ATAR Notes: Forum
National Education => Admissions tests => Selective Schools Admissions Tests => Topic started by: xinkaihuang97 on April 16, 2011, 01:50:23 pm
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Given you 4 pics, you are to construct an 500 word essay in 15 mins,how? and how to write an argument essay in 15 mins?
somebody plz give me some advice, thx! :D
It's the criteria for the MHS entrance examination
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Nobody can tell you how to write a creative piece, that's sort of the point of the exercise.
As for the analytical, just write faster and cut out body paragraphs.
What are you doing if it's only 15 minutes?
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Practice like 20
also from memory, in the creative one, write like anything stupid, like a 5-year old
i still remember i wrote like a bout birds drag racing, bird style, and one falls and has to fight off a cat, and it finds a magic fruit to give him super strength, which then allows him to defeat the cat and go back to his family. and i got the second highest for that
can't comment on the image thing, they didnt have it in my year, but im fairly sure that they only have to be mentioned/used, not based around
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In general, its all about PRACTICE!
What are you doing if it's only 15 minutes?
MHS/Mac.Rob/Cory/Nossal entrance exam
Nobody can tell you how to write a creative piece, that's sort of the point of the exercise.
+1
A basic analytical approach is as follows (the one I used for yr7 selective/scholarship prep):
Intro (3 lines)
What is the issue?
Where is the problem? How is it a problem?
Why is there a need to fix it (your contention should come in here)? How do you approach the issue (present both sides if it asks you to; don't if it doesn't though)?
Conclusion (2-3 lines)
^Thats fairly basic, but it always gets the job done for these exams :)
Given you 4 pics, you are to construct an 500 word essay in 15 mins,how? and how to write an argument essay in 15 mins?
somebody plz give me some advice, thx! :D
With the pictures, I am pretty sure you don't have to use all of them. Again though, its all about practice and there are infinite ways to write a creative response successfully. My way of practicing was to just take pictures and try and create links between them. Example from the top of my head:
(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSVaWfx9xjJ1sCBJHLQRuovGZ-fMnYl_r0HJ2BQkztciac4czzU6w) (http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmPZ1oyzsgXqgadVpJsnUjmxJOhakcf2XM1OkIPN4LX8uwlHFC)
(http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZRJX5pRLlys4yql-u_gbBhbX7v4vQbCeOKJnyA6DoLj0ht46r) (http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSgiWaDRgs6iduKPUhmJ4UpTAmIAjxQYKw4GU24psJzjnY7DDXo)
A link between these could be:
A firefighter who is driving in a city (coming back from a job in his firetruck), stops at a STOP sign, sees someone else being mauled by a dog. Uses the fire hydrant (and his own firefighting hose) to get rid of the dog and save the person. The end.
^Okay, thats a pretty lame and basic example skeleton of a story. But in the exam, they are not expecting a Dan Brown novel in 15 mins. Sometimes its good to keep things simple. After a while practice, you'll be able to string a basic story together from any 3 or 4 pics.
Worst ending though, for any essay, is to say "and he woke up, and it was all just a dream". That's a recipe for failure...
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analysis and evaluation
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I'll give you a trick, if all things come to worst. Worst Case Scenario.
Creative,
Say, your a painter, and you drew these 3 images. Then make it mean metaphorical of something.
Based on Rohitpi's images, you can make something like.
I drew a stop sign. It was a sign that I would remember forever in my childhood. It was a sign, that I knew, I had to draw. That sign, that made me to never stop again.
It was a poor summer day, as the clouds pervaded the skies and the moon eclipsed, illuminating, giving semblance to a dulled city. It was on this very day, that I saw the stop sign. That stop sign, was adjacent to a water pump. I knew it meant something. I knew this was my awakening call. My call to justice, my call to be part of the wolf pack. The pack of all packs. The Pack of wolves. On that very day, I would be called the Wolf Man.
:D Enjoy
PS: Something that I wanted to write cause Rohitpi's images looked lulzy. I repeat, DO NOT EMULATE. LoL , but take the painters idea, who draws 3 images. if your in a tight situation, seriously.
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I'll give you a trick, if all things come to worst. Worst Case Scenario.
Creative,
Say, your a painter, and you drew these 3 images. Then make it mean metaphorical of something.
Based on Rohitpi's images, you can make something like.
;D Thats nearly as bad as the ending "and it was all a dream". But if you were in a crisis, it wouldn't be too bad an idea to subtly take that approach, its pretty original.
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A tip would be to try to sound deep, whether it really is or not is irrelevant, but making your creative piece sound deep makes it stand out from the crowd, and more often than not in a good way. Try to maintain some sort of storyline to your story, but seriously in 15 mins, having a fully fledged story is perhaps implausible. Pick one scene (or two if you can fit it) and do a sort of internal monologue or profound spiel on it. Like Water said, make the images symbolize something, and it doesn't really matter if it's a bit far-fetched, as long as it carves out a good impression of your essay. To complement your 'spiel', add a lot of nifty details and describe them. If you're walking along a street in a cold winter day, then do some sort of specified description on the wind or how your cloak is billowing or something. I probably didn't put it properly and it probably doesn't fit your writing style, but it eliminates the need for any real extensive thinking, whilst still maintaining a sort of 'wow factor' to your piece.
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Question for those who got MHS, the people who say, to write 1 page , for short story/ persuasive , in 15minutes. Are you for real? Seems unrealistic to me.
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I don't think a page is an extremely unrealistic expectation in 15 minutes. Might be tough but I don't think it's an extreme
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Question for those who got MHS, the people who say, to write 1 page , for short story/ persuasive , in 15minutes. Are you for real? Seems unrealistic to me.
I don't go to MHS, but I sat the exam.
It is for real :O But it isn't as hardcore as some people may think. I'm dumb and managed to get superiors in both writing sections.
As for contributing to this thread... Just listen to what Brightsky said :D He hit the nail right on the head.
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i'm getting a tutor for writing. hope this is useful. heeheee
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Rohitpi and Water, you two give the best tips in the world. You guys are super smart (: Maybe I could use these in 2 weeks. (:
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But, OP, if you are wanting to write up an analytical essay,, following a few formulas. My teacher taught me these for English and they have made essay writing a bit more easier.
For the introduction, use REAL.
R standing for the Restatement of the Thesis (Topic)
E standing for Elaborations
A standing for Argue,
L stands for Linking Sentence.
Then for your body, using the TEEL formula.
T for Topic Sentence. Bring out the main point of the argument.
E is for Elaboration/Explain your argument.
E is for Evidence, provide sources that can lead up/help your argument.
L for Linking Sentence, How it applies to your Thesis/Topic.
Hope it helps.
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But, OP, if you are wanting to write up an analytical essay,, following a few formulas. My teacher taught me these for English and they have made essay writing a bit more easier.
For the introduction, use REAL.
R standing for the Restatement of the Thesis (Topic)
E standing for Elaborations
A standing for Argue,
L stands for Linking Sentence.
Then for your body, using the TEEL formula.
T for Topic Sentence. Bring out the main point of the argument.
E is for Elaboration/Explain your argument.
E is for Evidence, provide sources that can lead up/help your argument.
L for Linking Sentence, How it applies to your Thesis/Topic.
Hope it helps.
You should know that the MHS exam was a while ago now :P
How did you go mate?
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But, OP, if you are wanting to write up an analytical essay,, following a few formulas. My teacher taught me these for English and they have made essay writing a bit more easier.
For the introduction, use REAL.
R standing for the Restatement of the Thesis (Topic)
E standing for Elaborations
A standing for Argue,
L stands for Linking Sentence.
Then for your body, using the TEEL formula.
T for Topic Sentence. Bring out the main point of the argument.
E is for Elaboration/Explain your argument.
E is for Evidence, provide sources that can lead up/help your argument.
L for Linking Sentence, How it applies to your Thesis/Topic.
Hope it helps.
You should know that the MHS exam was a while ago now :P
How did you go mate?
Hey, I haven't quite done it yet. Its in 2 weeks for the year 10 examinations. (: So I still have some times left to do it.