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

[bowiemily]

Hey, I've been getting my trial results back (had trials last term) and noticed I got 17/20 in all my essays (geo and drama), but in English I got 11/15 for AOS and 14 for both modules. How should I go about bringing my English essays up to the same standard as those of geo and drama? And then how do I push all 3 subjects into higher marks yet again? I really don't know where to start.
Also what does an arts degree at Sydney Uni entail, and how are you finding it? I'm considering doing arts majoring in geography there but don't really know too much about it.
Sorry for so many questions at once, I'm just trying to get them in before work. Thanks!

Hey there!
So English essays, unlike other humanities subjects, really have to be grounded in textual analysis. That means for each idea that you have, you have to be able to provide a quote for where thats proven. In humanities, you don't necessarily have to do that, and your ideas stand by themselves. So make sure that your essays have plenty of evidence in them. You should have 3 quotes per paragraph at a minimum.

Arts is wonderful! You're given a lot of freedom, as compared to other degrees, where you are locked into compulsory units. So, whilst you might major in geography, you could also do some theatre/performance studies units if you wanted to! Arts is brilliant if you just want to learn, and especially if you want a break after the HSC

[anthonycirillo]

Hi !, I'm forgetting what the techniques were called for the phrases “have a lovely time in your...tent" (being used in a condescending manner) and "i can see you now" (what a character says when he notices a transformation-discovery in another character)
THANKYOU SO MUCH:)

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily,
Just a couple of questions in regards to Extension.
Firstly, I want to memorise my creative, however, it is set on a boat, which limits things a bit in terms of if the stimulus tells you to use a particular setting... do you think it is worth just trying to look at as many possible setting stimulus' as possible in order to prepare or do you have any other advice?
Secondly, just generally, do you have any tips for Extension Romanticism and particularly in reference to philosophy in order to reflect ways of thinking.
And finally, I found it very interesting that you used your Ext creative for discovery too... I was wondering what your idea for extension creative was if you don't mind just so i can see if not for the trials (since i have already written and memorised my creative) but moreso for the hsc whether i could use mine.
thanks

Hey!
Does the progression of your plot depend on the boat? Or could your setting change, and still facilitate the same tumult and uncertainty (im guessing) the boat in your piece would provide? I had two or three settings I knew I could jump to if I really needed to in my creative. However, my base setting (being the characters home) was also very adaptable, so that worked to my advantage as well.
I would definitely look into 'negative capability', which was explained by Keats. I found it very useful for understanding the inherent contradictions within Romanticism.
You can find my creative in the ATARNotes English Advanced book, as it was written for discovery. For extension, there were a few extra paragraphs, but it was more or less the same

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily, I have just completed my Queen's Guide Award.  I am struggling with The Tempest and how to structure my essay. Should it be Tempest, related text, Tempest etc and how many points should I make as I'm quite a slow writer. Also is it worth having two related texts? And what order should I do the paper in. Also how do you write a good thesis statement. Thanks

Congratulations, what a massive achievement!! I hope you are super super proud! Make sure you include it on all of your applications to uni, tafe or future jobs
If you've not written an integrated essay before, i would suggest writing Tempest, Related, Tempest, Related. If you're finding it really difficult to cover all of that content, remember that you should have only 3 quotes per paragraph. Moreover, you should try and have at least one quote per paragraph based on form (ie: Shakespeare employs soliloquy to give insight into the personal nature of discovery, as expressed by the protagonist, Prospero).

I don't think its worth having two related texts. I always did paper one in order, ie. Short Answer, Creative and then Essay. This is as I could complete the short answer in 20/25 mins, creative in 30. That gave me plenty of time to respond on the spot to the essay question. If I did it the other way round, I would have felt very rushed completing the short answer questions, and perhaps would have produced a weaker response because of the time pressure. So I would suggest completing your strongest section first, because that is the section where you have the greatest chance of cutting down time. The spare time you now have can be spent answering the harder parts of the paper

[dancing phalanges]

Hey!
Does the progression of your plot depend on the boat? Or could your setting change, and still facilitate the same tumult and uncertainty (im guessing) the boat in your piece would provide? I had two or three settings I knew I could jump to if I really needed to in my creative. However, my base setting (being the characters home) was also very adaptable, so that worked to my advantage as well.
I would definitely look into 'negative capability', which was explained by Keats. I found it very useful for understanding the inherent contradictions within Romanticism.
You can find my creative in the ATARNotes English Advanced book, as it was written for discovery. For extension, there were a few extra paragraphs, but it was more or less the same

Hey thanks Emily
Yeah, the plot is about slavery and very much depends on being set on a boat as, as the captain continues to exploit the slaves, the storm (nature) grows stronger and stronger before eventually taking retribution by sinking the ship (sort of the idea about nature as a destructive force/being stronger than man and not the other way around)

[Thebarman]

Hey Emily, thank you so much for doing this Q&A.

- For Module B, do we need to include critical views of our text?
- Would 2 theme paragraphs be enough for a module B essay?
- I always struggle with the unseen texts in paper 1, especially the final question. Do you have any tips on how to analyse these texts, as well as how to write a response for the mini essay question?
- I always write extremely long body paragraphs, which force me to split my ORT and related paragraphs into two separate paragraphs. What's the best way to reduce the size of my paragraphs?
- How often should we discuss context in a module A essay? Should we discuss it after every quote?

Thanks again for doing this Q&A!

[bowiemily]

Hey,

I was wondering
- how do you memorize your essays for the HSC. I'm really bad with on the spot essays so i need to memorize them but then i have the memory of a goldfish.
- how do you come up with a strong thesis on the spot for your essays and do you make each topic sentence for each paragraph answer the question and then just write your memorised essay?

thank you so much for doing this:)

If you were going to try and memorise your essays, I would learn them like a speech. Sit in front of the mirror and read the essay out to yourself. Try to become less dependent on the paper in front of you and keep eye contact with your own eyes. You can also record yourself speaking, and listen to it back.

To come up with a strong, improvised thesis I would largely agree with the question, and then suggest one idea (from the rubric) that it is overlooking. That way, you have space to argue your own viewpoint on the question. Remember, however, most of your sophistication comes in the analysis of your text, so don't stress if your thesis isn't entirely original

[bowiemily]

How did you go about memorising your quotes? Thank you!

I would read them out loud to myself, write them out, post them in parts of the house that I looked at alot (ie the roof above my bed, the shower door) and most importantly, use them in practice essays

[bowiemily]

Hey Emily, thanks for this Q + A!

I was doing average all year and recently I've been studying heaps to improve my English standard rank... I was just wondering, for the 4 essays, should I just memories these aspects from my best practice essays; quotes (with technique), the gist of their analysis, and my conceptual statements? I can make my thesis up based on my concept statements.

Also, for unseen comprehension q's, if I'm honestly stuck for how to answer a question, should I simply pull out a quote or two, and just try to analyse it by relating it to the rubric in some way?

Thanks ! 

Wow Monique, you sound like you've got it all worked out for trials What you've just explained there sounds like a brilliant plan of action. Memorising the quotes and most important parts of the analysis will help to calm your nerves, whilst also giving you space to adapt to the question in the room. Sounds great!

[Rainbowhippocampus]

Hi Emily, just another question
How would you suggest studying for the modules?  Is there a certain technique you used for it, especially module B?  I'm doing poetry for that module (Yeats) and need all the help I can get. 
Thanks heaps,
Natalie 

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily! How did you study for English? Like isn't it extremely time consuming as I had just done my Adv Eng and it occupied me for a solid week :/ How did you schedule your time haha xD
Also do you memorize drafts or just have context/quotes techniques memorized and then do the test?

Thank you!

Firstly, I thought memorising essays would ultimately produce the opposite of what the markers want to see - a limited understanding of the text. The whole point of them asking an unseen question is to make sure you understand a text in its entirety, or at least, are accepting on other perspectives and understandings of a text. I’m sure people have done very, very well with memorised essays. But I reiterate, I did not aim to come first in the state. Rather, as a student who has always loved learning, I wanted my HSC to represent what I had worked towards for the past six years. And that definitely was not a rote learned, stagnant and stubborn, singular essay. In choosing that though, I knew that I had to get better at responding on the spot. That meant lots and lots of practice papers, reading the ideas of others and arguing my opinion with other students (fyi, thats what the forums on ATARNotes are for! You’ll have the required post count for an essay mark in no time if you think of it this way ). I had around 5 themes for each text, each with quotes, that I knew could form paragraphs if I needed them to. I would then pick themes/paragraphs to suit the question asked. However, these weren’t ever paragraphs that I had written up on Word or marked by a teacher. They were fluid, and changed from essay to essay. This meant that whenever I was answering an essay question, my response was geared entirely towards the question.

[DSouzaC02]

Hi Emily, I was just wondering for the creative writing does it have to be in a story format? Or can it be the character's thoughts like a diary entry?

[bowiemily]

Hi Emily,
How did you go about analysing poems?

Thanks!

Hey,

Poetry was my favourite text type to analyse, as everything usually works together to produce a cohesive whole. So, look for how the language (metaphor, symbolism, imagery) and form (rhyme scheme, type of poem) work together to create the meaning of the text. Sometimes, it can be really difficult to analyse a poem if you don't know its context. So, make sure you look into the background of the poet and the time period before you attempt to analyse!

[bowiemily]

Helloooo,
My Trials are approaching at this week, and I'm struggling to look for a related text to use in accompaniment to Mod C's Henry IV Part 1. I know it's kind of really late, but it was just last Friday that my teacher strongly recommended us to use another related text to the one my year used for task 3 and that we were "lazy" if we did. It'd be of immense help if you could help me out.
Thankkkkkk youuuuuu

Hello! For people and politics I can suggest:

Shoes - Etgar Keret
Barefoot Bridge - Randa Jarrar
Handmaid’s Tale - Any episode, but especially ‘Nolite te bastardes carborundorum’
Act of Union - Seamus Heaney

[bowiemily]

Hey there,
For Module B, i was thinking how would you incorporate a sense of personal appreciation in your response without writing in first person?

Hey!

I would just write as you usually would, but switch the perspectives around. For example:
Though Yeats is a misogynist, I can appreciate how accurately he represented the violence and injustice saturating history through his distortion of Leda's body.

turns into:
Though Yeats is a misogynist, the audience may appreciate how accurately he represents the violence and injustice that saturates history through his distortion of Leda's body, mimicked in the form of the poem