Help - Indefinite Terms in the Prompt

[HarveyD]

Hey guys

Just wondering, when there are words such as "mostly" and "often", to what extent do we have to acknowledge it?

like for example
A prompt I did for my context just then was "Our understand of place is mostly fleeting and elusive"
Would it have been enough to write a couple of lines in my last paragraph (before conclusion) about how it can sometimes be permanent, or are we expected to write a full paragraph to rebut the statement. Or does it not matter at all.

[lexitu]

You don't have to acknowledge that at all, there is no need to be agreeing with your prompt from the outset or later on. Your piece doesn't have to entirely revolve around your prompt in any case - this is very different to a text response.

[HarveyD]

ohh okay, so in a text response we would have to?

and also you wouldnt lose marks for saying a little about it, would you? D:

[LOVEPHYSICS]

Just try and discuss(I prefer discuss over acknowledge) a range of ideas and possibilities. You can get away with a more biased, one sided approach (creative, persuasive), but context usually expects greater parameters in terms of ideas.

[LOVEPHYSICS]

You don't lose marks in English, examiners look for ways to reward you. A text response is different. It usually wouldn't be that broad and it would be more of a question. There is a difference between a prompt and a question. That said, I still think it is wise to try and look for ways to challenge the question or disagree with its wording (for text response).

[Jdog]

i think you most definately do lose marks in english.

maybe not so much for context, but for text response, EVERY sentence has to be related to the prompt, I learned the hard way, after not being tight enough to the prompt in the sac. but at least it didn't happen in the exam!

[lexitu]

^ Text response uses a topic, which is quite different - means you have to stay on topic.

Harvey, yep, you can definitely adhere to the direction the prompt sets very tightly if you want and that's completely fine. I also agree with Lovephysics in that pieces should acknowledge complexity anyhow and taking a very simplistic and overly generalistic approach doesn't help. 

Re how marking works in English - it is a grading scale where your piece is judged holistically, no one isolated thing detracts or attracts marks. It's a suite of impressions that you make on your assessors. 

[HarveyD]

alright, thanks for the help