Study technique for discovery essay

[dcesaona]

How do you study for the AOS discovery essay? I have absolutely no idea how to go about it. Do you memorise a generic essay orrrrrr?

[owidjaja]

How is everyone studying for the AOS discovery essay? I have absolutely no idea how to go about it. Is anyone memorising a generic essay orrrrrr?

Hey there,
You should never memorise a generic essay- regurgitation never works because then it sounds like you're answering a different question rather than what the question is asking. Plus, the whole point of the HSC is for you to think, not simply regurgitate a prepared response.

What you should be doing is going through the rubric and make sure your thesis is malleable enough to fit a variety of questions. Of course, you'll need to know a handful of quotes and how those quotes relate to your thesis. If you know your thesis well enough, you should be able to apply it to the question on the day.

Hope this helps!

[fantasticbeasts3]

Hi!

It really depends. Do you usually memorise a generic essay, or do you like to have concepts/quotes memorised? Personally, I memorised a thesis statement and discovery concepts and quotes because I found it easier to adapt to an essay question like that.

Drawing up a table might help :-) Have different parts of the rubric in one column, and quotes from your prescribed and related in other columns? Doing a ton of past papers can also be a good idea, or maybe just essay plans, as you can get used to different questions that can be asked. :-)

Hope this helps!

[dcesaona]

Hi!

It really depends. Do you usually memorise a generic essay, or do you like to have concepts/quotes memorised? Personally, I memorised a thesis statement and discovery concepts and quotes because I found it easier to adapt to an essay question like that.

Drawing up a table might help :-) Have different parts of the rubric in one column, and quotes from your prescribed and related in other columns? Doing a ton of past papers can also be a good idea, or maybe just essay plans, as you can get used to different questions that can be asked. :-)

Hope this helps!

Let me know if there are any holes in the way I'm planning on studying! (I realise that there is no right or wrong way of studying but I would like opinions nonetheless  ) Ok so prior to this conversation, I had no clue what a thesis statement was, but now I know. So:
- I'm going to write a thesis statement and memorise it
- Memorise my scene analysis' of Life of Pi (my prescribed text) in the way I would write it in an exam - but in the exam, if I choose on using that scene, then obviously I will adapt the ideas in there to suit the question

I can't really go into an exam with just my quotes, techniques, examples etc memorised because then I spend too long perfecting my paragraphs and making sure they're cohesive and structured so it's easier if that's already established.

[fantasticbeasts3]

Let me know if there are any holes in the way I'm planning on studying! (I realise that there is no right or wrong way of studying but I would like opinions nonetheless  ) Ok so prior to this conversation, I had no clue what a thesis statement was, but now I know. So:
- I'm going to write a thesis statement and memorise it
- Memorise my scene analysis' of Life of Pi (my prescribed text) in the way I would write it in an exam - but in the exam, if I choose on using that scene, then obviously I will adapt the ideas in there to suit the question

I can't really go into an exam with just my quotes, techniques, examples etc memorised because then I spend too long perfecting my paragraphs and making sure they're cohesive and structured so it's easier if that's already established.

That sounds good! Just remember that discovery essays are concept-based, rather than text based :-)