Is it still possible to get a 50 in a subject if you lose 5 marks or more SACs?

[iffets12345]

nobody in my whole year has gotten a 9/10 yet for an essay, its kinda of demoralising to the extreme.

[tram]

Haha, keep it in exact form: . Then you can say you only lost one mark... (out of six)

Or you can get 0/100 and simplify it to 0/1 - only lost one mark

Lmao. Maths sure makes everything better

duh

[TrueTears]

also in maths, it's either right or wrong, there are no right and wrong in english

This is one thing that many say but I actually disagree with. Apparently the subjectivity in English makes it so there are no actual right or wrongs; similar to how many uphold the "it's my opinion, so it can't be wrong, it's just an opinion" belief. Sure, by definition, an opinion might not be wrong itself, but the views it presents may be contrary to or lack evidence, and in that case, it will be wrong or unproven. English depends largely on having an idea, and then backing it up with evidence. There is a great deal of right or wrong about this. If your logic is flawed, you will lose marks. If your evidence doesn't prove your point, you will lose marks. If your idea doesn't even relate to the topic at hand, you will lose a lot of marks.

In terms of writing a text response or language analysis, I reckon its actually more of a case of there's many rights, but a much greater number of wrongs. Thinking of it in terms of 'allowable' and 'unallowable' may be easier. You could liken English to Maths in many ways actually. Back to the topic of ideas, you could end up with the same ideas but through different arguments or evidence, equivalent to achieving the same answer in Maths using a different method of proof. Expression and structure is equivalent to how people set out their working out, because while I'm sure most people here know the conventions, I've read plenty of my friends' work who clearly don't, and it becomes almost like reading an essay with no idea where the argument is going because I don't understand how each line relates to the next. The same's with English; expression and structure are mostly just vehicles to allow the examiner to understand the argument you're trying to produce in the first place. It's not about being excessively verbose, but rather, just making sure that people can understand what you're trying to say. If the examiner understands how you got to your answer, then you are unlikely to be faulted for expression or structure. It's just how I see things, but adopting this view helped me in preparing for English since I began to realise an ideal method of writing. Simply, find one of these 'allowable' methods, and stick to it. The problem that most people face is that teachers are too didactic in forcing students to do things their way, and will say any other way is unallowed. I had situations where one teacher would say to do something, then another would say to do something totally different. Reason? Both are correct. Either way is acceptable, so just pick one and stick with it. However, for SACs, you will often need to tailor your work to suit your teacher or marker. On the other hand, VCAA examiners are generally far more lenient, and anything which serves its purpose will not be marked down. I think looking at things from this perspective makes the whole idea of VCE English less daunting, and its something I've explained to most of my students as a warning before I teach them my own methods.

ok shud i say that maths is better in terms of deciding what is right/wrong

[kenhung123]

Haha, keep it in exact form: . Then you can say you only lost one mark... (out of six)

Or you can get 0/100 and simplify it to 0/1 - only lost one mark

Lmao. Maths sure makes everything better

duh

Haha

[turley]

yes it is possible