So as we all know, exam is coming up but I am not sure which text I should put my main focus on for section B as I am EAL student. My school did Rear Window and Black Diggers. Both texts give me comfortable filling to write about but for Rear Window, I am much stronger at interpreting the meaning all symbols and film techniques.
Whereras with Black Diggers, whenever I am given a prompt, It will take me a bit of time for what to write about. Once I come up with the idea, I am still able to find evidences relatively quickly just as quick as Rear Window.
The only problem that I have with Rear Window is quotes as many scenes don't have dialogue. Oh, also, my teacher keep telling me that there will be more people writing on Rear Window compare to Black Diggers as it is a film whereas the other one is a play/book.
So which one should I write on? Thank you for your advices 
While it's true that Rear Window will probably be a very popular text this year, don't let that influence your decision too much! Yes, lots of people will choose Rear Window because it's a film, so it's "easy"
**... but that doesn't mean they're all going to do well. For every text, there will be a bell curve of high-scoring essays to low-scoring essays, so you should make a choice based on what best suits YOU, regardless of what the rest of the state is doing!
** I suspect films are often more popular because some students genuinely can't be bothered reading their books, let along studying them
So it's less effort to just watch a movie and then write about the key ideas. However, in terms of analysis, films can actually be more challenging, as you're expected to tie together the dialogue, visual/audio components, and cinematography. Lots of students just write about the characters in the film, and maybe make passing reference to a 'low camera angle'... but beyond that,
very few essays are good at discussing film techniques properly.
Therefore, since you've mentioned that discussing symbols and film techniques is a strength for you, choosing Rear Window might be a good option!
It sounds like you're in a pretty good position because you're relatively confident with both of your texts, so no matter which one you choose, you'll probably do well
And the issues you've outlined are also pretty easy to fix:
-
For Black Diggers: if coming up with ideas is taking a while, try just practising essay plans. Go through as many sample prompts as you can find, and give yourself 10 minutes to write down a bunch of different ideas and interpretations. This will get a lot easier the more you do it, and it's also a really efficient way of covering a variety of themes so that there's less chance of the exam surprising you!
-
For Rear Window: if you don't have enough quotes, go back through the text and collect as many as you can, even if they don't seem super important. Although you can't have a whole paragraph with no quotes and all film techniques, it's okay to focus more so on the film devices at times. What's most impressive, though, is
pairing quotes
with film techniques (e.g. Jeff says "I want to go outside" while the camera slowly pans out the window, revealing his desire to escape his current situation
)
Perhaps see how you go with an essay or a plan for each text over the next few weeks, and after that, you can make a choice about which one will best showcase your abilities.
It sounds like you've got an excellent sense of your abilities right now, which is a great sign, so keep up the good work!
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