1st in Advanced English 2016 - Ask Me Anything!

[bowiemily]

Hello Emily
I attended your English advanced lecture and it was amazing and really comprehensive, I'm just wondering though, what tips would you have for us English Extension students, particularly for 'After The Bomb.'? How do we structure our EE1 essays? Does the integrated essay structure still work, even with the 2 prescribed, 2 ORT thing. Also, what would you consider the main differences in writing between the EE1 course and the Advanced course?
Thanks so much 🙂

I didn't do After the Bomb, but I can definitely help. So, in my extension essays I would write about one of my prescribed and one ORT in one paragraph. Then I'd do the other two in a new paragraph. I would then swap the texts around, and write another two paragraphs. Extension essays are much longer and much, much more conceptual. Especially in ways of thinking, you are almost exploring how a text adheres to/challenges/explores a given idea/frame of mind. I believe ways of thinking also requires a deep understanding of context as well, as you are basically trying to get into the head of someone living at that time. 

[cindzw]

thanks so much! will definitely look into Heaney, I remember you raving about him at the lecture haha!

Otherwise, you can use the State Library. There is a feature where you can search for texts according to genre, or theme. I'm crazy for organisation like this! I would have definitely used this service during my HSC if I had not found out about it a week ago, when I revisited the website post hsc.

this is a really awesome resource; I've heard State Library was good, but didn't know they were this good! what do you think is the most effective way to make the most of the State Library's space and resources?

[nfx67]

Hi Emily! Hope you're well. 
 
1 - Do you have any tips for when you find yourself stuck on how to expand on an idea? (basically when you have no freaking clue where you're going with it  )
2 - How did you feel after the HSC? Was it all the hype it is made out to be?
3 - How was Modern History? Did you find it challenging compared to English/other subjects?

Thank you so much for taking the time for our questions and congratulations on your hard earned, exceptional results!! Good luck with Art/Law, hopefully you'll smash it, too.

[bowiemily]

Hey there

I've got two questions for you:
1) Do you have any tips on how to make strong connections between a prescribed text and a related text?

2) And if a question is really vague like, "how does discovery affect a person?" how would you recommend approaching it?

Thank you and congratulations on first

1. I would always make thematic connections between my two texts. Eg. how power, authority, identity are portrayed and explored. As such, I would talk about the two texts in the same paragraph.

2. If you were given a question like this, your syllabus really comes in handy. You can structure you essay using its terms. So, you may argue that 'Discovery affects how one perceives themselves and the world around them', or "Discovery has the power to transform an individual, through challenging their values and long held definitions.'

[bowiemily]

Hey Emily!

Just wondering if you have any tips for structuring essays and integrating related texts seamlessly with core texts?

Thanks!!

Hey there! I talked about this in depth at my Head Start Lectures. Examples and explanation can be found right here in my lecture slides 

[josephplucas]

Hey, throughout my Advanced prelim I was getting low-medium A's for my assessments. How can I push into that higher mark range? In the exam room my arguments tend to unravel and my sophistication of language starts to erode. Your previously noted "personal voice" is intriguing. What is this exactly? and how did you integrate this into your response?
Thank you

[Huzaifa]

I didn't do After the Bomb, but I can definitely help. So, in my extension essays I would write about one of my prescribed and one ORT in one paragraph. Then I'd do the other two in a new paragraph. I would then swap the texts around, and write another two paragraphs. Extension essays are much longer and much, much more conceptual. Especially in ways of thinking, you are almost exploring how a text adheres to/challenges/explores a given idea/frame of mind. I believe ways of thinking also requires a deep understanding of context as well, as you are basically trying to get into the head of someone living at that time.

Ah, thanks so much, that makes perfect sense, your advice is always exceedingly helpful.

[bowiemily]

Hello, 

1) I was wondering if you have any study tips you use prior to exams. The only study methods for English that I have heard of are memorising essays and writing practice essays.

Also, in what ways do you structure your notes in preparation for exams like AOS and Modules? 

2) What are some strategies you have for approaching the unseen texts section of the AOS paper?  I always find that it takes me a while to find appropriate techniques and think of key ideas/concepts to talk about in my responses. I also find it hard to sustain my responses as I tend to run out of things to talk about.

3) What tips do you have for writing fast without your hand being fatigued so easily?


Thanks so much!!!!!   

1. I wrote lots and lots of practice essays under the 40 min time constraint. I also recorded myself reading the ones that received high marks, read lots of academic papers on my texts and listened to heaps of podcasts. BBC's 'In Our Time' tends to do a really good job of discussing literature. My notes were on palm cards, lists, venn diagrams, flow charts and tables. They included the quote, technique, a short analysis and a link to the syllabus.

2. Use the syllabus to answer the SA. There are no points for originality here. Also, you don't have to be writing heaps for them! A three marker should not be taking you more than half a page

3. Write lots. I did a lot of journalling in my spare time, as well as debating. As such, I had very speedy handwriting. That ache after an exam however, is not something you can avoid!

[Equilibrium]

Hi Emily I chose Earth and Environmental Science as well, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. I'm really struggling with the subject and I don't absorb the study notes I've been making for the unit Tectonic Impacts because I can't force myself to like what I'm learning. Do you have any advice?

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily!
I went to your lecture in the holidays and I just want to say thank you - it was really inspiring and insightful to hear about your experience and tips!
I remember how you gave us advice about creative writing and that it's a good idea to write from your own experiences, but I'm really struggling to find something about my life to write about to connect to discovery! Do you have any ideas or examples of this that you'd be willing to share?

Thank you so much!

Hey there!

So I was on a bus one day heading into the city, and I was writing a response to an assessment task. The bus stopped to let an old couple on, and as the husband was saying farewell to his elderly wife, their dog slipped its leash, ran into the traffic and got hit. I wrote about this in my half yearly, as I discovered that time stops for no one, no matter how hard you try to force schedules upon it.

[miki293]

Hi!

For the discovery module, what kinds of themes/issues/ideas did you base your argument around? I'm studying Life of Pi and I'm considering using The Catcher in the Rye as a related text. And how would you structure a response if the statement to respond to was something like, "discoveries can offer new understandings and renewed perceptions of ourselves and others"?

Thanks

[sudodds]

Hey!

So first of all, at the lecture, you said that you got 75% on your first English assessment task. And all the assessment tasks you do in Year 12 are counted towards your final HSC mark. So in order to get a 100%, I believe that you'll need to achieve a 100% in all the tasks you do. Am I wrong? Secondly, I asked my English Extention 2 teacher if it's possible to get a 100% in English, and she confidently and clearly explained to me that it's in fact very rare for a student to achieve a full mark and if someone did actually get a 100%, she would be aware of it. Tbh, I have to believe her because she's been teaching English Advanced and Extention for more than 25 years.

So my question is, are you being honest about the 100% in English? 

Also, not here to criticise; I'm just passionately curious :') (s/o Einstein)

Hey! I'm not Emily (obviously) but I assume this might be a bit of an awkward question for her to answer so I thought I'd step in briefly to verify (as a separate, neutral entity  ) that yes - she defs did get 100%, and it is as incredible as it sounds (literal HSC queen). I've attached a screenshot from my 2016 HSC testmur (that is why the mark is different). The blue rectangles give an indication of the mark distribution across the state, and if you look at 100% you can see a very very very tiny blue line (so tiny that it doesn't even have a border around it) - that's Emily! Your overall HSC mark isn't an average between your internal marks and exam mark. You internal mark just determines your internal rank (and the relative differences between the internal ranks) that is then taken into the exam (confusing right! if you want a better/more thorough explanation of how this works DM me and I'll go through it with you, just because I don't want to clog up Emily's amazing thread here with too much discussion on result technicalities)

[bowiemily]

Hello, I have a few questions

1. What would be your top tips for how to do well in Advanced English?
2. How did you memorise your quotes?
3. Do you recommend using other text types, such as a poem or speech, for the creative writing section?
4. What essay prep did you do before your HSC exam?

Thankyou!!

Hey!
My own creative was an amalgam of both letters and diary entries, so I definitely would recommend doing that Memorising quotes, I wrote heaps and heaps of practice essays, literally every single question I could find was answered by the time I sat my exams. Top tip: Syllabus! Know it off by heart!

[jakesilove]

Hey!

So first of all, at the lecture, you said that you got 75% on your first English assessment task. And all the assessment tasks you do in Year 12 are counted towards your final HSC mark. So in order to get a 100%, I believe that you'll need to achieve a 100% in all the tasks you do. Am I wrong? Secondly, I asked my English Extention 2 teacher if it's possible to get a 100% in English, and she confidently and clearly explained to me that it's in fact very rare for a student to achieve a full mark and if someone did actually get a 100%, she would be aware of it. Tbh, I have to believe her because she's been teaching English Advanced and Extention for more than 25 years.

So my question is, are you being honest about the 100% in English? 

Also, not here to criticise; I'm just passionately curious :') (s/o Einstein)

She got 100. She's f'ing smart.

[bowiemily]

Hey! I'm not Emily (obviously) but as I'd assume this might be a bit of an awkward question for her to answer so I thought I'd step in briefly to verify (as a separate, neutral entity  ) that yes - she defs did get 100%, and it is as incredible as it sounds (literal HSC queen). I've attached a screenshot from my 2016 HSC testmur (that is why the mark is different). The blue rectangles give an indication of the mark distribution across the state, and if you look at 100% you can see a very very very tiny blue line (so tiny that it doesn't even have a border around it) - that's Emily! Your overall HSC mark isn't an average between your internal marks and exam mark. You internal mark just determines your rank (and the relative differences between the ranks) that is then taken into the exam (confusing right! if you want a better/more thorough explanation of how this works DM me and I'll go through it with you, just because I don't want to clog up Emily's amazing thread here with too much discussion on result technicalities)

Hey - so just final clarification: My assessment mark was 96, but because I was first in my course at school that automatically became my exam mark, which was 100. I checked with my school as well, who can tell your raw marks through the analysis that's sent to them, and they confirmed my mark was 100