Essay length in the exam?

[xenial]

Hey,

I'm a bit worried about the length of essays under timed conditions. Namely because I just stumbled across a thread from 2010, where people were discussing how much they wrote in the exam. Everybody who had gotten 46 or above in English seemed to say they had written 6 pages + per essay, with some writing up to 8 pages in the exam.

I can write about 5 on a good day, and that equates to about 1200 words. More likely is that I will write four for each section - 1000 words perhaps, with slightly less on the lang anal and more on text response.

How important is essay length? I know, blah blah, quality over quantity. But putting aside our idealistic aphorisms, do you think the same proportion of people who write 4 pages would get 10 as those who write 8 pages?

Moreover, does anybody know of someone who has actually got 48+ after only writing about 4 pages per essay?

Thanks in advance

[drake]

Top students will write 1000+ words for each essay. If you write 4 pages is about 1000 words for you, I suggest that you write bigger to "pretend" you have written lots of pages - just in case the examiner is stupid... My teacher advise AT THE VERY MINIMUM 4 pages, and best students write 6+. This is because the examination script book has different line spacing and is very different to a normal lined sheet. You could probably write 100-200 words per page in the examination script book, which is different to the 200-300 words on a normal lined A4 sheet of paper. Perhaps you haven't seen the examination script book, in which case 4 pages on a normal piece of paper is fine. But if you have, then I suggest make your writing look bigger! Or just write more!

[Damoz.G]

I write 4 pages of normal loose leaf paper, and my teacher said that its completely fine. I'm gonna practice using the VCAA Script book when I do my two practice exams today to measure how many pages I can do.

In terms of word count, my teacher told me that each section is to be 800-1000 words, with a bare minimum of 750 words.

[xenial]

Oh really?

No I haven't used the script book before. I'm talking four pages and a bit of lined paper - which is over 1000 words, but not a lot over (maybe 1050).

I've only actually done one full English practice exam lol. And that was the official school one, some five and a half weeks ago. I'm just doing essay plans now - I think I've written enough. Maybe I'll do a praccy tomorrow.

[Damoz.G]

Oh really?

No I haven't used the script book before. I'm talking four pages and a bit of lined paper - which is over 1000 words, but not a lot over (maybe 1050).

I've only actually done one full English practice exam lol. And that was the official school one, some five and a half weeks ago. I'm just doing essay plans now - I think I've written enough. Maybe I'll do a praccy tomorrow.

Oh, if you're doing just over 4 pages of loose leaf paper, then that's plenty!

[Mr Keshy]

Keep in mind some people double space, skipping a line. I remember last year I read that people did like 20 pages and I was like 

Turns out they just double spaced so they essentially did around 3-4 a section!

In terms of word count, I think 800 is pretty good! around 100 for the intro, 200x3 for each body paragraph and 100 or a bit less for the conclusion. Students who write around 1000 words I think generally do 4 main body paragraphs, and that would increase the size of their intro and conclusions so I guess that's where the extra length comes from.

[xenial]

The contexts that I'm memorising, for example, are only 1000 words long. They're all creative as well. Eek. My teacher said she thinks they are great - but I'm wondering if there are any examiners in the state who would refrain from giving them high scores because they lack the depth of a six or seven page long piece of writing.

Just last minute qualms, I guess! I'm not one of those people who can smash out a 7 page long lang anal, but I am aiming high in English, and I've worked so hard in it this year. I'm just worried my goals will be compromised by the fact that I'm a slow thinker.

[xenial]

Oh yeah lol. My teacher told us about people who double space their exam to lend their pieces an aura of length and sophistication.. quote her "do they honestly think we're that stupid?"

Wow! An 8 page text response getting an 8/10!! Golly. Maybe you're right then.

[Damoz.G]

there is no set/defined number of pages. As long as a piece of string I guess!
A friend of mine wrote 2 pages for context and 8 for text response, and got 17/20 for both Quality not quantity

2 pages for Context? Hmmm.......it would had to be the best 2 pages for a context that the Examiners ever read.

[Mr Keshy]

Keep in mind that they're marking essays for the biggest VCE subject, so if you can produce a short and sweet piece, they'll definitely appreciate it!

You can make your pieces 500 or 1500 words long, it doesn't matter at all. They refer to their assessment criteria (http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/exams/english/2009Eng-crit-descriptors-V2.pdf) when they read every single essay, and if you can satisfy the requirements to get a 10 within 500 words, you'll get it, simple as that.

The exam is designed to be done within 3 hours, so that's why you hear recommendations of around 800 words, because that's the amount of words you'll probably need to create an "insightful" and "sophisticated" piece within the constraints of a 3 hour exam.

You should definitely keep your essays concise I believe. If you're going to try to use filler words to extend the length of your essay, the examiners will pick up on it, and you'll most likely lose marks for it.

So pretty much, quality > quantity, like everyone says haha!

[Damoz.G]

Also, Examiners only spent 2-3 minutes on each section of a student's exam, so you have to get your points across clearly and quickly.

[Damoz.G]

from what i can recall, he said it was a poem

Oh okay. Well then yeah, that sounds good for a high-range response.

[vashappenin]

Oh yeah lol. My teacher told us about people who double space their exam to lend their pieces an aura of length and sophistication.. quote her "do they honestly think we're that stupid?"

Wait so double-spacing isn't a good thing after paragraphs? I always leave ~2-3 lines after every single paragraph just in case I need to add anything extra, etc. and I was going to do that in the exam as well.. Is this not a good thing? My teacher's an assessor and she always encouraged us to do this just in case we're in a situation where we forgot something vital and need to go back and add it in..

[Damoz.G]

Wait so double-spacing isn't a good thing after paragraphs? I always leave ~2-3 lines after every single paragraph just in case I need to add anything extra, etc. and I was going to do that in the exam as well.. Is this not a good thing? My teacher's an assessor and she always encouraged us to do this just in case we're in a situation where we forgot something vital and need to go back and add it in..

Nah....that should be fine if you leave 2-3 lines.

I'm sure your examiner would rather you keep 2-3 lines of space if you forgot to add something, rather than putting arrows everywhere to indicate extra stuff that you missed.

[xenial]

Wait so double-spacing isn't a good thing after paragraphs? I always leave ~2-3 lines after every single paragraph just in case I need to add anything extra, etc. and I was going to do that in the exam as well.. Is this not a good thing? My teacher's an assessor and she always encouraged us to do this just in case we're in a situation where we forgot something vital and need to go back and add it in..

Wait no no. I meant double spacing EVERY line, not double spacing after paragraphs. Lol that's fine, that's a good idea.