50 in English - Feel free to ask questions.

[Yang Li]

Hey Koby,

Generally speaking, you do not have to relate other evidence in a context essay with the evidence that comes from your text. However, given that they are all closely related to the context, they are inevitably linked to some extent.

Galileo is a very interesting person historically, as he was quite a religious person himself. Other than the conflict between his scientific discoveries, the church, and the ignorance of the general populace of the day, he must have also experienced personal conflict in trying to find an internal balance between his logical, scientific mind and his faith.

All the best,

Yang

[jono88]

With a prompt like "new environments create conflict", is it too cliche to write a speech to newly accepted asylum seekers about the conflicts that may arise and ways of adapting to those conflicts?

[danne]

Hi Yang

For my english context, I am practising an expository peice on "The overall importance of conflict lies not in it causes but in its consequences".
My book is The Quiet American
Could you provide me with some real life resources which I can incorporate into my peice?

Thank you

[jeanweasley]

Hi Yang,

I'm happy that I'm consistent in English getting 90s for each of my SACs, but how can I improve to get the top marks?

[abcdqdxD]

With a prompt like "new environments create conflict", is it too cliche to write a speech to newly accepted asylum seekers about the conflicts that may arise and ways of adapting to those conflicts?

Sounds quite creative to me!

[Yang Li]

Hey guys,

jono88 - I reckon that's a great topic! It's especially interesting that in escaping a conflict, they find themselves in another. It's quite sad in my opinion. Australia should be more humanitarian about the way we treat asylum seekers and use it to boost our labour pool. For the context, there are many conflicts - b/w old culture and new; b/w asylum seekers and the government; internal conflicts b/w wanting to belong in a society but not feeling accepted etc.

danne - There are a countless number of examples for your prompt. There are some ideas you should consider:
1) Is conflict always caused by ignorance?
2) Are the consequences of conflict always negative?
3) Is it dangerous to forget the cause of a conflict?
You may consider some conflicts such as - Israeli/Palestinian; Irish Catholic/Protestant; The Crusades; DPRK Communist/Capitalist South Korea. You can also consider internal conflicts within individuals etc.

jeanweasley - You're a regular on the thread now Congrats on being able to consistently score above 90. To get those top marks, it really comes down to building "finesse"; that is, great control of language and the ability to relay complex ideas efficiently. The best way to get there is to have a tutor or a mentor to read your writing and give you some pointers from time to time.

All the best,

Yang

[ashs_vb]

Hi Yang
Do you mind if we send you pieces to have a look at?

[Eugenet17]

Hey Yang,

during an exam, should we be spending the majority of our reading time on the language analysis section?

[Alwin]

Hey Yang,

during an exam, should we be spending the majority of our reading time on the language analysis section?

Hi   (obviously I'm not Yang), but I would say there isn't much else you can do and should do. You can't write so any planning for the text response and context pieces would have to be done and remembered in your head, to be later transferred onto paper. Not a very efficient use of time. Much better to carefully read the article(s) go get both an overall view and pick out specifics you can later use in your analysis.
Moreover, you don't want to spend precious writing time having to go back and reading the article.. reading time is for reading and writing time is for (if you hadn't guessed) writing 

[matthew.agius]

Hello Yang,
Would you mind if I sent you a piece to mark,
Thanks Matt

[jeanweasley]

jeanweasley - You're a regular on the thread now Congrats on being able to consistently score above 90. To get those top marks, it really comes down to building "finesse"; that is, great control of language and the ability to relay complex ideas efficiently. The best way to get there is to have a tutor or a mentor to read your writing and give you some pointers from time to time.

All the best,

Yang

Yang,
Thanks for your reply. I'll see to building "finesse" by posting my other works here. Just another question, how do you overcome fear in SACs or in an exam situation that something will go wrong, that, even if you've studied for it, there is that underlying fear that 'what if I stuff this up?' "Will I finish in time""What score will I get?"

[Yang Li]

Hey guys,

ashs_vb & matthew.agius,

Unfortunately, I cannot mark your work given that my students pay me to do the same. It would be unfair for them. If you're interested in getting some constant feedback from me, PM me and we can make an arrangement.

Eugenet17,

I agree with Alwin on that point. It is good exam technique to get your first and second (if you can) reading of the article done in your 10mins reading time. I will add however, that it is also important to make up your mind as to what prompt you will write on for the other two sections and stick with it. The reading time is also a good opportunity to do that. It is amazing how long some students can take just to decide which prompt to tackle. That would be detrimental given the time limit. While you read the article, make sure you know both what the issue and the writer's contention is.

jeanweasley,

It is really common to get the jitters and doubt yourself in an exam situation. Try and use the adrenaline and nerves to your advantage. Sport science studies have shown that being overly nervous impedes performance dramatically, but a healthy amount of nerves actually helps the brain to concentrate and focus, thereby increasing performance. If you find yourself doubting, remind yourself to calm your farm/cool your stool/take a chill pill (whichever works best for you haha). Your practice will carry you through just fine.

All the best,

Yang

N.B. My guide to language analysis is downloadable under the first post of this thread.

[QuidProQuo]

I don't know if this question has been asked, but nonetheless:
What kind of SAC marks do you generally have to get to achieve a 50 in English (or up there somewhere)? I've heard from various sources that because so many people do it, you need near-perfect raw scores and probably rank 1, unless it's a mammoth English cohort, but also that you can afford to lose a few marks along the way and blitz the exam and come out right on top....Which one is the more relevant?

[brenden]

I don't know if this question has been asked, but nonetheless:

Well, it would be respectful to find out if the question has been asked.
It is possible for the highest ranked person to score a 50 even if they don't have close to full SAC marks because of the way VCAA moderates SACs. If there were someone (or more than one person) to score monumentally high on the exam, the top cluster of ranks should have pretty high moderated SACs.

[abcdqdxD]

how would you tackle "conflict is a fear of difference"?

Suggestions from anyone is welcome!