ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: LittleMissSunshine on September 28, 2012, 10:16:54 am
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Hi everyone, this is my first post, so don't eat me alive if I'm not posting in the right section! :P
I've been organising my work for language analysis and came across something I was unsure of. My main English teacher this year taught us to write a conclusion for language analysis that "Summarises the overall purpose/approach/style of article, techniques used, issue and author’s point of view". Then halfway through the year, she went away on long service leave, so we had another English teacher (A VCAA examiner) who told us not to bother with conclusions, because they "waste time" and "don't do anything".
I'm a bit unsure on what to do now. I've had a read of various posts on language analysis (on this forum), but all I can find are people asking about how to write one, or if there's is okay, not should I write one or not?
So I was wondering, do you, or would you recommend to write a conclusion?
Thankyou in advance :)
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No. I write in order of the paragraphs so analysising the final lines and their impact on the audience act as a conclusion. This way, a 'summary' conclusion is not needed as it would just be repetitive.
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I do. However not as your first teacher said to, I would just summarise the issue and the author's intentions.
Should take no more than 5-6 lines. I think a conclusion (although not necessary) is just a way to end an essay/analysis...You wouldn't finish a sentence without a full stop, right?
^ I stand corrected.
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My conclusions were like 3 lines, only put one in if you can afford the time. It's more of a formality than anything else as it doesn't contribute to the analysis (it's not really an "essay") and people have got 10/10 without one.
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My teacher (in a VCAA examiner) said that if the LA given in the exam is excessively long, we do not have to write a conclusion for it. Nevertheless, 2-3 lines should be sufficient.
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We were taught to basically repeat what we said in the introduction except without an summary of the issue, and to say whether it was an effective article or not and why.
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We were taught to basically repeat what we said in the introduction except without an summary of the issue, and to say whether it was an effective article or not and why.
I wouldn't be commenting on the effectiveness of the article..I can't see it being detrimental, but you are analyzing it's language/techniques used in order to persuade..It's not a review.
Whatever works for you though, I guess.
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Personally I don't really put one in; I just try to end my final body paragraph on a conclusive note. Even if I did though it would be extremely short, perhaps 2-3 sentences, and this should, in my opinion, be the case with the majority of essays that you write - have a short and sweet conclusion. Otherwise you stand the risk of putting tokenistic, irrelevant sentences in which will distract the examiner from how good your essay/extended response has been to that point. It comes down to your own discretion, though.
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The conclusion ends up being a pretty good section to discuss article metastructure, and how the author in any particular article might write to convey meaning not only though his persuasive techniques, but also the specific structuring and ordering of them. I tend to do this throughout my LA articles anyway, but it never goes amiss.
Don't be fooled that a conclusion must be "a conclusion".
The assessors are looking for a piece that:
a) Analyses the way the article is written
b) Analyses the way this specific writing style is used to persuade the reader
They aren't going to critique your essay structure and slam you if it doesn't fit the "cookie-cutter" introduction + 3 or 4 paragraphs + conclusion mould. So long as what you have to say is still analyzing the way the author is conveying his/her message, then it's fair game.
Will upload an example to show you if anybody wants it.
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We were taught to basically repeat what we said in the introduction except without an summary of the issue, and to say whether it was an effective article or not and why.
I wouldn't be commenting on the effectiveness of the article..I can't see it being detrimental, but you are analyzing it's language/techniques used in order to persuade..It's not a review.
Whatever works for you though, I guess.
actually you are not meant to comment on effectiveness and marks will be deducted.
commenting on effectiveness implies that you have made a judgement.
they are looking for analysis of the techniques and language used by the writer, not your personal view.
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actually you are not meant to comment on effectiveness and marks will be deducted.
commenting on effectiveness implies that you have made a judgement.
they are looking for analysis of the techniques and language used by the writer, not your personal view.
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Well that's what we were taught to do and I haven't lost marks for it yet... :S
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Brief overall impact statement
3-4 lines.
Period :)
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actually you are not meant to comment on effectiveness and marks will be deducted.
commenting on effectiveness implies that you have made a judgement.
they are looking for analysis of the techniques and language used by the writer, not your personal view.
Well that's what we were taught to do and I haven't lost marks for it yet... :S
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my teacher was an examiner up until the end of last year and she said that so just don't to be on the safe side! :)
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VCAA Examiner number one: (my teacher)
Don't write a conclusion
VCAA Examiner number two: (one who came to visit)
Write a conclusion and make sure it's at least 4 lines!
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I think what we can gather from this thread is that you need to conclude (could be the ending of your last paragraph or a new paragraph, whatever) your analysis in some way, whether it be one line or a mini-paragraph, just don't leave it unfinished!
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I think what we can gather from this thread is that you need to conclude (could be the ending of your last paragraph or a new paragraph, whatever) your analysis in some way, whether it be one line or a mini-paragraph, just don't leave it unfinished!
yep i agree!
just something to tie it all together and show that you're actually finished or it will seem like you ran out of time and left it unfinished :)
good luck guys!
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actually you are not meant to comment on effectiveness and marks will be deducted.
commenting on effectiveness implies that you have made a judgement.
they are looking for analysis of the techniques and language used by the writer, not your personal view.
Well that's what we were taught to do and I haven't lost marks for it yet... :S
my teacher was an examiner up until the end of last year and she said that so just don't to be on the safe side! :)
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I asked my teacher about this (who is also a VCAA exam marker) today, and she said that as long as you back it up with evidence as to why it was an effective article or not, it demonstrates to the examiner that you have a better understanding of the ways the author has attempted to position the reader. But she also said that if you don't have time to write a conclusion then that's also OK.
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Guys, the take home message is that it's pretty dependent on your ability.
There's no specific guidelines saying that you "must described the effectiveness of the authors' techniques" and there's also none saying you should boycott it.
If a student wrote a top-tier essay, better than anyone's ever seen, and then they wrote a small passage explaining why the author was effective or not, the examiner isn't going to flunk them or deny the 10 that they deserve.
If a sloppy student who generally doesn't have much control over his writing then goes and and incorrectly critiques the author's attempt to persuade his audience, then you might expect that student to be docked some marks.
Whatever you choose, relax in knowing wholly and fully that the assessors are real people too, and they would be aware of the phenomenon and wouldn't be dicks about marking down someone who analyses the techniques (unless they clearly don't know what they are doing and it's major cause to detract marks).