HSC Studies of Religion Question Thread

[mary123987]

Hey Mary! Unfortunately none of the markers/moderators studied Judaism, so we can't provide any advice directly however, I did write a guide on incorporating beliefs into your essays - You can read it here! Hopefully someone can provide more specific advice for your significant person

No worries I will be sure to check it out .Thanks so much for your time

[maria1999]

hey!
I'm currently doing SOR I and I just can't seem to wrap my head around Aboriginal Spirituality. When doing a five marker, is everything essentially able to be tied back to the Dreaming? I really struggle answering the questions for some strange reason and I need some kind of basis when talking about ceremonial life, stolen generation, kinship etc. Thanks in advance!!

[jamonwindeyer]

hey!
I'm currently doing SOR I and I just can't seem to wrap my head around Aboriginal Spirituality. When doing a five marker, is everything essentially able to be tied back to the Dreaming? I really struggle answering the questions for some strange reason and I need some kind of basis when talking about ceremonial life, stolen generation, kinship etc. Thanks in advance!!

Hi! 5 markers for Aboriginal Spirituality will very often relate back to the Dreaming as the main focus, or if not, it will always appear in some way. Ceremonial life is a way to connect indigenous people to the Dreaming, Kinship is based on Dreaming Stories and obligations to each other and the Land, the stolen generation relates to disconnection from the Dreaming - It all ties back in some way. Some questions will demand you emphasise this more than others, so there isn't really a template to how you answer (unfortunately) 

Your best bet for answering these questions is to practice. Write sample responses, get feedback, and see what works and what doesn't. As you do it more you will start to figure out what gets you marks and what doesn't, and get better to responding to the question in the proper way. Beyond practice, all you can do is make sure you have the knowledge you need to answer - Be sure to check out our free downloadable notes for SOR!

[maria1999]

Hi! 5 markers for Aboriginal Spirituality will very often relate back to the Dreaming as the main focus, or if not, it will always appear in some way. Ceremonial life is a way to connect indigenous people to the Dreaming, Kinship is based on Dreaming Stories and obligations to each other and the Land, the stolen generation relates to disconnection from the Dreaming - It all ties back in some way. Some questions will demand you emphasise this more than others, so there isn't really a template to how you answer (unfortunately) 

Your best bet for answering these questions is to practice. Write sample responses, get feedback, and see what works and what doesn't. As you do it more you will start to figure out what gets you marks and what doesn't, and get better to responding to the question in the proper way. Beyond practice, all you can do is make sure you have the knowledge you need to answer - Be sure to check out our free downloadable notes for SOR!

I'll check the notes out for sure, thanks so much Jamon!!

[dannoabdelnour]

Hi! I do Studies of Religion 1 and I need help structuring my 20 Marker for a practice paper that I am doing from 2010 HSC Exam.

Question 2 — Christianity (20 marks)
By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35 New King James version

With reference to the quotation, evaluate the of Christianity in the life of adherents and the Christian community.

I know what I nee to write but I cant put my thoughts down in words that will make sense. I was going to explain a bit about Saint Paul and how through his Epistles, he command adherents about Love, BUT I dont know how to link it to ethical teachings or even explain how it will affect the Christian community.

I hope you can help me, anyone. Thanks!

[elysepopplewell]

Hi! I do Studies of Religion 1 and I need help structuring my 20 Marker for a practice paper that I am doing from 2010 HSC Exam.

Question 2 — Christianity (20 marks)
By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35 New King James version

With reference to the quotation, evaluate the of Christianity in the life of adherents and the Christian community.

I know what I nee to write but I cant put my thoughts down in words that will make sense. I was going to explain a bit about Saint Paul and how through his Epistles, he command adherents about Love, BUT I dont know how to link it to ethical teachings or even explain how it will affect the Christian community.

I hope you can help me, anyone. Thanks!

Hey there! Answering this kind of question is tricky because it asks you to draw on areas of the syllabus that the syllabus doesn't explicitly ask you to connect. For Islam, I created a graph to study from which addressed this kind of question. Download it here to see what I mean - but basically it became a really excellent study tool and it forced me to look at new connections. Perhaps you haven't studied the same sections as me for Islam (if you studied Islam at all) but see how I've made the connections. I've looked at the way the principal beliefs of the religion (think back to prelim) are lived through person, practice, and ethics. From there I started to make some tenuous links...but they were links nonetheless. I really recommend taking the time to create this kind of table to study from.

As for linking things to the Christian community, I always think of it like this: To keep an incredibly large community together, there needs to be some threads that keep them together. Principal beliefs is a great place to start, and how these are lived in ethics, person, and practice. Then go into it more deeply: Christians need ethical guidance because Christians make ethical decisions. Christians are humans, and humans want significant people (like Paul of Tarsus) to follow, as they pave the way for [enter quote].

Hopefully this gives you a hand! I studied Paul of Tarsus, so if you need specific links between him and ethics (or even practice!) let me know and I can give you feedback on what you come up with

[tahliamag]

Hey everyone,
I don't really understand how Hajj relates to the principle beliefs of Islam could anyone help me out?
Thankyou !!!

[tahliamag]

hey!
I'm currently doing SOR I and I just can't seem to wrap my head around Aboriginal Spirituality. When doing a five marker, is everything essentially able to be tied back to the Dreaming? I really struggle answering the questions for some strange reason and I need some kind of basis when talking about ceremonial life, stolen generation, kinship etc. Thanks in advance!!

My teacher advised me that it's always good to know the content and not just repeat a formula as such. I think the dreaming is a good starting point, but you need to expand more depending on what the questions specifies. I hope that helps!

[maria1999]

My teacher advised me that it's always good to know the content and not just repeat a formula as such. I think the dreaming is a good starting point, but you need to expand more depending on what the questions specifies. I hope that helps!

Thank you so much for the suggestions, I'll definitely take it on board!!

[elysepopplewell]

Hey everyone,
I don't really understand how Hajj relates to the principle beliefs of Islam could anyone help me out?
Thankyou !!!

Hey there! So glad to see you're linking to the principal beliefs - so incredibly important! Remember when you're looking at the practices, you can really zoom in on tiny aspects of the ceremony, of the genesis of the practice, and so on, to find the ways it links to the principal beliefs. So, look at a lot of the actions that are undertaken in the Hajj. So much of the prostrating position is showing a higher force, the complete submission to Allah, which expresses Tawhid. In Islam, I found in my studies that Tawhid is really easy to relate to practices because it really is so central to the way the religion is lived out. You don't need to link to all 7 principal beliefs in any kind of calculated order, but instead just bring them in where they fit in different places. Look specifically at the spoken words of the entire Hajj, as well as the actions. Rusul isn't too difficult to link I find, the mention of the prophets isn't infrequent.

[tahliamag]

Ok great, thanks so much for all your advice!!

[Mary_a]

Hey Guys,

I have an assessment on Friday, it's a viva voce about Religion and Peace, particularly Christainity and how sacred texts guide an individual into achieving inner peace.

I thought I should discuss the principal teachings (because we have to) of the Just War Theory and Forgiveness (which can also link to achieving inner peace) and then move on to discussing how the New Testament details the life of Jesus, who is an example for Christian's to achieve inner peace. I also want to then talk about how prayer and celebration of sacred texts invites a closer relationship with god, nurturing and sustaining an adherent and guiding them to achieve inner peace.

Does that sound about right? Any possible tips?

Thank you so much,

Mary

[elysepopplewell]

Hey Guys,

I have an assessment on Friday, it's a viva voce about Religion and Peace, particularly Christainity and how sacred texts guide an individual into achieving inner peace.

I thought I should discuss the principal teachings (because we have to) of the Just War Theory and Forgiveness (which can also link to achieving inner peace) and then move on to discussing how the New Testament details the life of Jesus, who is an example for Christian's to achieve inner peace. I also want to then talk about how prayer and celebration of sacred texts invites a closer relationship with god, nurturing and sustaining an adherent and guiding them to achieve inner peace.

Does that sound about right? Any possible tips?

Thank you so much,

Mary

Hey Mary! You're ticking all of the right boxes here - you're definitely on the right track. With vive voces, to some extent you can direct the way you want the conversation to go, but sometimes your teacher will pull you in a different direction if they want something else of you. Which is fine, because all of your ideas are here. What I'm saying is, don't wait until the end to talk about sacred texts and writings, when you'll likely need to discuss them throughout, kind of integrate them so you don't miss the opportunity. But everything else seems like a really good structure. The use of principal beliefs is stellar, really a wonderful route to take. It's difficult to tick them all off, and there are undoubtably some principal beliefs that are easier to incorporate than others. But even focusing on them now and making connections between them will go down well in your vive voce, but also will prepare your way of thinking for your exams later!

[Mary_a]

Hey Mary! You're ticking all of the right boxes here - you're definitely on the right track. With vive voces, to some extent you can direct the way you want the conversation to go, but sometimes your teacher will pull you in a different direction if they want something else of you. Which is fine, because all of your ideas are here. What I'm saying is, don't wait until the end to talk about sacred texts and writings, when you'll likely need to discuss them throughout, kind of integrate them so you don't miss the opportunity. But everything else seems like a really good structure. The use of principal beliefs is stellar, really a wonderful route to take. It's difficult to tick them all off, and there are undoubtably some principal beliefs that are easier to incorporate than others. But even focusing on them now and making connections between them will go down well in your vive voce, but also will prepare your way of thinking for your exams later!

Thanks Elyse I'm just a bit worried because we've only been given 3 minutes to actually discuss our points! And then we are subjected to two minutes of questioning (eek). Thanks for your tips though, it's boosted my confidence! Especially since I'm first (damn alphabetical order!)

Mary x

[elysepopplewell]

Thanks Elyse I'm just a bit worried because we've only been given 3 minutes to actually discuss our points! And then we are subjected to two minutes of questioning (eek). Thanks for your tips though, it's boosted my confidence! Especially since I'm first (damn alphabetical order!)

Mary x

In what you've told me, you've really covered it. Annnd, you've covered more than 5 minutes worth of talking. So it'll just be about following what the teacher prompts of you, but also making sure you're pinning down your ideas with scripture, principal beliefs, and so on. I have no doubt you'll do wonderful with this task. You could even script what you intend to say to the original question, and just trust in your knowledge that you'll know enough to pull through the questions