Should I drop English?

[Glasses]

Hi all -
So I'm currently in Year 11, studying both Literature and English. Initially, I intended on studying both in Year 12, however I am contemplating whether I should drop English or not..?
My marks throughout the year have been quite good for lit, however a bit more average for English. I don't really enjoy English as such, but I think that this may have something more to do with my teacher, rather than the actual content. Unfortunately, my literature teacher will be different next year, so I'm not sure whether my marks (as it is quite subjective), will also change - and I'm wondering whether this will be the same for English..? (As I'll have a different English teacher next year also).

Anyway, any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[literally lauren]

Hi all -
So I'm currently in Year 11, studying both Literature and English. Initially, I intended on studying both in Year 12, however I am contemplating whether I should drop English or not..?
My marks throughout the year have been quite good for lit, however a bit more average for English. I don't really enjoy English as such, but I think that this may have something more to do with my teacher, rather than the actual content. Unfortunately, my literature teacher will be different next year, so I'm not sure whether my marks (as it is quite subjective), will also change - and I'm wondering whether this will be the same for English..? (As I'll have a different English teacher next year also).

Anyway, any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I was in an identical position - great Year 11 Lit teacher, not so great Year 11 English teacher - except I wasn't allowed to choose Statistically those who do well in Lit also do well (and usually well-er) in English too, so if teachers are the only factor influencing your decision, I'd say go for both. In my mind, it gave me a back up option if one of my scores didn't pan out as well as I'd planned, and since I ended up with a not so good Year 12 Lit teacher and my good Year 11 Lit teacher for Year 12 English, I'm glad I did.

Is your only other option to drop English entirely, or would you pick up another subject? As much as I hate to say it, maybe consider English a last resort subject since Lit seems to be what you're more interested in. Having said, that, it's not too difficult to score well in English so  if you're prioritising marks, then that might be a good option,

[Glasses]

I was in an identical position - great Year 11 Lit teacher, not so great Year 11 English teacher - except I wasn't allowed to choose Statistically those who do well in Lit also do well (and usually well-er) in English too, so if teachers are the only factor influencing your decision, I'd say go for both. In my mind, it gave me a back up option if one of my scores didn't pan out as well as I'd planned, and since I ended up with a not so good Year 12 Lit teacher and my good Year 11 Lit teacher for Year 12 English, I'm glad I did.

Is your only other option to drop English entirely, or would you pick up another subject? As much as I hate to say it, maybe consider English a last resort subject since Lit seems to be what you're more interested in. Having said, that, it's not too difficult to score well in English so  if you're prioritising marks, then that might be a good option,

Thanks Lauren!!
I'm not too sure if I didn't do English, I'd do Australian politics as my 6th subject (in total). Otherwise I may do both? Or maybe do Aus Pol and repeat Psych? I'm really not too sure! :/

[literally lauren]

Oh, I didn't realise you were talking 6 or 7 as opposed to 5.

So judging by what you've said you could either
1) drop English and have six subjects
2) take English and have seven
3) repeat psych and have six

In that case, I'd say let your interest decide things. Repeating psych probably wouldn't be worthwhile unless you think it'd still be more interesting than English or auspol, and you stand to significantly improve your mark. So based on what you've experienced with English this year, do you think you'd actually enjoy studying it in Year 12? The workload certainly won't be too severe, especially if you're familiar with the SAC requirements and what your teachers expect.

Actually, you could check to see what your texts for English would be next year. If you've got a copy of your school's booklist, you might want to look up some general info (or just tell me the titles and I can give you an overview) and let that inform your decision

[Glasses]

Oh, I didn't realise you were talking 6 or 7 as opposed to 5.

So judging by what you've said you could either
1) drop English and have six subjects
2) take English and have seven
3) repeat psych and have six

In that case, I'd say let your interest decide things. Repeating psych probably wouldn't be worthwhile unless you think it'd still be more interesting than English or auspol, and you stand to significantly improve your mark. So based on what you've experienced with English this year, do you think you'd actually enjoy studying it in Year 12? The workload certainly won't be too severe, especially if you're familiar with the SAC requirements and what your teachers expect.

Actually, you could check to see what your texts for English would be next year. If you've got a copy of your school's booklist, you might want to look up some general info (or just tell me the titles and I can give you an overview) and let that inform your decision

Thank you!! And I'm not sure.. I really enjoyed psych this year, but I panicked in the exam and messed it up :/

And these are the texts ---
English:
- Cloudstreet
- Brooklyn
- The Life of Galileo

Literature:
- A Dolls House
- Heart of Darkness
- Christina Rossetti (Selected Poems)
- The Red Badge of Courage and Other Stories (Stephen Crane)

Again, thank you!!

[literally lauren]

Cool! Cloudstreet and Brooklyn are both really interesting novels - probably Cloudstreet more so but I'm just a biased Winton fan 
The only trouble is, since they're both novels (Brooklyn's a bit shorter, but Cloudstreet is kind of dense) you might have a bit more of a workload than the plays and poetry which are much more digestible. However, if you were to get started with the readings over the summer (which everyone SHOULD do anyway ) that'll make the year go a lot smoother for you. Plus, if you're familiar enough with the general plot and read up on some general resources and analyses, you should be set.

And if you're doing Life of Galileo for your Context that means you're doing Conflict, which is a pretty good option since it's not quite as broad or theoretical as 'Landscapes' or 'Reality' but still has more to talk about than 'Identity and Belonging.'  Context is more of a pain for most people than the standard essays, but it's only a third of the course and you should be able to mould it to suit you. And because it's the end of the study design, you'll have 8 years worth of notes and resources at your disposal!

You've got a pretty good selection for Lit too - Heart of Darkness is excellent and Doll's House is tailor made for Lit. Passage Analyses. I think Rossetti's poetry is either in its 4th year, or will be off the list next year, but it's been quite popular so far since a lot of people find it easier to analyse poems in exam conditions than huge slabs of novels. I don't know much about Stephen Crane; I think he's new to the list, and you'll have a couple of additional texts that you'll study for SACs but won't be on the exam.

I don't want to make the decision for you, and you should definitely wait until results come out to give up on Psych entirely, but my guess is that you'd gain more from doing a different subject than from repeating the same one again, and it looks like you'd have a pretty good year set out in English judging by those texts.

Then again, if your school allows it, you could wait until you find out who your teachers are (presumably they'll tell you in orientation/commencement week at the end of this year, or right at the start of next year) and then pick up/ drop whichever subjects you want then

[Glasses]

Cool! Cloudstreet and Brooklyn are both really interesting novels - probably Cloudstreet more so but I'm just a biased Winton fan 
The only trouble is, since they're both novels (Brooklyn's a bit shorter, but Cloudstreet is kind of dense) you might have a bit more of a workload than the plays and poetry which are much more digestible. However, if you were to get started with the readings over the summer (which everyone SHOULD do anyway ) that'll make the year go a lot smoother for you. Plus, if you're familiar enough with the general plot and read up on some general resources and analyses, you should be set.

And if you're doing Life of Galileo for your Context that means you're doing Conflict, which is a pretty good option since it's not quite as broad or theoretical as 'Landscapes' or 'Reality' but still has more to talk about than 'Identity and Belonging.'  Context is more of a pain for most people than the standard essays, but it's only a third of the course and you should be able to mould it to suit you. And because it's the end of the study design, you'll have 8 years worth of notes and resources at your disposal!

You've got a pretty good selection for Lit too - Heart of Darkness is excellent and Doll's House is tailor made for Lit. Passage Analyses. I think Rossetti's poetry is either in its 4th year, or will be off the list next year, but it's been quite popular so far since a lot of people find it easier to analyse poems in exam conditions than huge slabs of novels. I don't know much about Stephen Crane; I think he's new to the list, and you'll have a couple of additional texts that you'll study for SACs but won't be on the exam.

I don't want to make the decision for you, and you should definitely wait until results come out to give up on Psych entirely, but my guess is that you'd gain more from doing a different subject than from repeating the same one again, and it looks like you'd have a pretty good year set out in English judging by those texts.

Then again, if your school allows it, you could wait until you find out who your teachers are (presumably they'll tell you in orientation/commencement week at the end of this year, or right at the start of next year) and then pick up/ drop whichever subjects you want then

THANK YOU!!

I'm still extremely confused (so if anyone has any other comments, they're more than welcome!) But nevertheless, thank you Lauren!!!!

[thaaanyan]

Hey there,
I did both two, and I studied Rossetti in lit last year, Galileo in eng this year. Ultimately I think if it's a number game for you in VCE then you may need to stick to what you think will yield you the higher mark - either from VCAA in the exam/in your sacs.
But I think the difference between Lit and english is more extensive in that literature is a bit more individual; a lot of the things i learnt about language were self taught whereas with english you can rely more extensively on teacher support. And this is great because it lets you fall in love with language in your own way - no too essays have identical structure or interpretation, and in lit your essays start to read less like checking the boxes and more like an expressive outflow of love and passion for a text. I guess what i'm trying to say is that personally, I learnt more from literature when it came to loving and using language than i did from english. Good-luck choosing!

[KEAEducation]

Definitely not!
There are so many perks doing English. For one, if your analytical skills are good enough to be doing Lit, then you can certainly do well in English which rewards such skills.

[Splash-Tackle-Flail]

Definitely not!
There are so many perks doing English. For one, if your analytical skills are good enough to be doing Lit, then you can certainly do well in English which rewards such skills.

Yep ^. A girl at my school did both English and Literature, and blasting lit helped her beast english as well (without having to write essay after essay). It seemed to me like the english equivalent of methods + specialist, and if you are considering literature, chances are you'll enjoy both subjects and writing anyway- although just about all the lit kids said they prefer lit to english at my school.

[Alps]

If you are good at english + lit then you should consider both of them together My friend got a 50 in lit by just reading the texts, all he did was practice essays in english, and although he didnt get as high in english, the subjects are compliment each other very well. I did both this year and i enjoyed it.. maybe not the part of reading so many texts but altogether your writing improves.

[Glasses]

Thanks a heap everyone!!
I have found that doing double this year has really improved my writing, but am just really concerned about the workload next year.
Here are my subjects just to clarify
Year 11 (2015):
- Psych 3/4
- Religion and Society 3/4
- Lit 1/2
- English 1/2
- Business Management 1/2
- Legal Studies 1/2.

Year 12 (2016):
- Lit
- Legal Studies
- Business Management
- Australian Politics

Here is my dilemma and my conflicting ideas/arguments!!
So if I were to do English as well next year, that would equal 7 subjects in total. My careers/subject coordinator has recommended that I drop English, so that I can focus more on my other subjects, and because my marks have ultimately been better for Lit than English. - But I'm still a bit concerned about this changing due to teachers swapping, etc.

I have found that English requires a bit more effort and work (for me personally) than Lit, but I do feel as though if I were to drop English, I could focus more on Lit (amongst my other subjects) and ultimately perform better on all of these.

My other concern was about having 7 subjects in total (5 in Year 12), and whether the extra stress and effort  would be worth it? - Considering that one subject would be relatively meaningless (ATAR-wise). And I do believe that this subject would be English.

Nevertheless, my concern about dropping English is that if I flunk out with Lit, it has to be in my top-four regardless. As well as this, I'm a bit worried about the competition for literature, in contrast to English. So even though my marks have been much better for Lit, I wonder if my study score will be better than my study score for English?


Again, thanks everyone and all comments, suggestions and views are welcome!!

[thaaanyan]

Thanks a heap everyone!!
I have found that doing double this year has really improved my writing, but am just really concerned about the workload next year.
Here are my subjects just to clarify
Year 11 (2015):
- Psych 3/4
- Religion and Society 3/4
- Lit 1/2
- English 1/2
- Business Management 1/2
- Legal Studies 1/2.

Year 12 (2016):
- Lit
- Legal Studies
- Business Management
- Australian Politics

Here is my dilemma and my conflicting ideas/arguments!!
So if I were to do English as well next year, that would equal 7 subjects in total. My careers/subject coordinator has recommended that I drop English, so that I can focus more on my other subjects, and because my marks have ultimately been better for Lit than English. - But I'm still a bit concerned about this changing due to teachers swapping, etc.

I have found that English requires a bit more effort and work (for me personally) than Lit, but I do feel as though if I were to drop English, I could focus more on Lit (amongst my other subjects) and ultimately perform better on all of these.

My other concern was about having 7 subjects in total (5 in Year 12), and whether the extra stress and effort  would be worth it? - Considering that one subject would be relatively meaningless (ATAR-wise). And I do believe that this subject would be English.

Nevertheless, my concern about dropping English is that if I flunk out with Lit, it has to be in my top-four regardless. As well as this, I'm a bit worried about the competition for literature, in contrast to English. So even though my marks have been much better for Lit, I wonder if my study score will be better than my study score for English?


Again, thanks everyone and all comments, suggestions and views are welcome!!

What about Legal Studies, Business management and Aus pol??
If you're not really strong in either of these three maybe consider getting rid of one and taking both english and lit?
Having said that, both literature and english are subjects like any other - if you have access to enough resources, and a good teacher and you work hard, success will come. If worse comes to worse, or your not really sure over how well you'll perform, perhaps invest in a tutor for literature and/or english?? if that's out of your means maybe stick to AN and online support. Hope thos helps!

[Glasses]

What about Legal Studies, Business management and Aus pol??
If you're not really strong in either of these three maybe consider getting rid of one and taking both english and lit?
Having said that, both literature and english are subjects like any other - if you have access to enough resources, and a good teacher and you work hard, success will come. If worse comes to worse, or your not really sure over how well you'll perform, perhaps invest in a tutor for literature and/or english?? if that's out of your means maybe stick to AN and online support. Hope thos helps!

Thanks for your reply!!

This year, Business and Legal have been my best subjects (by far), and I really enjoy them. I intend on picking up Aus Pol next year, as I've looked at the study design and feel like the content really suits my interests, and I think it would compliment Legal quite well.

I've tried to select subjects that I know I'll enjoy, just so that studying doesn't feel like such a chore (if that makes sense).

All up, English has been my worst subject, but I'm still a bit apprehensive to drop it :/

[thaaanyan]

Thanks for your reply!!

This year, Business and Legal have been my best subjects (by far), and I really enjoy them. I intend on picking up Aus Pol next year, as I've looked at the study design and feel like the content really suits my interests, and I think it would compliment Legal quite well.

I've tried to select subjects that I know I'll enjoy, just so that studying doesn't feel like such a chore (if that makes sense).

All up, English has been my worst subject, but I'm still a bit apprehensive to drop it :/

Maybe you should wait and see your two results for your 34 subjects this year. Let's say you score exceptionally well in both of them, then doing a 7th subject would be an absolute waste, but if your scores are a lot lower then what you may be happy with then perhaps consider taking english too.
From my perspective it sort of looks like this if you take both:
1. I take both eng & lit. since eng is my weakest subject i do badly, it also detracts time away from lit, a subject which i am good at and i end up with a strong study score but one that could have been maximised if i had more time.
2. i take both eng & lit, my lit marks aren't as strong and start dropping. my eng marks are also weak. i end up spending time fixing two subjects rather than just one.
3. My lit marks start dropping but i get better at english, therefore getting a better mark
4. i do amazingly well at both subjects - but either way one of my scores isn't counted.
or some combination thereof.
Either way if you take both subjects there is an equal chance for failure - as there are in all vce subjects. While you may think doing two will give you an extra safety net, you need to consider whether or not the costs outweigh the benefits, particularly since you've already said english has historically not been one of your strongest subjects. Ultimately i think that even if you pick eng over lit - or vice versa, with hard work you have the capacity to get an excellent score either way. there's nothing in either subject which'll hinder you from doing well.
Good luck!