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December 11, 2024, 08:31:28 pm

Author Topic: Stuck on Human Experiences Essay  (Read 4400 times)

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helpmeimstruggling

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Stuck on Human Experiences Essay
« on: December 10, 2020, 02:53:54 am »
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Hey,

Currently doing my first assignment for Y12 standard english and am at a major block. We’ve been studying a variety of Kenneth Slessor poems for the common module and our task is to write an essay on the following;

To what extent does your prescribed and related text represent the collective human experience through individual stories? In your response make close reference to your prescribed text and one related text of your own choosing.

At the moment, I’ve chosen Wild Grapes and Out of Time for my prescribed text (we got to choose that) and a short film by the name of ‘memories’ for my related text.

I discussed with my teacher, and the common ideas I could talk about in the essay include the devastating nature of death, the desire to retain memories and feel emotional connections to our experiences.

But I’m stuck.

I honestly thought I understood what I was talking about, but the amount of typing and backspacing I’ve done is crazy and I’m at a point where I’m out of options.

If anyone could provide some assistance it’d be greatly appreciated!

angewina_naguen

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Re: Stuck on Human Experiences Essay
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2020, 08:57:38 am »
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Hey,

Currently doing my first assignment for Y12 standard english and am at a major block. We’ve been studying a variety of Kenneth Slessor poems for the common module and our task is to write an essay on the following;

To what extent does your prescribed and related text represent the collective human experience through individual stories? In your response make close reference to your prescribed text and one related text of your own choosing.

At the moment, I’ve chosen Wild Grapes and Out of Time for my prescribed text (we got to choose that) and a short film by the name of ‘memories’ for my related text.

I discussed with my teacher, and the common ideas I could talk about in the essay include the devastating nature of death, the desire to retain memories and feel emotional connections to our experiences.

But I’m stuck.

I honestly thought I understood what I was talking about, but the amount of typing and backspacing I’ve done is crazy and I’m at a point where I’m out of options.

If anyone could provide some assistance it’d be greatly appreciated!

Hey, helpmeimstruggling!

Welcome to the forums  :D Firstly, love that you've chosen those poems! I think they pair quite nicely together as well and as you've identified, they share common themes. One thing I might suggest is strengthening the last theme a little more so it's clearer what your argument will be. Perhaps something like exploring the theme of connection, belonging or human relationships (all are in a similar vein but you can decide which one feels more appropriate for what you wish to argue in your essay!) could narrow it down and offer you a way to ground your analysis more.

If you find yourself struggling with starting, I also look start with organising quotes and techniques I like under my chosen themes. You want to have a variety of quotes and techniques (so not just using tone or metaphor for every example you have) and demonstrate their relevance to supporting your overall point about why the texts have explored the collective human experience through individual stories. Knowing your examples is half of the work done and it should get the ball rolling for you with writing the rest of the essay!

You might also find it beneficial to examine the question on its own and formulate your thesis (judgement) first on the question and then start thinking about what quotes and techniques to use as evidence of your view. I usually find this the hardest sentence to write so once it's out of the way, you have a reference point to keep coming back to in order to write the rest of the response (since it is essentially aiming to prove the accuracy of your perspective). Hope that helps but if you have any follow up questions, feel free to ask below!

Angelina  ;D
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helpmeimstruggling

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Re: Stuck on Human Experiences Essay
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2020, 01:54:51 pm »
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Hey, helpmeimstruggling!

Welcome to the forums  :D Firstly, love that you've chosen those poems! I think they pair quite nicely together as well and as you've identified, they share common themes. One thing I might suggest is strengthening the last theme a little more so it's clearer what your argument will be. Perhaps something like exploring the theme of connection, belonging or human relationships (all are in a similar vein but you can decide which one feels more appropriate for what you wish to argue in your essay!) could narrow it down and offer you a way to ground your analysis more.

If you find yourself struggling with starting, I also look start with organising quotes and techniques I like under my chosen themes. You want to have a variety of quotes and techniques (so not just using tone or metaphor for every example you have) and demonstrate their relevance to supporting your overall point about why the texts have explored the collective human experience through individual stories. Knowing your examples is half of the work done and it should get the ball rolling for you with writing the rest of the essay!

You might also find it beneficial to examine the question on its own and formulate your thesis (judgement) first on the question and then start thinking about what quotes and techniques to use as evidence of your view. I usually find this the hardest sentence to write so once it's out of the way, you have a reference point to keep coming back to in order to write the rest of the response (since it is essentially aiming to prove the accuracy of your perspective). Hope that helps but if you have any follow up questions, feel free to ask below!

Angelina  ;D

Hey,

Thanks for reaching out - I really appreciate it.

So far my thesis is "Sharing of our individual stories of emotional turmoil reveal the collective commonalities amongst society, forcing us to reconsider the struggles of the overall human experience.", however as I read over my first body paragraph I fear that my argument is only there at the beginning and end - not so much throughout.

Do you have any suggestions for improving/fixing that?

Thanks again
« Last Edit: December 12, 2020, 03:04:54 am by helpmeimstruggling »