VCE English Question Thread

[Swagadaktal]

One of the constant warnings is to avoid coming in with a prepared piece. It depends how malleable they are, but you really need to be able to show that you've considered the prompt.

Yeah I was intending to write a piece which covers multiple issues - so I have my general frame work there but I won't come in prepared with a line by line recital of my prepared piece - rather I have the structure of my whole piece pre planned, and maybe my title + intro.

When you say the word "considered" - how much discussion do we have to have of the prompt? I'm still uncertain on how much I have to relate my piece to the prompt and to the texts - do I need to show a sophisticated understanding of the text? Like I can extract ideas and include them in my piece but I'm not dealing with the different layers of conflict that closely...

[TheLlama]

When you say the word "considered" - how much discussion do we have to have of the prompt? I'm still uncertain on how much I have to relate my piece to the prompt and to the texts - do I need to show a sophisticated understanding of the text? Like I can extract ideas and include them in my piece but I'm not dealing with the different layers of conflict that closely...

Yes! If you haven't already, make sure you look at the exam criteria on the VCAA website.
Basically, the prompt is there for a reason. If it wasn't, you could come in and write any response. You need to be relevant to it and ideally show that you recognise some of the complex ideas it contains. Your response has to relate to it rather than avoid it. By dealing with the different layers of conflict - by exploring the context and text in light of the prompt - you'll do better. The stuff it sounds like you're not planning to do is probably what you should be doing! 

[kimmytaaa]

Cater to your teacher for SACs; cater to the examiners in the exam.

If your teacher is open to different approaches and is willing to be flexible, then you might be okay. Otherwise, it's best that you learn to modify your writing style and focus so you can get decent SAC marks.

E.g. if your teacher wants you to discuss whether or not techniques are persuasive in L.A. (which you're not meant to do,) just do it for your SAC anyway. Then, when you get to the exam, you can just fulfil the task criteria and ditch the evaluation.

You can have multiple sentences, especially if you're unpacking an idea that's especially complex. However, if you find yourself always needing 2-4 sentences at the start of your paragraphs, perhaps consider making your expression a bit more concise. It's possible your writing is just a little convoluted, but you're absolutely allowed to spend a little longer explaining your points before you start delving into your examples.

One thing I'd challenge here: it's a much safer idea to have various responses (or even better, bits and pieces of responses) which is then adapted and reassembled based on the prompt vs. having a 'swiss cheese' piece that tries to cater to every possible prompt by switching a few words or examples around. I definitely agree with your point that students can't be expected to come into the exam with their brains as blank slates and just have all these spontaneous epiphanies about the nature of conflict, but I think those who have multiple options up their sleeve are in a better position than those who invest all their hopes in one "malleable" piece. There are students who get lucky are able to make this work, but they're few and far between.

Yes, you could conceivably pick out ~10 prompts at random and have them touch on a similar thematic concern (e.g. 'the way people respond to conflict tells us something about our values' is a very common one) and maybe you'll end up with an exam prompt that relates to this same idea. But if you want to feel prepared for Context, you're going to need to actually prepare for a whole host of potential prompts.

No one expected that hideous 'conflicts of conscience' prompt in my year level, and if all you'd been preparing for were the ideas from past years' exams and practice prompts that were available at the time...
(i.e. 2008: extraordinary responses from ordinary people
2009: victims show us what's important
2010: remaining a bystander is difficult
2011: compromise is important
2012: conflict changes our priorities)
...then you'd be left high and dry trying to cobble together a response to the core of the 2013 prompt.

I tend to be an advocate for what I call 'frameworks' that you can mould and reconfigure to suit material, as opposed to memorised responses. I know a lot of teachers/ tutors/ students who'd disagree with me here (and tbh, I'm eagerly awaiting 2017 when we don't have to worry about this awful AOS anymore ) but if you are wanting to commit to a memorised piece, just be aware of the risks.

Thankyou Lauren

[HayleyGrimshaw]

Hello..... i am writing a creative piece at the moment about encountering conflict in The Rugmaker..... and i don't know what to do for it any ideas??

[literally lauren]

Hello..... i am writing a creative piece at the moment about encountering conflict in The Rugmaker..... and i don't know what to do for it any ideas??

1. Find a/some conflict(s) in Rugmaker.
2. Think about what Mazari is saying about this conflict.
3. Come up with a contention statement that augments/ challenges this idea.
4. Devise a creative format that demonstrates your contention
5. Embed this creative piece with structural features and/or references to Rugmaker.

For example:
1. the internal conflict Najaf had to deal with even after leaving Afghanistan
2. Mazari suggests that even after a conflict is resolved/ concluded, its effects can still have a profound impact on the individuals involved.
3. Our own actions in times of conflict can affect us just as much as the events and circumstances around us.
4. Short story about a person who committed atrocities in the Middle East in order to survive, and is haunted by what they did.
5. Including references to the text (e.g. perhaps your protagonist could be one of the men responsible for torturing Najaf, but was only following orders and feared for his own safety) and modifying certain quotes (e.g."All I wanted to do was to stand up on the soil of a land where rockets did not land on my house in the middle of the night'" --> "All I wanted to do was to stand up on the soil of a land where I did not have to fire rockets and people's houses in the middle of the night.")

This'll also depend on what sort of creative piece you intend to write. The above outline would be for a kind of POV narrative/ short story, but if you wanted to do a feature article or some letter writing, you could do that as well. I'd also recommend getting your teacher's input since creative writing is really subjective, so checking to see what they're expecting of you would be a good place to start if you're really lost

[Callum@1373]

We're studying the 60 minutes Sally faulkner child abduction case, what's a good word I can use in my essays that describes journalists when they are believed to only be pursuing a story for the financial benefit and are not taking morals into account?

[literally lauren]

We're studying the 60 minutes Sally faulkner child abduction case, what's a good word I can use in my essays that describes journalists when they are believed to only be pursuing a story for the financial benefit and are not taking morals into account?

Words for people who disregard morals and are only in it for the money:
- avaricious
- mercenary
- amoral/ immoral
- rapacious
- unscrupulous
- iniquitous (might be a bit strong )
- reprobate
- shameless

Choose whatever suits your writing voice You may also find it worthwhile to spell out the fact that these people pursued their own selfish ends at the expense of the greater moral good or w/e if that's a central point in your discussion. Having a neat word to sum it up is good, but you might need to flesh this idea out a bit too.

[IDK]

Hey Lauren, given the use of passive voice in vce is discouraged by some, perhaps disliked by many, what would you say is a good balance between active and passive or should it depend solely on what I feel works for me? I feel that my writing looks much neater using passive.

[kimmytaaa]

Hi
I need a bit of clarification here, so my teacher said that at my school we don't do comparing language analysis for both sacs and exams so does that mean for my final exams do I write separate pieces of the language analysis?

[Beast10]

Hi,
Does anyone know which stories from The Lot: in words talk about non-conformity?
Also does anyone know how to start an essay about Michael Leunig being a non-conformist?
Thanks!
 

[Beast10]

Hi
I need a bit of clarification here, so my teacher said that at my school we don't do comparing language analysis for both sacs and exams so does that mean for my final exams do I write separate pieces of the language analysis?

The final exam for this year is gonna be just text responses so if you are in year 12, your final exam will only consist of text responses (3) and language analysis will only be assessed via sacs.

[TheLlama]

The final exam for this year is gonna be just text responses so if you are in year 12, your final exam will only consist of text responses (3) and language analysis will only be assessed via sacs.

The final exam this year will be based on the same structure as last year's, meaning that you will do a text response, a contexts piece and a language analysis.
Not sure where you're getting your information o.O

[Beast10]

The final exam this year will be based on the same structure as last year's, meaning that you will do a text response, a contexts piece and a language analysis.
Not sure where you're getting your information o.O

Didn't the study design change? that's what the teachers from our school told us... 

[literally lauren]

Hey Lauren, given the use of passive voice in vce is discouraged by some, perhaps disliked by many, what would you say is a good balance between active and passive or should it depend solely on what I feel works for me? I feel that my writing looks much neater using passive.

I'm yet to hear a good argument for why the active voice is always inherently better

In some circumstances (esp. for Language Analysis and to some extent Text Response) when you're trying to discuss what the author is doing, it often makes more sense to say 'The author verbs this idea' than 'this idea is verbed by the author,' but sentence variation is important, so I don't really get why some teachers say the passive voice is never justifiable.

Try not to 'rely' on it too much, but in circumstances where the passive voice seems more natural or efficient, I'd say just go for it.

Hi
I need a bit of clarification here, so my teacher said that at my school we don't do comparing language analysis for both sacs and exams so does that mean for my final exams do I write separate pieces of the language analysis?

I'm not sure what your teacher is trying to say, but you will do one Language Analysis SAC in semester 1 (for Unit 3,) and one in the exam. They'll probably both be comparative, but that will depend on your school and what the examiners end up writing for the end of the year.
What do you mean by writing 'separate pieces of the language analysis?' As in, you write two separate essays for the different written material? Because you'd definitely only need to write a single piece

The final exam for this year is gonna be just text responses so if you are in year 12, your final exam will only consist of text responses (3) and language analysis will only be assessed via sacs.

There was a study design change, but it won't affect the current Year 12s as it's coming into effect for next year's (2017) exam. But that exam doesn't consist of three Text Response tasks either, so I have no idea what your teacher would be referring to.
Full explanation here. And if you want to know what this year's exam will look at, just check out the 2015 version as it'll essentially be the same, albeit with a few new texts replacing old ones.

My guess is that your teacher was talking about the fact that the new SD for next year will contain one Text Response task, and one Comparative Task (kind of like T.R. but with two texts) ... and they just added those up to three Text Response tasks for some reason? Though Language Analysis is definitely still a part of the course, so idk. Maybe talk to your teacher; they're certainly screwing you over if you're in Year 12 and they're telling you to only prepare for a triple Text Response exam   

[kimmytaaa]

What my teacher meant is that we are writing 2 separate pieces of the language analysis instead of one piece altogether. So I'm a bit confused with that.