Hi Lauren,
How do you avoid talking about one character in your topic sentences for T.R?
This depends on the prompt and the text, but usually you can just restructure your sentence to focus more so on the author or broader themes. However, I don't see much of a problem with using a single character as an entry point for discussion; the danger is when you start of talking about one, then switch to another that doesn't explicitly relate to your topic sentence.
Not grouping paragraphs by character would be a start. Or if you are, try to use a couple at a time as points of comparison or contrast. For instance, if you have a prompt like 'No characters in this book are redeemable,' rather than just exploring them one at a time, group them thematically. eg. 1. characters that are completely irredeemable. 2. characters with many problematic qualities, but are nonetheless redeemable. 3. characters that are not only redeemable, but admirable.
After that, you should find your topic sentences become more general, even if the majority of your discussion centres on one character.
Stupid question, but will not referring directly to a quote that forms part of a prompt but referring to the moment/sentiment it conveys lose me many marks in an essay? Just did my last English SAC, and I think I managed a relatively complex discussion of the prompt, but forgot to put the quote from the prompt in and now am worried... But I did talk about the moment the quote was from, so maybe not all is lost?
Provided you've discussed the moment and sentiment, no it shouldn't. However, if your marker feels like this was only superficial then you can potentially lose marks for ignoring a portion of the prompt. But generally the ideas embedded within the quote and the question in the prompt will be very closely linked. For instance:
' It seems an obvious thing to say, but you should not imagine that we Pakistanis are all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you Americans are all undercover assassins. Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist suggests that prejudicial judgement can be incredibly damaging. Discuss.' Here you'll probably be looking at the idea of racial prejudice anyway, but incorporating the quote would still be highly recommended.
Occasionally the quote-based prompts can be a tad trickier though. eg.
'I am a lover of America.' To what extent is this true of Changez?' Here it would be a lot harder to ignore.
Either way, it sounds like you've addressed it in some capacity so you should be fine
Better to make these mistakes now than in the exam room.
Hi Lauren,
I have my SAC for The Reluctant Fundamentalist and this week it has become apparent that my weakness is opening paragraphs. What do you advise on doing/not doing in an opening paragraph?
What is it that makes your paragraphs 'weak' exactly? If it's an issue with your structure (ie. the para feels directionless or messy) then some more detailed planning might help order your ideas in a more logical way. Alternatively, if it's a problem with your ideas then some further dissection of the prompt should give you something more interesting to discuss.
Strangely most people seem to have problems with their last body paragraph because they feel they've run out of ideas or end up redundantly reiterating their points. I suppose you might be trying to tackle too much too early (eg. if you're structuring your paragraphs around themes, don't put something too big at the start if you feel like you need to build up to it.) For TRF I'd recommend leaving any comments on structure or narrative devices till later so that you have enough backing to justify closer analysis. Other than that, go through your paragraphs and work out what makes them good or bad. Is there too much summary? Not enough V&V? Too far away from the prompt, or too close and lacking sophistication? Expression? Vocab? Handwriting?
Now that you've found which part of your essay you need to improve upon, see if you can isolate exactly what needs improving