Hey guys, I have a few questions:
1. How can I add depth to my essays without writing more? I'm struggling to finish the exam on time so I can't afford to write more but I still want to write a high quality essay. Any advice?
2. My ACs get really repetitive and boring to write after a while. If it the text is informal it'll just be like 'Feature X contributes to the text's informality. Feature Y also lowers the register. A lowered register helps the author to establish themselves as relatable and friendly, and thus they can maintain the audience's interest'. Is there any way I can make it more interesting/specific? What do examiners like to see?
3. Is it possible to do well even though you've made up some examples? I'm pretty nervous about not having relevant examples for the essay.
Thanks!
Hey, great questions btw! Here are my thoughts on them
1. A great way to add depth to essays is to find conflicts or complexities within the topic. Can you think a contrasting example? Can you challenge the essay topic in a particular way? Here's an example: imagine the essay topic was simply "Language reflects the context." A more straight-forward essay may talk only about how different contextual factors influence a text. So how do you talk about complexities and conflicts? Well, how do multiple contextual factors interact and influence language? What if there are conflicting contextual factors? Can people go against the context and use language that doesn't quite 'fit'? (e.g. swear in a job interview, use slang in parliament) Why do people do this?
2. My answer is very similar to the previous one, really. Finding areas of conflict and complexities are always interesting to analyse, and will always add a whole lot of depth to ACs. Conflicting social purposes, a mixed register, conflicting functions, the power balance between interlocutors; all of these are really great to analyse in detail.
3. VCAA mentions every year how good it is to use contemporary Australian examples, and it's great for a whole range of reasons. That being said, there's no need to stress if you're struggling to find enough examples, because: a) there's still plenty of time before the exam, and so plenty of time to gather some more examples; b) your analysis and discussion is in many ways more important than the examples you use; and c) it's often hard to find 2017 Aussie examples for particular essay prompts, e.g. language change, internet language, as the changes and trends have not yet filtered up into the media where we tend to get all our examples, and I think VCAA recognises this difficulty.
Hope this helps, best of luck!