Essay writing/text response

[joshuamorgan]

Grrr! English is one subject that really annoys me! Whilst I am fairly articulate/spell correctly/use grammar correctly (I think), there are two things that I lack at:

• being able to interpret novels - I am very literal and interpret novels the literal way, I very rarely see the 'themes' in novels.
• Essay writing - I'm usually not able to structure essays very well.

Because of this, I tend to not put much effort into English at all - I read the assigned books but don't go and write notes/chapter summaries/character development or maintain a collection of quotes. I also don't often practice writing essays.

Next year, for Year 12, I have to put a lot more effort into English as English will be the subject that will 'drag my ENTER down', if you will. What are people doing to succeed in English? What kind of notes are you preparing? What resources would you recommend (beyond practice, that's obviously needed) to become better at essay writing? For example, I don't understand the concept of 'L' (link) in TEEL? Is there a website or book that explains that?

I'm aiming for a 30-40 in English, what kind of results do I need to achieve such a study score?

Thanks,

Josh

[SilverBullet]

I personally think you have answered your own question mate when you said "I read the assigned books but don't go and write notes/chapter summaries/character development or maintain a collection of quotes. I also don't often practice writing essays."

The best thing you can do for English it read, read, read, and write, write, write. For help with themes you can buy study guides which I personally found very effective this year.

Write as many practise essays as possible.

For the 'Linking' part of your essay I would talk to an English teacher at your school about it. I personally use the last sentence in my paragraphs to link the argument back to the topic. I know others who link it with next paragraph. Show your teachers some essays you have written this year and ask them what will be suit your style.

[joshuamorgan]

OK, thanks. What kind of notes do you prepare? How do you determine what quotes to remember?

Yes, he's always taught us to link it with the next paragraph - it's always been something I've failed to comprehend. Is the purpose of the link to link the contention of that paragraph with the topic sentence of the next?

[Defiler]

Know your texts really well. I'd recommend getting them early and going through annotating and getting a quotelist before next year starts. This way, when you start writing practise essays you'll be able to easily draw upon the text.

I recommend also making a big 'mind map' thingy of the themes in a text.

[SilverBullet]

OK, thanks. What kind of notes do you prepare? How do you determine what quotes to remember?

Yes, he's always taught us to link it with the next paragraph - it's always been something I've failed to comprehend. Is the purpose of the link to link the contention of that paragraph with the topic sentence of the next?

Before we went back to school last year I wroute chapter  and scene summaries of each of my texts.

I went through my study  guide to find out what the themes were and then put their explaination into my own words. To help with essay writing I then went through the book/movie to find evidence of each theme.
The quotes should come with that.

For character development I wrote down all the characters and gave each one a personal summary on their journey/role within the text.

Knowing which quotes to remember is the trickiets part. Take note of which quotes you use when practising, you'll find that you just 'know' which ones you need to remember.

[kido_1]

Grrr! English is one subject that really annoys me! Whilst I am fairly articulate/spell correctly/use grammar correctly (I think), there are two things that I lack at:

• being able to interpret novels - I am very literal and interpret novels the literal way, I very rarely see the 'themes' in novels.
• Essay writing - I'm usually not able to structure essays very well.

Because of this, I tend to not put much effort into English at all - I read the assigned books but don't go and write notes/chapter summaries/character development or maintain a collection of quotes. I also don't often practice writing essays.

Next year, for Year 12, I have to put a lot more effort into English as English will be the subject that will 'drag my ENTER down', if you will. What are people doing to succeed in English? What kind of notes are you preparing? What resources would you recommend (beyond practice, that's obviously needed) to become better at essay writing? For example, I don't understand the concept of 'L' (link) in TEEL? Is there a website or book that explains that?

I'm aiming for a 30-40 in English, what kind of results do I need to achieve such a study score?

Thanks,

Josh

These would be some of my tips t o improving in English:

1)Read A Lot- Especially newspaper editorials. You can get some ideas from the way people structire their writing, tone, mood and the general 'smart comments' can also help give you ideas. You may also like to analyse the language and practice your language analysis for section 3, since it is now worth 20 marks with the change in the study design.

2) Dare to be different. Try to stand out in your writing, be witty and curious in your writing. If you are a bit different usually markers would appreciate your Point Of View.

3) Practice- Write essays, analysis

4) Read Other people's stories/essays from past years-This could be bought in the form of Checkpoints, Insight Study guides which give you an idea to how other people tackle the English test and the concepts/notions which they explore. (You might even like to steal a few of their tricks/ideas)

5)Be a wise/informed citizen-Keep up with the news. Watch shows/ movies that are related to your context study. Try to make it a fun subject rather than a monotonous burden that is likely to weigh down your ENTER score.

Overall. Just do your best and wish for a bit of luck. Good luck is always handy in a subjective subject such as English.

 :lol:

[BA22]

Overall. Just do your best and wish for a bit of luck. Good luck is always handy in a subjective subject such as English.

The subjective component of english is over-hyped, luck is not a tangible factor of english

[Nick]

Overall. Just do your best and wish for a bit of luck. Good luck is always handy in a subjective subject such as English.

The subjective component of english is over-hyped, luck is not a tangible factor of english

I'd definately agree with that. To say that "luck" is a major component in english is a little misinformed. If all the components of a good essay exist in an essay, there is a high probability of reaching A+ standard.

Key components would include:
Strong introduction- swiftly and effectively brushes over the key concepts and ideas to be discussed. The intro should be linguistically powerful, yet it shouldn't be too verbose- this can detract from what you are trying to convey to your reader.

3-4 paragraphs which are packed with an abundant amount of information and key evidence- evidence is the key to good paragraphs. Good evidence is what pushes your grades up. Your ideas must be extensive and relevant, but every point you make should ideally be backed up by a quotation or a direct event or circumstance which comes directly from the novel/film text. I guarantee that evidence is what the examiners are looking for. Using good language often helps, but you should not rely on this alone to boost your score. Even someone who is an average student can gain an A grade by just using lots of evidence.

Conclusion- Sums up all key points briefly and coherently. Never mention something that has not already been mentioned in your previous paragraphs.

[Pencil]

 The intro should be linguistically powerful, yet it shouldn't be too verbose- this can detract from what you are trying to convey to your reader.

This is a really good tip for everything you do in english, not just intro's. Don't overwrite, stick with words you know and don't just find the biggest word in the thesaurus - teachers/examiners will recognise this straight away and you'll look like a moron. I think when you start year 12 you can be tempted to be all 'oo i'm in year 12, must use big words' but yeah don't. Of course a good vocab is essential, just don't overdo it
/rant.

[BA22]

In my view, the introduction should begin with a sentence outlining your contention, a direct response to the prompt (well, i like to anyway). The examiner will have a fair idea of your grade after reading your intro.

Being linguistically powerful does convey confidence and control of language, but as goose mentioned, it must be only employed if you clearly know the meaning of the word. "Didactic" was a very popular word in my class due to its appropriate usage for Dicken's writing style, yet few were actually aware of its specific meaning.

I personally advocate a thoughtful introduction, one which establishes a clear line of arguement, and references the various factors/characters and writing devices that support YOUR contention, and not that of the prompt. A common mistake is to deviate from your line of arguement, affecting your ability to maintain the tight control of discussion needed to earn high marks.

English is a active learning experience, and you must experiment with your style early in the year. I personally wrote no responses in the two weeks leading up to the exam, bar one practice exam that the school ran, as very little improvement can be made at that stage of the year. Your teacher does not possess all the solutions to your problems, and finding other sources of criticism is imperative to broadening your own perception of your skills in this subject.

Furthermore there are very few iron-clad rules of essay writing, structure is of course important, but by no means is TEEL the only option available to you. If someone is trying to tell you that you must quote in your conclusion, or that you must not, then they are wrong. I certainly have my own perceptions of appropriate essay writing that i reccomend to others, but do not be limited by the rules of others, you must experiment to find a style that suits you

If you are not confident with english, then you post here at your own risk, if you post work and receive negative (but almost always constructive) criticism, you may find the standard of your school does not correlate to the rest of the state. Too often i have seen students suprised by mine or others assessment of their work, of which they thought was of outstanding quality, only to find it was mediocre at best. However, FSN is a positive environment for the most part, and i've yet to see the spiteful and mean spirited comments of people's work that i've seen on BOS. Be aware that there is always someone, somewhere who needs to bring you down to feel better about themselvs. This is the nature of the VCE beast, and english is not the only subject i which you will encounter this attitude.

My only rule of english is that you must practice. I assisted students this year who struggled with aspects of the course, only to find they had only written one or two pieces in the format they were struggling with. You are against students who will write in excess of 50-70 essays for the entire year, you simply must practice. If you take anything in from my lengthy diatribe, then it is that you must practice.

PRACTICE.

[Nick]

English is a active learning experience, and you must experiment with your style early in the year. I personally wrote no responses in the two weeks leading up to the exam, bar one practice exam that the school ran, as very little improvement can be made at that stage of the year. Your teacher does not possess all the solutions to your problems, and finding other sources of criticism is imperative to broadening your own perception of your skills in this subject.

Fair point, but I wouldn't advocate it. In english there is always room for improvement, regardless of the time of year. I wrote around 20-25 practice essays in the month leading up to the exam and I certainly feel as though it improved my ability immensely. It boosted my confidence unbelievably and I experienced a wide variety of topics which could be included on the final exam. I strongly advise doing as many text responses as you can in the weeks leading up to the exam, as it enhances your likelihood of success even further. With adequate exposure to a wide variety of topics, you may find that you even come across the same question on the actual exam.

Not only does it enable you to consolidate your ideas and practice writing coherently and fluently (exam criteria), it ensures that you are fully capable of writing an impressive and meaningful piece of writing in the 50 minutes allocated for each text response. Having said this- don't go overboard. Write as much as you can in the weeks leading up to the exam, but don't do so much that you despise writing text responses all together.

Remember: Regardless of the time of year, writing numerous text responses will not only boost your confidence, but also your ability. Even if you gain an extra 1 or 2 marks from putting in the hard yards in the fortnight leading up to the exam, I'm sure your perseverance will ensure that you reap the benefits that you deserve.  :wink:

[rustic_metal]

read plenty of classic novels and shakespeares which may have similar themes and/or characters and can be used to make intertextual links (ask your teacher which ones would be appropriate for your selected texts)

also, try reading the texts from different perspectives; e.g. a freudian perspective, a feminist perspective, etc

[BA22]

Fair point, but I wouldn't advocate it. In english there is always room for improvement, regardless of the time of year. I wrote around 20-25 practice essays in the month leading up to the exam and I certainly feel as though it improved my ability immensely. It boosted my confidence unbelievably and I experienced a wide variety of topics which could be included on the final exam. I strongly advise doing as many text responses as you can in the weeks leading up to the exam, as it enhances your likelihood of success even further. With adequate exposure to a wide variety of topics, you may find that you even come across the same question on the actual exam.

Not only does it enable you to consolidate your ideas and practice writing coherently and fluently (exam criteria), it ensures that you are fully capable of writing an impressive and meaningful piece of writing in the 50 minutes allocated for each text response. Having said this- don't go overboard. Write as much as you can in the weeks leading up to the exam, but don't do so much that you despise writing text responses all together.

Remember: Regardless of the time of year, writing numerous text responses will not only boost your confidence, but also your ability. Even if you gain an extra 1 or 2 marks from putting in the hard yards in the fortnight leading up to the exam, I'm sure your perseverance will ensure that you reap the benefits that you deserve.  :wink:

True, but with the students who are math/science, writing 6 essays a week leading up to exams is not appealing, especially since some of them think they'll do badly anyway. The new course demands that students have flawless knowledge of their texts, therefore the major effort should be put into writing responses during text study time, and therefore not writing too much towards the end. The major benefit of your idea Nick, is time management, again, reduced by a revised exam structure.

Our course suited the mad rush to the end style preperation in which adapting to the pressure of exams gives confidence. However with this course, students will need to make early in-roads to their writing, cementing ideas, becoming intimately familiar with the relationship between the texts selected and the context. Therefore, developing a comfortable and exam styled response must be timeframed to be completed around the end of term 3. Whilst improvements can be made towards the end of the year, i suspect that these would be more time related, and a back-ended workload (as 20-25 essays would be two-thirds to three-quaters of the total workload for a fairly commited student) raises serious questions on the quality of the work.

My overall point is that with the new course, the bulk of improvement will be made by writing as many responses as possible whilst the course is being taught, this is not only new to you, but your teachers as well. Maybe 5-10 responses will be ok in the final month, but i suspect the new english course to be draining and perhaps even confesing to some students. The quality of the best students work will re-invigorate the competitiveness of english, students with adept lit skills will again rise to the top, as the pressure of exam timing will be lessened.

The workload of english throughout the year next year will increase as the students adjust to focusing on the quality of essays, as RM points out, differing perspectives and intertextual references will become embedded in daily classes, requiring much more research and reading. As the english workload increases, the panic relating english a compulsory top 4 subject will cause some students to neglect their other subjects, neccesitating a higher workload in those subjects towards the end of the year.

Therefore my advice is to really focus on english throughout the year, look at making terms 2/3 your high workload periods. With the texts fresh in mind, this allows higher calibre responses to be made. Learn with the course, and don't fall behind the curve. This is a lit kid's dream in 08, your quality effort MUST come as you learn the text. Revision in exam time must be spent revising notes, your early responses, critiquing your own writing. The focus on writing style has been reduced, therefore you must address it early in the year, quality is of paramount importance, and cannot be substaintially improved at the end of the year.

[Nick]

Therefore my advice is to really focus on english throughout the year, look at making terms 2/3 your high workload periods. With the texts fresh in mind, this allows higher calibre responses to be made. Learn with the course, and don't fall behind the curve. This is a lit kid's dream in 08, your quality effort MUST come as you learn the text. Revision in exam time must be spent revising notes, your early responses, critiquing your own writing. The focus on writing style has been reduced, therefore you must address it early in the year, quality is of paramount importance, and cannot be substaintially improved at the end of the year.

Simply reading notes and critiquing previous writing isn't going to get you up to the standard required for the course. It's imperative that you put your best foot forward in the last few weeks, regardless of the change in course structure. Your essay writing confidence has to be prevalent in the last fortnight or so, despite whether you are a maths/science student.

The top scoring students will be writing an abundant amount leading up to the exam, as well as being consistent throughout the entire year (during the "learning" stages). Consistency throughout the year isn't necessarily going to ensure the attainment of an admirable mark on the exam. To perform well, it's imperative that you show some initiative in the last few weeks by bugging your teachers and peers with as many essays as you can.

Regardless of the changed course in 2008, the study concepts remain identical. Consistency throughout the year, in addition to an intense revision program of practice responses, will secure the top scores.

[rustic_metal]

I'm with BA22 on this one.