Choice of Style

[brightsky]

In the context section, does your choice of style influence your mark in any way? For example, if you took the same essay and added bits and pieces to make it seem like a feature article, would your mark be affected?

[pooshwaltzer]

The assessor is guided by a structured criteria set which determines how marks are apportioned and imputed. That said, the predominance of subjective judgment and the impression imparted from a particular choice in style of delivery carries substantial influence over the marking scheme which conventional templates may not necessarily be capable of accommodating. Give consideration to factors such as readership, the purpose of the document, and the context in which it will be assessed will help to decide the best writing style to use. Feature articles, although quite often constructed using a traditional essay framework, may also cover a broad and generic range of media categories.

Ultimately, it is onus upon the writer to decide as to the degree of relevancy of said, "bits and pieces". To what extent can these elements be incorporated into the body of the piece and to what effect? The specific prompt would probably implicate the nature of contextual factors pending discussion as well as provide semantic cues to enable the writer to select the most circumstantially appropriate format to stylise their response. As a general rule of thumb, if the article demonstrates structural integrity, propriety of form and seems analytically sound then that may be indicative of permissible style. Choice of style, and the salience of which, is all contingent upon the given prompt.

[EvangelionZeta]

In the context section of the VCE English exam, as long as you're writing in one of the recommended formats (persuasive, expository, creative, etc.), you should be fine.  Obviously, different formats will appeal to different writers, but aside from that there shouldn't be any particular influence on marks.

As to the second question, depends on your definition on feature article.  If you're saying you want to write it like an editorial piece (ie. a persuasive piece), then that's fairly conventional and definitely permissible (although, unless things change for your year, our school doesn't teach persuasive context writing). 

[lynt.br]

Just to add to EZ's post, there is nothing wrong with writing in a conventional style. I stuck exclusively with simple, expository essays and did fine.

[shinny]

Just to add to EZ's post, there is nothing wrong with writing in a conventional style. I stuck exclusively with simple, expository essays and did fine.

Seconded. I find whatever helps you to get your ideas across clearly is the best method. This varies across people but I found that a simple straight essay did the job best.

[brightsky]

Ooh, ok, thanks guys! Just a lead off from that: what are your opinions on writing creative pieces? I know that some of the examiners liked it last year but wouldn't a creative piece take longer to write given that there isn't any hardline structure to adhere to?