Essay length in the exam?

[xenial]

Has anybody actually heard of someone doing really well with <5 pages per response though? That's what I'm curious about..

[Damoz.G]

Has anybody actually heard of someone doing really well with <5 pages per response though? That's what I'm curious about..

5 Pages of VCAA lines or normal loose leaf lines?

[vashappenin]

If you're writing 4 pages on normal paper it'd probably be around (6 or more depending on how big your handwriting is) on script paper so don't worry too much

[xenial]

Oh cool, okay. I'm guessing adrenaline will cause me to write more anyway.

(I meant 5 of VCAA script book btw)

[drake]

yeah, just write as much as you can. 1000+ is preferred though for the high 40's, but there are obviously exceptions. i remember i wrote 22 pages in my practice english exam in the script book with 15 minutes spare, so i'll probably aim for about 24-25 pages this time. if you've memorised your context, get that out as fast as you can! you should be able to do at least 1000 in 45 minutes... i found i was able to do 1500 in 47 minutes if it is completely memorised (but obviously i won't be able to do that in the exam because one cannot memorise everything - topic cannot be ignored)! just write as much as you can and as fast as you can!

[simba]

Just please don't look at length as the sole indicator of potential exam performance!!
I know people who can write >5 pages for each piece, but It's totally unfocused, not concise and the assessors would not look upon that favourable, since they're looking for a controlled use of language!
(sorry Brenden for using you in this example without consent) But from memory, I don't believe any of his pieces were over 1000 words, and he received extremely close to full marks on the exam!

[charmanderp]

800-1000 words is sufficient for a 10, as long as it's a high quality essay. I can guarantee you that. The only reason longer essays can get better marks is because they go into more detail. So if you can condense the same level of detail into lesser words, power to you (makes for a better read, too).

1000-1200 is probably 'ideal', whatever that means.

For some perspective, my text response was probably between 1000-1200 and my LA was about 1300-1500. My context piece was ludicrously well over 2000 words because I spent an obscene amount of time on it (almost 90 minutes).

Guess which one was my lowest scoring piece? Context.

Essay length is not at all an indicator of quality! I've marked essays that have been 800-1000 words that are much better than ones between 1200-1700 words, and would get a much better grade as a result. It's not a concern at all. Your only concern if you're struggling to write under timed conditions should be to make sure your piece has a very clear intro and conclusion to make sure your argument ties together nice and cogently.

[xenial]

Hahaha that's cray. Yeah my context is some heart wrenching piece about my grandfather coming out as gay aged 92. Super tragic. Hoping to make some examiners weep their way to giving me a 10 out of 10. But it is, relatively, quite short.

25 pages!! Insane, good luck  . I'm guessing you're aiming for a 50 though, coming from Melbourne grammar and all. My school doesn't do nearly as well - and I won't do nearly as well, but I 'only' need a humble 47 for my course. I'll aim for 1000+, I think!

[xenial]

No no I am being sarcastic! Haha, I put inverted commas around the only for a reason. Sorry if it came across that way - if I truly thought it was easy, I wouldn't be posting in this thread!

Sorry 

[Emie]

Is it bad if your paragraphs go over one page in the script book? I only write 3 paras but they're always really long!

[brenden]

That's fine, Em . My text response had an intro, three paras, a tiny conc and was five pages.

[Damoz.G]

i dont think so, but you could always slash them into two paragraphs (literally truncate them halfway). I went to a lecture held by an assessor, and she said that it was fine to do that.

LOL! My teacher told me not to break  my ideas into 2 paragraphs. Because I had a few essays and the paragraphs had similar ideas, but I split it up. She said that it doesn't look good, and its better if its done as one paragraph to show clear links in the ideas explained.

[muscle min]

hi quick question,
are we allowed to use erasable pens? Like the good quality types that dont smudge

[Mr Keshy]

hi quick question,
are we allowed to use erasable pens? Like the good quality types that dont smudge

Don't use them, the ink can disappear when exposed to heat, i.e. when they scan them!

[xenial]

My teacher actually recommended we use them if we make lots of faults.. She said she tried scanning them and it still came up fine (although it was a bit lighter than normal pen). But I would be cautious using them! I had no idea the ink could disappear when exposed to heat.