HSC Stuff > HSC English Advanced
English Advanced Question Thread
elysepopplewell:
--- Quote from: odonataa on February 15, 2016, 12:09:44 am ---English advanced Module B speeches
Margaret atwood speech - spotty-handed villainesses
"Women characters, arise! Take back the night!" - what rhetorical technique could i have for this (in reference to the women arising part) and other than the allusion to the Take back the night 1970s protests.
Also, when structuring a Module B essay and if the question is about context and relevance, where and when should i introduce the text? For example; Explore how time and places are use to shape the audience's understanding of how knowledge of the past sheds light on the present.
would you introduce the context in the introduction and elaborate further in the body paragraph or would you just leave it in the body paragraph and flesh it out there? And for these types of questions should we talk about the audience of today and therefore its relevance over time, or should i talk about the audience of which the speeches were delivered to?
Thank you
Olivia
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Hey! In that first bit, Atwood uses an imperative (a grammatical mood that commands). Typically, she uses commas, semicolons, and colons to give a conversational effect. Then all of a sudden she makes a command through an imperative, where she's ultimately disrupting the conversational flow and adding to the feminist tone - making a big statement and ultimately a "call to action." The exclamation mark adds to this dramatically, as does the two short adjacent sentences.
As for the Module B question:
BOSTES says this about Module B:
"Module B is designed to nurture enjoyment and appreciation of significant texts. The syllabus description of this module specifies that students develop a deep analytical and critical knowledge and understanding of one prescribed text, based on close study of that text. Central to the model is a detailed in-class analysis of the prescribed text in its entirety and how meaning is shaped in that text. The ideas expressed in the text are explored through an analysis of construction, content and language, and an analysis of how the features of the text contribute to textual integrity. Discussing and evaluating notions of context and the perspectives of others amplifies the exploration of the ideas in the text, enabling a deeper and richer understanding."
So, you can tell it is heavily text based, unlike AOS which is concept based. I always opened Module B with my texts.
My own trial essay introduction went like this (the question asked us to talk about uncertainty of self):
W.B. Yeats’ oeuvre is stimulated by personal experiences of ambivalence. Yeats not only explores the uncertainty of self, but also the fleeting stages of certainty. The exploration of one’s identity and motives is seen as ambivalent in both poems, “An Irish Airman Foresees his death” and “The Wild Swans at Coole.” Amalgamating personal experience, perspectives and poetic form causes Yeats’ oeuvre to be of high textual integrity and of appreciation through time. (It's shorter than I would have liked, I was pressed for time for this essay haha).
So like BOSTES says, you are talking about the text, the textual integrity (definitely mention textual integrity throughout, particularly in your introduction, always) and how the text is broken down. So, time and place is an AWESOME question for the Atwood text because it's historical yet so relevant (and she mentions events of location, like the 1970s protests).
So, start with the text but link it to the idea of time and place. Then tease it out a little more, focusing on how time and place work together to create a special fusion of historical/modern relevance (for example). Then bring in your texts in a more specific manner, then bring it home with a solid statement about textual integrity.
Don't forget to use adverbs in your Mod B essay. "Atwood skilfully portrays..." "Atwood craftily manipulates the..." You are showing your appreciation and understanding of the texts. :)
Hopefully this helps! Let me know if anything doesn't make sense and I'll whip back here and try flesh it out more. Happy Module B-ing!
elysepopplewell:
--- Quote from: simmo on February 13, 2016, 08:46:46 pm --- :D Hi thank you very much for offering to help. I am having some trouble finding a related poem for Brave New World and were just wondering if you knew of any.
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Hey! I'm assuming that this is for Module C: People and Politics? I'm wondering why you are specifying a poem, is that where you feel most comfortable or has your teacher specified that?
Animal Farm by George Orwell (novella) is a great ORT to Brave New World.
Now, I haven't read Brave New World (trust me, it is on my list!) but I think the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson might work in your favour. It can be perceived as citizens being crushed by their leader - just following the commands until their death.
When the Wind Blows is a graphic novel that might also work well for People and Politics. I used it as an Extension 1 English "After the Bomb" ORT, but it offers a lot in terms of how people give so much faith to their political superiors. (This text also has an allusion to the above poem).
The poetry of Sylvia Plath (only certain poems, however, which would need to be selected based on the angle you are taking in your prescribed texts) offers some political influence on the personal.
Have a look at these and let me know :)
foodmood16:
--- Quote from: elysepopplewell on February 11, 2016, 11:52:45 am ---I'm glad the guide helped!
This is such a common problem that students face - the awkward conclusion that just chills on the end of an essay like a hangnail.
So I suggest that the best conclusions are established well throughout the essay. By this I mean, you have an ultimate thesis that runs through the essay but you also have "topic sentences" (or whatever you like to call them) that start the paragraph/argument. So, you end up with three or so concepts about discovery that you can kind of mash up and turn into a new way of phrasing it. Of course, you bring in the texts to the conclusion.
Here is my introduction:
The evolution of each individual is fertilised by their experiences of and response to discovery. The extent of discovery is determined by the willingness to embrace the process of discovery and the connections made with places and people. Discoveries may be planned, as was the journey undertaken by the participants of Ivan O’Mahoney’s documentary Go Back To Where You Came From (2008). Else, discoveries can be unplanned and evoked by curiosity, as was the experience of Fat Maz in Tim Winton’s short story Distant Lands (1987). Discoveries have the ability to be intensely meaningful and transformative of one’s perspective.
Now here is my conclusion:
The evolution of an individual is owed to experiencing discoveries. The intensity of the surprise and challenge that comes with significant discoveries is not determined by the process of planning or the unexpected nature of a situation. Rather, the willingness of one to make connections with places and people opens opportunity for discovery, to which Go Back To Where You Came From and Distant Lands are both a testament to. From a point of initial existence that provides a platform for discovery, individuals make discoveries that are transformative of themselves and their perspectives.
I always liked to take the approach of saying that the texts are a testament to the original thesis. For me, across various modules, this was the best way to bring it all home, tie it all together, without just spitting out exactly what I said in the beginning. You want to have a tone of "see? Look at all we have experienced through this essay. Have i convinced you that discovery is blah blah blah, as backed up by the texts such and such? Because these texts have proven the nature of discovery." You want to tie it all together, make sense of the text relations with the concepts.
Does this make sense?
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Thankyou again Elyse :) :)
Happy Physics Land:
Hey Elyse,
Just a general question regarding HSC exams. I am planning on going into exams with essays memorised and I am going to adapt them during the exam to suit the question I am given. But I am not too certain about how I would be able to adapt an essay to a question. Do you mind giving me some tips regarding this?
Thank you very much!
Best Regards
Happy Physics Land
elysepopplewell:
--- Quote from: Happy Physics Land on February 18, 2016, 11:04:43 pm ---Hey Elyse,
Just a general question regarding HSC exams. I am planning on going into exams with essays memorised and I am going to adapt them during the exam to suit the question I am given. But I am not too certain about how I would be able to adapt an essay to a question. Do you mind giving me some tips regarding this?
Thank you very much!
Best Regards
Happy Physics Land
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Again, a super awesome question from you. Personally, I went into the HSC with planned essays. Every single part of Paper 1 and 2 - except for the unseen texts - was planned. The Area of Study Essay, in my opinion, is the easiest to plan for. The reason being, you are so early in the discovery days that they aren't combing through the most ridiculous parts of the rubric because everything else has been used when they are creating your exam question. Furthermore, the rubric is full of antithetical pairings. For example, the rubric suggests that discoveries can be planned, or unplanned. I mean, you really only need to be hitting one of them in your essay in order for you to do a "agree but disagree" with the question type of thing. Another major key is to make your original thesis quite broad - perhaps talk about the universal nature of discovery, the human condition, human evolution, etc. This way you leave your first sentence in a place that is fool proof. Then, you move through the introduction standing by your point that it is universal (for example), but then your other ideas (perhaps that discoveries are planned, that they can be intensely meaningful, and that they are transformative of perspectives) will also stand, except against the new perspective as introduced by the question. It sounds complicated, so let me rephrase. You will bring an overarching concept through, with your own prepared arguments, but you will weave the new question through it all too. So you won't necessarily have to dictate your paragraphs based on the new question. Instead, you are just adding the question as a new theme to each paragraph - only by weaving it through. This becomes a very easy task when you set up great study notes for the topic. I've suggested in an AOS resource that you can find in the Area of Study Thread that you should set up your notes for discovery by splitting up the rubric by idea, then organising sections of the text to each section of the rubric. The more difficult parts to prepare for will probably be spiritual and intellectual discoveries. But, it's not impossible. You've got it! So, it is a very complicated method to approach early on. But you definitely can set up your essay in a way that will work for you. Don't be afraid to post your essay in the AOS marking thread and we will definitely work through it together if you want that.
As for your other modules, it is a little different but still achievable. It is easy of falling into the trap of only researching the parts of the text that you want to use for your favourite themes/scenes, etc. So even though you want to have favourites because it means that you are showing passion (well...maybe :P), you need to be prepared for other questions. The best way to do that? Look at past questions if they are available - and they are for most of the modules. They will probably scare you a little but don't fear - you approach them now and you have every single day until the HSC to prepare - so that is a long time.
Planned essays are a great idea, but it is only half the work. Adaptation to the question is the other half - otherwise markers will think what you have done it too prepared and you aren't showing your skills of being selective with information.
I hope this helps!
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