How do I study for English throughout the whole year?

[KatieWolf]

Hi, this is my first forum post on ATARNotes here so sorry if I'm not posting in the correct spot!
I had just finished Year 11 and am now moving into Year 12, I have all of my resources readily available for English for the whole year. However, I'm not exactly sure how I want to plan out my year in terms of how I study for English and improve my marks? I struggle particularly with my expression and how I convey my ideas by answering prompts in SACs, yet I'm not exactly sure how to improve. I didn't particularly do well in Year 11 since I moved from Literature to English halfway through the year, so I struggled a lot in Unit 2. I was wondering what you guys suggest do throughout the summer holidays to prepare as well as throughout the year so I can attain the best study score I possibly can for English as it is definitely my weakest subject!

Thanks so much 

[sara.vce]

For me, English is quite hard to study for without doing heaps of practise essays but here are some ideas that I use frequently:
- character analysis
- mind map on themes and quotes
- timeline of key events and themes related to them
- key quotes bank (and flashcard set)
- essay plans

Hope you found that useful! I also have a post on how I revise for English on my blog, feel free to check it out at https://chamomileandcolour.wordpress.com/2019/10/13/how-i-revise-for-english/ .

[yourfriendlyneighbourhoodghost]

Hey KatieWolf,

Good luck for English next year.

English was probably one of my favourite subjects.

What I did to get better at expression, since that was also my biggest downfall, was:

- heaps of practice essays on different prompts (helps you build your ideas relating to different themes and will allow you to use these already thought of and expanded in ideas in the exam and SACs) 

Also, in terms of expression, writing essays , giving them to your teacher who will give feedback on expression, then, rewrite the same essay but implement the teacher's feedback, soon, it fluency will be second nature!

Reading other well expressed pieces is also good, because you see how they form their sentences and you can implement this.

Read your books, minimum two times.

Also, just have fun! If you love the book you are doing that is great! View essay writing as something joyful, although that is harder said than done, but completely doable.

Make sure you have quotes! I used quizlet to write half of a quote on one side of the flashcard, then on the other side, was the rest of the quote so it was like a flashcard thing.

But the biggest thing really, is to know your texts really well. AND PLANNING! That is very important. Often essays are clunky because the person's ideas haven't been planned out yet. So that will definitely help with expression.

Back to the texts,

Know what themes the prompts can ask you about, there are only so many. If the book is about romance they can't ask you about space, if that makes sense.

Build on YOUR interpretation if the texts as well.


I waffled on a  bit but I hope you do well. I believe you will. (:

[KatieWolf]

Thank you guys so much I really appreciate it!! This is such useful advice