VCE English Question Thread

[JellyBeanz]

Hey guys quick question here, It's a pretty vague question but how can i increase the overall quality of the introduction and conclusion of an expository when writing a context piece on identity and belonging?

My teacher says that the ideas and examples i bring in to the piece is fine but to increase the overall quality of my expository i need to write a better intro and conclusion.

For example on the prompt "Sometimes we need to accept change in order to grow". Could someone please give me pointers And sorry i know it's an incredibly vague question. \

Thanks.

[TheWatto]

Could someone please help me identify the contention of this article?

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cage-fight-lived-up-to-the-hype-20151119-gl2xay.html

[vor0005]

Hey guys quick question here, It's a pretty vague question but how can i increase the overall quality of the introduction and conclusion of an expository when writing a context piece on identity and belonging?

My teacher says that the ideas and examples i bring in to the piece is fine but to increase the overall quality of my expository i need to write a better intro and conclusion.

For example on the prompt "Sometimes we need to accept change in order to grow". Could someone please give me pointers And sorry i know it's an incredibly vague question. \

Thanks.

Maybe go for more of a hybrid piece that incorporates both an expository and personal aspect. In particular, you can start your piece with a personal anecdote that relates to your contention in some way. This will help provide authenticity and credibility to your piece and also gives you a unique voice (within your own piece).

Whatever you do, don't write your Context piece as you would a text response essay (the greatest sin!). Remember, the prompt is there to act as a "moral of the story", and you should treat it accordingly.

Make it something that you'd like to see published in a newspaper. I think that should be the goal with any context piece.

[literally lauren]

Now, at a time when political correctness is more iron-clad than ever and some young men feel the need to identify themselves as feminists...

Omg that tone of condescension is ridiculous -.-

How bitter do you think the Sydney Morning Herald are now that youth culture has coopted their acronym to 'so much hate'? 


He's just basically extolling the virtues of boxing and cage fighting. Aside from that brief bit at the start where he semi-attacks the PC brigade, he doesn't seem to have a contention beyond 'fighting is cool.' I'd probably choose a different piece to analyse, if you can; this one's not very persuasive

[TheWatto]

Omg that tone of condescension is ridiculous -.-

How bitter do you think the Sydney Morning Herald are now that youth culture has coopted their acronym to 'so much hate'? 


He's just basically extolling the virtues of boxing and cage fighting. Aside from that brief bit at the start where he semi-attacks the PC brigade, he doesn't seem to have a contention beyond 'fighting is cool.' I'd probably choose a different piece to analyse, if you can; this one's not very persuasive

Thanks, yeah I thought that is sounded a bit vague.

Anyway, for this one
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/ufc-193-ronda-rousey-not-the-only-one-knocked-out-by-sundays-events--how-has-it-come-to-this-20151115-gkzpqe.html

I said that the contention of this one is that the Brutality and un-regulation of UFC fighting cannot be fantasized and because of this has no place to stay in Australia.
Would you agree?

[Champ101]

Thanks, yeah I thought that is sounded a bit vague.

Anyway, for this one
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/ufc-193-ronda-rousey-not-the-only-one-knocked-out-by-sundays-events--how-has-it-come-to-this-20151115-gkzpqe.html

I said that the contention of this one is that the Brutality and un-regulation of UFC fighting cannot be fantasized and because of this has no place to stay in Australia.
Would you agree?

This is how i would start off my language analysis. It includes target audience and contention.

In response to the growing acceptance of UFC on the worldwide sporting stage, Peter FitzSimons in an impassioned opinion piece for the Age, didactically asserts that UFC glorifies brutality and condones violence, unequivocally urging Australian authorities to denounce the sport.

[upandgo]

how badly would i be penalised for not concluding my language analysis? i had a comparative SAC today and managed to write everything but the conclusion. would the quality of my piece be more important than whether or not i finished? really didn't want to drop a single mark in english... oh well 

[Swagadaktal]

how badly would i be penalised for not concluding my language analysis? i had a comparative SAC today and managed to write everything but the conclusion. would the quality of my piece be more important than whether or not i finished? really didn't want to drop a single mark in english... oh well 

Erm it shouldn't really tbh, my teachers say there are no marks to be gained in the conclusion so I don't see why there are marks to be lost - right? Especially because this is a comparative. If you had done the task required then I don't see why they should penalise you.

And you're trying to not lose 1 mark the whole year omg r u a wizard (pls halp me)

[HopefulLawStudent]

URGENT. Have an English SAC tomorrow. I swore I'd get an early night tonight but instead I'm cramming as much info as I can before my self-imposed bedtime.

What's the technique called when someone does something like this:

If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.

Where like you're sorta being driven down this path of logic and you aren't really left with room to go like "If A happens, D could happen instead of B"

What's that technique called?

I've just been calling it appealing to reason and logic which is wrong.

[upandgo]

Erm it shouldn't really tbh, my teachers say there are no marks to be gained in the conclusion so I don't see why there are marks to be lost - right? Especially because this is a comparative. If you had done the task required then I don't see why they should penalise you.

And you're trying to not lose 1 mark the whole year omg r u a wizard (pls halp me)

ahh really?! that makes me feel so relieved, thanks swag 

What's the technique called when someone does something like this:

If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.

cascade of events? im terrible at these things haha

[HopefulLawStudent]

cascade of events? im terrible at these things haha

No. There's an actual name for the technique but I can't remember what it is. arghhh...

[Champ101]

URGENT. Have an English SAC tomorrow. I swore I'd get an early night tonight but instead I'm cramming as much info as I can before my self-imposed bedtime.

What's the technique called when someone does something like this:

If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.

Where like you're sorta being driven down this path of logic and you aren't really left with room to go like "If A happens, D could happen instead of B"

What's that technique called?

I've just been calling it appealing to reason and logic which is wrong.

The slippery slope fallacy. It is suggests that a  relatively insignificant first event is suggested to lead to a more significant event, which in turn leads to a more significant event, and so on, until some ultimate, significant event is reached, where the connection of each event is not only unwarranted, but with each step it becomes increasingly improbable. 

For Example: Lost your pen= No pen
No pen= No notes
No notes= No study
No study= Fail
Fail= No diploma
No diploma= No work
No work= No money
No money= No food
No food= You get skinny
You get skinny= You get ugly
You get ugly= No love
No love= No marriage
No marriage= No children
No children= alone
alone= Depression
Depression= Sickness
Sickness= Death

Moral of the story, don't lose your pen!

Hoperfully not 

[literally lauren]

how badly would i be penalised for not concluding my language analysis? i had a comparative SAC today and managed to write everything but the conclusion. would the quality of my piece be more important than whether or not i finished? really didn't want to drop a single mark in english... oh well 

Not at all, unless your teacher is a real stickler for essay structure. Even then, the quality of your analysis is where, like, 98% of the marks are. Little things like the intro + concl. are just there to make a good first and last impression, but if your analysis was good enough not to need that last impression, you'd be fine.

Not having a conclusion is unlikely to cost you a whole mark on its own (esp. in the exam when it's marked out of 10, but even for your SAC where it's out of 20) but it might feed into the marking scheme somehow.

So if you were lacking a conclusion AND your paragraph structure was imbalanced and hard to follow AND there was a bit of repetition in your analysis AND some word choice issues, then you might lose a mark or two.

I wouldn't stress about losing a mark even if that does end up happening though. It's great that you've set your standards so high, but don't let a 19/20 discourage you

URGENT. Have an English SAC tomorrow. I swore I'd get an early night tonight but instead I'm cramming as much info as I can before my self-imposed bedtime.

What's the technique called when someone does something like this:

If we do this, A will happen. If A happens B will happen. If B happens then C will happen.

Where like you're sorta being driven down this path of logic and you aren't really left with room to go like "If A happens, D could happen instead of B"

What's that technique called?

I've just been calling it appealing to reason and logic which is wrong.

I'd call it leading logic or cumulative logic. Technically, the formal name for it would be the slippery slope fallacy, but calling it a 'fallacy' sounds a bit evaluative. Most teachers probably wouldn't mind, but I could understand some taking issue with you using words that are critiquing their arguments instead of metalanguage that discusses how the author is being persuasive.

[teacher28]

No. There's an actual name for the technique but I can't remember what it is. arghhh...

Most of my students have been told to identify it as"cause and effect", although most of those other appellations sound more sophisticated!

[Swagadaktal]

Hey Champ I sent you a message about your essay marking service - did you get it?