English Extension 2 Question Thread

[theyam]

Hi! I was just wondering what the best way to investigate into form is. I'm doing a short story but don't know what materials to start with. I have a concept in mind for my story but I don't know how to work on it from there. Do you have any advice/ reading material you could suggest? Thank you so much! XOXO

Hi~
My teacher gave me this handout called:
'The Shapes of Fiction' from Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern
W.W. Norton and Company
New York & London: 2000

It was quite helpful for me personally even though I'm not even writing a short story (I'm analysing a novel and film) It goes through form techniques that can be applied to your own writing and in my opinion provides some pretty eye opening tips.
Good Luck~

[elysepopplewell]

Hi! I was just wondering what the best way to investigate into form is. I'm doing a short story but don't know what materials to start with. I have a concept in mind for my story but I don't know how to work on it from there. Do you have any advice/ reading material you could suggest? Thank you so much! XOXO

Hi! I used and highly recommend John Marsden's Everything I know about Writing. I also referenced other short stories that I thoroughly admire. I also read and referenced Edgar Allan Poe's Philosophy of Composition (essay) which is quite old school but it had a few things to mention. I think George Orwell texts like Politics and the English Language and Why I write might also be useful, depending on your angle!

[icedragon66]

I know that students don't get the raw marks for their major work, but does our school get them?

[mxrylyn]

Would it be too much to have major work taking place over 1.2 days with a large amount of flashbacks and also short anecdotes about the protagonist between the chapters?

[TheFreeMarketeer]

Would it be too much to have major work taking place over 1.2 days with a large amount of flashbacks and also short anecdotes about the protagonist between the chapters?

The events in the Catcher in the Rye take place over a course of three days, so this definitely could work.

Thing is, 1.2 days is a very specific number. If you're comfortable with sharing a little more about your concept, plot and so on, maybe it might be easier to judge.

[aalyssa]

Are viva voces presented like a speech??? I have mine on Monday and I'm not too sure as to how I should go about presenting it.

[elysepopplewell]

Would it be too much to have major work taking place over 1.2 days with a large amount of flashbacks and also short anecdotes about the protagonist between the chapters?

Definitely can work

Are viva voces presented like a speech??? I have mine on Monday and I'm not too sure as to how I should go about presenting it.

I guess you could say they are like a speech, but they definitely aren't a speech. Think of it more as an open dialogue, a conversation. You have the ability to direct the viva voce to a certain extent. In my E2 viva, my teacher started with an opening question, and I responded by explaining how I've explored whatever she mentioned in my major work, and then I would make sure I was directing it in a way that I finished the response angling at a point she wanted to talk about. But for the most part, it was pretty much she asks, I respond, she asks, I respond.

[justwannawish]

Hi,

I have my report due sometime after the Easter break and one of the guidelines we need to answer is why we choose our title. While I finished a rough draft of my work, I have no clue what my title should be. Any ideas on how anyone else came with their own?

[elysepopplewell]

Hi,

I have my report due sometime after the Easter break and one of the guidelines we need to answer is why we choose our title. While I finished a rough draft of my work, I have no clue what my title should be. Any ideas on how anyone else came with their own?

Hey!

I wonder if your teacher would accept that you haven't got a title yet? I think mine would have because with good reasoning, I was still changing direction of my piece and wasn't ready to title.

If not, perhaps this is a good prompt to begin thinking about your title? I thought of my favourite book or story titles and tried to work out what I liked in them. As it turns out, there wasn't really a common denominator. I ended up going for alliteration with layering of meaning. But I went through a lot of titles before I got there!

[theyam]

Hi,

I have my report due sometime after the Easter break and one of the guidelines we need to answer is why we choose our title. While I finished a rough draft of my work, I have no clue what my title should be. Any ideas on how anyone else came with their own?

Hello,

I honestly just went through goodreads for inspiration. They have endless pages of quotes written by very good writers. Hope it helps, also do you have any idea on how to structure your report? Because I don't.

From theyam

[NowYouTseMe]

Hello,

I honestly just went through goodreads for inspiration. They have endless pages of quotes written by very good writers. Hope it helps, also do you have any idea on how to structure your report? Because I don't.

From theyam

Hey,
A mate of mine who did a critical response of 4 films took a quote from one of them and re-appropriated it as his title, so perhaps you could use a research text quote as a title too. Also, attached to my post is a document my teacher created to help us structure our report which was due last term.

Hope that helps

[theyam]

Hey,
A mate of mine who did a critical response of 4 films took a quote from one of them and re-appropriated it as his title, so perhaps you could use a research text quote as a title too. Also, attached to my post is a document my teacher created to help us structure our report which was due last term.

Hope that helps

Hey~~

Thank you so much man!

Good luck with yours

[NowYouTseMe]

i'll report back after I get it back on Tuesday then ahahah

[mxrylyn]

Hello, I have just finished my major work Draft.

I'm doing a short story but I noticed that my major work is made up of 15 small chapters and one big one. I was wondering if small chapters like that are looked down upon when marking.🙂

[elysepopplewell]

Hello, I have just finished my major work Draft.

I'm doing a short story but I noticed that my major work is made up of 15 small chapters and one big one. I was wondering if small chapters like that are looked down upon when marking.🙂

Nothing is looked down upon if it has creative merit! So if it propels your story in a way it couldn't otherwise, or has sectioning significance, then it's definitely going to be a-okay!