which text to write on, on the exam

[koby]

i know this sounds like a "damn" question,

BUT, i was just wondering, is it better to choose the text that you want to write on
before hand during the year, or do i have to choose it on the exam time...
our school is doing 12 angry men, and i just love that play, i know it inside out,
and have prepared my notes already.... the other text is the "reluctant fundamentalist"
i don't really know much about the text to be honest.

[brenden]

You can do what you please. I knew for a fact that I would be writing on Twelve Angry Men after the first time I read the play. After my Year of Wonders SAC I never even thought about that book again.

[koby]

thats awesome... i was worried that it would be risky not to study all the play and texts inside out.. .

thanks heaps...

[brenden]

Well, it is risky. You effectively half the prompts you can write on. Whether or not you back yourself with the risk is for you to decide.

[alondouek]

thats awesome... i was worried that it would be risky not to study all the play and texts inside out.. .

Well, you should still be doing that anyway for your SACs!

[koby]

i always do fine with my sacs, last year i got the highest scores for legal, but i messed it up big time on the exam
left one question, thought ill come back on it, but i had forgoten about it and didnt have any time left. lost 5 marks on the spot

just worried about the exams a little, thought i could put more focus on two texts that i will be writing on, on the exam...

thanks for the replys..

[Jayward]

After my Year of Wonders SAC I never even thought about that book again.

This comment makes me die a little. I absolutely adore year of wonders. its so well contructed, and many thematic concepts and motifs are incredibly well woven into the plot. it is a masterpiece! (year of wonders fan boy right here)

[brenden]

This comment makes me die a little. I absolutely adore year of wonders. its so well contructed, and many thematic concepts and motifs are incredibly well woven into the plot. it is a masterpiece! (year of wonders fan boy right here)

Hahaha, I mean thought about it in terms of potentially writing on it on the exam. For me, Twelve Angry Men was a blatantly obvious choice over YoW. I think it is a great book with excellent writing

[spilurus]

Probably not a good idea to choose your preferred text this early in the year. Your teacher should take you through both texts in detail, and you may find that your opinion about each text changes. But once you have a complete picture of both texts, it's definitely appropriate to choose a text to focus your study and quote memorising efforts on in the few months leading up to the final exam.

[Checkmate]

I've written about The Reluctant Fundamentalist and while there's large room to analyse in my opinion, when I took a quick read of 12 Angry Men, I felt that it was more engaging that The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Anyway, TRF covers themes and motifs around nostalgia, identity, allegories, and prejudice. I don't know enough about 12 Angry Men to give a personal recommendation but what TRF has is an open ending and throughout it, there is wide room for interpretation from the dramatic monologue...That said I'm just about sick of the book by now 

[Professor Polonsky]

You can do what you please. I knew for a fact that I would be writing on Twelve Angry Men after the first time I read the play. After my Year of Wonders SAC I never even thought about that book again.

Exactly the same as me. I read Twelve Angry Men and fell in love with it... Unfortunately, haven't had that dreaded Year of Wonders SAC yet.

My school actually recommends choosing the text beforehand, and practicing exclusively (and a lot) for it. Hopefully, you should be able to tackle any prompt that comes up on the exam for it.

[FlorianK]

thats awesome... i was worried that it would be risky not to study all the play and texts inside out.. .

thanks heaps...

I studied an anthology of 9 stories and before the exam I already decided which 3 stories I'd write on and studied those in depth. It was quite risky and I'd advise other people reading Interpreter of Maladies to study at least 4 stories.

[Ancora_Imparo]

It definitely makes sense to focus on one text only for the exam. However, I think that it's probably a bit too early in the year to do that, especially if you haven't covered your other text(s) properly in class. Even if you have read the other text(s), you may only discover the true qualities of a text after more discussion and writing. Some people also prefer writing on the text they do later in the year because it's fresh in their minds.

Whatever the case, you must write on the text that you know and understand the most about. This will almost always be the text that you enjoy the most anyway. I would encourage you to leave this decision till you've at least covered all your texts. This will also ensure that you don't ignore a text and under-perform in a SAC.

[HossRyams]

It seems that everyone is studying TAM and preferring it over their alternative text response text! I'm studying TAM and Stasiland, and I was wondering if it's of any advantage at all to pick a text that less people would write about (which I assume is Stasiland). I enjoyed both books, and honestly, it's just that Stasiland is substantially longer and therefore, to me, requires more effort to grasp everything and know it inside out. (Perhaps I'll study more of it during class and find that I'm willing to put in a bit of extra work for it but who knows...) But then again I feel like so many people are writing on TAM, making it harder to compete with their essays. Thoughts?

[Ancora_Imparo]

It seems that everyone is studying TAM and preferring it over their alternative text response text! I'm studying TAM and Stasiland, and I was wondering if it's of any advantage at all to pick a text that less people would write about (which I assume is Stasiland). I enjoyed both books, and honestly, it's just that Stasiland is substantially longer and therefore, to me, requires more effort to grasp everything and know it inside out. (Perhaps I'll study more of it during class and find that I'm willing to put in a bit of extra work for it but who knows...) But then again I feel like so many people are writing on TAM, making it harder to compete with their essays. Thoughts?

At the end of the day, you will always be awarded for good writing, no matter how popular the text. What other people write bears no influence on your score. You are marked against a set of criteria, not the writing of others.

Even if this wasn't true, some of the most popular texts tend to be written on quite poorly because students don't give complex responses. Writing a good essay would make you stand out against the crowd.