English Advanced Question Thread

[wesadora]

more of a question for Elyse as she also did Go Back To Where You Came From:
How many participants/characters is it necessary to talk about in an essay?
I wrote a model essay to try and memorise, my teacher sent it back and said it was excellent but the only change she'd make was to focus on 2 (max 3) participants so their ENTIRE process of discovery is evident. What I did was take little snippets of each character (ended up incorporating all 6 into my essay) as the nature of each of their discoveries were quite different and it gave me a broader base of evidence of which to pluck little pieces of analysis and relevant discovery concepts from (the question was asking about how discoveries act as a catalyst for transformations in individual lives)

Thanks!
Wes

[wesadora]

For Mod C: People and Politics, can we use 2 related texts or would that be frowned upon?

The question should specify if they want either 1 or 2 related texts?

[RuiAce]

The question should specify if they want either 1 or 2 related texts?

Presumably he/she meant if they gave you a choice, i.e. "at least one other related text"

For Mod C: People and Politics, can we use 2 related texts or would that be frowned upon?

It's frowned upon, if they say to use just 1. Otherwise I don't see any reason for there to be.

Statistically, it's been found that students tend to mess up their analysis more easily when they used two or more related texts. Hence the HSC has generally tried to stick with just one. But if your strength is in doing two (and you're permitted to) then you should be - capitalise your strengths.

[lozil]

For Mod C: People and Politics, can we use 2 related texts or would that be frowned upon?

Just curious why you would want to do 2 rather than 1 (if you had the choice)

[zachk]

For module b im studying Yeats, in our essays do we need to discuss context? And if so, is it better to just include a sentence towards the beginning of each paragraph or is it important af and parts of context would need to synthesised throughout the paragraph

[melprocrastinator]

Maybe something like, "the author adopts a disparaging tone"? Or maybe denounces instead of criticises?

oooh thank you!!

[elysepopplewell]

more of a question for Elyse as she also did Go Back To Where You Came From:
How many participants/characters is it necessary to talk about in an essay?
I wrote a model essay to try and memorise, my teacher sent it back and said it was excellent but the only change she'd make was to focus on 2 (max 3) participants so their ENTIRE process of discovery is evident. What I did was take little snippets of each character (ended up incorporating all 6 into my essay) as the nature of each of their discoveries were quite different and it gave me a broader base of evidence of which to pluck little pieces of analysis and relevant discovery concepts from (the question was asking about how discoveries act as a catalyst for transformations in individual lives)

Thanks!
Wes

Interesting question! I personally paralleled two people's discoveries. I mean, it really depends on the question. If the question is about the process of discovery, then, following two people would work well. If it was about the outcomes of discovery, or an emotional discovery, or discoveries being varied, then I would be more inclined to take your current approach.

Ultimately, you need to know at least two people's full discovery process to be super safe. But you shouldn't discount your current approach I think, but rather, prepare to extend it! Does this make sense? What do you think?

[RuiAce]

Just curious why you would want to do 2 rather than 1 (if you had the choice)

Shows a wider range of studying and allows you to call upon more distinct perspectives at the (opportunity) cost of analysis potentially lacking depth when necessary.

Also, in the event that only one RT is asked, you get to choose a text that relates to the question more rather than be stuck with something possibly lacking relevance.

[elysepopplewell]

For module b im studying Yeats, in our essays do we need to discuss context? And if so, is it better to just include a sentence towards the beginning of each paragraph or is it important af and parts of context would need to synthesised throughout the paragraph

it really depends. I was inclined to give a sentence at the start for poem's that were a response to historical context, and then just dropped bits of personal context throughout the paragraph if it was relevant. For example, if I was looking at Wild Swans at Coole, then I'd talk about the changing romantic/modern poetic period. But as I go on, I'd talk about Yeats' own personal context as it became appropriate. Don't forget to look at my notes in the downloadable notes tab if you are looking for a little extra for your notes. In Advanced English, they're on the second page

[Sssssrr]

Shows a wider range of studying and allows you to call upon more distinct perspectives at the (opportunity) cost of analysis potentially lacking depth when necessary.

Also, in the event that only one RT is asked, you get to choose a text that relates to the question more rather than be stuck with something possibly lacking relevance.

very true, and additionally in the case of Auden's poetry, in which i have two vastly different ideas, negates the notion of trying to make one related text fit both ideas

[wesadora]

Interesting question! I personally paralleled two people's discoveries. I mean, it really depends on the question. If the question is about the process of discovery, then, following two people would work well. If it was about the outcomes of discovery, or an emotional discovery, or discoveries being varied, then I would be more inclined to take your current approach.

Ultimately, you need to know at least two people's full discovery process to be super safe. But you shouldn't discount your current approach I think, but rather, prepare to extend it! Does this make sense? What do you think?

I think I agree with you, to be honest. However, my teacher just got back to me saying:
" You need to be prepared to write about any of them, but choose the best few to focus on for the question on the day. Trying to discuss more than 2 or 3 plus a related text in 40 mins will probably result in a superficial treatment."


Bit conflicted now...I mean I really like the essay I've written. I guess I'll try writing another essay using two key characters and mentioning others in passing to enrichen the analysis overall (e.g. focusing on adam, but juxtaposing his reactions with Darren, for example) but I'm still not ENTIRELY convinced. Man....discovery :|

[Sssssrr]

Hi!
in the marking rubric for mod A, one of the points were "Composes a thoughtful response using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form" could someone please explain what they mean by appropriated language?
Thanks
 

[ssarahj]

Hi!
in the marking rubric for mod A, one of the points were "Composes a thoughtful response using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form" could someone please explain what they mean by appropriated language?
Thanks

'Appropriate language' for a Mod A essay simply means using your normal "formal essay" style of writing, e.g. instead of "I think ______" you would say, "The reader can interpret this as ______". You've probably been taught to write like this since your very first high school essay so it shouldn't be anything major 

[Sssssrr]

OK thanks!

[elysepopplewell]

I think I agree with you, to be honest. However, my teacher just got back to me saying:
" You need to be prepared to write about any of them, but choose the best few to focus on for the question on the day. Trying to discuss more than 2 or 3 plus a related text in 40 mins will probably result in a superficial treatment."


Bit conflicted now...I mean I really like the essay I've written. I guess I'll try writing another essay using two key characters and mentioning others in passing to enrichen the analysis overall (e.g. focusing on adam, but juxtaposing his reactions with Darren, for example) but I'm still not ENTIRELY convinced. Man....discovery :|

I don't really think you need to be prepared to write about all of them. The reason being, in AOS, they don't have different questions for different texts, so they can't specify a character. Like I said, I only did two (Adam and Darren) and I thought I covered a really broad range there. Their experiences were similar enough that I could relate them, but different enough that I could contrast. You can download my essay in the "notes" tab if you need some inspo!

To better use your time, I'd start out by collecting evidence for two characters, and then kind of slotting it into what you already have, rather than re-writing. if re-writing from scratch works best, then of course! I really wouldn't stress about this - and I know you're putting a lot of thought into it. It was a suggestion from my own teacher that our cohort follows 2 characters throughout rather than several characters at different stages. I think this just plays into the "process' of discovery better - but you aren't limited to that!