Exam

[grannysmith]

Got 75% for my English exam. Disappointed.

The teacher says I have a good writing style, but I don't make myself clear enough. I lack in clarity. Well, I wouldn't necessarily say that, it's just that where I used to only put forth only a few pieces of evidence, and then explain for the rest of the paragraph, I now give many pieces of evidence but I only briefly explain its relevance.

I'm *only* in year 10, but I'd like to improve now - I want to be able to write year 12 standard, so that by the time I'm in year 12, I'll be even better. And I know 'year 12 standard' is quite vague, but I mean like a 'good' year 12 English student. Top 9%-ish? Haha. :p

How can I start? Should I read a book, analyse and write essays? Continue analysing newspaper articles? Give it to my teacher to mark? Give it to you guys on AN? Or both...?

Thanks guys

[brenden]

Start reading a book a week.
Otherwise, write essays, get them marked, fix the problem, repeat.

[Damoz.G]

As Brenden said, read lots of books. It WILL help you out with expression.

Also, do lots of practice essays. If you start now, you will be more motivated when you are in Year 11 and 12.

Good luck

[Limista]

Also read newspapers (as tedious as it may sound  )

[kelseyd85]

I agree with starfish. Reading newspapers and try to pick out persuasive techniques used in articles. It will help with language analysis. Language analysis is the most common part of the English exam where most students do poorly in (according to my teacher)

[pi]

I agree with all suggestions here so far, just like to add: read good quality essays. Head over to the sample essays threads and read what a 40+ English student sounds like. That will help develop your own style whilst picking up some valuable tips and tricks.

[grannysmith]

Stephen Kings' books? And if I were to do English Language, would all the above still be applicable, or does it steer more towards newspaper articles?

Thanks

[dilks]

Stephen Kings' books?

Nothing against Stephen King, but if you only tend to read one author you won't really be broadening your vocab, etc. as much as if you read books by several decent authors.

[grannysmith]

Oh of course, I was just asking if King's books would be a good place to start?

[brenden]

Stephen King would be a perfect place to start. I recommend The Talisman (with Peter Straub), Dreamcatcher (this was my first SK I think), Under the Dome... ah, fuck it, I just recommend every SK book ever. 

[cluelessuser]

I agree with dilks. I would also suggest that you begin reading books and essays that are above your level. Although you may not always enjoy or understand every word of the text, you will begin to engage with a more complex writing style that you otherwise would not be exposed to. When you are exposed to these new ways of thinking, you will adopt them in your own writing.

Remember, you need to challenge yourself in order to become a better writer. If you read books and essays that are within your comfort zone, you are less likely to be improving your vocabulary or sentence structure.

If you are choosing a newspaper, The Age tends to have a higher standard of writing... 

[grannysmith]

Thanks everyone, but if I were to do Eng Lang instead, what would help me? Would reading books still be useful? Or should I be reading more newspaper articles, essays etc?

[cluelessuser]

If you were to do English Language, I would definitely suggest that you engage with multiple sources of journalism. Newspapers are one area, but the internet also has some fine examples (Huffington Post, for one).

Newspapers like The Age, The Guardian, and The Australian are some of the better ones, if you wish to read the highest standards of Australian journalism.

Reading books is always helpful in terms of extending your vocabulary, and improving upon syntax. I always suggest that my students read one book for enjoyment during year 12, because any book is better than an hour of television. =)

[turtlepapercut]

Isn't English language based more on understanding the ways words are said and pronounced in context? I'm not quite sure if reading newspapers and things will help too much. I have a lot of friends doing language and basically it's just a lot of analysis of texts and the ways that words are pronounced and the phonetics and metalanguage so unless you actually know what you're supposed to be looking for... Not to sure. Sorry if this doesn't help :/