Emily - Ask a State Ranker! (Q+A Closed)

[Joshana]

Hey Em!

My teacher tells us that every year students don't do well with 'form' in their essays. For AOS and the modules, I find it so hard to write a whole paragraph on form, so like why did the composer choose poems, drama scripts, film, painting? etc.

How did do structure 'form' in your essay?
Thank you in advance!

[bowiemily]

Hey Emily,
I am a Yr12 student who will be sitting the English (Advanced) Trials within the next two day period. I am unsure as to whether my studying for this subject has been effective. In saying that, I have a few questions:
- In Paper 1 (AOS Discovery) how much time should we provide for each section of the paper?
- What is the most important aspect that markers look for in the Creative Writing? Is it character development? Is it an obvious link to the provided stimulus?
- How many quotes are we expected to memorise for the prescribed text, “The Tempest” in AOS Discovery?
- What is the most effective method of studying for Paper 2, which entails 3 extended responses?
- How do you develop a "personal voice" in extended responses?
- When writing a thesis, how do you not fall into the trap of simply restating the question or the stimulus?
- In Module B, I studied the Non-Fiction Speeches section of the syllabus, in our extended responses are we expected to continuously integrate “textual integrity”? Or only if the question requires it?

- I spent 20/25 mins on short answers, 30 mins on creative and the rest on the essay
- Just writing lots of lots of past papers!
- they look for an original idea about discovery, and control/flair in and over your writing
- Not sure for the Tempest, as I didn't study it, but I had about 15 quotes for Wrack
- I would always link back to textual integrity
- Personal voice comes from an original understanding of the text. Likewise, this would be developed when interpreting the question in a creative, original way that reflects your understanding and study of the text

[bellerina]

1. I am having trouble with discovery 'reading', how do you fully understand the concepts behind discovery so then you can fully understand this section!

2. For the creative, how do you mould it into any stimulus?

3. For Legal, I know you did Workplace and Family {coincidentally i am doing the same one!} what is the best way to study for these options? {specifically workplace because i just dont understand it that well!}

[lexi99101]

Hey,

For short answers, I'm either really great with finding techniques or just really horrible! If I get really desperate, are there any kind of ways to quickly find techniques that could be used for most texts?

Thanks!!

[Calebark]

What's your favourite word, and why is it 'quiche'?

[Bront]

Hey!

How did you study for your English trials? They happen to be tomorrow, and apart from learning quotes, im unsure on what to do for it.

Any tips?

Bronte

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily,

While revising for the English Advanced content, I continue to find myself a little more stuck than usual on module A. I understand the aim of the response and I know my texts, but I was wondering if you could give an insight as to how one might effectively incorporate context into the body paragraphs of the response? I am studying Metropolis/Nineteen Eighty-Four and I'm finding it a little bit difficult to thoroughly and effectively evaluate the significance of the context since it seems to require a slightly different paragraph structure than the one I usually stick to in other essays.

Alternatively, I could be entirely overthinking how difficult it is and i'm just struggling to focus haha

Thanks

Context should be encorperated into the analysis of your quotes. So, it should look something like this:

'quote' employs *technique* to reflect ~ an idea about context ~. In reflecting such an idea, the composer asks an audience of their time to reconsiders ~ said idea ~ in light of  ^ other influences on the text^.

So its not so much that the structure of your essay changes persay, but your analysis does have the added ingredient of context within it

[dancing phalanges]

Hey Emily,
Sorry I thought of another question and this one is more important. For Module B I am doing Citizen Kane, but the teachers have not prepared us at all for the trials. Off your experience, in the intro, what sort of comments should I be making in order to fulfill the rubric of Mod B (for example stuff like enduring value etc?)
thanks

[bowiemily]

Hey Emily!

Thanks for doing this!

Jst regarding prescribed text and related text for AOS..... how much should there be of each in an essay? Would u say 60% prescribed and 40% related??

Also, in the exam for paper 1, are they likely to say we have to refer to a select poem in the essay or do they generally say 'refer to any of your prescribed texts?'

Thanks! 

Hey there, you're welcome!

I would try and refer to your texts equally within your essay, however, 60/40 is definitely acceptable. In discovery, they very rarely specify. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen a trial paper that prescribes a poem to talk about. So, chose what works best for you

[~BK~]

hey emily...
thanks so much for doing this
i am really struggling at the moment with my mod c....we are doing representing people and politics, why weren't we told
i feel like we rushed this topic a bit and i srsly don't understand how to interpret the questions and my trial is on tuesday 
what exactly does it mean by 'representing'.... what are the main things to focus on in the mod c essay!?!?
thanks again.
~BK~

[rossg2017]

Hi Emily,

I'm about to sit my trials in a couple of weeks and just have a few questions regarding AOS and the Modules:

1. How did you prepare/layout your quotes and themes for each essay (eg. a table, palm cards etc.), prior to the exams?
2. I was thinking of remembering about four quotes for each of my texts (including ORTs) and the insights they match up with, is this enough? Or should I prepare more quotes?
3. How much time would you give yourself for the essays in the Module paper?
4. For my AOS creative, my teacher has told me I have used to much descriptive detail for the simplicity of the narrative, how should I go about rectifying this? I always thought it was better to be descriptive, to 'show' rather than 'tell'.

Also, in extension english (I am doing Romanticism) do you have any tips for the essay? At the moment my paragraphs are structured around each composer, however, I am unsure of how to incorporate the ways of thinking with the question throughout the essay.

Finally, I went to your english lecture in the Christmas holidays (it was awesome btw!) and you were talking about maintaining some physical activity throughout exam periods and the HSC. I live about an hour away from school and am starting to struggle with my workout routine due to the increased work load leading into exams and the HSC. How did you battle this? Did you get up earlier in the mornings before school?

Thank you for your help!

Gabby

[ingrid.hobson]

Hello Emily,
Top work on your results!!!!!! 
Just wondering what tips you have on the english paper 2 exam??? How do you remember 3 essays?

Also, i noticed you did legal studies.....any tips for this exam???

Thanks ingrid

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily!

I was wondering if you could give me some tips for my viva voce, I'm having trouble with repeating myself if I forget what I'm supposed to say quite often, thanks

Hey there!

I never had to perform a viva voce, so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask. Perhaps post this question on the forum as well so you can get some more expert advice. However, I would make sure that the ideas that I want to talk about aren't too interconnected. If they are, it does become very easy to say all of your ideas at once, rather than spreading them over the entirety of the talk.

[bowiemily]

Hey Emily,

What did your study schedule look like between trials and the HSC (across all your subjects)? How often did you complete past papers for each subject in that period?

After trial, I had most of my notes done. So, I did every practice paper under the sun. I had a bit of a game going with myself, in that if one teacher handed me a marked essay back, I would hand them two more. I kept this up for legal, modern and advanced.

Once I had graduated, I spent about six hours per day studying. This was spent just doing practice papers. With a fortnight to go, I was trying really hard to get three past papers done a day

I think it’s fair to say that the most strenuous part of the HSC is behind you now, you won’t ever have to balance assignments with study again. So my best advice: get your hands on any past paper you can!!

[ek4612]

Hey Emily
i am doing my trials English paper 1 tomorrow and just wondering how to keep my creative writing piece interesting the whole way through?
I  have so many ideas yet i seem to go off track throughout and loose interest in my story, therefore my conclusions aren't that great!
Any tips??!
Thanks VM!