English (Paper 1): Discussion, Questions & Potential Solutions

[Joseph41]

Post all exam discussion and sample solutions for Paper 1 here!

[iimooncabbageii]

Can't believe they made us do two long short answers.

[Razeen25]

Can't believe they made us do two long short answers.

This. No 1-2 markers (. Also I was surprised how this time, the question asking us to compare Two texts wasn’t even the last question like usual. Short answers were too hard.

Also, do you guys reckon the creative which was “Compose a piece of imaginative writing that portrays two different perspectives of discovery” can be interpreted as two different TYPES of discovery or two different characters personal perspectives? Cause lol I just wrote my creative oops

[Hatem]

For the essay question, I agreed with one of the points and disagreed with the other, is that allowed?

[dcesaona]

Bloody hell. That was a hard exam.

The comprehension structure was wack, I felt like I had to regain myself constantly when working through it. That 'discoveries lead to altered perspectives' 5 marker threw me off!! I was answering it as 'altered perspectives can lead to discoveries' and only realised until my last technique that I was answering it wrong. I'm so annoyed with myself. Is there any chance there would be any leniency on that? I still picked out some strong language features that explored the same concept....

The creative. Wtf. Two perspectives. Spent 5 mins contemplating whether or not to chuck in the mother's perspective on the spot, or adapt my story with the one character, put show how her perspective towards discovery changed - initially from discovering the peaceful nature of ballet and her mother, to the cruel nature of both when she was older. That works right? I feel like I need clarification from my peers because this is going to eat away at me forever. And that quote! So multi-faceted! That was like 5 emotions in one. I feel like it worked in correctly but could've been done better.

For the discovery essay I talked about re-discovery and how it can challenge an individual's preconceived perceptions of themselves and the world. Is taking the 're-discovery' angle correct? Re-discovering something is not finding something that is new, it's reconsidering what was once new. Am I correct in thinking that??

Summary: they really pulled out all the tricks. shit.

[dcesaona]

Also, do you guys reckon the creative which was “Compose a piece of imaginative writing that portrays two different perspectives of discovery” can be interpreted as two different TYPES of discovery or two different characters personal perspectives? Cause lol I just wrote my creative oops

That's how I, and a lot of others, interpreted it. So it's safe to say that's correct 

[owidjaja]

Paper 1- dodgy as usual. (Warning: I'm ranting).

Who in the world decided to include 2 nonfiction texts?? There was an interview and an actual nonfiction extract so how in the world am I supposed to a) show a person's discovery and b) find actual techniques. I wanted to analyse a character's process, not some photographer talking about being curious. I found myself being like "the photographer preserves new worlds in photographs" or something like that. I also didn't understand the poem. No clue what they're "discovering." I said something along the lines of discovering new landscapes.

Secondly, mark distribution. The mark distribution was so weird. Who decided it was a good idea to do 3, 3, 4, 5?? Not only that, we couldn't choose what texts to pick. They're like 'Nope. Gotta do Texts 1 and 2.' So I bs-ed something on discoveries leading to various emotional responses and how these varying responses reflect the complexity of discovery. I don't know, I was on the verge of breaking down in the exam.

Also, the creative question was strange. A creative on two perspectives on discovery?? I'm hoping the markers are being a bit interpretive because I thought two characters needed to discover something. Since my creative changes perspective, I'm hoping that they recognise that as 'perspectives on discovery.' The quote though, was very awkward. It felt so out of place in my creative, considering the quote came from a text where the author was rambling on different perspectives.

Finally, essay question: I'm hoping I'm allowed to partially agree with the question because the question was really weird. "Discovery isn't always something new, nor is it a joy"?? This kinda goes against my usual "Miranda's newfound discovery of ____" so I had to be all like "Prospero's rediscovery of forgiveness and despair over rejecting his magic" or something. Again, felt like I rambled.

Also, this was just something at my school (not sure if other schools had this), but our supervisor stopped us 1 minute early. Doesn't sound like a lot but my friend could've finished her conclusion, it interrupted my train of thought- it surprised everyone. And when the supervisor told us to keep writing, she said that in a very soft voice so I couldn't hear her since I was sitting all the way at the back.

So yeah, Paper 1 was very depressing ;-;

Also, do you guys reckon the creative which was “Compose a piece of imaginative writing that portrays two different perspectives of discovery” can be interpreted as two different TYPES of discovery or two different characters personal perspectives? Cause lol I just wrote my creative oops

I mean, I'm hoping the markers to be a bit more interpretative. I was talking to a few teachers after the exam and they said it could be one character changing their perspective.

For the essay question, I agreed with one of the points and disagreed with the other, is that allowed?

My teacher said since it's a 'to what extent' question, you have room to agree with some and disagree with others. I did that throughout my essay and compared/contrasted different character discoveries so hopefully the markers agree with us.

[Caitlynk_22]

So, it didn't go all bad. I agree the altered perspectives 5 markers messed me up a little too. I don't even remember if what I wrote was right. I was very happy with the essay question though because it fit my pre-prepared essay perfectly.

I didn't like the creative I wrote though... I feel like it was too cliche and nothing like my stories I did in the past. It had the same general story line as those but anyway.

I don't actually care anymore hahahaha. IT'S DONE. Now to think of paper 2. Ugh.

[Razeen25]

For the essay question, I agreed with one of the points and disagreed with the other, is that allowed?

Same. I agreed with discoveries not always evoking joy but disagreed with “discovery is not always about finding the new”

[dcesaona]

Paper 1- dodgy as usual. (Warning: I'm ranting).


Secondly, mark distribution. The mark distribution was so weird. Who decided it was a good idea to do 3, 3, 4, 5?? Not only that, we couldn't choose what texts to pick. They're like 'Nope. Gotta do Texts 1 and 2.' So I bs-ed something on discoveries leading to various emotional responses and how these varying responses reflect the complexity of discovery. I don't know, I was on the verge of breaking down in the exam.

I didn't even say that they have varying responses to the experience of discovery! I couldn't find where the contrast in emotions were. Both, to me, conveyed pleasant experiences with discovering as the beauty of the arctic landscape in text 2 conveys the joy of discovering and that text 1 was similar, in that it also showed the excitement associated with discovery. Is it bad that I didn't show dissimilarities? Ugh I hate everything right now

[FutureLawStudent]

My thoughts:

Reading paper: The questions themselves weren't hard, however the material was. Two nonfiction texts is difficult, however, the images in the first one made things easier. Overall, I thought it was hard but still relatively easy and a likely 15. While the mark allocations were a tad unusual, this was the direction that it was clearly heading in. I feel it favoured advanced more than standard.

Creative: They've never really asked for a quote to be used, just incorporated, so a little strange. Probably one of the harder creatives they've asked in recent history.

Essay: Unusual form, but easy question with a lot of avenues.

[jenae.madden]

Okay hi everyone, im normally a bad bitch with short answer and i whip out weird but thorough analysis of the texts
So, for the first one i took the photography to discoveries as the literal photos, and in that i used the monk picture and was discussing how the placement of the picture upside down subverted its composition to force the viewer to quite literally rediscovery a culture in a new perspective....
BUt wait !!
The picture wasnt upside down... no... they were just hanging....
Does this debunk my whole analysis or are they lenient to this type of thing?
Also does photography = the actual picture
SOrry I just need some sort of closure

[Lilabear123]

Omg i realised just now after reading this that the 5 marker was asking about how discoveries lead to new perspectives? i read discoveries lead to new perspectives, damn would that mean i wouldn't get any marks since i wasn't answering the right question??

[Seanclair]

I am a bit disappointed in the way the essay question was written. Usually there's a pretty clear connection to the rubric using rubric words however this question was just obscure. I also thought the creative was very narrow. Don't even get me started on the short answer.
Thought it was a very poorly written paper.

[headsup]

thoughts.....

 

seriously NESA!!!!! did you run out of discovery texts??? what were those things??? and the marks distribution as above.... totally screwed me up................

 

creative... my teacher had said one of the strong points of my one was its discovery for the reader, emotional and physical discovery for the persona and the physical discovery... so - i just wrote the one i add and added the quote in the parts it fitted.... only prob is i spent like 50 mins on it!!!

 

essay - easy question. but jst ran out of time 

 

overall.... was not at all stressed like i thought i would be.... + it is doneeee!!!!

discovery is finished forever..!!!