HSC English Question Thread

[angewina_naguen]

This concept is much more clear now, thanks a lot Angelina!!!

Could you help me identify how the complexity of human experiences is represented in this extract:

Hey again!

Glad to hear it makes more sense! If you wanted to apply the ideas I explored in the previous post about complexity with this extract, you could either look at the inconsistent nature of our world and how that governs our desire for predictability (and consistency) in everyday life. I would highlight how we are motivated to combat what we are unable to predict by engaging in behaviours that enable us to grasp at some degree of reassurance and/or can provide us with foresight, no matter how accurate it ends up being. You could consider this to be complex because it reveals how we as human beings choose to respond to aspects of our lives that are out of our control with certain actions. Hope that helps!

Angelina 

[alice343]

Hello everyone! I was just wanted to know, how do you guys organise your quote tables for the Common Module? Under rubric terms, human experiences, the text (My text is a series of Dobson poems), key ideas? There's so much stuff to include!!

[angewina_naguen]

Hello everyone! I was just wanted to know, how do you guys organise your quote tables for the Common Module? Under rubric terms, human experiences, the text (My text is a series of Dobson poems), key ideas? There's so much stuff to include!!

Hey, alice343!

I would recommend organising it under rubric terms so that way, you cover all the bases they could possibly ask you in the exam! You also can organise it under key ideas but make sure the examples you choose are flexible enough across a variety of concepts. I also tried to reduce the number of quotes I had down so I had less to memorise by reusing quotes for multiple rubric points. I initially would have around 30 quotes per text but by Trials, I had around 12 instead. For example, you could use this quote from Amy Caroline "Eight children, little money, many griefs" for human emotions, as well as individual and collective human experiences. See if you can find quotes that apply to more than one rubric concept and use those wherever you can  Hope that helps!

Angelina 

[alice343]

Hey, alice343!

I would recommend organising it under rubric terms so that way, you cover all the bases they could possibly ask you in the exam! You also can organise it under key ideas but make sure the examples you choose are flexible enough across a variety of concepts. I also tried to reduce the number of quotes I had down so I had less to memorise by reusing quotes for multiple rubric points. I initially would have around 30 quotes per text but by Trials, I had around 12 instead. For example, you could use this quote from Amy Caroline "Eight children, little money, many griefs" for human emotions, as well as individual and collective human experiences. See if you can find quotes that apply to more than one rubric concept and use those wherever you can  Hope that helps!

Angelina 

Thank you Angelina!

[pine-apple01320]

Just a quick question about topic sentences - I know we are supposed to have extensive links between paragraphs (ie, not just using similarly, conversely etc), and link back to the author's overall philosophical purpose for example - but I wondering how to do that without just rehashing what you just talked about?

[lara.morales1]

Hey guys, I’m really struggling to study for the common module (I’m doing 1984) in the lead up to trials and could really use some help.

I’ve been trying to memorise techniques, quotes and explanations from the text by creating tables but end up struggling with how to insert them into a cohesive paragraph! Should I instead be looking to memorise an essay that I can adapt to in my exam? What should my paragraphs look like and how much should I be aiming to write? Just generally, what should my study for these big essay components of the HSC look like?

I’ve never been a fan of English and am especially struggling to get my head around these exams and boost my confidence back up so any advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lara

[angewina_naguen]

Just a quick question about topic sentences - I know we are supposed to have extensive links between paragraphs (ie, not just using similarly, conversely etc), and link back to the author's overall philosophical purpose for example - but I wondering how to do that without just rehashing what you just talked about?

Hey, pine-apple01320!

Great question! Try to think of your topic sentences as branches off of the trunk that is your thesis. They should essentially be building your judgement using themes to argue a specific stance on the text. Each topic sentence will be different since you're using different ideas but the key words of the question (and relevant synonyms, as well as concepts, can help you write them. For example, let's say this was your thesis.

"Compassion is represented as an essential quality when responding to human experiences that emerge out of adversity. Through showcasing the importance of compassion, composers are able to catalyse and generate personal reflection within their audiences."

Your topic sentence could be something along the lines of this.

"Central to the portrayal of compassion is, paradoxically, the prejudice that is present in the attitudes of the documentary's individuals."

As you can see, the topic sentence is an extension of the thesis and uses the theme to provide the rest of the body paragraph direction. Let me know if that makes sense!

Hey guys, I’m really struggling to study for the common module (I’m doing 1984) in the lead up to trials and could really use some help.

I’ve been trying to memorise techniques, quotes and explanations from the text by creating tables but end up struggling with how to insert them into a cohesive paragraph! Should I instead be looking to memorise an essay that I can adapt to in my exam? What should my paragraphs look like and how much should I be aiming to write? Just generally, what should my study for these big essay components of the HSC look like?

I’ve never been a fan of English and am especially struggling to get my head around these exams and boost my confidence back up so any advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lara

Hey, Lara!

Welcome to the forums! I would really discourage memorising an essay because the new HSC is designed to actively challenge students to respond to questions on the spot. Instead, use your existing notes to respond to practice questions. If you're struggling to write the paragraphs, I would advise firstly making a plan for your essay which includes the thesis, your chosen themes for each body and the quotes/techniques you will be using to argue your points. Diving straight into an essay might be daunting so this can help you ease yourself into writing your responses  How you structure your paragraphs depends on what your school has taught you and what you think you're most comfortable with doing.  The structure I generally recommend is as below but you can definitely pull off a great essay with only three examples per paragraph (I'd just recommend five if you can).

Writing Bodies- Step by Step!

- Topic Sentence
- Elaborate
- Example 1 Analysis
- Example 2 Analysis
- Example 3 Analysis
- Example 4 Analysis
- Example 5 Analysis
- Argument summary
- Linking sentence

You should aim for anywhere between 800-1000 words in the exam since you have 45 minutes to respond to the Common Module essay and 40 minutes for the Module A and B essays. Here is a great Band 6 sample for a Common Module essay on 1984 if you wanted to see how you might approach it yourself!

Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions. All the best with your Trials revision to the both of you!

Angelina 

[lara.morales1]

Hey, pine-apple01320!

Great question! Try to think of your topic sentences as branches off of the trunk that is your thesis. They should essentially be building your judgement using themes to argue a specific stance on the text. Each topic sentence will be different since you're using different ideas but the key words of the question (and relevant synonyms, as well as concepts, can help you write them. For example, let's say this was your thesis.

"Compassion is represented as an essential quality when responding to human experiences that emerge out of adversity. Through showcasing the importance of compassion, composers are able to catalyse and generate personal reflection within their audiences."

Your topic sentence could be something along the lines of this.

"Central to the portrayal of compassion is, paradoxically, the prejudice that is present in the attitudes of the documentary's individuals."

As you can see, the topic sentence is an extension of the thesis and uses the theme to provide the rest of the body paragraph direction. Let me know if that makes sense!

Hey, Lara!

Welcome to the forums! I would really discourage memorising an essay because the new HSC is designed to actively challenge students to respond to questions on the spot. Instead, use your existing notes to respond to practice questions. If you're struggling to write the paragraphs, I would advise firstly making a plan for your essay which includes the thesis, your chosen themes for each body and the quotes/techniques you will be using to argue your points. Diving straight into an essay might be daunting so this can help you ease yourself into writing your responses  How you structure your paragraphs depends on what your school has taught you and what you think you're most comfortable with doing.  The structure I generally recommend is as below but you can definitely pull off a great essay with only three examples per paragraph (I'd just recommend five if you can).

Writing Bodies- Step by Step!

- Topic Sentence
- Elaborate
- Example 1 Analysis
- Example 2 Analysis
- Example 3 Analysis
- Example 4 Analysis
- Example 5 Analysis
- Argument summary
- Linking sentence

You should aim for anywhere between 800-1000 words in the exam since you have 45 minutes to respond to the Common Module essay and 40 minutes for the Module A and B essays. Here is a great Band 6 sample for a Common Module essay on 1984 if you wanted to see how you might approach it yourself!

Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions. All the best with your Trials revision to the both of you!

Angelina 

Thank you so much Angelina! I really appreciate your help!!

[mrsc]

Hey, as trials are approaching just wondering if I could any tips on my notes structure for the common module (English advanced: Merchant of Venice). As of now, I've structured notes for each module using a quote technique effect table under each theme. Is there anything else I can add in order to improve the quality of my notes. Also, any tips on adapting to questions in exams. I usually tend to get overwhelmed under exam conditions and can't seem to adapt my prepared analysis and themes to the specified questions. Would it be useful to memorise generic paragraphs and topic sentences based on themes and then try to adapt them to the given questions or maybe other approaches? Thanks in advance.

[angewina_naguen]

Hey, as trials are approaching just wondering if I could any tips on my notes structure for the common module (English advanced: Merchant of Venice). As of now, I've structured notes for each module using a quote technique effect table under each theme. Is there anything else I can add in order to improve the quality of my notes. Also, any tips on adapting to questions in exams. I usually tend to get overwhelmed under exam conditions and can't seem to adapt my prepared analysis and themes to the specified questions. Would it be useful to memorise generic paragraphs and topic sentences based on themes and then try to adapt them to the given questions or maybe other approaches? Thanks in advance.

Hey, mrsc!

Amazing to hear that your notes are on the way and getting polished up for Trials! I would recommend making sure that you have enough examples for each of the rubric statements so you can construct effective responses in the exam. You should aim to have around nine quotes (which you can divide into three bodies/themes, for example) for each one in the event you get asked a question to discuss them in the exam. The statements summarised are individual and collective human experiences; human qualities and emotions; anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human motivations and behaviours; storytelling to express and reflect particular lives and cultures. If these statements overlap with any of the quotes and themes you already have in your notes, just use them!

I also highly discourage memorising or pre-preparing essays because the new syllabus is really steering students away from that. Rather than spending time memorising information and trying to adapt it to the question in the exam, I think it is far better to use your notes to practise responding to essay questions on the spot as productive study. This can help you better familiarise yourself with the timed conditions that you are provided, something I found worked really well for me because I also stress in exams, and figure out what else you need to do to prepare yourself for Trials. Whenever in doubt, always refer back to the question and the key concepts/terms it is asking you to discuss. Generic or pre-prepared responses are easy to identify because they fail to integrate the key words of the question and build an effective judgement from it. You get much better at this the more you expose yourself to practice questions and write responses under exam conditions 

I've also linked for you the Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences Practice Questions Thread
which you can use to help you with your revision! Let me know if you have any further questions and hope this helps!

Angelina 

[Coolmate]

Hi Everyone!

For the short answer responses in Paper 1 (Section 1 of Paper 1), do we need to include form in our responses? And could it elevate your response or possibly grant you more marks?

For Example:
"Text 1's embodiment of dramatic monologue coupled with a metaphor poses *this*"

Thanks in advance!
Coolmate

[angewina_naguen]

Hi Everyone!

For the short answer responses in Paper 1 (Section 1 of Paper 1), do we need to include form in our responses? And could it elevate your response or possibly grant you more marks?

For Example:
"Text 1's embodiment of dramatic monologue coupled with a metaphor poses *this*"

Thanks in advance!
Coolmate

Hey, Coolmate!

Good question  If the question asks you to discuss textual form or language forms and features, I would absolutely recommend embedding it in your analysis! If it doesn't, you could still mention it to elevate your analysis and potentially grant you marks if it is relevant to your argument. A really good way to do it is as you've shown in your example where you discuss it in tandem with another technique  Alternative phrases you can use to vary your expression include "combined with", "in conjunction with" and "in tandem with." 

However, the main things you should be focusing in on for your short answer responses are the key words of the question, especially the ones related to the module (individual/collective human experiences, storytelling etc.) and any other prescribed focuses (family, unique experiences, use of voice and any other specific requirements). This is where the bulk of your marks will come from so while it's worth mentioning and discussing textual form, use it more for the purposes of enhancing your analysis in light of the question, as opposed to just rambling on about it in isolation  Hope that helps and that your Trials revision is coming along well!

Angelina 
 

[Coolmate]

Hey, Coolmate!

Good question  If the question asks you to discuss textual form or language forms and features, I would absolutely recommend embedding it in your analysis! If it doesn't, you could still mention it to elevate your analysis and potentially grant you marks if it is relevant to your argument. A really good way to do it is as you've shown in your example where you discuss it in tandem with another technique  Alternative phrases you can use to vary your expression include "combined with", "in conjunction with" and "in tandem with." 

However, the main things you should be focusing in on for your short answer responses are the key words of the question, especially the ones related to the module (individual/collective human experiences, storytelling etc.) and any other prescribed focuses (family, unique experiences, use of voice and any other specific requirements). This is where the bulk of your marks will come from so while it's worth mentioning and discussing textual form, use it more for the purposes of enhancing your analysis in light of the question, as opposed to just rambling on about it in isolation  Hope that helps and that your Trials revision is coming along well!

Angelina 

Hi Angelina!

Thankyou for your help with my question, I really appreciate it! And my trial revision is coming along well thanks

I just have another question though, when analysing a text like, "The Boy Behind the Curtain", would you recommend I have about 5 quotes for each "short story", or should I have more? and would about 5 quotes per paragraph (3 body paragraphs in a full essay) be enough? (15 quotes in the whole essay)

Thanks again!
Coolmate

[angewina_naguen]

Hi Angelina!

Thankyou for your help with my question, I really appreciate it! And my trial revision is coming along well thanks

I just have another question though, when analysing a text like, "The Boy Behind the Curtain", would you recommend I have about 5 quotes for each "short story", or should I have more? and would about 5 quotes per paragraph (3 body paragraphs in a full essay) be enough? (15 quotes in the whole essay)

Thanks again!
Coolmate

Hey, Coolmate!

I think that having five quotes for each short story should work fine! Just make sure that those quotes explore the same theme so that you can have a thematic argument established for each story in your body paragraph. For example, you might use spirituality for "A Walk at Low Tide" or loss for “Havoc.” As for quotes, 5 per paragraph will be more than enough! I usually recommend at least 3 per paragraph for those who write slower and 5 for those who write fast under exam conditions; 4 is a safe amount in between if your handwriting speed is average! As long as each paragraph has the same number of examples, anywhere between 3-5 will do  Hope that clarifies that!

Angelina 

[Coolmate]

Hey, Coolmate!

I think that having five quotes for each short story should work fine! Just make sure that those quotes explore the same theme so that you can have a thematic argument established for each story in your body paragraph. For example, you might use spirituality for "A Walk at Low Tide" or loss for “Havoc.” As for quotes, 5 per paragraph will be more than enough! I usually recommend at least 3 per paragraph for those who write slower and 5 for those who write fast under exam conditions; 4 is a safe amount in between if your handwriting speed is average! As long as each paragraph has the same number of examples, anywhere between 3-5 will do  Hope that clarifies that!

Angelina 

Hey Angelina!

Thankyou so much for the help, this has helped me immensely with my Trials prep! I really appreciate it

Thanks again!
Coolmate