Do you write a conclusion for Language Analysis?

[rebeccab26]

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!

[djsandals]

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!
[/quote]

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.

[VivaTequila]

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).