Bazza's English questions

[nisha]

Charmanderp, you don't need the study. You are a genius already.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

For context on the answer book, it has a box to write "main text drawn upon"
Now i was under the impression that let's say, you draw upon 1 text for 25% another set text for 25% that that would fill the >~50% criteria for the set texts?
Does this imply that we have to talk about one text for the majority?
Cos out of the 4 twistable body paragraphs i currently have, 1 of them is streetcar, 2 are spies, and one is other
Not sure what to do about this, cos i don't want to talk for texts for much more than 50%, but if i can only draw from 2 text if one is ~50%... ?

[pi]

You are primarily supposed to draw from mainly one text only, yes. Ideally, a ratio of 40% other external material to 60% clear links to textual themes.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

awks i never actually realised that FML
might have to do a little bit of tinkering in that case

do you know where i could find an elaboration / explanation of that specific info on the VCAA website?
Thanks

[pi]

Well, I was actually told that 60-40 split by the guy who duxed mhs in 2009 and 50'd English (full marks raw in both semester SACs) in his summer program last year, seemed like good advice haha

[WhoTookMyUsername]

haha yeah i was intending to do a 50 - 50 ish split, but i was thinking about making the text 50 composed of 2 separate texts

m... do you know if i can find info about that specification on VCAA anywhere? I had a quick look but couldn't find anything

[charmanderp]

haha yeah i was intending to do a 50 - 50 ish split, but i was thinking about making the text 50 composed of 2 separate texts

m... do you know if i can find info about that specification on VCAA anywhere? I had a quick look but couldn't find anything

You do realise that there's no set way to do anything? You could reference the text anywhere between 50-100 percent of the time and come away with full marks or do any split you want with two or three texts or extraneous material or whatever.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

No i don't realise, that's why i'm asking...
Because there's specifically a box on the response booklet that asks for "main text" which implies that we are to draw our text evidence majorly from one text. I also i do not want to talk about text for much more than 50% so if they want at least 50% on one text then ill do that.
Just not sure whether doing 2 25% books is viable, especially with the phrasing of the answer book

[charmanderp]

With English you're not going to find a fomula that tells you how to get full marks. It's all about your own discretion and the style and form you write in. That being said, I think you need to write at least 50% of your essay about one text.

[werdna]

I used this expository structure in the SACs and exam (which got 20/20):

Body 1/2/3 - External example THEN textual example - Delayed introducing the first textual example until the second half of the first para, just to avoid it seeming like a text response. Each example would discuss around 4 or 5 quotes, and the essay was done in 50:50 ratio.

BUT what I have also been suggesting to students is the following structure if they are short for time or ideas:

Body 1 - External example
Body 2 - External example, textual example
Body 3 - Textual example

^ This is still 50:50 but obviously less examples - you just need to be able to expand on the body 1 and 3 examples a lot more. Both these structures are 50:50 so examiners can't really complain about there being too much/little text.

[charmanderp]

This is just my opinion but I think using textual evidence in your first body paragraph and delaying any external examples works better. I just have a feeling that this is what the examiners want to see, and anything to do with the prompt other than the text should be secondary or come after you've drawn links between the ideas of the prompt and the text. Just my personal style though.

[werdna]

Hmm fair enough, I've always delayed the textual example since I thought it's better to show the examiner that you can discuss the ideas broadly and externally first, then you can use the text to support those ideas as a vehicle - which is what you should be doing.

Another thing for context essays - try to make some comparisons between the characters or people you discuss. Eg. 'In order to avoid suffering the same fate as Barack Obama, it is crucial that we...' or 'Like Barack Obama, ____ also experiences such...' or 'Thus, in order to achieve a strong sense of acceptance, we must channel the empowerment and positivity of Barack Obama...' - Barack Obama is just a made up example lol

[charmanderp]

That's true, but I've always done the conceptual analysis as my introduction, and laid a solid foundation before introducing the text midway through my first body paragraph. That works pretty well, but like I said earlier there's no set way to do it.

[WhoTookMyUsername]

With English you're not going to find a fomula that tells you how to get full marks. It's all about your own discretion and the style and form you write in. That being said, I think you need to write at least 50% of your essay about one text.

Obviously there's no set formula. I never asked for a formula, all along i've only been asking whether we can fulfill the >50% component with 2 separate texts as opposed to a single one.


 

[Lasercookie]

As far as I'm aware, there is no 50% component. Those are just guidelines to help ensure that you do meet the "• effective use of detail and ideas drawn from the selected text as appropriate to the task" criteria.

Have a look at the assessor reports for the "Use of Text" section. This is quoted from the 2008 one, and the 2009 and 2010 reports repeated the same sentiments (but more in depth with each year)

There can be no definitive advice on the success of relying on a single text or employing both (or more). Some students
used the two texts expertly to demonstrate exceptions and qualifications while others did little more than use the second
text to add more of the same examples.

Some students who relied on a single text were able to develop a more coherent response than those who felt they were
required to use both texts, and were unable to make the transition from one text to the other in a coherent, fluent
manner.
 
It appeared that in general, students who used more texts needed to be more skilled in pulling the ideas together
seamlessly. 

So you can do well with one text only. You can do well with using two texts. The only thing is that you must have a fairly decent connection to your nominated text.