VCE English Exam Discussion and Questions 2017

[angela666]

No because that what it said in the background information!! Just as long as you stated what it was, which you did, you will be fine!!!

Omg you are a lifesaver! Thank you!!

[lilyrosee]

I did the same topic for Ransom and Invictus! What did you write about?

ummm i did mandela/priam n how they were able to forgive their past in order to be better fathers to their nations...
Achilles/Mandelas security team n how they sought revenge but realized that it was futile and that forgiveness was able to liberate them from their past.
Hecuba/Brenda and how their is often opposition to forgiveness etc
Somax/Francois and how they lead by example the need to forgive, and showed others how forgiveness was needed and that revenge was useless!!
thats in short!!

What did you write about??

I discussed the "clogging grey web" of grief that enfolded Achilles and contrasted that with Mandela's ability to forgive and not continue the cycle of revenge. Then I discussed Priam and how he is able to find "something new" in his forgiveness towards Achilles, as how similarly Francois leads his teammates to forgive. Finally, I compared Peleous (Achilles' father) who took in Patroclus with how Mandela takes in a family of '42 million'. 

Wow that was more difficult to remember than what I thought it would be! I think it was along those lines anyway

[AbanoubKT]

Do I get extra marks for talking about the logo in section C?

Also, I chose the challenging landscape question in Burial Rites, is that fine?

[accoleg]

Do I get extra marks for talking about the logo in section C?

Also, I chose the challenging landscape question in Burial Rites, is that fine?

I don't think it'd be extra marks, but it'd certainly add depth to your response.
Landscape is one of the best things about BR, shows depth of understanding and makes your response seem more complex!

[Abigail . Selvadurai.]

It was good .
The prompt for Lieutenant  was good I  did prompt 1 . It was quite do able.
The prompt for Ransom & invictus was good I  did prompt 2. It was easy to add quotes and come with good ideas.
The language analysis topic was good recycling is good. I  did the paper backwards.
I  used extra paper ,another answer book.
I am glad that 1 subject is done ,1 subject down.  Just 4 more left. two this week
economics tom
further 1 fri
further 2 mon
business management mon
Health and Human development next  Fri
All the best everyone with the rest of your exams.
Abigail

[laura1999]

What do you mean?
Were we not meant to talk about different types of conflict?
I spoke about men vs. women and barbarian vs. corinthian values as well
Is this wrong??
What else would you talk about?!

I did this question too!!
I initially focused on the conflict between reason and passion through Medea and Jason--Medea personifies Pathos as she is too passionate, while Jason has too much logos (logic) adding to their conflict

then I focused on the internal conflict of Medea and her struggle to grapple with her passion/reason

my last paragraph focused on which won out (I said reason, as she was cold and calculated and didn't divert from her plan, highlighting her Sophoclean heroine nature) and focused on how the gods and humans saw her crimes and (lack of) punishment!

[livdog]

What did everyone talk about for Medea prompt 2 - 'Euripides' Character Medea is a desperate woman maltreated by a despicable man. Do you agree? ' I talked about -
P1 - Patriarchal society mistreats and hurts Medea
P2 - Jason hurts Medea & is a despicable man - Talked about how he is selfish and cold ect.
P3 - Medea hurts herself in her excess passion

[rohantaylor9]

Comparative Text Response Question

Hey guys, so basically, my comparative piece (section b on the exam) was quite rushed. I managed to write 3 pages and had some really good ideas and evidence from the texts, however I'm just worried that because I didn't have a formal conclusion I may be punished.

My questions are:
1. Is a conclusion 100% necessary in a comparative piece?
2. If the rest of my essay was 3 pages of fairly strong ideas and evidence, could not having a conclusion prevent me from getting say an 8-10/10?

I didn't have a conclusion, but I did have this as a closing line:
Perhaps this is the true 'ransom' of Malouf's novel - the opportunity Priam provides Achilles to reconnect with his humanity.

Would this be sufficient?

Thanks for any response!

[siewyenghew]

What did everyone talk about for Medea prompt 2 - 'Euripides' Character Medea is a desperate woman maltreated by a despicable man. Do you agree? ' I talked about -
P1 - Patriarchal society mistreats and hurts Medea
P2 - Jason hurts Medea & is a despicable man - Talked about how he is selfish and cold ect.
P3 - Medea hurts herself in her excess passion

P1-Medea is frantic and her desperate desire to revolt comes from various despicable men and not one man only (Jason and Creon)
P2-While Medea faces maltreatment she is also treated well by various characters
P3-In a sense, Medea's desperation and course of revenge results in her own maltreatment of those who have inflicted harm towards her. (Creon, and I briefly talked about the Aristotelian notion of Greek tragedies in which a "tragic hero's" punishment exceeds the crime, and through this I've shown how Medea punished Jason in an excessive manner)
I don't know if this is acceptable because people have really different views on the topic so : (?

[laura1999]

Anyone do Bombshells and The Penelopiad for comparative, and if so-wha did you write and with what topic?

[K888]

Comparative Text Response Question

Hey guys, so basically, my comparative piece (section b on the exam) was quite rushed. I managed to write 3 pages and had some really good ideas and evidence from the texts, however I'm just worried that because I didn't have a formal conclusion I may be punished.

My questions are:
1. Is a conclusion 100% necessary in a comparative piece?
2. If the rest of my essay was 3 pages of fairly strong ideas and evidence, could not having a conclusion prevent me from getting say an 8-10/10?

I didn't have a conclusion, but I did have this as a closing line:
Perhaps this is the true 'ransom' of Malouf's novel - the opportunity Priam provides Achilles to reconnect with his humanity.

Would this be sufficient?

Thanks for any response!

I can't comment specifically for the comparative, but I think globally in English not having a conclusion isn't really going to affect you too much - I mean, there's no specific criteria that you have to have a conclusion, it just rounds out the piece nicely and wraps it up - they're definitely not going to be like "well, this was a good piece, but it's missing a conclusion...so we'll take a few marks off for that" It's more important to have good analysis/ideas and good knowledge of the text (which it sounds like you had!) than it is to have a conclusion.
Definitely still possible to be getting high range scores without a conclusion or even finishing an essay, too - I know there's a few users on the forum who didn't even finish their essays and got study scores in the 40s!

So yeah, tl;dr - don't sweat not having a conclusion, won't really impact you at all. Sounds like you're all set for some good marks! All the best for your other exams

[rohantaylor9]

Thank you so much for the reply

I can't comment specifically for the comparative, but I think globally in English not having a conclusion isn't really going to affect you too much - I mean, there's no specific criteria that you have to have a conclusion, it just rounds out the piece nicely and wraps it up - they're definitely not going to be like "well, this was a good piece, but it's missing a conclusion...so we'll take a few marks off for that" It's more important to have good analysis/ideas and good knowledge of the text (which it sounds like you had!) than it is to have a conclusion.
Definitely still possible to be getting high range scores without a conclusion or even finishing an essay, too - I know there's a few users on the forum who didn't even finish their essays and got study scores in the 40s!

So yeah, tl;dr - don't sweat not having a conclusion, won't really impact you at all. Sounds like you're all set for some good marks! All the best for your other exams

Thank you so much for the reply! That's extremely comforting to hear!
Guess it's just time to put English behind me and focus on my other exams!
Thanks heaps!

[Mariamnourine]

I am not sure that you had to but I did just in case. I feel like the main image was quite simple so it was hard to extract a lot of meaning from it. I just linked it to the idea of excessive waste 'clogging' the bins and eventually the country.

What did everyone else say for the images?

I said that the image depicts a planet in which it is robbed of its natural phenomena, such as the horizon [which was covered with piles of bags] and the radiant sun [which was obscured by the dark, gloomy clouds]

I guess that's how I interpret things. it's no the best though.

[jonwil]

Interesting question.
Here is a quote from the 2015 examiners report about a somewhat similar question:

"The actual topic („Medea is about extremes of human emotion.‟ Discuss.), however, focused closely on the idea of „extremes of human emotions‟. It appeared that some students did not comprehend the significance of the term „extremes‟. Others responded briefly to the essence of the topic but then spent the majority of their response beginning with such phrases as „it is not only about extremes, it is also about...‟ and then proceeded to write about themes they had prepared."

Really, I wouldn't worry about it. I think the word 'crucial' in that prompt gives you some freedom. No point second guessing now; I'm guessing a lot of people are in the same position as you.

Hmmmm
I dunno about my response lol
My tutor reckons its spot on, some people think its off topic but I did the crucial conflicts prompt
My interpretation of "crucial" is that  this confliction requires resolution, thus:
P1 -The dangers of adhering solely to one of these two emotions
P2- Aegeus and his circumvention of peril through sophrosyne
P3- Medea initially suffering from the confliction but finds resolution, escapes justice i.e peril circumvented once more
P4- (The confliction stated in the prompt I reckoned may had influenced me to consider the idea of what happens if it is not resolved)
So P4- Though, Euripides asserts that without resolution in this confliction, the innoncents of society will not escape the damaging consequences. Where I proceeded to talk about the children, and Glauce as emblematic of innocents in society, moreover Glauce as a royal, her death signifies that ultimately no one escapes the consequences.
Seems to me Ive either absolutely aced this prompt or blown off immensely LOLZ

[carol1234567890]

Who chose the topic about the structure of the film for All about eve??? Can someone please let me know what they talked about as I'm stressing that I talked about the wrong thing!

Discussed the narration, the extended flashback, and the non-linear sequence