English Advanced Question Thread

[therese07]

Hey!

I just wanted to ask for any english essay, how can you effectively incorporate an academic scholar's or 'readings' from a scholar in an essay? How can we do that and still maintain relevance to what the question is asking?

Thank you so much!

[angewina_naguen]

Hey!

I just wanted to ask for any english essay, how can you effectively incorporate an academic scholar's or 'readings' from a scholar in an essay? How can we do that and still maintain relevance to what the question is asking?

Thank you so much!

Hey, therese07!

Academic readings and scholars are great to include, especially for Module B, in your essays.To ensure that they are still relevant to the question, choose quotes that can be inserted in a fashion that doesn't disrupt or narrow the analysis. Basically, these quotes should ideally be conceptual and easy to adapt.
The quotes should reflect your personal appreciation of the text first and foremost; then, you can adjust them to suit the question. The readings that spark something in you, whether it resonates perfectly with how you feel about the text or you completely disagree with. Allow them to enhance and guide the aspects of your judgement and thesis, as opposed to determining it. Your original thoughts and perspectives are the most valuable and these critical readings should assist you in filling any gaps in your understanding of the text.

In the below spoiler, I have a sample paragraph from my Module B essay on Cloudstreet which you can have a look at  The scholar quote is in bold and you can see how I have in-text referenced the source as well.

Cloudstreet Module B

Finally, Winton’s attraction to water bodies was catalysed from personal experience and fabricated to endorse a reaction of closure from reconciliation. The author’s background as a surfer is evident in the imagery of water, notably the river, in ‘Cloudstreet’, extending to appeal to Australian audiences. The river’s situation at the beginning and the end of the novel fringes the process of Fish’s reconciliation of self, mirroring Winton’s contemporaries’ expectations to experience reconciliation during the Bicentennial. Winton’s admiration of “the beautiful, the beautiful river” repetitiously articulates his appreciation for the natural aesthetic of the water and how Fish would “savour that healing all the rest of the journey.” This innate, symbolic connection Fish has to the water after his separation of metaphysical self is evident in his dialogue “River! said Fish.” Absent of quotation marks, Winton foreshadows this unity that Fish aspires to achieve and sustains this with a second person address to Fish from his self that “not all of...had come back” in “your turn is coming.” By addressing the audience with the pronoun “your”, expectations of the final reconciliation are cultivated and endorsed by the author as a means to create empowerment. This ethereal experience is captured in the final sentences “Perfectly. Always. Everyplace. Me.” Reuniting with his identity, Fish becomes connected and whole which although ends in tragedy and may defy expectations, allows audiences to heal. Winton’s appeal is garnered from this unification as Fish endorses the timeless desire in the human condition to transcend physicality and reach eternal peace, as achieved from engaging in what Winton explores as a divine reunion after twenty years of passing. Whether audiences anticipate this cyclical narrative, Winton resolves the novel with this construction of river imagery and the emotional impact enables “the eye and imagination of the realist, alive to the mass and colour and sound of the sea and river” (Lyn McCredden, 2013), seamlessly unifying the novel and its coherent tale of reconciliation.

Hope this helps! Good luck with the essay 

Angelina 

[sarrahbarodawala]

Hello
For a Mod A essay, what would be an effective essay structure, which would incorporate all the key ideas, and both texts? Like are 2 body paragraphs enough to write all the information?
Thank you!

[owidjaja]

Hello
For a Mod A essay, what would be an effective essay structure, which would incorporate all the key ideas, and both texts? Like are 2 body paragraphs enough to write all the information?
Thank you!

Hey there,

I would personally recommend 3 body paragraphs where I'll integrate my analysis for both texts. Not only do I get to analyse more ideas, it also makes the comparison a lot easier. For example, I did 1984/Metropolis and there were times where I would emphasise on the similarities/differences by referring to the other text. That being said, if you have been doing 2 body paragraphs, then you should be exploring your ideas into greater depth. Either way, the markers shouldn't be too picky with how many paragraphs you choose to do as long as you're analysing your texts and answering the rubric points.

Hope this helps!

[maddi.mccarthy]

Hey,
I'm just wondering if there's any resources to access practice short answer and essay questions other than the sample paper NESA published? I tried past papers but they're so different there wasn't much point, can anyone provide any resources?
Thanks guys

[violet123]

Can I use the first person in a discursive essay?

[angewina_naguen]

Hey,
I'm just wondering if there's any resources to access practice short answer and essay questions other than the sample paper NESA published? I tried past papers but they're so different there wasn't much point, can anyone provide any resources?
Thanks guys

Hey, maddi.mccarthy!

I have yet to find resources for the new syllabus but I actually find generating your own essay questions an effective study tactic! All the HSC questions for Advanced are drawn from the rubrics for each module. You can easily construct original questions and practise with them yourself. The types of questions you could get in the exam include "how" questions, "to what extent" questions, statements/quotes relating to, or directly from, the prescribed text/s, or a combination of these features. For example, based off the "human qualities and emotions" aspect of the common module, you could derive these kind of questions;

- How have the flaws in human qualities and emotions been represented in your prescribed text?
- “The best books... are those that tell you what you know already.” (George Orwell, 1984) To what extent does this statement resonate with human qualities and emotions from your understanding of Texts and Human Experiences?
- Humanity's success and downfall is determined from whether or not there is empathy. Do you agree or disagree?

This will also help test how versed you are in the module's ideas and concepts as a result  If I do come across some resources, I'll be happy to make a separate thread for them! Hope this helps 

Angelina 

[angewina_naguen]

Can I use the first person in a discursive essay?

Hey, violet123!

Using first person is totally acceptable  If you feel uncertain about it, you can justify it in the critical reflection as a conscious decision of yours to engage your reader with a more personal voice in the essay  Definitely allowed though! Good luck with it 

Angelina 

[KC181]

Hi There! This may seem like a silly question, but how exactly can I actually incorporate a motif into my creative effectively? I know and understand what it is but when adding it into a creative I always feel like I make it seem too forced, or sometimes I don't use it enough that it doesn't seem like a motif at all.
Thank you!

[SmartWorker]

Hi There! This may seem like a silly question, but how exactly can I actually incorporate a motif into my creative effectively? I know and understand what it is but when adding it into a creative I always feel like I make it seem too forced, or sometimes I don't use it enough that it doesn't seem like a motif at all.
Thank you!

Even if it is subtle, in your creative if you expand on it in your rationale it may help.

Hope I helped.

[angewina_naguen]

Hi There! This may seem like a silly question, but how exactly can I actually incorporate a motif into my creative effectively? I know and understand what it is but when adding it into a creative I always feel like I make it seem too forced, or sometimes I don't use it enough that it doesn't seem like a motif at all.
Thank you!

Hey, KC181!

I think it is crucial that you have intent to have that motif develop in meaning and it is done with subtlety as SmartWorker has suggested. I used fire as a motif in my Ext 2 Major Work for English and I also struggled at first to incorporate it without feeling like it was forced or awkward. It's something totally normal to feel so not a silly question at all 

My advice is to layer the intention you have for that motif as a part of your creative's overall concept throughout the piece and have it change over time in meaning and significance. Initially, a motif of a butterfly may be a sign of the fleetingness of life (since they don't live very long) but then over the course of your narrative, as your story develops, that motif represents the freedom we have to make the most out of that transience in time. See how the concept has remained the same but the motif has built from it to renew meaning? Sketching out what role that motif is going to play in your story can help you figure out what layers you want to create for it. You should also be certain on where you would like that motif to manifest exactly and what significance it has appearing there (is the character having an epiphany, is it reflecting their inner conflict etc.).

There is also this awesome article on how you can Add Depth to your Story With Motifs!  Would recommend checking it out for some advice too. Hope that helps and good luck with the creative 

Angelina 

[jen10]

Hellooo!

I was just wondering, do you guys have any tips on how to come up with creative writing ideas? I always struggle coming up with a captivating idea that isn't cliche or an idea at all!!! Basically struggling with creative writing overall D:

Thank you in advance!!!

[owidjaja]

Hellooo!

I was just wondering, do you guys have any tips on how to come up with creative writing ideas? I always struggle coming up with a captivating idea that isn't cliche or an idea at all!!! Basically struggling with creative writing overall D:

Thank you in advance!!!

Hey there,

I'd recommend incorporating personal experiences into your creative because it makes it easier for you to write about. It doesn't have to be completely original (and the HSC markers aren't expecting you to produce a Best Selling Novel or anything) but it's your personal experience that helps make your creative a bit more unique. For example, I wrote a creative on a girl discovering her family history through a series of photographs and interactions with her grandmother, based on how I learnt about my family history. It's not the most creative plot out there, but I made it unique by including my cultural background.

Hope this helps!

[diggity]

Hey there!

So I'm entirely a math person. I do extension 2 maths, and it is my life-blood. However, I am still decently good at the english language and all that, so I chose to take on advanced (hesitantly ). My goal for the HSC is to achieve a band 5 in english, and out of all my goals I feel that that would be the most rewarding achievement to get.

However, my internals are pretty shaky at the moment. I got 17/20 for an essay last year, which is right where I wanted to be, but it was only a quarter of the full assessment; the rest was a presentation, which I got 15/20 on. Overall, my mark was below 80 (i believe 78?). I was also not first internally. I have just received my second assessment, of which I got 16/20 - which is technically right on the cusp of a band 5, but doesn't give me that security I'm looking for. It was the top mark for the class (others got it too). I believe it was marked more honestly than the last assessment.

English is the biggest crux for the HSC. All of my other subjects I do fine in, and a small increase in my marks for them does very little to my overall score (especially MX1/2). However, English can bump my expected atar up a whole point by a small increase of 5. I'm really trying to find motivation in the subject, as I do not like it in the first place, and essentially my question is:

How do I stay motivated in English Advanced?

[InnererSchweinehund]

Hi everyone,

I know this question might be a bit vague, but I was wondering if anyone has any good tips or application recommendations for making english study notes (specifically on Mod A - yes I know it's late) online?? I normally like to write out my notes but unfortunately I am currently in a cast (on my writing arm) and will be for about another month, so am looking for something easy to use, and even some tips on structuring my notes.

Thanks in advance!!