English Advanced Question Thread

[limtou]

Can anyone doing Judith Wright for Mod C explain the overall idea behind Hawthorn Hedge?
Thanks in advance

[jamonwindeyer]

I've got an exam coming up the first week back for Module B. All i know is its either going to be on Prufrock or Preludes, how should i study for it? Because even though i understand the content, I just am confused on how to study for it. All ive done so far is send paragraphs to my teachers but since its only going to be ONE of Eliot's poems...i am just not sure what to do!!

Hey! Great work on sending stuff to your teachers, that's exactly what you should be doing to prepare

What I'd basically recommend is making sure you've got enough quotes/techniques/analysis memorised to answer a question on either poem. Make palm cards, make a summary sheet, whatever you need to do, and just study to make those quotes sink in. It is important to be ready with enough stuff to write about.

Beyond that, practice! So you are already doing exactly the right thing - Just practice writing paragraphs on each poem

[jamonwindeyer]

The question I have is how exactly do I prepare a generic essay? (and if you have time, what other tips do you have of adapting a prepared response to the question?)

Hey there! You are in luck, Elyse wrote a guide on memorising English essays, which covers a bit on how to integrate the question properly.

This is a really tough thing, and I'm personally not the best to give advice on it because I never prepared generic essays. What I'll say is that it is very normal to have trouble with this in English, you aren't alone! And hopefully someone with more experience can lend more of a hand

[elysepopplewell]

Hi there! I've always had the same issue of "You aren't answering the question " in my exams and my most recent assessment had "Link to the question?" on every page, I think my teacher forgot to give any other feedback because I was so offtrack hahaa...
I always hear about writing a generic essay to memorise for the exam.
In the past I would use the practice questions that our teachers gave us to submit essay for feedback for my memorised essay but I think they might be too specific and probably isn't good to write a generic response on. Also, in the exam, I'm always so focused on trying to just get everything down in time that I completely forget about changing it to fit the question and when I do, my only way of doing it is explicitly mentioning parts of the question in my analysis.
The question I have is how exactly do I prepare a generic essay? (and if you have time, what other tips do you have of adapting a prepared response to the question?)
I've learnt to write a thesis by answering the question however if I don't know the question, I wouldn't really know what to write as a thesis.
Thank you in advanced and I'm sorry if this has been asked before ^^

I often wrote generic essays as both an opportunity to present drafts to my teacher, but also as a basis for an essay that I'd use in an exam. Taking AOS for example, the way I'd build up an essay was based strictly on a unique part of the rubric. This would be the basis of my argument, or my sub-argument, so that whatever the essay question was could take over as the main point. I think that having a prepped essay works well in this manner, because you always have a prepared argument to bring to the table for a unique twist on the main question. HOWEVER, the problem arrives when you focus too much on your prepared argument and not enough on the question set. When the question is set, we need to address this far more than the prepared response. If you need to: abandon the prepared response. But the best case scenario is that you can use the prepared response to add a unique turn to the essay question.

If you're consistently not answering the question, then I'm wondering if it's because you're just not following any particular vein, or if it's because you're privileging your prepared argument over the essay question. There's no advice that I can give for this part except: You must remember to address the question. In the chaos of the exam, you somehow need to remind yourself to address the question. That's that! If it means writing it at the top of your page, or doing random asterisks down the page before writing so that each time you get to one you are prompted to ask yourself "am I addressing the question?" - then so be it. There's no avoiding that you NEED to bring it to the forefront. I find that by giving myself a solid introduction that addresses the question well, I set my mindset up for the rest of the essay to remember to privilege the essay question over my prepared response. If you simply cannot push past this, then I think generic essays mightn't be the best option for you, and instead you should put greater focus on remembering all kinds of quotes and ways they can be analysed, rather than trying to connect themes and concepts to these pieces of textual evidence.

Building a thesis: Use past essay questions, the syllabus, rubric, or just arguments that stick out to you personally, to create the thesis. Past essay questions always inspire me because of the new angles they force you to take on when addressing the work. Hopefully this helps!

[winstondarmawan]

Hello! Can someone please help me with this comprehension question. I have no idea what this poem means and how to approach the question. TIA.
Poem:
https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/19832406_1261315197327334_888664001_n.jpg?oh=ca86bedbdff1360c7fe3971b9fcf0948&oe=595D15DD
https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/19755940_1261315230660664_142058260_n.jpg?oh=c13716884208a8847794cd73441b8de9&oe=595DFD24
Question (Text 3 Poem):
https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t34.0-12/19668181_1261315243993996_658741520_n.jpg?oh=6a67dae79307c60b8e53685f2b404573&oe=595D17B8

[phebsh]

Hey, I'm aware that this is a super broad 'question' but I guess that shows how confused I am... I don't know how to prepare for trials and I don't really know much about my module B and C texts. I've significant issues and changes at home and my teacher hasn't been able to help me as much as I'd like. I didn't do well in my last assessment task and I really need to make up for it. I've got an assignment due next term and trials coming up but things are still hectic for me. What can I do to help? English is probably my main worry.

Sorry for venting.

[elysepopplewell]

Hey, I'm aware that this is a super broad 'question' but I guess that shows how confused I am... I don't know how to prepare for trials and I don't really know much about my module B and C texts. I've significant issues and changes at home and my teacher hasn't been able to help me as much as I'd like. I didn't do well in my last assessment task and I really need to make up for it. I've got an assignment due next term and trials coming up but things are still hectic for me. What can I do to help? English is probably my main worry.

Sorry for venting.

Hey! You've come to the right place to vent
It sucks when things at home are affecting your study life - I know about it! But even from the short message you've sent, I can see that you want to be proactive about it to give yourself the best shot possible at raking in some great marks. That's commendable!
Firstly, what are the texts you are studying? I can search the site to see if we have anything on your texts on the site here to give you a bit of a boost. How are you going with AOS and Module A? Are you feeling confident with them?

I suppose, the first thing I can recommend is actually reading the texts if you haven't had the chance already. I'm sure that some people suggest cramming through study summaries as the best approach for your timeframe, but I seem to think that actually reading the texts if you haven't already will give you the opportunity to draw on aspects of the texts outside the summaries in an exam. If you have read the texts and are on top of things, I suggest looking to past papers. If you assess how many of the past questions you can answer to a reasonable degree, which ones you can't answer at all, and which ones you'd be quite confident in, then you can start seeing a pattern in where your study lacks.
Sorry to ask so many questions and not giving much advice, but by knowing a little more I think I can give more tailored advice! Are you struggling with essay writing, understanding the modules, or understanding your texts? If you can post back and let me know I'll happily help you out more specifically!

Also remember that with 15 ATAR Notes posts, we can give you intensive feedback on a piece of work, like your assignment, to help you get on the right track if you're feeling a bit lost

[elysepopplewell]

Hello! Can someone please help me with this comprehension question. I have no idea what this poem means and how to approach the question. TIA.

Hey! There's a few things you could look at here. The question asks you to look specifically at the construction of the poem, so give a privileged approach to the form. The first thing I notice is the lack of punctuation. You could argue that the enjambment is representative of the fluid process of discovering. Also, the first person narration is used - which is important to discuss because the essay question asks specifically about the persona. So the first person narration is great for this kind of perspective! The repetition of "I am" is quite significant to, it constantly reminds the responder of what the persona is as a being. It also becomes a significant point at the very end of the poem as well!

Hopefully this gives you a bit of direction as to what are some things you can discuss Have a go at trying to engage with these techniques, and drop back if you're still struggling

[phebsh]

Hey! You've come to the right place to vent
It sucks when things at home are affecting your study life - I know about it! But even from the short message you've sent, I can see that you want to be proactive about it to give yourself the best shot possible at raking in some great marks. That's commendable!
Firstly, what are the texts you are studying? I can search the site to see if we have anything on your texts on the site here to give you a bit of a boost. How are you going with AOS and Module A? Are you feeling confident with them?

I suppose, the first thing I can recommend is actually reading the texts if you haven't had the chance already. I'm sure that some people suggest cramming through study summaries as the best approach for your timeframe, but I seem to think that actually reading the texts if you haven't already will give you the opportunity to draw on aspects of the texts outside the summaries in an exam. If you have read the texts and are on top of things, I suggest looking to past papers. If you assess how many of the past questions you can answer to a reasonable degree, which ones you can't answer at all, and which ones you'd be quite confident in, then you can start seeing a pattern in where your study lacks.
Sorry to ask so many questions and not giving much advice, but by knowing a little more I think I can give more tailored advice! Are you struggling with essay writing, understanding the modules, or understanding your texts? If you can post back and let me know I'll happily help you out more specifically!

Also remember that with 15 ATAR Notes posts, we can give you intensive feedback on a piece of work, like your assignment, to help you get on the right track if you're feeling a bit lost

So for Discovery and Module A, I think I have an alright understanding of it. (Discovery - Life of Pi, Module A - The Great Gatsby & Sonnets from the Portuguese)
For Module B, I'm doing Hamlet and for Module C, I'm doing the Art of Travel.

I think I'm struggling with understanding the texts and the modules. Once I understand, I should be okay to write essays on them.

[elysepopplewell]

So for Discovery and Module A, I think I have an alright understanding of it. (Discovery - Life of Pi, Module A - The Great Gatsby & Sonnets from the Portuguese)
For Module B, I'm doing Hamlet and for Module C, I'm doing the Art of Travel.

I think I'm struggling with understanding the texts and the modules. Once I understand, I should be okay to write essays on them.

Ok, I'm gong to link you to a bunch of things that I think might help.

In terms of understanding the module B, have a look here, and for C, check here. With Module B, remember that the ideas of textual integrity and relevance beyond context is really important. As for Module C, the ideas of representation and the relationship between people and landscapes, comes to the forefront of your analysis. To get you on your feet, here are some notes and essays uploaded by students that will surely give you a good place to bounce off. There are some excellent resources here. We also have some Art of Travel notes too!

Please have a read of some of these, and then if you have any text specific questions, or would like some help forming an introduction to get the ball rolling, I'm here to help!

[phebsh]

Ok, I'm gong to link you to a bunch of things that I think might help.

In terms of understanding the module B, have a look here, and for C, check here. With Module B, remember that the ideas of textual integrity and relevance beyond context is really important. As for Module C, the ideas of representation and the relationship between people and landscapes, comes to the forefront of your analysis. To get you on your feet, here are some notes and essays uploaded by students that will surely give you a good place to bounce off. There are some excellent resources here. We also have some Art of Travel notes too!

Please have a read of some of these, and then if you have any text specific questions, or would like some help forming an introduction to get the ball rolling, I'm here to help!

Thanks a lot for your help Elyse! I'm keen for the lectures next week, loved the last round 

[elysepopplewell]

Thanks a lot for your help Elyse! I'm keen for the lectures next week, loved the last round 

So glad you'll be attending! Come and introduce yourself

[yuriques]

Sorry for the late replies!

Hey there! You are in luck, Elyse wrote a guide on memorising English essays, which covers a bit on how to integrate the question properly.

This is a really tough thing, and I'm personally not the best to give advice on it because I never prepared generic essays. What I'll say is that it is very normal to have trouble with this in English, you aren't alone! And hopefully someone with more experience can lend more of a hand

I've had a quick read-through of it before but I'll get to actually reading it properly sometime, thank you for your reply!

I often wrote generic essays as both an opportunity to present drafts to my teacher, but also as a basis for an essay that I'd use in an exam. Taking AOS for example, the way I'd build up an essay was based strictly on a unique part of the rubric. This would be the basis of my argument, or my sub-argument, so that whatever the essay question was could take over as the main point. I think that having a prepped essay works well in this manner, because you always have a prepared argument to bring to the table for a unique twist on the main question. HOWEVER, the problem arrives when you focus too much on your prepared argument and not enough on the question set. When the question is set, we need to address this far more than the prepared response. If you need to: abandon the prepared response. But the best case scenario is that you can use the prepared response to add a unique turn to the essay question.

If you're consistently not answering the question, then I'm wondering if it's because you're just not following any particular vein, or if it's because you're privileging your prepared argument over the essay question. There's no advice that I can give for this part except: You must remember to address the question. In the chaos of the exam, you somehow need to remind yourself to address the question. That's that! If it means writing it at the top of your page, or doing random asterisks down the page before writing so that each time you get to one you are prompted to ask yourself "am I addressing the question?" - then so be it. There's no avoiding that you NEED to bring it to the forefront. I find that by giving myself a solid introduction that addresses the question well, I set my mindset up for the rest of the essay to remember to privilege the essay question over my prepared response. If you simply cannot push past this, then I think generic essays mightn't be the best option for you, and instead you should put greater focus on remembering all kinds of quotes and ways they can be analysed, rather than trying to connect themes and concepts to these pieces of textual evidence.

Building a thesis: Use past essay questions, the syllabus, rubric, or just arguments that stick out to you personally, to create the thesis. Past essay questions always inspire me because of the new angles they force you to take on when addressing the work. Hopefully this helps!

Ah taking an unique part of the rubric and using it as a sub-argument? Thank you so much, that makes so much more sense now. I always thought there was a perfect way to make a generic response which only required a bit of tweaking in exams but I suppose I won't be able find an easy way through English

I definitely think the problem with my exam is relying way too much on my prepared argument. I'm probably way too stressed out trying to not waste time thinking in the exam so I end up falling back on stuff that I've memorised (I suppose I need to train my thinking speed because I think too slowly OTL) I might actually draw asterisks down the page and see how that helps! I'm thinking of only doing an essay for Mod A and C since they migh specify poems/speeches for AOS or Mod B but I'll see when I start writing for trials.

This was a lot of help, thank you very much! I'll be back again when I have another mental meltdown haha

[Nym1]

Hi there! I'm not sure if this kind of post is allowed but I was wondering, I am doing Module B Speeches and struggling to analyse Anwar Sadat's Speech to the Israeli Knesset. I can find a lot of small arguments such as high modality and use of inclusive language but I was wondering if anyone knew of any metaphors he uses or any other higher order techniques? 
Thank you so much for your help!

[winstondarmawan]

Hey just wanted to know if there are any threads where we could get reading comprehension tasks marked, or if we can post it here. TIA