ATAR Notes: Forum
Archived Discussion => HSC Exam Discussion 2018 => Results => New South Wales => English Exams => Topic started by: Joseph41 on October 09, 2018, 11:40:06 am
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Post all exam discussion and sample solutions for Paper 1 here!
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Can't believe they made us do two long short answers.
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Can't believe they made us do two long short answers.
This. No 1-2 markers :((. Also I was surprised how this time, the question asking us to compare Two texts wasn’t even the last question like usual. Short answers were too hard.
Also, do you guys reckon the creative which was “Compose a piece of imaginative writing that portrays two different perspectives of discovery” can be interpreted as two different TYPES of discovery or two different characters personal perspectives? Cause lol I just wrote my creative oops
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For the essay question, I agreed with one of the points and disagreed with the other, is that allowed?
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Bloody hell. That was a hard exam.
The comprehension structure was wack, I felt like I had to regain myself constantly when working through it. That 'discoveries lead to altered perspectives' 5 marker threw me off!! I was answering it as 'altered perspectives can lead to discoveries' and only realised until my last technique that I was answering it wrong. I'm so annoyed with myself. Is there any chance there would be any leniency on that? I still picked out some strong language features that explored the same concept....
The creative. Wtf. Two perspectives. Spent 5 mins contemplating whether or not to chuck in the mother's perspective on the spot, or adapt my story with the one character, put show how her perspective towards discovery changed - initially from discovering the peaceful nature of ballet and her mother, to the cruel nature of both when she was older. That works right? I feel like I need clarification from my peers because this is going to eat away at me forever. And that quote! So multi-faceted! That was like 5 emotions in one. I feel like it worked in correctly but could've been done better.
For the discovery essay I talked about re-discovery and how it can challenge an individual's preconceived perceptions of themselves and the world. Is taking the 're-discovery' angle correct? Re-discovering something is not finding something that is new, it's reconsidering what was once new. Am I correct in thinking that??
Summary: they really pulled out all the tricks. shit.
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Also, do you guys reckon the creative which was “Compose a piece of imaginative writing that portrays two different perspectives of discovery” can be interpreted as two different TYPES of discovery or two different characters personal perspectives? Cause lol I just wrote my creative oops
That's how I, and a lot of others, interpreted it. So it's safe to say that's correct :)
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Paper 1- dodgy as usual. (Warning: I'm ranting).
Who in the world decided to include 2 nonfiction texts?? There was an interview and an actual nonfiction extract so how in the world am I supposed to a) show a person's discovery and b) find actual techniques. I wanted to analyse a character's process, not some photographer talking about being curious. I found myself being like "the photographer preserves new worlds in photographs" or something like that. I also didn't understand the poem. No clue what they're "discovering." I said something along the lines of discovering new landscapes.
Secondly, mark distribution. The mark distribution was so weird. Who decided it was a good idea to do 3, 3, 4, 5?? Not only that, we couldn't choose what texts to pick. They're like 'Nope. Gotta do Texts 1 and 2.' So I bs-ed something on discoveries leading to various emotional responses and how these varying responses reflect the complexity of discovery. I don't know, I was on the verge of breaking down in the exam.
Also, the creative question was strange. A creative on two perspectives on discovery?? I'm hoping the markers are being a bit interpretive because I thought two characters needed to discover something. Since my creative changes perspective, I'm hoping that they recognise that as 'perspectives on discovery.' The quote though, was very awkward. It felt so out of place in my creative, considering the quote came from a text where the author was rambling on different perspectives.
Finally, essay question: I'm hoping I'm allowed to partially agree with the question because the question was really weird. "Discovery isn't always something new, nor is it a joy"?? This kinda goes against my usual "Miranda's newfound discovery of ____" so I had to be all like "Prospero's rediscovery of forgiveness and despair over rejecting his magic" or something. Again, felt like I rambled.
Also, this was just something at my school (not sure if other schools had this), but our supervisor stopped us 1 minute early. Doesn't sound like a lot but my friend could've finished her conclusion, it interrupted my train of thought- it surprised everyone. And when the supervisor told us to keep writing, she said that in a very soft voice so I couldn't hear her since I was sitting all the way at the back.
So yeah, Paper 1 was very depressing ;-;
Also, do you guys reckon the creative which was “Compose a piece of imaginative writing that portrays two different perspectives of discovery” can be interpreted as two different TYPES of discovery or two different characters personal perspectives? Cause lol I just wrote my creative oops
I mean, I'm hoping the markers to be a bit more interpretative. I was talking to a few teachers after the exam and they said it could be one character changing their perspective.
For the essay question, I agreed with one of the points and disagreed with the other, is that allowed?
My teacher said since it's a 'to what extent' question, you have room to agree with some and disagree with others. I did that throughout my essay and compared/contrasted different character discoveries so hopefully the markers agree with us.
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So, it didn't go all bad. I agree the altered perspectives 5 markers messed me up a little too. I don't even remember if what I wrote was right. I was very happy with the essay question though because it fit my pre-prepared essay perfectly.
I didn't like the creative I wrote though... I feel like it was too cliche and nothing like my stories I did in the past. It had the same general story line as those but anyway.
I don't actually care anymore hahahaha. IT'S DONE. Now to think of paper 2. Ugh.
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For the essay question, I agreed with one of the points and disagreed with the other, is that allowed?
Same. I agreed with discoveries not always evoking joy but disagreed with “discovery is not always about finding the new”
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Paper 1- dodgy as usual. (Warning: I'm ranting).
Secondly, mark distribution. The mark distribution was so weird. Who decided it was a good idea to do 3, 3, 4, 5?? Not only that, we couldn't choose what texts to pick. They're like 'Nope. Gotta do Texts 1 and 2.' So I bs-ed something on discoveries leading to various emotional responses and how these varying responses reflect the complexity of discovery. I don't know, I was on the verge of breaking down in the exam.
I didn't even say that they have varying responses to the experience of discovery! I couldn't find where the contrast in emotions were. Both, to me, conveyed pleasant experiences with discovering as the beauty of the arctic landscape in text 2 conveys the joy of discovering and that text 1 was similar, in that it also showed the excitement associated with discovery. Is it bad that I didn't show dissimilarities? Ugh I hate everything right now
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My thoughts:
Reading paper: The questions themselves weren't hard, however the material was. Two nonfiction texts is difficult, however, the images in the first one made things easier. Overall, I thought it was hard but still relatively easy and a likely 15. While the mark allocations were a tad unusual, this was the direction that it was clearly heading in. I feel it favoured advanced more than standard.
Creative: They've never really asked for a quote to be used, just incorporated, so a little strange. Probably one of the harder creatives they've asked in recent history.
Essay: Unusual form, but easy question with a lot of avenues.
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Okay hi everyone, im normally a bad bitch with short answer and i whip out weird but thorough analysis of the texts
So, for the first one i took the photography to discoveries as the literal photos, and in that i used the monk picture and was discussing how the placement of the picture upside down subverted its composition to force the viewer to quite literally rediscovery a culture in a new perspective....
BUt wait !!
The picture wasnt upside down... no... they were just hanging....
Does this debunk my whole analysis or are they lenient to this type of thing?
Also does photography = the actual picture
SOrry I just need some sort of closure
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Omg i realised just now after reading this that the 5 marker was asking about how discoveries lead to new perspectives???? i read discoveries lead to new perspectives, damn would that mean i wouldn't get any marks since i wasn't answering the right question??
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I am a bit disappointed in the way the essay question was written. Usually there's a pretty clear connection to the rubric using rubric words however this question was just obscure. I also thought the creative was very narrow. Don't even get me started on the short answer.
Thought it was a very poorly written paper.
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thoughts.....
seriously NESA!!!!! did you run out of discovery texts??? what were those things??? and the marks distribution as above.... totally screwed me up................
creative... my teacher had said one of the strong points of my one was its discovery for the reader, emotional and physical discovery for the persona and the physical discovery... so - i just wrote the one i add and added the quote in the parts it fitted.... only prob is i spent like 50 mins on it!!!
essay - easy question. but jst ran out of time ??? :P ::)
overall.... was not at all stressed like i thought i would be.... + it is doneeee!!!!
discovery is finished forever..!!!
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I'm so annoyed about the creative because I was focusing so much on integrating the two perspectives that I forgot to put the quote in. Will that push my mark down alot??
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Pack it up boys.
I completely forgot that with a "to what extent" question, I could simultaneously agree and disagree. I did a trash job trying to justify my position so I'm over.
And what the hell was up with Question 1??
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Omg i realised just now after reading this that the 5 marker was asking about how discoveries lead to new perspectives???? i read discoveries lead to new perspectives, damn would that mean i wouldn't get any marks since i wasn't answering the right question??
This is what I'm stressing about. I read it the wrong way around and started answering it weirdly. It's essentially the same concept though, so would they really be that harsh in disregarding points completely for that, even if you supported it with a technique?
Also, did anyone explicitly talk about the pictures in the first text? I just said that they supported what the interviewer was saying and focused more on language techniques in the text. Is this wrong?
I need closure!!!!! :'(
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Omg i realised just now after reading this that the 5 marker was asking about how discoveries lead to new perspectives???? i read discoveries lead to new perspectives, damn would that mean i wouldn't get any marks since i wasn't answering the right question??
I'm pretty sure the question was how altered perspectives lead to new discoveries (paraphrased).
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This is what I'm stressing about. I read it the wrong way around and started answering it weirdly. It's essentially the same concept though, so would they really be that harsh in disregarding points completely for that, even if you supported it with a technique?
Also, did anyone explicitly talk about the pictures in the first text? I just said that they supported what the interviewer was saying and focused more on language techniques in the text. Is this wrong?
I need closure!!!!! :'(
It didn't say to talk about the pictures so I didn't talk about them. I focused on language techniques
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It didn't say to talk about the pictures so I didn't talk about them. I focused on language techniques
I did language for q1 and images for Q3.....
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I'm pretty sure the question was how altered perspectives lead to new discoveries (paraphrased).
I read it as how altered perspectives are as a result of discovery....
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Hey, so no one is replying on my other post so this is abotu paper 2. Can they say you have to do two related texts?
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I'm pretty sure the question was how altered perspectives lead to new discoveries (paraphrased).
Pheww okay i think i'm okay then. Thanks for clearing that up!!
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yooo rip i anaysised the pictures for the first texts in both questions.... wahhh
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I am a bit disappointed in the way the essay question was written. Usually there's a pretty clear connection to the rubric using rubric words however this question was just obscure. I also thought the creative was very narrow. Don't even get me started on the short answer.
Thought it was a very poorly written paper.
This actually hit me too. For the first time I saw no connection in that question to the discovery rubric. I agree it was poorly written overall, as that creative “stimulus” was literally taken from Text Three which we just analysed.
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I didn't even end up finishing the 5 marker :(
Started with short answer, reached 40 mins and started my essay. Came back to it after finishing my essay and the creative (with appropriately allocated time) and started to write my second paragraph and somehow finish it in 2 mins
And then pens down :'(
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Anyone on the hsc disscussion group? The memes are cheering me up after what i just witnessed.
In other words: What.The.Heck
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Anyone on the hsc disscussion group? The memes are cheering me up after what i just witnessed.
In other words: What.The.Heck
Definitely! Loving that people are taking the piss out of that challenging paper
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What was the frist question in those short answers. Was it asking about the photography or about the photograher
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OK so basically i never add stuff in these forums but BOIIIIII DO I NEED CLOSURE so basically i wrote my section 2 (creative) in section 3 (essay) and attempted to mark it clearly but the invigilator said its likely that they won't mark it WHAT DO U GUYS THINK?!?!?!
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I highly doubt NESA would cost you your HSC mark just because you wrote your creative and essay in the wrong section. If anything, once the markers realise that you have mixed up your sections, they would give that section to the intended marker.
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I absolutely hated section one, but I found the creative and essay alright!! For the essay my paragraphs were:
1) rediscoveries
2) new discoveries
3) how discovery can evoke negative emotions
4) how it can evoke joy
does that sound alright?? Ahhh
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OK so basically i never add stuff in these forums but BOIIIIII DO I NEED CLOSURE so basically i wrote my section 2 (creative) in section 3 (essay) and attempted to mark it clearly but the invigilator said its likely that they won't mark it WHAT DO U GUYS THINK?!?!?!
I did the same thing and i'm panicking rn
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i wrote abt renewed perceptions bc of confronting/provocative discoveries? is that right?
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Paper 1- dodgy as usual. (Warning: I'm ranting).
Who in the world decided to include 2 nonfiction texts?? There was an interview and an actual nonfiction extract so how in the world am I supposed to a) show a person's discovery and b) find actual techniques. I wanted to analyse a character's process, not some photographer talking about being curious. I found myself being like "the photographer preserves new worlds in photographs" or something like that. I also didn't understand the poem. No clue what they're "discovering." I said something along the lines of discovering new landscapes.
Secondly, mark distribution. The mark distribution was so weird. Who decided it was a good idea to do 3, 3, 4, 5?? Not only that, we couldn't choose what texts to pick. They're like 'Nope. Gotta do Texts 1 and 2.' So I bs-ed something on discoveries leading to various emotional responses and how these varying responses reflect the complexity of discovery. I don't know, I was on the verge of breaking down in the exam.
Also, the creative question was strange. A creative on two perspectives on discovery?? I'm hoping the markers are being a bit interpretive because I thought two characters needed to discover something. Since my creative changes perspective, I'm hoping that they recognise that as 'perspectives on discovery.' The quote though, was very awkward. It felt so out of place in my creative, considering the quote came from a text where the author was rambling on different perspectives.
Finally, essay question: I'm hoping I'm allowed to partially agree with the question because the question was really weird. "Discovery isn't always something new, nor is it a joy"?? This kinda goes against my usual "Miranda's newfound discovery of ____" so I had to be all like "Prospero's rediscovery of forgiveness and despair over rejecting his magic" or something. Again, felt like I rambled.
Also, this was just something at my school (not sure if other schools had this), but our supervisor stopped us 1 minute early. Doesn't sound like a lot but my friend could've finished her conclusion, it interrupted my train of thought- it surprised everyone. And when the supervisor told us to keep writing, she said that in a very soft voice so I couldn't hear her since I was sitting all the way at the back.
So yeah, Paper 1 was very depressing ;-;
I mean, I'm hoping the markers to be a bit more interpretative. I was talking to a few teachers after the exam and they said it could be one character changing their perspective.
My teacher said since it's a 'to what extent' question, you have room to agree with some and disagree with others. I did that throughout my essay and compared/contrasted different character discoveries so hopefully the markers agree with us.
My experience was essentially the same as Olivia's. I thought I was the only one really screwed up for that exam but a lot of my friends thought the same about the paper too :'(
I didn't mind the website interview because I was praying for a visual in the exam. I much prefer finding visual techniques than reading chunks of writing so that was slightly in my favour. I do art as well so it wasn't hard to identify techniques. That being said, the interview went over two pages (was probably only a page long if you take out the images) so that was really annoying to read. All the texts felt really long to read actually :(
HOWEVER, Text 3 wins the worst AOS text I have ever encountered >:( I thought my Trials nonfiction text was ridiculous but this one made Bruce Springsteen's memoir comprehensive. The more I read it, and I read it quite a view times in the reading time because a skim was not enough to decipher whatever it was about, the less I understood what was going on. Maybe it was the pressure environment but it was just a bad choice for a 5 marker. Which brings me to the mark distribution point.
If they had switched the questions for the 4 and 5 marker around, things would have been fine. Didn't matter to me that I had to use the poem and the photography texts because they were significantly easier than Text 3. I also wrote a mini essay for that with breeze which ended up being my downfall as I did not have enough time for the 5 marker. I still responded to it with some length but definitely not enough to score a full 5. It would've made more sense to have the comparison question for the 5 and keep the 4 to one text. It threw me off time management wise.
I also did the same thing as Olivia in that my "different perspective" was a flashback from my character where she was disappointed with the discovery and then brought it back to present day with her finding something amazing about it. The stimulus was not the best but it was the least stressful part of the paper for me. I found it really unfair though because they didn't provide any options. They could've taken quotes from the other two texts to just give choices for the students. It was very Extension 1 English what they did just limiting it to one option for the module. I hope what I did counts and that it was obvious enough.
And the essay was disappointing for me too. Didn't finish my conclusion which I am really unhappy about. I didn't even finish the sentence I was writing and that was just embarrassing. I had to agree with one half of it and disagree with the other so that was not a fun time at all. I hope they are lenient in the marking because they did make the exam really difficult :(
That's my little vomit on Paper 1. My hand is super numb and I can't wait to sit Paper 2 and Music tomorrow as well. Least that means three exams will be out of the way. That will be all from me. Interested to see what everyone else has to say :o
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Does anyone know when NESA actually puts the exam up on the HSC Exam Papers website so we can look over it?
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Does anyone know when NESA actually puts the exam up on the HSC Exam Papers website so we can look over it?
Usually 1-3 days.
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Glad that I wasn't the only one that thought the exam was more difficult than previous years. I honestly expected the short answer section to be weird, but not having that mini essay that we normally get through me off big time, especially having a 5 marker on ONE TEXT. How long did it have to be???
The creative = eh. But the essay question literally made me want to cry because our prescribed is Go Back To Where You Came From so it was new discoveries. I was too scared to disagree with the question for fear that I would end up talking about things that were not relevant. All in all, I thought it was unfair.
Praying for some good module questions tomorrow :((((
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did anyone forget to include the quote in their creative?? I did and I'm FREAKING OUT :'(
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did anyone forget to include the quote in their creative?? I did and I'm FREAKING OUT :'(
I'm sure the marker will take it as a subtle hint... ;)
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I also didn't include the quote for the creative. Is it rip band 6 dreams??
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i wrote abt renewed perceptions bc of confronting/provocative discoveries? is that right?
??
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The paper was definitely very weird, wayyyy harder than the previous years
That being said though, i thought the short answers were pretty good except for Text 3... Text 3 was simply too long :o
The creative was weird as well, seeing as we had to include a quote instead of using a stimulus as a central idea. Hopefully the markers will be more lenient!
The essay was alright as well, but it was definitely phrased very strangely.
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The creative = eh. But the essay question literally made me want to cry because our prescribed is Go Back To Where You Came From so it was new discoveries. I was too scared to disagree with the question for fear that I would end up talking about things that were not relevant. All in all, I thought it was unfair.
Praying for some good module questions tomorrow :((((
As somebody who's prescribed was also GBTWYCF, that question was legit the opposite of every discovery concept I developed through the prescribed text.
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When you can't be bothered to come up with your own quote, so you use one from text 3...
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We have just shared our analysis of the exam! Congrats everyone, one exam down!! ;D
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OK so basically i never add stuff in these forums but BOIIIIII DO I NEED CLOSURE so basically i wrote my section 2 (creative) in section 3 (essay) and attempted to mark it clearly but the invigilator said its likely that they won't mark it WHAT DO U GUYS THINK?!?!?!
Some people at my school did that and the invigilators said it would definitely still be marked
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We have just shared our analysis of the exam! Congrats everyone, one exam down!! ;D
This is very encouraging, I agreed with most things you said in the article. I'm glad you thought the creative was difficult, I struggled with that section but some of my friends didn't find it too bad, so I was worried I had done badly in that section.
To be honest I didn't find the short answers too difficult, once I accepted the different layout I thought the questions were ok. I agree with impulsebro89 though that text 3 was pretty hard. I found the essay harder than the short answers, it didn't fit with my semi-prepared response so I partly argued against the question, I don't know if it really worked.
The good thing is that if everyone found the paper hard, we won't have done as bad as we think (hopefully)!!!
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Yes, that's correct! The 'renewed' is the part of the question that states that not all discoveries are new, and the challenging nature of discoveries answers the fact that they're not always filled with joy. :)
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As somebody who's prescribed was also GBTWYCF, that question was legit the opposite of every discovery concept I developed through the prescribed text.
I have GBTWYCF, and I actually took a good spin on it I think. I talked about the fact that it isn't always finding joy, which you could show through the confrontations of Raye etc, and the bleakness of life at each destination and of the refugee experience, and I said it isn't always finding something new, but meaningful discoveries are created when a fresh take is taken on a familiar concept - so I talked about the use of emotion-ellicit voiceovers and music and symbolism by O'Mahoney to portray the already familiar and controversial topic of refugees, and portray it in a new light.
I think that should be good spin?