English Advanced Question Thread

[SanaBanana]

hi,
so i have a question regarding trial marks. this whole year ive been getting really good marks ranging from band 5 to band six, but for the trials i totally bombed my exams (i dont know why, i feel like ive actually improved) and i was just wondering whether ive completely ruined my chance with getting a band six or at least a band 5 in the final hsc. my teacher said today that i cant get that with such marks and it really bummed me out. so what im trying to say is, have i really messed up my chances??

[owidjaja]

hi,
so i have a question regarding trial marks. this whole year ive been getting really good marks ranging from band 5 to band six, but for the trials i totally bombed my exams (i dont know why, i feel like ive actually improved) and i was just wondering whether ive completely ruined my chance with getting a band six or at least a band 5 in the final hsc. my teacher said today that i cant get that with such marks and it really bummed me out. so what im trying to say is, have i really messed up my chances??

Hey there,
Remember, your HSC marks are moderated. So if you don't do well in Trials, you can still work even harder and improve so you can do better in the HSC. I'm not only saying this for motivation- you can legitimately bring yourself up if you do well in your HSC. Essentially, your moderated HSC mark is: total internal mark out of 100 + raw HSC mark/ 2 = moderated HSC mark. This moderated mark essentially determines what band you fall under, so yes you can still get a Band 5/6!

Hope this helps!

[jazcstuart]

hi,
so i have a question regarding trial marks. this whole year ive been getting really good marks ranging from band 5 to band six, but for the trials i totally bombed my exams (i dont know why, i feel like ive actually improved) and i was just wondering whether ive completely ruined my chance with getting a band six or at least a band 5 in the final hsc. my teacher said today that i cant get that with such marks and it really bummed me out. so what im trying to say is, have i really messed up my chances??

You said you were consistently getting good results before trials, so unless your trials drastically lowered your rank, you've still got a great chance of getting a band 5/6! Remember ranks are the only thing that decide your internal mark, the actual raw mark is meaningless. So as Owidjaja said, if you do well in HSC you will not only get a good external mark (worth 50%), you will also bring up your internal mark  I would just make sure to practice some timed past paper to ensure the same thing doesn't happen in your HSC, but good luck!

[Mada438]

hi,
so i have a question regarding trial marks. this whole year ive been getting really good marks ranging from band 5 to band six, but for the trials i totally bombed my exams (i dont know why, i feel like ive actually improved) and i was just wondering whether ive completely ruined my chance with getting a band six or at least a band 5 in the final hsc. my teacher said today that i cant get that with such marks and it really bummed me out. so what im trying to say is, have i really messed up my chances??

Hey!
It's definitely still possible.
While trials still represent a sizeable chunk of your internal marks (25-40% in my case), they're not the be all and end all of your internal ranks and marks. If you've been consistently getting band 5/6s in all your other assessments/exams (well done btw) then while a bad trials mark may hurt, it will not completely destroy your marks/ranks as your other assessments means they're already relatively high.
And its always possible to still get an overall good hsc mark, you just need to work harder in the final exam in order to bring your marks up, but by no stretch is it impossible to get especially a band 5. You've never messed up your chances!

Good luck, wishing you all the best for your final exams! 

[Mate2425]

Hey guys, i am doing Jane Eyre for Module B and am still looking for a really good quote for the demonstrating the role of a governess in the Victorian context, if anyone has any ideas this would be of great appreciation.

Thank you,
Kind Regards
Mate2425

[S200]

The Victorian Governess.
Hope this helps

[kauac]

Hi,

Are we allowed to change the tense of a creative writing quote stimulus to suit the tense of our piece? My teacher seems to think it is a bad idea, but just wanted to hear others' thoughts on this...

[angewina_naguen]

Hi,

Are we allowed to change the tense of a creative writing quote stimulus to suit the tense of our piece? My teacher seems to think it is a bad idea, but just wanted to hear others' thoughts on this...

Hey, kauac!

My teachers have all said mixed things on this but I'll give you my view on it  Some think it is not a great idea because the markers can tell that you have prepared a response and are not skilful enough to adapt it under exam conditions. As bad as that sounds, it does pose a problem for how you might perform if you get a picky marker. However, others have said that it will not make a difference. It's not like you are changing the whole stimulus; you are just changing the tense, or in some cases narration POV. These are the things to consider. I did have a similar problem in my half yearlies but I managed to troubleshoot it quite fast in the exam.

What you could do is start off an original paragraph written in the exam with the given tense and then use a hyphen to break the story into your prepared part with the different tense. Let's say for example the stimulus is to be used as the beginning of your story. If you have written in present tense, a start with past tense can give context for the actions and attitudes of your characters. Conversely, if you start with present tense from the stimulus, you could break the story to shift to a past tense retrospective look on discovery. At the end of the story, you could have another hyphen placed and then bring the story back into the original tense of the stimulus which recognises that you have utilised it.

If none of this made sense, I would structure it like this-

Stimulus: Past Tense
Creative: Present Tense

Fragments
Past
-
Present
-
Past

Hope this helps!  I would like to see what others have to say about this!

Angelina 

[zanibalh]

Hey guys,
are there any predictions for the speeches for mod b?

It's just so overwhelming for me to think that I have to know them all.

[zanibalh]

“...they died so far away from the homes, the families, the friends and the land they loved so well”

“Anyone’s ‘death diminishes’ us all because we are all ‘involved in mankind.’”

what technique can I use for these quotes?

thanks!!

[kauac]

Hey guys,
are there any predictions for the speeches for mod b?

It's just so overwhelming for me to think that I have to know them all.

Hi...
It honestly is a bit hard to predict the speeches question because there are so many different combinations it could be! But keep in mind, the last two years, they have asked for a specific speech - Israeli Knesset (2017) and On Not Winning... (2016). So, being the last year for this syllabus and all, it is quite possible they will specify a speech again - but it probably won't be either of the two above. It is still definitely wise to prepare for each of the speeches to some extent, however, I'm doing these texts as well, and I get that preparing seven different speeches is a struggle!

Personally, what I have done is picked 3 speeches to know super well and use regularly in the essays (if they don't specify a speech). For the others, I have learnt the basic context, construction, content etc. and have memorised a couple of quotes that I can swap with one of my three main speeches, if needed.

The three I picked for my main speeches were: Spotty-Handed Villainesses, On Not Winning and An Australian History..... These seemed as the most viable options for me, because Spotty and Aus. History were super long, and I knew that if they are specified, I would struggle to talk about them without having done a heap of prep for them. And On Not Winning compliments each of these.

If you are doing a similar approach, I would encourage you to pick the speeches that you find the hardest, to use as your main ones. This way, if a speech is specified that isn't one of your main ones, it will be ones that are easier to use on the fly. That's why I left Is It Still Winter and Redfern out of my main mix, as I find these simple to remember and use!

Feeling prepared for this module can be tough, but it definitely can be done! It just involves a lot of quotes, and a lot of practice essays. Hope this helps! 

[jamonwindeyer]

“...they died so far away from the homes, the families, the friends and the land they loved so well”

“Anyone’s ‘death diminishes’ us all because we are all ‘involved in mankind.’”

what technique can I use for these quotes?

thanks!!

First one is accumulative listing, as well as alliteration! The second one also has alliteration, and looks like it could also be using direct quotes in itself (also a technique)? "Involved in mankind" could also be considered to be symbolic, I would say

[zanibalh]

First one is accumulative listing, as well as alliteration! The second one also has alliteration, and looks like it could also be using direct quotes in itself (also a technique)? "Involved in mankind" could also be considered to be symbolic, I would say

Thankyou so much!

Hi...
It honestly is a bit hard to predict the speeches question because there are so many different combinations it could be! But keep in mind, the last two years, they have asked for a specific speech - Israeli Knesset (2017) and On Not Winning... (2016). So, being the last year for this syllabus and all, it is quite possible they will specify a speech again - but it probably won't be either of the two above. It is still definitely wise to prepare for each of the speeches to some extent, however, I'm doing these texts as well, and I get that preparing seven different speeches is a struggle!

Personally, what I have done is picked 3 speeches to know super well and use regularly in the essays (if they don't specify a speech). For the others, I have learnt the basic context, construction, content etc. and have memorised a couple of quotes that I can swap with one of my three main speeches, if needed.

The three I picked for my main speeches were: Spotty-Handed Villainesses, On Not Winning and An Australian History..... These seemed as the most viable options for me, because Spotty and Aus. History were super long, and I knew that if they are specified, I would struggle to talk about them without having done a heap of prep for them. And On Not Winning compliments each of these.

If you are doing a similar approach, I would encourage you to pick the speeches that you find the hardest, to use as your main ones. This way, if a speech is specified that isn't one of your main ones, it will be ones that are easier to use on the fly. That's why I left Is It Still Winter and Redfern out of my main mix, as I find these simple to remember and use!

Feeling prepared for this module can be tough, but it definitely can be done! It just involves a lot of quotes, and a lot of practice essays. Hope this helps! 

Thankyou so much!
I'm pretty sure Noel's speech & Deane's have also been chosen in previous years; but correct me if I'm wrong

Mod Edit: Post merge, use 'Insert Quote' below the Message window to quote multiple people in one reply!

[kauac]

I'm pretty sure Noel's speech & Deane's have also been chosen in previous years; but correct me if I'm wrong

Good call! I couldn't seem to find anything on Noel's, but Deane's was definitely used in 2014. Long enough ago that there is still a chance that could ask for it again, but not likely, I suspect.

[jamonwindeyer]

Good call! I couldn't seem to find anything on Noel's, but Deane's was definitely used in 2014. Long enough ago that there is still a chance that could ask for it again, but not likely, I suspect.

I still have nightmares about them specifying Deane in 2014