ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: Stick on April 21, 2013, 05:15:36 pm
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I've done two timed text responses this weekend (the upcoming SAC is to be completed in 90 minutes) and in both cases I ran overtime (the first one I went over by heaps, the second one only a few minutes). I've put it down to taking too long to plan (around 20 minutes) , but also the plan not being detailed enough, meaning I spend too much time hesitating and thinking about what to put down. When I allowed myself half of the planning time to finish off my essay, I managed to do so comfortably. Being short on time, I consequently feel flustered and don't really know where I'm heading with these essays, which is never a good thing. I know that from my more recent un-timed essays that I am capable of a good quality response, it's just that I need to emulate that performance in the pressures associated with sitting the SAC. Any good strategies to create a quick but detailed plan so that I can jump into my essay with a clear sense of purpose and direction? :)
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In plans, I never write full sentences cause if I do, I know that most of the time, I'll simply copy that same sentence back into the essay.
I only write short phrases or even just keywords on my plan, putting under headlines which separate my paragraphs.
My plans usually look like this:
E.g. Intro
Agree
Neutrality impossible
Conflict result of two opposing sides
'Bystanders' pushed towards one side
Define neutrality
Paragraph 1
Adrienne from paradise road
Unable to remain neutral
Entire camp either on one side or other
Impossible to be on both
Quote from Margaret
Paragraph 2
War in Syria
Explain context of war
Citizens always affected
Gvt unable to sustain power
Neutrality occurs outside of the country i.e. countries not involved
Paragraph 3
Paradise road, Japanese soldiers
Quote from Captain Hirosha
And it goes on for the next few paragraphs and the conclusion.
It takes me a maximum of 3-4 minutes.
I do this so that while I'm writing the actual essay and I finish the paragraph, I can look at my plan and it takes literally 2 seconds to read all the words relating to the paragraph I'm about to write and trigger all the thoughts in my head linking the topic and what I've written down.
And remember, at the end of the year you'll only have 1 hour to plan and write your essay.
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The only time I ever 'planned' were in SACs. In the exam I pretty much just scrawled down my three main ideas in key words just so I didn't forget them later on. So, I'm not a very 'planny' person. Thinking quickly was one of my best skills re: English.
One thing that I remember finding very helpful in the SACs though, was to write out my three topic sentences, word for word. For me, the most I would ever hesitate was when I was writing my topic sentences/starting off a paragraph, so by doing it all in one during planning time, my actual essay went ahead like a steam train because there was no more hesitation. Doing this also wrote half of my introduction for me, because I put my main ideas in the intro, so by writing out my main ideas I just had to change it up in the intro. Two birds with one stone! Then I jotted down some really good evidence in case I would forget. For my one and only time of planning an essay, each paragraph would have looked something like this --
-Rose utilises 10th Juror as an embodiment of 1950s McCarthyism in its entirety, condemning the xenophobic and prejudicial behaviour that manifests as a result.
-They hate... destroy us
-them. they. exclusive
-weather?
-cold?
-masculinity?
-(something)
-(something)
So above, I've got my TS. I know I will use the evidence "They hate us... they want to destroy us!" and analyse that. I also know I will be analysing the way in which 10th Juror's use of exclusive language "them", "they", (and perhaps even 8th Juror's "She's one of 'them' too, isn't she?") demonstrates xenophobia. The next three points are just there as triggers during the essay. I would have no idea if I were going to write on the weather, his cold, or masculinity, they're just there to prompt me making a decision in the middle of the paragraph. The other two somethings is evidence I would have jotted down but can't remember anymore.
You can see I'm a bit of a chaotic person/planner.
Probably a little bit far from what you'd personally like to do, but thats just my $0.02
You say you run out of time because your plan is not detailed enough -- you could try not being very detailed at all and just letting your writing flow from your mind... but this won't work for everyone. Lol. Happy writings!
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The only time I ever 'planned' were in SACs. In the exam I pretty much just scrawled down my three main ideas in key words just so I didn't forget them later on.
This.
Plan's all in the head :)
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I can't write a good essay without a plan. I need to write a plan in order to put my ideas into some sort of sequence, so that they can flow. If I don't write a plan, I feel pressured because I have no idea what I am going to write & when, and I also feel like I am relying a bit too much on my brain to remember all the points I want to write about.
My plans aren't very detailed. They take about 5min to write, and they are just keywords labelled under para 1, para 2 etc. I never plan my intros though.
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Lol this was my plan:
- main idea
- main idea
-main idea
-main idea
With the main idea literally being one or two words
I found in like year 10 when i actually speant time doing more than that i never actually followed my plan, i change my mine often, so i just scraped the plan almost entirely
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I can't write a good essay without a plan. I need to write a plan in order to put my ideas into some sort of sequence, so that they can flow. If I don't write a plan, I feel pressured because I have no idea what I am going to write & when, and I also feel like I am relying a bit too much on my brain to remember all the points I want to write about.
Yep, this is what I feel.
Anyway, thanks for the advice everyone. People have suggested to me to just let go and write, but this is something I struggle with as the result hasn't been to my liking in the past (mainly expression issues).