ATAR Notes: Forum
VCE Stuff => VCE English Studies => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE English & EAL => Topic started by: fightingchance on March 11, 2015, 09:34:12 pm
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Hi, I have an English SAC (text response) at the end of this week and I was just wondering, do the body paragraphs have to be in chronological order as in the novel? For example can I go:
Paragraph 1- how the character was in this setting
Paragraph 2- how the character changed in the second setting
Paragraph 3- Some general themes in the second setting (like loss, regret)
Thanks in advance for any help and sorry for being really general.
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Generally you would structure your actual essay according to the topic. Once you have the topic, you can go on and split into arguments or themes as you please. Following a set structure has its negatives and positives, negatives being it makes your piece seem basic in comparison to those who follow individual structures, structures that vary and cannot be deemed as formulaic. However that being said your body paragraphs can be in chronological order, but you would want you piece to stand out.
Hope that helps :)
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Thank you very much for taking the time to respond :)
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The reason why I was not to sure was whilst the question was theme based, the text Im studying (Brooklyn) is very character based, and so my strategy was to turn it to a character question of sorts.
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Rule of thumb: any time you realise you're trying to "turn" a prompt "into" something, you're not answering it directly or properly.
If it is a prompt about a theme, you need to focus your BPs on the arguments you're making about that theme - possible backup, one paragraph each on a different character, relating each to an idea on the theme. Eilis may be your primary example, given the text, but she can and should always be counterpointed against other characters. Focus your topic sentences on the actual idea or question you've been asked to discuss.
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Hmm ok, thank you. I was thinking of using her to discuss a theme/idea, for example if i was talking about the immigration experience could i possibly talk about how it changes her character(and by extension others in general)? Would this be the right way to go? Sorry for the bother. :-\
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Yes, but you're using her as an example - in other words, inside a BP after you write the topic sentence. If the essay is about the immigrant experience then the essay needs to be about the immigrant experience as a whole - not Eilis. She's just one example (perhaps the main example, but still just an example).
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^Just to build on this: the reason it's considered unconventional/'wrong' in most teachers' books to simply use one character per paragraph, or indeed have your whole essay centring on one character, is because you're expected to be building up to a conclusion about the text as a whole. If all you talk about is Eilis' migrantory journey, you can't then have a sentence in your introduction like 'Toibin's Brooklyn explores the nature of longing for a place that offers identity.' Without a substantial base of discussion, you'll make it impossible for yourself to say anything on that 'big-picture' level (ie. usually sentences that include the author's name and deal with big concepts like how we interpret the text, or what messages are contained within it.)
This is probably too late for your SAC, but as something to consider for later in the year: let the prompt rule the discussion. Assessors are more impressed by people who can say something mediocre, but relevant than they are with people who churn out pre-learned material that sounds neat, but has nothing to do with the topic. A lot of schools will give you very standard, easily accessible prompts for the SACs (eg. 'Discuss the importance of journeys in Brooklyn' or 'Eilis belongs more in Brooklyn than Enniscorthy. Do you agree?') but VCAA can go in any direction they please. So once your confident in your textual knowledge, it's worth spending some time on how to pick apart prompts and come up with a contention and essay structure than allows you to answer the question and showcase your abilities :)
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Thank you so much. It makes a lot of sense. For my SAC, (Im very happy how I think I went) I was lucky enough to get a question that specifically asked if she changed or not. So I just felt more comfortable going with that. However, your explanation has shed some light on what I should prepare for the exam. So again, thank you all very much :)
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Nah, it doesn't have to be in chronological order - you can structure it that way if you want, but there are heaps of different ways you could organise it. You could just make the whole thing theme based, for instance.