Formula Based Writing.

[onur369]

Ive been hearing tonnes of people here on VN that they follow a formula to write their essays for English. As the other threads like Methods etc have made advice and help threads I just thought that I should kick start one for English.

So anyone here can give some advice for the 2011 cohort by explaining how to structure our essays and what to write. If anyone can be bothered it will be good if they can do it for all three types of essays which we will eventually undertake in the latter years of 2011 :/

Thanks in advance.

[LOVEPHYSICS]

Formulas in English is nothing close to that of maths and science. Perhaps what others meant are something like TEEL, though most good English students would refrain from using formulas in the first place.  Personally, I don't really adhere to a particular structure/style of writing.

[onur369]

Maybe some people can help us by giving us there tips.

[lexitu]

@onur369 - seeing that this is in the English board, their***

IMO formulaic approaches aren't very good and I'd discourage you from using one. I know some have used it well and a few VN experts that I respect advocate them but for me there is no substitute for the genuine flow that comes from a spontaneous piece. Using a formula has the potential to limit expression and development of voice. Writing can also seem artificial and bumpy. Unless you can use a formula cleverly and retain creativity I'd avoid it. I went into the exam feeling completely uninhibited because I didn't have a rigid plan that I had to adhere to.. 

[onur369]

Ahhh, I just wanted to know what you guys did in each paragraph to strengthen your piece's.

[Aden]

As Lexitu said, you should not restrict yourself with a certain formulaic style or structure and be able to adapt according to different prompts and articles. For example, I know many people at my school had to ditch a paragraph from their Context Responses right before the exam because they realized they couldn't finish all three of their essays in the given time. However, I did normally have a certain way of structuring each essay...

Language Analysis (http://vce.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,8375.msg373879.html#msg373879):
1. Introduction outlining the article (and image if present), contention and issue
2. First broad approach made by the article
3. Second approach
4. Third approach
5. Analysis of image
6. Correlation of image with the article (how they interact and support each other)
7. Conclusion outlining overall effect etc.

Text Response (http://vce.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,8375.msg373892.html#msg373892):
1. Introduction outlining each point covered in the paragraphs
2. First idea
3. Second idea
4. Third idea
5. Last idea
6. Conclusion (generic summing up of ideas presented)

Context Response (http://vce.atarnotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,8375.msg373902.html#msg373902):
1. Broad exploration of the prompt whilst still staying close to the ideas that are presented in the later paragraphs
2. Primary text exploration paragraph number 1
3. Primary text exploration paragraph number 2
4. Secondary text exploration
5. External evidence

[onur369]

This is something I wanted, cheers. +1 Karma.

[pi]

I use a forumla for language analysis, find that it works well for that type of analysis

[taiga]

The "formula" is just with regard to structure. I find that alot of students have the right idea/ideas with what they want to say, but they leave out important bits, but fall into the trap of thinking that given it is in their head, it will also be interpreted by the assessor on paper.

Formulaic writing ensures that there is always a defined (albeit perhaps boring) structure to what your writing, and it will also gradually tick the boxes with regard to what the assessors are looking for in your writing.

[EvangelionZeta]

The "formula" is just with regard to structure. I find that alot of students have the right idea/ideas with what they want to say, but they leave out important bits, but fall into the trap of thinking that given it is in their head, it will also be interpreted by the assessor on paper.

Formulaic writing ensures that there is always a defined (albeit perhaps boring) structure to what your writing, and it will also gradually tick the boxes with regard to what the assessors are looking for in your writing.

This.  Taiga pretty much has it correct - the top students should work from a pre-defined structure, but at the same time, shouldn't be "limiting" themselves by using it.  As long as you're ticking off all the boxes.

Also agreed though that Language Analysis is by far the most formulaic of the essay types.  Realistically, you really can get away with just using a "formula" to write it.

[iffets12345]

I wouldn't necessarily call it a formula, but a way. I've got my way of doing an essay, so do others, so when we see whatever prompt, we feel comfortable when we delve into doing the essay our way, so that it feels just like any other time we're writing an essay and familiar. You tend to develop your own way of doing an essay after practice. You get feedback, correct your style and develop your own preference on how to write an essay.

[flash36]

There is no real formula as such, as when you write an essay on a text, you are going to be talking about similar themes/scenes/events/characters in most essays you write on that text. So you could say is it a formula, in that sense. However unless you know the question you are going to be asked, it is no good memorising an essay that answered a different prompt, even though it may be similar. Having said that, I did Look Both Ways and Identity and Belonging on the exam, and my introductions were forumlated during the year and I perfected them.

[dptjandra]

I would say I followed a type of formula in my context and text writing as well, and still managed to get the high marks in them (better than my language analysis, in fact!).

My body paragraphs for text response always tried to incorporate a structure:
1. Topic sentence - outlining the main idea of the paragraph --> basically so that lazy examiners who just read topic sentences would know where I was going, and could be sure each paragraph was well focused.

2. Where suitable, an explanation of the point or further detail to make it sound better or at least clearer (not required if the topic sentence was concise enough).

3. A detailed example of where in the text my point was illustrated.

4. An explanation of how this example specifically illustrated the point.  At the end, I sometimes mentioned other examples but in less detail (kind of to show how my point was 'compounded' by other instances).

5. A concluding sentence, either tying back to the topic (of the entire essay) or to tie together the ideas in a paragraph where I had heavily developed an idea from its original premise (eg. In my exam, I had a paragraph about "Powerlessness and power being a closely linked cycle" (in Richard III) which developed into the notion of "an overwhelming hunger for power stemming from a sense of powerlessness".  So my concluding sentence of the paragraph tied the two ideas together.)

While not formulaic to the extent of being repetitive, it was an attempt to cover these common bases in a rather "TEEL" way.  In my view, the most important idea of the essay was to write complex ideas in a simple, concise and clear way - if part of this involves a formula to get all the ideas out, I find it acceptable.  The real "innovation" in my essays came from the points I chose and the actual "discussion" - ie. it relied on me knowing the texts really well and just having a clean and effective way to execute the essay. (This is also the reason I am reluctant to tutor texts I have not done myself).

Context was along these lines:
1. Topic sentence
2. Elaboration on the topic sentence - a quote from a philosopher where appropriate.
3. Example from text.
4. Explanation of the example --> talking about how it applies to specific characters, but trying to keep the ideas as abstract as possible (eg. In this scene, Joe experiences the subjectivity of memory, as strong emotions of anxiety and anger warp his reconstruction of the event.)
5. Concluding sentence bringing together the ideas of the paragraph, but keeping it abstract.

Hope this is of some help.