How to write an essay to HSC standards and any tips!

[Alyssapensini]

Hey everyone!

I'm in Prelim.
I've been hit with a couple of essays, for PE, CAFS, Legal Studies and English and realised I was never really taught much about essays in my previous years.

Can someone please give me a heap of information and tips on writing essays that are of HSC standards please!
I don't really know what a thesis statement is or how to create one.
I don't really know anything except the fact there is an intro, body paragraphs and a conclusion!

Please help me out...

Thanks Heaps
Alyssa

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey everyone!

I'm in Prelim.
I've been hit with a couple of essays, for PE, CAFS, Legal Studies and English and realised I was never really taught much about essays in my previous years.

Can someone please give me a heap of information and tips on writing essays that are of HSC standards please!
I don't really know what a thesis statement is or how to create one.
I don't really know anything except the fact there is an intro, body paragraphs and a conclusion!

Please help me out...

Thanks Heaps
Alyssa

Hey Alyssa! What you've asked is a huge question which differs slightly by subject. But you've hit the nail on the head: HSC Essays revolve around a Thesis, so let me give you some guidance there.

A thesis is essentially a central argument/idea. Again, the exact nature differs slightly by subject, but it is the main theme of your essay. Everything else revolves around backing up the Thesis. Below is an example from the prior English AoS, Belonging. I can go into detail since it is no longer assessable 

Thesis: In all relationships, there are barriers which may hinder or prevent real personal connections.

A very simple thesis which essentially says, right, I'm going to be talking about barriers to personal connection. In my Introduction, I explain this idea in a moderate amount of detail, linking it to the question. I also talk about how I'm going to back the idea up. These 'mini-ideas' are what forms your body paragraphs. For example, say to back up the Thesis above, I want to talk about:

- Individual emotions, such as jealousy
- Institutional alienation
- Cultural Differences

I would mention these in my Introduction, and then, each of these becomes a body paragraph. Each body paragraph begins with a Motherhood Statement which links the dot point to the main Thesis, for example:

Personal relationships are an interplay of complex individual emotions, some of which may prove a barrier to achieving true connections. Negative emotions such as jealousy are often aroused by an imbalance in the relationship, which in turn limit its positive benefits.

So, I explain the mini idea, and then link it to the Thesis. I would then go into actual examples, evidence, etc, and repeat twice more to get 3 body paragraphs. Then, I would write a Conclusion which re-states my Thesis and what I've argued.

Now, this was a fairly conceptual example which requires higher level thinking and experience. A Thesis can be as simple as, "The law protects society." It can be factual. Often, however, a HSC subject demands your own input; an argument or evaluation of the content. The Thesis is your chance to say what you think and back it up.

An essay is basically you presenting an argument, your view of the content. Your Thesis is that argument. Your intro sets up that argument and links it to the question. Your body paragraphs back it up with evidence, organised into sections of your choosing. Your conclusion summarises everything.

I hope this quick little explanation/example is of some help. An abstract definition of a 'HSC Essay' and not a 'Legal Essay' or an 'English Essay' is something I haven't thought about before! It may very well be something we develop properly into a fully fledged resource, so stay tuned! In the meantime, thanks for posting the question, and be sure to keep asking more questions! Essay writing is a skill, and the best way to get better is to practice and improve through trial and error. Feel free to pop your essay up in a relevant thread and get some feedback, ask for help with how to put together a Thesis for a specific subject, anything you need 

[abiksmith]

Hi I'm in my HSC year, I do Advanced English and I was wondering if for Module A, what did your essay structure look like?? At the moment mine is:

Introduction

Point
Example A
Analyse
Techniques
Example B
Analyse
Techniques
Link

And so on for my other body paragraphs, but I was wondering if there is a better way to write a cohesive essay? Thanks

[elysepopplewell]

Hi I'm in my HSC year, I do Advanced English and I was wondering if for Module A, what did your essay structure look like?? At the moment mine is:

Introduction

Point
Example A
Analyse
Techniques
Example B
Analyse
Techniques
Link

And so on for my other body paragraphs, but I was wondering if there is a better way to write a cohesive essay? Thanks

Hey Abi! There are so many ways to structure a Mod A essay. As long as you are constantly making connections between the texts, you're doing well!

Here is my own Module A essay: http://atarnotes.com/pages?p=notes&a=feedback&id=2240
Here are a bunch of other essays online that include about 3 module A essays: http://atarnotes.com/pages/?state=hsc&subject=English%3A+Advanced+English&units=&p=notes&display=list&search=

Last of all, I'll direct you to a guide written to help structure a Mod A essay. This one is quite higher order but you're guaranteed to take something away from it, especially great comparative language: Writing an English Advanced Module A Essay

In all, your paragraph structure alone is fine! It only now matters (structurally) how you make the comparisons between the texts, that is the most important part of this module!

Glad to see you on the forums

[jamonwindeyer]

Hi I'm in my HSC year, I do Advanced English and I was wondering if for Module A, what did your essay structure look like?? At the moment mine is:

Introduction

Point
Example A
Analyse
Techniques
Example B
Analyse
Techniques
Link

And so on for my other body paragraphs, but I was wondering if there is a better way to write a cohesive essay? Thanks

I'll add to Elyse's response that if you want to really push your writing to the next level, you should make sure you write integrated responses. This means that not only do you compare the texts to the idea, you compare them directly to each other, leading from one idea to the next between texts. No Text A, explain, Text B, explain, it is all integrated into one smooth argument. This puts the focus on the conceptual rather than the literal. You can do this with your current structure! Example A (Text One), Techniques, Analyse, Example B (Text 2), etc...

I'll also add that you should be (if you are really good) trying to put your example, explanation techniques, and analysis into a single sentence. For example:

"The personification of "Our Lady" in Skrzynecki's poem, "St Patrick's College," effectively symbolises a sense of institutional guidance and safety. However, it is the in the pathetic fallacy, "Her face overshadowed by clouds," that the audience comes to understand Skrzynecki's view of institutions as conformist, and damaging to individual values and personal belonging."

Obviously this makes little sense outside of the Belonging AoS and without reading the text/Thesis, but you get the idea. This is very high level writing, most students require two sentences to communicate the ideas properly, and that is totally fine. The point of being succinct and blending everything together is that it gives more flow to your writing, and lets you be more experimental with the placement of Technique/Example/Explain.