English: Discussion, Questions & Potential Solutions

[clarke54321]

Ok so, i did the english exam today and in section C i referred to the Calmer Coffee employee as Marcel when in fact it was the guy with the man bun, however i did only mention his name once. Will i lose marks from doing this? Pls help i am currently stressing over it. TYIA

Examiners won't care about minor discrepancies like this. They understand the high-pressure situation you are in, and that little errors like this can occur. Above all, they are only interested in the quality of your analysis. So don't stress!

[lucky88]

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/it-was-weird-vce-exam-sitters-asked-to-analyse-rant-about-hipster-cafe-20181031-p50d4h.html

[joe444]

It’s really interesting to see VCAA move away from some of the conventions they’ve had over the past few years. There were no character based prompts for Medea and no second text for section c, only a single one.

Interesting stuff, wonder if this will be the trend going on. Maybe they realised having multiple texts led to a lot of kids comparing whereas this was not the heart of the task?

Assuming I am talking teacher-to-teacher here; If I've learned anything (the hard way), it's:
1) Assume nothing.  The exam had a single Section C text from 2008 to 2013.  So naturally I told my class that the trend was set, and then it went to four years of comparative.  Sooner or later they were going to go back to single, especially with some schools caring TOO much about comparing, which not even a criterion of the task. I tutor as well as teach, and some schools have seriously lost the plot on this, to their students' detriment.
2) The longer a text is on the list, the more likely there will be questions that are not about protagonists, sympathy for them or the most obvious major themes.  Medea and Burial Rites were in their last years.  I was predicting a question about Toti (correct) but also the Chorus (incorrect).  Compare that with a text like Rear Window. There was always going to be a question about Jeffries and how we judge people this year, but sooner or later there will be questions about Lisa and the role of women.

[joe444]

Victorian Association for the Teaching of English president Emily Frawley said Section C did not offer students scope for much more than a tokenistic engagement with the world around them.

While it was accessible to all students, it offered little depth for sophisticated, high level responses, she said.

This actually shows why students and schools need to not pay too much attention to VATE.  As a teacher and former examiner, I thought this paper was a really fair task.  The point of the task is to analyse the language, not provide a social commentary.  There was plenty to analyse in this paper.  I'm not going to predict the assessment this year, but there was quite a lot for the kids to deal with, especially in an unseen text under exam stress and a limited time to write.

[joe444]

I’m sure someone will, if no one has by the time I get home I will upload it.

That would be great. I don't seem able to source it all.

[Srd2000]

Anyone notice how the old lady in front of Kens Butcher helped amplify the effect of heritage and tradition? I know its minor but who knows ;-;

Yeah, me too bro . I also mentioned how everyone was walking or skateboarding, emphasising the slow, tranquil life in Benmore Village!

[ardria]

Victorian Association for the Teaching of English president Emily Frawley said Section C did not offer students scope for much more than a tokenistic engagement with the world around them.

While it was accessible to all students, it offered little depth for sophisticated, high level responses, she said.

This actually shows why students and schools need to not pay too much attention to VATE.  As a teacher and former examiner, I thought this paper was a really fair task.  The point of the task is to analyse the language, not provide a social commentary.  There was plenty to analyse in this paper.  I'm not going to predict the assessment this year, but there was quite a lot for the kids to deal with, especially in an unseen text under exam stress and a limited time to write.

When I read that article, I was surprised that she would expect us to tie in the wider social issue (for this year, traditionalism vs modernity?) given the time limit. I suppose Emily's response would be "there are students who can do it though". But do they do it at the expense of their other sections? I don't know, this seems like such an unrealistic expectation, even for a top score.

[clarke54321]

That would be great. I don't seem able to source it all.

I second this!

[Lear]

That would be great. I don't seem able to source it all.

I have already PM’d you and will PM Clark right now with it

[Paige01]

those Ransom and Invictus prompts were kinda dissappointing

agreed! were everything i hoped not to get! went with first prompt, wrote about 4 pages which is over 1000 words for me, but felt like i just kinda rambled in my panic and didn't say anything very meaningful.

i ran out of time with my language analysis... rushed through my last paragraph and conclusion, but was cut off mid-sentence at the very end. I only touched briefly on the cartoon and focused more on the portrayal of irony in the cafe being called 'Calmer Coffee' when it looked anything but calm, rather than the more technical stuff the rest of you are talking about. Will this affect my mark much? i did mention all the images used so maybe that will help?

[kevzorz_]

Can you PM me too please

[bingoman2000]

Can you PM me as well? Thanks

[Lear]

The misquote in the second Tracks/Into the Wild prompt tho

Misquote how?

[jarrahs]

Misquote how?

Wait I was wrong lol

[a212345]

How many people did Extinction?