
Need help tackling this prompt: "When confronted by Conflict, it is always better to take a side". Any advice would be of much appreciation.Tasha covered this nicely, so all I have to add is ASK "WHY?" It's not the most extensive of processes, but if you're ever lost in Context, look at the prompt or the last sentence you've written and ask "but why??"
If I'm not wrong, the contention itself is the challenge and all the TS are the arguments stemming from the contention.Yep!
I wrote the contention and 4 topic sentences as practice for Gattaca, which I studied last year, to the topic below.Hmm... prompt sounds familiar :P
It is individual acts of defiance that makes Gattaca so engaging. Discuss.
Contention: Although the vignettes of individual defiance depicted complicate the film's portrayal of morality, ultimately these actions are an integral part of Niccol's attempts to communicate his fascination with the engaging stories of individuals who are affected by the defiance of social construct.Wording is a little bogged down here, but I get what you're going for. The text shows how omnipresent defiance is, which makes it engaging, yeah? It sounds a bit odd to say 'Niccol delves into how X renders the film engaging' since that's kind of like saying 'the author explores how readers enjoy the novel.' And be careful with how you're using 'vignettes.' I'd say it's appropriate in Stasiland, but Gattaca has a more straightforward plot. Aside from those little concerns, this is all good.
1. Niccol delves into the way in which the omnipresence of defiance against authority renders Gattaca engaging.
2. Coalesced with a fixation on the ubiquity of defiance to oppose authority, viewers are exposed to individuals coming to terms with the corollary effects of their acts of resistance against society’s morals in an engaging manner.Ditto regarding your word choices; 'coalesced' doesn't quite work here, but this is also fine in terms of relevance.
3. Whilst the struggles faced in satiating pursuits are inevitable in a controlled society, Niccol may foster audience engagement in crafting those who harness such defiance to fuel their aspirations, as ultimately being rewarded.Here, 'satiating' is the odd word, and be careful not to talk about what the author 'may' be doing. Same rule goes for Language Analysis - just assume the author is successful and talk about what they intended to achieve - don't evaluate whether or not it works.
4. Despite the engaging nature of the defiance perpetrated by individuals, viewers are also confronted with the conflicting notions of defiance and morality which permeate the plot, hence divulging Gattaca as engaging in a different manner.And this time 'divulging' is your weird word. Divulging has to be used in the sense of 'X divulges Y to Z' as in, 'He divulges his secrets to me.' You seem to be using it as a synonym for 'suggests' or 'positioning' which isn't 100% right even if most people would know what you meant.
I feel like I'm getting the gist of what to do when given the topic :DGood to hear! If you do get a bit frustrated with this process - as most students will at some point - just know that the fact that you're able to work through these problems and reformulate your arguments is putting you way above the vast majority of the state who just blindly follow the 'agree+agree+disagree' or 'TEEL' methods without even thinking :P
Hey,Believability matters. If your character would believable use this phrase, then you can use it in your writing.
Just have a quick question. Is it good to use colloquial language in creative pieces?
For example: My family will pull off another embarrassing moment.
I am just somewhat confused as my criteria states:SpoilerHighly expressive, fluent and coherent written language that employs the skilful and accurate use of appropriate conventions for stylistic effect. <--any recommendations?
Thanks,
Syndicate
Hi guys, I was wondering how you might go about doing an encountering conflict repository for revision. I'm a little stuck on how I should outline my evidences and how I might organise it, so that by the end of the year it wouldn't be so much of a hassle.
Thanks!
Most of my students have found a simple word doc that goes through each example to be sufficient. Then under each one, you'll have a brief description (in case you come back to one after a few months and think wtf was I on about??) and a few key dot points for discussion purposes. I'd also recommend linking each example to some of the major 'themes' within your Context (e.g. for Conflict, you might have areas like 'cause vs. consequence,' 'fear/negative effects' 'strength/growth/positive effects,' 'our response to conflict and our true values' etc.) Basically go through as many prompts as you can find (& there's a fairly conclusive list here unless your school has a bunch of weird ones) and collate all the similar words and ideas you come across. That way, if you get a SAC/exam prompt like 'Conflict brings out the best in people' you go to your mental happy place and think 'k, cool, so I can use examples X, Y, and Z because they relate to our response to conflict and the notion of positive consequences.'
You'll usually have to end up merging categories since it's rare that exam prompts correspond with a single concept/theme, but this should enable you to find which examples are most flexible, and which have more narrow applicability.
Since this is a resource that's basically just for you, though, you should work out what things are going to be most helpful to you. So if connecting your examples with the prompt is an issue, then the stuff I outlined above will probably be your best bet. But if you struggle to adequately explain the connections between your examples and your ideas, then that should be your priority. Or, if you always struggle to summarise the example quickly, then write a nice, efficient one/two word statement in your repository which you can wheel out in your essays. Or, if you can never find links between your examples, then add a section to each piece of evidence where you try and forge connections to other stuff in your list. etc. etc. Structure it based on whatever you believe your weaknesses to be. And you can always add/change stuff as you go :)
Brilliant work on starting to compile a repository right now though - a lot of students will wait till waaaay later on the year and they'll miss out on that more gradual collection/documentation process, so you're definitely taking some of the strain off your Semester 2 self :)
Does anyone have notes or summary on Brooklyn?
how do i go about improving my confidence for english? i know this is a bit of a random question, but even if i'm gettign really high scores for essays and such, i always feel like there's something wrong with my essays (lack of coherency, stylistic vocab, analysis etc.)TBH i dont think you want to feel quite there. As long as you keep feeling like you aren't 'there' you'll keep striving to improve. I guess you'll need your confidence in tact during the end of year exam, but till then it's an extremely healthy thing to have.
idk if this is the right place to even post such a question :o haha i mean , i do the assigned homework and write essays to the best of my ability, but i just don't feel quite 'there' yet
thank you!
(it'd be quite weird if you used formal analytical language to your lover)
how do i go about improving my confidence for english? i know this is a bit of a random question, but even if i'm gettign really high scores for essays and such, i always feel like there's something wrong with my essays (lack of coherency, stylistic vocab, analysis etc.)
idk if this is the right place to even post such a question :o haha i mean , i do the assigned homework and write essays to the best of my ability, but i just don't feel quite 'there' yet
thank you!
Hi guys,Yep, totally right. You can delve into language features or quotes if you want to, but you're under no obligation to do so for Context pieces. Ideas are way more important :)
For creating & presenting, my sister told when she did year 12 (in 2014) her tutor told her that you dont mention language, structures & features in your expository essays -- you just use the themes and mainly explore the themes through external examples. Is this correct??
Thanks guys :)
The linked article supports my POV on the Safe Schools program. In this article Judith Ireland says activities in the Safe Schools program are "touching" and "G-rated".Okay so (correct me if I'm wrong) you're arguing that the Safe Schools Program is a good thing that'll be beneficial for students? And you're citing Ireland as someone who believes the program to be "touching" and "G-rated." I'm guessing your teacher just wants you to substantiate these points by discussion how and why the program is "G-rated"/harmless/suitable for children rather than letting that quote do the work for you. So discussing one of the activities might help, but it seems like she just wants you to unpack the rationale behind the program being safer than others in the media may be portraying it.
I quoted this in my speech but my teacher says to briefly mention what she (Ireland) bases this on. What does my teacher want me to do exactly? Can I just briefly explain one of the activities. I'm confused with what she's recommending. Thank you :))
Edit: Forgot to link the article :P
The link: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/there-is-nothing-dangerous-about-the-safe-schools-coalition-20160224-gn2yrn.html
hi,Not entirely sure what you're wanting to argue here? Is it that people should have the right to choose the gender of their children? If so, why do you think this is important? You mention 'balancing the gender of the family' - why is this a good thing? Not saying you're wrong; just trying to flesh out this line of argument a bit. What kind of advantages are there in being able to have this choice, and what disadvantages are there if that choice isn't available? You may also find it useful to read up on some opinion pieces about this to get a feel for what common arguments you could add to or rebut.
for my oral i'm doing gender selection. I was wondering if someone can help me in explaining the argument for gender selection which states that it can help with balancing the gender of the family.
Thankyou
ALSO how do I combat tone irregularities? In my LA pieces what's started to happen is I start slipping into past tense. I'm guessing it's because my issue (greyhound racing) is one that is by and large a 2015 issue and so in my mind, I keep moving to speak of the issue in past tense because it's already happened and so it makes sense to me to have past tense. What can I do to resolve my tense issue?
My English teacher told me to just "be conscious" of it and it'd resolve itself but it hasn't and I don't know what to do. Like legit, I went through a piece I previously wrote and scrutinised every. single. word. and somehow, there are still substantial tense irregularities (I oscillate between present and past tense throughout my entire essay) that I didn't pick up at all and I'm only just now seeing because my English teacher has pointed them out. Being conscious of it didn't work, editing clearly won't work either... Does anyone have any solution?
Hi guys, so I have my context SAC next week (On Foe, for Whose Reality), and I was just wondering if this example would be enough of a link back to Foe:That sounds really cool, actually!
There's a character in Foe named "Friday", who starts dancing around the house in the novel, and becomes completely unresponsive when doing this. The protagonist Susan eventually concludes that he does this to escape reality. In my piece, (if I get a prompt that has something to do with coping with reality or creating illusions), I was thinking of writing about a young autistic boy, named "Freddy", being bullied at school (from the mother's perceptive), and talking about how he's started dancing around the grass at lunch and recess, which results in him being able to block out the bullies, and hence becoming significantly happier.
Obviously I would need other examples in my piece to get to 900+ words, but would this example alone be enough of a link back to Foe? Thanks everyone :)
This suggests these people did not feel the devotion the reader would typically associate with "owner[ s ]" and their pets. The implication being that the deprivation these animals endure is not only physical but also psychological in nature. This has the effect of emphasising how great this cruelty was.Fair warning, I have written the equivalent of a postgrad thesis on the question 'what is a sentence?' at uni, and it's the kind of surprisingly open-ended question that keeps academic linguists up at night, but I'll try and break this down:
The bolded bit isn't a sentence according to some feedback I got from my teacher.
My question is this:
1) Why isn't it a sentence?
2) How do I make it into a sentence? I want to keep the word "implication" but I have no idea how to actually use it in a sentence apparently.
Hi literally laurenPost on the forums and I should get back to you sooner :)
I pm you about some English confusions, are you able to help me out?
thanks
What would you say is the intended effect of the author in the opening paragraph of this article?:
http://m.smh.com.au/comment/bring-back-the-nightlife-lockout-laws-require-a-rethink-20160214-gmtl6v.html
"I wouldn’t hit the Kings Cross night clubs if they were opened til 6am or shut promptly on the dot at 6pm. After all, nothing will make you feel old like seeing hordes of party people who weren’t even born when you could take your first legal drink."
ENGLISH Q&A AND PAST QUESTIONS DATABASE
What is this thread for?
If you have general questions about the VCE English (or EAL) course about what the tasks entail or how to improve in certain areas, this is the place to ask!
However, if you're looking for text-specific advice (eg. 'How could I talk about character X from text Y' or 'Is my interpretation of Z correct?') then please make a new thread on the English page. This section is designed to be an information and advice resource, so keep your questions fairly general, if possible.
If you're looking for essay marking and feedback, go to the English Work Submission and Marking
Who can/ will answer questions?
Everyone is welcome to contribute; even if you're unsure of yourself, providing different perspectives is incredibly valuable in English, - since we all know there's rarely one "right" answer ;)
Please don't be dissuaded by the fact that you haven't finished Year 12, or didn't score as highly as others, or you're advice contradicts something else you've seen on this thread, or w/e; none of this disqualifies you from helping others. And if you're worried you do have some sort of misconception, put it out there and someone else can clarify and modify your understanding!
I will endeavour to help wherever I can, but there'll be a whole bunch of other high-scoring students with their own wealths of wisdom to share with you. So you may even get multiple answers from different people offering their insights.
Which questions get included in the database?
The questions in the tabs below are ones deemed helpful to multiple people (ie. dealing with common pitfalls and struggles.) That is not to say other questions are less valid, but these are just the most common areas that students need help with, so please have a read through some before asking your own questions. If there are points that haven't been covered yet, or you'd like a more detailed explanation for an existing question, post here and we can update the database for everyone.
There's also a list of useful Language Analysis vocab attached to this post :)TEXT RESPONSEPreparation
What to discuss in a T.R. essay + picking out evidence? (helpful for early in the year)
The 'goal' of T.R. essays (scroll down to second response)
Using background information
Understanding the text
Planning
Planning T.R. essays (scroll down to second response)
Essay Structure
Teachers "recommending" structures
Introductions
What should be included in the intro?
Structuring introductions
How to make introductions more sophisticated
What makes an introductions stand out
Using quotes in the introduction (2)
Body Paragraphs
Wording of topic sentences
Choosing evidence from the text
Finding paragraph weaknesses? (scroll down to third response)
Appropriate explanation of evidence in essays (2)
Ideas
Coming up with original ideas
The difference between 'surface level' themes and 'in-depth' themes
Making simple ideas sophisticated
Memorising ideas
Exploring the impact of major/minor characters
Conclusions
Structuring conclusions (2)
Contentions
Strengthening contentions
Areas of Study
The most important criterion
Layers of Text Response texts
Learning about Views and Values with Harry Potter
Addressing views and values (ft. Paddington Bear)
Branching out from the text and explaining the marking process
Prompts
What are 'implications?'
How to discuss implications (2)
Dealing with difficult prompts
Why 'How...' questions aren't as scary as you think
Addressing 'Do you agree?' prompts
Quotes
Embedding quotes
Shortening and integrating quotes
Memorising and categorising quotes
Memorising quotes for the exam
Exam Preparation
Choosing your exam text before the exam (2)
Making the most of rereading texts
Planning in the exam + choosing exam textCONTEXTCriteria
A translation of VCAA's criteria?
Why memorisation is a massive pitfall
How to ensure relevance
Explaining the target audience
Originality in context pieces
How to approach Context studying
Intoductions
Why you shouldn't mention Hitler ;) and the importance of originality in context + my sample intro
What should be in an introduction?
Body Paragraphs
Structuring body paragraphs (2) (3)
General Stylistic Advice
Forms and styles: playing it safe
A basic overview of the three styles
Equal opportunity writing styles? + waxing poetic about The American Dream
Choosing a style
Expository Writing
Balancing examples with discussion + responding to prompts + expository structure?
Abstract discussion in expository essays (with pretty colours because Lauren learnt how to format)
Tips for expository writing
What to include in expository pieces - ft. cake
Imaginative/Creative Writing
Benefits of the Imaginative style? (scroll down to second response)
An explanation of the 'show, don't tell' rule for creative writing
Made-up stories
Persuasive Writing
Structuring a persuasive piece
Ideas
Generating ideas (2)
Managing different ideas at once
Going beyond the text: The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Year 12 English
Ratio of examples to discussion + questioning the prompts?
Using close analysis (ie. symbols, motifs) in a Context piece?
Set Texts
Extent of set text usage (2) (3) (4)
Quoting the set text
'Jumping around' within the text, and why chronological exposition isn't worth much (scroll up a bit for an example involving a headless chicken)
Using texts from previous years
External Examples
Finding external examples
Tying in examples, and zooming in/out?
Trying to find examples (esp. for Encountering Conflict)
Categorising examples
Linking between examples
Sopistication of examples (scroll to third response) (2) (3)
Using risky examples (2)
Prompts
Questioning the prompts - with example (scroll to second response)
Dissecting prompts
Simplifying prompts - using the 2013 conflict prompt as an example
Unpacking prompts (2)
The importance of promptsLANGUAGE ANALYSISCriteria
Unpacking some VCAA criteria
Analysing
The actual analysis of a Language Analysis? (scroll down to second response)
Using 'rare' techniques?
Moving beyond technique identification
Making analysis more critical
Avoiding absolute statements
Essay Structure
Essay structure (scroll to second response) (2)
Key Players (2) (3)
Alternate structures + further explaining the key player method + analysing visuals?
Using the same quote multiple times
Introductions
Mentioning techniques in the introduction
Body Paragraphs
The what-how-why strategy (scroll to second response) (2) (3)
Expanding on the 'why' (scroll to second response)
Transitioning between examples and discussion (scroll down to second response)
Integrating comparison of two (or more) written pieces (2)
Conclusions
Structuring a conclusion (2)
Conclusions for comparative analyses
Tone
Identifying tone
Visual Analysis
Integrating visual analysis
Justifying visual analysis
Samples
Lauren's 2011 piece
Lauren's 2013 piece
Finding practice articles
Oral SAC
General tips for the oral
Openings
Rebuttals
Sub-arguments and Key Players
Exam Preparation
Managing time constraints?
Planning L.A. in the exam + memorising techniques?
Advice for annotating under time conditionsMISCELLANEOUSStudying for English
Advice for Year 12s (2)
Improving in English
'Thinking' in English, with a chicken-flavoured analogy
Fascilitating self-improvement
Going beyond practice essays
Using high-scoring responses
Frequency of study
Typing or handwriting essays? (scroll down to second response)
Is a tutor necessary? (Spoilers! The answer is no.)
SAC Preparation (2)
Using Study Guides
Using study guides (2) (3)
Reading
Wider Reading
Reading academic journals?
Vocabulary
Acquiring new vocabulary (2)
Improving vocabulary (2) (3) (4) (5)
Circumlocating verbosity (2)
Vocab: evoke/provoke/invoke
Self-editing for expression
Improving clunky sentences (scroll down to second response)
General Writing Tips
Overcoming writer's block (2) (3) (4) (4) (5) (6)
Quality vs. Quantity: recommended word count?
Writing with clarity
Time Constraints
Dealing with time esp. in the exam (2) (3) (4)
Planning under timed conditions?
Timing of SACs
Cost/benefit analysis of planning under test conditions
How to prepare for time constraints
Concerns about timing + checklist to go through before a SAC (scroll down to second response)
Advice for non-Year 12s and other English subjects
Advice for Year 9/10 English?
General advice for year 11
English/EAL differences
English 3/4 without 1/2 (with Lit 1/2)
Exam Preparation
When to start studying for the exam
Exam Details (scroll down to second response)
Exam writing booklets
What to bring to the exam (2)
Assorted pre-exam questions 2015 (2)
How exam marking works
Day before the exam?
In the Exam
Order of essays (scroll down to second response) (2)
Timing in the exam
Anyways to improve my fluency in essays?What do you mean by fluency? Is it the way each sentence is constructed (as in, you need individual sentences to make more sense because at the moment they're a bit bogged down or ungrammatical) or the way the sentences are strung together (as in, you need the ideas to flow together and build on one another.) 'Fluency' can mean anything from overall essay structure down to individual word choices, so the more specific you can be, the more we can help you :)
Does anyone have any good examples for identity and belonging which I could use to talk about how sometimes belonging leads to the development of identity? E.g 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.' ~ Mahatma GandhiYou could look at how certain groups add to one's character (e.g. volunteering at a charity and becoming a more compassionate person.) And that, in turn, can make the group stronger ŕ la this lovely story. Or perhaps look into some justice reform programs/ the idea of compulsory community service as a sentence for juvenile offenders as opposed to just prison time.
(http://cache.reelz.com/assets/content/repFrame/43136/43136_01_med.jpg)"Lost in reverie" would be the term I'd use there.
How do I describe her facial expression? In this scene, she's sorta staring off into the distance dreaming about a life she can never have because it's so wildly beyond her means. She's singing about how it'd be lovely to have chocolate and warmth and what have you but she and the audience know that such things would have been beyond her means. I have no idea how to describe her facial expression though.
I know this isn't English (actually for Lit but the Lit boards are dead) and I'm desperate... please?
Looks like reality is sinking in for HLS :PI'm a bit lost as to what you're being asked to do here - it sounds like you've just isolated a theme you want to discuss, and the task is telling you to explore that theme, so in what way would you be going 'off topic?' ???
For anyone on this board, I have a question about creative writing for you!
The topic is: Explore an idea, issue or theme from the original text.
One theme is conflict in the text and I want to write about conflict generally. I'm scared I'll go off topic and my teacher will penalise me though...
Please HELP! :-\
Hey Lauren:I think you're teacher is dissing your sentences because there is no point to them (maybe?) I dont see how he can just disenfranchise a sentence, like there are no rules in tact which determines what a sentence is. Maybe you go on further to explain the significance of the hoe not wearing pants, but in that 'sentence' it does not have any purpose? (i disagree with your teacher but i think that's what he's saying?)
Is this a sentence?
She wore a tie which would have been archetypal for the men of the period.
It sounds funny. I want to use "typical" or something like that but trying to expand my vocab sooooo... for the text I'm studying, it would have been expected for men to wear pants not women (apparently women wearing pants was socially unacceptable or something like that). That's basically what I'm trying to say but just not in so many words. Apparently conciseness in any English subject is much appreciated at a VCE level.
I know... I should be studying for lit and rereading my text or something but I'm stressed so I may or may not be just casually reading the dictionary because y'know... that's what I do when I'm stressed. :P
Hey Lauren:Grammatically, it's fine. But in terms of your word choice, I'd agree that 'archetypal' is a bit off.
Is this a sentence?
She wore a tie which would have been archetypal for the men of the period.
It sounds funny. I want to use "typical" or something like that but trying to expand my vocab sooooo... for the text I'm studying, it would have been expected for men to wear pants not women (apparently women wearing pants was socially unacceptable or something like that). That's basically what I'm trying to say but just not in so many words. Apparently conciseness in any English subject is much appreciated at a VCE level.
I know... I should be studying for lit and rereading my text or something but I'm stressed so I may or may not be just casually reading the dictionary because y'know... that's what I do when I'm stressed. :P
...like there are no rules in tact which determines what a sentence is.THERE ARE MANY RULES, PAL. MANY RULES. O.o
She wore a tie which would have been archetypal for the men of the period.Think of an 'archetype' as being like a 'blueprint.' So the archetypal 1950's housewife was one who cooked and cleaned and wore aprons and stayed home to look after the children, etc. Therefore, you could not say that aprons were 'archetypal' of 1950's women, because the 'archetype' is like the whole package.
I think you're teacher is dissing your sentences because there is no point to them (maybe?) I dont see how he can just disenfranchise a sentence, like there are no rules in tact which determines what a sentence is. Maybe you go on further to explain the significance of the hoe not wearing pants, but in that 'sentence' it does not have any purpose? (i disagree with your teacher but i think that's what he's saying?)
And I just stopped judging you from the last time you commented that you read the dictionary when you're stressed why you gotta bring it up again :>
im kidding please don't send me mean messages
im actually not hehe 8)
Think of an 'archetype' as being like a 'blueprint.' So the archetypal 1950's housewife was one who cooked and cleaned and wore aprons and stayed home to look after the children, etc. Therefore, you could not say that aprons were 'archetypal' of 1950's women, because the 'archetype' is like the whole package.
'Typical' works much better because it can apply to smaller elements. So an apron might be a typical garment of an archetypal 1950's house frau - that's fine, albeit a little repetitive.
Fun fact: the word 'archetype' comes from the Greek word 'arkhetupon' which meant a basic/primitive (arkhe-) model or mould (tupos). Whereas 'typical' is thought to have Latin roots that come from 'typicalis' meaning 'to be symbolic of something.'
And before you ask, yes, I am great fun at parties.
Thanks Lauren for your reply ;DJust realised you're a 2017 grad and that this is a part of the new SD :P
Not too sure to be honest, but I just kept in mind that my teacher said that I must stay to the themes, ideas and spirit of the text, as well as incorporating bits of how the author writes e.g. linking seasons with feeling. Didn't want to go against what she said hahah :)
So do you think that writing about the idea of control (which is a theme in the text) for my creative piece would be alright? The only thing in common with the text and be essay would be overarching idea of control :D
Am I using the bolded word correctly:Yep, ersatz is an adjective used to refer to something that's artificial or eerily dissimilar from an original, so is fine in this context.
She recognised the flower girl would ultimately be nothing more than an ersatz image of a duchess.
Pleasedon'tmurdermeforspammingthisthreadwithmyrandomquestions.For every random word-related question, I promise to retort with one random-unsolicited-piece-of-arcane-etymology 8)
Off-topic but: Could ersatz be used as a direct synonym for fake or to describe an imitation of the real thing?You can't use it as a noun, and 'ersatz' kind of connotes deficiency or inferiority whereas 'imitation' is a bit more neutral in that it implies the copy is more accurate. It's not a direct synonym, but it's pretty close.
This is gonna be one of them 'it depends' questions I feel but in general, what is better with context: one-two sources of evidence/example (e.g a film) to be used throughout an expository essay or many smaller examples? I've been predominantly going with the numerous small examples but from reading over my work it seems like it is preventing me from going into depth with the discussion; i.e using the example to point out the obvious part of the idea I am exploring.Ah thanks
Hey, got a quick question.
Which method of language analysis is the "safest" way? For example we could write them in chronological order, order by arguments, order by persuasive devices, etc.
My teacher wants me to write an essay on the prompt
"In stasiland, funder exposes a world both cruel and absurd" discuss
I can't think of any counter argument for this? Can someone help
Thanks so much Lauren, think I understand where you're coming from! And sorry I didn't make the task clearer :)That seems alright to me, but I'd say try to align messages and not just themes. The idea of 'being controlled' might be a bit too broad, which is why you may be struggling to make the connections to the text clear. So consider what Lewis is saying about control, and then either reinforce, build up, or critique that notion. I'm not entirely sure which aspect of 'control' in the text you're looking at, but the more specific you can be, the easier you'll find it to forge a connection.
The text is the Wife of Martin Guerre. Although the idea of control isn't prominent, I want to show that it in fact is! e.g. Being controlled/ restricted in a society. I was hoping to base the creative piece on rowing (heaps of control needed there :P) and the rower seeing someone take his/ her life which obviously has a huge impact. I want to make the connection between my piece and the text strong but I can't express myself clearly though, especially in the written statement. Or should I write about conflict? Conflict doesn't fit my creative piece idea though...
Totally lost and appreciate your guidance ;D
HiBoth are crucial. You are mainly looking at the details in the text, but the whole point of doing so is to consider what the author is trying to say, meaning that you should aim to comment on the authorial voice within your paragraphs at some point (or preferably at the end.)
Just a general question about text response, do we need to include the authorial voice because originally I thought we were meant to write about the novel not actually including what the author is trying to express? I'm so lost and my sac is tomorrow :(
This is gonna be one of them 'it depends' questions I feel but in general, what is better with context: one-two sources of evidence/example (e.g a film) to be used throughout an expository essay or many smaller examples? I've been predominantly going with the numerous small examples but from reading over my work it seems like it is preventing me from going into depth with the discussion; i.e using the example to point out the obvious part of the idea I am exploring.I'm on the 'fewer examples but more depth' side of the fence, but yeah, it depends :P
Hey, got a quick question.What do you mean by safest? Because the chronological method is objectively simplest (i.e. you don't have to put any effort into thinking about where to start; you can kick of with analysis straight away). However, because it's so dependent on the material, you might end up with something as horrific as the 2011 Exam (or some of the samples I wrote last year :P) and you'll likely have a tough time compiling it all neatly. Also, if you look through the most recent VCAA exams, you'll notice that the authors' focus shifts throughout the piece such that what's being discussed at the start of page 1 is the same as the middle of page 2. And the way they conclude has links to the stuff mentioned in their third paragraph. So if you're going through totally chronologically, you either have to repeat yourself, or ditch potential analysis opportunities to avoid repeating yourself.
Which method of language analysis is the "safest" way? For example we could write them in chronological order, order by arguments, order by persuasive devices, etc.
Quote from: VCAA 2014• There was no expected manner in which the pieces were to be analysed and most students began by analysing the first piece then analysing the second. The more successful responses made insightful analytical comparisons, focusing on such things as tone, structure and, most importantly, the language used by the two writers.
• Successful responses were able to show the inherent connection between the general ideas of each piece and the language used to present those views.
• Some students offered topic sentences that suggested they were searching for particular ‘techniques’, with little regard to the instructions for this section: ‘How is written and visual language used in the newspaper article and the letter to attempt to persuade readers to share the points of view presented in them?’ Simply identifying techniques demonstrates a limited approach to this task.Quote from: VCAA 2015• It is important for students to be aware of the intentions of speakers in respect to the contention
• High-scoring students found an appropriate balance between the two speeches and between analysis of the visual language and written language.
I'm in Year 11 and I just can't seem to finish my essays in the 100 minutes we have for the SAC. For both my text response and Language analysis pieces I didn't finish, barely starting my conclusion. Any tips for improving? Time management is my biggest weakness when it comes to English
I dont know if this is the right board or not. Im answering an essay question right now and the question is a 'to what extent' type of question. I have forgotten how to properly answer this haha. Can you say to a high or low extent? How do you explain the between of high and low? So basically how do you say 50% type of extent :')(Assuming this is VCE English related?) if it's asking 'to what extent' you agree, then it's just a standard prompt.
Thanks Lauren!Yes, though sometimes you can go for more 'abstract' key players that are based on ideas rather than tangible groups or people.
By "key players", do you mean the main components of the article? Like for example in last year's LA the key players would have been Bigsplash, volunteering, and the Tradies without borders?
Yes, though sometimes you can go for more 'abstract' key players that are based on ideas rather than tangible groups or people.
See: the key on these sample annotations
Also, there's no 'correct' 3 or 4 key players you're required to find; it's all about what you believe to be the most important components of the author's argument.
Thanks Lauren! One last question haha :-X :You can use personal anecdotes, so long as they're not "petty personal anecdotes" ŕ la:
are we allowed to use personal anecdotes for our context essay? I read an example where someone talked about her grandparents living under the rule of Pol Pot, and weaving it into her context essay for encountering conflict. So in that case, are we allowed to use personal pronouns?
Thanks again ;D
Hey guys quick question here, It's a pretty vague question but how can i increase the overall quality of the introduction and conclusion of an expository when writing a context piece on identity and belonging?
My teacher says that the ideas and examples i bring in to the piece is fine but to increase the overall quality of my expository i need to write a better intro and conclusion.
For example on the prompt "Sometimes we need to accept change in order to grow". Could someone please give me pointers :P And sorry i know it's an incredibly vague question. \
Thanks.
Now, at a time when political correctness is more iron-clad than ever and some young men feel the need to identify themselves as feminists...Omg that tone of condescension is ridiculous -.-
Omg that tone of condescension is ridiculous -.-Thanks, yeah I thought that is sounded a bit vague.
How bitter do you think the Sydney Morning Herald are now that youth culture has coopted their acronym to 'so much hate'? 8) 8)
He's just basically extolling the virtues of boxing and cage fighting. Aside from that brief bit at the start where he semi-attacks the PC brigade, he doesn't seem to have a contention beyond 'fighting is cool.' I'd probably choose a different piece to analyse, if you can; this one's not very persuasive :-\
Thanks, yeah I thought that is sounded a bit vague.
Anyway, for this one
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/ufc-193-ronda-rousey-not-the-only-one-knocked-out-by-sundays-events--how-has-it-come-to-this-20151115-gkzpqe.html
I said that the contention of this one is that the Brutality and un-regulation of UFC fighting cannot be fantasized and because of this has no place to stay in Australia.
Would you agree?
how badly would i be penalised for not concluding my language analysis? i had a comparative SAC today and managed to write everything but the conclusion. would the quality of my piece be more important than whether or not i finished? really didn't want to drop a single mark in english... oh well :-\Erm it shouldn't really tbh, my teachers say there are no marks to be gained in the conclusion so I don't see why there are marks to be lost - right? Especially because this is a comparative. If you had done the task required then I don't see why they should penalise you.
Erm it shouldn't really tbh, my teachers say there are no marks to be gained in the conclusion so I don't see why there are marks to be lost - right? Especially because this is a comparative. If you had done the task required then I don't see why they should penalise you.
And you're trying to not lose 1 mark the whole year omg r u a wizard (pls halp me)
What's the technique called when someone does something like this:
If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.
cascade of events? im terrible at these things haha
URGENT. Have an English SAC tomorrow.I swore I'd get an early night tonight but instead I'm cramming as much info as I can before my self-imposed bedtime.
What's the technique called when someone does something like this:
If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.
Where like you're sorta being driven down this path of logic and you aren't really left with room to go like "If A happens, D could happen instead of B"
What's that technique called?
I've just been calling it appealing to reason and logic which is wrong.
how badly would i be penalised for not concluding my language analysis? i had a comparative SAC today and managed to write everything but the conclusion. would the quality of my piece be more important than whether or not i finished? really didn't want to drop a single mark in english... oh well :-\Not at all, unless your teacher is a real stickler for essay structure. Even then, the quality of your analysis is where, like, 98% of the marks are. Little things like the intro + concl. are just there to make a good first and last impression, but if your analysis was good enough not to need that last impression, you'd be fine.
URGENT. Have an English SAC tomorrow.I'd call it leading logic or cumulative logic. Technically, the formal name for it would be the slippery slope fallacy, but calling it a 'fallacy' sounds a bit evaluative. Most teachers probably wouldn't mind, but I could understand some taking issue with you using words that are critiquing their arguments instead of metalanguage that discusses how the author is being persuasive.I swore I'd get an early night tonight but instead I'm cramming as much info as I can before my self-imposed bedtime.
What's the technique called when someone does something like this:
If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.
Where like you're sorta being driven down this path of logic and you aren't really left with room to go like "If A happens, D could happen instead of B"
What's that technique called?
I've just been calling it appealing to reason and logic which is wrong.
No. There's an actual name for the technique but I can't remember what it is. arghhh...
Hey Champ I sent you a message about your essay marking service - did you get it?
Hi guys, for the visual aspect of language analysis, I'm really struggling with this picture. The article is basically contending that although girls achieve fantastic high school results, this doesn't translate into workplace success. I'm guessing there's a glass wall / reference to glass ceiling, but I'm really unsure as there appears to be women on both the top and bottom of the staircase??? Any ideas/help would be appreciated :)
In regards to identity and belonging, does anyone know any people who have been in jail, promised to be good after a court hearing and then gotten back to crimes e.g murder after they are released? This is to talk about how often when people seem to have changed their identity it is just their public, displayed identity but not who they truly are on the inside :DThis isn't exactly what you're looking for, but Robert Durst (about whom the awesome TV documentary 'The Jinx' was made) might be worth considering as an example of someone whose external/ projected identity was designed to mislead and gain the trust of others.
Hey guys, i have a text response sac on next week and i was wondering how to approach structural prompts in terms of what ideas to base a paragraph on? like how do i do paragraphs for structural prompts?Turn that structural prompt into a non-structural prompt, and go from there :)
I seem to always be using "positioning the reader to..........." and other repetetive conjuctive words (furthermore, etc) in my language analysis and need to vary things up a bit. Does anyone have some kind of resource with a bunch of different vocabulary that they can share with me?
Hi
Does this sound like an speech?
Hi
I have a problem with language analysis, for language analysis I thought we write it similar to year 11 hence I am a bit confused . My teacher wrote this on the board analyzing Andrew Bolt's article 'it's a smokescreen', but I don't understand what he is trying to say. I showed it to my tutor (a current teacher as well) and he said this is full of bullshit and that my teacher should have made it more simply so that the whole class understands in which he guarantees that no one understands this. My tutor said that my teacher is only teaching 1 or 2 students in class, because this is only used for elite students (A+ students) not ordinary students like me. Tbh I am finding the vocabs a bit difficult. What do you guys think? All opinions are welcome
My teacher's analysis of Andrew Bolt's
The issue on decriminalising recreational drug use, motivated by social and international trends, has been recently debated in media circles. ✓One pieceThus, Andrew Bolt’s pragmatic opinion piece "IT’S A SMOKESCREEN" (published in the Herald Sun, April 5th, 2012),contends(avoid dull and lifeless words like "contends" - they don't tell us anything about the tone of the piece) is vehement that if drugs are legalised, ‘more people are likely to use them.’ (I'd probably avoid quoting in the introduction; even decoratively) The editor (since when is he an editor? just refer to him as Bolt/the writer/he etc.) persuades (another dull and lifeless word. Avoid.) in an enthusiastic style that adopts foremost sarcasm, ridicule and patronising flavour. ✓ Bolt’s craft appeals to both individuals with insight towards current government policies and initiatives towards drug use as well as possible users of drugs. Titles opening contraction ‘IT’S’, an atmosphere of conversation is established. This, passed with the smokescreen pun, offers an absolution that aligns with his contention on drug decriminalisation. The title collectively engages the reader and invites them to consult his text with its central and symbolic marijuana leaf. ((Okay, you probs want to avoid analysing in the introduction of your analysis. All that an intro needs is: trigger event/problem, introduce article + sources, writer's qualified contention and introduce any visuals + their contentions very broadly. That's it...)
Bolt’s piece mocks the “eminent Australians” by sarcastically aligning them with recreational drug use. ✓ He maintains this voice of bemusement through the repeated ‘experts’, thereby decreeing the Australia21 group. The reader’s trust in this ‘think tank’ is challenged and further by connotative ‘absurdly’, ‘simplistic’ and 'backpedaling.’ The effect is fundamentally cemented as the reader is presented with a cyclical piece that opens with an attack and ends with similar concern with ‘dangerous’. This metalanguage driven by Bolt is thwarted with casual undertones included the contraction ‘you’d’ An atmosphere of inclusion is therefore establish and, when paired with the writer’s sharp wit, enhances his position on drug. When considering the iconic marijuana leaf central to the Editorial the readership aligns this masterful and sharp use of the English language with the razor edges of the leaf. (I'll leave one comment on this paragraph: Without even reading it (just by glancing over it), I have realised that your teacher has started two sentences in a row with the word 'The'. It's little things like this - not varying your sentence structure - which can lose you marks in an essay. It's blatantly obvious and very easy for the marker to spot.)
I would probably say that it doesn't. My reasoning would be that, if you take away the introduction, the "hello, ladies and gentlemen", what you're really left with is just an essay that you're reading out.Thanks for your opinion
If you're looking to transform it into a speech, I would suggest that you start by establishing a sense of context. Why are you giving this speech? Who are these ladies and gentlemen? Make it clear why this speech is relevant to this particular audience, whoever they are.
Besides that, you might want to consider some stylistic changes in shifting from a written essay to a spoken piece. Have you thought of using a little bit of signposting at the outset? Or perhaps think of rewriting it while considering some rhetorical devices. Vary your sentence length. Add in some punchy language. Even if it's to be submitted as a written piece, you want to show that you've considered how it sounds. :)
I'd have to agree 100% with your tutor here. Your teacher's analysis essay lacks any recognisable structure, and in turn, serves to confuse students.Hi
For your intro, all you need is:
1) Generic/Broad sentence which contextualises the problem being discussed or its trigger event
2) Introduce writer, article name & type (is it an opinion piece, editorial, letter to the editor, speech etc.) & sources
3) What is the qualified contention?
4) Introduce images and their respective contentions
THAT IS IT.
Body paragraphs:
1) Topic sentence that exposes one of the writer's arguments/ideas
2) Highlight a Technique --> Quote it --> Discuss specific intended effect (relating back to the specific technique and the argument (1)
3) Repeat 2) as many times as is necessary until paragraph looks decent
4) Concluding sentence which highlights the overall effect of the techniques on the audiences (i.e. what actions/feelings/beliefs do they encourage?)
It only just hit me, but your teacher tends to use the passive voice rather than the active voice. Avoid, avoid, avoid!!!
This is a huge difference between high scoring pieces and mid-low range pieces. You won't see the passive voice in high scoring essays...
For example:
Metalanguage driven by Bolt (passive) --> Bolt's metalanguage (active)
An atmosphere of inclusion (passive) --> An inclusive atmosphere (active)
Additionally:
"readership aligns this masterful and sharp use of the English language" --> is he/she taking the piss? This is language analysis - not some sort of patronising commentary regarding the writer's ability to use English.
What do you mean by "taking the piss"? Should I go and confront my teacher that this isn't a language analysis piece or just leave it? Also are you able to explain again about passive and active because I still don't understand that.
This metalanguage driven by Bolt is thwarted with casual undertones included the contraction ‘you’d’
Hi everyone!
What psychology areas would be suitable for Identity and Belonging?
Such as social psychology and within that conformity.
Thanks!~
Heyyyy.
Quick question.
If someone refers to someone by the wrong name (like calling someone "Joan" instead of "Jane"), is that a misnomer? Like does that count? I get what misnomers are in general but I'm just iffy as to whether this would be an example of a misnomer...
My teacher's analysis of Andrew Bolt'sI'm with TheLlama - this is nonsense :P There are parts that aren't too bad, but on the whole, the underlying analysis and the expression here really aren't good examples of the requirements of Language Analysis.
The issue on of decriminalising recreational drug use, motivated by social and international trends, has been recently debated in media circles just a filler statement. One piece, Andrew Bolt’s IT’S A SMOKESCREEN (Herald Sun, April 5th, 2012), contends that if drugs are legalised, ‘more people are likely to use them.’ it'd be better to actually explain the contention rather than stick a quote in and have that do all the work in this context. The editor persuades in an enthusiastic style clunky expression that adopts foremost this word doesn't belong here sarcasm, ridicule and patronising flavour umm? Bolt’s craft appeals to both individuals with insight towards current government policies and initiatives towards drug use as well as possible users of drugs specifying the audience isn't really necessary here. Titles opening contraction ‘IT’S’, an atmosphere of conversation is established Firstly, a single contraction doesn't create a conversational tone, and secondly, analysis doesn't belong in the intro!. This, passed ?? with the smokescreen pun, offers an absolution how? I'm not following the logic here - how is the pun giving us an 'absolution?' that aligns with his contention on drug decriminalisation waaaay too general. If you're going to analyse, you want to be specific about what the effect/intention is. The title collectively this word doesn't belong engages the reader and invites them to consult this doesn't work either his text it'd be more accurate to call it an opinion piece or article with its central and symbolic how is it symbolic? What is it a symbol of? marijuana leaf.
Bolt’s piece mocks the “eminent Australians” by sarcastically aligning them with recreational drug use. Okay, this topic sentence is actually pretty decent. He maintains this voice of bemusement what voice of bemusement? This doesn't flow on from the previous sentence at all? through the repeated ‘experts’, thereby decreeing either this word doesn't belong, or this sentence is incomplete the Australia21 group. The reader’s trust in this ‘think tank’ is challenged and further by I'm guessing there are words missing here? connotative ‘absurdly’, ‘simplistic’ and 'backpedaling.’ Awful lot of quotes so far with very little actual analysis. The effect is fundamentally cemented this is another generic filler statement that could easily be cut as the reader is presented with a cyclical piece that opens with an attack and ends with similar concern with ‘dangerous’. This metalanguage driven more weird word choices by Bolt is thwarted ditto; this is actually a bit evaluative since it seems like this piece is criticising Bolt for 'thwarting' his own arguments with casual undertones included the contraction ‘you’d’ An atmosphere of inclusion is therefore how? You can't just say 'therefore' and have that be the explanation of how we got from A to B established and, when paired with the writer’s sharp wit really no need to flatter him -.-, enhances his position on drug. When considering the iconic marijuana leaf central to the editorial the readership aligns this masterful and sharp use of the English language again, pandering to the author and talking about how smart and wonderful he is just comes across as a waste of time and words with the razor edges of the leaf. huh??
Misnomers tend to apply to more established definitions/names rather than just people. Best example of this was in the Lemony Snicket books where The Incredibly Deadly Viper was actually a sweet and cuddly snake who wouldn't hurt a fly. Or, like, The Great Northern Hotel being on the southmost part of an island, or a big rock being called The Smiling Rock when it actually looks like it has an angry frown.
Basically, a misnomer will have some kind of contradiction between the name of a thing, and the thing itself. There's nothing about the name 'Joan' that would contradict 'Jane,' but there is something in 'The Great Northern Hotel' which would contradict it being in the south.
Hope that makes sense!Yeah I made one or two spelling errors, but when it comes with the sac, do I have to carter it similar with what the teacher expects (like what he has there) or can I write it the way I am comfortable with?
I'm with TheLlama - this is nonsense :P There are parts that aren't too bad, but on the whole, the underlying analysis and the expression here really aren't good examples of the requirements of Language Analysis.
Don't "confront" your teacher in a very aggressive "hey sir/miss, you're wrong!" kind of way, but it might be worth sitting down with your teacher and working out what they expect of you. We can help you when it comes to the exam criteria (and vor's breakdown of the intro + body paragraph requirements is definitely a great framework to use) but ultimately, you want to be catering to your teacher for your SAC.
After that SAC is done, though, you can concentrate on writing pieces from an exam standpoint, which is where we and your tutor can be of more use to you :)
Yeah I made one or two spelling errors, but when it comes with the sac, do I have to carter it similar with what the teacher expects (like what he has there) or can I write it the way I am comfortable with?
Hey guys, I'm seeking help on context - I'm pretty lost
We're studying encountering conflict (the lieutenant),
I want to write an expository piece - I was thinking about something along the lines of a speech but tbh I need more ideas of which forms I can write in.
And can anyone recommend me some good books/documentaries/movies where I can gain some ideas from?
I was thinking about just spewing out an essay but that wouldn't be very good in terms of form and language choice - because I don't have anything in mind.
Any ideas on how to approach this? Sorry for the vague questions I just don't have any specific questions in mind at the moment.
First and foremost, you must use the ideas from your assigned text for Encountering Conflict. Hence, a good place to start would be by reading/watching those texts and jotting down the ideas that emanate from them.Thanks for the advice. Have a few questions though.
Secondly, once you have all of these ideas written down somewhere: try to think of a focus or particular topic that you are passionate about which encompasses ideas from those texts, but also, is relevant to Encountering Conflict.
Once you have picked a topic or something that you are passionate about - and they both are relevant to the Context (Encountering Conflict) and the ideas from your assigned text - then take some sort of a stance on that topic.
I understand that you'd like to do an expository pieces but the best pieces tend to incorporate features of different modes of writing (persuasive and personal); a hybrid. This allows you to use your own voice throughout your piece which provides it with that extra bit of authenticity. Remember: the worst thing you can do in context is write a boring text-responsy type of essay.
Oh and lastly: before you begin writing, take a look at the Encountering Conflict prompts from the past 8 years. Whilst writing your context piece draft, try to ensure your piece encompasses as many ideas from those prompts as possible so that you can easily mould your piece to a prompt on the actual day. (most of the prompts are very very very similar so your piece is likely to fit many of them - just make sure that your topic isn't TOO specific so that you don't restrict yourself with prompts)
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks for the advice. Have a few questions though.
What do you mean by writing a piece that can be moulded to different prompts? A personal/persuasive hybrid - wouldn't you have different arguments throughout? And when you say personal do you mean using stuff like "I" or do you go as far as writing a creative personal essay?
If I manage to get the structure of a speech down tight I think I might be able to write different pieces, but I don't see how I'll be able to write a general piece which encompasses the ideas in so many prompts where if I change a paragraph it'll suddenly fit.
Yeah I made one or two spelling errors, but when it comes with the sac, do I have to carter it similar with what the teacher expects (like what he has there) or can I write it the way I am comfortable with?Cater to your teacher for SACs; cater to the examiners in the exam.
question: with topic sentences, can i have topic sentences? as in multiple sentences to serve as a 'topic sentence'. i remember being told that i can by one of my teachers, but only if cramming everything into one sentence makes it confusing. can someone confirm this for me? thanks :) :)
Either way: it is completely unreasonable for a student to produce a high quality piece on the day under timed conditions without having a pre-prepared response (to a large extent). That being said, though: don't take the prompt for granted - make sure that it is addressed. But keep in mind, the prompt is more of a 'moral of the story' rather than a text response prompt, so treat it accordingly.
Cater to your teacher for SACs; cater to the examiners in the exam.Given that we have 2 different context sacs and I'm planning on writing up 2 different malleable pieces - would I be lulled into a false sense of security into believing that at least 1 of my pieces would be able to apply to the prompt?
If your teacher is open to different approaches and is willing to be flexible, then you might be okay. Otherwise, it's best that you learn to modify your writing style and focus so you can get decent SAC marks.
E.g. if your teacher wants you to discuss whether or not techniques are persuasive in L.A. (which you're not meant to do,) just do it for your SAC anyway. Then, when you get to the exam, you can just fulfil the task criteria and ditch the evaluation.
You can have multiple sentences, especially if you're unpacking an idea that's especially complex. However, if you find yourself always needing 2-4 sentences at the start of your paragraphs, perhaps consider making your expression a bit more concise. It's possible your writing is just a little convoluted, but you're absolutely allowed to spend a little longer explaining your points before you start delving into your examples.
One thing I'd challenge here: it's a much safer idea to have various responses (or even better, bits and pieces of responses) which is then adapted and reassembled based on the prompt vs. having a 'swiss cheese' piece that tries to cater to every possible prompt by switching a few words or examples around. I definitely agree with your point that students can't be expected to come into the exam with their brains as blank slates and just have all these spontaneous epiphanies about the nature of conflict, but I think those who have multiple options up their sleeve are in a better position than those who invest all their hopes in one "malleable" piece. There are students whoget luckyare able to make this work, but they're few and far between.
Yes, you could conceivably pick out ~10 prompts at random and have them touch on a similar thematic concern (e.g. 'the way people respond to conflict tells us something about our values' is a very common one) and maybe you'll end up with an exam prompt that relates to this same idea. But if you want to feel prepared for Context, you're going to need to actually prepare for a whole host of potential prompts.
No one expected that hideous 'conflicts of conscience' prompt in my year level, and if all you'd been preparing for were the ideas from past years' exams and practice prompts that were available at the time...
(i.e. 2008: extraordinary responses from ordinary people
2009: victims show us what's important
2010: remaining a bystander is difficult
2011: compromise is important
2012: conflict changes our priorities)
...then you'd be left high and dry trying to cobble together a response to the core of the 2013 prompt.
I tend to be an advocate for what I call 'frameworks' that you can mould and reconfigure to suit material, as opposed to memorised responses. I know a lot of teachers/ tutors/ students who'd disagree with me here (and tbh, I'm eagerly awaiting 2017 when we don't have to worry about this awful AOS anymore :P) but if you are wanting to commit to a memorised piece, just be aware of the risks.
Given that we have 2 different context sacs and I'm planning on writing up 2 different malleable pieces - would I be lulled into a false sense of security into believing that at least 1 of my pieces would be able to apply to the prompt?
And I'm thinking about writing up an editorial which covers indigenous disadvantage - I've done plenty of research on this topic.
I'd be able to transform my piece by focusing on different issues within indigenous disadvantage - and since there are like 4 issues i'd cover under the 1 umbrella term "indigenous disadvantage" i'd have plenty of different views to look from.
However, my concern is that I won't be able to right a high marking essay because an editorial is kinda eh. - But I hope I'm wrong. What is your experience with editorials?
One of the constant warnings is to avoid coming in with a prepared piece. It depends how malleable they are, but you really need to be able to show that you've considered the prompt.Yeah I was intending to write a piece which covers multiple issues - so I have my general frame work there but I won't come in prepared with a line by line recital of my prepared piece - rather I have the structure of my whole piece pre planned, and maybe my title + intro.
When you say the word "considered" - how much discussion do we have to have of the prompt? I'm still uncertain on how much I have to relate my piece to the prompt and to the texts - do I need to show a sophisticated understanding of the text? Like I can extract ideas and include them in my piece but I'm not dealing with the different layers of conflict that closely...
Cater to your teacher for SACs; cater to the examiners in the exam.Thankyou Lauren
If your teacher is open to different approaches and is willing to be flexible, then you might be okay. Otherwise, it's best that you learn to modify your writing style and focus so you can get decent SAC marks.
E.g. if your teacher wants you to discuss whether or not techniques are persuasive in L.A. (which you're not meant to do,) just do it for your SAC anyway. Then, when you get to the exam, you can just fulfil the task criteria and ditch the evaluation.
You can have multiple sentences, especially if you're unpacking an idea that's especially complex. However, if you find yourself always needing 2-4 sentences at the start of your paragraphs, perhaps consider making your expression a bit more concise. It's possible your writing is just a little convoluted, but you're absolutely allowed to spend a little longer explaining your points before you start delving into your examples.
One thing I'd challenge here: it's a much safer idea to have various responses (or even better, bits and pieces of responses) which is then adapted and reassembled based on the prompt vs. having a 'swiss cheese' piece that tries to cater to every possible prompt by switching a few words or examples around. I definitely agree with your point that students can't be expected to come into the exam with their brains as blank slates and just have all these spontaneous epiphanies about the nature of conflict, but I think those who have multiple options up their sleeve are in a better position than those who invest all their hopes in one "malleable" piece. There are students whoget luckyare able to make this work, but they're few and far between.
Yes, you could conceivably pick out ~10 prompts at random and have them touch on a similar thematic concern (e.g. 'the way people respond to conflict tells us something about our values' is a very common one) and maybe you'll end up with an exam prompt that relates to this same idea. But if you want to feel prepared for Context, you're going to need to actually prepare for a whole host of potential prompts.
No one expected that hideous 'conflicts of conscience' prompt in my year level, and if all you'd been preparing for were the ideas from past years' exams and practice prompts that were available at the time...
(i.e. 2008: extraordinary responses from ordinary people
2009: victims show us what's important
2010: remaining a bystander is difficult
2011: compromise is important
2012: conflict changes our priorities)
...then you'd be left high and dry trying to cobble together a response to the core of the 2013 prompt.
I tend to be an advocate for what I call 'frameworks' that you can mould and reconfigure to suit material, as opposed to memorised responses. I know a lot of teachers/ tutors/ students who'd disagree with me here (and tbh, I'm eagerly awaiting 2017 when we don't have to worry about this awful AOS anymore :P) but if you are wanting to commit to a memorised piece, just be aware of the risks.
Hello..... i am writing a creative piece at the moment about encountering conflict in The Rugmaker..... and i don't know what to do for it any ideas?????1. Find a/some conflict(s) in Rugmaker.
We're studying the 60 minutes Sally faulkner child abduction case, what's a good word I can use in my essays that describes journalists when they are believed to only be pursuing a story for the financial benefit and are not taking morals into account?
HiThe final exam for this year is gonna be just text responses so if you are in year 12, your final exam will only consist of text responses (3) and language analysis will only be assessed via sacs.
I need a bit of clarification here, so my teacher said that at my school we don't do comparing language analysis for both sacs and exams so does that mean for my final exams do I write separate pieces of the language analysis?
The final exam for this year is gonna be just text responses so if you are in year 12, your final exam will only consist of text responses (3) and language analysis will only be assessed via sacs.The final exam this year will be based on the same structure as last year's, meaning that you will do a text response, a contexts piece and a language analysis.
The final exam this year will be based on the same structure as last year's, meaning that you will do a text response, a contexts piece and a language analysis.
Not sure where you're getting your information o.O
Hey Lauren, given the use of passive voice in vce is discouraged by some, perhaps disliked by many, what would you say is a good balance between active and passive or should it depend solely on what I feel works for me? I feel that my writing looks much neater using passive.I'm yet to hear a good argument for why the active voice is always inherently better :-\
HiI'm not sure what your teacher is trying to say, but you will do one Language Analysis SAC in semester 1 (for Unit 3,) and one in the exam. They'll probably both be comparative, but that will depend on your school and what the examiners end up writing for the end of the year.
I need a bit of clarification here, so my teacher said that at my school we don't do comparing language analysis for both sacs and exams so does that mean for my final exams do I write separate pieces of the language analysis?
The final exam for this year is gonna be just text responses so if you are in year 12, your final exam will only consist of text responses (3) and language analysis will only be assessed via sacs.There was a study design change, but it won't affect the current Year 12s as it's coming into effect for next year's (2017) exam. But that exam doesn't consist of three Text Response tasks either, so I have no idea what your teacher would be referring to.
By unleashing its power, the ubiquitous Church is able to silence Galileo. Ostensibly, this may appear as the resolution of the conflict, however the internal conflict within Galileo is never resolved.
Hey guys,
does these sentences make sense? Like is there any syntax/grammatical errors here?
It seems like you have a tautology with "ostensibly"/"this may appear". I'd say leave out "ostensibly" - the sentence still sounds fine. I'm not sure about the comma after "by unleashing its ubiquitous power", but I think it'll be fine if you leave it.
Hi
I have a question, just had my language analysis sac today session 2 today and the article that was given was dated in 2012 but my school changed it to 2015, are they allowed to do that?
Hi
I have a question, just had my language analysis sac today session 2 today and the article that was given was dated in 2012 but my school changed it to 2015, are they allowed to do that?
Hey guys, so I had my language analysis SAC today, and after I got home I (stupidly) looked up the article to reread/attempt to predict my score. Anyway, I realized that I completely misunderstood the contention of one of the comments :( (4 were included in the SAC). The only thing I really said about this particular comment was that it supported and added to the original articles contention... Does anyone know how badly this will affect my score, or how many marks (out of 20) I'd lose for this :( If it helps, I had 4 main body paragraphs, 3 of which focused solely on the article, and the last about the comments (but my main analysis was for a different comment).
Yeah. The article can be manipulated, created, changed.Actually yes they do.
I heard that VCAA creates its own articles so they dont have problems with copyright. If exams can have 'made up' articles then i dont see why a school cant just change a date on an actual article.
Hi GuysI'd probably call this an opinion piece, since editorials have to be written by the editor of a publication, and this is written by someone called Lizza Gebilagin, who isn't the editor of The Daily Tele.
what type of article is this? is it a editorial, opinion piece or something?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/health/body-soul-daily/bree-warren-australian-model-sparks-plussize-debate-over-what-is-normal/news-story/97f2d6cc893ab7daa129bb84235e8618
Hi Guys, :)
I'm studying Every man in this village is a liar by Megan Stack
"Individuals who are faced with conflict are forever shaped by their experience” is an essay topic we were given.
If I was to write an expository essay what ideas could I use?
Thanks in advance
HiTechnically they're not meant to do this...
I have a question, just had my language analysis sac today session 2 today and the article that was given was dated in 2012 but my school changed it to 2015, are they allowed to do that?
Actually yes they do.Yeah, they totally got sued back in 2011, which is why you can't view the Section C of that year, and they didn't even publish any samples in the Assessor's Report :P :P
They once modified a piece to make it worse than it actually was and the person who wrote the piece complained (I think there was some legal action but I don't know with certainty so i wont say there were)
I'd probably call this an opinion piece, since editorials have to be written by the editor of a publication, and this is written by someone called Lizza Gebilagin, who isn't the editor of The Daily Tele.Oh I didn't know about this, but Thankyou everyone for the clarification because I went home and searched up the article and I was like why is it dated 2015 when the actually article was written in 2012. However it does relate to article A which was ' baby's gender should be a choice' by Rita Panahi. Also another question,is this an Australian article or not because this was article B?
Are you looking for examples from your set text, or external evidence?
Technically they're not meant to do this...
From the SD:
(http://i.imgur.com/8plwEQB.png)
However, it is common practice at a lot of schools, (and even more technically, that excerpt of the SD is structurally ambiguous, since it might be saying 'schools have to choose articles that have been in the media since Sept. 1' OR 'schools have to choose articles about an issue, and that issue has to have been in the media since Sept. 1') so I doubt there's much you can do. Unless it was about an issue that was totally out of date and therefore confusing, hopefully it won't have mattered too much anyway.
Yeah, they totally got sued back in 2011, which is why you can't view the Section C of that year, and they didn't even publish any samples in the Assessor's Report :P :P
(you can view it here though, if you want to see how atrocious it was. Awfully condescending tone they used, and the contention is all over the place imo)
Long story short, yes, they modified an existing article by a lady called Helen Razer, changed her name to Helen Day, and thought that'd be enough to cover their tracks. But a bunch of bitter kids from that year level found the original article and sent a bunch of hate mail to the author (WHY'D YOU WRITE SUCH A DIFFICULT PIECE YOU @#S@#%$) and made a fb page called 'Getting a tattoo just to spite Helen' or something along those lines, which I actually found quite funny. The author then contacted VCAA to ask why so many grumpy Year 12s were taking out their frustrations on her, and they had to issue an apology.
But since that whole debacle, they've just written original pieces, as Cowboy pointed out.
(...or maybe they've just been more covert in their plagiarism :P)
Confused on how to structure the body paragraphs for lang analysis. How do you organise the paragraphs? Do you split each by grouping the metalanguage?Chronological progression?tone changes?
Also, would you include the analysis of the image as a separate paragraph or incorporate bits of them into other body paragraphs?
Thnx
It's a simple enough concept, but can make for a sophisticated way of structuring your analyses. A 'player' is basically a party involved in the issue, eg. for the 2012 Exam paper, the players included: schoolchildren, books/ebooks (players don't have to be sentient), parents/teachers, and the author herself. It's easy enough to identify who or what the key players are, but the nuance is in determining the author's portrayal/ positioning of them. (eg. ebooks are something overpriced and pale in comparison to the thrill of genuine books) and thus how the readership is made to view the issue through this player.
Instead of dealing with articles chronologically, the player approach is much more flexible and highly recommended. I used the chronological method for a while, but found I had to keep jumping around either because I wanted to link to a similar point later on, or because I'd forgotten something earlier, meaning my essay lacked cohesion. Grouping paragraphs by players is also beneficial when dealing with multiple articles, as it forces you to compare and contrast, instead of dealing with each text as a separate construct. The exam pieces usually involve a single text and multiple visuals, so this can be a much more practical way of setting up your essay.
For the aforementioned example, you might chose to dedicate one paragraph to the treatment of books as opposed to ebooks (though generally the core player needs discussing throughout your essay,) one to children/students, and one to parents and teachers. For an issue with many players, these can often be grouped together in relatively easy ways. Otherwise, if there are a lot of minor players, a few mentions here and there are sufficient.
This approach is not foolproof, and there are situations where it can turn otherwise solid analysis into a convoluted and nonsensical piece of writing, but overall it's the most reliable method I've found.
I'd have to agree 100% with your tutor here. Your teacher's analysis essay lacks any recognisable structure, and in turn, serves to confuse students.
For your intro, all you need is:
1) Generic/Broad sentence which contextualises the problem being discussed or its trigger event
2) Introduce writer, article name & type (is it an opinion piece, editorial, letter to the editor, speech etc.) & sources
3) What is the qualified contention?
4) Introduce images and their respective contentions
THAT IS IT.
Body paragraphs:
1) Topic sentence that exposes one of the writer's arguments/ideas
2) Highlight a Technique --> Quote it --> Discuss specific intended effect (relating back to the specific technique and the argument (1)
3) Repeat 2) as many times as is necessary until paragraph looks decent
4) Concluding sentence which highlights the overall effect of the techniques on the audiences (i.e. what actions/feelings/beliefs do they encourage?)
It only just hit me, but your teacher tends to use the passive voice rather than the active voice. Avoid, avoid, avoid!!!
This is a huge difference between high scoring pieces and mid-low range pieces. You won't see the passive voice in high scoring essays...
For example:
Metalanguage driven by Bolt (passive) --> Bolt's metalanguage (active)
An atmosphere of inclusion (passive) --> An inclusive atmosphere (active)
Additionally:
"readership aligns this masterful and sharp use of the English language" --> is he/she taking the piss? This is language analysis - not some sort of patronising commentary regarding the writer's ability to use English.
Hello! Just wondering, what do you mean by images and their respective contentions? As in what the images are saying? For example, if the image is a bald smoker with rotten teeth, would the 'respective contention' be that smoking is bad or something along those lines?
Also, a more general question: are contractions considered informal or formal language? Can I use them in language analysis essay?
Thanks in advance for all help : ))
Image's contention = what broad stance/opinion does it take on the issue?
E.g. Accompanying the piece is a pessimistic image which warns of the harmful ramifications that smoking poses for our society.
Then in your body para, you do a much more specific analysis:
E.g. The dreary and dull facial expression of the smoker coupled with the dark and ominous background exposes the miserable circumstances which these individuals must endure on a daily basis. Consequently, a sense of fear is aroused in smokers who are enticed to recognise just how sorrowful their lives may become if they allow their addictions with smoking to thrive.
And with contractions, you can use them but only if they don't mar your clarity - so make sure they fit/sound like they should be there. Sometimes, contractions can ruin flow. Otherwise, they're fine :)
Hope that helps :D
Another GAT question; for the first writing task can I write creatively? As in still present the information but weave it into a story. For example, the 2015 GAT information was all about the future. In this case, would it be okay if I wrote a story on the future whilst still presenting the information?
Confused on how to structure the body paragraphs for lang analysis. How do you organise the paragraphs? Do you split each by grouping the metalanguage?Chronological progression?tone changes?As others have mentioned, I would highly recommend structuring by sub-arguments (as you're in Year 11, this is even more important for you guys) as it will show your assessor that you have more of an understanding of the arguments. The SD changes aren't that major for Language Analysis, but basically there's going to be a shift away from pointing out metalanguage towards your grasp of the author's contention and sub-contention, so a structure that has the same focus will likely work to your advantage.
Also, would you include the analysis of the image as a separate paragraph or incorporate bits of them into other body paragraphs?
Thnx
Can someone send me sample text response and language analysis piece plzzzzzzzzzz as I'm having trouble obtaining high marks.Check out the resources and samples here :)
also I follow the structure of TEEL which right now is not helping me obtain high marks
thanks! ;D
i know in the english exam you can't use a particular text in both sections A and B, but why do they have this rule? and would you get an automatic 0 on both pieces for doing so?My understanding is that if you use a Section A text in Section B (even if it's not the Section A text you studied,) they cross out anything in your Section B piece that pertains to that Section A text. So if you write a whole body paragraph on Identity and Belonging (which is a Sec. B Context AOS) about Tobias Wolff's memoir 'This Boy's Life' (which is a Sec. A text,) they'd just cross out that whole paragraph and mark what was left. And if you wrote a creative piece that was from the perspective of the main character in a Section A text, you'd be in even bigger trouble, and would probably be looking at a flat 0... maybe a 2/10 if they were generous.
Also, a question from myself, are conclusions needed for arguement analysis essays (the 2017 onward 'language analysis')?Conclusions aren't technically 'needed' at the moment, but they are *definitely* good to have, and a really strict marker might dock a point or two if you didn't have one (though they can usually only justify this if there are some other flaws in your essay too - an otherwise perfect piece with awesome analytical skills is highly unlikely to get a 9/10 just because it lacked a conclusion.)
I have a GAT question.Your primary aim is to be persuasive. If you want to do that by exploring different facets of arguments you can, but you need to use one of the prompts as your CONTENTION! Don't just use them all as a general starting point and talk about the issue/idea they're raising - formulate a strong argument, and you'll do much better than those who are just writing vague stuff about the topic.
For the second writing task, where you're given a general prompt, can I write my response in a Context-y expository style (so exploring all facets of the issue) Or is my aim to convince someone?
Thank you so much! :)
Another GAT question; for the first writing task can I write creatively? As in still present the information but weave it into a story. For example, the 2015 GAT information was all about the future. In this case, would it be okay if I wrote a story on the future whilst still presenting the information?Yes, you absolutely can. Just don't let your creativity get in the way of the task itself, which is to present the information you're given in a neat and orderly fashion. Slightly imaginative pieces can be really interesting, but because you're not technically marked on your creative ability for WT1, there's no requirement to do this unless you think it'd suit your style or be much easier for you.
In the GAT for writing task 1, do you have to present all of the information or just most?thnxDefinitely most, but certainly not all. For example, the material is about the harvesting of wheat and one if the images is a graph of the top ten wheat-harvesting countries, mentioning all ten would be too excessive. Instead, picking out maybe the top three and then some other generalisation (e.g. 'seven of the world's top ten wheat-harvesting countries are located in Asia' or w/e) would be fine.
You can't avoid 'dodgy SAC scaling' by doing well in the GAT. It only comes into play if you need a derived score or something similar.hmm, i see! Thanks for your insight, Alter :)
The tasks my appear vague, but that's just because they're simple and open ended. Just do what they say in whatever form seems suitable. And don't stress -- chances are that you probably won't need the GAT. It's like a security blanket.
Need help with this prompt for No Sugar'Dramatic elements' would just be the kinds of structural things that Davis employs in the play (e.g. stage directions, language, dramatic irony, symbolism, etc.) Most of your essay will still be focusing on those three key themes, but when you're dealing with textual evidence, just make sure you're highlighting some of these 'elements' using metalanguage :)
"How does Jack Davies use dramatic elements to explore racism, dispossession and identity in No Sugar?
I understand the elements of racism, dispossession and identity in the play, however, I can't quite get my head around what 'dramatic elements' mean? Any help would be appreciated
I know the GAT doesn't matter; hell, I've been that person who in the weeks leading up to tomorrow who's been telling all my friends AN users and practically anyone who cared that it didn't matter but I'm curious (okay, I lied, I'm actually just asking for a friend who's just a little stressed but is too gun-shy to post this herself):Both approaches would probably be fine. I'd try and write an intro + concl. just for the sake of having a nice structure, but (like a Lit essay) if the start of your first paragraph is a bit introduction-y and the end of your last is a bit conclusion-y, that'd probably suffice too. So long as you're not actually making arguments or extrapolating from/analysing the material and are just summarising the information that's been provided, you and your friend should be fine :)
For writing task 1:
Do we need to have an intro and/or a conclusion for the GAT? The friend who I'm asking for just does has this subargument approach and clusters them so that it's essentially like three separate pieces of writing so like she did a practice for the 2014 chess writing task 1 and basically had 3 paragraphs that went something like this:
1. How chess has changed over time
2. The popularity of chess
3. The advantages of chess
Does she need something to tie all three of these paragraphs into one?
Could someone please help me with identifying the contention in this writing piece?
Gone in 60 Minutes... Doug's Blog posted on April 14, 2016
Gosh, what can you say about the sorry saga of Sally Faulkner, Tara Brown, the 60 Minutes crew and those boneheads who claim to be “experts” in returning children that have allegedly been abducted across international borders? (If you’ve missed it, here’s the latest summary.)
I know nothing about the law in Lebanon, but I hope it is gracious and forgiving. These are not serious criminals who need to be locked away for a very long time. Not even the boneheads.
It seems likely that they have almost certainly broken some laws. Significant laws too, not the trivial kind that normally get a rap on the knuckles. But perhaps the mother’s love for her children will mitigate the outrage and perhaps the father will be prepared at least to reduce whatever charges he brings against anyone. Perhaps.
But even if the law is lenient, the consequences ought to be far reaching:
It’s difficult to see how any court in Australia or Lebanon can now support full custody rights for the mother. If she comes out of this with generous visitation rights, she should be grateful to her ex-husband and the law.
For the 60 Minutes crew, only time will tell where the truth really lies but on the surface of it, it looks like this has been a classic case of a TV documentary team trying to make the news, or at least to be part of it, to be a player rather than a reporter. If there is any truth to that, then many more people than just the crew who are currently in jail ought to be sacked.
And for the boneheads, one would hope that their business model (and any others like it) will now be completely discredited and they never again get the chance to take advantage of a distraught and vulnerable mother.
Rev Douglas R. Robertson is the Senior Minister, The Scots' Church Melbourne, Australia
Hello! A few questions:
- In orals, how much sub-arguments should I have? I've been told by some teachers to just include 2 (to get to the point quickly) and some 3. Can someone please confirm which is the best approach to take? :(
- In Arguement analysis essays (new L.A), does the introduction need an audience and tone? Or can I just include context, contention, piece details (author, title, publication) and images?
Can someone tell me a list of possible audiences for LA?Audiences/readers/citizens/society
For example, what if the piece is just aimed at the general public? Could I say, progressive readers within the general public? What else is there?
Also, could someone please mark my LA in the essay marking thread. :'(
Hmm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I got an average of A for unit 3 in English, do I still have a chance of getting 40 at the end of the year if I do really well on the exam?Definitely still possible to get 40+ :)
My cohort is quite small but our top ranked are very strong (I think I'm ranked within the top 1/3rd atm)
Thankssss
Just a quick question.Yeah, of course. There's no clear-cut rule to say that you need to dedicate a paragraph solely to separate pieces. If you can intertwine your analysis so that you group similar ideas together, it could have the potential to improve your piece. Don't limit yourself with paragraph structures if you know you can meet the aim of the task.
For comparative LA, let's say I get 1 long article and 1 short article (let's say a comment) wouldn't it be more reasonable to do a block analysis? (I want to do integrated whenever I can, but is that possible)
If I get 2 similar length pieces, I can defs do integrated.
Can someone clarify that for me?
Much thanks :) :)
Hi, can someone please explain what the difference between Themes and Views & Values for Text Response is? And how your approach to prompts would differTheme: family.
I know I'm usually the one answering questions but I have a question (hopefully someone will answer it for me). For create and present, I've decided I need a Plan B just in case Plan A doesn't work for the upcoming SAC. Anyway, my question is, if I have a creative starter, how do I differentiate between where my creative bit ends and where my expository starts? Like, would I leave a whole bunch of lines blank or....? I feel like without the clear distinction, my entire piece would fall apart because there'd be this one part where it looks like I just had a huuuuuge change of heart and took my essay in a completely new direction leaving the assessor to wonder "what is going on?". We have the written explanation, I know, but what would I do in an exam situation when we don't have the written explanation?
Is using the words 'white privilege' too informal for a language analysis? If so, what are some substitutes?Depends in what context you use it - if the author of a piece implies something similar to it in a similar tone then it would fit in nicely - wouldn't seem awkward and informal. However if the piece you're analysing is super formal (i.e an editorial) that doesn't have explicit references to 'white privilege' then i dont think it'd suit it.
Thanks
I heard that when writing an introduction in text response essays, the very first sentence has to directly address/acknowledge the essay topic.What's your actual question here, sorry? Are you just checking to confirm if your understanding of how to write an introduction is correct?
I'm a scrub at English so please excuse my lack of knowledge :p
Thanks.
What's your actual question here, sorry? Are you just checking to confirm if your understanding of how to write an introduction is correct?
If so, you're definitely on the money. You'll be wanting to break down the prompt using the introduction and signpost the ideas that you will late expand on. If your introduction does not immediately link to the prompt, the marker of your paper may assume you either don't understand what's going on, or that you're trying to churn out a pre-written essay.
Hope this helps - let me know if you had a more specific question you forgot to jot down.
That was really helpful :) You pretty much answered my question haha.Yeah I think that's fine because you directly tackle the topic.
But as an example there is a topic for Macbeth: "Fair is foul and foul is fair". How does the equivocation play a vital role in bringin about Macbeth's destruction.
Would it be okay to start off with "William Shakespeare's play Macbeth examines the impacts of equivocal language."
hi everyone :D in regards to a question i posted recently about using the same text in both sections A and B... is it safe to discuss the east german stasi in my context response even though i've written about the novel 'stasiland' in section A?
You can't talk about/refer to a Section A text for Section B. Ever. - My English teacher at the beginning of every single class we have because apparently last year, some students made that mistake in their exam even though they'd been explicitly warned weeks/months before NOT to do it.
You could, however, probably get away with talking about the East German Stasi so long as you don't refer to stasiland.
Yeah I think that's fine because you directly tackle the topic.
A lot of people are like "macbeth was set in the (fancy word) era and it has had a (fancy word) impact which demonstrates the threats of unbridled ambition and the anarchy that spells afterwards.
And the examiners are like ???? bitch wat this gotta do with equivocation and destruction you hoe you can't just be writing your pre memorised intro that has nothing to do with this u know?
but if you directly tackle your examiner and teacher is like
(https://www.colourbox.com/preview/4058146-woman-with-double-thumbs-up.jpg)
Dumb question but if I have to write a text response in an hour should I be aiming for 10 minutes per paragraph (including introduction and conclusion)? I'm talking about end-of-year year 12 exam. Unless I shouldn't be dedicating an hour to each of three essays.
xoxoxo
~Photon
Is using the words 'white privilege' too informal for a language analysis? If so, what are some substitutes?Unless you're quoting, this is probably outside the scope of the task. Hard to suggest substitutes without knowing the context, but is the author making some kind of point based on racial intolerance or something? Try to just use general vocabulary in that case, as anything as specific or pejorative as 'white privilege' is likely to not suit the analysis. That said, it's highly unlikely you'll get anything pertaining to such ideas on the exam as they try and steer away from controversial or potentially upsetting topics (i.e. the L.A. material isn't going to be about cancer patients or the road toll because that might unfairly impact students who've been affected by such things - that's why the material is usually on dull/safe stuff like gardens and e-books) :P
Thanks
can anyone help me with these prompts for brooklyn? i've got some ideas, but im still struggling to create a few more/ get textual details from the novel to explain my ideas :( thank you (im thinking of going with the second prompt for my essay, though)I'll mainly focus on this second one because it's a structural prompt and therefore more difficult (for most students at least.) First step is to reword this into something you can build an essay around, e.g. a statement like 'Toibin portrays love as a complex emotion in Brooklyn. Discuss.' Now ask yourself in what ways love is complex (remember that you can talk about both romantic love, like that between Eilis and Tony/Jim, as well as 'storge'/familial/filial love between Eilis and her family.) Then, think about why love is complex (e.g. because it's unrequited? because of distance? because people don't love each other equally? etc.) The tricky part comes when you have to return to the 'how' part of this question and start considering the structural features Toibin employs in order to create these ideas. Brooklyn (and most novels on the VCE lists, actually) aren't all that rife with structural nuance, but you could look at some of Eilis' narration, the symbolism of things like journeys and deaths, or particular quotes about her relationships.
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
i. ‘Eilis’ sense of duty dictates all of her decisions.’ To what extent do you agree?
OR
ii. How does Tóibín explore the complex nature of love in Brooklyn?
(https://www.colourbox.com/preview/4058146-woman-with-double-thumbs-up.jpg)Umm... where did you get that picture of me? You think there's something funny about my trendy cardigans?? -.-
Wordy question: Is it possible to posit a question?Yep; that's one of the very few things you can 'posit.' To 'pose a question' would probably be the more conventional expression, but 'posit' is also acceptable in that case.
Dumb question but if I have to write a text response in an hour should I be aiming for 10 minutes per paragraph (including introduction and conclusion)? I'm talking about end-of-year year 12 exam. Unless I shouldn't be dedicating an hour to each of three essays.For three body paragraphs, I'd probably go fifteen for each B.P. and then five for the intro and concl, giving you five minutes extra whenever you need it. But this is an end-of-year exam standard, and if you're not at that stage yet (and there's no real need to be because getting to grips with the content is more important) then don't stress. Also, this will depend on your own strengths and weaknesses (e.g. you might be someone who can churn out a first B.P. in five minutes flat, but struggles to write a third even in 25 minutes because you burn out too quickly, or you might be reeeeeally slow to start and need ten whole minutes of planning time, but after that, you can write consistently quickly for 50 minutes straight) and will vary from essay to essay too, as Alter said.
Three 8/10 essays is better than two 10/10s and a 3.YEEEEESSS!!! I was struggling to put this succinctly to someone the other day who was asking why they couldn't just rely on one Area of Study to pull up their grades - the fact that you Year 12's have to write all three at the end of the year and that they're equally weighted should factor into your study somehow, so if you haven't touched Text Response in a couple of months, or if you've forgotten how to do a Language Analysis, or if you're like me and loathe writing Context pieces because you know you're bad at them - START THERE. Work on your weakest thing so that you can get everything up to a decent standard and you will be in a tangibly & mathematically better position than someone who's just a 'one trick pony' on the exam.
Hello. So for my creative writing SAC my teacher had us write a statement of intention to explain all the techniques that were used in the actual piece itself. I was wondering if that's an actual thing that we'll be asked to write in year 12 or if that's just something my teacher does.
Thanks.
Yup, it's an actual thing. :)
Yo, when writing a context piece, are we expected to have quotes from our wider reading? Or can we just use them as real world examples which get our ideas across (i.e. elaboration more than quoting Mr X)? I believe that since our text is a set text we will be expected to have quotes for it though. Am I correct?You technically don't need any quotes for Section B. I didn't use quotes at all and it was of no detriment to my expository pieces. Obviously it'd be even harder to use them effectively in a hybrid or purely creative piece. I generally used my set text (Every Man) in the first body paragraph, and then filled in the gaps of the prompt/used countering ideas for my other body paragraphs without ever giving direct analysis of the book itself.
Thank you :)
You technically don't need any quotes for Section B. I didn't use quotes at all and it was of no detriment to my expository pieces. Obviously it'd be even harder to use them effectively in a hybrid or purely creative piece. I generally used my set text (Every Man) in the first body paragraph, and then filled in the gaps of the prompt/used countering ideas for my other body paragraphs without ever giving direct analysis of the book itself.
That being said, general knowledge of world history and current issues may help strengthen your ideas, and you should ask your teacher what they prefer, because they will be marking your SACs, not us. Moreover, I'm not saying you can't use quotes at all. If used correctly, they are amazing. However, you must be careful in making sure it doesn't look like you're writing a text response, which is a common pitfall for people in section B.
tl;dr: Quotes aren't mandatory for any section B piece, but ask your teacher what they want to see for your SACs.
Hope this clarifies. Have a nice day.
Yo, when writing a context piece, are we expected to have quotes from our wider reading? Or can we just use them as real world examples which get our ideas across (i.e. elaboration more than quoting Mr X)? I believe that since our text is a set text we will be expected to have quotes for it though. Am I correct?I love using one liners from the text which encapsulate main ideas of the text in my pieces. The marker will be familiar to them so there's an explicit reference and it's not text responsey if you execute it correctly.
Thank you :)
hi guys :) i'm studying a play for section B (life of galileo). in my context response, would it be necessary to briefly mention/refer to play techniques, ie. stage directions? or just focus on the ideas emanating from galileo?
thanks in advance!
does anyone have any useful/handy resources on Every man in this village is a liar?
Thanks
Have you tried here (Text Response ResourcesEvery Man is a section B text, actually :P
Another question: Will prompts given by VCAA for section B give us the ability to challenge them? The prompts I've be practicing with (only 2 so far :P) are so hard to disagree with because there just so true!
‘An individual’s sense of identity and belonging changes throughout life.’
In a context response (expository) would I be allowed to use inclusive language such as we and our when referring to a sense of identity and belonging. E.g. at times who we believe we are, our sense of self, may be challenged etc, or would that not be acceptable for expository?
Another question: Will prompts given by VCAA for section B give us the ability to challenge them? The prompts I've be practicing with (only 2 so far :P) are so hard to disagree with because there just so true!
Thank you
And finally, what does the ability to: "Skillfully shape ideas and arguments..." and a "sophisticated understanding of complex ideas/arguments relevant to chosen context" mean in plain English??
Thank you
I feel like you can explore the prompts VCAA gives but it's a bit hard to disagree with them.
For example from VCAA 2015:
It's a bit hard to be like "nah, bruv. your identity and belonging never ever changes."
ive read through some context responses in the assessment reports and they use inclusive language, so i think you'd be able to :)
of course! i agree, some prompts are easier to simply agree/disagree with, but there's definitely prompts out there that can be challenged :P for example, the conflict prompt 'when conflict arises, everyone has a role', you can contend that each individual does play a role, however the actions taken by these individuals in enacting their role results in consequences that ultimately exacerbates the conflict.
'skilfully shape ideas and arguments'- formulating unique and fresh ideas/arguments. so thats basically discerning themes and values in the text/film that are less obvious and linking them to the prompt you're responding to :) for example, in the novel stasiland, stasi victim frau paul is portrayed as 'spic and span' -> perhaps one may argue that her nature to be neat and tidy may have arisen from a compulsive disorder educed by the stasi's brutality on her mindset
"sophisticated understanding of complex ideas/arguments relevant to chosen context" - linking the type of ideas mentioned above back to the prompt you're responding to
if im wrong someone please correct me!
3 posts in one day :O
Anyway, I just wanted input from someone other than myself. When writing an expository essay (yep, it's context again :P) someone suggested making a link to my text and making a link to a world example for every body paragraph. In a SAC, would that be expected? I'll ask my teacher after finishing my 2nd practice essay (2nd time I've done this) for her opinion but I'm still not finished so AN was the next best thing.
What I've been doing is having one solid example a paragraph and elaborating on that. And so far, it's been easier to refer to world examples than text examples. If that is better, in terms f length of paras, increased complexity I'm willing and will probs rewatch the film just to have it fresh in my mind.
recommendations??
Thank you
For your SAC, your teacher's word is law. Basically for your SACs, if your teacher says jump, you jump instead of asking too many how and why questions. If they're telling you no audience, then no audience it is.Also need to keep in mind that sometimes pieces have more than one audiences. There will be some aspects of a piece that intend to resonate with one audience but not with another. So by mentioning it in the introduction it could limit you from having a sophisticated analysis of language use and its intended audience.
For your exam, it's up to you as to whether or not you follow your teacher and ultimately you have to make a judgement.
I personally don't believe there is a set "you must/must not mention the audience in the intro". And it's not like VCAA examiners are cackling every time they see an essay that does/does not refer to the audience and deducting 10 marks. If you flick back to the language analysis essays that are featured in the examiner's reports there isn't much consistency re: audience imo.
From the examiner's reports:
2014 - featured an "upper range response" that completely neglected to mention the audience in the intro.
2013 - implied the audience was "households in the surrounding area", also an upper-range
2012 - explicitly referred to an "audience of teachers, librarians and senior school students"
Short question:
For a Medea text response essay, to what extent are we allowed to use as evidence/refer to the story of Jason and the Argonaunts?
Detailed version:
I'm current attempting to write a practice essay on the topic (from the AN sample prompts forum) " "You woman are all the same". To what extent are Jason's judgments validated in Medea? " , and I was going to write a paragraph about how Medea defined the societal expectations of women by choosing to follow/help Jason, and therefore chose her own husband (when this was usually done by husbands or fathers). However, as the prompt clear says "in Medea", I'm a bit worried about if I would be allowed to use this point, which although was referred to a lot in Medea, didn't actually occur in the play. Would this be ok, or should I stick exclusively to events that actually occur in the play? Thanks
Hi,Can't say I know for sure, you'd want a good rank and a exam score to compliment. This is probably best answered on the VTAC score discussion side of the forum which can be found here: Victorian Technical Score Discussion
I loved the lecture today and I found it very helpful!! Just a question, what marks should I be aiming for my SACS and the exam to get a 30+ study score?
Thank you
Now my question: On the last day of term we did our context SAC (worth 30 marks) and I feel as if I can already improve before my next context SAC which is about 4-5 weeks away (maybe...:P) and this ones out of 50! Does writing expository limit my marks in anyway or can I still score well based on the exploration of the prompt? Secondly, does going under the word limit (1000) mean you lose a mark? Or do teachers go, "uuhh, 3 pages worth of writing, close enough"? Or do they actually count every word?
Thank you
Now my question: On the last day of term we did our context SAC (worth 30 marks) and I feel as if I can already improve before my next context SAC which is about 4-5 weeks away (maybe...:P) and this ones out of 50! Does writing expository limit my marks in anyway or can I still score well based on the exploration of the prompt? Secondly, does going under the word limit (1000) mean you lose a mark? Or do teachers go, "uuhh, 3 pages worth of writing, close enough"? Or do they actually count every word?
Thank you
I know that this will vary from between every student but what are the "general" things that differ between a 8/10 essay and a 9-10/10 essay?^
i reckon you can still score high with expository! not sure if this is correct (this is from my school) but most marks come from the exploration of the prompt :) and with word count i highly doubt they count each word but i reckon it should be fine unless its obvious that you havent written much (eg, <2 pages).Thanks upandgo, hoping to get >22 out of 30, I would be over the moon with that
The style you choose to write in should not compromise your ability to do well. You are marked on your exploration of the prompt, your use of the text, etc, not on what style you chose.The SAC sheet said we need at least 1000 words so I was weary. Thank you :)
You have a word limit? O.o
No one's gonna sit there and count every word to make sure you're within the word limit. English teachers are v. busy people (a fact that my Year 11 teacher went to great extents to highlight to her class at around SAC + Exam time) and their time is better spent doing other stuff. As long as it looks about 1000 words you should be a-okay. (i.e. longer than a page but not 100 pages long)
I am about to write a context piece on Life of Galileo.....anyone got ideas?
Hi guys, so I'm trying to practice analysis the wording/implications of the text for text response (for Medea), and I was wondering to what degree this is subjective, and if so, if what I've done is ok..?These are some great quotes to use in essays, though they do relate to some rather debatable elements of the text; so long as you can justify the interpretations you're delving into here, you'll be solid :)
My example so far are:
"when the dice of life fall badly" - implies that as a woman/wife, Medea was simply a pawn in Jason's game, who is now on the receiving end of misfortune due to both Jason's actions and chance yes, though you may want to consider the extent to which the fate of the characters comes down to their own actions vs. the actions of others vs. chance. This quote has more to do with chance than Jason's actions (unless you wanted to argue that the 'dice of life' also pertains to how the Gods have determined Jason's character, but that's a bit of a messy argument.)
"old ties of affection give way to new" - implies that any feelings Jason had for Medea were simply replaceable/a passing phrase, good reinforcing the idea that he is an "unfeeling monster" I think this second point is more debatable. What is monstrous about Jason's actions, exactly? He's definitely cruel from Medea's perspective as her feelings were less fleeting, but he's not really "unfeeling" just because his loyalties/priorities have shifted. That quote implies he has new affections, not that he has no affections whatsoever. If you want to see him as a more callous/manipulative character, you definitely can, but you can also see him as just a bit of a fool who wasn't as aware or cautious of Medea's feelings as he should have been.
I'm just wondering if anyone has read/analysed Harwood's Ad Orientem poem? I am currently analysing this poem for an oral which I need to complete, I'm working my way through it, but it'd be awesome if someone would be able to assist in the finer details of the poem.'For some reason I can't find this poem online at all; if you have a copy do you want to type it up or scan it, and then I can help you analyse it? :) If you're looking for some general analysis there's a decent discussion of some key themes (esp. the role of women) here though I'm not sure how relevant that is for this particular poem.
Thanks :)
'For some reason I can't find this poem online at all; if you have a copy do you want to type it up or scan it, and then I can help you analyse it? :) If you're looking for some general analysis there's a decent discussion of some key themes (esp. the role of women) here though I'm not sure how relevant that is for this particular poem.Here's the poem Lauren :)
A little vague, perhaps? Some specificity would enable us to better help you out. :)
Question: if I'm given a prompt asking me to discuss 2 characters specifically, should I expand it so I talk about all characters, or just stick with the 2? The prompt I need help with is based on 1984; 'How is Winston different from Julia?'.Hey,
Question, I only received a 19/20 for my oral yet that contradicts my feedback:A 19/20 is an amazing score. There doesn't need to be anything inherently wrong with your oral for you to not get a perfect score. In fact, basically any perfect score in a piece of English assessment should rarely be attainable, because it implies the work could not be improved in any way. I wouldn't take your result so harshly, because it really is a good score.
"Callum, you carefully put together an excellent speech, incorporating all the features of oral language that were required in a seamless way. Your use of hand gestures was subtle but appropriate, your anecdotes and rhetoric were not overdone and your facial expressions showed your interest without over-acting. It was admirable that you didn’t need to rely too heavily on your cue cards. The content of your speech was well researched and strongly structured. Overall, your audience was thoroughly won over to your point of view. If it were up to me, I would be funding science immediately!"
Is this worth asking for a remark or is there something I am missing?
it is reasonable to analyse the font choice in a language analysis, or should i steer clear of it? is there reall a hierarchy of language techniques ? for example, i hear rhetorical questions are far too commonly used, so its preferred to vary the techniques analysed.Um you should probs wait for a big baws to answer this (HLS or Lauren) - but ima give you this piece of advice.
what is highest mark you can get in a text response if you have very limited references/quotes to your text? more so, if you have like 1 quote per paragraph, but your essay rocks, can you still get a 10 or nah?
with context- if the assessors can't find the link between the prompt and your story, but you incorporate nice ideas/language choices etc., are you destined to receive a far lower mark than if the link was mroe clearer?
thank you- sorry if the questions ive asked have been unclear! :)
it is reasonable to analyse the font choice in a language analysis, or should i steer clear of it? is there reall a hierarchy of language techniques ? for example, i hear rhetorical questions are far too commonly used, so its preferred to vary the techniques analysed.Hey
what is highest mark you can get in a text response if you have very limited references/quotes to your text? more so, if you have like 1 quote per paragraph, but your essay rocks, can you still get a 10 or nah?
with context- if the assessors can't find the link between the prompt and your story, but you incorporate nice ideas/language choices etc., are you destined to receive a far lower mark than if the link was mroe clearer?
thank you- sorry if the questions ive asked have been unclear! :)
with context- if the assessors can't find the link between the prompt and your story, but you incorporate nice ideas/language choices etc., are you destined to receive a far lower mark than if the link was mroe clearer?
Demonstrates an insightful grasp of the implications of the prompt/stimulus material, and perceptively explores its conceptual complexity using an appropriate strategy for dealing with itwhile a criteria for a lower mark response is
Demonstrates a limited awareness of the prompt/stimulus materialso it's essential that you address the prompt- running the risk of appearing like you've just memorised a piece and copied it out in the exam is very high if you don't explore the prompt in sufficient detail, and this is very frowned upon by assessors. There is also an onus on you to make your prompt links clear - especially since there's no statement of intent like in SACs.
it is reasonable to analyse the font choice in a language analysis, or should i steer clear of it? is there reall a hierarchy of language techniques ? for example, i hear rhetorical questions are far too commonly used, so its preferred to vary the techniques analysed.
what is highest mark you can get in a text response if you have very limited references/quotes to your text? more so, if you have like 1 quote per paragraph, but your essay rocks, can you still get a 10 or nah?
with context- if the assessors can't find the link between the prompt and your story, but you incorporate nice ideas/language choices etc., are you destined to receive a far lower mark than if the link was mroe clearer?
thank you- sorry if the questions ive asked have been unclear! :)
Hi everyone,
I think this may be a stupid question, and I am unsure if it had been asked before.
In text response, what is the different between the "discuss" prompts and the "Do you agree?" prompts.
I'm just really confused here, and the teachers have been giving conflicting answers.
Thanks.
Here's the poem Lauren :)I totally forgot to come back to this after you posted it, so here's a stupidly detailed poetic dissection by way of apology!
Hey guys, I'm writing a context (I&B) expository essay with the following prompt:Consider the fact that sometimes resisting change can provide us with a sense of self - like, if everyone I know is playing Pokemon and I'm not, I might define myself as existing outside of that phenomenon and become one of those old cynics saying 'this is such a dumb game omg.' Plus, imagine how difficult it would be to accept all kinds and instances of change. We can't let everything shape us, lest we become too malleable and lack any core identity whatsoever. By way of examples, you could look at how throughout history, there have been groups that have been opposed to the tides of change and have refused to 'grow' as a result. (e.g.)
"Sometimes we need to accept change in order to grow"
I'm trying to give the essay more depth by finding ideas where it might not be true. I'm thinking that sometimes "people have the ability to develop and grow without the need for change" i.e. change can be avoided and still result in growth. However, I can't think of any examples where this is true. Can anyone lend some examples from novels you've read or examples that you can think of? Thank you
Hi
I am doing Every Man in this village is a liar, just wanted to know if what my teacher wrote is correct. The prompt is 'Complete survival is rare in times of conflict'
1. Physical survival
2. Emotional/social survival
3. Benefits
Stack’s experiences in the plethora of actions across the Middle East highlight her exposure to gross cordnits? 'conflicts,' I'm guessing? (I have no idea what this word was?) of physical violence.. While every man in this village is a liar offers the uncontrollable difficulties that herald in war and violence that ensues, more recent fears that have spread to Europe further this position on violence and its in-discriminatory efforts. okay, this sentence makes no sense... is this word for word what your teacher wrote because I'm struggling to work out what's going on here.
Extending the expression of physical unrest that plagues EMITVIAL, emotional and social scars further exemplify how absolute resolution is rare in times of conflict. this is a little bit clearer, although saying 'emotional scars show that resolution is rare' is a bit of a stretch. Provided you could back this up in your body paragraph, you should be alright with this one though.
Localised in a more Australian context, the wide-reaching social and emotional harrowing consequences of domestic violence compounds the examples offered in EMITVIAL. this one's also a bit strange - 'domestic violence in Australia has an effect on the examples in EMITVIAL...???' Not sure where your teacher is going with this, but if this is what they want you to do for your SAC, then go for it.
it is reasonable to analyse the font choice in a language analysis, or should i steer clear of it? (1) is there really a hierarchy of language techniques ? (2) for example, i hear rhetorical questions are far too commonly used, so its preferred to vary the techniques analysed. (3)(1) As others have mentioned, probably best to steer away from this. You can analyse emboldened / italicised / underlined words or phrases, though they're rarely in exams. Also the exam material tends to use the same font the whole way through (usually just a generic times new roman or similar) so idk what you could realistically say about it unless you're like
what is highest mark you can get in a text response if you have very limited references/quotes to your text? more so, if you have like 1 quote per paragraph, but your essay rocks, can you still get a 10 or nah? (4)
with context- if the assessors can't find the link between the prompt and your story, but you incorporate nice ideas/language choices etc., are you destined to receive a far lower mark than if the link was mroe clearer? (5)
Hi everyone,As oooo and Alter have noted, there's no difference :P Arguably you could say that 'do you agree' tend to be a little more close-ended, whereas 'discuss' gives you more of an opportunity to take the core of the prompt in other directions, but the difference is so arbitrary that it shouldn't feed into your planning/contention at all, really.
I think this may be a stupid question, and I am unsure if it had been asked before.
In text response, what is the different between the "discuss" prompts and the "Do you agree?" prompts.
I'm just really confused here, and the teachers have been giving conflicting answers.
Im really lost for english!!! :-X Does anyone know how i can get a contention from the prompt : "the heart of conflict is fear"???Steps for getting a contention:
Also the exam material tends to use the same font the whole way through (usually just a generic times new roman or similar) so idk what you could realistically say about it unless you're like
In an attempt to burn the retinas of readers, the author employs comic sans as a means of conveying her sadism and disregard for basic human decency.
snipYeah I sometimes don't get what my teacher means :(
Yeah I sometimes don't get what my teacher means :(
How would I go about answering this prompt 'the consequences of conflict will always be resonate'?
In an expository essay for context, how often do I need to refer to the text? Is it enough to draw one example from the text and the remainder from the "real world"?
I had my context SAC this afternoon, and I used the word "confragrative" in my piece. I now realise that what I meant to use was "confragrant", as I'm not entirely sure if "confragrative" is actually a word. How screwed am I??? :'(
He had hoped beyond hope that the world he had known growing up was an accurate microcosm of what the world beyond his house was like.
Conclusions and linking sentences; how do I write them? :( For conclusions, I've been taught to 'go backwards'; starting with my 3rd argument, 2nd argument, 1st argument, contention then the "big idea". I don't get this method, can someone please explain it to me (with examples please if not too much of a hassle), or if possible, a better approach. Also, with the linking sentences, do I link it more directly to the prompt or my contention?Hey,
In text response essays, can I just plonk in a quote and not analyse it?I would advise against that, like you can use it for evidence, but it doesn't really work if you don't explain it :)
In text response essays, can I just plonk in a quote and not analyse it?
Another question (sorry :p): my teacher keeps on saying that my topic sentences sound more like headings/contentions than actual topic sentences. How can I fix this?
First of all, determine what your contention is. Your contention is generally about whether you agree with the topic or not. Do not talk about any sub-arguments here in your contention.
Now that you've determined whether you agree with the topic or not, now, you need to say outline each of your 3 - 4 reasons into one sentence each. These are your actual topic sentences.
You contention sentence is you broader argument. That is, whether you agree with the topic for not. State what you think of the topic bluntly. Make sure you adhere to the prompt (or else lose marks).
However, can you please post your specific sentences which your teacher has commented about? It would really make it easier for us to help you, as I am finding it quite difficult to give a specific answer to your question. That being said, just take my words above as I had done my best to answer your question, which I hope helps you.
Here's an example: Malouf presents stories with an ability to transcend both time and space. I think my teacher has a problem with how I express it, it seems a bit blunt and like a single contention on its own. But then again I'm not too sure..
Yo guys, I have a 3 hour practice English exam tomorrow and I've forgotten how to deconstruct prompts for a text response. It was sprung on us last week on Thurs so there hasn't been much time for practice.
Could anyone refresh my memory (it's been a good 6 months) on how I should attack the prompt and what the point of a text response is. I know it sounds like a joke but this is a serious question.
Thank you :)
Thank you
I'll have a look at the lecture slides
More questions:
1) I done the practice essay today and I didn't finish all my sections. What's weird is that I started with section c and didn't manage to finish it in an hour, and I didn't want to go over. I was trying to analyse the whole piece but couldn't finish in time. Are we expected to analyse the whole piece or just aspects we think are important espically the accompanying image. What parts of a piece/how much should I analyse (please, I'm not expecting the perfect response, just a rough guide and then I can practice and find what works for me :)) I finished section a and b however. My question is if I start doing practice exams (3 hour sessions, but not too much that it kills me) can I increase my speed? I really want my exams to be of good quality but not take forever to write.
2) What are the features of a well written essay in the exam? General stuff will do because I know they're not expecting perfection with the sentence structure etc.
3) In LA, when we analyse the authors use of language, will everyone have a different effect on the reader? Nothing too extreme though. Also, will people have slightly different tones?
Thank you
1) This is a good question, but some parts of the this questions has touched on my weakness in terms of doing English essays (timed writing), which I actually cannot answer as of yet. In terms of analysing the LA pieces, I don't think you are expected to analyse every single technique you can spot. You just pick the ones you think are important, or ones you can write the most on in terms of convincing the audience of the contention.
That makes things so much more bearable :)
2) Check the examiner's criteria. Also see pages 35, 36 and 37 of the lecture slides which I had linked in my above post. A well written essay is one which actually adheres to these criteria, and you must make it obvious that you are adhering to these criteria.
Would you be able to link me to the criteria? Or is that just another way of referring to the examiners reports? Just need clarification
3) Can you please clarify this question? I don't know what you mean.
Of course,so when assessors are marking section c, will they see a variety of ideas on the tones employed by the author and slightly different explanations of the intended impact on the audience. My reasoning is that we will all take the article in a slightly different way but the contention will still be the same (obvs!). Hope my question is clearer :)
Assessors mark holistically, relating student performance to the published criteria and ranking students over the full range of marks available. Determination of the mark is assisted by descriptors of Expected Qualities for the Mark Range; these have been written to reflect the level of achievement expected at a particular mark or mark range.
1) I done the practice essay today and I didn't finish all my sections. What's weird is that I started with section c and didn't manage to finish it in an hour, and I didn't want to go over. I was trying to analyse the whole piece but couldn't finish in time. Are we expected to analyse the whole piece or just aspects we think are important espically the accompanying image. What parts of a piece/how much should I analyse (please, I'm not expecting the perfect response, just a rough guide and then I can practice and find what works for me :)) I finished section a and b however.Okay, there are a whole bunch of sub-concerns here, so I'll try and break this down.
My question is if I start doing practice exams (3 hour sessions, but not too much that it kills me) can I increase my speed? I really want my exams to be of good quality but not take forever to write.That's a very valid concern; you don't want to focus so much on timing that you end up getting your average down to 55 minutes (yaay!) but the quality has dropped down into the D+ range ( :-\) Instead, try to gradually decrease your time! Let's say it takes you 90 minutes to write a good Text Response piece right now. The next one you write has to be done in 80. Then 75. Then 70. Then 65. You get the idea.
2) What are the features of a well written essay in the exam? General stuff will do because I know they're not expecting perfection with the sentence structure etc.This is a bit tough to answer outside of just saying that a well-written essay is one that fulfils the criteria for each section, as FallingStar has already noted. If you're talking about what level of imperfection they're willing to accept (as in, how many ungrammatical sentences, word choice errors, spelling mistakes, etc.) then the answer is: so long as your mistakes don't impact the clarity of your work, you'll be fine. They're not going to instantly penalise you for every word you misspell - they're aware that your exam pieces are unpolished first drafts done under time constraints with unseen material - that's the point! But they do have to split the state somehow, and imposing time limits is often the easiest way for them to break apart those who can write decent essays from those who can do so quickly.
3) In LA, when we analyse the authors use of language, will everyone have a different effect on the reader? Nothing too extreme though. Also, will people have slightly different tones?Not every tone/technique needs to be linked explicitly to the reader. It's good to do this often, but your focus is always on the author's intention, remember. That said, of course different students will comment on different tones, or use slightly different vocabulary in order to do so. Again, it's not like the assessors have a conclusive list of 'stuff you're allowed to talk about' or that if you don't say the tone is 'aggressive' and instead say it's 'hostile' or 'antagonistic,' they won't give you the credit. The way you actually analyse tone is far more important. There is some leeway with interpretation (ŕ la 'if you can justify your answer, then it's right') but if you've radically misunderstood the argument or the tone, then you run the risk of assessors not recognising the underlying analysis skills you're demonstrating. Try to play it safe, and if identifying/analysing tone or linking it to the author/audience is something you're unsure of, then that'd be a good place to start with your revision :)
Hi,
Are there any practice essays/ resources (other than websites like sparknotes or shmoop) for the play Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, this is for my text response sac two weeks from now
Thanks
Examination criteria from 2009. Still very relevant as the study design haven't changed.Sorry for the late reply and my extended absence (bar the slight posts) from AN.
Please note:
This means that a weakness in one area may pull down your whole writing. Conversely, a strength in one area would pull up your whole writing. And visa versa. Just remember that although I did say that you do not have to analyse every single technique, you still have to analyse the techniques you have chosen well, in the "what?, How? Why?" format.
About your 3rd question, you have to get the contention right or else you get you whole LA wrong. But in terms of the different takes in technique, the examiners will use discretion here. (Don't know if I'm right, Lauren) As long as your explanation is reasonable and the examiners can see where you are coming from, then you should be fine. What they're looking at is if you can understand and analyse the effects of language upon the audience, and if you show that you can do that in the exam, then you should be fine.
Okay, there are a whole bunch of sub-concerns here, so I'll try and break this down.
For starters, not finishing essays at this stage of the year is totally fine. You wouldn't expect to be able to sit a Maths or Science end-of-year exam in August and score as highly as possible, right? Of course not - you wouldn't have covered much of the Unit 4 content, and you probably would have been focusing more so on SACs than exam revision. Assuming you came close to finishing the L.A. piece (like - you'd written at least two and a half decent body paragraphs by the one hour mark) then you should be fine. Timing is only a huge concern at this stage of the year if it takes you a whole hour just to plan, write an intro, and do one body paragraph :-\
But you did the right thing moving on to the other sections - a lot of students screw up in the exam by spending way too long on a single section (- I nearly did this for Text Response, and a lot of people in my year level did so for L.A.) to the detriment of their other two pieces.Keeping yourself to relatively strict one hour cut-offs for each section is a pretty good plan as it's better to have three essays that are really high quality, but missing the end of a body para or a conclusion, as opposed to two complete, polished essays and one mangled half essay. The assessors marking your work know nothing of how well you did in other sections, so there's no chance of things 'balancing out' just because one essay was brilliant and the other one was barely an essay.
With regards to whether you need to cover everything in Language Analysis... short answer: no.
Long answer: no, because they're testing your ability to be selective, and they don't actually want students to comment on EVERY SINGLE TECHNIQUE they find because that would get really tedious. More to the point - that's not the focus of the task! Your job is to comment on how language is used to persuade readers. Pointing out seven different rhetorical questions, nine examples of inclusive language and six instances of appeals to fear doesn't help you do that. You might analyse some of those things, but you have to contextualise them by linking them to what the author intends for readers to think or feel. VCAA are way more concerned with your capacity to demonstrate an understanding of arguments than how many bits of 'emotive language' you can point out.
Assessors do not have a list of features you must mention - there's no one particular quote or technique that must be mentioned - it's all up to you to select what you believe to be most important in the construction of the author's argument.
The only exception to ^that rule is that you do have to analyse the visual material at least once. Rumour has it that you can't score about a 7/10 without doing this, and whilst I don't know how stringent the assessors are about this, you're at a definite disadvantage if you don't even acknowledge or pick apart any of the images. (& if you really want to be sure, link the visual to the written material! <--That's usually something only high-range essays are able to do, so forging those connections can help bump up your mark in the assessor's mind, albeit only slightly... the quality of the rest of your analysis plays a bigger role, obvs.)
Simply put:
- Student A, who can only find 5 language features to comment on out of the whole material, has to analyse all 5, and is probably going to have a fairly weak essay lacking in breadth.
- Student B, who can find 25 language features and feels the need to comment on all of them, is probably going to have an essay that's choppy and unfocused with too much breadth and not enough quality analysis.
- Student C, who can also find 25 features but selects the 17 BEST and MOST RELEVANT ones to include and dissect, is going to have a much more precise, much more impressive piece.
(note: 17 should not be your ultimate goal, that was a very arbitrary choice for the sake of this example. In fact, you shouldn't really know how many language features you're commenting upon; it should be second nature to you over the course of your analysis. If you can very quickly tell how many techniques you're dealing with in each paragraph or over the course of your essay, it probably means your piece isn't as well integrated as it could be.)
So be like Student C and ensure you're whittling down the material to find the most essential and analysable components! The best way to do this is to practice annotating and planning essays - go through some exam material and highlight absolutely everything you think you COULD analyse. Then, go back through and isolate the stuff you think you SHOULD analyse.
That's a very valid concern; you don't want to focus so much on timing that you end up getting your average down to 55 minutes (yaay!) but the quality has dropped down into the D+ range ( :-\) Instead, try to gradually decrease your time! Let's say it takes you 90 minutes to write a good Text Response piece right now. The next one you write has to be done in 80. Then 75. Then 70. Then 65. You get the idea.
You may run into a hurdle at some point with a particular Area of Study (e.g. I could never manage to write a Context piece in under 65 minutes) which means you'll then have to work on strengthening your other essays even more (e.g. get L.A. under an hour to give you extra time to work on Context, or vice versa).
But it's way better to go for this gradual approach that ensures you maintain the same level of quality than to go 'alright, one essay in one hour, no notes, exam conditions, cold turkey, let's go!'
This is a bit tough to answer outside of just saying that a well-written essay is one that fulfils the criteria for each section, as FallingStar has already noted. If you're talking about what level of imperfection they're willing to accept (as in, how many ungrammatical sentences, word choice errors, spelling mistakes, etc.) then the answer is: so long as your mistakes don't impact the clarity of your work, you'll be fine. They're not going to instantly penalise you for every word you misspell - they're aware that your exam pieces are unpolished first drafts done under time constraints with unseen material - that's the point! But they do have to split the state somehow, and imposing time limits is often the easiest way for them to break apart those who can write decent essays from those who can do so quickly.
However, if your sentences are so wacky that they have no clue what you're trying to say, or if your handwriting is all over the place and they'd need a rosetta stone to decode it... you may not get the mark you're capable of. If some of these small things are worrying you, then it's worth spending some time fixing them sooner rather than later.
Not every tone/technique needs to be linked explicitly to the reader. It's good to do this often, but your focus is always on the author's intention, remember. That said, of course different students will comment on different tones, or use slightly different vocabulary in order to do so. Again, it's not like the assessors have a conclusive list of 'stuff you're allowed to talk about' or that if you don't say the tone is 'aggressive' and instead say it's 'hostile' or 'antagonistic,' they won't give you the credit. The way you actually analyse tone is far more important. There is some leeway with interpretation (ŕ la 'if you can justify your answer, then it's right') but if you've radically misunderstood the argument or the tone, then you run the risk of assessors not recognising the underlying analysis skills you're demonstrating. Try to play it safe, and if identifying/analysing tone or linking it to the author/audience is something you're unsure of, then that'd be a good place to start with your revision :)
couple of q's this time:
1) do assessors really care about what type of evidence you use in a text response? i know its mainly quotes vs actual examples, but is there ever really a preference? not sure if i worded this correctly.
2) Are assessors looking to give marks, as opposed to dock marks? if so, how they determine what differentiates a 9 vs 10 :P
3) similar to 1st q- if you decided you like using actual examples in your TR essays, rather than integrating quotes- are you actually penalised? like if i have a 1 or 2 direct quotes but a lot of examples im drawing on and analysed, would they dock marks off for that? again, dont know if i worded it correctly :P
4) how do you deal with teacher feedback being vague and insufficient ? haha im trying to cater to my teachers style for sacs, but after writing an essay all i get is 'be more specfic about what you are arguing' or 'bit more coherence'. again, normally id sent it through atarnotes to check, but unfortunately my teachers style is a bit unique and hard to cater for.. and ive had convos with her to no avail :( (bit random, but any help would be appreciated)
thanks guys :)
Any debaters here? How would you run the argument of preserving human rights? (E.g. Detention centres infringe on the rights of asylum seekers).
does anyone have a good list of techniques used in lang analysis? like rhetoric question, anaphora,etc. An extensive list would be great, but any would do (cant find in notes section)- thanks guys :)
i know this is vague, but what are lets say the 3,4,5 most common mistakes students make in Language Analysis?
again, what the are most common mistakes for context and text response? thank you
edit: more q's
1) again , really vague, but with a quote bank, roughly how many quotes should one have? a rough number would be nice, i know its vague , but thanks :)
Please post your specific debate topic and wether you are affirmative or negative. It is really difficult for us to come up with arguments without us knowing what you topic is. :D
When writing a text response, should we write our body paragraphs in order of importance or in reverse order of importance? As in write our best ideas first or write them last?In all honesty I don't think it really matters much; either way, it's going to get written and marked. Try and get it in an order that flows; so if you talk about point of view first for example; it kind of ties into everything and will lead to other things like how the characterisation of x character is (which is influenced by the point of view). Just make sure you actually finish the essay (if in doubt of this happening do the good ones first). You could have a really good paragraph fist, the worst one second and another really good one last- could be one way it could be structured.
When writing a text response, should we write our body paragraphs in order of importance or in reverse order of importance? As in write our best ideas first or write them last?It doesn't really matter that much. As mq123 has said, you should write in the order that flows the most. Say your body paragraph is about these:
i know this is vague, but what are lets say the 3,4,5 most common mistakes students make in Language Analysis?
again, what the are most common mistakes for context and text response? thank you
edit: more q's
1) again , really vague, but with a quote bank, roughly how many quotes should one have? a rough number would be nice, i know its vague , but thanks :)
The government should Ban the current Australian policy on asylum seekers(or something like that. I'm aff, and just need help on the argument for human rights. Don't know how to explain why rights are important.Think about the UN declaration of human rights. Read them carefully. They had came after the world wars where governments were very cruel to the minorities. Also, we've been roasted by the UN for a policy as such. You could argue that it makes us a cruel nation in terms of how we treat refugees and that does not make for a good rep. overseas. Like what would other countries think of us. (Of course when you are actually debating, don't put it in my words as this is too casual for DAV). As I probably explained it badly, I suggest ask anyone doing global politics 3/4 about this issue. They probably know better than me.
Hi everyone ;D
Pretty general question about text response topics:
How do you answer questions that ask how the text shows the importance of a theme?
How do you tackle this kind of prompt? Totally lost as to what the topics sentences/ contention could be... I can't base each paragraph on a theme since the essay itself is on a theme...
e.g. How does Gattaca show the importance of social class?
Hi HopefulLawStudent!
Thanks for your reply :D
What are you referring to when you said "elements of the text" and "the different aspects of the theme"?
I have my last English SAC coming up, which is a text response to In The Country of Men. The prompt we've been given to write a draft on is, "How does the dominance of men affect Suleiman?". Can someone please help me in working out how to structure the piece and what topics to discuss? I'm lost :-[
Hey guys, does anyone have examples of social class conflict that has happened in Australia? Looking for external sources for my context essay, but finding it hard to find real world examples :)Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.
Thanks in advance :)
Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.
What sort of holiday routine would one have for studying for the english exam? Would it be something like an essay a day?
I've read when doing text response it's bad to structure your paragraph in the agree-agree-disagree order. does that mean if we are challenging the prompt and agreeing to it but also disagreeing in some way in each of our paragraphs we have to talk about why we agree and use examples AND why we also disagree and use examples? How do you do that without fence-sitting?
I've read when doing text response it's bad to structure your paragraph in the agree-agree-disagree order. does that mean if we are challenging the prompt and agreeing to it but also disagreeing in some way in each of our paragraphs we have to talk about why we agree and use examples AND why we also disagree and use examples? How do you do that without fence-sitting?
Lauren explained what to do in this post: Re: I'm not scared essay help
Just that the title may be deceptive, as it is a text that a someone else is doing. Basically, you mostly agree or disagree with the prompt, with you contention being an "Although _______ ultimately ________ " statement.
Eg. Although the central female characters in the film are restricted by other things, ultimately they are limited by their gender.
As that would be the contention already establishes a mostly agree stance, they we need to put some challenge statements. eg. Despite Eve's rise to fame through her defiance of limitations placed upon women, most of the characters in the film are seen to be limited by their gender (probably not the best example). Now, you will need to integrate this sentence into your body paragraphs, as opposed to placing all of your "challenge statements" into one paragraph. Just do one of these per paragraph.
Hell no.What would you or anyone else here suggest?
If you do an essay a day, I can guarantee that you'll burn out and in the long run that'll be worse. Aim for one/two essays a week on top of like other English stuff that you do re:consolidating notes or whatever. If you aim too high, you'll burn and crash before the English exam and no one wants that.
So I've been reading a lot Ianguage analysis essays lately and a few of the high scoring ones used contractions; isn't this like one of the greatest no-no's of essay writing? Or is it just a language analysis thing cause it's not really an essay?Really? Yeah, my English teacher has warned us that using informal language will change the quality of a piece. Could you provide just a snippet please? Maybe the analysis of the language used overshadowed it. I personally got a 17/20 for language analysis back in term 2 and I too read high range responses.
Really? Yeah, my English teacher has warned us that using informal language will change the quality of a piece. Could you provide just a snippet please? Maybe the analysis of the language used overshadowed it. I personally got a 17/20 for language analysis back in term 2 and I too read high range responses.
That mark brings me to my question: How can I improve my expression in my essay's? I think some of my sentences read awkwardly and when the teachers are cross marking, my mark is reduced as a result. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Also, when reading a novel, what things should I be annotating in pencil? Key quotes (short and sweet), important scenes etc. The novel I am reading is In the county of men by Hisham Matar.
Thank you
Um, this isn't really one of the high scoring ones, but it's from Lauren's (so 'high scoring' in essence :P) blogpost on language analysis structure:
"...praise was welcome, it shouldn't be an expected part of..." (from her sample intro)
Also, I've done a bit more digging and I've found that a similar question was asked a few pages back. Someone answered that it's okay as along as it doesn't "mar your clarity". Can someone please second this? Also, is it just a L.A thing?
Hey peeps
"While we deplore Medea's actions, we find little sympathy for Jason? Do you agree
For the prompt above are we supposed to accept the "we deplore Medea's actions" part and write our text response regarding the second part. or are we allowed to argue the first part
Thankssss
Two more questions for text response:I would say write 'positions the audience to...', there is nothing 'wrong' with saying we, but when discussing the positioning of people in general,it sounds better to say audience. When it asks for your reader response, use I.
Can I use "we" in regard to how the text makes us feel?
Should I instead be saying that "Euripides positions the audience to...."
Thanks guys
(and thanks goodbye for the speedy response)
"we are never without hope even in the most difficult conflicts"
I'm really struggling to think of three sub-arguments to base my paragraphs around, does anyone have any suggestions? My text is Every man in this village is a liar but any help with historical examples and stuff I could use would be much appreciated :)
how do you talk about context in an essay
my teacher says to give context when introducing a text in an essay, she explained to me about what context is but I still don't understand? like do you talk about the history of the novel or author? or do you talk about the location of the set scene in the text???
and also in an essay, my teacher tells us to talk about what happens before a quote and the scene for example in Away, my teacher tells us to write something like 'In Away, Act 3, Scene 2, Coral goes up to Tom and says, "quote", but isn't this retelling? should I use this or not
my teacher says to give context when introducing a text in an essay, she explained to me about what context is but I still don't understand? like do you talk about the history of the novel or author? or do you talk about the location of the set scene in the text???
and also in an essay, my teacher tells us to talk about what happens before a quote and the scene for example in Away, my teacher tells us to write something like 'In Away, Act 3, Scene 2, Coral goes up to Tom and says, "quote", but isn't this retelling? should I use this or not
ohh that makes sense, but what if you cant make the context link to the question ??
Hi,
Can someone please interpret this comments by my teacher please (for a context SAC) and put it in simple forms.
" --Insert name here-- , You have developed a strong conceptual idea, and been consistent in following the potential possibilities that can be gleaned. The structure enables the response to cite a variety of ways in which realities can be 'distorted.'
To really enable yourself to develop and finesse you writing techniques, it is essential you discard unnecessary addition elements in providing an explaination. If you don't construct simple, clear sentences, strong ideas will wither amid the flood of unnecessary surround sentence elements."
Also, are there any tips and to mitigating this issue in terms of revising for the exams?
Thanks guys.
Hey guys, got a general question (kinda)
In introductions of text responses/context, is it better to directly quote the prompt? Or reword the prompt instead of copying it?
Thanksss
Hi,
Can someone please interpret this comments by my teacher please (for a context SAC) and put it in simple forms.
" --Insert name here-- , You have developed a strong conceptual idea, and been consistent in following the potential possibilities that can be gleaned. The structure enables the response to cite a variety of ways in which realities can be 'distorted.'
To really enable yourself to develop and finesse you writing techniques, it is essential you discard unnecessary addition elements in providing an explaination. If you don't construct simple, clear sentences, strong ideas will wither amid the flood of unnecessary surround sentence elements."
Also, are there any tips and to mitigating this issue in terms of revising for the exams?
Thanks guys.
Ah, somewhat ironic. The suggestion for improvement seems to be twofold:
- The first part seems to imply that you've gone into depth when responding to the prompt, that you've seen an opportunity to raise interesting and thoughtful ideas. You've also selected a structure that allows you to consider the prompt / context in multiple ways.
- That your ideas are lacking clarity because you're providing additional, seemingly unrelated points in the same sentence. Without seeing your writing, what this means is speculation. It could be that you're combining two ideas in the same sentence and not developing each. Alternatively, it might be that you're working on developing a particular style that detracts from the essence of meaning, for this reader. Or it could be that your reader feels that you're overloading a sentence with too many phrases.
As for mitigating the issue, it really depends on what your writing actually looks like - in isolation, the feedback is a little generic and could mean many things (including that the giver of the feedback likes to make themselves sound intelligent ;)
If you don't construct simple, clear sentences, strong ideas will wither amid the flood of unnecessary surround sentence elements.
Hi guys, so I've been getting contradictory info was teacher(s)/tutor so I'm wondering if AN can clarify these points for me in relation to the English exam...?
-In language analysis, you're not required to comment on /predict the audience's reaction to the persuasion (pretty sure examiners report said this too)
-If doing expository for context, you're only meant to discuss the text in one paragraph
Also, for an expos piece in context, is basing each paragraph (aiming for 4) on an idea related to the prompt and then bringing in 1 relevant example that demonstrates this idea ok??? My teacher said 1 example / paragraph is fine, but my tutor said 2 is needed...
Thanks
Re:LA -- none of my teachers have ever said anything about needing to predict the audience's reaction to the persuasion. Someone else confirm but I think you just assume that the writer is being persuasive and roll with that.
Hi guys, so I've been getting contradictory info was teacher(s)/tutor so I'm wondering if AN can clarify these points for me in relation to the English exam...?
-In language analysis, you're not required to comment on /predict the audience's reaction to the persuasion (pretty sure examiners report said this too)
-If doing expository for context, you're only meant to discuss the text in one paragraph
Also, for an expos piece in context, is basing each paragraph (aiming for 4) on an idea related to the prompt and then bringing in 1 relevant example that demonstrates this idea ok??? My teacher said 1 example / paragraph is fine, but my tutor said 2 is needed...
Thanks
My question is... probably a stupid one. I'm going to ask it regardless.
Am I allowed to write about a text on the English exam that we haven't studied in class? I don't like either of our texts- "This Boy's Life" and "Burial Rites". I can WRITE about them, sure, I've gotten high marks, but I don't have any IDEAS about them other than understanding them academically. I look at the exam prompts and mostly go "yeah, I guess you could say that". It would be boring.
But, two of the texts on the list are some that I've loved before this year: "Wuthering Heights" and "All About Eve". I have literally written about both of these in my spare time for the internet (because I'm a fun person ::) ) and I have, I think, a thorough understanding of them both. The Examiner's Report for 2015 exams states:
Students should be encouraged to have confidence in their own reading and demonstrate a
personal understanding of their text, rather than relying exclusively on commercially produced
material. All texts are complex works of art with a wealth of opportunity for exploration. There are
no „expected‟ responses to topics, and the highest-scoring pieces were those that were thoughtful
and fresh.
Hard to do that if you aren't interested in the texts. As is probably obvious, I genuinely love literature and I want to do my best in the exam- I think I will almost definitely have more thoughtful and detailed responses to "Heights" or "Eve". So the question is: a) Am I allowed? and b) Do you think it's suicide-by-essay?
Wow, sorry to ramble.
If you choose to do All About Eve, then you could get HopefulLawStudent to mark you essay.
I have been given conflicting information about this:Both are excellent!
Is it better to do timed full essays, or to do timed paragraphs? Like from my experience, some teachers say timed paragraphs well others say paragraphs or say: an intro and a paragraph.
Can you please explain which one is more effective in terms of studying for the English exam? Thanks. :)
Hiyaa!!
For Language Analysis where there are multiple pieces to analyse are we supposed to compare them or analyse them separately? I'm familiar with writing comparatively as that is what we had to do for our Language Analysis SAC.
I've heard conflicting information regarding this so I was hoping one of you peeps could clear it up for me.
Thankkk youuu
Quick question,I think three excellent paragraphs are much better than four regular paragraphs. I'd be picking my three best ideas and writing a lot on those. :)
Is it better to do 3 huge body paragraphs or 4 smaller body paragraphs?
4 I can explore more ideas but 3 I can go into them in greater detail :P
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
Hi, this is my first time asking a question on ATAR notes,
I just wanted to know, with textual topics that contain a quote in it such as, "I am knifed to the hilt with fate." What does Burial Rites say about the burden of destiny?, does the quote need to be addressed in the essay or should it be ignored? I've been told both things by my teachers so I'm not quite sure what the examiners expect. Could someone help clarify this for me?
Thanks in advance :)
With topics containing quotes, they must be embedded in you essays, and should not be ignored. Also, it is not just a free quote you can put in your essays anytime. you need to also show an understanding of the context in which the quote is used in you essay, and what that particular quote means, and what is means for the character, themes and views and values of the text.
Thanks FallingStar,
Sorry for the delayed reply but could you possibly explain what you mean in more simpler terms? So, do I have to directly show my knowledge of where the quote comes from and use it in one of my paragraphs in its entirety? If you could please provide an example of what you mean as well, that would be great.
Thanks
Basically:
- Must put the quote in the essay
- Must know the context of the quote.
- Must understand how the quote fits in with the text.
(Since I haven't done Burial Rites, I will do All About Eve)
Say if a prompt said Margo says "funny business, a woman's career." All About Eve is about the roles that women must play. Discuss. Then I can say:
Topic Sentence of paragraph extract: In All About Eve, it is evident that women who have careers must eventually marry and give their career up.
By confessing in the car that a "woman's career" is "funny business," Margo realise that she eventually need to succumb to the predefined roles as a women. She defines these roles as being a wife where she "look up just before bed" to see the man she loves, who is seen to bring her comfort throughout the film. This confession implies that women must eventually marry and become a wife to the man that she loves most, signifying that women are to marry no matter how long they had their careers for, or how many careers they ever has.
Well, I'm not too good at English :o <gasps> but at least that should give you an idea.
Hi
i have a question my teacher said that we won't get awarded if we compare the language analysis in the exam, is that correct?
Hiii just have some questions for context
Im writing about 4-4 and a half pages in a hour, is that normal? or too short? How long is everyone elses?
Also do we have to talk about our chosen text the same number of times as our external examples?
SO like in my essay i have like 3 external and 2 invictus (my chosen text) ideas - is that alright?
Thanks guys :D
Perfectly normal. Think quality of your writing over quantity.* i.e. 4 hella good pages are waaaay better than 8 half-assed idk-what-I'm-doing pages.Sweet, thanks heaps :D
Think less "ratio of text to external" and think more about how you're using the text.
I know there is no uniform essay structure in language analysis but if there are two articles given, have u guys been taught to always have one paragraph comparing the two articles or is it okay to have for example paragraph 1: Article A Analysis, Paragraph 2: Article B analysis, Paragraph 3: Image analysis + link to articleHi Rob16 :)
Doing Burial Rites on the exam. Obviously considering last year was the first year it was on the TR list, we have two prompts to look at. Anyone doing this text will know that the first prompt last year on the exam was about 'Life and Death' and the second about Agnes 'freedom and internal thoughts'.
How big a risk am I taking in assuming that the next two prompts would likely encompass two completely different sets of themes or concerns in the novel. The novel has a vast array of themes and concerns, and the next two logically appropriate and most important themes to me are the Landscape and Patriarchal Society.
How much am I gambling by directing my focus primarily to these two themes. I operated on this assumption on my sac and trial exam as well, these two themes are just so large in the book and I would almost argue that they are as big as the two themes in the prompts for last year.
Anyone comments on the reward for risk here?
I'm honestly of the opinion that prompt luck plays a massive role in exam scores, especially Text Response, so it may be worth it.
Hey mate,
I am doing the same thing for 'Medea'. Last year, the biggest theme was on there. And I'm guessing that this year their will be the other key theme and essentially, if I get it, I'll do well OR If it doesn't come up, I'm screwed. SO thats that risk I think. But I'm so sure its going to be on there; I just have a feeling.
There are never gurantees though in reality. I've heard that the VCAA prompts are essentially randomly generated, but I'm not 100%, can anyone clarify?
My text has a lot of different themes which does mean I'm running quite a big risk too but I'm not sure. Perhaps it will be enough to just have enough knowledge of the whole text to write a decent response if it doesn't go my way.
VCAA prompts are not randomly generated.
There isn't some magic VCAA machine that pumps out two prompts per text every year. From my understanding, there are a bunch of people who design the prompts every year.
Prepare for everything. Don't make assumptions. Focus on a particular theme if you want to take the risk but for christ's sake practice other ones. Don't assume anything. You can hope and pray for certain things but that shouldn't give you the freedom to not at least look at other things. If there's anything I learnt from failing methods and spec last year it's this: prepare for the worst case scenario while wishing for the best case scenario.
Could someone please explain to me the differences of syntax sentence structure) eg. polysndenton syntax, asyndeton etc?? :)Okay, polysyndeton and asyndeton aren't really to do with sentence structure - it's about how you list things.
Is a context paragraph important to include or can I go without it? I feel it's not relevant but I've been told I need oneWould this be for Text Repsonse or Language Analysis? Either way, my answer's the same - you probably don't need to include it. My best guess is that this is an L.A. thing where you have an opening paragraph about the issue and what sparked it or what people's response has been, which you definitely don't need to do in the exam. Just get to the author's contention ASAP in your intro, and then you can start earning marks for your analysis in your body paragraphs. Everything else is just peripheral window dressing :P
In Burial Rites, Hannah Kent has included an 'author's note' at the conclusion of the text. Is this something that I can refer to in my essays?You can refer to the author's note if you want to, but to me it seems like the kind of thing that's not going to be wholly useful for many prompts, so I'd prioritise the contents of the actual novel above that.
Also, this may be a ridiculous observation, but I think their are some elements of a Shakespearean tragedy contained within the novel. That is, Agnes is "cursed" by a mysterious "traveller" as a young maid, and she attempts to "escape" her "destiny" but ultimately succumbs to her inevitable "fate".
Would it be okay to comment on this as a structural element in my essays? If so, how would I refer to it?
Should I revise a little for a second text response text just in case the prompts for my preferred texts aren't what i expected?
Two prompts.Totally agree with HLS and TheLlama here; the worst thing you can do in cases like this is to say that
One is on zucchini, that thing you looked at once all year.
The other is on celery; how is celery in the text?!
you're looking to do more than spot the vegetables in a question. If they suggestion is, "in what ways is this text about zucchini?", and you can reveal the dichotomy or link between zucchinis and orangesConnections between themes and ideas are an awesome way to feel more prepared, and VCAA will often try to throw you off balance by giving you a prompt like 'The text is about courgettes. Discuss' so that half the state goes 'oh shit, wtf is a courgette??' ...but if you're smart and brought a dictionary in, then you'll be able to work out...
Guys i begin my expository piece with a quote that i touch on the intro and then in my body paragraph i expand on it, my teacher has never made a comment on it but now she is saying im not allowed to begin a paragraph with a quote, is this true?Somewhat frustratingly, you can do whatever you want in an expository essay. You can begin a paragraph with a quote if you use it and explain it well, but perhaps your teacher is telling you not to do that because at the moment, the quote doesn't feel like it's being integrated? You never want to make it seem like the quote is doing the work for you - if you're able to explain its significance to your discussion/contention/prompt though, that's a perfectly fine way to begin.
Hey,
I was just wondering if there is another word for 'readership' for language analysis, I saw 'circulation" for like newspapers and magazines and stuff could I use that instead so I don't sound so mundane?
Thank you! :)
This may be a very obvious question, but i was just wondering are we allowed to use brackets in essays? Ive always avoided using them for some reason, and i do not mean these [ ] types of brackets that can be used when modifying a quote to grammatically suit your sentence, but rather these ( ) type of brackets to include additional information rather than using commas, same goes with - this -, are we allowed to use dashes for extra information? or must we always use commas?
I don't think there are any hard and fast rules regarding this, personally I have used both and there have never been any issues. I think it can be a useful way to add ancillary information without detracting from the focus of your discussion. I have found them particularly useful during language analysis.
Can anyone help me think of some synonyms for moral compass? my teacher said its too overused by other people and am having trouble thinking of what to replace it withdamn :/ didnt know that was overused, i like to use it myself i guess i should be more cautious from now on, you could use 'code of ethics' or 'moral standing',
How does the structure of an article persuade readers?
I have a generally good understanding of doing language analysis', except my teacher said I need to focus on the structure used by the writer in attempt to persuade. I didn't get a chance to ask my teacher, so hopefully someone on here can help : )
For text response, my teacher has told me that I must not refer to any specific characters in topic sentences; only discussing what the author says through the text. How can I use this approach to respond to character specific prompts?Note: you can have characters' names in topic sentences if you wish, though tbh I'm with your teacher on this one; your points will be stronger and more holistic if you focus on key ideas to start off with instead.
For instance (for Burial Rites):
"What role does absence play in Agnes' life?" Discuss
Yeah, 'circulation' is a little weird; 'demographic' is good; 'readers,' 'readership,' 'the audience,' 'the target audience,' and 'his/her audience of ____' (e.g. 'his audience of parents,' 'her audience of scientistis' etc.) can all be used interchangeably, and the material may offer you a more specific alternative. For instance, if the exam piece is a special interest magazine aimed at people looking at getting into the property market, you could talk about how an an author is attempting to persuade 'potential first home buyers' instead of just using the generic term 'readers' all the time.Hey,I could be wrong, and do correct me if i am, but i would say that circulation more so refers to how widely distributed a newspaper or magazine is, and is not a very close synonym to readership, could you give me the sentence you are writing so i can give you a more appropriate word?
I was just wondering if there is another word for 'readership' for language analysis, I saw 'circulation" for like newspapers and magazines and stuff could I use that instead so I don't sound so mundane?
Thank you! :)
I would say the word 'demographic' is a more suited replacement :) hope that helped x
This may be a very obvious question, but i was just wondering are we allowed to use brackets in essays? Ive always avoided using them for some reason, and i do not mean these [ ] types of brackets that can be used when modifying a quote to grammatically suit your sentence, but rather these ( ) type of brackets to include additional information rather than using commas, same goes with - this -, are we allowed to use dashes for extra information? or must we always use commas?For reasons that I won't go into (because I think they're dumb) the use of brackets is considered somewhat informal in T.R. and L.A. essays. Anything goes in Context, though ::)
Can anyone help me think of some synonyms for moral compass? my teacher said its too overused by other people and am having trouble thinking of what to replace it with'sense of morality' 'judgement' 'integrity' or 'probity' might work, depending on the context. But it might also help to be more specific (i.e. are you referring to what's right and wrong, or what's ethically justifiable, or what a person is prioritising, etc.)
Hi everyone:I have it on good authority that 1 hour = 1 hour no matter whether you count up or down ;)
I know this is late for asking this question but for timed writing, do we time up (stopwatch) or time down (countdown timer)?
Does anyone have any tips on getting timing right?? I have always struggled with timing; give me 3 hours and I can pull out a killer essay but give me 60 minutes and it all goes downhill. Unless my school marks really easily, I'm not actually bad at english. I've gotten A+ on all SAC's this year, but under the stress and time limits of exam conditions my mind just goes blank and I can never finish a full essay. Tips please?
hey guys can we ask questions in a text response essay then answer them or is that too informal?
As like a rhetorical question sort of thing? If so, then no. You want to be succinct as possible when writing.Not a rhetorical question, as that sorta answers itself, but a legitimate question that audiences may ask, then answer it? Personally i think it might sound weird but ive seen people in my class do it and theyre high scorers so idk
Not a rhetorical question, as that sorta answers itself, but a legitimate question that audiences may ask, then answer it? Personally i think it might sound weird but ive seen people in my class do it and theyre high scorers so idk
I would say no question marks is the key thing when talking about questions raised in the text. So rather than writing:Yes that makes sense, thank you :)
[Question]? [Author] suggests...
You would write:
This raises the question of [question]. [Author] suggests...
Which might look like:
This raises the question of whether we are ever truly free from the remnants of our past. [Author] suggests...
Does that make sense? :)
Hey :))
I was wondering if there are any visual analysis examples for Lang Analysis?
Thank you!! x
do topic sentences always have to be in one sentence? I'm finding that in a lot of my essays the topic sentence is usually two sentences because I can't seem to succinctly explain my paragraph in one sentence
Could someone please confirm the following:
- The LA visuals will be black and white, right? And they'll be clear, right? Had a practice exam a few days ago and the printer the teachers used to print it out was legit so low quality that it was a real struggle to make out what the visual even was... (seeking peace of mind more than anything really)
- I hope this isn't the case but god forbid I hit the first hour and have like a paragraph to finish and a conclusion to do. Do I cut it short and work on the others and come back to it if I have the time or do I finish it? Is it better to have a complete essay and compromise the quality of another or an incomplete essay and not compromise the quality of the other two essays?
Hey I know this is really late to be asking this, but how would you recommend going about doing a text response for poetry? I'm going to do John Donne's poems and I was wondering how much I should talk about his life and times.For starters, never limit a paragraph to a single poem if you can avoid it. The big challenge with poetry and story stories is to unite/consolidate the text and talk about how things connect together; conducting three or four separate analyses of three or four poems/stories is more typical of mid-range responses.
Thanks! :)
do topic sentences always have to be in one sentence? I'm finding that in a lot of my essays the topic sentence is usually two sentences because I can't seem to succinctly explain my paragraph in one sentenceYou can stretch it out over two, and it can be good to explore your key idea before launching into evidence, though it may also be worth practising your conciseness just so you have the option of quicker, sharper T.S.s if you need them :)
Quick question, I've been hearing different things and I am unsure which way to go, but with context, is it best to mention at least one text in every paragraph with it relating to an external example? Or can you write one paragraph on one text, then another on an external example, and so on? Thanks!
Could someone please confirm the following:Visuals will absolutely 100% be black and white unless VCAA splurge on a colour printer this year :P For some reason, the GAT is in colour, but the English exams never are :'( <-- visual art student tears
- The LA visuals will be black and white, right? And they'll be clear, right? Had a practice exam a few days ago and the printer the teachers used to print it out was legit so low quality that it was a real struggle to make out what the visual even was... (seeking peace of mind more than anything really)
- I hope this isn't the case but god forbid I hit the first hour and have like a paragraph to finish and a conclusion to do. Do I cut it short and work on the others and come back to it if I have the time or do I finish it? Is it better to have a complete essay and compromise the quality of another or an incomplete essay and not compromise the quality of the other two essays?
Quick Question -Hmm, this is a tricky one. Is there a better word you could use to side step the ambiguity? Like, 'the author's construction of the characters' sense of self' or 'the author's depiction of consciousness as a construct'?
I was wondering if it's considered okay in a Text Response to use inverted commas when it's not a quote? For example, if I want to discuss the author's handling of the construct of 'being' and how it's seen in many different forms, can I speak about the concept of the word and use the ''- or is this too likely to be mistaken for a poorly chosen quote?
Thanks
Does language analysis really need a conclusion? I was under the impression that you could just tie it all up and the end of your last paragraph is it isn't too long.It's a "structural requirement," meaning that it's better to include one to be on the safe side. It's not as necessary as it is in a T.R. essay, but conclusions in L.A. only take about two or three sentences, and it means you'll win over the super fussy assessors, so if you do a cost-benefit analysis, the extra two minutes it takes you to whip a quick concl. together probably outweighs the potential for a marker to dock a point for a missing conclusion.
Hmm, this is a tricky one. Is there a better word you could use to side step the ambiguity? Like, 'the author's construction of the characters' sense of self' or 'the author's depiction of consciousness as a construct'?
Alternatively, ensure you're always using "double quotation marks" when actually quoting, and you should be fine to use 'single ones' for demarcating things like this :)
It's a "structural requirement," meaning that it's better to include one to be on the safe side. It's not as necessary as it is in a T.R. essay, but conclusions in L.A. only take about two or three sentences, and it means you'll win over the super fussy assessors, so if you do a cost-benefit analysis, the extra two minutes it takes you to whip a quick concl. together probably outweighs the potential for a marker to dock a point for a missing conclusion.
Though what's more likely is that if you were:
a) missing a conclusion
b) repeating some vocab
c) only doing the bare minimum of visual analysis
...then you'd lose a mark. If everything else was perfect, I highly doubt they'd give an L.A. piece a 9 instead of a 10 just because it didn't have a conclusion. But if there were other faults that they'd picked up on, a missing conclusion might be what bumps you down a point.
Should we be analysing stuff in our conclusions?No need; a quick summation of the overarching contentions and intentions of the author(s) and the effect on readers or the consequences they're seeking to bring about would be sufficient. You can do a really brief 'By doing X, the author seeks to Y' sentence at the start, but even that's more summative than analytical :)
No need; a quick summation of the overarching contentions and intentions of the author(s) and the effect on readers or the consequences they're seeking to bring about would be sufficient. You can do a really brief 'By doing X, the author seeks to Y' sentence at the start, but even that's more summative than analytical :)
Hi Lauren,Creative piece scoring in the 7-8 range are usually the ones that take the prompt (e.g. 'Our identity depends on where we choose to belong') and then construct a narrative or imaginary scenario around that idea (e.g. here's a short story about someone whose identity depends on where they choose to belong). And they'll do that pretty effectively, but they won't be saying anything about the prompt other than, yes and here's an example of that.
For a creative context piece what would typically distinguish an 8 from a 9 or 10 if your language is already very sophisticated?
For starters, never limit a paragraph to a single poem if you can avoid it. The big challenge with poetry and story stories is to unite/consolidate the text and talk about how things connect together; conducting three or four separate analyses of three or four poems/stories is more typical of mid-range responses.
Thematic connections are awesome, and if the prompt allows, I'd recommend breaking down the topic into three or four core concepts that you can explore using a variety of poems in each para. As for the author's life and times... try to minimise that stuff. If it's relevant, you can include it, but harking on and on about historical background info kind of just distracts from your focus on the text. But if it is actually aiding your analysis AND you can integrate it with textual analysis, then go for it! (Use the half sentence rule - e.g. 'Donne's preoccupation with metaphysical conceits can be seen in the imagery of 'Valediction' where...' as opposed to: 'Donne was preoccupied with metaphysical conceits. This can be seen in the imagery of 'Valediction' where...' - so your use of background info is visibly connected to some other part of your discussion, rather than having a whole sentence like the underlined one which isn't as relevant to the task).
You can stretch it out over two, and it can be good to explore your key idea before launching into evidence, though it may also be worth practising your conciseness just so you have the option of quicker, sharper T.S.s if you need them :)
Hi guys, this is a very text specific question, as I'm trying to prepare for all possible Medea prompt.He
I'm not completely sure why Jason is described as weak. My best ideas are
-He's desperate for power and social status
-He cannot/does not protect his family as a father/husband should
Any other ideas would be appreciated, thanks :)
Hi Lauren! Thanks for getting back to me :) I have one more question concerning poems, I have a little trouble with discerning between ideas and splitting them into mini-contentions for my body paragraphs. For example in the prompt 'How does Donne convey an appreciation of what love can do in his Selected Poems?', my intro would look something like this:Those topic sentences seem excellent to me - is your concern that you'll end up repeating yourself within your body paragraphs, or that the topic sentences themselves are too repetitious? Because I certainly don't think the latter is the case (-when a prompt is as broad as 'Discuss love,' it can be kind of hard to move away from that central concern-) and the former could easily be avoided by ensuring you're delving into a wide variety of different poems in each para.
In his collection Selected Poems, John Donne conveys the concept of love with an extraordinary sensitivity that breathes life into it, exploring its "infinite" dimensions. In his world, Donne views love as a transformative and powerful force that overcomes all physical and rational boundaries. He displays love as a liberating force as well as a transcending kind of power. However, he also shows love as a source of pain, restriction and sorrow. But it is in Donne’s world of love, a world so interconnected, that his powerful descriptions of love seem to capture an essence of life, brimming so full of substance, mystery and beauty.
I've come up with some topic sentences but they seem to be like a lit essay and I'm not sure how to recify it :S i.e.
BP1: Through showing love as a transformative force, Donne conveys love's ever-changing state. --> eg. love connects you and therefore liberates
BP2: Donne's vision of love as an anomaly highlights his preoccupation with love's many dimensions and realities. --> eg. love is mysterious; it is fleeting and opens up a world of infinite possibilities.
BP3: Throughout his poems, Donne shows love as a force which brings together many of the facets of life's uncertainties, and propounds an interconnected cosmos brimming with beauty and profound meaning. ---> eg. life is unpredictable and love is unrehearsed -- he paints this with extraordinary vision/imagery.
But they kinda all blend together and it makes it hard for me to split them up without repeating myself. How would you recommend splitting it up so that I would have some straight-forward topic sentences? Sorry if this is a long question, but my school is terrible (cry) and I'm so stressed and have nobody :'(
Thanks in advance. You're the best!
Hi guys,This is kind of tricky, but I'd say you should endeavour to use those labels and then explain their meaning/significance e.g. 'the writer's appeal to justice is evident in his use of the phrase "everyone deserves a second chance," suggesting that people should be treated equally and fairly in order to encourage readers to feel...'
I just really need some clarification on Language analysis. i have some teachers telling me to use labels for specific technique in LA and then i have other teacher telling me to avoid them completely and instead use phrases that refer to the technique without explicitly saying it. I'm really confused and i thought the examiner's report said that students who do not rely on labels generally do better.
So for example one teacher says that in the analysis if there is an appeal to a sense of justice i have to say "the writer appeals to readers sense of justice to encourage them to feel...." and another teacher tells me to say "the writer uses readers desire for people to be treated equally and fairly to encourage them to feel...". Which one should i do?
thank you!!!
Hi, I hope I'm asking this question in the right place and if I am not sorry in advance and sorry if this question has already been asked. With text response, is it okay to write character based paragraphs, for example, with Medea, one paragraph be on Medea herself then Jason, or does this limit the sophistication of the piece?? Thank you :)You're absolutely in the right place! :)
Hi Lauren,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply!! I hope you don't mind me asking but i'm also getting mixed marks for my context pieces. I know this is a huge ask but i was wondering if i could perhaps send you one of my context pieces for you to mark. it's totally fine if you can't i know that this time of year you are super busy.
Thank you once again.
Hey guys, if writing a context piece (expository and I&B) and I can only weed out 2 main ideas that I want to explore can I still get a 7-8/10?"2 ideas" doesn't necessarily have to be two body paragraphs though. Even if you can only extract two main concepts from the prompt, you could still break them up into three or more paragraphs.
So in total that would be an introduction, 2 body paragraphs and a conclusion. Or is it really recommended that the 3 paragraphs minimum rule be followed?
Thank you
How would you structure an essay on this Medea practice exam prompt "How does Medea deceive other characters in the play?"Basically, your body paragraphs should always be structured around themes (if possible... otherwise just go for a character breakdown as a last resort if you need to) and then within those paragraphs, you can delve into the construction of the text for 'How...' prompts.
Do we incorporate a discussion on themes into essay or is it strictly about how the text was constructed?
Do you think VCAA will put more than two different written pieces for LA like in your practice exams? I am having trouble analyzing the comments in these pieces (e.g. The 3 comments on the blog in Exam 4) in LA, should I put the contention of every comment in the introduction?
"2 ideas" doesn't necessarily have to be two body paragraphs though. Even if you can only extract two main concepts from the prompt, you could still break them up into three or more paragraphs.How would I do that?
Three paragraphs would be the ideal minimum, though the rules are more flexible for Context, so if you only had two paras but your discussion was excellent, you could easily score in the 7-8 region, though it might be hard to bump it to a 9-10.
How would I do that?
And this doesn't happen with VCAA prompts only with prompts from company papers which are worded difficulty.
Also, when doing a LA, does the audience have to be mentioned in the introduction?
Thank you
For those prompts that are like: This Text is about something
like 2014 VCAA prompt for This Boy's Life
This Boy's Life is not only about hardship; it is also about determination and resourcefulness.
How do you go about your paragraphs. To me it sounds bad to just say yeah it is about that because of [example]. What is the good way to approach one of these prompts?
Thank youu!
quick q
with the time remaining, would it be pragmatic to do the VCAA lang analyses and look through there prompts, or should i look through Lauren's exams? leaning over to lauren's bc VCAA probs wont repeat themselves, and its better to expose myself to new content, but still, not sure
thanks :)
Can I write a context piece for a text that we did not study in school but is still a VCAA text for Whose reality?
Technically, you can. Examiner don't know what text you're doing in school. However, they will not count as external resources and you do need external resources. However I don't know if that's a good idea unless you can twist your text into any prompt. :)So if I have a really good piece on the American dream related to The Death of A Salesman but we studied Wag the Dog and Foe can I still write it and not get penalized?
Do essays get remarked if one examiner gives you for example a 7 and the other gives your a 9? (difference of 2)Check this out: Re: English Q&A
EDIT: mistakenly quoted :P
Hi
For language analysis, I asked my teacher if we are comparing it because throughout the whole year we have been on writing one pieces. So when I asked my teacher do we have to compare our pieces if there was 2 article, my teacher said 'it all depends on what is presented in the exam....nobody knows. You do not have to compare only offer a linking sentence (if more than one piece is offered) like we practiced in class.' Is this correct or wrong?
Hiiii
I want to use quotes from my text for my context piece but I do not ever explicitly mention my text. Should I put quotation marks: "like this" when I quote so it is clear that it came from my text? Will the exam markers be cool with it?
Thank youuu
How do women in the film defy/adhere to the 1950s feminine idea?
In order to succeed in the theatre, the only values that count are egotism and ruthless ambition.
So if I have a really good piece on the American dream related to The Death of A Salesman but we studied Wag the Dog and Foe can I still write it and not get penalized?
Yes you should. Examiners do look for quotation marks to ensure that you are putting your quotes in. However, you do need to make obvious that your are reffing to the text as quotation marks can refer to any other quote you've learn't throughout the text. Eg. Biff calls Willy a "fake" and "phoney." (note that I haven't explicitly said it was from Death of a Salesman but have made it obvious that it's from that text. That's what you need to do).
that your are reffing to the text as quotation marks can refer to any other quote you've learn't throughout the text.
Okay another question. Eek!
For the prompt: Medea is the true victim in Euripides' play. Do you agree?
I want to do these body paragraphs
BP1 - From the outset of the play Medea is portrayed as the victim
BP2 - As the play progressed Medea's manipulative nature towards the people that care for her, namedly the Nurse and the Chorus, show that Medea is not a true victim
BP3 - She goes on to use her "evil skill[ s] to make her enemies a victim of her wrath"
BP4 - Thus the true victim of the play cannot be Medea but is in fact the sons
What do you guys think of this approach? I'm more worried about the last paragraph... will that be considered off topic?
Thanks peeps!!
Warning: I haven't touched Medea since Unit 3.
Be careful though cos it sounds like you're essentially planning on writing an essay that goes:
Medea is a victim.
Medea is a victim.
Wait no she isn't a victim.
Actually her sons are the victims.
^^ That wouldn't be coherent at all and you'd essentially just be contradicting yourself.**
**Could just be how you've worded it tho.
Medea is the true victim in Euripides' play. Do you agree?
I'd probably do something more like:
1. Medea presents herself as the victim at the beginning of the play.
2. And to some extent, yeah, she is the victim, due to the actions of Jason and the patriarchal world she lives in.
3. But her status as a victim is undermined by her actions over the course of the play.
4. Thus, ultimately, the true victim of the play is not Medea, it is her sons.
Can you see the difference?
Oh wow that is beautifulYo Just keep in mind that you can't just base your essay on the main bitch. You got other hoes you gotta discuss
My miind is blown thank you thank you!!!
Yo Just keep in mind that you can't just base your essay on the main bitch. You got other hoes you gotta discuss
Yo Just keep in mind that you can't just base your essay on the main bitch. You got other hoes you gotta discuss
I like how you put things haha
But I was worried that if I talk about other hoes then it would look like I'm going off topic. How do I discuss other hoes while remaining on topic? Orrr am I just wrong about the whole off topic thing
Thank youu
You have more leeway for prompts like that.Aha, yeah that's one way to do it.
But I think, so long as you mention the other characters you should be set.
e.g.:
1. Medea presents herself as the victim at the beginning of the play.
wailing to the Chorus
2. And to some extent, yeah, she is the victim, due to the actions of Jason and the patriarchal world she lives in.
Talk about Jason's actions here, plus maybe the actions of Aegeus to exile her despite the fact that she's done nothing wrong
3. But her status as a victim is undermined by her actions over the course of the play.
By her actions onto Jason, Glauce, Aegeus
4. Thus, ultimately, the true victim of the play is not Medea, it is her sons.
Talk about M and sons
^^ You wouldn't just be talking about Medea in 1000 words using that.
I think that that counts as "not basing your essay on the main bitch" ahaha
Eve Harrington is egotistical. Discuss.I'd say they'd be more likely to give you something like 'We cannot sympathise with Even because she is so egotistical. Discuss.' but that's basically paraphrasing the 2014 i. prompt: i. It is Eve's ruthless pursuit of ambition that leads us to dislike her. Do you agree?
a) This is waaaay too specific to be VCAA-esque, right?
b) How is Eve egotistical anyway?
How would I qualify/challenge this prompt? How would I even break down this prompt?
If I broke it down like this:
1. Egotism is a trait of the theatre; can lead to success.
2. But it doesn't necessarily = success
3. Ambition is also a thing in the theatre; can lead to success.
4. But it doesn't necessarily = success either.
Conclusion: Ultimately, egotism and ambition don't necessarily = success; they are not the "only values that count". Interpersonal relationships count more, as shown through M
^^Would that count as sufficient exploration of the prompt?
with regards to films in text response, it is advisable to prefer/use more cinematic , film based techniques that the author used (not being prompt specific) or stick with regular examples/quotes? ive been told its better to focus on the film techniques for films.. but i am not sure.. ty!The most impressive thing you can do would be to combine your discussion of cinematic devices WITH 'regular examples' and quotes. Blending the two is something only high range essays tend to showcase, so it's a great way of standing out. Otherwise, if you're only ever talking about quotes or camera angles but can't comment on how they work in tandem to create ideas, it can be tough for the assessors to piece things together for you :P
Yo Just keep in mind that you can't just base your essay on the main bitch. You got other hoes you gotta discussExcuse you. Glauce is a nice lady. How dare you besmirch her name.
+100
;D ;D ;D
AAE highlights the neverending judgement on what it means to be a woman. Discuss.
"How do women in the film defy/adhere to the 1950s feminine idea?"
How would I qualify/challenge this prompt? How would I even break down this prompt?
QuoteAAE highlights the neverending judgement on what it means to be a woman. Discuss.How would you break down this prompt? Legit, I have no idea what to do with it...
blah blah blah here's a discussion about a point in the film where the character says "I really want to fight against injustice." The fact that this is accompanied by the inspirational digetic sound of other characters cheering, and a slow panning shot of the smiles of the crowd amplifies the message that... blah blah blah link to a bigger idea.QuoteThe most impressive thing you can do would be to combine your discussion of cinematic devices WITH 'regular examples' and quotes. Blending the two is something only high range essays tend to showcase, so it's a great way of standing out. Otherwise, if you're only ever talking about quotes or camera angles but can't comment on how they work in tandem to create ideas, it can be tough for the assessors to piece things together for you :P'how do i really do that effectively xD :/
i was thinking, very vaguely- 'Perkins' use of extreme close-up on Eddie's facial features demonstrates the anger and disappointment he experienced following the result of the initial Supreme Court trial, as a result of his passion, pride and desperation to maintain cultural ties to both himself and his people, in endeavouring to provide a substantiated argument against the rigid, ever present racism and discrimination present in the film, forcing Eddie to be nothing but "a trouble maker.." - allowing Perkins' to instill the erratic decisions Eddie had to make...This is also excellent; either order (quote + technique, or technique + quote) would be fine.
also- my teacher practically yelled at me for not having an 'obvious' resolution to one of my conflict pieces (the piece called 'The Journey' on the submissions thread)- but in that particular essay (prompt: there are no winners on conflict or something like that) , i thought i addressed the criterion for the essay :/Will get round to all the as-yet-unmarked pieces on the Subs board soon!
excerpt of what my teacher said- You need resolution at the end even if it means giving up and facing death. What you wrote seems confusing. What do you have and will you hang on to that expecting nothing more out of life? Because that is all you can do ?
Is this short term resolution?
What about long term?
>criticizes my essay for their vague nature
>gives me vague feedback in response to like 3 essays *cries* hahaha, oh this brings back memories :'D
edit: context piece i was talking about haha! Conflict piece- advice would be appreciated :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH LAUREN (or whoever else replies <3)
Reading my corrections for my context essay by my teacher and all she said was 'Go deeper with the ideas you're discussing'Hahaha, it kind of depends what sort of 'deeper' she's looking for. Did she say anything more than that? It might be an issue with your explanations (e.g. 'the character says "I can't believe this" which reveals their longing for home' ... that might be right, but there's not really enough discussion to warrant that conclusion, so that student would need to 'go deeper' with their explanations.) Or it might be that the discussion itself is lacking, so you've got an awesome collection of evidence in your essay, but you don't link it to the prompt effectively enough? Like, if you're ending paragraphs with examples, that's usually a hint that the connection to the Context hasn't yet been made clear.
Like um lady its like 1 day before the exam and youre telling me this now.. Guys how do we go deeper? Like what should i do to make my examples more complex? #Stressed
Hey Lauren!Signposting is completely optional in all essays. Some students like it because it gives them the clarity they need to get started with writing. Some teachers like it because it gives them an idea of what the piece will cover. Some students don't like it because they feel like it 'locks' them into talking about certain ideas/examples, and they might want the freedom to change their minds or their approach later. Some teachers don't like it because they think it's simplistic. So it's really up to you!
I'm wondering with an expository essay, should I signpost what external texts I'm going to talk about in my body paragraphs, in my introduction? I've received heaps of mixed messages about this. Some people say have the intro very broad and not mention the body paragraphs and then have my body paragraphs start off as "In Plato's allegory of the cave...".
How do you suggest I structure my intro?
Thanks!
Hello,Hey jacquic,
Could someone please help me with this Brooklyn prompt?
Toibin resists offering readers a simply uplifting story but provides a more complex portrait of his protagonist, Eilis Lacey. Discuss.
What paragraphs would you do for a prompt like this?
Thanks heaps
Can someone provide a strong way to integrate the author's views and values on certain themes?Bump :)
Thank you :)
Can someone provide a strong way to integrate the author's views and values on certain themes?Ah sorry - missed one!
Thank you :)
thanks lauren
Hey jacquic,
There's no definitive right answer when it comes to paragraph structure; it's all about breaking down the prompt in a way that lets you discuss the text effectively. So if we were to simplify this prompt down to 'Brooklyn isn't a basic, happy story, and Eilis is portrayed as a complex character' does that seem any easier?
Either think ahead to the kinds of evidence you might bring up (e.g. Rosy dying = not uplifting; Eilis' relationship with Ireland/America = complex) so that you can start grouping your examples into paragraphs... OR... start with the prompt itself and think about how you could link it to your interpretation of the novel and what you believe Toibin is saying overall.
If that still doesn't make sense, let me know what initial thoughts you had about the prompt or what about it you found challenging and I might be able to offer more assistance! :)
Hi :)Hi there!
I'm really having trouble with preparing for context.
I've written creative pieces all year so I don't want to change 2 days before the exam.
Like should i have an idea of what I'll write about before i go into the exam? English isn't my strong suit.
I'm doing Encountering Conflict and my text is Life of Galileo
Ah sorry - missed one!Amazing!
Easiest way is to, at the ends of your paragraphs, have sentences like:
• Therefore, the author highlights...
• Thus, the text showcases...
• To this end, The Text emphasises...
• Ultimately, this forms part of the author's critique/celebration of...
• Hence, the author suggests that...
^whereby you force yourself to zoom out and consider the implications. This is the case for any prompt type too - no matter how narrow or general it is, being about to get to the end of a discussion and say 'so basically, the author is conveying this idea' is immensely valuable!
Hi Lauren, i have a difficult time knowing whether i am retelling the story or analysing, here is an extract of my No Sugar essay,Blue stuff is analytical, so I don't think there's too much summary, but I do think it'd be a lot stronger if your quotes were integrated (i.e. if your quotes fit your sentences like: 'In the final scene, this motif is seen once again when Milly gives Mary "a sugar bag" to symbolise the saccharine life she was once accustomed to...') That way, your slightly summative (non-blue) sentences can be made more analytical, and thus worth more marks! :)
"Davis’ choice to focus the title on sugar, and not the other rations denied, is not one with no basis. double negative is a bit clunky here The audience is immediately introduced, act one, scene one, to the character’s attachment to sugar; “Sam Millimurra prepares mugs of tea, lacing them generously with sugar”. <-- this quote isn't really integrated However the sugar ration is cut, “No sugar in our tea”, upon arrival at the Moore River Native Settlement. This signifies that the “sweet” and comfortable life the Millimurra family relished back home at Northam would end as a result of the dispossession to the settlement. In the final scene, scene ten, sugar is mentioned once more; “Milly gives Mary a sugar bag”. This mention is significant as Mary is leaving the Moore River settlement, along with her departure returns the saccharine life she was once accustomed to. Through the emphasis on ‘sugar’, Davis is able to shed light on the polarity of the two locations, and on how disagreeable the settlement is with the lifestyle of the Millimurra family"
Is this a good analysis or am i regurgitating the novel? (also feel free to add any extra feedback on this paragraph)
Thank you!
thanks laurenIt's more like it's asking about why Eilis is emotionally complicated as opposed to constructing a novel where she's a beautiful flawless heroine who undergoes no difficulties and is totally 100% happy at the end. So why does Eilis have to/benefit from experiencing difficulty in her life, and what is Toibin saying about challenges/complexity etc.? So yes, you could absolutely talk about transformations, suffering, and relationships as a potential paragraph breakdown for this prompt :)
I was mostly confused about what the prompt is asking. So is it basically asking why Toibin gives such deep descriptions and discussions about Eilis rather than an exhilarating novel? I wondered if you could discuss how Eilis transformations after migrating to Brooklyn and then all the sorrows that she suffers and the effects it has on her and finally the complexity of love in the novel?
Hey guys last minute questions and I'm sure its irrelevant, but if we are faced with section c piece that has multiple comments even some one liners, should we analyse all of the comments or is just one enough???It's not at all irrelevant! And it's awesome to see people thinking ahead to potentially weird material that could crop up this year!
thankssssss x
Amazing!See: Boosting your mark in 48 hours :)
Would you (or anyone) have any suggestions for what to do now and tomorrow? I feel like writing any essays whatsoever would just add unecessary stress because they seem to require immense focus (more than any other subject imo)
Thank you :)
Blue stuff is analytical, so I don't think there's too much summary, but I do think it'd be a lot stronger if your quotes were integrated (i.e. if your quotes fit your sentences like: 'In the final scene, this motif is seen once again when Milly gives Mary "a sugar bag" to symbolise the saccharine life she was once accustomed to...') That way, your slightly summative (non-blue) sentences can be made more analytical, and thus worth more marks! :)Thank you Lauren! that was very helpful!! I will try to integrate the quotes better in the actual exam (fingers crossed)
is there a list of 'MUST-HAVES' for an introduction of a lang analysis?Intro:
i.e so far, i've got the authors contention, and accompanying pieces contentions, as well as any major tone/style incorporated in the piece(s)- and any image's contention/purpose, and main audience/readers - anything else i can add?
what about for lang analysis conclusions- all ive got is : summarise the main techniques author used, how they affected the audience, any major technique- if any- that was used and a subtle rehash of the author(s) main contentions.
anything else? ty guys <3
Hey lauren just wanted your opinion on something.
for LA in my intros, i have just usually been doing a brief context sentence, followed by the contentions of the authors with their tones occasionally.
Then i move straight into my body paras is this fine ?
Thanks :)
Hey guys!!
For this prompt for Medea: Are the characters in Medea motivated more so by reason or emotion?
I seem to be unable to formulate arguments that aren't character-based for each paragraph.
How would you approach this and how do I avoid doing this ugghh.
Thank youu sahhh much
Hey!no real benefit, but i hear they like having a title for creative pieces :)
So I was looking at some context essays on the submissions board and got super jealous of them cool titles they got there 8)
I know that it is completely optional, but is there any particular benefits to having a title for a creative piece ?
Hey just i general question , ive put alot of work in but im still worried im gonna get under 25 , because im not even close to better than half the state. so how hard is it really to get a 25 ?
Hey just i general question , ive put alot of work in but im still worried im gonna get under 25 , because im not even close to better than half the state. so how hard is it really to get a 25 ?
Hey Lauren.
For expository essays, do you recommend knowing one really well and adapting it? Do you recommend having spare paragraphs or ideas as backup?
Can someone please help me with this Brooklyn prompt?
How does Toibin's understated, economical writing style influence the reader's understanding of characters and settings of Brooklyn?
What paragraphs do you do for these types of prompts asking about the language used??
Are vcaa prompts for TR usually very general and easy to respond to?They're usually open and accessible and at least one of the topics VCAA gives for a given text will be about an idea you've at least thought about if you've put in any effort into English. It's a waste of time for VCAA to distinguish students with overly-difficult prompts if they can already differentiate them by the quality of their responses.
Are vcaa prompts for TR usually very general and easy to respond to?
I'm having some trouble trying to make my context expository pieces not sound like a text response essay when I'm trying to link back to my set text. What are some ways to avoid this?
I'm having some trouble trying to make my context expository pieces not sound like a text response essay when I'm trying to link back to my set text. What are some ways to avoid this?Perhaps you're referring to a lot of specific evidence from the text. While it's fine to refer to your text, you mainly just want to cover the ideas from it that are relevant to the prompt itself. You don't need to be quoting tons of characters or explaining the significance of cobblestone around Klaus's house in Stasiland. Save all of that for TR. Similarly, you shouldn't need to be referring to the views and values of the author in a context piece.
I can't remember quotes. What is the best way to find remember quotes for the exam? WHICH IS IN 2 DAYS OMGis ur text a film or book? if its a film like mine, i dont think word by word quotes are super important, but rather directors angles, techniques etc.
I am doing 2 texts: Every Man In This Village Is A Liar by Megan Stack and Media.No need to stress; there's still time to learn.
I was told quotes are a MUST?? If I do not use quotes, how do i use examples from the text to support my ideas?
The good news is that you don't need to memorise quotes for Every Man as it's a Section B text. I mean, technically, you can if you really think they're applicable, but they're not a prerequisite.
Ps does anyone else feel nauseous just thinking about Wednesday....Yes, very.
I was told quotes are a MUST?? If I do not use quotes, how do i use examples from the text to support my ideas?Quotes are essentially non-negotiable in Section A (Text Response). However, they are not needed at all to get a good/perfect mark in Section B. There is no checklist of criteria that assessors read off when looking at your Section B piece. Further, it wouldn't make much sense to throw in quotes from the book if you had an imaginative piece, would it?
Hey guys!You don't necessarily need a 'counter-argument' to address more than one aspect of the prompt. Similarly, it's unrealistic and virtually impossible to cover all aspects of a prompt, so don't concern yourself with that.
I was fleshing out this prompt for Stasiland: 'Stasiland suggests that the more difficult to walls to break down are the ones that remain in the minds of those that lived through East Germany's history. ' But I couldn't think of any counter argument. Does anyone have any ideas or do I not need to include one for this prompt?
Thanks in advance!
Hi there,Not vital at all. It's better to have three excellent body paragraphs that all work together than to have four slightly above average ones. Many students who achieve great scores use only three body paragraphs, but still have enough quantity of a given quality in their writing to make it work in this manner.
I was just wondering how important it is to have 4 body paragraphs? I've been hearing from a couple teachers that having 4 bps is essential to getting to that 9-10 range. Can anyone confirm/debunk this claim?
Most of the time, I can only think of 3 main ideas and usually can only write 3 bps within the time limit, unless I'm super familiar with the topic, then 4 is possible, but a little risky.
Thanks in advance!!
Hi there,
I was just wondering how important it is to have 4 body paragraphs? I've been hearing from a couple teachers that having 4 bps is essential to getting to that 9-10 range. Can anyone confirm/debunk this claim?
Most of the time, I can only think of 3 main ideas and usually can only write 3 bps within the time limit, unless I'm super familiar with the topic, then 4 is possible, but a little risky.
Thanks in advance!!
Hey lauren just wanted your opinion on something.Yep, that's absolutely fine! :)
for LA in my intros, i have just usually been doing a brief context sentence, followed by the contentions of the authors with their tones occasionally.
Then i move straight into my body paras is this fine ?
Thanks :)
Hi Lauren,You'd probably be ticking the box for a basic text link, but part of the expectation for a 10/10 is that you somehow (i.e. explicitly for expository pieces or implicitly for creatives/hybrids) cover what the text has to say about the prompt. So incorporating your answer to that question (i.e. 'what does the set text say about this prompt?') should help you hit that 10/10 territory :)
My teacher says that my creative context pieces do not meet the criteria for a link to the ideas of text; however, they fulfill all the other criterion to a 9 0r 10 standard; despite the fact that included 5 quotes from the text and discussed the ideas of the text and used them as a framework for the piece? She says that the ideas from the text are not discussed in depth. Is my teacher correct or is the incorporation of quotes and a link to the ideas sufficient in terms of a link to the text?
Hey!Yep, totally optional, but it can be useful to make a good first impression on your assessor as a nice, snappy, relevant-to-the-prompt title might make a decent starting point for you to set up the direction of your ideas. Some assessors are partial to it too, but if you can't come up with a good one on the spot, it's by no means expected/compulsory :)
So I was looking at some context essays on the submissions board and got super jealous of them cool titles they got there 8)
I know that it is completely optional, but is there any particular benefits to having a title for a creative piece ?
Hey Lauren.I'm a big fan of back up options just in case; in fact, rather than rote learning a single piece, if you familiarise yourself with a bunch of potential sub-arguments and potential examples, then you can just cherry pick the best ones and apply them to whatever prompt you're dealt :)
For expository essays, do you recommend knowing one really well and adapting it? Do you recommend having spare paragraphs or ideas as backup?
Can someone please help me with this Brooklyn prompt?This kind of prompt would be very unlikely as it's not really in keeping with VCAA' style, but if you do get something structural or about how Toibin does something (e.g. 'How does Toibin show the differences between Enniscorthy and Brooklyn in the novel?') then you can reword it into a prompt that's a bit easier to handle. Then, within your body paragraphs, you bring up evidence that stems from the language (or the metaphors, or the setting, or the juxtaposition, or w/e structural feature is in the prompt).
How does Toibin's understated, economical writing style influence the reader's understanding of characters and settings of Brooklyn?
What paragraphs do you do for these types of prompts asking about the language used??
Hello,Referencing techniques can help, but it's not essential. You need to use textual evidence to support your contention, which will be based on the prompt. But you don't analyse techniques in the same way as you would for Language Analysis. Using metalanguage to describe what Toibin does can be useful though, so it depends which evidence you're drawing from :)
I am really worried about the text response. For Brooklyn do you have to write what techniques Toibin uses to support the prompt?
Thanks in advance!!
I can't remember quotes. What is the best way to find remember quotes for the exam? WHICH IS IN 2 DAYS OMGYou don't need quote for Every Man, so don't worry about that one. Talking about the ideas in that text in terms of conflict is sufficient. But for Medea, you definitely need quotes. Luckily, that play's quite short, so it shouldn't take you long to go through the ~40 page text and pick out what's important. And as Alter said, aim to find quotes that can be grouped under a list of core themes so that you can handle a variety of prompts (e.g. revenge, justice/justification, emotion, etc.)
I am doing 2 texts: Every Man In This Village Is A Liar by Megan Stack and Media.
Hey guys!You don't really need counter-arguments. Instead, you can question the prompt by asking 'why is this the case?' or 'what does this tell us about ____' (then fill in the blank with a key idea from the prompt, e.g. 'what does this tell us about breaking down walls' or 'what does this tell us about the past?') That would let you discuss how, though mental barriers may have derived from physical ones, ultimately it's these psychological remnants that have the greater effect on people.
I was fleshing out this prompt for Stasiland: 'Stasiland suggests that the more difficult to walls to break down are the ones that remain in the minds of those that lived through East Germany's history. ' But I couldn't think of any counter argument. Does anyone have any ideas or do I not need to include one for this prompt?
Thanks in advance!
Hi there,(http://colleendilen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-11-20-at-8.07.15-AM.png)
I was just wondering how important it is to have 4 body paragraphs? I've been hearing from a couple teachers that having 4 bps is essential to getting to that 9-10 range. Can anyone confirm/debunk this claim?
Most of the time, I can only think of 3 main ideas and usually can only write 3 bps within the time limit, unless I'm super familiar with the topic, then 4 is possible, but a little risky.
Thanks in advance!!
Also, wondering whether anyone could critique these topic sentences? And possibly ways to make it more complex? Also not sure if it's fully unpacking the prompt:Those are excellent topic sentences! The contention is worded a little strangely w/ some repetition in phrasing, but overall it's very clear. And the three concepts you've chosen to unpack here are definitely relevant. I like the use of linking words too - it seems like you should be pretty confident for Text Response :)
Burial Rites is about Agnes being restored to humanity. Discuss.
Contention: Agnes' humanity is irrefutable, however is unacknowledged in the eyes of the society. However, through the regaining of her personal autonomy by being able to tell her own story, her humanity is accepted by those who listen to her. Thus, Burial Rites is about the acknowledgement of Agnes' humanity, rather than her restoration to humanity.
1. Kent asserts the existence of Agnes' humanity through demonstrating the extremities of emotions that Agnes experiences.
2. However, Kent illustrates how her humanity is unacknowledged by the unfeeling and prejudicial society in which she inhabits.
3. Nevertheless, Kent elucidates how her humanity is ultimately recognized by those who are the audience to her life's narrative.
Thank you!!
So my plan of attack for context (my worst section) at this stage is to go for a creative expository hybrid kind of thing. I do a 200 ish word introduction, usually from the perspective of Galileo (my text is obviously LoG) or Brecht, and then go into an expository, and then have a quick creative conclusionTotally up to your preferred writing style. You're under no obligation to conform to the standard 3-4 body paragraph rules for context pieces, so you could just conduct a more general discussion and see where that takes you. Or, perhaps the structure will give you some sense of direction/clarity, so you could use it if you wanted to. I'd probably lean more towards a free-flow discussion just to make your piece stand out from all the typical essays, but again, do whatever suits your writing style!
With that kind of structure, would you say it's better to have a more free flowing discussion of ideas (throwing up examples and contrasting/comparing with examples from text plus a bit of loose conceptual discussion) or try and still have three distinct ideas (paragraphs) about the prompt in an obvious, topic sentency kind of way.
Ps does anyone else feel nauseous just thinking about Wednesday....
In the language analysis section of the exam, roughly how many persuasive techniques do we need to include for each article?It depends on the material. If you look over the VCAA past exams or some of this year's practice exams, you'll see that there are all sorts of possible combinations of articles/visuals. In general, if you have fewer than ~4 in each of your body paragraphs, assessors will probably notice. But remember that you can always unpack things like connotations or suggestions if you don't want to use a specific technique as your starting point. And remember to go beyond techniques as well - the assessors don't just want to see you point them out, they want to see you analyse them!
*This is probably the wrong place to ask but this is the first time I've used this site sorry*Here's one! We don't have many since it's not studied at very many schools - sorry! Maybe message some of your peers and trade essays today?
Can someone please tell me where I can find or send me moderatley good to pretty decent "The White Tiger" text responses? I can't find ANY.
Plz im really struggling.
Hey guys,1. Addressing the tone in your intro can be good, but it's not really worth any marks. Whereas, if you bring it up in body paragraphs and treat it like any other language features (i.e. analyse it, provide evidence, talk about its effect) then you can get marks, so try and do that at least once in your essay.
some questions about
* Section C:
1/ TONE: In the introduction when I identify the predominant tone, do I have to analyse it? And how to analyse tone (both the overall tone and the tone that shifts/adopts during the body paragraphs too), like how it is taken to persuade the reader?
2/ Can anyone please give me an example of xenophobic or scapegoating tone? Sometimes I find the writer/speaker alienate a particular group of audience by portraying them as [... some negative stuff... that contradicts...] but I'm not sure what tone are they adopting.
* Section A:
I've been searching throughout the AN English board about unpacking prompts for weeks now. But I'm still not really what is the difference between approaching a "zoom-in" prompt (character, structure (?)) and a "big-picture" prompt (v-v, themes). Can sb please give me a quick recap on this?
Thank you so much guys and good luck tmr :)
I know I'm going to need to edit my essays and I'm planning to do this in the last 20 minutes of the exam, but is it worth it if I don't manage to finish my last essay (Section C- most likely). I timed myself last night and I didn't manage to get in a conclusion within the 60 minutes although I averaged about 770 words. So I guess my question is, is it better to have three polished but unfinished essays, or three finished essays that could do with some cleaning up concerning vocabulary, minor expression issues, consistency, etc?Hmm, I'd probably lean more so to three polished-but-unfinished ones since ultimately, what the assessors are looking for is an insight into your skillset, and that's going to put you in better stead than three essays that are complete, but very flawed. That said, how much editing do your pieces need?? 20 minutes seems excessive to me, so perhaps while writing you could take note of any vocab/expression issues and try and fix some as you go? If you know editing time benefits you, then go for it, but if it means finishing everything way too early and potentially compromising quality, then you might be better off admitting that maybe the expression wasn't 100% perfect, but at least you communicated all your ideas effectively :)
Hi Lauren,Yep; I'll get there! Prioritising essays and questions on the forums at the moment, but I'll get to messages soon! :)
I know you're probably really busy but i was just wondering if you got my Context piece that i PM to you a couple of days ago. It's totally fine if you are too busy i just needed a second opinion on it that's all.
Thank you. :)
Yep, that's absolutely fine! :)Hey Lauren, how do we do this? I'm having some trouble trying to apply it and was hoping you could just give an example. My context is I&B and texts are Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Invictus.
You'd probably be ticking the box for a basic text link, but part of the expectation for a 10/10 is that you somehow (i.e. explicitly for expository pieces or implicitly for creatives/hybrids) cover what the text has to say about the prompt. So incorporating your answer to that question (i.e. 'what does the set text say about this prompt?') should help you hit that 10/10 territory :)
The tensions between the theatre and Hollywood mirror the conflicts between characters throughout All About Eve. Discuss.
Super simple q; but I seem to forget a lot of the word by word quotes in my text (it's a film, Mabo) - would I be penalized if most, or all, my textual evidence is in the form of example and straight techniques etc. Eg instead of mentioning a specific quote like 'perkins use of the traditional Meriam music blah blah does this, instilling "eddis is nothing but a trouble maker" - would I be penalized for saying something like - 'perkins selectively uses the traditional Meriam music, alongside a close up of Mabos facial features when Mabo displays indignation as a result of not being successful in the initial supreme court trial. Etc. And then analysing like so ?Try to memorise a few direct quotes; you need to use them alongside your discussion of moments in the film or certain cinematic devices, so rote-learning quotes can be your revision exercise for the day! (Watching the film again might also help get them to stick in your head!) The discussion you've got there would be really good, but assessors will pick up on the fact that you have very few quotes, and the stringent ones might penalise you for it, so try and focus on memorising a couple just to be on the safe side.
I find I mainly talk about 'perkins and how she does things for most prompts, or if it's a really specific prompt - just my reasons supporting / not supporting the prompt I.e in a do you agree prompt?
Ive pretty much done this use of 'non specific evidence' all year and my teachers have been okay with it - but now I'm a little worried haha. I'm aiming for a mid range piece for text, would it still be possible if I only had like 1-2 quotes per paragraph, but most of my evidence was a film technique, discussion of a specific scene?
Hope I made sense- thanks guys !!
Hey Lauren, how do we do this? I'm having some trouble trying to apply it and was hoping you could just give an example. My context is I&B and texts are Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Invictus.To work this out, take an Id&b prompt and ask 'what does SotSD say about this prompt?' e.g. if the prompt is 'our identity comes from those around us,' does the text support or challenge this idea? How? Why? etc. <-- embed that idea in your piece, and you should be fine.
Also, in my essays this year I've been quoting the book i.e. "In the Country of Men" instead of underlining. My teacher said that this was accecptable. Can I keep this in the exam or should I underline?
Thank you
Would this sort of prompt breakdown work?This is absolutely fine. Might be good to hint at the idea you're bringing up in P3 in your intro if that is to be your overarching interpretation, but that breakdown seems solid :)
"We all have abnormality in common. We're a breed apart form the rest of humanity, we theatre folk; we are the original displaced personalities."
What is it that links the characters of All About Eve?
- Their role playing links all the characters in AAE.
- Their shared ambition to “be somebody” other than who they are links them
- However, it is how they enact these ambitions that ultimately divide and distinguish them.
Hence, Mankiewicz compels his viewer to recognise that the thespians in the film are both “a breed apart” and similar. Through this, he ultimately delivers a commentary on the relationship between the “Ivory Green Room… call[ed] the Theatre” and the broader macrocosm, indicating that like the characters in the film, these two entities are both a faithful reflection of one another and a means of escapism.
The society portrayed in All About Eve is depicted as fundamentally superficial and driven purely by the self-interest of members.All good! Be careful with the 'P3 twist' where you pivot to your wider point as you don't want this to seem like you're doubling back on what you've said earlier, but rather that you're building upon it to say something more complex. Conclusion and concluding line are also fine; I'd probably cut the "advocating for a reevaluation" part just because I'm not sure you could state that this is definitely what Mankie's angling for, but the use of the quote is totally fine :)
To what extent do you agree?
1. Superficial in that the theatre and the world of the thespians is ultimately merely an illusion, a pretense and a deception.
2. It is a superficiality that is at times <-- what do you mean by this exactly? maintained by these characters out of sheer self-interest.
3. And yet… it’s not. This superficiality is driven by this 1950s patriarchal society that forced women to adhere to a certain gendered role and did not allow them the freedom to be themselves.
Conclusion: Hence, at its heart, the society portrayed in AAE is driven to maintain an illusion out of not just the self-interest of its members but also the rigidity of this social structure. The inflexibility of this society means that “a woman’s career” is confined to the confines of an apartment even if her “native habitat” and her “heart” was in the “Ivory Green Room… call[ed] the Theatre”. To this end, Mankiewicz ultimately seeks to challenge and repudiate these restrictive gendered roles, advocating for a reevaluation in order to proffer women liberty from the restrictive traditional gender roles and discover for themselves what it means to “be… a woman.”
Would ^ conclusion be okay? Would that last sentence be considered too clumsily put? How could I make it more crisp/concise??
Hi Lauren, do you reckon there's a chance there'll be a prompt about family in identity in belonging? The trend seems to be steering more to change and self-growth since Summer of the Seventeenth Doll came in, and I feel as though as Summer doesn't really link to the idea of family well. But I suppose it's worth preparing for curveballs?Family's way too narrow. Some of the other texts wouldn't work for that at all, so I highly doubt they'd be that mean. But you might get something about 'people closest to us' or 'the people in our lives,' which would let you talk about family if you wanted to :)
Hey Lauren, I'm not sure if you'll be able to help, but what external examples would you recommend looking at for internal/intellectual conflict for context: encountering conflict.What do you mean by 'intellectual' conflict, exactly? For internal conflict, a nice generic one would be to look at cognitive dissonance, though I'm hesitant to suggest any more specific ones since I don't know which other examples you're using and I don't want to give you one that clashes or doesn't fit. Are there any that you're considering at the moment that I could maybe help refine or clarify? :)
Sorry for the question spam but...What are the tensions between the theatre and Hollywood (hint: old vs. new) and what are the tensions between the characters (see previous hint)? Probably safest to mostly agree here and consider how these tensions are similar, since this is a slightly structural prompt. Then zoom out to the broader point of 'what is Mank. saying about these tensions?' Does that help?
The tensions between the theatre and Hollywood mirror the conflicts between characters throughout All About Eve. Discuss.
How would I deal with ^ prompt?? I don't know how to break it down/structure an essay around it...
Also, how do I use desist in a sentence? Can desist and stop/cease be used as direct synonyms or nah?
Hello guys and girls,You need a 25 to pass, so failing to get a 25 would mean you would not receive a VTAC offer for any courses that listed a 25 in English as a prerequisite. But if you're applying for courses that don't require this, or you're not looking to go on to tertiary study next year, you don't have to repeat Year 12. You can also achieve English qualifications at other institutions if you'd prefer. Though I believe that you'll still be grated a high school completion certificate even if you end up with a <30 ATAR.
What actually happens if you get a study score of below 20 for English? Does that mean you have failed VCE and you need to take it again?
Thanks
"To what extent is the creature in Frankenstein a reflection of Victor himself?"Very good question! You could talk about both, but I think the latter would be the expected interpretation; as in, the creature exhibits many of the same desires and flaws as Victor does. Definitely worth coming up with some evidence for that one if you haven't written about it already, as it's a very central concern of the novel and a great overarching reading to build towards :)
Reflection mean what in this context ? opposite (like a graph in maths) or the same (like a mirror image)
Does any one know where i could find writing paper the same as we get in the english exam?
Conflict and injustice arise from the human rive for power over others.not sure what rive could mean in this context- but i think its conflict occurs due to humans having a predisposition so split themselves/ segregate themselves in order to become powerful/ maintain power?
What's this prompt saying?
Just wondering if its okay to draw upon two of the set texts I've learnt as examples in a context expository essay, or whether I should just stay focused on one text throughout.i dont think this is allowed- on the front of your answer booklet, it says something not to use a 'multimodal' text for section b, that was used in section 'a'- so im not sure!
e.g. In one paragraph I might use the ideas from text A
In the next I might use ideas from text B
i dont think this is allowed- on the front of your answer booklet, it says something not to use a 'multimodal' text for section b, that was used in section 'a'- so im not sure!
Oops, I meant to mean, would it be okay to use ideas from both Foe and Wag the Dog (not from the actual Section A)i dont think (not sure) u can use ideas from both, bc you have to write your 'main text' on the top, so try not to use ideas evenly between the two; pretty sure yo have to maintain one main text- but double check w/ others on here :)
Sorry for not being clear
Just wondering if its okay to draw upon two of the set texts I've learnt as examples in a context expository essay, or whether I should just stay focused on one text throughout.
i dont think (not sure) u can use ideas from both, bc you have to write your 'main text' on the top, so try not to use ideas evenly between the two; pretty sure yo have to maintain one main text- but double check w/ others on here :)You are allowed to use both texts, just one has to be the main and written at the top of section B while the other can be used a little bit throughout your piece
Hi!
I was just wondering for a prompt that talks about how relationships impact on your identity, like 'without connection to others, there is no me' would these three paragraphs for an expository essay be okay
1. connection to parents, they are around in our most formative years and our values and beliefs are largely gained from them
2. our identity continues to change throughout our lives through relationships we gain and lose in a lifetime
3. however there are some integral parts of our identity that can not be changed in anyway by those around us, such as race.
My teacher isn't sure about the third paragraph and said it doesn't really keep to the prompt but I just wanted to check whether other people think that too, I talk about white privilege etc and how these aspects of identity that are not altered by relationships are a large influence on your life and a really big impact on your identity and who you are, and then just talk about how Duggan is affected by his race in regards to his identity and views etc. because my book is Wild Cat Falling.
Thanks!!
thanks heaps lauren! i seem to have about only 5-10 memorised, and im aimin for like 20ish for today- would roughly 3ish direct quotes and a lot of 'non specific evidence' been plenty, or do i still need more ? :/ kinda annoyed my teachers didn't emphasise this.3 in each paragraph might get you over the line, but try and memorise a wide variety for a bunch of different themes just to ensure you have your bases covered.
sorry to double post. but i forgot to ask- what is the rule about the 'multimodal text' for section A/B? im using the film MABO for text, and every man in this village is a liar for context- is that ok? my context will be a creative pieceYep, you're all good. You're just not allowed to write on films for both Sec. A and B (e.g. All About Eve + A Separation or Mabo + Invictus)
What structure would you use for a Language Analysis if you are asked to analyse an interview?Same structure I'd recommend for any material; group by arguments and transition between the different authors' depiction of certain ideas :)
Also, one last thing.Yeah, AAE has some surprisingly complex views and values, but I think you can argue things either way, and you may even get a prompt revolving around what things Mank. is condoning/condemning. I don't really want to give you one interpretation because I'd rather not panic a bunch of people by inferring that this'd be the only way to argue things, so instead, I'd recommend coming to some conclusion either way and ensuring you can substantiate your position - that should be sufficient to get you through any potential V&V prompts :)
Do you feel like it's a bit difficult to interpret Mankiewicz's views and values for All About Eve? He holds up the injustices females suffer in the industry and in society, but you could hardly say he challenges this view.
Plus, it's hard to tell with the whole Hollywood v Theatre debate, he obviously was fascinated with the theatre, but do you think he was challenging the elitism commonly seen?
This is a Burial Rites related question:Significance changes with context, but in general, BR has a lot of examples of pathetic fallacies (something that this essay handles really well) so consider how some of these natural symbols/metaphors could be used as indictments of the characters' state of mind. Also, ideas of submergence or feelings of deprivation and abandonment that are present in the quotes you've outlined are pretty clear links to Agnes' turmoil, so that's probably the easiest way to interpret things.
What is the symbolism behind Kent's usage of wind and the sense of being underwater as a motif?
So for example, "only the wind speaks and it will not talk sense", "a cold wind passes through you as though you are not there..." and "there are ravens in the sky but what bird flies underwater", "we are all underwater and i cannot swim", "if i spesk, it will bein bubbles of air".
What is the significance of this?
Thanks Lauren!What are the barriers between men and women in the theatre in AAE? Start there. If in doubt, jump for evidence first and try to work backwards. Are there things that the men are capable of (or that they can do without having to suffer many social consequences) that the women can't get away with? Are there things that the men can acquire or assume that the women can't? Are there barriers that the women have to try and surmount that the men don't have to worry about? And are there gaps between the lives/values/intentions/desires of the men and women in the film? Hopefully that'll give you some starting points here :)
ii. How does the film show the barriers between men and women in the theatre?
^^ How would you tackle this prompt and break it down??? I don't know how I could structure an essay around this...
AlsoAs many as you want ;)
In All About Eve, there are many different ways for a relationship to fracture. Do you agree?
How many different ways would you explore in your essay?
Every conflict involves both an internal and an external struggle.Can internal struggles affect external ones? Or vice versa? Or both? (Hint: it's both!) What does this say about conflict? Is the internal struggle the source of external ones? Which one affects us more? Which one is more telling/meaningful/important/impactful?
How would I springboard from this prompt and broaden it out???
Hi!Be careful not to base your arguments solely on one example (e.g. 'yes, because family' or 'no, because race'). The ideas you've outlined here seem solid, but you might find it useful to spend the first couple of sentences in each paragraph just fleshing out your idea before delving into examples to support your stance :)
I was just wondering for a prompt that talks about how relationships impact on your identity, like 'without connection to others, there is no me' would these three paragraphs for an expository essay be okay
1. connection to parents, they are around in our most formative years and our values and beliefs are largely gained from them
2. our identity continues to change throughout our lives through relationships we gain and lose in a lifetime
3. however there are some integral parts of our identity that can not be changed in anyway by those around us, such as race.
My teacher isn't sure about the third paragraph and said it doesn't really keep to the prompt but I just wanted to check whether other people think that too, I talk about white privilege etc and how these aspects of identity that are not altered by relationships are a large influence on your life and a really big impact on your identity and who you are, and then just talk about how Duggan is affected by his race in regards to his identity and views etc. because my book is Wild Cat Falling.
Thanks!!
Conflict and injustice arise from the human rive for power over others.People want power, therefore conflict and injustice. 'Rive' is a really arcane word to use in this context though :P And that second prompt would probably be too specific for VCAA since it doesn't work for all four texts. But if you get overwhelmed by key terms, then boiling them down to their essence is a smart way to approach things.
What's this prompt saying?
The most significant divisions in any community are not ethical or moral, but personal animosities, insecurities and greed.
^^There are so many aspects in this prompt... and not enough time to fully hash them all out. Could I sorta just treat ethical = moral ad personal animosities = insecurities = greed? Or would that be too simplistic?
Conflict can only be resolved when there is an agreed version of events.1. We can't resolve conflict if people don't see things the same way. Hence, conflict stems from a clash of perspectives, and will persist unless these perspectives can be unified/'agreed upon.'
and
Conflict is inevitable, the way we deal with it is not.
^^ What big ideas are these two prompts dealing with? What's the second prompt saying?
Just wondering if its okay to draw upon two of the set texts I've learnt as examples in a context expository essay, or whether I should just stay focused on one text throughout.You can use both, but you still have to nominate a 'main text drawn upon,' so try to concentrate on one for the most part rather than talking about them both in equal measure.
e.g. In one paragraph I might use the ideas from text A
In the next I might use ideas from text B
For encountering conflict, I'm writing a persuasive opinion piece, is it okay to focus it all on one big broad idea such as divorce or the michael ferguson case and then extract my ideas from that? and then throughout link it to a separation?Absolutely! Just make sure you can create at least one or two overt links to the set text, and maybe use that spark/example as a way into talking about other things (e.g. from divorce to the cultural significance of marriage and tradition, or the Michael Ferguson to racism and the justice system more broadly, etc.)
For those who are doing 'Medea', What can you talk about in the theam Manipulation?Start by thinking about examples of manipulation in the text. For example, would you say Jason manipulates Medea? How about Medea manipulating Aeges? From there, you can build out to thinking about what the author is saying about this theme[/b] (i.e. what is Euripides saying about manipulation based on this evidence?) :)
Thanks heaps
Is it necessary to mention the visual aids accompanying a language analysis piece in the intro?Nope! Totally optional. You can acknowledge them briefly if you want; some people even give an overview of what they're depicting/suggesting/contending, but it's totally up to you :)
What are some outside sources for my context essay for whose reality related to death of a salesman?The idea of the American Dream is a good place to start; it's a little bit well-worn as a lot of students will discuss this, but it relates to a whole plethora of other concepts like ambition, hope, expectation etc. which in turn can be used as a way into other examples. I also reckon Donald Trump's entire campaign is like one big manipulation of people's realities - like, he's unwittingly done VCE WR students a massive favour by running for present this year because the past year has been like one big case study of clashing subjective realities :P (this vid explains it quite well)
Should we throw in textual references early for context?Sooner rather than later is preferred, just so that the assessors can see that you're starting from the text (as a "springboard") and working out to bigger, broader ideas, vs. them waiting till the end to discern the connection :)
Somewhat irrelevant to the discussions happening at the moment, but this forum has reached100k reads!!!Right before the english exam ;D
NEED HELP!See attachment!
I'm always saying, in Language Analysis, the author APPEALS to... or ATTEMPTS to ....
Are there any other ways of saying what they are trying to do as I know I can't say they MAKE the reader feel something!!
Thankyou in advance!
Somewhat irrelevant to the discussions happening at the moment, but this forum has reached100k reads!!!Right before the english exam ;D
1k of them are from me tbhDw, I'm at least 50k myself :'D
Yeah, AAE has some surprisingly complex views and values, but I think you can argue things either way, and you may even get a prompt revolving around what things Mank. is condoning/condemning. I don't really want to give you one interpretation because I'd rather not panic a bunch of people by inferring that this'd be the only way to argue things, so instead, I'd recommend coming to some conclusion either way and ensuring you can substantiate your position - that should be sufficient to get you through any potential V&V prompts :)You're a gun! Cheers! I know you don't want to give too much of your opinion but would you agree that Mankiewicz does give merit to different forms of medium (Going off Bill's long monologue about the 'theatuh').
Hi Lauren!Listing single words would be okay as a brainstorm, or you can turn them into bigger categories with synonyms for each theme and lists of prompts and quotes/examples too - depends what you feel like you need to work on :)
In your 10 things to do before the exam guide you mention listing themes. do i just briefly list them, or do i write in detail with prompts and all?
You're a gun! Cheers! I know you don't want to give too much of your opinion but would you agree that Mankiewicz does give merit to different forms of medium (Going off Bill's long monologue about the 'theatuh').Absolutely; and if you got a theatre-based prompt (which hasn't directly cropped up in the past two years, so could be a possibility this time?) that'd be a great way of teasing out some more complex views and values assertions :)
Hey Lauren,Three would definitely be the bare minimum; probably aim for around five if you want to be safe. There's not really a maximum, though obvs if you're just inserting multiple quotes in every single sentence without analysing them, you'll probably end up compromising your ideas, and thus compromising your mark. But if you're mixing up the use of examples with actual discussion, you should be fine.
What's a good/recommended number of quotes per paragraph? You said the bare minimum was around 3, is there a threshold where it becomes too excessive?
Thanks
Hey, just a quick question for the english exam tomorrow would you be able to write a newsletter in Section B however using columns etc and not get marked down?Yep, you definitely can, I've had a couple of students do this in the past and they never ran into any problems with it. Though make sure it's for a good reason and you're not just doing it for the 'novelty' factor or anything :P
"The worst affront to Medea is the desecration of her pride" Do you agree?What exactly were you having trouble with?
"Conflict stretches back into the past as well as into the future".
Can someone please help break these prompts down into arguments for me? How do I get three arguments for each, I've literally been avoiding these prompts for so long because they were so difficult.
In TR, is it better to have 1 example with through discussion or two examples that are more briefTry to mix it up between the two. It can depend on the prompt as well; sometimes a 'depth-y' approach is more useful than a 'breadth-y' one.
being pragmatic here- i dont think i can remember a huge amount of quotes for MABO by tmr, lets say a write an essay of like 6-7/10, but do not have a huge selection of quotes/even modify-almost make up- a quote or two, and i have a pretty strict/smart assessor who catches on to that- how much would i be penalised? im thinking maybe a drop of a mark. Most of my evidence will be film technique based/example based.It's okay to draw from techniques too, but try and mix it up with at least a couple of quotes per paragraph - hopefully that's achievable no matter what the prompt is.
thanks to whoever replies <3
Hi guys :)Try to go back to the text and find quotes that support your assertions; there's not much point in me suggesting random bits of evidence to you! Ask yourself how do I know when you're making those assertions about what the text means or what the characters think/feel, and that should help you find some quotes to draw from :)
Can someone tells me what quotes I can insert in this paragraph relating to how photographs serve as a means to authenticate the events depicted in MAUS, since I heard it is vital to have more than two quotes in each body paragraph.
heyy so with discuss prompts like Medea is a cautionary tale about being consumed by emotion. Discuss. would it be ok to use the following ideas for an essayDefinitely! Just be careful with your final paragraph as that might come across as a bit off-topic unless you can work in the idea of emotion in there too. But overall, that should give you a nice breadth of points to discuss! :)
- The play Medea warns against allowing emotions to consume you
- eg. character of Medea - emotion clouds reason - kills children
- The tale warns against allowing emotions to rule your decisions
- eg. character of Jason - ambition rules decision - loses everything
- Medea also serves as a warning against inflicting patriarchal views
- eg. views of women allow Medea to succeed bc she can manipulate men
- eg. Medea's anger at role fuels her desire for revenge
thanks :)
Aaaaand I'm reading the dictionary again. ::) ::) ::)- undermines, challenging, or invalidating would also work as synonyms for 'negate' in this context
Could you please check I'm using the underlined words correctly?
For the 2014 VCAA:
For Laikis' contention: Could we have said that Laikis is seeking to negate ✓ the support Yergon may have engendered by derisively ✓ attacking her and her support for space exploration as delusional?
Thanks LaurenI swear I've used it once or twice, but in hindsight, it probably came across as evaluative, yeah. Maybe stick with a safer verb like 'suggests' and just use a tonal adverb to modify it if you find something that seems like an example of prevarication. Unless you get a piece where the author is condemning someone else for prevaricating, in which case you can use it :P Best to stick with safe alternatives for main verbs though; always play to your strengths in the exam! :)
Also:
Would "prevaricate" be too evaluative for LA?
Hi Lauren,Aim for more than two, if possible. 2 per paragraph would only give you, like six overall, unless you plan on writing a heap of body paragraphs? And you'd need to incorporate the visual too, which also counts as analysis.
For Section C should I use 2 language techniques per paragraph?
Thanks!!
This question is being asked for a friend.
first he asked me i havent done any timed pieces at all for english, but he said he knows the things from his text/ context.
He asked me how worried he should be about time?
i said if he knows everything good enough he should be able to handle the time constraints fine.
He wanted other peoples opinion on this what do you guys think ?
hey guys,You need to nominate a "main text drawn upon," so whilst it's totally fine if you're using two, you need you need to have one, official 'primary' text :)
so i just came across something on vce discussion space that said you shouldn't talk about 2 texts in context? i have been doing this all year and have been getting a+'s so i'm kind of confused, do assessors really care if you use one or two texts ?????
thanks :)
Hi Lauren,It's best to talk about connotations alongside the rest of your analysis. Maybe try and have one bit of connotative discussion + three techniques in each paragraph, and possibly a bit of the visual if you really need a formula.
So if I am writing about connotations in section C, can I dedicate one whole body paragraph to connotations?
Thanks again!!
LaurenI'd say
For language analysis
HOW: language technique
WHY: author's intention
SO: effect on reader
Right?
What's the diff between WHY and SO?
What exactly were you having trouble with?
And don't worry, they were meant to be super hard, and even the simple act of thinking about them puts you ahead of a vast number of people around the state who only ever even think about the easy stuff!
Tbh, not having done any time trials whatsoever might put your friend at a slight disadvantage as he potentially won't have found certain trouble-spots that might affect him in the exam. But you shouldn't tell him anything that's going to freak him out and make him think that he should do a whole 3 hour exam tonight or anything dumb like that :P Maybe encourage him to do a quick 15 min. reading time exercise just to put his mind at ease?
You need to nominate a "main text drawn upon," so whilst it's totally fine if you're using two, you need you need to have one, official 'primary' text :)
It's best to talk about connotations alongside the rest of your analysis. Maybe try and have one bit of connotative discussion + three techniques in each paragraph, and possibly a bit of the visual if you really need a formula.
I'd say
WHAT: language technique
HOW: effect on reader
WHY: link to argument // SO: link to purpose <-- these are basically one and the same
"Why" = 'why would the author want to position readers in this way, or portray this idea as ____?'
"So" = 'so... why would the author...' etc. :P
Just different terminology that different teachers employ sometimes to make our lives difficult ::)
So for the Medea one, I've literally been staring at it for days and cannot come up with three arguments for it. I've reworded it to "the worst 'insult' to Medea is the 'violation' of her pride", I don't know if that's right but I still can't seem to think of three paragraphs for it!That's alright, the Medea one was quite left-of-field; consider what you could say about the different kinds of challenges Medea faces and the different wrongs that she endures. The prompt kind of hints that they can all be traced back to her pride (e.g. the reason she's so upset that Jason betrayed her was that it undermined her sense of self, etc.) so that should give you somewhere to start.
And the conflict one I'm assuming it's talking about how the history of the conflict can also shape any future conflicts experienced?
What do you mean by link to argument???As in, why would the author do this and how would it help their argument? (like linking things back to the key player, though it's more like an optional step - you don't have to do this for every single point of analysis)
I've been doing LA intuitively all year but apparently exam stress is screwing up my intuition... :(
Also: can exhorts and encourage be used interchangeably??'exhorts' is a little stronger; 'exhorts' is more like 'implores,' whereas 'encourages' would be a more generic, mild version.
How would you structure the interview in the practise exam 2? I'm having trouble figuring out what would be analysedThe host of the show didn't really have a contention, so you can leave him out. But you'd want to deal with both of the guests and their contentions, so the easiest structure would probably be to pick out three core concepts that they both talk about (e.g. the respectfulness of young people) and then talk about how they both position that concept (approx half a paragraph on each) - does that make sense? :)
For LA, would I lose marks for not using paragraphs at all (Unless it's two pieces in which case I would use two)? I discuss the techniques chronologically as they are in the piece and sometimes one technique can appear in different sections of the piece (for example in the e-book LA from 2012 the author emphasises that she's open to change both at the beginning and at the end of the piece).Your analysis will probably be stronger if you can find some sub-arguments to talk about.
could someone please tell me what exactly will the examiners be looking for in a context (imaginative)That's a pretty general question... is there anything in particular you're unsure of or struggling with? :) There's some broad advice if you click on the links in the 'Context' section in this post - hope that helps!
If the language analysis piece has a big article with a few comments or something in response, how do we structure the piece? I usually lean to sorting my paragraphs through the writers arguments, but if there are just a few little comments in response to the bigger article and they only really have one main contention would you just do one paragraph each of the comments? And then stick to 3 paragraphs based on arguments for the bigger article?See: here
Thanks!!
quick checklistShould be fine.
- is it okay if my dictionary has my name on it? on the front page, and written on the side of the dictionary (in fairly big blue writing), is a new dictionary required? ahah
- not expected to know our student numbers, are we?Nope.
-clear water bottles up until 1.5 litres?Yep, unlabelled, clear and up to 1.5L.
- do we need our student I.Ds if the invigilators can recognise us (ill be in uniform haha )Nah that isn't necessary.
Hey guys,
So... I have a 3-hour English unit 1/2 exam in the forthcoming week, and was wondering if someone can give me a general outline of how many pages I should aim to write in 1 hour (considering that I write between 8-12 words per sentence).
Thanks :)
Hey guys,
So... I have a 3-hour English unit 1/2 exam in the forthcoming week, and was wondering if someone can give me a general outline of how many pages I should aim to write in 1 hour (considering that I write between 8-12 words per sentence).
Thanks :)
Hi,Unfortunately, it is assumed that English is your primary/first language if you're doing English Language, so the same leniency and understanding in marking that may be seen in EAL won't necessarily apply here. As a result, I've never really heard of anyone doing EL if they have the option to do EAL. I don't want to totally discourage you, because your English skills might be up to scratch or you could enjoy EL a lot more. I encourage you to chat with your English teacher or the head of English at your school. Best of luck!
Can an EAL student study English Language this subject instead of EAL?
I've studied Units 1/2 for EAL, can I change into Units 3/4 English Language next year? Will there be a lot of challenges?
Thanks xD
Hey guys,
So for attendance reasons, I have received an N for Unit 2 English; although averaging 90% for my SACs all year. I've been getting real worried as to the effect an N in english can have on my record - will it have much of an affect if at all ANY affect on my study score for English Units 3/4 next year or applications for Uni? Thanks
Is any good English student willing to mark my language analysis.
My (new) replacement teacher who had to fill in for the rest of my year for my sick teacher gave me a C for our LA analysis outcome. I've been averaging B+/A the entire year. The people who aren't good at english in my class got higher than me, but I had the same teacher in Sem 1 Year 10 when I was pretty bad at English. The new teache appears biased against me.
It also appears that she only looked at my intro and BP1 and gave me a mark since she wrote nothing for the rest of my essay (3 pages). Whereas she annotated all over the essays for the people who she marked properly.
Hello! For the new study design, it there much change to the language analysis section? I'm assuming there is since they changed the name, but my teacher seems to be teaching it like the old design (i.e impact of language on audiences). If I'm correct, shouldn't there a more holistic approach to it; considering both argument and language?Also just to add, is there any change for context as well?
Also just to add, is there any change for context as well?
Hello, I am currently struggling with language analysis. My question is, when do we use argument techniques and when do we use persuasive techniques?
I am planning to read my English texts for next year now. Just wondering if I should be annotating or taking notes during my first read.
Hi all,
This may seem like a straight forward question, but is it possible to explore complex ideas (well) in English with mid-high vocabulary skills.
Often I receive feedback from my teachers that while I discuss complex ideas and go into depth with themes, I lack a high range vocabulary to thoroughly execute this.
Thanks!
Anyone recommend any good workbooks for english next year? E.g. Checkpoints
Hi all,
I have a question about how I should approach this Medea prompt: "Medea is the true victim of Euphrides' play". Do you agree?
My contention is "Medea is a victim but not the only one of the play". My body paragraphs will each discuss why Medea, Jason and the children are victims.
My questions are:
- Do I address the prompt sufficiently? I'm a bit iffy about the "true" part since my discussion is based solely on one side of the story where the characters are victims, completely disregarding their actions that could make them seem more like villans than victims.
- Should I change the topics of my body paragraphs? I know it's generally advised to steer away from character-based paragraphs, but I feel like it would be okay in this case since the prompt itself is character based.
- If I should change my topics, would the following be okay:
- Medea is a victim but she has victims of her own
- All characters suffer at the hands of others (should I make this more specific by talking about the innocence of some characters?)
- All characters fall prey to societal pressures
Thanks in advance for all help :)
Medea is a victim but she has victims of her own
All characters suffer at the hands of others (should I make this more specific by talking about the innocence of some characters? Anything relevant is free game and can be explored in your response.)
All characters fall prey to societal pressures So? The connection between this idea and the prompt needs to be clarified so that no one can turn around and argue that it's irrelevant to the prompt.
I'm a little biased but I tend to not like the whole character by character paragraph breakdown so much which is what you seem to be gearing towards. However, your BP breakdown would probably fine (like my school actively encouraged the use of a character by character breakdown fr the simple reason of it was easier); personally, I'd want to throw in something about whether Medea really is a victim instead of basing your discussion "solely on the side of the story where the characters are victims". I mean there's nothing there to say that you can't talk about their actions.
I'm a bigger fan of the thematic or idea based paragraphs largely because I personally feel that it allows for a more cohesive and structured argument (for me personally, character based paras always ended in 3 - 4 paragraphs where I just reiterated the same thing idea over again whereas thematic based paras allowed for more exploration of the prompt).
I prefer what you're trying to achieve via the second prompt breakdown:
Your questions are quite legitimate concerns, however, and it's so good that you're asking these questions now. Tbh I don't think I started asking these questions until like midyear so good on you! :)
If you feel any more questions, please feel free to ask. :)
Hey HLS,
Thanks for the help. I redid my plan and is it okay if you look over it (and answer some questions?); I'll try -- if I mess up, fingers crossed Lauren or someone more knowledgeable pulls me up on it. :p
Contention: Euphrides is ambiguous in which character he suggests is the victim. (Is this okay? Or would something like "Within Medea, Euphrides explores the ideas of being a victim, and innocence"I quite like the original contention but you have to be careful to remain within the confines of the topic with your contention. Like I feel like the second one "Within Medea..." doesn't as clearly address the topic?.)
Argument 1:All characters suffer to some extent at the hands of others.
- For this argument, I would talk about how Medea suffers due to Jason's betrayal, but also due to her own extreme emotions (leading to moral repercussions). I would then talk about how Jason suffers due to the stuff expected of him (social pressures).
Argument 2: All characters however aren't completely innocent.
- Is this a strong argument? It's just that I could already come up with a counter argument for it, and that is the children; they're completely innocent. Would probs be stronger if you ditched the absolute "All characters". "Some characters" would probs work better considering that you are correct in that the children are completely innocent. -- Perhaps the children being innocent could form a third paragraph?
- For this paragraph, I would essentially discuss the bad things the characters did, making them more villainous than victims.
- Would just these 2 body paragraphs suffice for an essay? Probably not. 3 BP's is preferred and typically considered the min number of paragraphs though ofc 2 good body paragraphs is better than 2 good paragraphs and 1 dodgy paragraphs or worse, 3 dodgy paragraphs.
Thanks for all help. :) :)
Please please please remember the topic: Medea is the true victim of Euphrides' play. As Medea is directly referred to, she needs to form a key aspect of your argument (though obviously, you must include other characters in your discussion!!)
From memory, when I did this my prompt breakdown looked something like this:Spoiler1. Medea is, to some extent, a victim due to the actions of those around her.
2. However, her vengeful actions preclude us from casting her as the "true victim"
3. Similarly, there are characters in the play that are not purely "villains" or "victims" (Jason, Glauce's father whose name I can't remember)
4. Ultimately, it is Medea's sons who are the "true" victims due to their innocence blah blah blah.
See how ^ is more Medea centric whilst still incorporating discussion of other characters? Your plan is good but it could be improved through a stronger emphasis on Medea due to the direct reference to Medea in the prompt.
(Sharing this with you because I know for me personally, it always helped to see how other people would have approached the topic and explanations never *really* worked for me unless they were supplemented with an example. :P )
Hey HLS,
Thanks for the quick reply and help. I have some more questions (hehe sorry :P): Welcomes. Tbh Im not doing anything w my time anyway so at least this way someone is hopefully gaining something from my free time that would have otherwise been wasted.
- Does my contention has to be centred around Medea? I think so largely due to the nature of the prompt. However, Medea can't be the only aspect of your argument, you still have to incorporate discussion re: other characters.
- Is is okay to have paragraphs based solely on one character (like your 1st one) and bring in discussion about other characters, but link them back to that one character? Yep. I quite liked to do this (esp for prompts like this) largely because I found that linking them like that made everything feel more cohesive. And my teacher never seemed to complain about it so I guess it's fine?
- In text response, what does it mean by "views and values"? In Medea, does it means something like "Athenian audience would see Medea's actions as..." or "A modern audience would condemn...". Ugh. My Literature teacher did a full 45 minute class on views and values and the nuanced differences between the two and I could never quite grasp onto what it meant; I still can't confidently answer that question from a Literature standpoint. In English however, I think view and values are just treated sorta like "themes" (though from memory, using the word "themes" is blasphemy) or like the main "ideas".
Like for Medea, I think views and values would be stuff pertaining to:
- Reason v. Passion
- "The Middle Way"
- Role of women
- Family
- Role of men
(Haven't touched Medea since like mid Term 1 though so I'm a big vague on the v&v from Medea.)
- To score high, I've been told that you had to discuss the "implications of the topic". Is that like what the author is saying about the topic? (If not too much of a hassle, could you give an example for this topic?) So implications is looking at stuff like "if this is true, then what?". Basically its what the prompt is suggesting and it's the sort of stuff that you can structure your arguments around. I know a bunch of my friends see implications as statements but for some reason my brain always jumps towards a bunch of questions. ::)
Example:
"In AAE, unmarried women are unhappy." (Yes, this was an actual prompt that was thrown at me as a "what if I get this??" the day before the exam -- I freaked out horribly about it and as such this is the only AAE prompt I can remember. :p)
Implications: these women are unhappy because they are unmarried/due to their relationships --> relationships and female happiness are interconnected --> this only applies to women? --> Are the men unhappy? --> are relationships and male happiness interconnected? --> is this the only factor that affects the happiness of these women?
Or like for this prompt:
Medea is the true victim of Euripides' play.
Implications: Medea is a true victim --> Do we always see her as a victim? --> Do we ever see her as a villain? --> Why do we see her as a victim/villain --> Is she the only character we see as a victim? --> Is there someone that is a truer victim than her?
Thanks for all help.
Question, how would I structure my arguments around the implications of the Medea prompt?
Is it normal when reading a book for the first time that you don't full understand what's going on? Sometimes when I read a page and then go on to the next, I can't even remember what I just read??
What book are you reading? This does happen sometimes from my personal experience (looking atchu Wuthering Heights -- still haven't finished the entire book yet lol -- almost done though!!). It also sometimes happens due to the structure of the text or complexities in the author's writing style. I find that the easiest way to combat this is to first do a quick wikipedia or cliffsnotes search of the general plot if you don't mind the spoilers and then go back and read it; things make a whole lot more sense when you have some background to go with it. Alternatively, you can do what my best friend does and read it twice, the first time being a cursory "wtf am I reading" read and the second time being a "ohhhh so this is what was happening" read.Thanks. Yeah, I usually look over the plot/summaries on those websites, I did this Medea which worked but then again Medea was pretty short.
Thanks. Yeah, I usually look over the plot/summaries on those websites, I did this Medea which worked but then again Medea was pretty short.Have you had a look at this PDF for The Golden Age? http://static.booktopia.com.au/pdf/9780857989000-1.pdf It's a brief overview which you might find helpful. Particularly, I think it would be good for you to have a think about the reading questions to help you think critically about the book.
This problem is occurring when reading a new book called 'The Golden Age' by Joan London. There isn't much resources on this since it's fairly new and by an Australian author.
Thanks. Yeah, I usually look over the plot/summaries on those websites, I did this Medea which worked but then again Medea was pretty short.
This problem is occurring when reading a new book called 'The Golden Age' by Joan London. There isn't much resources on this since it's fairly new and by an Australian author.
hey guys just some qs with medea:
1. at teh end of the book she rides on some dragon chariot. In some resources, it says that the sun god or something gave her the chariots (can't remember) but in the text, is this true? Cant find any references in my text
2. is the chorus actual characters or is it just like a narrator's voice?
hey guys just some qs with medea:
1. at teh end of the book she rides on some dragon chariot. In some resources, it says that the sun god or something gave her the chariots (can't remember) but in the text, is this true? Cant find any references in my text
2. is the chorus actual characters or is it just like a narrator's voice?
Hi,
I'm feeling really lost in terms of how to prepare for English next year.
My novels are medea, Nineteen Eighty Four, Stasiland and I for Isobel.
I've read my novels and feel somewhat familiar with them, but I don't know where to go from here, and not doing anything is making me nervous :-[
Does anyone have any tips as to what to do between now and the start of the year?
Hi,
I'm feeling really lost in terms of how to prepare for English next year.
My novels are medea, Nineteen Eighty Four, Stasiland and I for Isobel.
I've read my novels and feel somewhat familiar with them, but I don't know where to go from here, and not doing anything is making me nervous :-[
Does anyone have any tips as to what to do between now and the start of the year?
Hey all.
Regarding the creative SAC, are you supposed to replicate the text's ideas (to show your understanding) or extend on them (i.e add your own ideas)?
Hey! Welcome to AN! :)
I'm leaning towards extending it in some way though if your teacher happens to say someth to the contrary then ignore me. The task feels a lot like the creative task in Lit and for that one the point of it was imo to rework or extend the text and its core ideas which is what I think they're looking for in the Eng creative. And for that creative task you were heavily penalised if you just replicated the text and its main ideas and didnt extend beyond the text.
Like if I was doing Id sort of approach the task like I was borrowing key ideas/symbols and giving them new meaning or putting it in a new context.
Hope that helped?
Hello! Thanks for the reply. The text I'm studying is The Lieutenant by Kate Greenville, where one of its messages is essentially "unquestioning acceptance of authority has its consequences". My idea for the creative is to somewhat extend on this and discuss the consequences of complete acceptance of authority (as she explores the idea through a bystander of sorts, rather than someone who is totally a part of it). Is this okay, or is it deviating from the task too much? Looks okay to me.
Also a few more questions (if not too much of a hassle):absoluely no hassle :)
- Do you have to explore all ideas of the text? Or do you choose one in particular and go in depth? if you try to cover all ideas you'll end up in a knot. Choose one or two to explore and go into depth.
- I've read that you should consider audience and purpose. Could this be something like "modern audiences" and "social commentary"? think so yeah. Ultimately if your teacher says no tho then its a no cos theyrw the one marking your sac but it looks fine to me. :)
- I have a second plan which explores another of the text's ideas; which is "self discovery is only successful with risks". If my plan above doesn't work, could I write a creative piece saying "self discovery requires risks", but in a different way to the author? depends by what you mean by different way tbh
Thanks for all help :) :)
Hoped that helped. Feel free to ask if yoi have any other questions. :)
Thanks for the help! :) One more question though; do I have to justify why I chose to extend on one of the author's ideas? Can I just say "cos she didn't do it" if so?
I've been trying to improve my english by posting in the language analysis thread, but the thread is kinda dead :-\Hi Gogo14,
I was wondering if someone would be kind enough to correct my essays or just give feedback on how to improve
Thanks!!
Hi Gogo14,oh ok Thanks so much!I'll check it out
The English Language Analysis thread was more or less targeted at the now graduated class of 2016, and some of them have not been acitve since they've finished their exams. I believe that they may be running another Language Analysis club for the class of 2017, more so tailored to new study design currently being introduced. (Although not sure about it to be honest).
That being said, if you want us to correct your essays, please post them in the English Work Submission and Marking board, in which people can mark you essay there. It is visible to everyone though,
I'm sure HopefulLawStudent won't mind (provided that you ask nicely) marking your essays and I'm pretty happy to do it too. So good luck with you endeavours though.
Hey y'all
Could someone please give me some examples of trigger sentences for Language Analysis introductions THANKS
Pretty noob question but can someone please explain the concept of 'irony' to me please lol. Thanks.Check this site out. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/what-is-irony-with-examples/ It has a pretty good explanation of irony.
Hi, I was just wondering how hard it is to get a 35 in EAL because I realised you need 35 raw to get into most courses. What average do u need for each sac? and like how good do you have to be? and any study tips for EAL would also be appreciated :)
This is highly unlikely, but does anyone have any The Lieutenant essay prompts that they don't mind sharing? I know it's a first year text (well, for text response that is), but any prompts will be greatly appreciated. Or even better, people who've studied the text, is it okay if you write me one? Doesn't have to be fancy or anything, just something so that I can start practicing. Thanks in advance!
Hey guys, are GAT scores generally a good indication for what you would get as a study score in English? I did the GAT last year in Year 11 and got a 46 for Written Communication and I'm really hoping to hit low-mid 40's with English this year.
Hi, i was wondering what types of prompts we would get for the creative response SAC? I know schools will be different but can someone give me a general idea?
Hi, i was wondering what types of prompts we would get for the creative response SAC? I know schools will be different but can someone give me a general idea?
Hi, I am doing This Boy's Life in school. For the essay question 'why do readers sympathise with Jack?' Is it recommended that I refer to Toby as Jack in the entire essay because the question specified? Or am I just looking too deep into it?
Hi, can someone please teach me how to write an evaluative essay? Also, is an evaluative essay the same as an analytical essay?
Hi everyone,
My Creative Response SAC is tomorrow, and there is a limit of 600-800 words.
Do you think that I will get penalised if mine is much longer? Say 1200 words or so.
Thanks
Hi all,
Is there a preferable number of body paragraphs one should have in their text response essays? I've always been used to writing 3 body paragraphs, however some year 12 teachers are recommending at least 4.
Any clarification would be appreciated.
hi i am study 'the Lieutenant' and need some help with my essay topic.
'the lieutenant is a novel about overcoming the familiar' Discuss
any help would be appreciated
thanks
what is the metalanguage called when the author tries to acknowledge opposing arguments and tries to seek a compromise?
Lauren. Im llike a spone soaking up information so as a result im somewhat confused.
What is the best way from your pov to prepare for my first sac which is a text response.
So far i reckon its just just re reading and annotating the book, writing chapter summuraries and then doing prompt writings.
Im also trying to improve my vocab
Hi everyone,
My Creative Response SAC is tomorrow, and there is a limit of 600-800 words.
Do you think that I will get penalised if mine is much longer? Say 1200 words or so.
Thanks
Hi all,
Is there a preferable number of body paragraphs one should have in their text response essays? I've always been used to writing 3 body paragraphs, however some year 12 teachers are recommending at least 4.
Any clarification would be appreciated.
And to seth: I have two words for you.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/f2/b2/92/f2b292e38373964cf12a0820be6deb13.gif)
(You - and your answers - are awesome!)
hi i am study 'the Lieutenant' and need some help with my essay topic.
'the lieutenant is a novel about overcoming the familiar' Discuss
any help would be appreciated
thanks
Hehe ty ;D ::) ::)
Here's some thoughts:
- Who overcomes the familiar? Is it just Rooke, or perhaps all the characters?
- Rooke eventually realizes the limitations of his knowledge, something he relied on to understand the unfamiliar
- Language is the unfamiliarity that divides the Colonists and Indigenous
- There is little room for individuality in a military environment (or even authoritative)
- The Gun could be considered a one-way conversation of sorts
- His Majesty's service is centered around self interests with little consideration for conscience. Does Rooke overcome this in the end?
- If so, what is Grenville say thing through this? Is overcoming the familiar good or bad? In every circumstance, or only some?
- Relationships are founded on mutual understanding of one another
- What does Grenville suggest as necessary in overcoming the familiar?
- Rooke only truly discovers himself after rejecting the 'norm'. In previous attempts of self discovery, he had always accepted the judgements of others as truth.
- Is there anything in the novel about sticking to the familiar? Unwillingness to accept change?
thanks heaps.........
got another topic as well
in the lieutenant conflict is the product of the failure to understand each other.
got some conflicts
english vs natives
natives vs english
silk vs rooke????? - don't know any more big conflicts that i could include........
thanks agin
Well... what are you stuck on, exactly? Some specificity re: what you're struggling with exactly would help us give you the help that you need. :)Thank you
Bump -- anyone know? I have no idea here. Sorry!
Not Lauren but:
Identify your problem areas -- i.e. the ones that you struggle with the most about text response. So like is it timing, breaking down the prompt, unpacking evidence, topic sentences. And from there, branch out and focus on improving on those problem areas.
Some nifty vocab stuff can be found here: http://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=164878.0
Ouch. Word limits suck. I realise that it's been a while since your post so just gonna say: I hope your SAC went well!
seth's pretty much answered your question but basically, there isn't a set number of body paragraphs that'll score you a 50 study score/perfect marks/whatever (unfortunately). Just aim to have enough body paragraphs so that you're confident that you've sufficiently explored the topic and argued your contention.
And to seth: I have two words for you.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/f2/b2/92/f2b292e38373964cf12a0820be6deb13.gif)
(You - and your answers - are awesome!)
Hey yoooooo
Peeps are always talking abt "defining themes" in theme based essays.
Is this as in to literally define the key word and explain it??
Can someone give me an example?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!??!?
Thank youRead through some of the tips in this guide that HLS linked - that should help you get started!
How can i structure words better? I now know how to implement qoutes but structuring words inca scetence i dont really know.
Hi,
How would one practice for English?
Also, when it comes to essays, if I have a few hours to do it, then I can produce an 800 word A+ piece easily. But when they're timed e.g. 1 hour, I get a huge writer's block and produce around 500 word B+ pieces. Do you have any suggestions? I also don't really make a plan beforehand, so should I start?
And when it comes to my main arguments in essays, it's hard for me to not go off on a tangent.
I feel like I have the potential to do better, but don't know where to start.
Hi,
Do I need a qualifier for this essay topic:
'Medea' is about the extremes of human emotion. Discuss.
With this prompt, I don't feel the need to disagree.
Apparently language analysis has been changed to argument analysis, and my school has a major focus on the argument. However, I have trouble identifying and "analysing" argument, and have no clue as to how to analyse it and compare it. Could someone give me a detailed example plz?
Hi,
Do I need a qualifier for this essay topic:
'Medea' is about the extremes of human emotion. Discuss.
With this prompt, I don't feel the need to disagree.
Do you really need to read your texts more than once in unit 1/2 english
Thanks for the advice HLS and Seth! Will check out these resources :)
I suppose I'm just worried about over-complicating the essay. The only way I would challenge this prompt is by talking about the way Medea is capable of exhibiting logic and reason, as well as excessive passion. But at the same time, I don't think that she achieves moderation- which is getting towards my MC (that the principle of sophrosyne ought to be followed to prevent self-destruction). How can I make these arguments without contradicting myself?
Or could I just say that:
Yes: 'Medea' is about the extremes of human emotions
But: The play is also a warning to find a balance between two extremes
Would that satisfy a qualifier? I'm not entirely sure.
How can i stop myself from reppetition in text response essays?
Sample is attached below
Hi all,
For this prompt:
'In Medea, there are no heroes, only victims.' Do. you agree.
My contention is:
Despite the absence of a clearly defined hero, Euripides 'Medea' presents characters who exhibit heroic qualities but are ultimately victims to their own fatal flaws.
Could someone please give me some advice.
Do you really need to read your texts more than once in unit 1/2 english
Do you really need to read your texts more than once in unit 1/2 englishTo add onto the previous responses. I think that reading your texts multiple times is a way to gaining a more in depth knowledge of the text. I think that the first time I read my text, I just get the general gist of what's going on without really analysing the themes and symbols. However, during my second reading I can better identify the important quotes and themes, because I already know what the text is about and what I should be looking for.
What will happen to the marks if i didnt finish the written explanation of my creative sac? will it drag down my marks by a lot?
What do i need to do from now until october 2018 to ensure a raw 25+ study score for english. Please help!!!! :) :) :) :)
Read lots of quality literature to improve writing style and turn of phrase. Practice text response, language analysis and comparative essays to understand the best way to structure your responses for those formats. Read the texts the year 12s are studying this year multiple times as they will likely be your texts for next year. Regularly read newspaper articles and think about how the author is using language to persuade. This will improve your language analysis and will expose you to issues you may want to speak about for your oral SAC next year.Thank so you much :D
hey, probably an obvious question, but is there a place where we can get some feedback on our general english essays? or is it only available for hsc students?
Hello! I have a question regarding the use of the word 'contends' in argument analysis; should I use it? I know some teachers are against it since it's a pretty bland word by definition, but I also see the merit in it that it says "this is the contention" quite clearly. So, opinions? :o
(my teacher is fine with me using either contends or a more specific alternative)
Thanks.
Will you lose a lot of marks if you wrote 200 words for a 600-800 word essay
I have to do an oral creative for this boys life. I am really stumped on how to present it, and what I can do. I want to recreate a scene from the novel, but dont know how to present it.Could you give us a bit more info on the SAC details? Do you have to deliver an oral from the point of view of one of the characters or something? Is this an individual task or a group one? Is there anything in particular your teacher wants you to address, or anything/anyone you'd be interested in exploring? :)
Hello! I have a question regarding the use of the word 'contends' in argument analysis; should I use it? I know some teachers are against it since it's a pretty bland word by definition, but I also see the merit in it that it says "this is the contention" quite clearly. So, opinions? :oDefs agree with Syndicate in that if there's a more descriptive word you can use - go for it! However, if you can't think of one, you can bundle the word 'contends' with an adverb describing tone e.g. (the author enthusiastically contends that... the author bitterly contends that... the author sympathetically contends that...)
(my teacher is fine with me using either contends or a more specific alternative)
Thanks.
Will you lose a lot of marks if you wrote 200 words for a 600-800 word essayIt's not that you'd *lose* marks... it's just that you wouldn't be able to gain many since you wouldn't have demonstrated sufficient skills. It's kind of like if someone asked you to judge their cooking abilities when all they've made for you is half a toasted cheese sandwich - maybe it's a great sandwich, but it's not much to go on.
Could you give us a bit more info on the SAC details? Do you have to deliver an oral from the point of view of one of the characters or something? Is this an individual task or a group one? Is there anything in particular your teacher wants you to address, or anything/anyone you'd be interested in exploring? :)The sac is open ended and I can pretty much present anything. It can also be a group presentation if I want, also my teacher really wants us to explore and extend on the themes in the book. My idea is:
Defs agree with Syndicate in that if there's a more descriptive word you can use - go for it! However, if you can't think of one, you can bundle the word 'contends' with an adverb describing tone e.g. (the author enthusiastically contends that... the author bitterly contends that... the author sympathetically contends that...)
It's not that you'd *lose* marks... it's just that you wouldn't be able to gain many since you wouldn't have demonstrated sufficient skills. It's kind of like if someone asked you to judge their cooking abilities when all they've made for you is half a toasted cheese sandwich - maybe it's a great sandwich, but it's not much to go on.
If this is just a hypothetical you're worried about, then suffice it to say that writing 200 words is definitely not enough if you're looking to score more than 3/10. But if this has happened to you in a SAC or a practice essay, consider why you found it difficult to write any more - did you end up wasting time because you didn't know how to word your ideas properly, or did you not understand the text/material in enough detail to talk about it? Hopefully you'll be able to wring more than 200 words out of and prompts/material you get given, but if not, talk to your teacher or let us know if there's anything we can do to help :)
Hello VCE friends, I have a question; how are you guys being taught to structure argument analysis essays?
My school is teaching contradicting stuff, on one hand they're claiming that the new course in essence is the old language analysis with just a relabel and a few clarifications, but on the other hand, they're telling me to focus on arguments and start all body paragraphs with a sub-argument. This however is obviously flawed when it comes to comparison with pieces that have 5-6 points. To solve this problem, they've taught to discuss piece 1 solely in the first few paragraphs, ignoring less important arguments if necessary, then do that with piece 2 but with comparisons of piece 1 woven within. I'm a bit iffy with this method though since at its core, we're being assessed on how we compare so it's a bit unwise in my opinion to start doing so only half way through. So, are your schools teaching something different, or the same method as mine? :o
Thanks for all help. :) :)
P.S I know I should follow whatever my teachers say in SACs, but I got pretty cool ones that are pretty open minded provided that I can argue the merit of another structure.
How do you write a written explanation for a creative SAC? Dont know how to structure it and what to include. Thanks
Hi, I am working through past VCAA essay prompts on Medea. I really don't know how to start the topic "Medea is about extremes of human emotion. Discuss." Like where should I start?
Question of my own, that is more particularly directed at Lauren, but I was just reading the sample argument analysis posted on the Facebook page and I was a bit confused about how it was structured. Could someone explain it to me, and also, would it be okay to use such structure for comparative essays?Hey hey!
Thanks in advance for all help. :) :)
Hey hey!
I've always had a very fluid/malleable approach to essay structure since I prefer essays that flow from one point to the next over ones that stick to anything too rigid or repetitive, but my recommendation for argument analysis is that you go by sub-arguments! So each of your paragraphs is centred around an idea or 'thing' (what I call a 'key player' = something the author positions in a certain way to strengthen their contention) and all you have to do is discuss the various language features that support that sub-argument.
So for the sample piece on the facebook page, I had:
- Paragraph 1: the importance of biodiversity and why it is vulnerable and in need of preservation (+ 1st visual, since it deals with this same sentiment)
- Paragraph 2: the dangers of inaction and the damaging repercussions this can have
- Paragraph 3: the need for honest reappraisal of the situation and for a genuine commitment to tangible goals (+ 2nd visual, since it can be linked to this idea too)
Each of these things bolsters the author's contention in some way, so splitting the piece up like this has always helped me feel like I'm achieving a better coverage of the piece instead of just going through it chronologically or structuring things via techniques/tone etc.
That said, this is by no means the only way of doing things! If you look through previous years' assessment reports, you'll find a whole range of methods that students have used to score highly. It's all about how well you execute whatever strategy you're implementing :)
Hey Lauren, thanks for the reply. I have one more question: what structure would you recommend for comparing articles? Since won't it be too clunky to use this sub-arguments approach given that they'll most likely won't be the same for both pieces?Oh yeah! Totally forgot to address your actual question ::)
Again, thanks for all help. :) :D
Oh yeah! Totally forgot to address your actual question ::)
Yes, the reason I mentioned incorporating the visuals is because this approach allows you to blend the material waaaay easier than a chronological approach. As you've said, the sub-arguments (or rather, what the sub-arguments are about) will likely be the same across multiple texts, since the authors will be discussing the same issue. Though you might end up with something like a paragraph on 'the detrimental consequences of the proposal' where one author discusses environmental concerns and another one discusses economic or ethical implications. But all you'd have to do would be to analyse the first one and then say 'By contrast, Author B bitterly argues that the more serious consequences are fiscal ones...' to create a link.
Hope that makes sense!
Here's a somewhat messy example I did of the 2015 exam :)
Oh whoopsies, sort of phrased my question wrong (sorry); I was going to ask about how would structure an analysis where the sub-arguments differ entirely from each other but still address the same issue? For example, still going with the climate change topic, what would I do if there's an article that argues that more action needs to taken otherwise everyone'll die, and another that goes off on a tangent and asserts that current passivity in addressing the issue demonstrates this generation's selfishness? Since won't it be essentially impossible to group them by sub-arguments given that they have entirely different contentions?Good question - VCAA will rarely give you anything that's too disparate since it makes it really hard to analyse, but there'll usually be some kind of connections to be made. To take your example, you could write a paragraph about 'why our response to global warming is important' (since the first article would be saying it's an urgent, life-or-death matter, and the second is saying that our response reflects our inner character and we should be more conscious of the consequences of our actions) and then one paragraph on 'personal responsibility' (with the first article presumably saying that everyone needs to do their part to avert the impending doom of climate change, and the second talking about why integrity and global awareness are vital traits for future generations to come to terms with), and maybe one on the idea of 'opportunity' (with the first saying 'this is our last opportunity to fix things!' and the second saying 'this is our opportunity to rise to this challenge and shake off that passivity/inaction) etc.
Anyways, thanks for your answer, it helped clear up a few of my other questions :)
Good question - VCAA will rarely give you anything that's too disparate since it makes it really hard to analyse, but there'll usually be some kind of connections to be made. To take your example, you could write a paragraph about 'why our response to global warming is important' (since the first article would be saying it's an urgent, life-or-death matter, and the second is saying that our response reflects our inner character and we should be more conscious of the consequences of our actions) and then one paragraph on 'personal responsibility' (with the first article presumably saying that everyone needs to do their part to avert the impending doom of climate change, and the second talking about why integrity and global awareness are vital traits for future generations to come to terms with), and maybe one on the idea of 'opportunity' (with the first saying 'this is our last opportunity to fix things!' and the second saying 'this is our opportunity to rise to this challenge and shake off that passivity/inaction) etc.
Importantly, though, if you're ever in a situation where you can't find 3 or 4 tenable sub-arguments to discuss, it's worth having another approach as a back-up option. When I had to analyse the 2011 exam piece for homework once, I couldn't find a realistic way to deal with the material (one blog post, two visuals, and four blog comments - each about entirely separate matters ::) ) so I just separated it into three roughly equal chunks and tried to just analyse whatever I could.
The sub-argument approach is a great first resort, but if you get dealt exceptionally difficult material, by all means find another more accessible way to break stuff down :)
Thank you!! One more last last question: what do you mean by "three roughly equal chunks" - did you have one paragraph for the blogpost, another for the visual and the last one for the comments? Or was it something like: 1) blog post + a bit of relevant stuff from the visual 2) comments + some woven-in analysis of the post 3) visuals + comments?The latter! :) It would've been tough to cram the whole blog post into just one paragraph whilst also stretching out analysis of the visual for one paragraph, and then erratically jumping between four different comments for the last paragraph.
How do you write a good short story in english
For a comparative language/argument analysis, should I be analysing all three letters to the editor, for example? Or should I just analyse one or two with the article given?
Thanks :)
How do i incoprate argument techniques ( ad hominon/ strawman's fallacy etc) into my language analysis essay. It would be great if someone could provide an exmaple and help me out as i am really struggling to get my head around this. Thnx in advance
To be safe, you should be analysing all three.
Tbh don't bother; fancy argument techniques will only get you so far. At the end of the day, it's your elaboration and explanation that'll get you marks as an assessor doesn't really mark you based on how fancy your techniques are.
(I know, it's been a month since I last posted, where the heck have I been? Drowning in uni assignments :'( )
How would schools turn Frankenstein into creative? like what would we have to do for its sac and shit?My school gives us pretty open ended essay topics. Potential topics includes stuff like creating a new chapter inside the story or doing a creative on the stuff before or after the events in the book. Other topics include stuff like retelling parts of the book from another person's perspective. For creative I'm pretty sure that most schools will let you do whatever you like or give you topics where you can do pretty much anything.
My school gives us pretty open ended essay topics. Potential topics includes stuff like creating a new chapter inside the story or doing a creative on the stuff before or after the events in the book. Other topics include stuff like retelling parts of the book from another person's perspective. For creative I'm pretty sure that most schools will let you do whatever you like or give you topics where you can do pretty much anything.
I need someone to objective and honest when answering my question, lets just say 'hypothetically' on my language analysis sac I scored 7/10, hypothetically... If had aspirations of achieving a 40+ SS, should I just kick those hopes to the curb and strap my self in for a depressing outcome? Or by the lords is my dream still as realistic as I wish it to be? I'm genuinely distraught, I did so many practice essays, was getting great scores 36/40 on average, some higher! Then the actual sac came, I stressed, ran out of time, cut my analysis to the response short, did a whole lot of wrongs, and my score reflected this.I've heard someone at my school get a 50 with one SAC as a B and another person getting a 47 with one C+ SAC, but these are people who aced the rest of their SACs and the exam. Basically, one single SAC will not determine your whole study score and as long as you try hard and ace the rest of your SACs (ranking highly by the end of the year in your cohort in your SACs) and ace the exam, then 40+ is definitely achievable. I'd say 45+ and maybe even 50 is still achievable provided you ace everything else.
TLDR: Got 7/10 on my language analysis, have I rooted my dream of a 40+ SS? Thanks in advance to my harbinger of good news..
Hey Guys,I'm really not sure what to say either, but maybe start with a statistic like one in something people are not able to have children and then proceed to elicit sympathy from the audience to those people. Or you could start with the stereotypical close your eyes and imagine if you were in their situation.
So I have a persuasive speech coming up really soon and my topic is surrogacy. My aim is to persuade the audience that surrogacy should be allowed in Australia. I've written the speech and I am happy with everything except my introduction. In school debates, I start with a really important and attention grabbing phrase, but with a topic like surrogacy, I am really stuck. I want to make the first thing I say conspicuous. Right now, my introduction is really boring as it just states what surrogacy is and its problems etc etc and I really need some ideas. Thanks in advance! :'')
I'm really not sure what to say either, but maybe start with a statistic like one in something people are not able to have children and then proceed to elicit sympathy from the audience to those people. Or you could start with the stereotypical close your eyes and imagine if you were in their situation.i think the 'close your eyes and imagine. . . ' would work perfectly! Thank you zhen!!
Hi, for the topic ‘The play Medea is more about justice than revenge.’ Discuss. How should i start it? i am so confused... Thanks!I think for this topic the main idea is to discuss whether or not you think that Medea's actions are an act of justice or revenge. To start a text response essay, it's always a good idea to introduce the book and the ideas you're exploring. A stereotypical starting sentence is Set against the backdrop of ...... Euripides' Medea explores the notion of....
I think for this topic the main idea is to discuss whether or not you think that Medea's actions are an act of justice or revenge. To start a text response essay, it's always a good idea to introduce the book and the ideas you're exploring. A stereotypical starting sentence is Set against the backdrop of ...... Euripides' Medea explores the notion of....
I think for this topic the main idea is to discuss whether or not you think that Medea's actions are an act of justice or revenge. To start a text response essay, it's always a good idea to introduce the book and the ideas you're exploring. A stereotypical starting sentence is Set against the backdrop of ...... Euripides' Medea explores the notion of....
Hey ATARNOTES so I have a language analysis sac on Monday and I've done about 4 Practice Sacs in preperation. With the grades I've received being, 80%, 70%, 60% and 70% again. My problem is that in my old school, I moved this year so this is my first and last year at this new school I always got 90%+ on my lang analysis and have always been a good english student. This isnt because the school i went to was bad. It has a higher ranking then the school I go to currently as it was a top private school. Anyways the teacher doesnt think Im a good student and has basically told me to just focus on the next sac (text response) so basically "give up" on this. The biggest problem with this is i recieved a 57% on my creative piece so I really REALLY can't afford to drop off again. I really don't know what to do as I know english is extremely important and my ranking is already super low. The SAC is worth 40 marks so its super important :(
Hey ATARNOTES so I have a language analysis sac on Monday and I've done about 4 Practice Sacs in preperation. With the grades I've received being, 80%, 70%, 60% and 70% again. My problem is that in my old school, I moved this year so this is my first and last year at this new school I always got 90%+ on my lang analysis and have always been a good english student. This isnt because the school i went to was bad. It has a higher ranking then the school I go to currently as it was a top private school. Anyways the teacher doesnt think Im a good student and has basically told me to just focus on the next sac (text response) so basically "give up" on this. The biggest problem with this is i recieved a 57% on my creative piece so I really REALLY can't afford to drop off again. I really don't know what to do as I know english is extremely important and my ranking is already super low. The SAC is worth 40 marks so its super important :(Having a bad English teacher really sucks. I can empathise with you completely because that's how I feel with my English teacher. For me, I deal with my English teacher by constantly asking questions to see what he wants in my essay and to tailor my essay to his tastes. I'd also recommend asking your teacher why they gave that mark for your essay and what they expect you to do to get a higher mark. Also, if you think your English teacher is giving you bad marks because they think you're bad at English, try to prove them wrong and get on their good side. I'm pretty sure my English teacher originally thought I was stupid, but I presented some good pieces of writing and I'm pretty sure he changed his opinion of me. So, basically find out why your teacher is giving you those marks and ask them how you can improve. Also, try and get on their good side and make your teacher change their opinion if you.
Hey ATARNOTES so I have a language analysis sac on Monday and I've done about 4 Practice Sacs in preperation. With the grades I've received being, 80%, 70%, 60% and 70% again. My problem is that in my old school, I moved this year so this is my first and last year at this new school I always got 90%+ on my lang analysis and have always been a good english student. This isnt because the school i went to was bad. It has a higher ranking then the school I go to currently as it was a top private school. Anyways the teacher doesnt think Im a good student and has basically told me to just focus on the next sac (text response) so basically "give up" on this. The biggest problem with this is i recieved a 57% on my creative piece so I really REALLY can't afford to drop off again. I really don't know what to do as I know english is extremely important and my ranking is already super low. The SAC is worth 40 marks so its super important :(You should feel confident that you've done 4 practise sacs leading into your language analysis sac. Not many people would have done this. It's important you get these peices graded and figure what you could have improved. For etc If your flow of structuring words and expression is poor doing simply things practising reading opinion articles from the herald sun (which is highly reccomended as the language used is sophisticated) can help alot. You may want to have a checklist of things you could have improved on and at the end of writing another essay check to see if your peice has sucessfully satisifed the criteria of the things u could have improved. For eg. If you need to i prove your expression having better vocab is one way, therefore check to see if your use of vocab was better. Like instead of saying show (which you shouldnt) say articulates, conveys etc
How do u write a creative wirting peice for my next sac
Hi, for the topic ‘The play Medea is more about justice than revenge.’ Discuss. How should i start it? i am so confused... Thanks!
Hey!How would i best improve my creative writing
Would you be able to please specify what exactly it is that you're struggling with?? That way we can be of more assistance. :)
Building on from the high quality answers from zhen and Max Kawasakii...
You'd want to consider the similarities and differences between the concepts of 'justice' and 'revenge' and the extent to which the concepts are evidenced in Medea. Moreover, the prompt seems to imply that justice and revenge are (to some extent?) mutually exclusive and that you can't have justice without revenge and vice versa so you'd defs want to unpack the extent to which this is true/false. Basically, branch out from the topic, considering what it is fundamentally saying (i.e. the core of the prompt) and from there, the implications of the prompt and the extent to which you agree with the cores/implications.
Could jaded be a tone for language analysis? The author opens his piece by preceding the first 9 sentences with, 'I could.....'It can i think. However you should always if this is language analysis remmeber to analysis a technique in terms of its effects on the reader, how it positions the reader to feel etc. this should happen throughout your peice
To me, this indicates a feeling of tiredness or exhaustion.
Could jaded be a tone for language analysis? The author opens his piece by preceding the first 9 sentences with, 'I could.....'
To me, this indicates a feeling of tiredness or exhaustion.
Yup, but be careful though because jaded is sometimes used as slang for "I've had enough of this shit", so it might come off as a bit colloquial to some teachers.
Yes, that's true. I'm just trying to find the right tone word to capture the feeling of an author, whose writing comes across as tired and sick of current situations. The way he constantly says 'I could' is almost like, I could do X, Y and Z, but my message would never get across. It's almost like he has given up. I'm just finding it difficult to pinpoint all of this.
Yes, that's true. I'm just trying to find the right tone word to capture the feeling of an author, whose writing comes across as tired and sick of current situations. The way he constantly says 'I could' is almost like, I could do X, Y and Z, but my message would never get across. It's almost like he has given up. I'm just finding it difficult to pinpoint all of this.
If I'm interpreting you correctly, as in you're saying the author is going "I could do this, and I could do this, and this and this, but noooo, I'm surrounded by idiots", I would probably describe it as an almost-sarcastic (maybe even satirical) and disgruntled tone. Not sure though, but hope that helps? :-\
jaded does work in that context. i'm struggling to think of synonyms that would exactly match it in this context, but i suppose cynical, or even at a stretch sardonic (or exhausted? kind of basic but hey it'd get your point across), are the closest adjectives that'd also work? (since if you're cynical that suggests you've seen a lot of the same shit lmao. idk the context exactly but if they're mocking something they're tired of then sardonic is your word). but please anyone feel free to contradict this because i'm sure i've missed something haha. (:
Here is a snippet of the article from the Age:
"I could remind them that for all the passion the game inspires, it is only a game. I could urge them to remember that a footballer is also a human being, as sensitive as any other. I could ask them if they would like to be taunted for being who and what they are: fat, for example."
Ultimately, he comes to the conclusion that it wouldn't be worth doing all of this because no one would listen. Sorry, I should have given more context. I'm just trying to find a formal tone word to encapsulate feelings of defeat or tiredness. Thanks for all the help!
With prompts that end with a 'Do you agree?' is it advised to only partially agree so both sides can be discussed?
Or can you fully agree/disagree?
With prompts that end with a 'Do you agree?' is it advised to only partially agree so both sides can be discussed?To add onto quantum44's response, I agree that the best responses always explore both sides of the argument, but I think that it's good to have a main point or argument in your essay, so basically take a side to whether you agree or disagree, however acknowledge the opposing argument and suggest that you agree/disagree, but not completely since there are exceptions. I think this allows you to explore both sides of the argument and shows your complexity of ideas.
Or can you fully agree/disagree?
Hi guysI think that argument analysis is focussing on how argument positions the reader and how the language used supports the argument and positions the reader. So, I don't think you need to talk about argument techniques, instead you should be focussing on the content of the argument and its purpose. I'm not too sure about this, so someone should correct me if I'm wrong.
I was wondering if for language anaylsis we need to talk about 'argument techniques' i.e ad hominen, strawman's fallacy etc if its present or just concentrate on the language used by the writer to persuade their audience.
Thnx
With prompts that end with a 'Do you agree?' is it advised to only partially agree so both sides can be discussed?
Or can you fully agree/disagree?
I think that argument analysis is focusing on how argument positions the reader and how the language used supports the argument and positions the reader. So, I don't think you need to talk about argument techniques, instead you should be focussing on the content of the argument and its purpose. I'm not too sure about this, so someone should correct me if I'm wrong.
Hi guys
I was wondering if for language anaylsis we need to talk about 'argument techniques' i.e ad hominen, strawman's fallacy etc if its present or just concentrate on the language used by the writer to persuade their audience.
Thnx
hellooo
so i'm doing creative and i always hear that we should challenge the text's ideas/ themes and not just reuse symbols
how exactly do we challenge the ideas??
Some questions of my own;
- How I do write quicker under SAC conditions? I do this thing during English SACs where I just procrastinate (?) by continually rereading over what I've already written and staying there doing nothing. It's not because I don't know what to write next, I do, it's just that I don't want to move on because I feel like what I've written is either not good enough (or even in some cases too good - I just sit there impressed at my own writing. I know, I'm humble), or what I'm going to write next is too hard. Any tips or advice to get out of this mindset?
- Can someone confirm the contention for this piece for me? I've identified it as something along the lines of "The changes to the citizenship test does not help in ensuring that potential citizens abide by Australian values, and the decision to revise it is a political stunt designed to regain dwindling Coalition support by playing to growing populist views of xenophobia and racism."
Thanks in advance for all help!! :) :)
How many essays should I write a day to improve my English?
How many essays should I write a day to improve my English?I'd say on average an essay a week or maybe a bit less is good enough. Churning out essays does not necessarily improve your English ability if you don't improve and change how you write. When I write an essay, I generally hand it to someone to correct and then make a list of mistakes I made in that essay. Then I either write a new essay and try to avoid those mistakes or rewrite the essay fixing the mistakes made. I feel like by doing this I actively improve my skills rather than just writing heaps of essays and not making any progress.
What if an english subject is not in your top 4? How does this affect your atar?English is in your top 4 no matter what score you achieve. Its a very sad life.
English is in your top 4 no matter what score you achieve. Its a very sad life.Oh nooooooo
Hi,I think maybe talking about cheating in card games or stuff like card counting, which allows people to gain an unfair advantage could be comparable to corruption.
Does anyone know of any way to compare corruption to a game of cards?
Approx how many quotes should a text response essay have?
Approx how many quotes should a text response essay have?I'm pretty sure that you should aim to have at least one quote for every 2 to 3 sentences in a body paragraph of your text response essay. However, this is probably something you should ask your teacher, since different teachers might want different number of quotes and also since I'm no expert on these types of things.
Thoughts on my Medea essay? any improvements etcYou should post your essays here next time. https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?board=406.0
What was your reaction to Medea and Jason by the end of the play? For whom did you feel sympathy and why?
Euripides’ tragedy, Medea is an exploration of the two main characters antipodal natures in the face of conflict—passion and reason, with passion being found in Medea and reason found in the Jason, which becomes more and more evident as the play progresses. Nice start to the essay, which properly introduces the themes and the text. Maybe try to link this to the topic more, since right now the link isn't obvious. Throughout the play Medea, the titular character is a frightening and passionate woman who once after finding out her husband and father of her children participated in adultery, lets her reasoning and logic disappear. With Medea by the end of the play performing one of the most atrocious acts a mother can do, murdering her children to spite her husband, Jason, a man not completely innocent in his acts. This is just retelling the story, which is something you should avoid Towards the end of the play it is evident that Jason's manipulative actions led to his children demise by the hands of his scorned wife. Whilst Medea although being wronged by Jason still does not garner the audiences sympathy due to her committing the terrible crime of filicide even acknowledging herself that ‘my passion is master of my reason’, Euripides makes sure with this sentence that the readers be inclined to feel more sympathy towards Jason as the crime committed against him Be careful of analysing quotes in the introduction, since the introduction isn't supposed to be where you analyse the text, but when you introduce your arguments and the text, the murder of his children being more severe and heartbreaking, then his abandonment of Medea.
Euripides character and the original ‘antagonist’ of the play, Jason commits many wrongs The expression here is weird against Medea including infidelity with the princess and later on arranging a marriage with her Again be careful about retelling the story. This marriage to Medea and the audience at the time can be perceived as a huge betrayal in which he claims to Medea as being a union, being both beneficial to him and his “family”, referring to the two sons he and Medea share. His acts against Medea although selfish and conniving are still outweighed by Medea's ultimate betrayal of murdering there children in order to spite and seek vengeance against Jason nullifying any initial sympathy readers may have had for her. Solid points here. Euripides also portrays the character of Jason as a sexist male character somewhat symbolic of the very patriarchal greek society. With phrases such as Although this is ok, try to imbed the quotes into your analysis more, rather than introducing the quote with these kinds of sentences. “You woman are all the same” after Medea angrily reacts to his new marriage There is no need to put the context of the quote in here, since it doesn't add anything to your argument. and other sayings such as "What we poor males really need is a way of having babies on our own – no females, please. Then the world would be completely trouble free” validating Medea's feelings on her being ‘a woman’ highlighting his sexist nature in regard to woman. During these moments, sympathy for Jason is hard to find and easy to feel for Medea. Jason's seemingly sexist nature and reasoning for his marriage to Creon's daughter the princess is understandable. I feel like this sentence contradicts your previous sentences, since you're saying that at this point in the play, Jason doesn't have the sympathy of the reader, so I'd think that his actions would not be understandable. Jason tells Again you don't want to say Jason tells or mentions, instead you should try to imbed your quotes. Something like Euripides highlights that Jason's actions were motivated by the his desire to "live in comfort" would be better in my opinion Medea that "I was not … tired of your attractions … it was simply that I wanted above all to let us live in comfort, not be poor" . The use of the word ‘us’ when speaking to Medea about his upcoming marriage to Glauke (the princess) shows that despite his sexist nature and his insensitive actions to Medea, he still had Medea's best interest in heart, stating his marriage to Glauke as not only being beneficial to Jason and his kids but “us” Medea included in that equation, rescuing both himself and Medea from poverty and assuring their sons a place in society. I really like the deep analysis here. Medea's banishment was not part of the plan, reminding the audience that Medea brought the punishment down on herself and her children. Medea chose revenge against Jason to be more important than protecting her own children, whilst Jason always had his children's interest at heart once again proving that the love Jason has for there children is more than the love Medea posses for them, once again forcing the audience to sympathise with the somewhat ignorant character that is Jason I feel like this isn't needed and detracts from your argument.
In the beginning of the play before Medea spirals out of control, the character in which the audience’s sympathies are extended towards is Medea, a choice which seems like an obvious one. With a prominent scene before Medea is even introduced, the Nurse explains the pitiful situation She explains how Medea and Jason once had a wonderful relationship. Speaking of Medea's current state, she says, “…she will neither eat nor drink, except her own tears, She turns her face towards the earth, remembering her father’s house and her native land, which she abandoned for the love of this man: who now despises her,” showing both how depressed she is and the ‘hate’ Jason presumably has for her. Try to avoid retelling the story. With statements like these and Medea's crying the audience is also more likely to sympathise with Medea rather than Jason in the beginning of the play because they have yet to meet the true nature of her character and see her determination for vengeance as well as only bing subjected to hearing about Jason's wrong doings from the nurse and the chorus. Something minor but this sentence is really long, making it really convoluted. Medea is once again sympathised with when she is banished from Corinth because her children will also be included in that banishment, characters which the audience can view as the only true innocents in the play. Medea’s misery continues to be evident in her “lamentations” that “it’s death [she wants]” and that Jason’s actions “torment [her] heart”. Good imbedding of quotes. She also states that she herself that her logic has been skewed by her intense feelings of contempt for Jason and that her ‘passion is [the] master of [her] reason’. It is her fierce pride which clouds her judgement and leads her to commit filicide, as she “[would] not tolerate” being captured by her enemies and does not want to be thought of as “weak and feeble”. Good analysis here. However, it is notable that Medea has moments of clarity where she concedes that she is “well aware” of the “terrible crime” she is to commit, highlighting how even in such a drastic state of mind unlike Jason, Medea is aware of the harm she is inducing yet does not care as long as she gets her revenge on Jason, enticing sympathy to Jason and none for her. Some good analysis here
Ultimately Euripides tragic tale of Medea although does invoke feelings along the way of sympathy for both of the main characters, the titular character of Medea, the scorned wife and the ignorant Jason I don't think it's necessary to reintroduce the characters, since you've already introduced them ultimately forces the readers to pick one of the characters as the most sympathetic, Jason. After making Medea perform the heinous act of filicide one even she cannot come back from any feelings of sympathy for her come character is eradicated, proving that even one of the most ignorant characters Jason can be the most sympathy worthy character over a abandoned wife.
You should post your essays here next time. https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?board=406.0
Take my advice with a grain of salt, since I'm in year 12 this year. Overall it's a solid essay with good analysis, but generally the biggest problem is you retell the story too much. Anyway good job and keep up the good work. :D
Edit: Forgot to mention that blue is the stuff I think is good, red is the stuff I think needs improvement, whereas green is my comments. Also, I feel like you should have at least 3 body paragraphs for your essay.
My SAC's have been like this 83%' 76% and 65% I know I have a lot of gooddamn potential but I'm just not practising enough and also make up excuses. My teacher always reassures my that I have a lot of potential and have the capability of getting 40+ . Some one help me to achieve this with my current sac scores and give me hope. I've promised myself to try harder for my next sacs. :'( :-\Percentages and exact SAC scores don't matter. What matters is your SAC rank. So, if you're ranked highly, then these SAC percentages don't really matter. If your school is like mine, we only have 6 SACs throughout the year, meaning that you've finished half your SACs. Assuming that your rank is above average but not excellent scores (which would be standard for those types of marks), then it's definitely still possible to get 40+. As long as you ace the rest of your SACs and the exam it's definitely possible. That said, it'll still be very difficult, but it's definitely doable.
current english grades are 57% (creative) and 70% (lang analysis) do i have any chance of getting a 35 study score 😥 keep in mind im good at Medea essays/text responses have scored 8/10, 9/10 on practice onesLike I said above SAC ranking is what matters, not percentage. Right now it looks like you're getting average SAC marks (That's about average at my school, so I'm assuming that it's the average at your school). But you've still got 4 more SACs to improve your ranking and the exam. So, I'd say 35+ is definitely doable as long as you put in the work. It looks like you're gradually improving your marks right now. So, if you keep working hard, It's definitely possible to get 35+.
How could I refer to the repeated phrase of 'we want' in an article. The writer continually reinstates that 'we want students to be exposed to new experiences' and that 'we want them to experience challenge.' Could I refer to it as a dictate? I don't think this really works, but can't find a better word to describe it.You could replace "we" or "want" individually with synonyms. e.g. The audience want... or we desire
Does anyone have suggestions?
How could I refer to the repeated phrase of 'we want' in an article. The writer continually reinstates that 'we want students to be exposed to new experiences' and that 'we want them to experience challenge.' Could I refer to it as a dictate? I don't think this really works, but can't find a better word to describe it.
Does anyone have suggestions?
How could I refer to the repeated phrase of 'we want' in an article. The writer continually reinstates that 'we want students to be exposed to new experiences' and that 'we want them to experience challenge.' Could I refer to it as a dictate? I don't think this really works, but can't find a better word to describe it.
Does anyone have suggestions?
Can anyone please tell me if my introduction is good? What range do you think it is? (low), (mid) or (high) and how can i improve?
The recent upbeat I'm just being picky. But I probably wouldn't use the word upbeat. proposal in response to the onset growth of Melbourne’s population, has prompted measured I'd leave it at debates only and omit any adjective, like measured debates concerning whether or not Melbourne’s Metro Rail Project would be effective. One measured response to this issue has been the informative post, which proposes confidently Switch around: confidently proposes , to the rationality of his readers It sounds a bit unclear. You can't exactly propose something to someone's rationality , that in order to maintain Melbourne liveable status and provide for its increasing population, improvements in relation to transport services via the construction of an underground railway system should be implemented This sentence is too long . Accompanying the reproving Try not to be subjective and place adjectives before a noun, unless they are from the piece itself. article is a multiple of appealing visuals Are multiple visuals... which concur the reality of improved metro that ----> the wording is a bit off result in ease congestion and maintain prosperity. Contrary to his view, an experienced practitioner, Rusty Eggerton in a comment published shortly after, voices his disagreement critically, by inferring Not the right word. Suggesting/Intimating that proposed tunnels in Melbourne’s CBD will not address any problems or pose any benefits. That they will only make matters worse <----- Omit this .
(NOTE: there's no title, author name, date of publication, form etc..)
PS- what is the best structure? This article has 3 visuals relating to the main, and a comment. Do i have to mention the visuals each or can i do a general statement for all 3. PS- if there's more than 3 articles, do i have to mention the authors contention etc.. for all 3. (contrary to this view 3x+??) THANKS
Thankyou soo much for replying! will you be able to write an introduction for this article? so i can learn and compare the differences? DM if you havent read the article
Hi! I am in a language analysis crisis now :'( like my teacher keeps saying my body paragraph is too long- its like 286 words- she did'nt even read my work and she told me to rewrite it because its too long :-\ could any of you guys help?I've pointed out areas where you can cut down above. Take my advice with a grain of salt, since I'm in year 12 this year. Also, I realised my comments seem a bit negative, since I just pointed out flaws and places where you need to cut down, but I'd say that you have a good grasp of how language positions the reader and the main arguments of each piece. So, good job and keep up the good work. :)
Bantick claims that the homeless are mocking Melbourne by ruining the aesthetic of Melbourne. The expression is unusual because of the repitition of the word Melbourne. Starting off with a tired and disgusted tone, Bantick states that he is “over with the homelessness in Melbourne”, and questions about why he needs to “show special understanding to the homelessness who trash the city pavements” Good integration of quotes, but you should try to condense the quotes and pick out the important bits. implying that the homeless are disrespecting Melbourne and that they do not deserve any sympathy for their behaviour. This is a good place to talk about the intended effect on readers. The author employs emotive language such as “over” and “trash” Good attempt at unpacking quotes, but it's a bit repetitive using the same quote twice. So, try to cut that out. Also, be more picky about the quotes you choose to use. I think that "trash" is a good quote but the word "over" isn't really the best word to analyse. to antagonise the homeless and positions the audience to feel disgusted about the actions of the homeless and address the issue of the homeless disrespecting Melbourne. Further to this Weird expression, Bantick also highlights the fact that homeless are littering around Melbourne, causing Melbourne to appear as unsanitary by using descriptive language You can cut out all this, since it's just retelling stuff, without providing evidence. such as “fast food containers, alcohol bottles, urination” to emphasise how the homeless are trashing Melbourne. This prompts the readers to be appalled by the immoral actions of the homeless and support his argument of how the homeless are mocking Repitition of the word mocking Melbourne. In contrary Not too sure about this, but it sounds weird , Rizvi acknowledges how the makeshift camps of the homeless is a “collective shame”, however, she argues that the public is just ashamed about the makeshift camps ruining Melbourne’s aesthetic because the famous landmarks are not “shiny and perfect” but covered with makeshift camps. Her acknowledgement of the makeshift camps improves the reader’s opinion on the author. In addition, her use of emotive language such as “collective shame” and “shiny and perfect” encourages the readers to reflect upon their opinion about homelessness. This can be shortened down so much. Be more concise with your analysis and more selective on what you analyse. Also try to avoid generic stuff like makes the reader reflect on... Thus, Bantick’s article highlights that people do not need to sympathise with the homelessness who are trashing Melbourne’s aesthetic, and Rizvi argues that the wellbeing of the homeless are more important that the aesthetic of Melbourne. I feel like this last sentence can be made more concise, since it's so long.
+++ I don't know how to start second paragraphs ;-; help?
If you don't agree with a mark your teacher gives you for a SAC, how can you take action?Lawsuit?
If you don't agree with a mark your teacher gives you for a SAC, how can you take action?I'd say consult with another teacher (preferably the coordinator of the subject) and ask them to see whether they think your SAC deserves a higher mark. If they agree that you deserved a higher mark then you could ask them to consult with your teacher and maybe change the mark.
Hi all,Here are the grade distributions for English. An A+ is 47/60, which is about an 8/10.
Since our essays at the end of the year are marked out of 10, is there a grade equivalent to the number? Eg. does a 9-10 equal an A+?
Is it even calculated in this way?
Thanks!
Hey guys I have the Medea SAC on thursday and my teacher told us it would be a combination or something similar to the two out of three practice papers we've done. First one was; "What is difficult to understand about Medea is not her desire for revenge but her means of achieving it" and the second was "Jason's decisions are based on reason and careful judgement while Medea's decisions are based on passion and reason' Anyone done any sacs which are similar to these two like a 'combo' or can guess what it would be? sorry know this is vague/confusing just trying to work out the question for the SAC ahah
Hey!
So if we break it down:
Question (1):
-Medea is complex because we cannot understand her thinking (consequently her means. For example killing her children).
-We can't understand her thinking because she often blurs the concepts of passion and reason.
-Her desire for justice is also a key to this question. Her desire also blurs these concepts.
Question (2):
-Medea's decisions based on passion and reason
You can therefore see how the questions relate. At their core, they are ultimately trying to decipher what kind of character Medea is. It is dealing with the extremes of human emotions. Does she think and act with only passion or reason? Does she combine both?
So questions to ask are:
Are Medea's acts motivated by pure reason or pure passion?
Is she ever able to embrace the quality of sophrosyne and possess moderation?
Does passion coerce her to commit murderous acts?
Is Medea complex because her self-control fluctuates throughout the play?
I hope this helps you. Good luck on Thursday! :)
EDIT: Sorry I didn't make reference to Jason. Given that the first question was exclusive to Medea, I thought I wouldn't bother mentioning him. It would broaden the possibility of potential questions.
Thanks so much! really helpful btw do you have any tips to prepare for my SAC? I've already done practice pieces and have had them marked but I don't know what to memorise? I'm just compiling a list currently with lines throughout my pieces my teacher has liked and I can try reuse. As well as looking at the quote sheet we got given and trying to memorise those. Other than that idk what else to do? Any advice would be appreciated
Hey guys,
I have an oral presentation topic in a week. My topic is "should ebooks be banned and should the use of traditional, hard copy books be implemented? I have to present 3 arguments, what would be really good argument that will engage my audience.
Hey, so I have mid-term exams soon and English is my first exam. Analytical essay for Medea and a language analysis is the task I have to complete for the exam. One of the topics that was explored in my class was about sympathy, such as this prompt, 'It is Jason, not Medea who gains the audience's sympathy. Do you agree?'Hi!
Could anyone give a brief explanation on how to break down the prompt and then in paragraphs. My teacher said that I should add a rebuttal for my last third body paragraph but I'm kinda on the fence about it. Any advice??
Thanks :)
Hi!Ohhh okay, I totally understand where your coming from. Could I alternate between sides with my body paragraphs? How many body paragraphs would suffice in this kind of prompt?
So~
'It is Jason, not Medea who gains the audience's sympathy. Do you agree?'
First, it is important that you explore the ways both Jason and Medea gain audience sympathy and the ways they don't. In this way, you'll be better able to reach your own conclusion (ie. work out whether Jason does in fact gain the audiences' sympathy, whether it is Medea who does, or whether it is both).
So in very basic terms, the prompt is saying that Jason obtains all of the audiences' sympathy, while Medea gains none. To develop a sophisticated response to this prompt, you must include a qualifier. For example, While Jason gains audience sympathy, so too does Medea. This is obviously quite simplified, but it challenges the prompt in some way.
Once you have established your evidence and sorted out all your ideas, it will be easier for you to clarify your own ideas and understanding. Sorry about my rushed response (SAC week :'( ) If you have more questions please feel free to ask!
Ohhh okay, I totally understand where your coming from. Could I alternate between sides with my body paragraphs? How many body paragraphs would suffice in this kind of prompt?
Thank you for your advice by the way, really appreciate it! :)
No problems!Great!! Thank you so much!! You've just given more ideas to discuss in my essay!
It's difficult to say exactly how many body paragraphs you need. It really depends on how many ideas you have and what will make your essay flow better.
This prompt does necessitate a fair bit of oscillation, though. So, you may find that you have 2 or 3 body paragraphs that are in opposition to the prompt, given that it is quite narrow. With sympathy in 'Medea,' it typically tends to develop chronologically for characters.
For example:
-Medea scorned/shamed, Chorus and Nurse support
-Speaks with Creon banished, left double exile (worst punishment) again Chorus sympathy
-Agon with Jason (he displays little emotion regarding their former relationship, blunt with her regarding her position)
-Speaks with Aegeus (male voice) offers male perspective, again intending to win over sympathy for audience. (It is really important that you consider structural features of 'Medea.' This was suggested in last years examiner's report. In doing so, you are gaining more of an insight into Euripides choices and the reasons for them. For example, why is the Chorus all women, why does he include Aegeus).
-Medea decides to kill children/manipulates/cunning revealed (perhaps more inclined to sympathise with Jason; especially since it was considered quite normal for a male to have multiple families at this time. Therefore, he may see no flaws in what he is doing).
-Medea suffers a psychological breakdown (may be worthy speaking about her psychomania?)
-Killing Glance, Creon and the kids (descriptions of these deaths and ruining Jason's lineage, how are male audiences supposed to react to this? Lineage very important aspect. Basically a man's life.
Hopefully these ideas help you arrange your body paragraphs in some ways. While it is important to always centre body paragraphs around ideas (ideas in relation to characters, given that this is a character prompt), I don't think order will matter too much with this prompt. I actually think it would flow better if you examined it chronologically, given the way sympathy shifts throughout.
All the best :)
Great!! Thank you so much!! You've just given more ideas to discuss in my essay!
I've also decided to do another essay but with a different prompt. The prompt that i will be doing is, 'Are Medea's actions justifiable? Discuss.'
What are some pointers to consider in this topic, are her actions unjustified? if so, why?
Thanks again for help!! :) :)
Well, the questions you have just asked are exactly what the prompt is asking. I think it is important that you gather up your own ideas and evidence first and come to your own conclusion/interpretation. While my ideas may be helpful to you, you are the one who must ultimately come up with your own interpretation. Only then will your essay be really strong and better still, you will be able to respond to a wider range of prompts.I've actually just finished up writing the essay on that prompt, care to take a look? :)
If you can develop your own contention and body paragraph ideas, I will definitely be able to help you out! :)
I've actually just finished up writing the essay on that prompt, care to take a look? :)
I've pointed out areas where you can cut down above. Take my advice with a grain of salt, since I'm in year 12 this year. Also, I realised my comments seem a bit negative, since I just pointed out flaws and places where you need to cut down, but I'd say that you have a good grasp of how language positions the reader and the main arguments of each piece. So, good job and keep up the good work. :)
Does anyone know where I can find articles and corresponding high language analysis essays?
Hello everyone!!!It depends on your cohort a bit, but if you can get A+ for the exam and your semester 2 SACs, then you'll probably be set for 40+, provided your cohort is half decent so your first semester SACs are A+. But to really answer this, I need to know the strength of your cohort, since cohort strength varies massively (some schools might get like 50 scores above 40 and others might not get any) and this will give a better indication of where you're at and what that ranking translates to in terms of a VCAA letter grade.
I'm currently ranked 2 in English with only 3 marks between me and rank 1. For GA1 I achieved an overall score of 80/100. I was wondering if I get A+'s on the other outcomes what SS would I be looking at?
It depends on your cohort a bit, but if you can get A+ for the exam and your semester 2 SACs, then you'll probably be set for 40+, provided your cohort is half decent so your first semester SACs are A+. But to really answer this, I need to know the strength of your cohort, since cohort strength varies massively (some schools might get like 50 scores above 40 and others might not get any) and this will give a better indication of where you're at and what that ranking translates to in terms of a VCAA letter grade.
It might depend on rank 1. If rank 1 aces the exam and gets an A+ on the exam and you also maintain your rank 2 and get an A+ on the exam, then 40+ is what you'd probably be getting unless they're really low A+. Basically it depends on what you and rank 1 get on your exams, if you maintain that ranking. Since you'd be getting the second highest exam mark for your SAC mark and rank 1 would be getting the highest exam mark for their SAC mark. So, you want at least 2 people in your cohort including yourself to do well in the exams.
To be honest with you, I'd say my cohort is weak, with only 8 people getting decent marks for English
It might depend on rank 1. If rank 1 aces the exam and gets an A+ on the exam and you also maintain your rank 2 and get an A+ on the exam, then 40+ is what you'd probably be getting unless they're really low A+. Basically it depends on what you and rank 1 get on your exams, if you maintain that ranking. Since you'd be getting the second highest exam mark for your SAC mark and rank 1 would be getting the highest exam mark for their SAC mark. So, you want at least 2 people in your cohort including yourself to do well in the exams.
Do you know how much your school's ranking matters? Or is it just your cohort (year level)?It's cohort that matters and how your classmates do on the exam.
E.g. if the school was ranked much, much more poorly than usual in 2016, but your cohort (class of 2017) is a strong (high-achieving, competitive and hard-working) one...?
hi everyone,
so my prompt for text response for All About Eve is 'Eve is an outsider in the film. She never truly belongs. Discuss'
I have trouble coming up with ideas and struggle with suitable topic sentences. Can someone help me come up with some?
Thanks
Rank 1/2 for English, )unit 3 and 4 respectively)- Now What?
Hey!
Congrats on holding such a wonderful ranking for English. What do you mean by, 'now what?' :)
If you're suggesting that you've already reached your peak, there is definitely always more you can do! If you haven't done so already, ensure that you have a thorough understanding of your comparative texts. Make extensive mind maps on how they are similar/different with supporting quotes, etc. At this stage of the year, it is also very important to re-visit your text response material. Perhaps your perception of the text has changed. If so, you may be able to refine initial ideas or add further depth to ideas. In this way, you may be able to bring your essays to a whole new standard.
Rank 1/2 for English, )unit 3 and 4 respectively)- Now What?I'd say continue what you're already doing, but maybe ask your teacher in areas you can improve upon. Unless you're getting full marks for everything and maybe even if you get full marks there are always small things you can tweak in your essays to make them better. So, whenever you lose a mark on something find out why. In my opinion getting feedback and improving your writing based on the feedback is a great way to improve.
Just curious has anyone managed to write any types of essays within an hour yet? Anywhere close?I haven't gotten anywhere near being able to write an essay in an hour, because we get one and a half hours to write essays for our SACs. Anyway, I feel like we should be able to do it with a bit of practice.
Just curious has anyone managed to write any types of essays within an hour yet? Anywhere close?
How Do i plan my oral presentionFor my plans I just compile all the evidence I plan to use and dot point my arguments.
Ive researched about my issue already
Just curious has anyone managed to write any types of essays within an hour yet? Anywhere close?
I also haven't started timing myself yet. At the moment, I'm more focused on bettering the quality of my writing material. After this, it should be easy to craft a high-scoring essay under timed conditions. I'll probably start restricting myself more and more towards the term 3 holidays :)+1
How Do i plan my oral presentionEveryone plans differently, but what I found really useful was planning by argument. So if your overall argument is 'We should have a three day school week' and your sub-argument is 'It will give students more time to complete work outside of school', then you'll want to note down any evidence or additional points that you plan to use in your oral to support your argument. Does that kind of make sense? :)
Ive researched about my issue already
Hi,
So I'm wondering for text response, how do I improve/find unique examples/improve my understanding of the text?
I'm doing 'Medea' so it's a short text and I've already made a pretty comprehensive quote bank but I'm not sure what else to do? It feels like I'm using the same examples over and over again, I don't think they're bad but there could be some better that I could be doing?
Thanks
Hey everyone!!
I was just wondering how many paragraphs are necessary in a persuasive analysis (vcaa standard)
Hey everyone!!
I was just wondering how many paragraphs are necessary in a persuasive analysis (vcaa standard)
Hey everyone!!everyone is different and you won't be inherently marked down for choosing a particular number of paragraphs.
I was just wondering how many paragraphs are necessary in a persuasive analysis (vcaa standard)
Is context past study design right?
Hey guys,
I was just wondering how do you incorporate the history of the novel into your text response??
Hey guys,
I was just wondering how do you incorporate the history of the novel into your text response??
Hey guys,definitely have something explicit about the historical significance in the introduction and I feel if you want to discuss it later on it'll have to be more implicit or related to your prompt
I was just wondering how do you incorporate the history of the novel into your text response??
Figuring how to work this website but that's beside the point. I was just wondering if you could tell me if we need a conclusion in the language analysis. In one of the lectures I attended, the lecturer said you don't even need one for that section.
Figuring how to work this website but that's beside the point. I was just wondering if you could tell me if we need a conclusion in the language analysis. In one of the lectures I attended, the lecturer said you don't even need one for that section.
just wanted to know when is a good time to start timing 1 hour essays? I've been doing a few essays these holidays and can never make the one hour cut off :( I'm getting worried but wanted to know what you guys think and how you guys are going with the 1 hour time limit?Today, I did an argument analysis essay for tutoring in an hour with 15 minutes reading time and I came out thinking that it was the worst essay I wrote all year long. It was completely different from my SAC where I 90 minutes writing time (I think) and also got reading time. For my SAC I could afford to just stop and think of ways to appropriately express myself and analyse the piece in depth, but for my timed essay if I stopped I felt like I was falling behind. I feel like coming out of that, I realise that I should start doing more timed essays, since it felt like I was just rushing through it and sacrificing heaps of depth so that I could finish my essay. I also missed out on chunks of the text which I thought could have been analysed really well. Overall, I think I'm in the same boat as everyone, since right now I can't even make a half decent essay in timed conditions. So, I guess don't feel too bad about not being able to do an essay in an hour right now since most year 12 students should be in the same situation (I hope). Personally, I plan on doing more timed essays after my UMAT which is coming up really soon. Sorry for the long rant, I needed to vent out my frustration. :P
Thanks :)
Today, I did an argument analysis essay for tutoring in an hour with 15 minutes reading time and I came out thinking that it was the worst essay I wrote all year long. It was completely different from my SAC where I 90 minutes writing time (I think) and also got reading time. For my SAC I could afford to just stop and think of ways to appropriately express myself and analyse the piece in depth, but for my timed essay if I stopped I felt like I was falling behind. I feel like coming out of that, I realise that I should start doing more timed essays, since it felt like I was just rushing through it and sacrificing heaps of depth so that I could finish my essay. I also missed out on chunks of the text which I thought could have been analysed really well. Overall, I think I'm in the same boat as everyone, since right now I can't even make a half decent essay in timed conditions. So, I guess don't feel too bad about not being able to do an essay in an hour right now since most year 12 students should be in the same situation (I hope). Personally, I plan on doing more timed essays after my UMAT which is coming up really soon. Sorry for the long rant, I needed to vent out my frustration. :P
just wanted to know when is a good time to start timing 1 hour essays? I've been doing a few essays these holidays and can never make the one hour cut off :( I'm getting worried but wanted to know what you guys think and how you guys are going with the 1 hour time limit?
Thanks :)
Hey guys,Personally i dont think that should be an issue. I think teachers will start getting concerned if its too short e.g below 3 minutes or 8+ mins. However i don't know about your teacher.
I just did my oral presentation which was meant to be in the range of 5-6 minutes. My oral got 6 minutes and 22 seconds. Will I get marked down for going over the limit??
Hey guys,
I just did my oral presentation which was meant to be in the range of 5-6 minutes. My oral got 6 minutes and 22 seconds. Will I get marked down for going over the limit??
Personally i dont think that should be an issue. I think teachers will start getting concerned if its too short e.g below 3 minutes or 8+ mins. However i don't know about your teacher.
But i really dont think 22s is a big deal
Definitly the content is much more important!! :)
good luck for the umat zhen and anyone else sitting it!
it's subjective tbh. my friend's school did mark them down for that, mine just stopped marking at the cutoff, so anything we said afterwards wouldn't be counted, but i know another school that was super lenient with their timeframe. you'd need to ask your teacher to know (: but marking you down seems pretty unfair, normally 30+ seconds would be when they start getting iffy about timing.
Where can i find compartive resources on here
How do i write a A+ peice and what can i do to get an A+ etc
As well how do i discuss complexities and nuances of the topic.
Hey guys, I'm currently on the writing phase of my oral and would love everyone's opinions on how I would need to convey my contention to the audience Do I say it on the get-go or ..? I'm confused please help!
My topic is should there be a national ban on single-use plastic bags?
And I think yes!
Here's an extract from my intro:
Australia. We’re one of the trashiest countries in the developed world. In fact, we’re the 2nd highest producers of rubbish (only US is trashier ><). As a nation, we use over 4 billion plastic bags every year, that’s over 10 million new bags every day!
We dump over 7000 recyclable plastics every minute which all end up into landfill!
[pause]
Now, let me ask you something…does anybody know Australia’s current population?
⎝ YES : Respond to audience, “Yes, that’s correct…/ close but...”
⎝ NO: “Well we have a growing population of 24 million and our waste is growing twice as fast
If 48 million of these plastic bags remained in the environment and made into a single plastic sheet, it would be big enough to cover the whole of Melbourne’s CBD.
With this rate, how are we as a nation meant to tackle this issue of plastic bags? ……………………… MAIN CONTENtION??...............
blah blah body paragraph blah
Is it unreasonable to start asking my English teacher to mark my work out of 10? Do other people have their teachers mark their practice essays as so?Not that unreasonable really depends on the teacher. My teacher last year would only tell me where I could improve and then on my last essay before a sac give me a score (out of 30 since that is what sacs were out of).
Thanks :)
Is it unreasonable to start asking my English teacher to mark my work out of 10? Do other people have their teachers mark their practice essays as so?
Thanks :)
To be honest, in terms of conveying your contention, you have a fair bit of leeway (as with most things in the oral tbh). Like some of my friends never expressly mentioned what their contention was, instead preferring to allow their listener to make an informed inference as to what their stance on the issue was. With that said, I always preferred to flag my contention at the end of my intro just to be safe and ensure that I never got pulled up for not having a clear stance on the issue.
Consider:
1. Some people may think that plastic bags serve a very real purpose and their removal from our supermarkets would precipitate an unwanted inconvenience. However, it is my contention that this view is just a product of their own misunderstanding.
vs.
2. For the sake of our children, our country and our future, something must be done. The government MUST implement the proposed ban if we are to insure our environment against these plastic menaces that lurk our streets.
In both instances, I’m presenting my contention from the get go. However, notice how, in the second example, I'm presenting my contention in a persuasive way ("something must be done") to frame it as something I am endorsing or agreeing with? Whereas in the first case, the same point is presented in a "some people may think this, but they're wrong" sort of way and it lacks the persuasive punch that the second example has because it has been prefaced with “The following point I am about to make is an argument. Here is the argument: _____".
tl;dr – you can give your contention from the get go but try to be persuasive while doing it.
Just to clarify, can I include evidence from the post-script of a novel in my essay? Also, if there are photos in the middle, can they be used for analysis?
Thanks in advance :D
Is this for Tracks? If so, my teacher said it was fine to mention both but also cautioned against relying too much on the photos.
For LA, I'm just wondering should there be more of an emphasis on the effect/intended effect on the reader or on the reason why the readers feel a certain way to evidence/words used?
Does it really matter or should I not be viewing these two things as seperate 'steps'? Should these be naturally combined together?
Hey All,This is a really good question and I think a problem for a lot of students. I was a serial rambler but managed to get over it (mostly ::) ). There's nothing wrong with writing whatever is in your mind, but it needs filtering to lock your writing together perfectly. By taking ten (or 20) minutes to write out an essay plan in dot points, you could get everything out and only pick the cream of the crop for your essay. You do have to get pretty specific though - I tended to list my ideas, evidence, and the logical conclusions so that writing the essay was less about the thinking and more about just making it cover everything with minimal fluff. Obviously that's not going to magically make you a more concise writer but it's definitely a start.
So recently I've had a talk with my English and Literature teachers about the quality of my essays.
Their main criticism, along with other teachers who have cross marked my sacs, is that I tend to ramble on in my sentences. ie; it takes a while for me to actually reach my point. I find this occurs in my everyday speech as well; I'm not really an effective communicator unless given time and a pen. When I write my essays, (often in timed conditions), I write whatever is in my mind, so it's not completely coherent and concise as it could be.
My knowledge of the content is good, but my teachers commented that this rambling is what is dividing me from that A+.
How can I improve on my coherence and conciseness in my essays ? My English teacher told me to read high scoring responses but since this is a new study design, there isn't many available apart from those in the text guides.
Thanks !
Whats a thematic prompt
Hey everyone!!
I was just wondering, for English I am rank 2 [there was only 2 points between me and rank 1] and for Unit 3 I got an A [80], what scores would I be looking at for exams? {unit 4 so far, I got a 35/40]. Can I still get at least a 35, my cohort is moderate strength, like 8 people get good marks for English, the rest absolutely loathe English [I am being sooo serious]
Hi everyone,There's no official rule or grade you need to achieve, but your school might have certain restrictions. It's best to speak with a careers counsellor from your school. :)
I am currently in year 9 and in English, I have been racking up A's across the entire year. I olan to take up Literature in year 10 as one my electives.
Is there a grade average I have to achieve in English/Literature in year 10 to take up 3/4 English/Literature in year 11? If so, what is it.
Many thanks
There's no official rule or grade you need to achieve, but your school might have certain restrictions. It's best to speak with a careers counsellor from your school. :)Haha I see. Thank you very much! I have only thought about taking English/Literature in 3/4 early as I am unsure about the other subjects that I am choosing/have chose and their availability to me as a 3/4 subject in Year 11.
Just a word of warning, but you might want to leave English and Literature to Year 12, rather than completing them early, as students tend to perform better with an extra year's practise under their belt, as well as that, your writing tends to just 'mature' in general. It is, of course, up to you. I'd highly recommend completing both English and Literature in Year 12 though if you enjoy them, I did, and Literature was one of my favourite subjects! ;D
Haha I see. Thank you very much! I have only thought about taking English/Literature in 3/4 early as I am unsure about the other subjects that I am choosing/have chose and their availability to me as a 3/4 subject in Year 11.No worries, let us know how you get on. :)
No worries, let us know how you get on. :)Of course :). Thank you very much for your advice!
If you're feeling stuck, or unsure about your subject selection, don't be afraid to post in the Victorian Education Discussion forums. There are plenty of people willing to help you out. :)
Hey All,
So recently I've had a talk with my English and Literature teachers about the quality of my essays.
Their main criticism, along with other teachers who have cross marked my sacs, is that I tend to ramble on in my sentences. ie; it takes a while for me to actually reach my point. I find this occurs in my everyday speech as well; I'm not really an effective communicator unless given time and a pen. When I write my essays, (often in timed conditions), I write whatever is in my mind, so it's not completely coherent and concise as it could be.
My knowledge of the content is good, but my teachers commented that this rambling is what is dividing me from that A+.
How can I improve on my coherence and conciseness in my essays ? My English teacher told me to read high scoring responses but since this is a new study design, there isn't many available apart from those in the text guides.
Thanks !
Just to clarify, can I include evidence from the post-script of a novel in my essay? Also, if there are photos in the middle, can they be used for analysis?
Thanks in advance :D
For LA, I'm just wondering should there be more of an emphasis on the effect/intended effect on the reader or on the reason why the readers feel a certain way to evidence/words used?
Does it really matter or should I not be viewing these two things as seperate 'steps'? Should these be naturally combined together?
Hello,
i was just wondering whether i could get some feedback on my introduction on a q on 'Ransom'?
anything would be greatly appreciated ;)
topic- ‘Ransom’ suggests that revenge is not the answer to grief. Discuss.
Whilst the narrative ‘Ransom’ is based on epic ancient historic stories from ‘The Iliad’, David Malouf discusses the impacts of human reactions and ways which individuals cope with emotions no matter of the time, era or world which we are part of. Malouf exhibits that revenge is a vicious never-ending cycle of destruction, both within persons and within entire groups, and the principle of vengeance is just as relevant today as it was in the 1200 BC. Revenge becomes the exterior of characters, tying them with rage and anger, making them unable to deal with the natural response of intensely personal sorrow and remorse generated by the loss of a loved one. Part 1 of ‘Ransom’ seeks to establish a platform for the audience to discern a world which is stricken with intense grief, focusing on Achilles’ and his self-serving way to escape and externalise his anger. It is through Achilles that Malouf illustrates the ultimate burden of revenge and the damaging, antagonistic effects it has on one’s own character and those in the vicinity. In contrast, whilst Priam would be somewhat justified to seek revenge on Achilles -for the slaying and treatment of his son Hector- his approach is much more honourable. For Priam revenge is useless; it is unable to overcome the grief or restore the sense of loss, and therefore to bring about the peace for the Trojans’, he and his role ultimately changes. Similarly, the carter Somax finds no benefit in vindictiveness for the death of his children, but learns to cope with grief in an entirely different way; to share it.
I don't have time to closely go through it but overall the length could be shorter. Try being more clear and concise because introductions are not where the bulk of your marks come from. Also, it is worth noting that for the exam you will have to include both Ransom and Invictus in your introduction so try and keep it short and sweet. Some teachers want you to go a little into the background of the text but others do not mind and just want you to focus on answering the prompt, so you could possibly not go into the wider context e.g. how Malouf based the text on the Illiad - but it does vary from teacher to teacher.
Hope this helps :)
yup thats awesome :).... on reflection it was well long so thanks heaps for that
i have issues where my writing tends to 'ramble' and i can never seem to master succinct writing.. i'll keep pursuing tho ;)
thanks heaps again
Hello,
i was just wondering whether i could get some feedback on my introduction on a q on 'Ransom'?
anything would be greatly appreciated ;)
topic- ‘Ransom’ suggests that revenge is not the answer to grief. Discuss.
Whilst the narrative ‘Ransom’ is based on epic ancient historic stories from ‘The Iliad’, David Malouf discusses the impacts of human reactions and ways which individuals cope with emotions no matter of the time, era or world which we are part of. Malouf exhibits that revenge is a vicious never-ending cycle of destruction, both within persons and within entire groups, and the principle of vengeance is just as relevant today as it was in the 1200 BC. Revenge becomes the exterior of characters, tying them with rage and anger, making them unable to deal with the natural response of intensely personal sorrow and remorse generated by the loss of a loved one. Part 1 of ‘Ransom’ seeks to establish a platform for the audience to discern a world which is stricken with intense grief, focusing on Achilles’ and his self-serving way to escape and externalise his anger. It is through Achilles that Malouf illustrates the ultimate burden of revenge and the damaging, antagonistic effects it has on one’s own character and those in the vicinity. In contrast, whilst Priam would be somewhat justified to seek revenge on Achilles -for the slaying and treatment of his son Hector- his approach is much more honourable. For Priam revenge is useless; it is unable to overcome the grief or restore the sense of loss, and therefore to bring about the peace for the Trojans’, he and his role ultimately changes. Similarly, the carter Somax finds no benefit in vindictiveness for the death of his children, but learns to cope with grief in an entirely different way; to share it.
Happy to help.
I am studying Ransom too and I find reading/marking other people's work really helps to develop my understanding of a text.
You certainly know your text! This is a common problem amongst students (I'm a full time English tutor) - you're packing too much into your intro. Many of these points should be in your body paragraphs - remember the intro gives your reader a taste of what you're going to say. I recently posted a video about how to structure an intro (video is on my FB page) but the overall gist is that you should treat it like you're asking someone out on a date - just enough info to keep your reader interested in reading more, but not so much that you'll scare them off. Hope that helps! =)
ok sweet... ill keep that in mind. my intro's have never really been 'short'. and whilst i know there is no word amount count, can i ask, how many words would a good short succinct intro be?
thanks :)
As in structure an essay?nah, i read that but im not quite sure what to say or plan exactly for 'What do these texts suggest about human behaviour in a crisis?' for year of wonders and the crucible
If so, please check this out: https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=172569.0
Hey,
What does it mean by "implications of the topic" in order to achieve a 9/10 for Section A. Can someone please give me any examples.
Thanks,
Syndicate
Hello,
i was just wondering whether i could get some feedback on my introduction on a q on 'Ransom'?
anything would be greatly appreciated ;)
topic- ‘Ransom’ suggests that revenge is not the answer to grief. Discuss.
Whilst the narrative ‘Ransom’ is based on epic ancient historic stories from ‘The Iliad’, David Malouf discusses the impacts of human reactions and ways which individuals cope with emotions no matter of the time, era or world which we are part of. Malouf exhibits Misused exhibits methinks that revenge is a vicious never-ending cycle of destruction, both within persons and within entire groups, and the principle of vengeance is just as relevant today as it was in the 1200 BC. Relevance to the topic? Revenge becomes the exterior of characters, What do you mean by this? tying them with rage and anger, making them unable to deal with the natural response of intensely personal sorrow and remorse generated by the loss of a loved one. Part 1 of ‘Ransom’ seeks to establish a platform for the audience to discern a world which is stricken with intense grief, focusing on Achilles’ and his self-serving way to escape and externalise his anger. It is through Achilles that Malouf illustrates the ultimate burden of revenge and the damaging, antagonistic effects it has on one’s own character and those in the vicinity. In contrast, whilst Priam would be somewhat justified to seek revenge on Achilles -for the slaying and treatment of his son Hector- his approach is much more honourable. For Priam revenge is useless; it is unable to overcome the grief or restore the sense of loss, and therefore to bring about the peace for the Trojans’, he and his role ultimately changes. Similarly, the carter Somax finds no benefit in vindictiveness for the death of his children, but learns to cope with grief in an entirely different way; to share it. This stuff would be better suited in your body paragraphs than your intro. Your intro should be inherently brief.
ok sweet... ill keep that in mind. my intro's have never really been 'short'. and whilst i know there is no word amount count, can i ask, how many words would a good short succinct intro be?
thanks :)
nah, i read that but im not quite sure what to say or plan exactly for 'What do these texts suggest about human behaviour in a crisis?' for year of wonders and the crucible
Hey,
What does it mean by "implications of the topic" in order to achieve a 9/10 for Section A. Can someone please give me any examples.
Thanks,
Syndicate
Hi! I was wondering for the comparative topic "Compare and contrast how ‘The Crucible’ and ‘Year of Wonders’ explore how individuals cope in times of crisis." whether it would be better to structure the body paragraphs by focusing on the different crisis that are present in both texts and using those as topic sentences and then explaining how different individuals respond to them within the body paragraphs or whether it would be better to structure the body paragraphs by using the different ways that individuals cope in times of crisis that are present in both texts as topic sentences. :)
Hi! I was wondering for the comparative topic "Compare and contrast how ‘The Crucible’ and ‘Year of Wonders’ explore how individuals cope in times of crisis." whether it would be better to structure the body paragraphs by focusing on the different crisis that are present in both texts and using those as topic sentences and then explaining how different individuals respond to them within the body paragraphs or whether it would be better to structure the body paragraphs by using the different ways that individuals cope in times of crisis that are present in both texts as topic sentences. :)
hello :) :)
currently studying 'Ransom' and 'Invictus'.
my q. is Compare the ways in which ‘Ransom’ and ‘Invictus’ highlight the futility of revenge.
just seeking some help how to spit the paragraphs up. i was thinking one of Invictus and another on Ransom. Just wondering what to do for the other one.
Thanks
Any help is much appreciated ;D ;D ;D
hello :) :)
currently studying 'Ransom' and 'Invictus'.
my q. is Compare the ways in which ‘Ransom’ and ‘Invictus’ highlight the futility of revenge.
just seeking some help how to spit the paragraphs up. i was thinking one of Invictus and another on Ransom. Just wondering what to do for the other one.
Thanks
Any help is much appreciated ;D ;D ;D
This post deals with this in detail, worth a thorough read. :)thanks heaps very helpful and applicable ;D ;D ;D ;D
i think comparison essays are best to compare continually throughout the essay, over against doing separate paragraphs on each. (depending on the teacher of course, as some prefer it that way)
well i would be inclined to suggest;
para1- the uselessness of revenge, whilst revenge is self-serving it isnt satisfying but instead creates more damage, grief, sorrow, remorse within the revengeful character
para 2- the vicious ongoing downward spiral of revenge, it doesnt enhance lives, but rather one individual's actions can cause grief to entire groups/society's. it is fruitless and pointless. revenge only breaks down relationships rather than enhancing them.
para 3- reconciliation and humanity is a much greater, more honourable, respectful answer or response to grief and sorrow
whilst readers may feel Priam and Mandela could be somewhat justified in seeking revenge they show a more honourable approach. and despite reproach (from hecuba/the princes and Mandela's family and security team) the leaders do what is best for their nation/tribe/groups rather than satisfy personal feelings, which ultimately brings them peace, happiness, respect, legacy
just suggestions.. so dont feel like you have to go with that.! ;)
:)
Okay, I know the posts above are at least partly in jest, but I'm going to answer these seriously because I think there's an underlying problem here that's unique to English subjects.Sooooooo bloody good
Most subjects consist of a fairly straightforward series of tasks: sit down, do exercises 1-5, Qs. a-g; memorise vocab list from chapter 4; do a practice exam, that sort of thing. Many people would argue you can treat English the same way, and that it's just a matter of finding the right activity to work on.
This approach isn't invalid. Plenty of people have scored very highly by simply understanding the system, writing heaps (/"spamming" essays as I'm told da kidz are calling it) and memorising chunks of whatever works.
I feel like this is perpetuated by a lot of schools, tutors, and even professional companies because it's a comfort. Being told you can write a certain number of essays and be certain of a reasonably good mark is nice to hear. And whilst it's not totally untrue, I do think it's contributing to some serious misconceptions regarding the subject.
The best kept secret, I've found, is that although you may score well if you know what to write, you will definitely score well if you know how to think.
This is an unpopular view for good reasons; it's not like a teacher with a class of 30 can feasibly teach students how to think within 8 months, ~4 hours a week, whilst also conforming to a syllabus and the pressure of exams. I'll admit I've caved to this pressure as well with a few of my students, and end up just focusing on criteria and assessment because of time restrictions or other issues.
But English is a subject that rewards thinking.
You can rote-learn. You can know your texts inside-out and study high-scoring responses and annoy your classroom teacher until they give you so much feedback you can predict what they're going to say. What's more, you're going to feel good about this, because you're physically doing tangible work that your brain associates with progress. Even if you're hitting some mental blockades with the content, it'll still feel like improvement because you're working at it.
For some people this is the only way they learn. Quite a few people in my year level would be writing essays from day one. They were atrocious essays, and were in no way indicative of their abilities, but for them, it was a way of consolidating their knowledge.
But the only reason why this works is because of the (often unintentional) tangential benefits.
Doing the 'class-assigned' kinds of activities is a slow-but-effective way to better your thinking. So why do this when you could go for a fast-but-effective method?
Well, partly because it's going to feel slower. You'll be doing unfamiliar things, and for a long time, you'll probably be doing them badly. However, as someone who's seen the system from both sides now, I've concluded this is a much better way of tackling the course.
For starters, let's clarify what's meant by 'thought.' We all know what it means, but strangely it's not a word that gets tossed around in English classes quite so much as 'juxtaposition' or 'inclusive language' might. This can be attributed to it's abstract-ness: your teacher can't see you thinking, save for seeing the result of the process in essay-form.
So when you're getting essay feedback, you're receiving criticisms for the product of your thinking, right? (-Excluding handwriting issues or minor structural things that you maybe weren't aware of.) Here's where problems start to arise...
For anyone who's worked in retail/ hospitality, you'll probably be familiar with copping blame for things totally out of your control. I used to work in a chicken and chip shop, and I'd have customers who would come in and complain about everything under the sun; chips aren't cooked right, the salt is to salty, the chickens are too small, why does this salad have lettuce in it? etc. etc.
I was but a mere server-girl, and so, realistically, if these bitterly displeased customers actually wanted their problems solved, they would have addressed the root of the problem and not hurled abuse and/or utensils at me.
Your English teachers, in this somewhat tortured metaphor, are akin to my old chicken shop patrons. They're not trained to consider the source of their discomfort, be that a misunderstanding of the text or the fact that our shop was drastically understaffed most nights; instead, their natural inclination is to blame what is made apparent: the wrong words in a body paragraph, or a slightly dirty fork.
When you get comments on your essay like 'needs development' or 'I'm not sure about this,' what your teachers are actually-sort-of-kinda-but-not-really-trying-to-say is change your thinking! But that sounds weird because it's easier for them to focus on your essay itself, and it's less strenuous for students to obsess over numerical scores or criteria than it is to consider the possibility of mind-altering-drugs-study instead.
Now prepare yourselves forLauren's foolproof guide for How to Think GoodTo demonstrate this we're going to look at a textual excerpt. You don't have to know anything about it, in fact it's better if you don't. I'm adapting this from an Andrew Bovell play called 'Speaking in Tongues' if anyone's interested.
VALERIE: [answering machine] John, it's me... Valerie. I wish you'd let me do the message.
You sound so... I don't know... distant.
To learn how to think properly for English (/Lit, which is what I usually use this example for, but tomaito tomahto) all you have to do is answer this question: What do you know about Valerie and John?
That's all. But fair warning, my answer to this question is over 2000 words long, and that's all without reference to the play this came from.
Most people will fumble for a starting point at first, like 'well, we know she's talking to John on an answering machine, and that she wants to do the message instead of him.' Later, once you get past the basic, denotative stuff, you'll end up in 'assumptions' territory, eg. maybe they're not getting along, and that's why he sounds distant and she's not allowed to do the message. Keep building on this, and eventually you'll reach full blown implications: John is trying to maintain some semblance of power in their marriage by exerting control over petty things like which of them record an answering machine message. Meanwhile, Valerie is able to undermine his authority through criticism; she is still able to voice her objections, meaning he does not have complete command over her.
That's not to say there is a 'right' answer. You could go in a completely different direction, eg. The fact that the two are communicating via an answering machine - an innately indirect form of conversation - suggests they are not able to engage with one another on any level. Both John and Valerie are "distant," and without artificial conduits like answering machines between them, their relationship has very little holding it together.
Evidently what I'm talking about here is more like overthinking than just thinking, but perhaps that's appropriate.
Let me be clear: this will not directly help you. You should not spend 200 words in an English body paragraph analysing two sentences from the text/article. This is not about a subject-specific skillset, this is about rewiring your brain to look at things differently.
In the above exercise, I extrapolated from two lines of dialogue and concluded that the couple had a serious communication barrier between them, and were likely in the midst of some confusion regarding the power balance between them. I could be wrong, but that's not the point. The point is that I can justify my thinking.
I had a teacher who conducted a similar exercise in class and ended it with 'of course you couldn't say something ridiculous like 'this excerpt suggests John wants to grow a beard' or anything.' But I disagree.
John's lack of control over Valerie signifies his emasculation ,which is exacerbated by Valerie's implied criticism. She is able to express her wants in no uncertain terms, and her power is marked by a stereotypically feminine "I wish you'd let me" brand of passive aggression. Thus, it seems logical then for John to gravitate towards physicality as a means of reasserting himself with something equally gender codified; perhaps a handlebar mustache, or even a proper, fully-fledged man-beard - an ideogram of his patient but firm dominance.
Note: I would never seriously write that in an essay. This was an exercise in thinking, and taking my analysis further than the surface level. Do this often enough, and you begin to get a feel for what actually belongs in an essay, and what's just conjecture.
I know this is quite text-heavy, but a willingness to read is just important as a willingness to write for English :)
Yes, it's frustrating when you're not making obvious numerical improvements, and yes, working out what constitutes as "useful" study is a lot tough in English than it is in other subjects, but it ultimately boils down to your willingness to engage with the material.
Think about stuff, and learn how to demonstrate this thinking in the best way possible. No magic required :)
Hi Lauren :)
I'm struggling to find resources for 'The lieutenant' which is my text response text.
Do you know where I could find some? (quotes, analysis etc)
And for comparative, my teachers are stressing on the 'idea' the paragraph is based on and talking more about the idea rather than just texts and evidence. Almost 10 lines are for 'commenting on the idea'. Do you think this is a good way to go about comparative? I thought it was more important to compare the texts. (I'm doing Invictus and Ransom btw!)
ok sweet... ill keep that in mind. my intro's have never really been 'short'. and whilst i know there is no word amount count, can i ask, how many words would a good short succinct intro be?
thanks :)
Hi there,Do you think you could find a way to split a body paragraph up? Technically the examiner shouldn't have a problem but unconsciously I feel it may impact your score.
I am struggling to fit my text response and comparative essays in 1 hour, so I am wondering if you think it is a 'turn off' (so-to-speak) when an examiner sees an essay with 2 body paragraphs compared to an essay with 3 body paragraphs? Because I am finding it easier to write 2 longer body paragraphs that include more depth, than 3 bodies.
Thanks
Question about the oral: would it be too weird or out of place to use past historical events to support a argument about a contemporary issue?depends the specific case you are talking about. :)
Randomly...
Would it be right to call 'Animal Farm' a lampoon against socialism?
(Lampoon... that awkward moment when you literally only know a word because of studying the 'Mabo' documentary... :D
#Thanks2blackfellafilms)
lampoon /lamˈpuːn/
verb
1. publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm.
"the actor was lampooned by the press"
2. a speech or text lampooning someone or something.
"the magazine fired at God, Royalty, and politicians, using cartoons and lampoons"
My recommendation is somewhere between 4-6 sentences. It depends on how long your sentences are! Generally the guideline is: 1 or 2 to intro the text, 1 for contention, 1 or 2 to intro body paragraphs. Whatever you write, your intro must be shorter than your shortest body paragraph.
~Shirlaine from TSEtuition
Hi there,
I am struggling to fit my text response and comparative essays in 1 hour, so I am wondering if you think it is a 'turn off' (so-to-speak) when an examiner sees an essay with 2 body paragraphs compared to an essay with 3 body paragraphs? Because I am finding it easier to write 2 longer body paragraphs that include more depth, than 3 bodies.
Thanks
Question about the oral: would it be too weird or out of place to use past historical events to support a argument about a contemporary issue?
Hi Lauren :) I have a few questions regarding the structure of a language analysis essay for the exam when there are 2 or more texts. I have been trying to paragraph by argument, and within the same paragraph, talk about different texts (i.e. 1st article --> linking word --> 2nd article), but I find it very difficult to make quick decisions on how to split my paragraphs when often, the arguments in each written text don't link up nicely with each other.
1. Could I still get 10/10 if I decide to make this my go-to structure:
Separate each text into main arguments/'themes'. Then find 2-3 links for each image in different sections of the essay - i.e. talk about the image in the same paragraphs as the written material.
BUT go through the written texts chronologically - eg: talk about 1st text (blocking that text off by argument) and find 2-3 links to image, then talk about 2nd text (blocking that text off by argument) and then find 2-3 links to image.
This would personally be a lot less stressful for me, because in the past I have sat there for a long time just figuring out how to link the 2 texts into the same paragraph! Would this structure always work?
2. However, if I use this method, how would I compare the two texts? Should my rule of thumb be that the 1st sentence of each paragraph of my 2nd text should be a comparative sentence? Also, is comparison part of the marking criteria? Is a simple linking word such as 'similarly' or 'on the other hand' sufficient, or should my comparative sentence at the start of the paragraphs for my 2nd text be comparing the argument? Or should I be aiming to make comparative comments throughout my whole piece?
3. Also, my concern with this method is that my piece will be imbalanced because the 2nd text is often shorter than the 1st text, and 1 paragraph wouldn't be enough to talk about the 2nd text.
Thus, at the moment, i think this would be my most likely structure, for 2 texts and 2 visuals:
1. Text 1 + visual 1
2. Text 1 + visual 1
3. Text 2 + visual 2
4. Text 2 + visual 2
This would mean that my 3rd and 4th paragraphs would be SIGNIFICANTLY shorter than my 1st and 2nd. Is this structure okay, or could you think of a better way to split paragraphs?
4. For example, is this a good structure for the 2015 LA (on bigsplash):
1. Para Text 1 - praise for bigsplash company --> shift to extolling Australian volunteers and arguing that they enrich and are essential to society.
+ 2 references to the 1st visual linked with text analysis
Para 2. Text 1 - generating guilt in Australians by arguing that we have undervalued and underappreciated volunteers
+ 1 reference to the 1st visual linked with text analysis
Para 3. Text 2 - Mathew Nguyen building praise for his organisation Tradespeople Without Borders and casting himself as a humble, approachable individual, thereby humanising himself in Australian's eyes and gaining the reader's trust.
+ 2 references to the 2nd visual linked with text analysis
(1. Presenting himself as hospitable and casual --> casual clothing of the people joining hands. Lol don't know if this is okay to talk about?
2. By emphasising his desire to 'make a difference' and 'help Australia's reputation as a caring country', Nguyen appeals to the patriotic instincts of his audience, and strives to generate a sense of solidarity and unity amongst Australians who have a fundamental sense of responsibility to help those around him. This notion of cohesion and harmony is given visual reinforcement by the accompanying image, which depicts....)
Para 4. Text 2 - Nguyen humbly proclaiming that though recognition and praise of volunteers is welcomed, it is not necessary and the true reward of volunteering is the delight of helping others.
(My 3rd and 4th paragraphs would be like half the length of my 1st and 2nd paragraphs though, which is what I am worried about!)
5. Would you ever make links to the visual when talking about a text that the visual is NOT accompanied with? Is this common/recommended? Eg: The 2nd visual of the 2015 piece feeding into Bennett's proclamation that humanitarian work 'stitches together the social fabric of our nation'
6. Edit: When the 2nd text is significantly shorter than the 1st text, could I do (using the 2016/2014 exams as an example):
Para 1. 1st text + 1 link to visual
Para 2. 1st text + 1 link to visual
Para 3. 1st text + 1 link to visual
Para 4. 2nd text + 1 link to visual
So could I make my rule of thumb -
if the 2nd text is a decent length, like in 2015, allocate the last 2 paragraphs to it. But if the 2nd text is significantly shorter, like in 2015, allocate only the last paragraph to it? (Again with the concern about uneven paragraph lengths - my last paragraph would most likely be very long. But if I split that paragraph into 2, they would both be very short. Sigh...)
Sorry, I know there is a lot of detail in these questions, but I am really determined to do well on the exam! Thank you so much for your help :D
hey y'all,
has anyone here written a comparative essay for Invictus/ Ransom? i have my SAC tomorrow and would love to read what people have written!! it would be very appriciated !
thank you in advance x
Have look in the "VCE English Work Submitted for Marking" section. I noticed three or four!
awesome, ill check it out!
would you able to link it onto this, im not too sure where it is!
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?board=406.0 that's the board
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=173111.0 and this is the first essay for ransom/invictus that i saw (:
Sooooooo bloody goodJust reasking to hopefully get it answered
So just keep tryingg to gather as much information from a scentence or two from any text which improves ur thinking
Also im not 100% what being able to think implies, is it your ability to gatther ideas and interpret passagges from the text
If in the exam you don't get to finish the conclusion, how many marks will be deducted, and what might your study score be pushed down to, if the rest of the piece was good enough to get around a 40 study score?
hey y'all,
has anyone here written a comparative essay for Invictus/ Ransom? i have my SAC tomorrow and would love to read what people have written!! it would be very appriciated !
thank you in advance x
Just reasking to hopefully get it answered
Your essay is marked holistically. We like conclusions because they make for a nice well-rounded complete essay but it's not like vcaa are sitting there ticking boxes and you have to get all those boxes ticked to get a certain mark. In marking, they also keep in mind that you were under timed constraints. Aim to have a finished conclusion though if possible by way of practicing time management because an unfinished essay is not ideal.
Hope the SAC went well!
Thank you everyone who helped out by linking KANYEWEST to some essays. We are, after all, a community and the more everyone puts in, the more we get out of this great community/resource/whatever so kudos to you all.
What was the question? If it is to do with what it means to think, unfortunately, I'm going to have to pass on that question and leave it to someone more knowledgeable. :)
Hi,
For the prompt "The Longest Memory and Black Diggers show us that there are short term and long term ramifications of racism. Discuss", would you advise doing one paragraph on short term ramifications of racism in both texts and then one on the long term ramifications?
Thank you
Hi!
I'm not doing Ransom/Invictus but you could try:
Commended for the selflessness involved and the sacrifices one must make, endorsed leadership is viewed as admirable and meritorious (by the society).
Hope that helps!
Hello,
What are the most important things to do before an exam? I have a practise exam tomorrow and have only finished the course work this past Friday. Is it best just to do practise essays/plans and re-read notes of issues/themes about the books? Any help will be great!
Thanks,
Hey!Thanks heaps for the advice, when you say, "I wouldn't worry too much about not finishing complete, polished essays tomorrow.", do you mean it is better to have unfinished good quality essays in the actual practise exam since it is just a practice one??
Given that your practice exam is tomorrow, I'd recommend that you read through past essays and SACs. This should help refresh your knowledge on important quotes, ideas and interpretations, which you've formulated throughout the year. Perhaps also take note of the areas that could do with some improvement. I wouldn't worry too much about not finishing complete, polished essays tomorrow. There's still quite a bit of time to get used to constraint! :)
What you do after the practice exam is completely up to you. English is very much a personal subject, in terms of how you can prepare. But if you're looking for recommendations, here's what I'd suggest.
-Instead of writing a copious number of essays, re-write the essays that you've completed throughout the year. You would have already formed the basis of your interpretation and can just fix up expression, relevance to prompt, clarity of ideas, etc.
-Time yourself every now and then, but ensure that you first have the quality down pat. There is no point writing essay after essay if you are making the same mistake and aren't getting enough depth in your writing.
-Like you say, it's good to have a re-read over notes and themes. Something additional to this is selecting small passages from your texts and then annotating them in detail. Annotating is a really great skill, which allows you to recognise the small nuances of the text and pick up on connections, which you previously did not see.
-Contribute to the AA Club on AN, where a new article is added each fortnight. Here, others can mark your work and you too will have the opportunity to mark the work of others. Marking is a fantastic way to better your own skills, as it forces you to identify what is strong in a piece, and what can be improved.
Hopefully these ideas give you a starting point for revision. All the best :D
Thanks heaps for the advice, when you say, "I wouldn't worry too much about not finishing complete, polished essays tomorrow.", do you mean it is better to have unfinished good quality essays in the actual practise exam since it is just a practice one??
Thanks again,
hey guys, just wanted to ask a quick question.
With questions such as this 'Both Victor and the Creature are motivated by revenge. Discuss.' how do you relate back to the author and not make it a character- based essay?
Think about what the author is saying through your answer to the essay question. For instance, if they are both motivated by revenge, is Shelley saying that it is good or bad thing? To what degree and why so?
Help!!! Year 11 English Unit 2, Area of Study 2: Presenting ArgumentWhat is it about the topic specifically that's got you stuck?
Need urgent help.
Topic: Homelessness in Melbourne is a complex social issue that needs addressing.
Could someone give me a few arguments and dot points, contention and also the structure?
Thanks. Sigma.
Hey guys,You should analyse everything - obviously, if they're just small comments, you don't need to do a large analysis, but you need to show the examiner that you've read and considered everything :) If you don't mention every comment, then your analysis won't be as comprehensive, and you won't have shown that you've considered all the sides to the story (if that's what you want to call it), so you'll lose marks.
In for Section C, if there are many comments accompanied by the main piece, do we have to analyse every single one of them? Are we allowed to leave one or two out?
Thanks :)
Hey guys,if there are comments I would best try to analyse them on it's own (e.g. a seperate paragraph) and then try to show and differences or similarities between them and the main piece of writing.
In for Section C, if there are many comments accompanied by the main piece, do we h ave to analyse every single one of them? Are we allowed to leave one or two out?
Thanks :)
You should analyse everything - obviously, if they're just small comments, you don't need to do a large analysis, but you need to show the examiner that you've read and considered everything :) If you don't mention every comment, then your analysis won't be as comprehensive, and you won't have shown that you've considered all the sides to the story (if that's what you want to call it), so you'll lose marks.
Hope this helped! :)
if there are comments I would best try to analyse them on it's own (e.g. a seperate paragraph) and then try to show and differences or similarities between them and the main piece of writing.Thanks a lot!
Hey guys so i've written a couple really good (according to teachers/tutor lol) english essays for Medea and i want to memorise one of them that im hoping to regurgitate in the exam if the essay question is similar enough (revenge/justice etc). Anyways my question is what are you guys doing? Is anyone else memorising there pieces?
Hey guys so i've written a couple really good (according to teachers/tutor lol) english essays for Medea and i want to memorise one of them that im hoping to regurgitate in the exam if the essay question is similar enough (revenge/justice etc). Anyways my question is what are you guys doing? Is anyone else memorising there pieces?
This is probably a long shot, but does anyone know how to address a 'how' question in section B. i.e. compare the portrayals of family in Tracks and Into the Wild. i can get an alright score for it (60-65%) but wouldn't mind bumping that up a bit. thanks in advance
i was wondering how to address the theme of justice in the novel 'The Lieutenant'?
a sample topic is 16. How is the importance of justice addressed in the novel ‘The Lieutenant’?
how would i set out my paragraphs and can you include relationships and how people treat each other, or is this straying too far from the topic?
thankyou
This is probably a long shot, but does anyone know how to address a 'how' question in section B. i.e. compare the portrayals of family in Tracks and Into the Wild. i can get an alright score for it (60-65%) but wouldn't mind bumping that up a bit. thanks in advance
Hey!
Well a "how" question is essentially focused on the texts' construction. This can range from film shot, narrative structure, relationship types, dialogue, post scripts and a whole lot more. Every essay, regardless of the question type (ie. to what extent, do you agree) should all incorporate ideas on how the authors/directors have constructed elements to emphasise certain ideas/messages.
So for Tracks and Into the Wild- "Compare the portrayals of family."
-How do the texts portray family? The rigid definition of a biological family is certainly challenged throughout the texts (more so in Into the Wild)
-Is a family necessary? If yes, how is this expressed? If no, how is this expressed?
-Are families toxic or needed for constant guidance? Again, directors/authors choose varying structures/dialogue/film shots/images (in Tracks) to articulate this.
Hopefully this gives you a starting point :)
Recently I lost a ton of marks for saying stuff like the writer compels the reader to feel a certain way instead of the writer attempts to compel the reader to feel a certain way. Does this really matter, cause adding the words attempts to or endeavours to really doesn’t add anything to the content of a piece. I know that we don’t really know how the reader will react so we do this and maybe I should just do it just in case, but should something that adds virtually nothing to the content of an essay really contribute to a person’s mark? What do you guys think about it?
Recently I lost a ton of marks for saying stuff like the writer compels the reader to feel a certain way instead of the writer attempts to compel the reader to feel a certain way. Does this really matter, cause adding the words attempts to or endeavours to really doesn’t add anything to the content of a piece. I know that we don’t really know how the reader will react so we do this and maybe I should just do it just in case, but should something that adds virtually nothing to the content of an essay really contribute to a person’s mark? What do you guys think about it?
Hello
With language analysis I have been finding it difficult to only write as much as I need to.
I find myself writing six pages of analysis, and I don't even analyse every single technique I see.
I know there is no perfect answer, but how many techniques do you guys usually mention within one paragraph (one paragraph being devoted to one argument)?
Or any advice on cutting down the length of my essays would be nice ;D
Thank youuuuu
Are there any quotes for how Hecuba and her son are resistant to change?
how long should i spend in each section ideally?
also, whats the average word limit for text response? (im nervous bc i write <1000 usually under timed conditions)
Hi,
For language analysis articles with more than one written text, is it acceptable to talk about each text in different paragraphs? Because when I talk about two or more in the same paragraph, often my paragraphs get too long :-\
Yes, it's fine to do so. Just curious, when you have two or more in the same paragraph, are you comparing them?Thank you for your reply. Yup, I compare the arguments when I have two or more texts in a paragraph, but they tend to get very long :)
Thank you for your reply. Yup, I compare the arguments when I have two or more texts in a paragraph, but they tend to get very long :)
Another question, can I do the same with visuals? Can I have a separate paragraph of just the visual?
Thank you for your reply. Yup, I compare the arguments when I have two or more texts in a paragraph, but they tend to get very long :)Right, makes sense. Do you know if we're required to compare texts in section C? My understanding is that there are no marks allocated to comparisons as such, so I haven't really been focusing on it.
Another question, can I do the same with visuals? Can I have a separate paragraph of just the visual?
Hi, I am studying Medea for Text Response, however am struggling with revising / preparing for the exam. I have gathered quotes and themes and prompts but it hasn't really helped me. What can i do?
Thank you
What you can do at this stage is try to reread Medea as much as possible. Because the play is relatively short, you can read half of it everyday. While you're reading try to pay close attention to quotes so that you are able to remember them in the exams [trust me they will come to you]. Another thing you can do is apply your knowledge of the text, which basically means writing text responses based on different themes, that way you'll be ready for exams!Thanks for the advice but I have reread Medea and trying to complete text responses but keep getting stuck on prompts and what i should be writing for each pargraph
Thanks for the advice but I have reread Medea and trying to complete text responses but keep getting stuck on prompts and what i should be writing for each pargraph
Thanks for the advice but I have reread Medea and trying to complete text responses but keep getting stuck on prompts and what i should be writing for each pargraph
Thanks for the advice but I have reread Medea and trying to complete text responses but keep getting stuck on prompts and what i should be writing for each pargraphWhat prompts are you struggling with in particular or is it more putting idea onto paper?
You should try and spend one hour on each section. Start with Language Analysis, because you can use the reading time to read the article and have it fresh in your mind when you start writing, rather than having to go back and reread it all again much later in the exam, wasting time. Then do sections A and B in whatever order you prefer.and what about comparative? how long should it be
For each section, you should probably write 800-1000 words. Try not to go over 1000 words. If you write too much, you won't finish in time, but if you write under 800 you won't be able to fully flesh out your ideas. Just try and practice writing text responses in timed conditions and you'll get better and better at it!
hi guys, im struggling with writing more in text response. i seem to finish on time but my essay is always between the 775-850 word range, which is pretty lessthey won't inherently mark you down for being on the lower side of the word count but it could impact you indirectly. A 1200 word essay of X quality will always beat out a 800 word essay of X (same) quality.
how should i improve this in 9 days till the exam? also do examiners take off marks if u write less?
hello...I would have a basic framework/structure for the introduction as opposed to having a word for word memorised introduction that you use.
i have been told to write out and memorise 1/2 to 3/4 of my intro for my text responses for on the exam and then to moderate them according to the question...
is this a good idea becuase the last thing i want to do is not 'answer' the question or prompt? or shall i do it more for a 'go to' if i rrly get stuck with the prompt in front of me?
glad of opinions and help :)
Hi there,You can certainly discuss the deceptive nature of the different characters.
Im really struggling with this Medea prompt and im not sure how to approach it, should i discuss the deceptive nature of different characters in each paragraph eg. Jason, Medea, Creon
'There are no trustworthy characters in Medea'. Discuss
pls help
what are some example of unity in The Crucbile
all i can think of is the idea of uniting based on christianity, does anyone have any other examples they'd like to share?
Hi there,
Im really struggling with this Medea prompt and im not sure how to approach it, should i discuss the deceptive nature of different characters in each paragraph eg. Jason, Medea, Creon
'There are no trustworthy characters in Medea'. Discuss
pls help
Hi there,
Im really struggling with this Medea prompt and im not sure how to approach it, should i discuss the deceptive nature of different characters in each paragraph eg. Jason, Medea, Creon
'There are no trustworthy characters in Medea'. Discuss
pls help
hi guys, just a few doubts to be clearedI assume you're talking about the exam, in which iirc you'll have a box somewhere near the top of the paper where you write down or tick (or something similar) the number of the question you've selected - you don't have to write out the prompt.
- do i have to write down my prompt for section A and B or can i just write the number (like ii or something)
- i heard that examiners dont like paragraphs that go on for more than a page (hopefully not bc my handwriting is big so i tend to go over a page esp for lang analysis)
- should i highlight my quotes to make it easier for the examiner or not
thank you!!
I assume you're talking about the exam, in which iirc you'll have a box somewhere near the top of the paper where you write down or tick (or something similar) the number of the question you've selected - you don't have to write out the prompt.thank you! :)
RE: paragraph length - I don't think they'd care that much about the length (particularly if it's just because of the size of your handwriting!), as long as you: successfully make your point in the paragraph, don't write excessive amounts, and meet the general criteria for the essay.
Personally, I wouldn't highlight quotes in your essay. The whole point of integrating your quotes in your essay is to make it smooth and help it flow, so I'd worry that highlighting the quotes you include might make the examiners subconsciously focus a bit more on the bits that are jumping off the page, rather than the overall essay and its quality (after all - having a strong essay that gels well and is smooth and all that is in my opinion, more important than showing you can integrate 20 quotes into your essay). Plus, the examiner is going to be reading your whole essay anyway - they're not going to miss the quotes.
Hope this helped :)
I don't know if this is the correct place to ask this, so for that I apologise, but are we allowed to bring our own dictionary into the exam?Yes you can as long it doesn't violate these rules.
Yes you can as long it doesn't violate these rules.
Dictionaries must not contain any highlighting, annotation or tabs not part of the original publication.
A thesaurus or a dictionary that contains a thesaurus is NOT permitted in any examination.
Electronic dictionaries are NOT permitted.
Hey, I know its QUALITY OVER QUANTITY but how many words would you recommend writing on the exam for example: text response? The general word count I've heard is 800 words, currently i only ever manage to get 500-600. Can anyone give me advice on how to be more thorough or expand on my topics? The general formula for text response is usually 3 contentions, should i provide 4 contentions? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!
Hey, I know its QUALITY OVER QUANTITY but how many words would you recommend writing on the exam for example: text response? The general word count I've heard is 800 words, currently i only ever manage to get 500-600. Can anyone give me advice on how to be more thorough or expand on my topics? The general formula for text response is usually 3 contentions, should i provide 4 contentions? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!You should really be aiming for 1000 words.... i would say 800 words is the bare minimum, if you write less than that, you are most likely looking at a low to mid range essay.
in medea, is there a quote/ stage direction for how the children are close to Medea when she's crying over the thought of killing them? we went over it in class but i can't find it!!
thanks :)
there's no stage direction that the children are close to her though, right? or did I just miss it
hi guys,
what do u usually write in ur conclusions for lang analysis?
hi guys,
what do u usually write in ur conclusions for lang analysis?
Hey I have this really important question to ask.Wait for someone else to reply but I would not recommend using a quote from one text to justify ideas in both texts. You can say that the ideas are similar in both texts, but in my opinion you need to provide a quote for each text to really justify your idea and provide evidence that it’s true for both texts. Also if you use a quote from one text to justify your idea in both texts, you probably won’t be able to analyse the slight differences in ideas between texts cause you’re only quoting one text.
Can you use one quote to explain or conclude your points about both texts in comparative?
For example "Forgiveness liberates the soul,... that is why it is such a powerful weapon"
This is a quote from Invictus that you can use to justify the nature of Mandela's forgiveness, more over it can be used as evidence to how Mandela could achieve what he could. But I also wanted to use this quote to explain as well as magnify the same idea from Ransom.
Priam is willing to forgive Achilles who has violated Hector's body when no one else could. (Hecuba calls him a "jackal" the council see this as "folly" yadda ya). So if I were to conclude a paragraph on the power of forgiveness, or if were to make a point about each text and link them in one sentence. Is it okay to use ONE QUOTE from ONE TEXT to justify your idea about BOTH TEXTS?
Thanks :D
Hi,
It's exam season and I have left it till the last minute as always. Can someone please tell me how to study for my English exam?
I don't really know where to start because I'm so overwhelmed :(
P.S.
Besides rereading/rewatching please give me tips on how to begin revision. Thanks!
Hi,Hi there! Just going to add on to what Mariamnourine has said.
It's exam season and I have left it till the last minute as always. Can someone please tell me how to study for my English exam?
I don't really know where to start because I'm so overwhelmed :(
P.S.
Besides rereading/rewatching please give me tips on how to begin revision. Thanks!
Anddd, for the comparative section, whats the chances of the prompts being similar to those of the sample ones? I know its close to impossible to tell, but is it extremely unlikely? Or possible. Thoughts?
bit of a random question but in the exam what order are you guys doing everything? idk if i should do lang analysis first (my weakest), then comparative and then medea or another way
bit of a random question but in the exam what order are you guys doing everything? idk if i should do lang analysis first (my weakest), then comparative and then medea or another way
hey all! just a quick question- when an essay prompt has a quote in it, if it's are fairly long (i.e. a sentence or more), do you have to embed the entire quote in your essay? Or will fragments of the quote do?
For Medea, do we have to refer to both the traditional and modern audience in our essays? Especially for a prompt like the one below, I feel as if it is important to make that distinction as it is very likely that our responses to Medea and her plight are different to what the traditional male audience might feel. I would assume that, given the strictly patriarchal structure of society, they would be more inclined to support Jason and might be unable to relate to the group of Corinthian women or Medea?
Prompt: “The audience's sympathy remains aligned with the Chorus throughout the play”. Do you agree?
For language analysis is it actually required to state the persuasive techniques? (eg. Through the use of powerful imagery, the author....) As i'm reading a LA that got 19/20 and i cannot see any sentences that contain a statement of the persuasive technique used.
In a different vein, is anyone feeling slightly concerned about a hero prompt coming out for Medea. I have an inkling that it may arise :-\ However, in all honesty, I have not spent enough time familiarising myself (either in class or in my own study) with the context of a Greek hero. I find the whole issue way too subjective, and difficult to build into my existing essays. What's everyone's opinion on this?
In a different vein, is anyone feeling slightly concerned about a hero prompt coming out for Medea. I have an inkling that it may arise :-\ However, in all honesty, I have not spent enough time familiarising myself (either in class or in my own study) with the context of a Greek hero. I find the whole issue way too subjective, and difficult to build into my existing essays. What's everyone's opinion on this?
Didn't they do a hero one already? I feel like there's going to be one on pride - it's one of the obvious themes that they have yet to touch on.
anyone have an example of how to analyse tone in language analysis? I usually just mention it in the intro then never talk about it again :P
Yes, there's already been one on heroism (2001?), which makes me sceptical. True. Pride could come up.If you referring to VCCA 2001's prompts, there was nothing on heroes.
How are you guys memorizing quotes? Eg. Writing it out over and over again etc. i have a decent quote bank for Medea, but YOW and The crucible is another story...
How are you guys memorizing quotes? Eg. Writing it out over and over again etc. i have a decent quote bank for Medea, but YOW and The crucible is another story...
I'm doing YOW and The Crucible as well! Try brainstorming the quotes under theme branches and keep doing this until you can pretty much write down all the quotes from memory.
what happens if i forgot 'the' or 'a' from a quote in section a and/or b? will i be penalised bc im not using the right quoteI don't think it should matter *too* much if you miss a word or two in your quote - as long as the idea of the quote is still intact, and it still makes sense to have it in your essay, you should be fine. :) Remember that the people marking the English exams have to be able to mark every text - so they'll have read them all, but they won't necessarily know all texts that well. My teacher told me that you can usually get away with a bit, because a) the examiner may not be super acquainted with the text, so as long as the quote fits the picture you'll be fine and b) they're not going to go look through their book to see if that quote matches perfectly - they've got tonnes of other essays to mark! :)
also for AA, i tend to always just write 'therefore, the readers will agree with the writer's argument'
how can i force myslef to execute specific responses from the audience?
I don't think it should matter *too* much if you miss a word or two in your quote - as long as the idea of the quote is still intact, and it still makes sense to have it in your essay, you should be fine. :) Remember that the people marking the English exams have to be able to mark every text - so they'll have read them all, but they won't necessarily know all texts that well. My teacher told me that you can usually get away with a bit, because a) the examiner may not be super acquainted with the text, so as long as the quote fits the picture you'll be fine and b) they're not going to go look through their book to see if that quote matches perfectly - they've got tonnes of other essays to mark! :)thank you!!!
In terms of article analysis, I think a) try to expand your vocabulary in terms of the way you express the effect on the readers, and b) make sure you say why they're being influenced to agree or whatever. That second part is super important - it's not enough to just analyse a snippet of the article, and chuck on a "therefore readers will agree with the author" at the end - you need to elaborate on why they're agreeing. :) I think a lot of people struggle with this to some extent when they do English. Just be really conscious when you're writing that you're actually talking about how (and why) the certain part of the article you're analysing is important - what's it actually there for in the article? What purpose does it serve? It's your job to analyse that :)
Hope I didn't go too far off track with my answer. All the best!
Hey, can i use the word "conclusively" , to start off my conclusion? If not are there other terms?
Also what do I do if for section C one of the texts have no Author/writer? How would i refer to the text piece?
Thank You
Would i get penalized if i misused a quote for a character? eg. It was due to Jason's "proud, impassioned soul" that...
Since i'm sure(i may be mistaken) that quote was used to describe Medea, not Jason
Does anyone have any resources/tactics for identifying the text type/form of the texts we are given in section C?
Like identifying whether is an editorial / article etc?
THANK YOU!
In what ways is medea a hero?If your thinking of making Medea a "traditional" hero then I would say not to do that. As I believe Medea isn't a hero, but a Tragic Hero.
If your thinking of making Medea a "traditional" hero then I would say not to do that. As I believe Medea isn't a hero, but a Tragic Hero.
-She completes a heroic deed with Jason in obtaining the golden fleece
-She had a noble position as the Daughter of King Aeethes and the Granddaughter of the sun god Helios
-You could argue that she had free will in the decisions she made (You can argue that she was fated by the gods in her decision as well)
-She has a hamartia of hubris
-You could say she had reached some understanding of the breaking of marriage of Jason due to his greed for power and even knew this while committing sophistry against the male characters.
In a modern sense, she is characterised as an anti-hero.
[/quote
Thank you!
Hi, I have a comparative question for The Crucible and Year of Wonders: For my conclusion, if I want a general difference about religion in both texts, I am not sure what to write - could someone help me word something? Thank you :)Hi! So what I have been told to do by my teacher is to incorporate the purposes of each writer in your conclusion. Basically, it's the 'so what?' of your entire essay. Why have Brooks and Miller bothered to write about the plague and Salem witch trials? What do they want us to take away from this?
Hey, So for section B(Comparative), how long should the introduction be? Mine go for over half a page, as i introduce both texts / authors / style / context / and the three points i will be making. Is that too much information?
Hey, So for section B(Comparative), how long should the introduction be? Mine go for over half a page, as i introduce both texts / authors / style / context / and the three points i will be making. Is that too much information?
Depending on your hand-writing size, more than half a page may or may not be a bit too much. With section B, I've always condensed my introduction to 3 large sentences (multiple clauses). However, this is definitely personal preference. My only reasoning is that, with the comparative, the bulk of your essay will generally be greater than the text response; given the comparison between two different texts. A good idea might be to go through your essay with a highlighter, and highlight words or phrases that are key to context or interpretation. After having done this, see if you can re-write a shorter, and maybe more concise, introduction. Hopefully this helps :)
any phrases or ways to incorporate tone in body paragraphs for LA? Rarely do i ever mention about tone after the introduction.
Thanks
any phrases or ways to incorporate tone in body paragraphs for LA? Rarely do i ever mention about tone after the introduction.
Thanks
I think I answered a similar question in a previous post. To incorporate tone into analysis, I like to connect it to textual evidence. Eg. "The undertones of (tone X- sarcasm, distress), which riddle/consume the phrase Y, seeks to stress/emphasise/foreground."Hi! Adding to clarke54321 again (sorry man), explaining the impact of tonal shifts on the target audience could also be used. It provides you with another level of complexity to your analysis. For example, if you note that the author moves from an aggressive tone to a more calmer one, you could talk about how they would seem more reasonable to their audience etc.
I also like to preface new paragraphs with, "Shifting to a more Z tone, author P ....."
How many quotes are you looking to memorize for each text(Medea, YOW and The Crucible)I can't say for the other texts besides Medea since I didn't do comparative last year.
Hi, for comparative should you make comparisons between texts throughout the paragraph? and take a similar approach to comparative language analysis?Ideally you’d want more than one transitional comparative statement. So you should include more comparison throughout, cause comparison is a major criteria.
I usually structure my paras by talking about one text then i have a transitional comparative statemnt and start talking about the next text, but should i include more comparison throughout???
Hey guys, does anyone know if we'll be marked down if we don't have a conclusion for Section C? I've heard some people say that's it's not that important... so could someone please confirm this? Thx ;)My impression is that you should at least chuck in a 2 sentence conclusion to make sure you have it. It only takes like a minute for me to write one. This is just to be safe. But, I think that if you don’t have time for a conclusion, then it’s not the biggest deal and you shouldn’t stress about it.
Anyone have a simple, easy acronym for language analysis structure? Like what to include in the intro and how to lay out each body paragraph?For body paragraph,
For the burial rites and medea section, are we allowed to write about both?? I've been told that we need to pick one book only and write an essay on that using the prompts given but what if i find burial rites too difficult in the exam, am i allowed to write about both?? Obviously on different papersYou are only able to write about one text for Section
How many quotes would you recommend to memeorise for each of sections A and B? Should I memorise a quote for each theme?Really up to you and what you feel comfortable with, I'd have a few quotes for each theme and a handful of quotes you could use for anything :) Having short (even 2 or 3 word) quotes up your sleeve is great and because they're short you can remember more!
And what make would I need to get a 36? A 7/10 for each essay or...?
Hi, for comparative should you make comparisons between texts throughout the paragraph? and take a similar approach to comparative language analysis?I can't comment on the comparative, but for language analysis - I don't think you're *actually* required to compare. My school and a lot of other schools have taught it this way though, and I think the idea is that it helps you understand the effect of language on the reader - and being able to show how the language impacts the reader differently from text to text probably reflects well on your language analysis skills. Just my thoughts, though.
I usually structure my paras by talking about one text then i have a transitional comparative statemnt and start talking about the next text, but should i include more comparison throughout???
Hey guys, does anyone know if we'll be marked down if we don't have a conclusion for Section C? I've heard some people say that's it's not that important... so could someone please confirm this? Thx ;)Nah, shouldn't really affect you at all. It's better to have complete body paragraphs and no conclusion rather than incomplete body paragraphs and a full conclusion. I'd recommend even just chucking a short one in (only has to be a few sentences - I think mine was maybe 2 or 3 and written in about 30 seconds haha) for completeness, but definitely not the end of the world if you don't have one. :)
Ideally you’d want more than one transitional comparative statement. So you should include more comparison throughout, cause comparison is a major criteria.Is it, though? I think there was a debate on this somewhere in this board.
Anyone have a simple, easy acronym for language analysis structure? Like what to include in the intro and how to lay out each body paragraph?I personally used ITAPTACTV for my intro, and just sort of went with the flow for my body paras. I know some people use "Support, Condemn, Do" and others use "People, Groups, Things" to order paragraphs, but I always just sort of analysed things that fit together or complemented each other in my body paras.
You are only able to write about one text for Section B on the English exam. You can't write about both on the exam.Actually, Section B is the comparative section - so they do need to compare texts. Section A is where you only write about one text - it's the traditional text response.
For the burial rites and medea section, are we allowed to write about both?? I've been told that we need to pick one book only and write an essay on that using the prompts given but what if i find burial rites too difficult in the exam, am i allowed to write about both?? Obviously on different papersSo, I assume we're talking about Section A here.
Double posting because of the length of my post.
So, I assume we're talking about Section A here.
You have to pick one book, pick one prompt, and write an essay on it. You can only write one essay for Section A. If you find the prompts for Burial Rites too difficult in the exam, then respond to one of the Medea prompts. :)
As it is said in the exam instructions:
"Section A requires students to write an analytical interpretation of a selected text in response to one topic (either i. or ii.) on one text."
Hope this has cleared things up :)
Okay thanks for clearing that up. Is there anything you recommend me to do to get a good study score?Such an ambiguous question haha.
I have looked at a few themes in Burial Rites, Medea, 1984 and Stasiland and characters and quotes
A huge good luck to everybody sitting the exam today. Can't wait to hear your thoughts this afternoon!
Thank you so much. I have to admit I am terrified of those examiners [and the exam obvs]. Let's hope all goes well
Hi big question here, (year 10 student)
In school we've been doing text response essays all year as well as recently starting comparitive but I can't for some reason improve in creating more ideas or analysis in my explanation. I have a braindead teacher and I've searched and tried all the tips on this forum I can't get that writing mentality so I've decided to ask the question myself. Specifically, I find my self just reiterating the same point throughout my body paragraphs or sounding unneccesarily verbose. For example in a normal tr essay for Macbeth with a prompt asking to discuss ambition all I find myself doing is just saying- ambition is a dangerous quality capable of wracking a persons mind if not tamed>>>shakespeare exemplifies through Macbeth the unsuspecting nature of unbridled ambition, highlighting a heavy lust for power and murderous tendency as symptomatic of its atrocious ability. See how they both kinda make the same point, thats what the majority of my paragraphs end up repeating for any prompt. I want to go further than just saying ambition is dangerous and makes someone wreck havoc. Thanks and appreciate any answers to help me :D
Exam topic for practice English exam. Compare the impact of surveillance on the lives of citizens in both Nineteen Eighty-FourI’m procrastinating right now, so I might as well help you out. My body paragraphs for this were 1) Physical and psychological ramifications of surveillance. I discussed Julia and Winston and how surveillance influenced their mind and spirit. 2) Surveillance and the effect upon relationships. I discussed how surveillance destroyed trust between people and discussed internal emigration in Stasiland and the how informers, which is a method of surveillance destroys trust. Also, here would be a great place to discuss Mrs Parsons and her children. 3) The nature of surveillance to restrict individual freedom.
and Stasiland.
Could someone please give me three themes and example for each. Thanks.
Is there a way to understand the English texts you're reading? I've just finished the first 2 chapters of stasiland and I'm struggling to remember what has happened so far (first 2 chapters) and ended up having to use study guides for chapter summaries
Is memorising essays a good idea to get a 30 study score raw in english?
How many words should we write for english sacs in year 12 (comparitive essays, language analysis, short stories, etc)?
It really depends on your ability to convey yourself and the task you are given. Normally in my school we are instructed to write 800-1000 words regardless of the SAC we do, but high scoring students normally write 1000-1200 words so that's usually where they target. Then again some people might need more words to say what they are trying to say so this is a really inaccurate scale to measure quality.Thank you :)
Does spelling influence the mark you get in vce english?
Its my greatest weakness... I would consider myself a fairly good writer in terms of essays and stuff but I suck at spelling, will this bring my marks down by a lot?
Does anyone know what it means when we have to give a brief explanation of a quote? Like what do we need to specifically talk about etc?
Hello!It's a homework task, so would that make a difference?
When you say ‘brief explanation of a quote,’ do you mean in terms of an essay? Or is this a homework task?
If this is a homework task, perhaps your teacher is looking for you to pull out the main view/value of the evidence snippet. What is the main idea that is coming through? In an essay, a brief explanation may mean providing some context to the evidence.
We may be able to help you out more if you can clarify your question :)
How is it possible to gain a deeper understanding of texts without the proper resources? For example, I'm going to have to write a creative piece on 'Like a House on Fire' by Cate Kennedy, and I haven't come across any resources online that could help me gain a better understanding about the short stories in her novel.As for historical context it's quite useful to show the asessor that the piece of work was not done in isolation and obviously influenced by exterior sources. I used to try to include a little bit of history whilst I introduced the text. (text response)
Also, on a different note, how important is it to include historical context in essays? I've started to do this as a habit, but is it always required?
Thanks.
How is it possible to gain a deeper understanding of texts without the proper resources? For example, I'm going to have to write a creative piece on 'Like a House on Fire' by Cate Kennedy, and I haven't come across any resources online that could help me gain a better understanding about the short stories in her novel.
Also, on a different note, how important is it to include historical context in essays? I've started to do this as a habit, but is it always required?
Thanks.
Is it necessary to read your english books? I've finished reading the Crucible and 1/3 of the way with Left Hand of Darkness and I honestly can't tell if my understanding of the texts has improved compared to when i only read the online summaries. I'm also a slow reader and it takes me ages to finish a book, and english is really boring for me even though i try to enjoy it
How is it possible to gain a deeper understanding of texts without the proper resources? For example, I'm going to have to write a creative piece on 'Like a House on Fire' by Cate Kennedy, and I haven't come across any resources online that could help me gain a better understanding about the short stories in her novel.
Also, on a different note, how important is it to include historical context in essays? I've started to do this as a habit, but is it always required?
Thanks.
https://www.shmoop.com/1984/book-2-chapter-9-quotes-2.htmlyou can pick out anything from the book and use as a quote. When you are quoting something you yourself input the inverted commas to show that it is not yours originally.
In Oceania at the present day, Science, in the old sense, has almost ceased to exist. In Newspeak there is no word for "Science." The empirical method of thought, on which all the scientific achievements of the past were founded, is opposed to the most fundamental principles of Ingsoc. And even technological progress only happens when its products can in some way be used for the diminution of human liberty.
I was getting quotes from 1984 and the website says that the above is a quote, also in the book it's not in inverted commas, so is it really a quote?
you can pick out anything from the book and use as a quote. When you are quoting something you yourself input the inverted commas to show that it is not yours originally.But isn't there a difference between picking out anything from the book as a quote and someone speaking in the book as a quote?
But isn't there a difference between picking out anything from the book as a quote and someone speaking in the book as a quote?
Is it generally possible to memorise essays and then fit it to the specific topic/prompt on a sac?
Is it generally possible to memorise essays and then fit it to the specific topic/prompt on a sac?
Is it generally possible to memorise essays and then fit it to the specific topic/prompt on a sac?Possible, but not necessarily a good idea. We had a SAC last year where we had to write a poem, memorize it and write it out in class, before analysing it from a literary point of view.
Is it generally possible to memorise essays and then fit it to the specific topic/prompt on a sac?
Hello
So for the holidays I’m supposed to be going through a booklet of articles about the topic of increasing the legal smoking age and annotating it.
I’m really struggling. I’m finding all the arguments first but it’s so hard for me to identify the beginning and end of each argument and it feels like the entire piece is just one argument.
Then when I do find an argument I feel like every piece has the same arguments and it’s annoying as. And every piece seems to have 3 arguments but I’m not sure if they actually do have 3 arguments or if I’m just assuming they all have 3 so that they match. Idk
HelloHello! :)
So for the holidays I’m supposed to be going through a booklet of articles about the topic of increasing the legal smoking age and annotating it.
I’m really struggling. I’m finding all the arguments first but it’s so hard for me to identify the beginning and end of each argument and it feels like the entire piece is just one argument.
Then when I do find an argument I feel like every piece has the same arguments and it’s annoying as. And every piece seems to have 3 arguments but I’m not sure if they actually do have 3 arguments or if I’m just assuming they all have 3 so that they match. Idk
It'll be great if you could attack one of the articlesPlease don't attack one of the articles! :P
Please don't attack one of the articles! :PHahahahahahaha!!! ;D ;D ;D
Anyway, I've been taught to look for choices in language first before trying to link them together to form an argument. More often than not I find arguments can be spread out through the piece and aren't necessarily in each paragraph. I find it easier to connect choices in language/techniques throughout to form arguments. Is this a viable method of doing it?
I'm sorry if this has been asked before but how would I go about incorporating specific words into my writing? I feel there are three types of words for me. Ones I know and automatically use in writing, ones I know but never occur to me when writing and words I don't know. Say I have a list of words which I hope to include in my writing, what kind of techniques would I use to have them come naturally to me?
Write a piece about a place and time where both beauty and hardship existBeauty in itself is very broad; it encompasses more than just complexions and the idea of "beautiful people". It's a characteristic associated to an object that encapsulates the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. The perception of "ideal beauty" then can be translated into hardship really compactly in the sense where someone tries to capture "ideal beauty", yet their hardship comes when he realises and discovers that they always fall short of this characteristic. You can then place heavy emphasis to a time of the modern era, whereby society collectively views this "ideal beauty" as acceptable. You can choose to have your main character dislike their "societal" title; a lot of hardships can happen because of this. Just something to work with. :)
Routines and rituals help maintain connections and security. Reflect on your own daily practices and ceremoniesI sense a strong spiritual connection here; routines and rituals are very much of the "spiritual realm" so definitely have that vibe throughout your piece. Connections and security, again, give off a sense of inclusion and the will to act freely without the underlying fear of judgement, so in a way, the prompt entails that keeping up with your spiritual well being (routines and rituals) allows you to connect and understand deeper ideas about spirituality in a way where without spiritualism, there is materialism and judgement.
im currently struggling starting a text response which kind of leads to the question, what is the best way to start an introduction cos legit im completely blank ;DYou need to know what you will talk about in your body paragraphs before you start your introduction so make sure you plan your essay :)
im currently struggling starting a text response which kind of leads to the question, what is the best way to start an introduction cos legit im completely blank ;D
Heyo, at my school we're studying Old/New poems and for my creative response sac I'm thinking about writing my personnel experience on migrating from my original country to Australia. The person who is receiving the letters is someone close to me so i can describe my emotions and thoughts with them on the migration experience.
Is this a good start for my sac??
Thanks
Check with your teacher - their word over anyone else's advice that is provided here. But, in general, one of the criteria for this unit is how well you capture stylistic features of the author (in this case poet); it'll be difficult for you to do this in letter form (although not impossible). Also, how will the letters explore your poems' ideas? Cause remember, your job is to creatively respond to a next, not just to write creatively and pay lip service to the set text's ideas and concerns.Could I just ask whether writing a series of letters for the creative SAC is a good idea or not?
Could I just ask whether writing a series of letters for the creative SAC is a good idea or not?
Stemming from what you said lovelyperson, does a letter limit the ability to write with insight or you know like the typical style of any narrative?
So would you be marked down for the simplistic language that you would use in a letter? (obviously you can't really get complex with your vocab too much in a letter, as you would in a narrative or like in a novel-style genre, but is that bad if you use simple language?)
Would it matter at all if you still incorporate the original text's values and central ideas?
Afterall, that's what counts doesn't it?
But is it in general that in a letter you get trapped into more of "tell" rather than "show"?
Sorry! so many questions !!
But would be really great if anyone helps out !! :)
Could I just ask whether writing a series of letters for the creative SAC is a good idea or not?Hey,
Stemming from what you said lovelyperson, does a letter limit the ability to write with insight or you know like the typical style of any narrative?
So would you be marked down for the simplistic language that you would use in a letter? (obviously you can't really get complex with your vocab too much in a letter, as you would in a narrative or like in a novel-style genre, but is that bad if you use simple language?)
Would it matter at all if you still incorporate the original text's values and central ideas?
Afterall, that's what counts doesn't it?
But is it in general that in a letter you get trapped into more of "tell" rather than "show"?
Sorry! so many questions !!
But would be really great if anyone helps out !! :)
Thanks so much lovelyperson and Opengangs! :)Hey,
I really appreciate it! :)
Would be great to hear some more views and even better if any of last year's students who wrote a letter for their Creative SAC shared their thoughts about their SAC!! ;D
Thanks guys!! :)
What is the difference between invoke and evokeBit hard to pinpoint the difference, isn't it?
Thx in Advance!
I know it is a completely random question but I am actually confused and curious haha :)
Anyone studying the The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville?? Can anyone help me in terms of Silk's perception of reality compared to Rookes'
Thank you in advance
I know it is alot but if anyone can help me further I would really like help in regards to chapter and character summaries....
Hey!
I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on writing a creative piece based on a film, such as Rear Window? Also, if anyone has any advice on adopting a similar voice to the characters that would be great! Please keep in mind, i dont get the sac topics until the day (rip)
( also any advice on writing under pressure would be great)
Thank you in advance :) ;D
tragedian-playwriter Euripides' play Medea highlights the struggles that were faced by women in a society where women were seen as equals to slaves, in order to depict medea as a heroic figure more than a villain. written to criticise the mistreatment of women during 431 BC, euripides shows the damage tht can occur when a women is disregarded and mistreated.Looks pretty good, maybe make mention of your three prongs (three main ideas and arguments). I'm doing Medea as well, and I really had difficulty reading it because it was just such an awkward book to read and was boring.
can someone tell where to improve on in this introduction
prompt: was medea a hero or villain, discuss?
tragedian-playwriter Euripides' play Medea highlights the struggles that were faced by women in a society where women were seen as equals to slaves, in order to depict medea as a heroic figure more than a villain. written to criticise the mistreatment of women during 431 BC, euripides shows the damage tht can occur when a women is disregarded and mistreated.Hi vceme ! :)
can someone tell where to improve on in this introduction
prompt: was medea a hero or villain, discuss?
Hi vceme ! :)Thank you for the feedback, but u know how u said "where women were played down" i dont get what u mean by that :) thanks again
Tragediany-playwriterplaywright Euripides, through his play Medea you know what? you could even say "Through his tragic play Medea,Euripides...just to sound simpler :)highlights the struggles that were faced by women in a society wherewomenthey were seen as equals to slaves, really? I think this is a bit of exaggerating. Like I hear your disapproval in their treatment, :) but could you say "where women were down played" maybe? in order to depict medea as a heroic figure more than a villain. what makes Medea a heroic figure? you sound like you're saying that just the fact that women were looked down upon, made Medea a heroic figure. You need to mention something like because she attempted to challenge the patriarchy, that can suggest she's a heroine. . One of the purposes in writing the play,(just so you're acknowledging that there were many purposes in writing the play, not just criticising mistreatment of women) :) Euripides criticises the mistreatment of women during 431 BC which shows the damage that can occur when a womenan is disregarded and mistreated. add more to this sentence to link this back to the prompt. So maybe something like Euripides, through Medea's revengeful persona warns of the damages that can occur when women are disregarded and mistreated, in this case, overthrowing one's status in society to appear godly (deus ex machina event). And then as Marvin K. Mooney said, you'd need to signpost a bit. :)
Hope this helps ! :)
Thank you for the feedback, but u know how u said "where women were played down" i dont get what u mean by that :) thanks again;D ;D Yeah so I said "down played" :)
Through his tragic play Medea, Euripides highlights the struggles that women faced, in a patriarchal society, in order to portray Medea as a heroic figure who defends the right of women. Furthermore, Euripides criticizes the mistreatment of women and emphasizes the damage that a patriarchal society can do to a woman when she attempts to break free from societal normsYeah great ! Sounds even better now! :)
how is this? ;D ;D ;D
Furthermore, Euripides criticizes the mistreatment of women and emphasizes the damage that a patriarchal society canDamage that a patriarchal society can "have on"? That doesn't work in a sentence, 'do to' would be better in this case imodo to(have on) a woman when she attempts to break free from societal norms
Damage that a patriarchal society can "have on"? That doesn't work in a sentence, 'do to' would be better in this case imo
If you change the 'when' to an 'as' it works, 'do it' sounds a bit informal imo but that is just me :)I would have thought that you can't have damage on something, but maybe that's just me...
emphasizes the damage that a patriarchal society cando to(have on) a woman when she attempts to break free from societal norms
Or you could change it to:YES!! Perfecto! You are a virtuoso!! :D Thanks nice!
... emphasises the damaging effects that a patriarchal society can inflict upon a woman when she attempts to break free from societal norms.
Could you please help me improve on my introduction? Any contrsutive criticism would be much appreciated!! Thank you :)
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film, ‘Rear Window’ endorsesbit of an odd word choice. Perhaps demonstrates/depicts how easy it is to be deceived by appearances. Given that the entirety of the film is observed from the limited perspective of protagonist, L.B. Jefferies, the audience becomes privy to only a fraction of the lives of a a little crowded with the preposition, 'of.' number of characters at the apartment complex at Greenwich Village where is your argument? This is more analysis.. On the surface, the audience is presented with Jefferies’ perceptions, judgements and assumptions of characters based on his own personal prejudices and beliefs <--endeavour to make these points more specific.. However, by the conclusion of the film, a broader picture of the complexity of people’s lives be specific is presented and such we learn how easy it is to be deceived by appearances.
Hello!
Although you write with a lovely expression and nice, coherent sentences, I found it difficult to pinpoint your main arguments. Why is it so easy to be deceived by appearances (your ultimate contention)? You need to answer this question with 3-4 arguments, which ought to be signposted in the introduction.
Please feel free to ask any further questions :)
Where can I find rear window essay prompts to practise with?
I'Ve done all the ones school gave us and want to do more, but am having trouble finding them.
thaaankss :)
What are some examples of metalanguage?
Hi everyone!
Could I just ask with text response essays and comparative essays, does your very first sentence of your introduction have to start answering the prompt? Or can it be like a general sentence that summaries the whole plot, its themes, character motivations, etc? (that perhaps might not relate to the prompt?)
Some teachers are saying get into starting the essay straight away (first sentence still covers the plot, themes, etc, but it has to relate to the prompt), and other teachers are saying it's ok to start your intro with a broad, overarching sentence.
Which one's the best? (Though I kinda think answering the prompt in your very first sentence will leave a good impression :), but still wanted to hear some of your thoughts!)
Thanks guys! :)
Hi everyone!In general I tend to make an opening statement that shows the text and it's main themes. This can then lead in easily into the point of the prompt. Very early on discuss the overarching picture of the text, and then bring the focus in tight onto the theme of the prompt. That's just my method, it doesn't work for everyone.
Could I just ask with text response essays and comparative essays, does your very first sentence of your introduction have to start answering the prompt? Or can it be like a general sentence that summaries the whole plot, its themes, character motivations, etc? (that perhaps might not relate to the prompt?)
Some teachers are saying get into starting the essay straight away (first sentence still covers the plot, themes, etc, but it has to relate to the prompt), and other teachers are saying it's ok to start your intro with a broad, overarching sentence.
Which one's the best? (Though I kinda think answering the prompt in your very first sentence will leave a good impression :), but still wanted to hear some of your thoughts!)
Thanks guys! :)
Hi everyone!As clarke4321 has already said it won't matter too much in the grand scheme of things for the essay - I personally preffered to have a broad introductory statement which often alluded to the historical context of the text, however still relevant to the prompt and then I was able to link that towards a sentence which directly relates to the prompt.
Could I just ask with text response essays and comparative essays, does your very first sentence of your introduction have to start answering the prompt? Or can it be like a general sentence that summaries the whole plot, its themes, character motivations, etc? (that perhaps might not relate to the prompt?)
Some teachers are saying get into starting the essay straight away (first sentence still covers the plot, themes, etc, but it has to relate to the prompt), and other teachers are saying it's ok to start your intro with a broad, overarching sentence.
Which one's the best? (Though I kinda think answering the prompt in your very first sentence will leave a good impression :), but still wanted to hear some of your thoughts!)
Thanks guys! :)
Hi,That depends on the type of essay. For LA, many teachers use the CCTAP method: Context, Contention, Tone, Audience, Purpose. In other words, begin by a broad statement about the context of the piece, its subject matter. Then discuss what side of this issue the author argues, and how, and then who they are targeting with their piece and why.
How do you write a really good Introduction for an essay?
How do you write a contention in an essay that isn't an opinion essay or an language analysis?Only write about a contention in a language analysis piece. You don't need to talk about a contention in a TR or Comparative, just in the LA.
My teacher told me to write a contention in a TR. I am really confused as I thought that it was just for LA. Thank you for your help. ;D ;) :-\
How do you write a contention in an essay that isn't an opinion essay or an language analysis?
Hey guys,A lot of schools do give ranges of marks to students (including mine) although the actual range should very between each school since it is not standerdised by VCAA. It could be worthwhile asking your teacher if they don't make it clear after the first sac.
This is not really a question related to English, but I didn't know where else to ask. Sorry
I was wondering whether anyone what the range of marks are? Like there is very low, low... High very high... High excellent...that stuff!!
Does anyone what all the categories are and the associated marks?
Thank you
Hey guys,
This is not really a question related to English, but I didn't know where else to ask. Sorry
I was wondering whether anyone what the range of marks are? Like there is very low, low... High very high... High excellent...that stuff!!
Does anyone what all the categories are and the associated marks?
Thank you
Few questions1. I haven't done Medea, but from past experience the best way to practice is to pump out practice essays in the same time that you'll have on the day of your SAC (no use being able to write a great essay in 4 hours if your sac is only an hour long). People will disagree and say that too many practice essays is a waste of time, but I honestly think that as long as you know the text well then practice essays are the way to go. I probably did 5 practice essays for my text response sac
1. What is the best way to prepare for an english text response sac on Medea?
2. How do you memorise quotes?
3. How many quotes should we be using in essays generally? How about for text response?
4. How many words should text response essays be?
5. How do you improve your essay writing skills?
Thanks ;D
Few questions
1. What is the best way to prepare for an english text response sac on Medea?
2. How do you memorise quotes?
3. How many quotes should we be using in essays generally? How about for text response?
4. How many words should text response essays be?
5. How do you improve your essay writing skills?
Thanks ;D
Few questionsgreat advice by everyone :) thought it may be helpful to get another perspective
1. What is the best way to prepare for an english text response sac on Medea?
2. How do you memorise quotes?
3. How many quotes should we be using in essays generally? How about for text response?
4. How many words should text response essays be?
5. How do you improve your essay writing skills?
Thanks ;D
Thanks sine and clarke54321 ;DYup you definitely can. Just make sure it fits in your essay and not forced.
Just wondering, for a book like Medea since the entire book is a play, can we use any word from the book as use it as a quote?
Yup you definitely can. Just make sure it fits in your essay and not forced.What do you mean by "not forced"?
What do you mean by "not forced"?As in you don't want to be chucking in "quotes" which aren't relevant just for the sake of increasing your quote count or using that particular quote.
As in you don't want to be chucking in "quotes" which aren't relevant just for the sake of increasing your quote count or using that particular quote.So can quotes be as little as 2 words long?
So can quotes be as little as 2 words long?Definitely! :)
So can quotes be as little as 2 words long?
So can quotes be as little as 2 words long?As little as one word, just remember to make sure that they are appropriate and sufficiently embedded in the essay, in other words they are part of the sentence.
So can quotes be as little as 2 words long?as everyone else has already said- yes definitely you can
Hi everyone! :)
Could I just ask what you need to talk about in a conclusion to make it really strong and memorable in your text response?
Yes it's supposed to be really short and you have to signpost your points really succinctly, but other than that, does you last line need to be about how the text values, ideas, themes, etc apply to us as 21st century people or does the last line have to be specific to the text just analysing it holistically and relating it to the essay prompt?
Would love to hear how people approach their conclusion and how they end their piece! :)
Thank you so much!!
Hi everyone! :)other than a structural component of the essay it really won't alter your mark too much. The assesor usually knows what mark well before the conclusion. I think a good conclusion would as you say summarise all the important points along with NOT including any other new ideas. You could allude to some historical context of the text too.
Could I just ask what you need to talk about in a conclusion to make it really strong and memorable in your text response?
Yes it's supposed to be really short and you have to signpost your points really succinctly, but other than that, does you last line need to be about how the text values, ideas, themes, etc apply to us as 21st century people or does the last line have to be specific to the text just analysing it holistically and relating it to the essay prompt?
Would love to hear how people approach their conclusion and how they end their piece! :)
Thank you so much!!
So i am writing a short story in relation to the film "Rear Window" about Miss Lonelyhearts's feelings and actions when she gets sexually assaulted, who do you think the target audience would be?I haven't studied the text so just going off what you wrote. I'm thinking anyone you want to educate on what those feelings are like and her mindset on why those actions were chosen and taken. Or if the actions were impulsive why were they so? Could also be for an audience who may have had similar experiences in order to make sure they are not isolated feel alone.
"In the play medea, the crucial conflict is between reason and passion". Discuss
For the prompt above, would I lose marks in an essay if i had a few quotes that weren't directly about reason and passion?
"In the play medea, the crucial conflict is between reason and passion". Discuss
For the prompt above, would I lose marks in an essay if i had a few quotes that weren't directly about reason and passion?
For the prompt above, would I lose marks in an essay if i had a few quotes that weren't directly about reason and passion?
should you use quotes in a creative essay?Yes. In a creative piece you should always use either footprints of the text (embedding themes, concepts, ideas directly from the text, and hinting at the text, but not directly quoting), or quotes. If it is a creative essay, then use quotes, if other types of creative, probably just use the footprints.
should you use quotes in a creative essay?
should you use quotes in a creative essay?
Can I use quotes from famous philosophers from Greek society in order to drive my point in my Medea essays? if so how can I effectively incorporate these quotes?
Can I use quotes from famous philosophers from Greek society in order to drive my point in my Medea essays? if so how can I effectively incorporate these quotes?
Hi everyone!
Could I just ask if this interpretation of the quote "a rock or wave or sea would pay more attention to a counsel of friends than she does" (From the prologue of Medea) is right?
Shows that Medea does not position herself with nature already --> foreshadows her plan to kill her children, that is a defiance of natural order
Or this unclear?
Is there a better interpretation of this quote?
Thank you so much!! :)
Hello MissSmiley!Great!
I saw this quote as a lot more opaque, and I didn't seem to find any deep symbolism in it. I saw this quote as merely meaning that Medea took no heed of her friend's ministrations or words of comfort - she was distraught, and did not want any comfort. She didn't listen to anyone who told her anything that did not align with her bitter thoughts.
Your interpretation, in saying that Medea did not "position herself with nature already", is basically implying that Medea herself consciously knows that she is going to do something that the other women see as unnatural - the murder of your own children. I like the thought of this act as being a defiance of the natural order, that this might be the first indication of Medea's unnatural behaviour, but I don't feel like this quote foreshadows any plan on Medea's behalf to kill her children.
That's just some of my thoughts. I hope you find this meaningful. :)
Hi guys!
I'd love to hear a response as soon as possible, because I have my Medea SAC tomorrow!
Do you think there could be a question based on literary techniques (symbolism, metaphors, etc) used in the play?
Obviously more to it with including character and everything, but could there be one like this?
VCAA hasn't given one of this type since so long, that's why I put it out there ;)
Thanks guys!
Would love to hear your thoughts about this! :)
Hi MissSmiley :DGreat! Thanks a lot, Clarke!! :D
I highly doubt that you'd be given a prompt based around a literary technique alone. The closest Medea prompt I've seen, in relation to symbolism and metaphors, concerns the role of the children in the play. Also, I have come across one pertaining to the role of the Chorus.
But try not to stress about this too much. It's an unlikely possibility. Just to be sure, however, have a few literary techniques at the back of your mind, which you can easily link to key views and values if necessary.
All the very best with the SAC!
Also, could I just ask, if the topic focuses on one character, for e.g "Jason's capacity for evil stems from his weaknesses than from strength." Do you agree?,
Can you divert the discussion of this topic to include other characters (such as the other men) as well? as long you discuss Jason throughout your piece?
Would you signpost that in the intro?
Hi guys, I will have my text response SAC on Monday and it is stressing me out. I gave few essays to different people and they gave me different feedback. One said my introductory has so many sentences and wants me to use simple words and the other even wants me to put more sentences (and super vocabulary) to show that I understand greatly the topic. could you share your thought on how to tackle this.Hi jsgraha!
thanks
JS
Hi everyone,Irony's a great way to tell your teacher and the assessor that you understand the linguistics side of your text. So yes it's the ideas, themes, etc, but every linguistic feature/ figurative language has a purpose! Often the purpose is to connect it to these central ideas.
So in class we are studying a text 'Extinction' and my teacher has been pointing out parts of the play that include some irony, however i am not so sure how it will be useful or how to use it in our text response essays. i would like maybe a sampple sentence involving any sought of irony or any tips on when to embed them into our essays.
Thank you
Hi everyone,
So in class we are studying a text 'Extinction' and my teacher has been pointing out parts of the play that include some irony, however i am not so sure how it will be useful or how to use it in our text response essays. i would like maybe a sampple sentence involving any sought of irony or any tips on when to embed them into our essays.
Thank you
What's the difference between language analysis and analysing arguments? I get what it means as words, but how does it holistically affect how we write our language analysis... ahem... argument analysis? Is it still mostly similar to language analysis but with a focus on how language aids in conveying individual arguments?Exactly the way you've interpreted it!! :)
Hi guys!
Just wanted to ask what is the best way to structure your statement of intention for your Creative SAC?
Do you have to write about the author's choice of certain features that they used in the original text or is the statement of intention all based on what techniques you used?
So I've read some sentences like "Similar to how the author conveyed (something) through symbolism, I have used a symbol..."
This does acknowledge the author's techniques, but only briefly. So is that all you need to do to make sure you're linking it back to the original text as well in your SOI ?
Because it wouldn't be advisable to dedicate one whole para of your SOI to analyse the original author's devices, etc right? So should we limit this?
Thank you! :)
Hello!
Like sdfg has already outlined, the creative response is highly individual to each school. In turn, I'd strongly recommend that you closely follow the preferences of your teacher.
As concerns the crux of your questions, you should absolutely be making reference to the original author. However, this should not merely be a name drop. That is, if you are using a sentence to the effect of, In line with author X, I too have made use of ......, and fail to elaborate on why you have mimicked this particular style, you may lose some easy marks. Always consider, what effect does this technique achieve? How does this technique allow me to better engage with the concerns/world of the text? Just note that you should always be using tentative language here.
Check with your teacher, but in terms of structuring the author's devices, I would avoid keeping it to the one paragraph. While this isn't the worst thing, it certainly seems more natural if you can stagger these across paragraphs. What I felt was more effective was dedicating each paragraph to a 'big idea' of my piece, and then analysing the effect of my techniques (and by extension, the author's) in relation to that main idea.
Hopefully this helps you in some way :D
To be honest, your teacher is the only person who can answer this question for you. Every school runs the creative SAC differently so any answer here can steer you in the completely wrong way.Thanks a lot clarke54321 and sdfg for giving me your thoughts!
But from my perspective, no, the point of the statement of intention is to explain your intention, not somebody else's, which you in the first place can never know and explain with absolute certainty.
Hi guys,depends on what your teacher wants so it's best to ask them
Could I just ask how long your statement of intention needs to be?
If you had to write your creative piece and SOI in 65-70 mins, then taking this into consideration, should your creative piece be around double the length or more of your SOI?
Obviously more marks are awarded for the creative piece, so it's wise to write more for this, but what's the proportion?
Thank you! :)
In class my teacher has identified all of the foreshadowing and ironies but i dont know how to incorporate them in my essay. I feel like i if i incorporate them in my essay it will go off topic .
So can anyone provide me a sample sentence with irony and perhaps any tips to incorporate irony and foreshadowing in my analysis to prevent myself from going off-topic
Thank you in advance ! :)
Hi,basically removing anything that is not 100% necessary (or efficient) for the purpose of the essay. Try to read over your past essays and look for any areas where you may have repeated something, used lengthy sentences to explain something you could've said in fewer words, any fluff etc
When i write essays, my teacher always gives me feedback "try to be more concise and not to be too wordy", but i am not sure how to become more concise in my writing and reduce the wordiness. So can anyone give me any advice.
Thank You in advance
Hi there, i was just curious as to how you would compare two articles and one visual in a block method for a comparative language analysis? Thank you
How specific does our audience need to be for argument analysis? Like is it okay to say 'people interested in X issue' or is that too generic. I never quite know how to say who the audience is. Sometimes I can identify the audience if it's obvious like footy fans or parents but if its just like an article on the environment in a widely read newspaper then can I just say that the audience is people who care about the environment or is that too broad?
How specific does our audience need to be for argument analysis? Like is it okay to say 'people interested in X issue' or is that too generic. I never quite know how to say who the audience is. Sometimes I can identify the audience if it's obvious like footy fans or parents but if its just like an article on the environment in a widely read newspaper then can I just say that the audience is people who care about the environment or is that too broad?
For language analysis, my teacher told us to focus our topic sentences on the intended effect on the audience, rather than an argument, as it'd help centre our piece towards the effect on the audience rather than recounting the article. Would you recommend using this formula, even though I don't think I have much of a problem with retelling the article? Would high scoring students use this formula?
Our teachers told us that it is better to begin paragraphs with identifying arguments as it shows an understanding of the arguments presented by the author. The change in study design has shifted the focus from just language to arguments. I think it might be a good idea to start with something like ‘in order to engender a sense of.... the author posits that...’ doing both.
This only my understanding and might not be accurate.
For language analysis, my teacher told us to focus our topic sentences on the intended effect on the audience, rather than an argument, as it'd help centre our piece towards the effect on the audience rather than recounting the article. Would you recommend using this formula, even though I don't think I have much of a problem with retelling the article? Would high scoring students use this formula?
Not sure if the answers to my questions are dependent on text. But i’m studying Medea.
When writing a text response what audience are we to consider? Modern or Classical era?
Also, what is the structure of paragraphs? I’ve always thought that we create 3 ‘arguments’ to answer the question. However, apparently there is freedom to slowly build up to a final, singular argument through a string of paragraphs that don’t necessarily strictly answer the essay question as long these ultimately together present a thorough and reasoned response to it.
Hi! I was just wondering if anyone knows what average SAC scores and exam score I need to get a study score of 30, thank you!
SAC averages don't matter much in the grand scheme of things - your exam performance, cohort strength, ranking are what really determine your SS in the end. Generally speaking though, a C+ average in SACs and the exam should easily get you a 30, if not higher.Hey!
Hey!
Do you know where to find the graded distribution?
I'm really stressing out over English, I just want to make sure if I'm on the right track.
What SAC scores do you need to get to get like 40-43?
Everyone says you need to get an A+ average for everything (unit 3, 4 and exam) and I agree with this so I'm trying hard to make sure I fulfil this, but I really don't get how VCAA considers 'A+' to be like something 84% and above?
Please please correct me if I'm right!!
But isn't A+ 90% and above? That's the case for every subject at my school.
If I go by my school's grading system, then my friend who graduated last year was really unhappy with her scores, (she averaged 75-80 and maybe only 1 85%) but still she pulled a 42 ! :)
Obviously she must have done really really well in exams, (probs somewhere in the 80-10 range for every essay) - correct me if I'm wrong please! This is just me imagining her exam scores, I didn't ask her)
So how do we interpret this?
In this case is VCAA's grading system the answer? just because if considers 85% to be an A+ ?
Also, taking into consideration that our teachers mark harshly, what SAC scores would I need to get a 42 or 43?
I know I really shouldn't be falling into all of this, but you know I just can't control my mind and my hands typing all this!! ;D
Would love to read a reply / any other experiences that people had.
Thanks guys :)
Hey MissSmiley,Yup! Definitely the correct way is to aim for very high SAC marks!
When talking about getting a study score in English above 40, we're definitely talking about being in the higher end of things (in the top 9%) of the state, so the best idea is just to do the best you can. Keep aiming for 100%. But don't worry to much about score numbers such as 84% or 90% - the grade doesn't really matter to VCAA - only your ranking in comparison to your cohort and the rest of the state.
You can keep looking at this stuff on VCAA's website - their FAQ is really helpful for this sort of stuff. :)
What sac scores would you need to get a 30-35 study score?No one can give actual sac scores since it would depend on the strength of your cohort/difficulty of sacs but aim for anywhere between the 50th to 75th percentile of an average cohort. If you have a strong cohort you could afford to be ranked a little lower. Along with a similar exam score.
No one can give actual sac scores since it would depend on the strength of your cohort/difficulty of sacs but aim for anywhere between the 50th to 75th percentile of an average cohort. If you have a strong cohort you could afford to be ranked a little lower. Along with a similar exam score.
Hey everyone, i was wondering if somebody could please take a look at this article we got given to annotate for our practice SAC. I'm struggling to find the actual contention of the author along with their arguments. It all seems to be sort of jumbled up. (btw- this is for a language analysis/comparison). Thanks heaps in advance. xD
For 60 years, cruelty to animals on live export ships has been kept secret.
There’s no ‘nice’ way to send animals halfway around the world to be killed for meat.
A live sheep isn’t ‘cargo’. He breathes. He thinks. He can suffer. This simple fact may be lost on wealthy live export companies. But it wasn’t lost on one concerned crew member who was horrified by the suffering he witnessed on live export voyages...
Over 5 routine shipments carrying sheep from Australia to the Middle East, he carried out his duties. But also, he filmed — risking everything to show the world a glimpse of what has been hidden and ‘accepted’ by this industry for decades.
On these enormous ships, sheep are packed so tightly that many can’t lie down to rest. Nor can they all access food and water. Overcrowded pens make identifying sick and injured animals near impossible. None of this is legal. Add to this extreme heat, exhaustion, rough seas, poor ventilation and millions of litres of untreated waste, and a typical live export voyage quickly becomes the perfect storm for death and suffering.
Over the years, more than 3 million Australian animals have died, often horrifically, on these death ships.
But evidence now shows that it is the ‘survivors’ who suffer worst of all. They face the same gruelling nightmare, only their suffering never ends.
The evidence also shows that the Australian Government cannot legally continue to grant export licenses under these conditions.
This footage exposes an industry acting unlawfully. It reveals what millions of gentle animals have endured for decades, in secret.
And with it — a chance to end the cruelty.
More than 100,000 litres of urine and faeces accumulates on a typical live export ship every day sheep are on board. The ship won’t be ‘washed out’ until after they’ve disembarked.
As the northern summer kicks in, on-board conditions can turn catastrophic.
When temperatures soar — and predictably they do — weeks of untreated waste buildup ‘melts’ into a thick, deadly soup. Any animal needing to lie down to rest risks being buried in excrement.
Corrosive ammonia chokes the air and burns the eyes and throats of those on board. Distressed animals rapidly overheat. Their hearts race as they gasp for oxygen. Trapped in what is essentially a ‘giant oven’, extremely heat stressed animals collapse before literally being cooked alive. Other heat stressed sheep may die slowly over the following days. Those who survive a ‘heat event’ will continue to suffer in this putrid bog, now littered with the decaying bodies of their dead companions.
Imagine being born on a live export ship. The noisy vibrations the only sound you’ll ever hear. The inescapable stench of faeces the only air you’ll ever breathe…
These babies aren’t supposed to be born at all. Live export companies are legally required to ensure all ewes are pregnancy tested by ultrasound and certified not pregnant. And yet, heavily pregnant ewes are being shipped for slaughter like every other animal. Only — they’ll endure the trauma of live export while going into labour and giving birth.
Very few lambs born on a live export ship will ever see the outside world. Many will be trampled, lose their mothers, or be killed by distressed crew members who are routinely ordered to slit their throats.
All this suffering is in aide of one thing: making wealthy live export companies even wealthier. And as it turns out, ‘business as usual’ on one of these ships to the Middle East isn’t just cruel, in many ways it’s illegal.
i still can't pinpoint the contention of some of these articlesHere's an easy formula for finding the contention of any article. I'll use this one as an example.
... would you say that the contention in this article is:When identifying the author's contention, avoid using quotes!!! Some teachers are okay with this (and I've used a small one in the sample sentence above ("food solution")) but in general, you will be at a disadvantage in the exam if you are looking for phrases in the article that summarise the contention for you!
"support live exports", "Australia is the only country that actively works in overseas markets to help improve animal welfare conditions" or "If Australia was to stop exporting livestock, global animal welfare standards will unquestionably decline".
...or something else.
Hi everyone!
I was just wondering for Argument Analysis, do you always need to write about say a pre-buttal in your first para?
For example, in last year's exam, Walker was saying things like "oh no!" I hear you say and "she has got another idea" etc --> this would be the pre-buttal
In class we discussed how the first para (also when she says how her school's truly organic and basically she's proud) would be the first argument. It's likely to make readers take her side.
My teacher told us to dedicate a whole para (it can be short, but still recognised as an argument) on the pre-buttal.
Is this ok though? I've never considered analysing things like this, because I always get that feeling of 'stagnancy.' It's like fine we get it, she's trying to get readers on her side. this sounds too generalised, doesn't it?
I wrote a practice piece and then my teacher told me to analyse the first para in the newsletter message as my first argument.
I only mentioned the tone in that para, just to start my piece off, but I didn't dedicate a whole para to this.
But still managed to find 3 arguments from last year's exam (from Walker's writing)
So, is it a good idea to dedicate the first para to the pre-buttal or not?
Thanks so much! :)
Hey everyone!This is slightly confused – you appear to be both challenging (‘ultimately a sociopath’) and not challenging (‘readers classify him as a hero’) the prompt, which is a tricky path to walk.
Could anyone who is doing The White Tiger or is just an overall champ help me with unpacking this prompt! I'm currently trying to do some practice sacs:
“Balram is portrayed as a flawed hero in The White Tiger, but a hero nonetheless”
-Yes, Balram is a hero for breaking out of the 'darkness' but he is ultimately a sociopath whose flawed actions are justified by readers as a victim of India's corruption/inequality etc. therefore readers classify him as a hero.
I'm not too sure if i've gone the right path in challenging the prompt. Any help would be appreciated! Also wrote a prac introduction for this:I would aim for a less convoluted introductory sentence. Don’t be afraid to have a less specific sentence first, and then expand on it in the rest of your intro. To make it easy, you can have a format ready to go that allows you to substitute the topic.
Aravind Adiga, author of ‘The White Tiger’ critiques India’s prospering globalisation and democracy for enshrouding a socio-economic system that is plagued by a culture of servitude and rampant political and economic corruption.
The protagonist, Balram Halwai narrates his bloodstained struggle of emancipating himself from utter poverty and destitution to becoming a successful entrepreneur.I would rephrase:
Succeeding in his desire for freedom out of the darkness, Balram is characterised as a hero despite his morally dubious acts. However, Balram is ultimately a sociopath whose flawed acts are justified by readers as a victim of India’s systematic inequality.
This is slightly confused – you appear to be both challenging (‘ultimately a sociopath’) and not challenging (‘readers classify him as a hero’) the prompt, which is a tricky path to walk.I would aim for a less convoluted introductory sentence. Don’t be afraid to have a less specific sentence first, and then expand on it in the rest of your intro. To make it easy, you can have a format ready to go that allows you to substitute the topic.
E.g. Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger explores ________, exposing ___________.
OR Aravind Adiga’s social critique, The White Tiger, explores ____
They’re not the most revolutionary sentence starters, but they don’t have to be! It’s better to be clear and brief than confuse the examiner with overly complicated language.I would rephrase:
‘In narrating his struggle to escape the entrenched slavery that represses India’s subaltern, flawed protagonist Balram Halwai describes his rise to the world of ‘entrepreneurs’ as a story of inspiration and heroism.’
Once again, this contention is a little bit murky. Are you trying to say that readers can’t see that Balram is really a sociopath, because that becomes confusing (as you are also a reader). Also, remember that it’s a good idea to at least briefly (and not too blatantly) outline the three arguments that you will use to support your contention in subsequent paragraphs.
I would choose to argue that Balram’s narration fails to disguise his fundamental moral corruption, therefore rendering him an ‘antihero’, neither hero or villain. You could support this with discussion about how the picture of hopelessness he created in describing his upbringing aims to convince readers that he is a victim of a society in which animalistic corruption rules. You could then discuss how it is his own narration and choice to present himself as a victim that exposes him as an unforgiveable ‘murderer’. You could then talk about how despite his efforts to shape his story into that of a triumphant escape from a life of oppression, the only escape that Balram has truly made is that from any moral compass that he once adhered to.
Overall - there is some good vocab in here, it just needs to be rejigged a bit to improve clarity. This topic is an absolute classic TWT prompt - I'd suggest that you really try to craft a great essay on it because there's a good chance you'll be able to recycle some of the material if you write on this text in the exam :)
This topic is an absolute classic TWT prompt - I'd suggest that you really try to craft a great essay on it because there's a good chance you'll be able to recycle some of the material if you write on this text in the exam :)
What do you mean by TWT prompt? Please clarify further, this seems pretty interesting.
TWT prompt stands for 'The White Tiger' prompt being. The intro I wrote was for the novel 'The White Tiger'.
Language Analysis Question: What does it mean to have "perceptive" understanding of arguments/views expresssed? and how would you demonstrate it without writing your own thoughts and opinions?It just means trying to get into the readers' shoes and feeling what they would feel. Not you as a neutral reader, but the stakeholders in the issue.
oops. :-[ Sorry. Silly me. :P
What are the different types of prompts? I know that there is structural, thematic, character? What other types are there?
Further, how should we deal with prompts which include quotes directly from the book? Do we include them in our introduction and deal with the implications/repercussions of the quotation in our work? Or, do we include the quote's context in the intro and then base our body paragraphs on what this means in the text as a whole?
TIA.
My english teacher hands the class the text we must analyse a week before our SAC... is this bad as we don’t have the same conditions when it comes to the exam?Is this Language Analysis?
For Argument Analysis, am i allowed to analyse the placement of the main contention and the placement of argument?
For instance, if i was to analyse an article that included the main contention at the end of the article can i say that it shows that the writer has considered both sides of the issues before coming to a conclusion, eliciting a reasoned tone. Thus, inclining readers to support his argument as it is based on a thoughtful and balanced approach
Hi Everyone, ;D
This is my first post, so hopefully this is the correct place to post my English Question.
For Argument Analysis, am i allowed to analyse the placement of the main contention and the placement of argument?
For instance, if i was to analyse an article that included the main contention at the end of the article can i say that it shows that the writer has considered both sides of the issues before coming to a conclusion, eliciting a reasoned tone. Thus, inclining readers to support his argument as it is based on a thoughtful and balanced approah.
Hopefully this makes sense!
Also, Thanks in advance :) ;)
-snip-As always, English being subjective, this isn't necessarily correct. But this is what my teacher told me (paraphrased)...
If you’re having trouble organising this logically, some students find it easier to think of it chronologically. But just remember: this is a slightly easier approach, and something that a lot of students do. So it might be useful to structure it in a slightly more complicated way, to really wow the examiners.
As always, English being subjective, this isn't necessarily correct. But this is what my teacher told me (paraphrased)...
1.) No-one really knows, except VCAA. But it's a great idea to practice both types (single piece and multi). My teachers thought? - most likely another 2 piece, that is, an Article, with an image as part of it, and a comment (possible letter to editor) in reply. Key advice was that images are always included for a reason.
2.) Best analysis structure that we were taught depended on the article/s being analysed.
Single is pretty obvious.
Double article of equal length? The recommendation was to pick similar arguments in both texts (when possible). You can then analyse the differences in persuasive techniques to the best advantage.
Have two texts but it's the article/comment scenario? Similar to the double, but you focus analysis on the article, drawing in the comment where you can to compare and contrast. Remember! Chronology is not imperative, and analysing the article as a whole is a much more preferred technique compared to just combing through and spouting out language devices when you hit them...
I hope this helps, but I would be remiss to leave without mentioning these articles/posts... :D
EDIT - Pertinent quote regarding #2.
Thanks so much for this!!!Yes. Common ideas, and analysing how each author presents them differently (techniques).
Again regarding #2, are you recommending analysing both articles at once? i.e.; mentioning both articles in the introduction then having paragraphs organised by common ideas during which you're constantly referencing (+ comparing) both articles? Or analyse one, then analyse the other while making comparisons? Thanks again and sorry if this question is unclear!
Hi all,
I'm feeling really stressed about my Argument Analysis SAC, and especially when I handed a practice piece and my teacher said I need to work on 'argument development / construction'...
How can I develop a 'comprehensive and complex understanding of the arguments presented in the text and how they've been constructed to position audiences' ?
It's really annoying, because I'm analysing three arguments in the main piece, then always comparing and contrasting, and she's happy with my analysing of techniques,
but what else does she want?
Could someone please please help?!
I'm really very scared and would love to hear some ideas on how I can write 'comprehensively'
Thanks so much guys!!
The best way to demonstrate evidence of 'argument development,' is through clever use of linking language. Take this paragraph as an example:Thanks heaps, Clarke!!
Singh, however, scornfully undermines Brown’s idealistic future with the M-I, by casting the card as a deceptive invention. In employing a seemingly jocular pun in her headline, ‘M-I card- or YOUR Card,’ Singh seeks to quickly engage reader attention and then unveil a more serious concern. Indeed, the capitalised and thus protruding word ‘YOUR,’ endeavours to engender a sense of exigency in readers, who are compelled to question just how personal and secure the card is. This alarm created by Singh thereby diverges from the tranquil and assured manner of Brown, who maintains the card will bring ‘peace of mind for everyone.’ Given this palpable contrast, readers are thus inclined to receive Brown’s carefree future with an inkling of scepticism. Such an inclination is bolstered by Singh, who constructs a mock job interview to allude to the card’s discriminatory nature. With the employer bluntly declaring that the employee ‘don’t call [them]’ after analysing the M-I, Singh indicates that the private information held on the cards may have the potential to jeopardise future job prospects for Australians. In turn, Singh attempts to inspire acute levels of doubt in readers, who are positioned to perceive the card as an inequitable and invasive tool. Hence, far from the ‘improved’ future postulated by Brown, Singh establishes the M-I as a prospect that will thwart the opportunities of some.
Here, the red text seeks to demonstrate the way the writer has gone about developing their argument. Each point of evidence is linked together in some way. This makes it easier for analysis to come together in a cohesive fashion and clarify just how the author is conveying their main point. Hopefully this helps :)
1. To preface, contention = the main argument of the article/material, and whatever points the author use to support the contention are called the supporting points/arguments/sub-points/whatever else you want to call it. You should definitely state the contention in the introduction as that's where you'll frame the direction of your essay, and the point of your essay is to analyse how the author furthers their contetion. What you wouldn't do is outline the entire line of argument, from start to finish with all the details; the articles you'll be given are going to be too long for this, and even if you manage to squeeze it all in in a succinct a manner, you'll sacrifice too much detail that there'll be no point in doing it in the first place. Depending on how you structure your essay, the supporting points should be the topic sentences of your body paragraph (and not the contention). Are you sure that's what your teacher told you and you're not misunderstanding them, because honestly it's a bit odd for your teacher to tell you to do the exact opposite of what the common consensus is to do.
2. Always state the title in the introduction. The only time where you wouldn't restate the title again is when you're analysing it at the start at the first body paragraph (where in that case it'll be a bit repetitive if you do).
3. For invoke, think invoking the devil or "I invoke thee" or something like that. Evoke, on the hand, is bringing out something that's already there (e.g your feelings - you have them somewhere deep inside you and provided the correct stimulus, they come out to the front). For argument analysis, you'll probably only ever use evoke.
Hope that helps!
im doing an oral presentation for English next term. i just don't know what to do though i was either thinking of doing it on homelessness or refugees on manus island.
would this be a could contention:
1. homelessness is a growing problem in Australia and more should be done to tackle this issue.
yeh im not sure about that one. its a very good topic but i don't know what argue or what to include in the arguments.
does anyone have any suggestion?
Hi!! I'm having some trouble coming up with a contention for my oral presentation. I know my main argument is that reality tv shows can severely psychologically harm it's participants, but I can't seem to come up with a good contention. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!Hi You could try either:
Hi, I had a few questions concerning the oral presentation.
Is there a rule/general consensus regarding taking on a persona to make your speech? I thought taking on a different identity and setting to do your oral was perfectly acceptable and potentially beneficial, however a teacher was advising students against it. Is there any known preference of VCAA examiners?? Or at least, is there anything that suggests that they don't want you to take on a persona?
Also, is there a preferred way to incorporate your rebuttal? We've been given a general structure of intro, 2 argument paragraphs, rebuttal paragraph, 3rd argument paragraph, conclusion, but I've also been advised by teachers that you can incorporate your rebuttal into one of your argument paragraphs? Would this be ok or is it better to just go with the separated structure.
(I know that these are somewhat subjective questions but if anyone has been strongly advised against/for some of these techniques or knows if VCAA takes any particular stance it would be really helpful !!)
Thanks
Hey,
I think your teacher advises against it because its more harder to do. The oral presentation is only done as a SAC and not on the exam so you should be doing in preference of your teachers not VCAA examiners. So I would recommend to follow your teachers advice and such.
My oral structure was
Hook + Intro
P1: Argument 1
P2: Argument 2
P3: rebuttal
Conclusion
The second argument seems really good- It shows that you have clearly thought about all the possible implications of your topic which is what teachers usually look for in my experience. You may also like to argue that since a prison environment does not promote rehabilitation, there are more repeat offenders, which impacts the audience directly as these people are in the public and may cause problems. This like your taxpayer's argument provides a direct link to the audience and how it would affect them. Also, have some arguments for why your solution is superior to the current system (which I am sure you already do). Hope that is clear :)Thank you very much for your reply!
Good Luck!
Hi,
Could someone be able to check my oral presentation topic idea?
I'm doing it on crime prevention and I'm opposing the building of more prisons, but instead proposing that there needs to be reforms to the criminal justice system, to prevent crime.
My arguments were that
1. Paying for prisons and etc costs a lot for taxpayers
2. Building prisons in rural areas limits communication between prisoners and their families (this is not good for rehabilitation)
3. My solutions (like alternative punishment options)
Is my second argument ok?
Would really appreciate if someone could check this.
Thank you!
Hi guys,depends on the school and the criteria that your teacher is assessing you on. You could just ask them if you would lose marks for it.
I just wanted to know if it's ok not to have a powerpoint presentation when you're giving your oral?
I'm giving mine to Cabinet members of the Government and so I haven't prepared a powerpoint.
Do you get more marks if you have one?
But it probably won't suit my setting, will it?
Thank you!
It depends on what you are arguing. Are you arguing that selling pets in shops should be banned nationally or that everyone should adopt? You can incorporate both into your speech but it is a good idea to have one solid contention to work with. You do have to look at both sides but you still argue for what your contention is and then rebut an opposing argument.
For example:
Contention: Pet shops should be banned from selling animals.
Introduction
Arguments: Cruelty issues, promotes puppy farming ect..
Rebuttal: You could incorporate the "adopt don't shop" notion here as a solution to an opposing argument that without pet stores people can't choose what pet they want and may then go down the illegal unregistered route, by explaining how adoption centers have a wide range of animals that need to be looked after.
Conclusion
Hope this clears a few things up for you. The key is to work out your contention then use all your other ideas to support that contention.
Does anyone have any tips on oral presentations?I didn’t make eye contact with anyone during my oral speech. It’s only the teachers who are marking you and they can’t tell anyway - so long as you look at peoples faces you don’t need to actually make eye contact.
i am an introvert who hates speaking in front of an audience :(!
i know this may sound stupid, but would it be easier for me to make eye contact if i didnt wear glasses, so that everyone looks blurry to me. haha ;D ;D
Are you allowed to refer to the background knowledge of a book when writing a text response? For example using the story about the beginning of the war in Ransom.of course, you just have to ensure that it is relevant - don’t just spout the info because you know it - as well as being succinct. Don’t tell the history, because your arguments are meant to be based on the actual text, but you can use outside information as a stepping stone. :)
Are you allowed to refer to the background knowledge of a book when writing a text response? For example using the story about the beginning of the war in Ransom.Yeah, sure!
Hi all,
I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but how should you structure your Argument Analysis essay with comparing a lot?
I've been writing essays and my teacher tells me I've got too much comparison which isn't really necessary for Section C.
How much should you compare within paragraphs? Could someone please suggest a good structure?
Thank you! :)
Hi,
I just wanted to get some insight from you all on how you believe/your teacher believes paragraphs should be done in text response and comparative essays.
For example one is where you do paragraphs based on ‘ideas’ which support the prompt while another is where you have a logical flow making one big argument answering the prompt.
Any insights are helpful.
Hi,
I just wanted to get some insight from you all on how you believe/your teacher believes paragraphs should be done in text response and comparative essays.
For example one is where you do paragraphs based on ‘ideas’ which support the prompt while another is where you have a logical flow making one big argument answering the prompt.
Any insights are helpful.
Imo, it should be a combination of both of the approaches that you've mentioned as that way you're consistently responding to the prompt and arguing your interpretation. Have one big point that addresses the prompt and then smaller supporting points that support that big point. And if you do it correctly, you'll have in essence of one big argument answering the prompt (because all you're doing with the supporting points is arguing your big point) and paragraphs that are although on different ideas, will link together and respond to the prompt because all of them support that same main, big point.
Dunno if that made sense. :-\
That indeed makes a lot of sense. Clarke's essay on her Tips post exemplifies exactly what you've said and I think this is the best approach. Unfortunately it has been drilled into students in my schools to strictly base paragraphs on 'ideas' such as 'Euripides criticises excess love'. This basically creates a disjointed essay with 3 different 'arguments' for the prompt rather than a combined answer.
Also, what's an ideal number of words for each essay during the exam?
I was thinking ~900
Hi,Hi Lear,
I just wanted to get some insight from you all on how you believe/your teacher believes paragraphs should be done in text response and comparative essays.
For example one is where you do paragraphs based on ‘ideas’ which support the prompt while another is where you have a logical flow making one big argument answering the prompt.
Any insights are helpful.
Obviously quality > quantity above all else, but ideally 1000+ if you want to secure your chances at those 8 - 10 (i.e. 40+ SS). 900 would be fine if you're succinct and able to demonstrate detailed understanding of your texts/the analysis material in those 900 words, but 1000+ just to be on the safe side.
Also, what's an ideal number of words for each essay during the exam?no real ideal number imo but anywhere between 900+ is fine. Some people go beyond this I know it's nearly impossible but some have gone to around 1500 words words in an hour but that can happen when someone already has memorised certain paragraphs/essays.
I was thinking ~900
Hi,
I was just confirming that for the end of year exam, we aren't expected to compare separate texts in the language analysis section? And incorporating comparisons or choosing not to will not have any impact on marks?
Thanks
Hi, another question about language analysis.
I often find myself trying to analyse too many parts of a text, leading to my essay becoming somewhat convoluted and overall of a worse quality as I end up having to rush to finish. Does anyone have any tips on selecting parts to analyse (i.e., what to look for/prioritise in terms of particular techniques to enhance sophistication perhaps) and also any guidelines on (roughly) how many points/quotes/techniques should you be analysing per paragraph? I know some people prefer to write a large number of shorter paragraphs but I tend to write around 3 of a reasonable length, if anyone knows a good number of quotes/techniques to be implementing per paragraph just as a guide, that would be really helpful. I'm struggling with maintaining clarity in my pieces.
Thanks!
Hi, another question about language analysis.
I often find myself trying to analyse too many parts of a text, leading to my essay becoming somewhat convoluted and overall of a worse quality as I end up having to rush to finish. Does anyone have any tips on selecting parts to analyse (i.e., what to look for/prioritise in terms of particular techniques to enhance sophistication perhaps) and also any guidelines on (roughly) how many points/quotes/techniques should you be analysing per paragraph? I know some people prefer to write a large number of shorter paragraphs but I tend to write around 3 of a reasonable length, if anyone knows a good number of quotes/techniques to be implementing per paragraph just as a guide, that would be really helpful. I'm struggling with maintaining clarity in my pieces.
Thanks!
Someone please answer this as well. Also considering that last year, the Lang Analysis exam only consisted of a large article, a small comment and a cartoon and we may get something similar this year, how are we meant to actually do the integrated method for 3-4 body paragraphs when you have hardly anything to actually analyse about the comment and the article? How our school just forced us to do integrated for lang analysis without telling us how to use in situations like this.
Cheers!
Hello! It seems like some people are struggling with argument analysis essays. So I'm just going to say what worked for me - it might not work for everyone and some people may disagree but you could give it a shot.
In terms of sounding too convoluted, it would help to have a clear structure in mind. In my opinion, it would be best to do structure your paragraphs by argument, as this is the easiest way to show how argument is being developed. Once you have identified the argument in the article, and you want to go analyse it for techniques and stuff, it would be best to select main techniques that actually contribute to the argument. These are usually techniques that are focused on bigger idea stuff, and are not so focused on language. So for example, which would be better to analyse - that rhetorical question or that appeal to a sense of community? Probably the appeal right? Also note that techniques such as appeals are usually supported by a range of other smaller techniques (which are more focused on language) - for example an appeal to a sense of community is supported by inclusive language.
Sorry if this doesn't make sense, but here's an example of generally how I would structure my paragraph:
- Topic sentence: Argument
- I would recommend analyse about two main techniques that strengthen the argument (e.g appeal to fear)
- further analyse these main techniques through explanation and also show how this main idea (i.e appeal to fear) is sustained through smaller supporting techniques (e.g statistics and negative connotations)
In terms of doing an integrated approach, I would group the texts by argument. I'm not too sure how to explain it so I'll give an example:
Say Text A has three main arguments: the health benefits, economic benefits, social benefits
Text B is a comment that talks about the economic disadvantages
Text C is a satirical cartoon about the social benefits
In this case, I would structure my essay like this:
Paragraph 1: Text A - talking about health benefits
Paragraph 2: Text A and Text B - economic
Paragraph 3: Text A and Text C - social
Hope this helps!
Hey... i just have a question. Since we're allowed to take our own dictionary into the exam, I was wondering if I'm allowed to fold the flaps of a few pages to help me remember where words are or some words. Would this be violating anything? Would it be considered cheating?
Not sure if anyone would be able to help me out on this, but I'm a bit concerned about the translation of my text for the exam.
My school is doing Medea, and on the booklist (very stupidly) prescribed the wrong translation (Vellacott) for students to buy - I, however, had purchased the book myself from a bookshop, which is the Davie translation. Once school had started, my teacher realised that my version was actually the correct version that was specifically prescribed on the VCAA text list.
This initially wasn't seen as a very big deal, until we had an experienced external assessor come in to give us feedback on a trial exam she had marked for us. My friend (the only other person who has the correct translation) asked about this, and the assessor said that the markers typically go off the main version and tend to stick to that one. She also mentioned that the chances of all assessors having knowledge of the other translation is highly unlikely.
I've been working off of the Vellacott translation for my SACs and so forth, but as the exam approaches I'm unsure whether to base my quotes off of my copy (the correct translation) or not? I'm a bit worried that the examiners will be unaware of the quotes from the other translation, and will think that I'm pulling random quotes from thin air.. is this crazy to think?
I know this might seem like a silly question which has a self-explanatory answer, but any advice would be really helpful rn :(
https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=164759
This helped me immensely and I think it is exactly what you are looking for!
How does one deal with the uncertainty of what prompts will be given on the exam?Heya, I dont do VCE, but I can give it a crack. The best thing to do would be to go over you text to find the 3-4 strongest themes within it. Then sift througha bunch of past questions and write essay plans using the concepts. Since they are just concepts you should be able to adapt them to the question. Hope this helps!
I would say I am a decent english student but this is starting to get to me. I feel as though no matter how many quotes I memorise the prompts on the exam could absolutely screw me over. Especially for a play like Medea. There's just so much to know. How can one ensure all bases are covered?
a 'key player' = something the author positions in a certain way to strengthen their contention
then, discuss the various language features that support that sub-argument.
So for the sample piece on the facebook page, I had:
- Paragraph 1: the importance of biodiversity and why it is vulnerable and in need of preservation (+ 1st visual, since it deals with this same sentiment)
- Paragraph 2: the dangers of inaction and the damaging repercussions this can have
- Paragraph 3: the need for honest reappraisal of the situation and for a genuine commitment to tangible goals (+ 2nd visual, since it can be linked to this idea too)
How does one deal with the uncertainty of what prompts will be given on the exam?
I would say I am a decent english student but this is starting to get to me. I feel as though no matter how many quotes I memorise the prompts on the exam could absolutely screw me over. Especially for a play like Medea. There's just so much to know. How can one ensure all bases are covered?
What do you guys recommend for last-minute English prep?Hey! Have you skimmed through this "10 things to do before your English exam" thread by Lauren? If not, I think it's worth a peek. And if so, read it through again. S200's right - plan through prompts - but make sure you don't burn yourself out. Rest your mind a little and make sure everything's ticked off your list. :)
If there is more than one article in the language analysis, would we need to compare and contrast?
If there is more than one article in the language analysis, would we need to compare and contrast?
Sort of a technical question but are we allowed to change the tense/form of phrases using square brackets.Yep! Just as long as you clearly indicate what you've changed. :)
Such as this quote here 'I know that an impoverished friend is shunned'
Could we change this to '[he] knowthat an impoverished friend is shunned' in order to have it better fit a sentence as 'Through Jason Euripides illustrates the prevailing view of exiles in society as '[he] knowthat an impoverished friend is shunned.'
For language analysis, In the conclusion is it recommended to analyses how the writer ends their article or should we just summarise everything?
Thanks
When referring to the title of texts in Section A, B and C is it recommended to underline or quote the title? For example, Rear Window or 'Rear Window'.
Can any of our forum legends predict tomorrow’s Medea topic with the knowledge of the past years?
My bet is on Moderation or Love!
Can any of our forum legends predict tomorrow’s Medea topic with the knowledge of the past years?My bet is on feminity and the roles of womens
My bet is on Moderation or Love!
My bet is on feminity and the roles of womens
Gender roles is also something that hasn’t come up recently!
They should be able to figure it out pretty easily.what if you ticked the wrong prompt?
Not all texts have Mandela and Priam as characters :)
And yes, they will still mark it...
what if you ticked the wrong prompt?
I'd say that last year's prompt sought to get at the oppression of women in a patriarchal society. My understanding is that VCAA are reluctant to explicitly target notions of gender, given that they are conscious of the fact that 'Medea' is only a proto-feminist text.
Can someone please upload a PDF copy of 'The Golden Age' by Joan London for me.... i'll love you forever! I haven't got it yet and i'm about to go on a trip so i'd like to read ahead rather than rush through it on the last week of hols.That book is copyrighted so it can't be distributed on AN. You can buy a pdf version online on websites such as booktopia.
Hello!
For unit 3/4 English this year, I am required to read Island, The Golden Age, Ransom and to watch Invictus. For Island, our teacher strongly recommends taking notes for characters under the headings of fathers, mothers, sons, siblings, grandparents, married couples, as well as tradition, work, education, and environment. I have already read the texts, but am slightly unsure about the best way to take to take the notes.
Thanks.
For those who have had access to and used Edrolo for English in the past, was it helpful to you?not really tbh, I found that the best way to improve at the start would be to write essays and get the corrected so you can learn in which places you can improve. You could also just do essay plans which is also quite helpful as you can get through heaps of prompts without having to take the time to finish it.
For those who have had access to and used Edrolo for English in the past, was it helpful to you?
Hi Sohan, I think you have a good idea to use Angus' conversation with his mother about his rejection of the drunkard brother. However, I think this would work better as an extension of the existing scene on p 87 instead of making it a kind of add on epilogue at the end of the story. So Angus' wife's return to the sitting room would be delayed while Angus and his mother discuss what has happened in Montreal that has caused Angus to send his brother back to the family home in Cape Breton. To plan this out, you should look again at what you know of the drunkard brother (his working in the mine along with his father and four other brothers, his desperate attempts to recover the body of Andrew from the mine collapse). (Not sure if you want to draw on details of a mine accident in a different story - "The Vastness of the Dark" see p 51-54) You can also draw in other aspects of the characters' lives - the seven generations in Cape Breton, the masculine companionship of the mining, and the communal bathing at the end of the work day. The mother also seems opposed to Angus' very different life in Montreal, as if this displays disloyalty to the family heritage. Her views appear (to her) to be vindicated by the suicide of her other well educated son - the doctor, Alex (the 10 year old narrator Alex is probably named in his memory). Then, it's up to you to work out your part of the story - is the brother's alcoholism a direct result of Andrew's death in the mine collapse? Why might this be? Is he feeling some guilt or responsibility for the brother's death? Why would leaving Cape Breton for Montreal be a good idea for him and what kind of support might Angus have tried to provide? Once in Montreal, what went wrong? What happened that made Angus think his alcoholic brother would be better back at home with their parents? What has been the role of Angus' wife in this?
As for your Written Explanation, I think you should get some of your own creative piece done first, then modify what you've written in your Explanation, to ensure that the two pieces are consistent. I think your plan is to enhance the reader's understanding of relationships in Angus' family, the bond to the environment of Cape Breton and the damage to that bond when family members leave ("we just can't live in a clan system any more"). Give some thought to the aspects of MacLeod's writing style and his use of naturalistic informal conversation, supported with brief vivid description of the environment (the white sea birds and the black scars the mine makes on the green hillsides). Keep in mind the ambiguous title of the story too - whose "return" does it refer to?
I recently got my first SAC (creative) back and I got a B. I was wondering if there is still a chance for me to get a 40+ ss in english ://Your sac rank is what is important not your actual sac grade. Also there should be more sacs this semester and for the rest of the year to improve your ranking.
How do you create a quote bank? I have many quotes for the novel I am studying but I am struggling to organise them. Should I order them under different themes, ideas, characters, etc.? I also find that many quotes do not fall into one specific category but rather overlap with each other so what would you do?
Anyone have any tips on how to improve vocabulary?
At the moment, my marks are around 7-8/10, but my teacher says with more sophisticated and improved vocab, my essays will go beyond that.
Hey,
The best way to improve vocab is to read, read, READ. Whenever you see a word you don't know, search it up and then try to use it in conversation to get familiar with it. Otherwise, a more direct method might be to try and create a word bank for words that you use a lot in your essays and then actively try to add new synonyms into your work for more diversity of language.
Hope this helps!
A Farewell to Arms is concerned with Frederic Henry's growing understanding of both love and war. Discuss.they do not talk about whether the prompt is true or false to an extent, but rather explore the prompt itself (and sort of indirectly agree with it).
Within its sweeping war-drama narrative, Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms centralises the figure of Frederic Henry, whose growing understanding of both love and the conflicts surrounding him serves as the novel’s main thematic focus.
Hey. For discuss questions, I know you're not meant to completely agree nor disagree with the topic, but does that mean you always have to discuss why it is true/untrue to an extent? Or can you just explore the prompt itself and indirectly agree with it?
For example, in EvangelionZeta's A Farewell To Arms text response, they do not talk about whether the prompt is true or false to an extent, but rather explore the prompt itself (and sort of indirectly agree with it).
Also for most of the sample essay examples in the english resources thread, they do not mention metalanguage or the author's intent which I've been told is important. Is it just because they're like 10 years old or is it not required to incorporate those kinds of things in text responses?
Can anybody help me understand what on earth the contention of this cartoon is?? I'm not sure where it sits and what it's trying to do/show?
https://www.inkcinct.com.au/web-pages/cartoons/2019/2019-159P--Paleo-restaurant-vegan-protest,-cave-man---AUSTRALIA-8th-April.png
(it's in relation to the vegan protests in melb - the other two articles are pro-veganism but only one of them is critical of their methods)
Thanks!
Hey, I was wondering if anyone could help me with how to write and possibly ACE a language analysis? I would like to know, in what ways I could improve on language analysis and how to write it well enough to get high marks. Also, I have an English tutor that tells me to write a language analysis one way and my teacher at school tells me to do it differently, what should I do? Thankyou
hi i just want to get some sort of explicit confirmation as to whether what my teacher expects in an la essay is true
basically if you are two or more texts, you have to focus on comparing the texts ie comparative analysis so he completely opposes blocking and wants integration structure. He used the 2016 vcaa report where there was an example of students offering 'astute insights' through comparison. Even though he references this he ignores the fact that there is no 'explicit expectation' to do this.
The criteria for our sac emphasised on how we compared the two texts given and I used block so I'm definitely not getting the mark i want.
the way he insists on his view makes me think i've been approaching la wrong but i doubt it since the task is to analyse langauge not compare.
Could I get some clarification on this for the end of year exam please? Is it okay to use blocking since its the most convenient for two or more articles?
Thanks
can someone explain whether this is for or against pill testing
I was wondering if I passed all my outcomes for Unit 1 English but fail the exam, am I at risk of failing the unit?
Yesterday I got told that I had failed english this semester - as in, legitimately failed, so I'm getting an 'N' for unit 1. I averaged around 30% in my outcomes, and while I haven't gotten the results for our midyear exams back I won't be surprised if I failed that as well.Hey,
I'm really stressing out because I'm honestly doing anything I can think of but I've not seen any improvement at all. I've been doing wider reading and getting extra resources and reading over essays from way more talented students, even getting a tutor, but my score just isn't going up. I honestly feel like I might fail VCE, considering you must pass both 1/2 and 3/4 english, and it's not looking good for me atm.
Would really love some advice on how to effective study for this subject and see improvement. Also, how fked would I be if I also failed unit 2? Would I be not allowed to continue up to year 12?
any advice is appreciated!!
Hi there,Depends on your sac ranking - which is more important than your actual scores so no one can really say whether you can get 45+.
So for unit 3 I got 80/100 marks
and for my oral presentation I only got 26/40 :((((
I feel so discouraged now.
If I manage to get 56+/60 for my comparative essay and smash the exam, is there still hope for a ~45 study score?
Also how roughly how many practice essays did past high scorers do in prep for exam?
Thanks
For text responses, which type of prompts is 'better' to write about, character-based prompts or thematic prompts? I know there isn't necessarily a 'better' one, but I can't choose between two prompts for a comparative essay.
What do 'Tracks' and 'Charlie's Country' indicate about the importance of having control over one's life? pls help
URGENT HELP PLS
I need help for aN AA piece.
What would be the effect if having a rebuttal at the beginning of a piece?
Also why would an article explore/argue for both sides of the argument?
It would be great if someone could PM me back please as I really need help.
Much appreciated.
Hi, I am struggling with how to approach 'how' text response prompts. For example, "How does Hitchcock create an atmosphere of suspicion in Rear Window?" How differently do I approach this to that of a discuss question?
Hi there,Hi there,
Any suggestions on how I can improve my grammar and punctuation + sentence flow and expression. Please link me to some guides or textbooks that may help with this. I am open to all methods and willing to try them.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. :) :) :) :) :)
Hi there,
As with everything, grammar and punctuation come with practice. (So do sentence flow and expression, but let's focus on the first two for now). For me personally, I found reading as a past-time a useful way of building up an almost subconscious record of the do's and don't's. Whether it be fiction or a science textbook, just reading a little bit every day will help you improve your overall writings. As well as this, try to use correct punctuation and grammar in everything. If you don't already, try texting and emailing full words and sentences instead of abbreviating. Make it a habit to write everything in the most succinct and precise language possible.
Sentence flow and expression can be helped with the same method, but that's a fairly passive form of practice. In regards to essays and more structured writings, make sure that you are planning out the main ideas you have in mind beforehand, using topic sentences and doing your best to be as concise as possible. Also, this will sound strange, but have you ever tried watching a movie or video and writing down what the characters are saying? Sentence flow and expression can most easily be identified in natural, fluent speech - why not transcribe it and see what you come up with?
You can find plenty of links from universities and schools with advice on how to improve these things, but Khan Academy is a go-to for exercises and quizzes on more advanced concepts. In particular, they have a lesson plan on grammar.
Hope this helps! :))
Hi, I am struggling with how to approach 'how' text response prompts. For example, "How does Hitchcock create an atmosphere of suspicion in Rear Window?" How differently do I approach this to that of a discuss question?
Would a block paragraph structure in the comparative section negatively impact the number of marks your essay receives? Is it better to weave between the two texts?
Would a block paragraph structure in the comparative section negatively impact the number of marks your essay receives? Is it better to weave between the two texts?
Hey all!!,
Currently doing some English prep.
I was told by one of my English teachers that I would not need to write an conclusion for any of the sections of the English exam.
What do you guys think?
Hi, my teacher and many of the other English teachers at the school, said you must have a conclusion in order to satisfy the structure of the essay which gives your marks. (:I think this is not really applicable to Section C because the contentions are not ours. So I don’t think we need a conclusion. Note: Please correct me if I am wrong!
I think this is not really applicable to Section C because the contentions are not ours. So I don’t think we need a conclusion. Note: Please correct me if I am wrong!
I am struggling with the theme of the way history repeats itself in Nine Days. The only examples I can think of is Connie and Charlotte's pregnancies before marriage and maybe the loss that Kip and Alec experience and what it teaches them. There is also the two pairs of twins, but I don't know what to say about them to make it a full body paragraph. If anyone has knowledge on Nine Days by Toni Jordan, I would really appreciate any help
I think Nine Days doesn’t repeat history, but rather contrasts between the different time periods to highlight what has/hasn’t changed over time. Connie and Charlotte are parallels by their circumstances (pregnancy and single, although different reasons for both), yet Charlotte was able to choose whether she wanted to keep the child or not, whereas Connie was pressured into an abortion by Jean.
Kip and Alec similarly contrast between the generations. Kip as a child sees very little prospects for the future following Toms death as a result of him leaving school, being poor and the war drawing closer, yet creates a fulfilling life despite the odds. Alec on the other hand sees very little limitations to his future.
However, some things remain unchanged by time, such as human nature. Although societal views had changed, the conflict and love in people’s lives is consistent over time.
Hi, when I'm for example I'm writing Brooks's novel. Is it okay to have the 's or should it just be s' ?? Thanks!Can anyone help me out with this?
Can anyone help me out with this?Brooks’
If you forgot to include a visual analysis in Section C of the English exam, how much will this impact your score?
It's not ideal but also really depends on the rest of your essay, so it's hard to say. I honestly wouldn't be worrying and stressing about what might have happened in the English exam and focusing on the upcoming exams that you can actually do something about.
HI! Just a question out of curiosity - (Year 11 english currently)
How important is it to have framework in our introduction for the Text Reponses or Comparatives? (i.e. mentioning what we are going to talk about in each of our body paragraphs?) My teachers have always told me to do it, but I feel like it just takes up so much time and makes my introductions look really cloggy. I'm scared to not do it as I dont want to lose marks for something as simple as that, but whats the deal in year 12?
Would appreciate any answers :)
Thanks!!!
Thank you!
Also one more thing, in a text reponse, how do you approach a question that ends with 'to what extent do you agree?'
Whats the best way to choose body paragraphs for this?
I understand that in a 'discuss' question youd talk for and against the topic, what different is this ^ ?
To what extent do you agree is different as it’s not simply discussing the topic but having to argue something. Eg. Love is more important to [character] than greed, to what extend do you agree? You take a stance which either refutes or supports the assertion in the prompt. It also shows more complexity of thinking to argue both sides but there will usually be one side that is more obvious so don’t sit on the fence.
Discuss gives more freedom in terms of you just analysing that theme/character/idea in the text. But you might disagree with the prompt which you can discuss (with evidence). I do mine by first paragraph supporting my contention, and the second or third paragraph offering a different insight to the prompt. They’re pretty similar but “what extent do you agree?” stipulates an agreement or disagreement.
So for example in Nine Days if the prompt asks about family’s importance to characters you could talk about characters that prioritise their family like Kip, then also discuss those that don’t prioritise family, and if this is a result of another motive such as self interest or love. And the implications what they prioritise reveals the values of the characters and even the author (characters sometimes reflect the views/values of the author). You don’t have to completely agree or disagree with VCAA’s assertion and as long as you back your argument up with textual evidence (quotes/scenes) then you’re fine.
(I think this was a bit repetitive I think I answered you’re question :) )
Hi,
Has anyone studied the graphic novel Maus? I would love some help finding some notes to get a better understanding of the book
Thank youuu xoxo
How do you get better at creative writing and any tips for studying English?I didn't study too much creative writing in VCE so can't help too much with that.
When we are saying that an author uses formal language, how do we use evidence for that? I usually get stuck on trying to quote formal language, because the entirety of the article is formal, so I don't know where exactly in the article I should quote from that displays overtly formal language.
Also, I was wondering how to incorporate tonal analysis in AA. In how much detail do we need to analyse the tone, and how do we do this?
hi! would it be better to split the visual analysis of one visual in two paragraphs or just all of the visual analysis into one paragraph? thankyou! :)
Hey guys!
I am looking for an English tutor who is really experienced that can help me achieve a really high score, but affordable (preferably less than $60 per hour).
I am studying the movie 'Rear Window' and the texts 'The 7 stages of grieving' and 'longest memory'.
If your teacher, or a VCAA examinor is tutoring within the price range, please let me know!!
I really need help with writing my essays, as it lacks sophistication, making it hard for me to achieve a 40+ study score in English!
Thanks!!!
Formal vs informal langauge is a big thing in eng lang so you might find it useful to look at some eng lang notes for features of formal vs informal. Off the top of my head here the main things to look out for:
- word choice (standard English words (e.g. dog not doggo) , archaic language, etc.)
- sentence structuring (more complex and/or complicated sentences, adhering to grammar conventions etc.)
If you have difficult finding those resources lmk and I'm happy to give you more detailed advice
Hey Bri MT,I'm not Bri MT, but a little discussion with my eng lang friends gave me this information:
I find I have the same problem, can you please elaborate what you mean?
Thank you
Hey Bri MT,
I find I have the same problem, can you please elaborate what you mean?
Thank you
Btw still confused with the detail we need when analysing tone - if anyone has any info feel free to share :P
snip
Hello! Any tips on how to show rather than tell for a creative response?
How would you signpost topic sentences in a text response essay without going off-topic or without sounding mechanical (doesn't flow well)?tbh signposting would be useful for argument analysis and it's not necessary for text response.
I was looking in the essay marking thread to practise my skills by mentally “marking” some other essays and checking against other AN users feedback to that person.fyi close analysis is not the same as argument analysis. I believe to the best of my knowledge that close analysis is one of the two essay students write in the VCAA exam for LITERATURE, not English, and it's primary goal is to elaborate on the writer's language and it creates meaning. If you're originally referring to argument analysis, it's primary goal is to analyse the various techniques the writer intended to deploy and the intended response the writer seeks to evoke from a specifically targeted audience. It's one of the three essays students write in the VCAA exam for ENGLISH
What exactly is close analysis? Is it just in depth analysing?
fyi close analysis is not the same as argument analysis. I believe to the best of my knowledge that close analysis is one of the two essay students write in the VCAA exam for LITERATURE, not English, and it's primary goal is to elaborate on the writer's language and it creates meaning. If you're originally referring to argument analysis, it's primary goal is to analyse the various techniques the writer intended to deploy and the intended response the writer seeks to evoke from a specifically targeted audience. It's one of the three essays students write in the VCAA exam for ENGLISH
How would you signpost topic sentences in a text response essay without going off-topic or without sounding mechanical (doesn't flow well)?I honestly only have a vague idea of what a signpost is so I'm sorry if this is wrong. If the paragraph is in the middle you can kind of reference an idea from the previous paragraph and link it to your next paragraph so you can start talking about your next point. I'd start your signpost with connecting words (eg. furthermore, moreover, similar). Usually though, my topic sentence kind of is my signpost due to the word limit. In that case you might want to review the last sentence of the previous paragraph and tweak it in a way so that the first sentence of your next paragraph flows better. In my opinion, using similar or the same words from your thesis helps reinforce the transitions as they're ultimately arguing the same major point. Just make sure you don't introduce it like "the next point is" or "the purpose is" because those aren't subtle enough and may sound clunky. I also found This. If you scroll down a bit it talks about signposts and how to use them with topic sentences.
hi, is anyone studying wordsworth poetry for section A of the exam this year?nah, quality > quantity
other than the ten or so poems my school has prescribed for study, is it worth it to be familiar with all the poems in the collection (selected by Seamus Heaney)? many of the poems are a few pages long so I'm finding it daunting to make myself look at them..
Hi I was wondering if regards to the end of year english exam, are we expected to write 4 body paragraphs for both the comparative and analytical? Will we lose marks if we write 3 lengthy body paragraphs instead?
Hi I was wondering if regards to the end of year english exam, are we expected to write 4 body paragraphs for both the comparative and analytical? Will we lose marks if we write 3 lengthy body paragraphs instead?Nah 3-4 is fine and perfectly normal. Although it isn't marked directly I think you start to fall into a trap if you go to 2 paragraphs since assessors will say your analysis is too narrow. Going with too many paragraphs will give the impression that your analysis is only superficial.
How to overcome a bias teacher who hates you? She’s constantly marking me down and there’s nothing I can do about it. She doesn’t help me if I ask but she’ll help other people and hand back their work even people who hand it in late! I get my work back less than 12 hours before the SAC and it’s so vague. Should I get a tutor for exams? I can’t dob in on this teacher because I need to get good unit 4 marks and making her hate me more would just screw it up. I was aiming for above 40 study score but it’s not looking possible if my teacher refuses to cooperate.My easy answer is if she helps other people, get them to hand in your work and get feedback, if it's not for an assessment. She should be fair.
I'm no authority, but I don't remember seeing that name on the list when I looked through it for English to see what our teacher was picking from. I don't remember ever seeing that name before and I probably would remember it, but again, I don't know because I looked before the start of this year.
Having looked at the book list I cannot see it on there - for VCE English, mind. I don't know about others.
You can check the list of all the books for other subjects - I found it by searching 'vce english texts'. It was the first return.
Hope that helps!
Just a quick question: do we need to analyse every single quote we use in a text response essay? Or are we allowed to add quotes to 'fill' sentences (if that makes sense, I'll leave an example down below.)
Is just that my teachers always tell me that I need to use more quotes, yet I don't think its possible for me to analyse every quote in detail?
Using it as a filler: Hecuba remains optimistic that Astyanax will grow up up to be the saviour of Troy, thus instilling hope in herself and Andromache
OR Astyanax had to ‘give up [his] life,’ due to his ‘fathers courage,’ to prevent revenges occurring in the future.
Analysing it: Andromache represents the Athenian vision of a ‘perfect wife,’ who never ‘wanted to leave [Hector’s] home.’ By referring to their shared house as Hector’s, it is evident that men withhold all tangible properties, and women have no value for themselves.
Thank you!
I'm pretty sure it's fine to use the drop in quotes without analysing them, I did it often. As long as you have enough quotes that are being analysed it's okay.Also. I also. But I don't get very good marks, so I don't know.
How do you use nominalisation and incorporate it into text response essays? Is it also necessary for comparitive?1. It's not exactly necessary, but it's good to use if you find yourself lapsing into summative-style writing. You basically turn the verb into a noun. Example:
Also in text response what is authorial intent? Is it like how the audience intends to position (although never use this word) the audience in language analysis?
Hi, In English we are currently studying the play Medea and I was wondering if anyone had any useful resources that I could use for an essay that I need to write. In particular around the topic of Jason's betrayal and how this contributes towards the tragedy of Medea? Any help would be greatly appreciated.Hi,
//
Hi AN! Does anyone have any tips on choosing body paragraph ideas for comparative prompts (or text response). I feel like I always break up my paragraphs in strange ways, that end up being too complicated and messy.
Also maybe like a formula to decide body paragraphs? (As an maths/science person I really struggle with the freedom of deciding body paragraphs.)
For example, I chose these body paragraphs for this prompt: 'How does Ransom and The Queen show that leaders must change with changing times?' These were my paragraphs, but I always feel that these don't have enough depth.
1. New and contrasting relationships were formed in both texts, allowing leaders and outsiders to grow from each other, eventually causing changes in the leader’s personal beliefs.
2. The ability of a leader to step outside traditional roles in order to face adversity drives the plotline for both narratives, as changing times call for new ways to act.
3. Furthermore, as plotlines of both works drive forward, it becomes evident that the ability of leaders to change themselves leaves a positive impact on others
Am I being too plot based with my paragraph division? How can I improve this?
Thank you so much :D Would really appreciate any help.
//
For a comparative when relating the argument back to contention at end of the paragraph what exactly do you say in the sentence?Your concluding statement should be a discovery. What have you learnt from what you've discussed in that paragraph? Don't make it a simple repetition of the topic sentence - the assessors already know that from the first sentence of your paragraph so repeating your topic sentence with slightly different wording won't help advance your essay. Doing that can make your writing and essay feel quite repetitive (I'm not saying you're doing this, I'm just saying to avoid this!) and circular, which is what you DON'T want. What you DO want is to conclude what the overall conclusion is from your paragraph. The best way to do this is to link it back to authorial intent - what are the authors trying to say about what you've talked about in your paragraph? This will make the assessor feel like they're going through a well-structured essay that is able to make relevant and apt links at the end of each paragraph that talks about what you've found after your discussion. For example, a paragraph could be talking about how characters take control of their own narratives and what this power entails. Your last sentence could say something like 'Both writers use storytelling as a means to liberate their characters from their one-dimensional portrays in history.' See how it's not a repetition of the topic sentence? Rather, it talks about the power of taking control of the narrative and what this means for the characters. Alternatively, you can make a sweeping views and values statement, which is a bit more authorial agenda-y.
The best way to do this is to link it back to authorial intent - what are the authors trying to say about what you've talked about in your paragraph? This will make the assessor feel like they're going through a well-structured essay that is able to make relevant and apt links at the end of each paragraph that talks about what you've found after your discussion.
Hey guys,I believe so, but my personal opinion is that it might be harder to get that 10 if we don't compare. However, I'm not sure; don't take my word for it :)
Since VCAA has stipulated that for section C we do not need to write comparatively, if multiple texts are given, does that mean we can focus on each text individually and still receive a 10, even though this approach may lack sophistication when compared to other students who compare effectively?
Much appreciated
Hi all,To add to that question- are we meant to integrate quotes from such a prompt into the essay? In my trial exam I didn't...
If I choose a quote prompt, and I forget to integrate one of the quotes in the essay, would I lose marks? I mean like a great amount of marks?
Hi all,Not sure if you'd lose a 'great amount' of marks, but I'm certain you'd lose at least 1-2. Not integrating the quote could show the assessor that you don't fully understand the extent of the prompt (even if it was just a simple mistake of forgetting!), as the quotes often encompass some sort of answer to the prompt.
If I choose a quote prompt, and I forget to integrate one of the quotes in the essay, would I lose marks? I mean like a great amount of marks?
To add to that question- are we meant to integrate quotes from such a prompt into the essay? In my trial exam I didn't...Yes, that is the purpose of including quotes as part of a prompt. It's okay, your trial exam is only for learning purposes so best that you forgot it now rather than in the real exam!
How many trial exams is everyone’s school holding for English? We only have one and it’s the first week back. What’s scary is our schools SACs have never been one hour in length so what’s gonna happen to the kids who haven’t written since June? I think it’s a little mean.....not to mention teachers aren’t taking work this holidays!!!!My school's only holding one; I'm also doing ones of my own with my study group. You could try putting your work up on the work submissions and marking board here on AN? People would probably look at it, even though it's not the ideal situation, obviously.
How has anyone here overcome teachers not reading work but still wanting to prepare for the exam?
They said we can prepare for exam next term but we go back to school 4 weeks before the exam and I have other subjects. I know I’m being unreasonable but I think it would be nice for those who would like feedback now to be able to access a teacher :(
How has anyone here overcome teachers not reading work but still wanting to prepare for the exam?Hi Elle just wanted to say I understand how you feel my teacher is not AT ALL prompt with returning essay feedback :'(. I'd encourage you to reach out to previous teachers you've had in english (if you've had a good relationship with them) if that's allowed at your school. You can also exchange work with friends (I have an english "buddy" I have worked with this year and we exchange essays all the time which is beneficial for both of us and a fantastic way to get new ideas and perspectives on the texts. I'd encourage you to find someone at a similar level, it's amazing how helpful this is). You could also reach out to any past students (if you know any) who are good at english and are happy to mark some work. And there are ANers who are always happy to help too.
They said we can prepare for exam next term but we go back to school 4 weeks before the exam and I have other subjects. I know I’m being unreasonable but I think it would be nice for those who would like feedback now to be able to access a teacher :(
How many trial exams is everyone’s school holding for English? We only have one and it’s the first week back. What’s scary is our schools SACs have never been one hour in length so what’s gonna happen to the kids who haven’t written since June? I think it’s a little mean.....not to mention teachers aren’t taking work this holidays!!!!I have one trial exam but I've already done it (we did it at home). Also don't be too worried about not having written a SAC under full time, as you practice and do your trial exam this won't disadvantage you. As long as you continue to work on timing over the next month and a half!
What are VCAA rules on using archaic words? I could not really find anything on it.Dunno, but I use 'em too - I never heard a rule against it, if used correctly. ???
I sometimes use words such as therein, whereunto, forbye.
What are VCAA rules on using quotes with vulgar words? In a context where removing it is difficult? Should I avoid completely or use square brackets to alter it?It possibly depends on what the words are and what context they are in, but I'd advise the use of square brackets just in case.
hi everyone! there is just over a month till the exam eek!!!It probably depends on the person. Perhaps you should try just doing paragraphs etc. as well as full essays, just to mix it up a bit. Also do full exams. At least, I found that a full exam, doing the last essay in it, was quite difficult. It probably also depends on your workload with other subjects. Personally, I'm going to aim to do 1-2 full exams a week (once school finishes for me), and very little else. But that doesn't work for others necessarily.
i have spent the holidays getting familiar with all my texts as my teacher advised but i am stressed about the limited time left to write practice essays. can any of you advise how many essays to do a week to get as much practice in as possible w/out getting burn out?? thanks!
hi everyone! there is just over a month till the exam eek!!!Essay plans > Essays
i have spent the holidays getting familiar with all my texts as my teacher advised but i am stressed about the limited time left to write practice essays. can any of you advise how many essays to do a week to get as much practice in as possible w/out getting burn out?? thanks!
Hi guys. I was wondering how many pieces of evidence necessary for a comparative body paragraph? My teacher said one from each text and one of them should be a literary device. Is this enough? It’s difficult to fit more as the paragraphs are huge! I wrote my first one today by hand and to time in 70 minutes- I know eons but it was a struggle.I would aim for at least 2-3 quotes per text, or less quotes for a more sophisticated literary deceive.
What's the difference - and how can I fix it - between an 8/10 and a 9-10/10 for a comparative? Or a text response, for that matter. Or an AA. What strategies should I use to pick up my marks from all around 8/10 (well, AA 7/10) to 9/10?This is a very interesting question, but also a challenging one.
Hey guys not sure if this questions belongs on this forum but could someone please explain why the correct answer for the MC in last years GAT is “c”?
Thanks in advance
Hi guys,I have done the Boobook one.
By any chance has anyone done or has got the 2020 Insight or Boobook English Exam?
I have done the Boobook one.
I have a question- In doing an AA, if the author's name is really long (the example I'm doing now is 'Kennedy-Khan') do we have to use the whole surname or just part of it? especially if it's hyphenated.
What’s the perfect amount of evidence and quotes in Each essay.You asked this question before in the forum, you just re-worded it.
In comparative I do one Technique per text cause the paragraphs are huge but if cause a few more “quotes” sprinkled in.
Text response I usually do 1-2 pieces of analyses evidence 1 a quote and one a cinematic technique with little “quotes” littered throughout.
Language analysis for the visual I find at least 3 visual techniques and in the paragraphs 2-3 analysed things + quotes which are explained.
Do you guys have every single essay you write get marked?Assuming you go to a relatively mid to large school, I would advise you to send your practise English exam to all the year 12 English teachers. If you don't have a lot of year 12 teachers, then I guess your best bet is to send your year7-year11 English teachers with your analysing argument essay.
I was thinking about doing a practise English exam this Friday and then another one next Monday (3 days later) but I doubt my teacher will be able to mark them in that time.
Having a lot of trouble finding examples in my second comparative text for these two really hard sub themes (education).I think the best way is to reread your texts. You don't need to read all of them from start to end, just key scenes that showcase those themes or major aspects of those themes. Or, if you've made notes throughout the year, look back on them to find those quotes. Some themes can be quite obscure and there may only be a few quotes, or the theme may be explored in a subtle fashion, so sometimes it's not as easy as flicking through the text to find them. I would ask a study group, or you can approach your teacher and ask for help too. Try googling some critical essays on your text and find ones that relate to your themes - this can kickstart your analysis and help you find your footing again. Remember that themes from essay prompts will always be linked to BOTH texts in a significant manner, so there should be no shortage of examples and interpretations of these examples to develop a well-thought-out response.
How do I go about this?
- Do examiners give half marks for exams? i.e. 8.5s?Fairly sure no half marks.
- Are we able to have ‘discussions’ within body paragraphs? For example, rather than having 2 paragraphs agree with the prompt and one paragraph disagree, can one body paragraph itself have for and against?
Something like this: While this suggests the women's lives were miserable, it also shows the progressing of societal views, and that the world has become a more accepting place for them.
- Do examiners give half marks for exams? i.e. 8.5s?
- Are we able to have ‘discussions’ within body paragraphs? For example, rather than having 2 paragraphs agree with the prompt and one paragraph disagree, can one body paragraph itself have for and against?
Something like this: While this suggests the women's lives were miserable, it also shows the progressing of societal views, and that the world has become a more accepting place for them.
How many body paragraphs are we expected to have for an essay? Three or four?
Does anyone have experience with the company boo book? My school hired them to company exams and results were dodgy. I’m wondering if it’s because my cohort was so large or....?Our cohort was kinda small (19 kids) and we'd been having them all year, so perhaps it's the difference? We got a page of feedback each (for the three sections thus a paragraph or so).
Hey everyone,The only advice I can give you is that my teacher told me that to get the really top marks in the exam (ie going from 18/20 to 19 or 20/20) I need to lengthen my essays, which are currently around three full pages (handwritten) with reasonably small handwriting (although not tiny). So no, I don't think you'll get marked down.
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 everyone,Unless you are either repeating yourself or using long quotes I don't this is an issue
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!
Hey everyone,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.
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!
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.
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
Hey everyone,Hey whys,
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!
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)
Thanks tired and stressed!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.)
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
Thanks tired and stressed!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.
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.
How do you answer “to what extent” or “how does author xyz” prompts?To what extent questions are my fave tbh
For the to what extent should you go agree, agree, agree but here’s another possibility erring on the othersides POV?
Thanks!!!!!!!I only did like two three-hour practice exams (coz quite frankly who has the time for that) with only one week till the exam, there probably isn't really a benefit to do a three-hour practise exam, if you plan to do one I would recommend to sit it at the same time as the exam 9:00 am-12:45 pm but by no later than Friday.
My other questions was is writing full practise exams necessary? I’ve done many 1 hour essays and a few 2 in 2 hour essays but I’ve only done one FULL practise.
I plan on doing one more LA essay, should I do the 2019 section c, or pick one from the older study designs?
Are those before 2017 still relevant for section C?
Do “how this is shown” prompts always mean how ideas are conveyed through techniques or can I say how this is shown through concepts?I reckon both- the prompt does not restrict you to just discuss techniques, you can analyse how big pictures ideas are depicted to "how this is shown" prompts
I reckon both- the prompt does not restrict you to just discuss techniques, you can analyse how big pictures ideas are depicted to "how this is shown" prompts
Anyone got any synonyms for idea/notion? I can only use 'idea' and 'notion' so much. Like for instance:concept
Author Jane Doe conveys the idea/notion that...
Thanks
Anyone got any synonyms for idea/notion? I can only use 'idea' and 'notion' so much. Like for instance:
Author Jane Doe conveys the idea/notion that...
Thanks
Hello!
I read this from the 2019 examiner's report and was wondering if anyone knows what happens to those who base their essay off another high scoring one from a text guide like atarnotes or tsfx. Will they get a zero?
What if your essay is very similar to the guide (not the same as it is a different prompt but is 80% similar)
This scenario sounds like plagiarism, and although no ones ever said that’s bad for English people on AN have alluded to the fact if you memorise the work must be your own. If the assessor was the author of that study guide they may know but otherwise please just relax it’s now over and we are almost free :)
Dear all upcoming Year 12 students,You weren't the only one... our cohort was smaller, but I was ranked first.... I suspect I pulled down a good many of my classmates. :-\
If you’re worried about English, don’t be. It can’t be worse than being ranked 2-3 in a cohort of 100 students and then bringing them all down by getting an A on the exam 🥴
Arguments on why political correctness unites people.See my response in the EngLang thread. Other people may respond too.
Hi! I have finished all my English sacs and now I'm just studying for the exam - I have been writing timed essays, sometimes one other times two, for LA, TR and argument analysis, in all my spares and on weekends. I probably average about one a day. I can't really tell if I have improved at all, and I feel for that amount of effort I should be at a level higher than I am. I am doing ransom + the queen and all the light this year.
I know I have to work to get better, and so I am trying, but I'd really like to get 40+ for eng this year - could I have help on the best ways to study?
Please see the attached screenshot for my advice to some redditors asking for VCE English exam prep tips. I’m aware I did different texts to you, but I think it may still be beneficial.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pT42Uw0_efS8KcxuasVWUH6rTQwzax41/view?usp=drivesdk
Hey guys!Nowhere is it said by VCCA that four or more paragraphs will be advantageous to the student, so no I don't think it would beneficial.
Hope exam prep is going well for everyone!
I just remembered recently how one of my English teachers in year 8 advised me to start writing 4-5 body paragraphs in each essay, because she said that doing so sets you up well for VCE English.
Is it recommended that people write more than the usual 3 body paragraphs?
None of my other English teachers have advised me to do this, and I definitely can’t see myself doing this on an exam, but I’m just curious to know whether it is recommended by other VCE teachers and students or not.
Many thanks!