Everyone I know is doing Language Analysis first.
But I will be doing it last.
Doing the exam in chronological order. My tutor, as past examiner told me to do this because her other examiner friends also agree. The exam wasn't written in that specific order for no reason. Many argue that language analysis should be attempted first because not only is it easier for many students, it also allows you to make the most use out of reading time since you can analyse the article. However this is how my tutor sees it:
Text response and context is mainly memory work. If you have prepared well, you can write two essays in a relatively short time as you are basically regurgitating knowledge. However as time goes by, your mind will begin to feel tired and you will become less effective in remembering. The first two tasks are rote-learning while language analysis is based on logic and analysis. Haven't you wondered why you can sometimes do maths even when you are stoned?! That's maths isn't a rote-learning subject and requires you to analyse on the spot, just like language analysis. On the other hand, rote-learning tasks such as text response and context become difficult to concentrate on after an hour or two. This is one of the reasons I am doing language analysis last.
But what about reading time? Won't you be wasting 15 mins if you analyse the language analysis but don't being on it straight away? Well the trick here is to not actually read the language analysis at all, maybe just a skim of it to get the basic gist. The logic here is simple, by the time you finish your other two essays, it would have been around 2 hours since you've attempted to analyse the article so there wouldn't be much point to analyse it during reading time. Instead, reading time should be dedicated into analysing the prompts, mainly text response. What I am going to do is plan my entire text response in my head, recall all the past quotes and sentences I have used in the past and formulate an incredibly detailed plan. Personally, I find I am terrible at planning and that if I do not have a plan, I have no direction and take forever to write an essay. If I am able to use that 15 minutes to plan, then when writing time starts I can immediately do my plan on paper in 5 minutes and then write an essay in 50, maybe even 40 minutes. Also this is a personal thing but, I haven't really practised language analysis much and it will take the longest time to write since I take ages to find the words to express myself. So just in case, I'll do it last because I might run out of time for my other pieces.
BUT since so many people are telling me to do language analysis first, I don't think I should totally trust my tutor.
Do you think I should stick to my tutor's advice and do it chronologically?
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