1st in Advanced English 2016 - Ask Me Anything!

[bowiemily]

Hey all!

Some of you may have met me at the 2017 Head Start Lectures. If so, I hope you enjoyed them! If not, let me quickly introduce myself.
I completed my HSC in 2016 at Bede Polding College, South Windsor. I adore all things reading, writing and music. My favourite food is gnocchi, my favourite colour is yellow. Nice to meet you!

The subjects I completed in 2016 were English (Advanced) and Extension, Modern History, Legal Studies, Earth and Environmental Science and Studies of Religion 1. I am going to be online aaaaaaalllllll night tonight, so feel free to ask me anything related to these subjects, or about the HSC in general 

IMPORTANT: In order to ask a question, you will have to click here and make an ATAR Notes account.

Then - just hit the 'reply' button, as shown in the image below:

[Joseph41]

Fuaaaark. The ol' dual State Rank trick - nice!

I have a couple of general questions:

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[1] You've clearly done exceptionally well to get right to the top of the state. What do you think the difference is between doing well in the HSC, and doing really, really well? Do you put it down to anything specific?

[2] How did you go about selecting your subjects in the first place? Did you weight enjoyment, scaling, or other factors?

[3] How are you finding Laws/Arts?

[bowiemily]

Fuaaaark. The ol' dual State Rank trick - nice!

I have a couple of general questions:

---

[1] You've clearly done exceptionally well to get right to the top of the state. What do you think the difference is between doing well in the HSC, and doing really, really well? Do you put it down to anything specific?

[2] How did you go about selecting your subjects in the first place? Did you weight enjoyment, scaling, or other factors?

[3] How are you finding Laws/Arts?

Hello!

1. This is a really difficult question. When I was still studying for the HSC, my only goal was to do my absolute best. This didn't necessarily mean doing the best in the state. So, if I were to put it down to anything, it would be approaching your study with the mindset of 'what is the most I can do. For me, this was three hours of schoolwork per night. It was also keeping up Scouting (hello to any fellow venturers out there!), Debating, exercise and spending time with loved ones. Because, without these things I wouldn't be trying my best, I'd be basing my life on the HSC. Compared to other people, I'm sure the amount that I studied seems like a lot. But reading and analysing have always been a passion of mine, so when completing my study, it really didn't seem like work. I explored things that I was interested in, and added these to my responses. I guess this lead to the golden 'personal voice' in my work, which markers seem to love.

2. This leads into how I picked my subjects. I picked what I loved and what I was good at. It seems weird that I would choose Earth amongst all of those humanities subjects, but I did so for that very reason. I am highly interested in sustainability and the world around us, so I picked it! Early in Year 12, I did worry about the scaling of my subjects. For this reason, I picked up Ext History (I would have chosen Ext 2 English, but it wasn't feasible at my school). After a month or so though, I started to get really stressed and ending up dropping the subject. We didn't have a timetabled class and so it didn't work out for me. Through this example, I emphasise that you should pick the subjects that work best for you, and your HSC

3. I haven't started yet, but I am loving the books that I'm studying for English so far!

[pikachu975]

Did you memorise essays and do you have any advice for getting a band 6 in english? Thanks!

[ambsperwambs]

How did you prepare for assessments?? For me I do TEE tables but I have trouble remember quotes and some of the analysis. Whats your tip?

[mattmorley]

If you have one tip about doing well in any particular part of english that you have learnt that you could credit to your success what would it be??

[legorgo18]

Hi, enjoyed the lecture, very informative.

Just a question on the integrated essay structure for aos

Do you have to link matching themes in both texts in each paragraph and how many paragraphs do you need? Or can i do like block structure for my essay and have a last integrating paragraph that links the both text. Also for creative, im planning to do a feature article, am i meant to write so the reader has like the ah moment, or am i meant to have a discovery inside the article.

Thank you :c

[bowiemily]

Did you memorise essays and do you have any advice for getting a band 6 in english? Thanks!

Hey there!

I didn't memorise my essays. I did, however, know a heap of themes/paragraphs that I could integrate into my responses. I didn't know them word for word, but I knew how they could be argued and manipulated. This is actually my main advice for smashing Advanced English. You have to be able to argue the question that you are given on the day. It is the be all and end all of your response. Those that show insight into the question, debate its terms and show strong textual analysis in regards to it, will be rewarded with a Band Six. This does not apply to creative writing however, as you have to demonstrate a control and flair in your language which is very hard to perfect in the exam room. It is for this reason that I had a prepared piece for creative.

[dannoabdelnour]

Hi!
Wow, congratulations for your mark, thats absolutely amazing! I'm completing my HSC this year and I need some advice.
Firstly for English. I am terrible at English (its my worst subject), I have trouble with:
-Writing essays
-Answering questions (for every subject)
-Studying

What can I do to improve, suggestions, tips? Things you did in your Senior Years

Lastly for SOR1, What tips can you give when it comes to studying for it? What did you do in your Senior year as well?

Thanks

[Deeridge4321]

Hi Browie
Do you have any tips for memorising creative scripts and essay analysis? I find this challenging and could really use come advice
Congratulations on your incredible marks!
Thank you

[paiges17]

Congratulations on your HSC mark, just a few questions:

1. If you were doing english advanced but struggling, what would your best tips be? Do you think its worth dropping down?

2. did you have a 'formula' for writing essays, a way in which you know you would get a high amount of marks etc.

3. In regards to creative writing, any tips!

Thanks so much for your time! 

[Iminschool]

Q. What would you recommend as a piece of motivation for someone who does not like Advanced English to actually like it? 

[sameeraaa1]

Hey Emily!

What module did you do for extension English and what were your Related Texts? I'm doing After the Bomb and currently looking for some related texts to use

[cynthia_valdez]

Hey, I'm just wondering, do you think that if I was to work a couple of days a week, i'll be able to manage?. But, I will be working on weekdays because I study a language externally so I would find it difficult to cope and I would be tired if I have to rush to work after Saturday school.

Also, regarding Studies of Religion. How did you ensure that your examples were contemporary examples and what would the main structures of your essays be?.

I'm also finding it hard to achieve good marks with creative writing in English, as I have always struggled with this component. Any tips?

Any suggestions for additional texts for discovery?

Congrats on your mark and thanks

[Disney]

Hey!
Congrats on your achievements firstly!

1. What are the most efficient ways to study for Advanced English? I'm pretty busy a lot of the time, but I still want to go as well as I can.
2. What motivated you to achieve such high scores in English mainly, and also your other subjects?
3. How do you manage your time to use it most effectively and what are your tactics for a good sleep (to refresh for the following day)?
4. What research and extra knowledge gained outside the classroom is required in English to succeed at a level similar to yours?
5. What are some websites/resources I could use to further my skills in English and achieve my best score?

Thanks