VCE English Question Thread

[Guideme]

In class my teacher has identified all of the foreshadowing and ironies but i dont know how to incorporate them in my essay. I feel like i if i incorporate them in my essay it will go off topic .
So can anyone provide me a sample sentence with irony and perhaps any tips to incorporate irony and foreshadowing in my analysis to prevent myself from going off-topic

Thank you in advance !

[clarke54321]

In class my teacher has identified all of the foreshadowing and ironies but i dont know how to incorporate them in my essay. I feel like i if i incorporate them in my essay it will go off topic .
So can anyone provide me a sample sentence with irony and perhaps any tips to incorporate irony and foreshadowing in my analysis to prevent myself from going off-topic

Thank you in advance !

Hello!

This question came up recently in the forums, but I can't seem to find it. Nevertheless, here is an example of irony used in the context of Medea:

Quite literally, Jason seeks to mute and thereby subjugate the self-autonomy of all women, who are palpably defined and restrained by their biological physicality. Hence, Jason’s socially ironic assessment that Medea has ‘known justice’ in Hellas, impels audiences to challenge the truth of this assertion.


As you can see from above, a reference to irony is used for the purpose of illuminating something. In this case, we are trying to foreground the extent of Jason's insincerity. He claims that Medea has known justice, yet negates this in nearly all of his other actions. This is by no means detracting from my argument, but adding to it (here it concerns the double standards existent in Athenian society).

Please feel free to clarify if you are still doubtful 

[Guideme]

Hi,
When i write essays, my teacher always gives me feedback "try to be more concise and not to be too wordy", but i am not sure how to become more concise in my writing and reduce the wordiness. So can anyone give me any advice.

Thank You in advance

[Sine]

Hi,
When i write essays, my teacher always gives me feedback "try to be more concise and not to be too wordy", but i am not sure how to become more concise in my writing and reduce the wordiness. So can anyone give me any advice.

Thank You in advance

basically removing anything that is not 100% necessary (or efficient) for the purpose of the essay. Try to read over your past essays and look for any areas where you may have repeated something, used lengthy sentences to explain something you could've said in fewer words, any fluff etc

[sophiayim]

Hi there, i was just curious as to how you would compare two articles and one visual in a block method for a comparative language analysis? Thank you

[clarke54321]

Hi there, i was just curious as to how you would compare two articles and one visual in a block method for a comparative language analysis? Thank you

Hello,

If you have articles of equivalent size, you may choose to set out your essay in the following way:

BP1- Article 1
BP2- Article 1
BP3- Article 2 (+linking topic sentence)
BP4- Article 2 (+linking topic sentence)

If one article is greater than the other, it could follow this pattern:

BP 1- Article 1
BP 2- Article 1
BP 3- Article 1
BP 4- Article 2 (+linking topic sentence)

In terms of the visual, if it is complimenting one article in particular, then link it to a relevant body paragraph (one relating to that specific article). However, if the visual is on its own (like in the 2016 VCAA paper), then you could link it to an article which shares a similar contention. For the latter option it is ultimately writer's choice.

All the best

[PhoenixxFire]

How specific does our audience need to be for argument analysis? Like is it okay to say 'people interested in X issue' or is that too generic. I never quite know how to say who the audience is. Sometimes I can identify the audience if it's obvious like footy fans or parents but if its just like an article on the environment in a widely read newspaper then can I just say that the audience is people who care about the environment or is that too broad?

[sdfg]

How specific does our audience need to be for argument analysis? Like is it okay to say 'people interested in X issue' or is that too generic. I never quite know how to say who the audience is. Sometimes I can identify the audience if it's obvious like footy fans or parents but if its just like an article on the environment in a widely read newspaper then can I just say that the audience is people who care about the environment or is that too broad?

Nope, people interested in X issue is too general. Rarely ever do authors target an audience that broad. What is their stance, for or against? Identifying the author's intent should also help. Also, do remember that there could be more than one 'target audience', and if the author's well known, that could be used to gauge what their target audience is.

[clarke54321]

How specific does our audience need to be for argument analysis? Like is it okay to say 'people interested in X issue' or is that too generic. I never quite know how to say who the audience is. Sometimes I can identify the audience if it's obvious like footy fans or parents but if its just like an article on the environment in a widely read newspaper then can I just say that the audience is people who care about the environment or is that too broad?

Reference to audience doesn't need to be overly specific. It can most definitely be, 'people who care about the environment.' Just ensure that any kind of speculation made regarding audience is marked with tentative language. That is, always try and insert the word, likely, before assumptions. We cannot know for sure exactly who will be reading article X. Obviously as you progress through your analysis, you can continue to draw implications between the language and the audience used.

Hopefully this helps

[pha0015]

For language analysis, my teacher told us to focus our topic sentences on the intended effect on the audience, rather than an argument, as it'd help centre our piece towards the effect on the audience rather than recounting the article. Would you recommend using this formula, even though I don't think I have much of a problem with retelling the article? Would high scoring students use this formula?

[Lear]

For language analysis, my teacher told us to focus our topic sentences on the intended effect on the audience, rather than an argument, as it'd help centre our piece towards the effect on the audience rather than recounting the article. Would you recommend using this formula, even though I don't think I have much of a problem with retelling the article? Would high scoring students use this formula?

Our teachers told us that it is better to begin paragraphs with identifying arguments as it shows an understanding of the arguments presented by the author. The change in study design has shifted the focus from just language to arguments. I think it might be a good idea to start with something like ‘in order to engender a sense of.... the author posits that...’ doing both.


This only my understanding and might not be accurate.

[pha0015]

Our teachers told us that it is better to begin paragraphs with identifying arguments as it shows an understanding of the arguments presented by the author. The change in study design has shifted the focus from just language to arguments. I think it might be a good idea to start with something like ‘in order to engender a sense of.... the author posits that...’ doing both.


This only my understanding and might not be accurate.

Yes, I usually do something along the lines of what you said, just not as sophisticated. Thanks

[clarke54321]

For language analysis, my teacher told us to focus our topic sentences on the intended effect on the audience, rather than an argument, as it'd help centre our piece towards the effect on the audience rather than recounting the article. Would you recommend using this formula, even though I don't think I have much of a problem with retelling the article? Would high scoring students use this formula?

As Lear suggested, it is much more intuitive to frame your paragraph around a central argument. While the main purpose of argument analysis is to analyse the intended effect on the audience, students must first be aware of the argument (and language choices used to articulate this argument) that seeks to kindle a reaction in audiences. A nice method to follow is this:

Topic Sentence- What is the main argument? (You may decide to couple this with an accompanying technique, which bolsters the argument)
Next Sentence- Evidence (how this language is working to achieve an intended audience effect)
Sentences to follow- Repeat
Linking Sentence- What is the relevance of this argument in relation to the contention?

So ultimately, the audience effect is your 'homing point.' Try and always link your analysis to this, but frame your paragraph around the development of the argument itself.

[Lear]

Not sure if the answers to my questions are dependent on text. But i’m studying Medea.

When writing a text response what audience are we to consider? Modern or Classical era?

Also, what is the structure of paragraphs? I’ve always thought that we create 3 ‘arguments’ to answer the question. However,  apparently there is freedom to slowly build up to a final, singular argument through a string of paragraphs that don’t necessarily strictly answer the essay question as long these ultimately together present a thorough and reasoned response to it.

[Poet]

Not sure if the answers to my questions are dependent on text. But i’m studying Medea.

When writing a text response what audience are we to consider? Modern or Classical era?

Also, what is the structure of paragraphs? I’ve always thought that we create 3 ‘arguments’ to answer the question. However,  apparently there is freedom to slowly build up to a final, singular argument through a string of paragraphs that don’t necessarily strictly answer the essay question as long these ultimately together present a thorough and reasoned response to it.

Hey! Me too. You enjoying Medea so far?

I think we're meant to mainly take into account the audience the play was originally meant for - a society who would not have sympathized with Medea's character.

And typically, the paragraph structure would be your solid 3 argument basis. It's a bit of a risk to not answer the question until your conclusion - if you don't finish your essay or somehow mess it up, you would get a worse mark than the typical 3-argument response. But in that, you should be integrating each argument so that they can flow into one another and you can include small parts in your main arguments that could come together as a final piece of evidence in your conclusion.