English (Paper 2): Discussion, Questions & Potential Solutions

[Lumenoria]

Mod A - Did 1984/Met, was definitely a good question and I addressed it very well. Skipped the conclusion though

Mod B - Again, a very generous question that was diametrically opposed to my expectations, to say the least. I did this last so I only had 35 mins to spare for it, but because I spent so much time on adding links to the question, I only managed to get up to halfway of my last paragraph. Honestly so disheartened because I reckon I could've gotten 19-20/20 had I finished. Handwriting was also compromised, so I think I relegated my mark to about a 15 if I'm lucky, since my analysis was the strongest at the end. (which I missed)

Mod C - Did this first. Amazing question, I addressed all aspects pretty well and hopefully can get a 20 here to pull my mark up.

I'm so disappointed that I didn't get to finish, because I definitely had the potential to do very well had that not been the case. I legit panicked so much after that I emailed my teacher about my concerns and she said that it shouldn't cut me off from a band 6. I was hoping for a 96-97 in English Advanced before, but now I reckon a 91-93 ish is more realistic, which is kinda depressing. Omg it better not be a fucking 89. Relying on internals to pull me up at this point ahaha

[kauac]

They definitely made this exam weird, as in Paper 1, but not in the way I expected...

Mod A: Boy, I knew they were gonna to throw in some randomness in this one, because the questions for KRIII/LFR have been so repetitive in the past. I liked the question itself, just felt it was a bit sketchy throwing in a vague screenshot from the film, and how they asked us to use it was kinda really strange! I think I did pretty well, and I was super happy with my analysis...

Mod B: I did the speeches, so was expecting them to specify a speech, but that generic question was so strange! It was actually quite a straight-forward question, and I could incorporate rhetoric easily into my thesis... But it kinda felt like they couldn't be bothered to write all of the specific questions, so they just made one really broad question from the rubric?  In essence, they were probably being pretty nice.

Mod C: Wowsers, Mod C is normally one of the easiest essays for me! Not today, though. The people and politics question was just sort of ambiguous and it didn't really make much sense. It worked well with my related text, not so much with BNW. Meh.

[horse9996]

Mod A: cultural conversations? Such as weird extract for Donne and W;t also, I hope I referred to it ok and made enough connections between the texts. Glad this was the hardest as its my best

Mod B: pretty good for Hamlet, worked well with my view on fragility of individuals/relationships. I just related this to confronting the truth about his father's death, mother's remarriage, etc. Appreciation/sympathy = human experience (classic move)

Mod C: didn't I forget what discovery meant yesterday? Other than that it was pretty reasonable, can't complain too much

[jenae.madden]

Hey everyone, I think its fair to say that the paper was pretty forgiving. The broader question for Mod B was a welcomed surprise for Hamlet, and the question for EBB x Great Gatsby was pretty well expected of a module A question, and didnt really lean towards any particular theme, other then idealisation I guess in the extract.  For Module C, I was able to recreate my argument from one of our assignments whereby my paragraphs encompassed the sense of personal agenda against societal demand for compliance and the states ability to stifle voices to conform to the collective identity.
So, in saying this, I am wondering...
If we are all quietly happy with the paper... does this mean theres a greater likelihood of being harshly marked so theres better mark distribution?
I have a feeling that maybe i shouldn't be so confident if everyone in advanced had it easy, you know.
Thanks

[NowYouTseMe]

I'm actually really quite shook at how good the paper was.
Mod A was a bit weird with the 'cultural conversations' part but the extract for The Prince and Julius Caesar was super simple and came right after one of my quotes anyway so I just incorporated it into my analysis.
Mod B for Citizen Kane though, oh boy. So my school wrote a trials question about the audience empathising with Charles Kane and what comes out in the HSC? A question about empathy and 'uncomfortable truths'!
Mod C for People and politics got predicted by my school too in that my school's head of English predicted a manipulation question for HSC so I genuinely feel like I can get a 20 here.

feelsgoodman

[dcesaona]

For any standard students! 

Module A was straightforward for distinctively visual. Although, I spent far too long on it (45 minutes), which cut into my time for Mod B, which then cut down my time AGAIN in mod C where my writing was absolutely horrendous and I hope that by some miracle they will be able to decipher enough of it because I was stressing so badly in the last 10 minutes of that paper with my last paragraph not yet started! 

Module B (complex human relationships wtf) was okay once I really got into it. My intro was shit though, as I began to develop a deeper understanding of the question as I wrote (as is often the case). I had a feeling they'd specify a poem. I had studied each one extensively anyway so I wasn't worried about that. My struggle was figuring out which one to talk about that'd suit the question the most. I initially chose 'Anthem for doomed youth' then changed my mind and went with 'futility' as it explores the complexity behind the deeply sorrowful and despaired human interactions and relationships that evolve as a result of the ruthlessness of war. This same idea is expressed in insensibility of course, as the brutal nature of the war forces soldiers to become desensitised to all but their march, thus resulting in a disconnected relationship between comrades in war. So I think I went okay in this!

Module C. Fml. Began with 40 minutes (and I generally take about 45 in this one but I couldn't get my first two done quick enough!) So I droned on in the first two paragraphs for my prescribed and related. Then had a freak out when I looked at the timer and saw I only had about 16 mins for my last 2 paragraphs and a conclusion. Thus, the second half of that response became a complete an utter mess, in both the literal and figurative sense. Messy and incomprehensible handwriting and a faltering argument. My hand was shaking like never before. I'm just hoping that they can see my quotes and techniques clearly enough. Surely every second word will jump out right! 

Anyways, both papers have had their challenges, paper 1 more so for me. I'd say this paper was relatively easy so possibly harsher marking on that front (yay  ) I honestly can't predict how this will turn out. I came first in internals so hoping that it will hold me up for any marks lost. But just pleased english is done I guess! I need to stop overthinking these papers now, because like someone said above (I think), we will never get feedback on these essays, so we'll never know where we went wrong. No point stressing when it's over.

[jazcstuart]

I have no clue how to feel about Paper 2- I'm so exhausted lmao

Mod A: I was panicking because I had no clue what to do so I just kinda went with the idea that the similar issues discussed in Lang and Orwell's texts generates and maintains an ongoing cultural conversation. So when I was talking about corrupted power, I said something along the lines of Lang's warning on the impacts of corrupted power generates a cultural conversation on the nature of leadership- an idea that is maintained through Orwell. Something like that. I hope I interpreted that question right lmao.

I did metropolis and 1984 as well, I thought it was a really difficult question for these texts. I didn't really get the screen shot for Metropolis either, I forgot to include it in my first paragraph but I ended up putting it in later. I legit scanned the questions for mod B and mod C then spent my entire reading time trying to figure out how to answer the mod A question. I ended up saying that the composers cultural contexts influence their portrayal of different values, thus generating cultural conversations which I thought was kind of weak but I hope the markers understand.

Mod A - Did 1984/Met, was definitely a good question and I addressed it very well. Skipped the conclusion though

EDIT: just saw this, interesting you thought so!

I felt like I could cry with happiness when I saw the mod B question, not only did they not specify a speech but the 2 concepts in my prepared essay were acknowledgement of injustice and empathy, so it could not have been a more perfect question for me. I was the most stressed about module B so this was a huge relief.

I didn't have any strong feelings about mod C (I did Auden's poetry for people and politics). I thought the question was ok but my answer could have been better, still I finished it and was fairly happy.

Overall I was really happy with how I went, this is the exam I was most stressed about out of all my exams and it actually turned out pretty well 

[LadyWhoAsksTooMuchQuestions]

much much better than paper 1 

however, i studied ALL but 2 poems for wilfred owen; strange meeting and insensibility....WHAT WERE THE CHANCES???!?!?!?!?!

i found lola essay to be the easiest, however, doesnt me i did well....

[dcesaona]

You did curious incident as well? Same!!

I wish! One of my favourite books!! But no I did a play called 'Shoehorn Sonata'. It's pretty boring.

[Caleb Campion]

Mod A - Did 1984/Met, was definitely a good question and I addressed it very well. Skipped the conclusion though

Mod B - Again, a very generous question that was diametrically opposed to my expectations, to say the least. I did this last so I only had 35 mins to spare for it, but because I spent so much time on adding links to the question, I only managed to get up to halfway of my last paragraph. Honestly so disheartened because I reckon I could've gotten 19-20/20 had I finished. Handwriting was also compromised, so I think I relegated my mark to about a 15 if I'm lucky, since my analysis was the strongest at the end. (which I missed)

Mod C - Did this first. Amazing question, I addressed all aspects pretty well and hopefully can get a 20 here to pull my mark up.

I'm so disappointed that I didn't get to finish, because I definitely had the potential to do very well had that not been the case. I legit panicked so much after that I emailed my teacher about my concerns and she said that it shouldn't cut me off from a band 6. I was hoping for a 96-97 in English Advanced before, but now I reckon a 91-93 ish is more realistic, which is kinda depressing. Omg it better not be a fucking 89. Relying on internals to pull me up at this point ahaha

Dude I'm not sure if English is your only strong subject, or if you are aiming for only a 99.95, but anything in the 90s is literally insane for an English Advanced mark, and will be totally fine to bet high 90s ATAR provided you do fairly well in your other subjects too. You'll do well man, just put it behind you.

[Lumenoria]

Dude I'm not sure if English is your only strong subject, or if you are aiming for only a 99.95, but anything in the 90s is literally insane for an English Advanced mark, and will be totally fine to bet high 90s ATAR provided you do fairly well in your other subjects too. You'll do well man, just put it behind you.

Ahaha thanks! And nah I'm only aiming for a 95-97 ish ATAR wise - I'm an all-rounder, but English Advanced is my strongest subject and we got a 98 and 97 in our school last year so I really wanted to get atleast a 95 in it since I'm at the top of the course ahaha. Thanks man, hope you went well in it!