feeling depressed about english...

[vwinnie8]

I do Twelve Angry Men
Sigh.. I have my sac in 3 days and I really need to improve my essay writing... My teacher tells me that I have good ideas but I don't develop them enough, and that I lack detail and development in my paragraph.. also I lose sight of my main idea haha. I'm having trouble with timing as well because I simply can't write a good essay in 60 mins without planning beforehand - I could WRITE but it turns out to be an empty shell with good ideas but nothing else.



How do you guys do it?! Please help hahaha I just need more motivation I guess... will probably be staying up whole night studying. siggggghhhhhhh. I wish I was good at english  

[xZero]

well i suck at english so i can't really give you advice, but 1 thing I've learnt during VCE is that always sleep early if you have a sac or exam in the next few days, stressing about it at night will only cause you to under-perform

[Zien]

^That.

Head over to the stickies where you can find examples of essays past VN members wrote for various things in Year 12 English (English Work Examples Directory). Don't get depressed by seeing the level of quality of the essays in there; we all definitely can't write that well. Rather, use it to see how they have expanded upon their ideas and how they coherently linked up what they're trying to say in an essay format.

As for timing, it's just planning and practice, and how well you know your stuff (I don't really quite know what Twelve Angry Men is?).

Motivation is a hard thing to get.~ Try relaxing with something that you like doing, and then mentally prepare for some studying. It's way easier said than done but you can do it. Good luck !

[Charmz]

You might want to sit down with your English teacher and ask them what you're doing wrong and what you need help with. They would be much better at explaining what you need to do to improve.

[sanam]

Maybe post up an example essay or paragraph and some of us could give you insight on how to dig deeper into your already 'good' ideas! i'm sure it will help.

[tram]

What is suggest you do is prepare by writing out detailed plans. Write out your points, but then also write down what evidence you plan to use and like a few major points you will discuss in each paragraph. This kind of prep is invaluable and the type of thing i did in the week leading up to the English exam. It saves you time by not actually having to write out the entire essay, but still gets you think critically about the topic and about how you will expand each point which evidence and ideas. By saving time you get to cover more topics and thus are far more likely to have covered the topic you get in the sac and you won't feel like you've been chucked in the deep end with a topic you've never seen and you'll actually have something to say but also examples to back it up.

Best of luck!

PS: defs DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER PULL AN ALL NIGHTER seriously you're just hurting yourself by decreasing your concentration. You're better off just sleeping. Seriously. Take this from a person who has pulled a few all nighters before >.<

[Predator]

The most important thing is to also avoid stress. Year 12 is definately a year where people stress, trust me I have been there and done that as has most others here.
Just listen to some music and don't overdo it. If you are thinking too much about it than you are likely to do worse than you would if you had a clear head allowing you to think clearly.
Also if you need help your teachers will be there to help you and there are heaps of people on this forum that will also help you out if needed.

[cranberry]

PS: defs DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER PULL AN ALL NIGHTER seriously you're just hurting yourself by decreasing your concentration. You're better off just sleeping. Seriously. Take this from a person who has pulled a few all nighters before >.<
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2009: Math Methods [47], Chinese SL [35]

2010: Specialist Maths [46], Chemistry [41], English [48], UMEP maths [5.5]

ATAR: 99.80

2011: BComm(Actuarial studies)

looks like it worked for u

[tram]

PS: defs DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER PULL AN ALL NIGHTER seriously you're just hurting yourself by decreasing your concentration. You're better off just sleeping. Seriously. Take this from a person who has pulled a few all nighters before >.<
   Report to moderator   Logged
2009: Math Methods [47], Chinese SL [35]

2010: Specialist Maths [46], Chemistry [41], English [48], UMEP maths [5.5]

ATAR: 99.80

2011: BComm(Actuarial studies)

looks like it worked for u

haha, i never pulled those all nighters for study purposes

[cranberry]

well played

[vwinnie8]

What is suggest you do is prepare by writing out detailed plans. Write out your points, but then also write down what evidence you plan to use and like a few major points you will discuss in each paragraph. This kind of prep is invaluable and the type of thing i did in the week leading up to the English exam. It saves you time by not actually having to write out the entire essay, but still gets you think critically about the topic and about how you will expand each point which evidence and ideas. By saving time you get to cover more topics and thus are far more likely to have covered the topic you get in the sac and you won't feel like you've been chucked in the deep end with a topic you've never seen and you'll actually have something to say but also examples to back it up.

Best of luck!

PS: defs DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER PULL AN ALL NIGHTER seriously you're just hurting yourself by decreasing your concentration. You're better off just sleeping. Seriously. Take this from a person who has pulled a few all nighters before >.<

this.

honestly guys, thankyou so so so so so much for your replies. I really appreciate all of them, particularly this one above by tram - it's just so true and I've seen the 'smart' kids at my school do it. I'm gonna take all your advice in (its great advice IMO) and this english sac has just been a massive wakeup call for me.



cheers
winnie

[cranberry]

plus u got a 44 and a 50 alrdy! so dont worry!
whats with u haileybury folk!? .. my mates in yr 12 there too, and has alrdy got a 44 n 43 from last year!