English Advanced Question Thread

[Blissisignorance]

Hey there,
I'm not sure if this is 'personally engaging' but the way I integrate a critic in my Mod B responses if my analysis is closely linked to what the critic says. So, say I'm analysing Yeats' poem 'Easter 1916' and I just talked about certainty vs uncertainty and I had a critic that also explores this idea, after analysing all three quotes I say something along the lines of "My analysis is supported by critic ____ in the work ______ as s/he states *insert quote*" so I can show that I've had time to gather my opinions on the poems but at the same time link my ideas to a critic to reinforce my opinion... if that makes sense.

Hope this helps!

Welcome to the forums Bliss!

I think the key to that comment is that they don't want to see a response littered with a tonne of critic quotes. They can be over-used, and what this does is prevents you from presenting a personal viewpoint/critique. What they want is places where you present a concept, or an idea, or an evaluation, that doesn't rely on a critic quote. It's okay to say, "the critic ________ evaluates the significance of this technique in this way," but sometimes (perhaps more often) you need to just come up with your own 'critic quotes,' so to speak

That helps, thanks guys!
I was doing a bit like "Yeats portrays uncertainty......Psychoanlaytic theory suggests that this may allude to....", so I didn't think I was showing me engaging with it, but I think adding "My analysis" as suggested by owidjaja would be sufficient.
Also, when I mention obscure things like paranoid-schizoid position, would you recommend putting in brackets what it means? I want to show the marker that I did my research, but I don't want the marker to think that I'm just putting it there cause I don't know what it means.

[owidjaja]

That helps, thanks guys!
I was doing a bit like "Yeats portrays uncertainty......Psychoanlaytic theory suggests that this may allude to....", so I didn't think I was showing me engaging with it, but I think adding "My analysis" as suggested by owidjaja would be sufficient.
Also, when I mention obscure things like paranoid-schizoid position, would you recommend putting in brackets what it means? I want to show the marker that I did my research, but I don't want the marker to think that I'm just putting it there cause I don't know what it means.

I don't think putting it in brackets is necessary but I do tend to put a hyphen just as a side note kinda thing. For example, if I talk about how a technique refers to Yeats' Gyre Theory, I would put a hyphen and give a short explanation of what it is.

[zanibalh]

Hey guys,

What is this critics thing that keeps coming up for mod b?
My teachers have never mentioned anything relating to that sort of thing?

We're doing speeches. Can someone please briefly explain & is it necessary?

Thankyou!

[jamonwindeyer]

Hey guys,

What is this critics thing that keeps coming up for mod b?
My teachers have never mentioned anything relating to that sort of thing?

We're doing speeches. Can someone please briefly explain & is it necessary?

Thankyou!

I never used it once in speeches and did perfectly fine - It's basically taking an academic's opinion of the speech and using that opinion as evidence

[zanibalh]

I never used it once in speeches and did perfectly fine - It's basically taking an academic's opinion of the speech and using that opinion as evidence

Ohhh lolss; yeah bc I'm saying my mod b is doing just finnneee w/out them.

Thanks so much!

[talitha_h]

Hey guys,

What is this critics thing that keeps coming up for mod b?
My teachers have never mentioned anything relating to that sort of thing?

We're doing speeches. Can someone please briefly explain & is it necessary?

Thankyou!

As Jamon said, critic quotes are not necessary! It used to be part of the old Mod B which is why people think they still need to use them but the current syllabus states "The syllabus does not require students to engage with particular critical theories in order to generate possible ‘readings’ of the text. Exposure to specific critical theories, such as feminist theory, postcolonial theory or New Historicism, is not a requirement of the English Stage 6 Syllabus in any of the compulsory English courses and modules. A focus on ‘readings’ of a text without a student’s personal engagement with and understanding of the text does not constitute a critical study of text, as required by this module"

[elysepopplewell]

As Jamon said, critic quotes are not necessary! It used to be part of the old Mod B which is why people think they still need to use them but the current syllabus states "The syllabus does not require students to engage with particular critical theories in order to generate possible ‘readings’ of the text. Exposure to specific critical theories, such as feminist theory, postcolonial theory or New Historicism, is not a requirement of the English Stage 6 Syllabus in any of the compulsory English courses and modules. A focus on ‘readings’ of a text without a student’s personal engagement with and understanding of the text does not constitute a critical study of text, as required by this module"

Exactly right - and I think this was miscommunicated for quite some time. Even during my HSC (2015) I'd read things on forums and Facebook threads, and listen to friends from other schools say, that other teachers have advised their students to use critics. So it's been a looong road of misconception! It's not necessary

[zanibalh]

Does anyone know if we can use the same analysis points for the mini essay bit of the unseen texts?

tyy so much!

[horse9996]

Does anyone know if we can use the same analysis points for the mini essay bit of the unseen texts?

tyy so much!

Yes you can! Its answered in a different light though ie synthesis, how does it show the specific idea about discovery

[zanibalh]

Hey guys,

Just wondering:

When discussing a quote from contexts written in the old english language - are they spelt as they were or as they should be these days?

[Potatohater]

Hey guys,

Just wondering:

When discussing a quote from contexts written in the old english language - are they spelt as they were or as they should be these days?

I would say either is fine but modern spellings are probably better as it gives more clarity, but if it's the words themselves that are outdated, keep them, if that makes sense?
Eg. Sharkesspear = Shakespeare
'Twas = 'Twas

[dermite]

is it bad to write a creative which has been done plenty of times before?
i.e. my creative is about a man finding his father (cliche); this has been done before in previous years .
Does doing such a generic creative concept hinder my possible marks in any way?

[owidjaja]

is it bad to write a creative which has been done plenty of times before?
i.e. my creative is about a man finding his father (cliche); this has been done before in previous years .
Does doing such a generic creative concept hinder my possible marks in any way?

Hey there,
You're not expected to write a Stephen King novel- it's a creative that you'll only be spending 40 minutes on so an original plot isn't that necessary. Plus, writing an original creative is already difficult. When you look at current novels, you could easily find similarities with other novels. That being said, you need to be able to make your creative unique. My creative is very generic- it's literally a girl discovering her grandfather. And one of the users who gave me feedback said that my creative was similar to theirs. The difference was is that I included my own culture and language in my creative that made it unique.

Hope this helps!

[auroraaaaa]

For Mod B Hamlet I have been given different advice by different teachers about including reference to an actual production in my essay. I want to mention the Royal Shakespeare Company filmed production to strengthen a point about Hamlet's insanity and one teacher says this is advantageous while the other discourages this. What do you think?

[zanibalh]

I would say either is fine but modern spellings are probably better as it gives more clarity, but if it's the words themselves that are outdated, keep them, if that makes sense?
Eg. Sharkesspear = Shakespeare
'Twas = 'Twas

Thankyou!!