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March 29, 2024, 10:50:54 am

Author Topic: 50 in English, available for queries :)  (Read 339053 times)  Share 

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literally lauren

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #105 on: March 21, 2014, 04:52:07 pm »
+4
'Surface level' themes are the sort of simplistic ones you pick up on a first reading, for example: discrimination, deception, kindness, communication, brutality etc. More in depth work comes later on in the form of either more complex themes:
'deception' --> the idea of deceiving oneself as well as others
'communication'--> more specifically, the causes of a breakdown in communication,
or they might be different themes entirely that you didn't pick up on until a more thorough study. Either way, the basics still warrant mentioning :)
And yes; book, play, film, or poetry, this approach is pretty much the same. Though if you can find/attend a performance of the play (provided it's a close adaptation :P) this will probably help with your understanding of stage directions, setting, costumes, tone etc.

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #106 on: March 22, 2014, 07:34:21 am »
0
Thanks, Lauren :). That makes sense.

And can you explain these for me? what are the differences between a context essay and a text response essay? Thanks in advance.
2014: English(EAL)   Methods   Biology   Health and human development   Accounting

literally lauren

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #107 on: March 22, 2014, 06:15:21 pm »
+4
Rightio: for a Text Response Essay you're expected to deal with the text in a lot of detail. Every paragraph you write MUST be about some part of the text. You're allowed to include some background information about the author's life and times, but only a couple of sentences, and only if it's relevant to the discussion.
For context, however, the text is just a 'springboard,' meaning it's only the beginning of your ideas. Although your essay has to build on the ideas in the text (and you should mention it explicitly at least once; this is not an official criterion, but VCAA can penalise you for it anyway, trust me :-\) After that, you can use whatever you want: external sources like news stories & current affairs, historical events, famous people, books, songs, quotes, other literature etc. etc. Not every paragraph has to mention the text, you're only using it to say something about the Context/prompt.
I guess an easy way to differentiate the two would be that for Text Response you use the prompt to discuss the text, whereas for Context you use the text to discuss the prompt.
It's annoyingly similar (esp. for expository style Contest pieces) but here's hoping VCAA lift their game for next year's Study Design.
Not much consolation at the moment, sorry :P

Sense

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #108 on: March 22, 2014, 06:26:33 pm »
0

Rightio: for a Text Response Essay you're expected to deal with the text in a lot of detail. Every paragraph you write MUST be about some part of the text. You're allowed to include some background information about the author's life and times, but only a couple of sentences, and only if it's relevant to the discussion.
For context, however, the text is just a 'springboard,' meaning it's only the beginning of your ideas. Although your essay has to build on the ideas in the text (and you should mention it explicitly at least once; this is not an official criterion, but VCAA can penalise you for it anyway, trust me :-\) After that, you can use whatever you want: external sources like news stories & current affairs, historical events, famous people, books, songs, quotes, other literature etc. etc. Not every paragraph has to mention the text, you're only using it to say something about the Context/prompt.
I guess an easy way to differentiate the two would be that for Text Response you use the prompt to discuss the text, whereas for Context you use the text to discuss the prompt.
It's annoyingly similar (esp. for expository style Contest pieces) but here's hoping VCAA lift their game for next year's Study Design.
Not much consolation at the moment, sorry :P

Hey Lauren, are you getting my messages on here ? If you're still doing the essay correcting could you message me ?
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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #109 on: March 23, 2014, 10:44:23 am »
0
Hi Lauren,

We have a upcoming SAC on context, which is in the form of imaginary writing, with the context encountering conflict, situated around ideas from Animal Farm. My dilemma is , i have hardly written one, i wrote one in year 7/8 and one beginning of year 10, where i blabbed on about random stuff. I have no idea how to go about it an no idea of structuring.

I have come up with an idea about using the basis of the darwin bombings as the story, with mr Frederick and humans etc attacking on Animal Farm, thats just an idea i got no idea. Do you have anything that will help me/tips etc.

Thanks heaps :0

smile+energy

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #110 on: March 23, 2014, 10:53:00 am »
0
Rightio: for a Text Response Essay you're expected to deal with the text in a lot of detail. Every paragraph you write MUST be about some part of the text. You're allowed to include some background information about the author's life and times, but only a couple of sentences, and only if it's relevant to the discussion.
For context, however, the text is just a 'springboard,' meaning it's only the beginning of your ideas. Although your essay has to build on the ideas in the text (and you should mention it explicitly at least once; this is not an official criterion, but VCAA can penalise you for it anyway, trust me :-\) After that, you can use whatever you want: external sources like news stories & current affairs, historical events, famous people, books, songs, quotes, other literature etc. etc. Not every paragraph has to mention the text, you're only using it to say something about the Context/prompt.
I guess an easy way to differentiate the two would be that for Text Response you use the prompt to discuss the text, whereas for Context you use the text to discuss the prompt.
It's annoyingly similar (esp. for expository style Contest pieces) but here's hoping VCAA lift their game for next year's Study Design.
Not much consolation at the moment, sorry :P

Thanks, Lauren :)
yeah, sometimes it's hard to distinguish the two.
2014: English(EAL)   Methods   Biology   Health and human development   Accounting

RazzMeTazz

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #111 on: March 23, 2014, 03:10:54 pm »
0
For context what is the difference between a creative, expository and persuasive form?


Summers

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #112 on: March 23, 2014, 09:03:24 pm »
0
Hi Lauren,

I was just wondering, beyond the quality>quantity, what word count should you be aiming for?

When I'm trying to absolutely perfect my essays when I am writing them on my computer under no time restrictions, it could take me close to 2-3 hours to write a single paragraph. When I got into my essay which I was massively unprepared for, I was expecting to write around 2 pages. When I saw the prompt I realised I had done some work on it and got my three ideas and could non-stop write about it and wrote around 4 1/2 pages in 45 minutes before I realised my first paragraph was like 1 1/2 pages long and my last paragraph was like a page long, and decided to stop.

What should you aim for? Also despite ranks, if I were to go to a school that was ranked in the top 50, what would a good score out of 30 be which is on cue for a 40 study score? I know it varies and that SACs are just a rank, but for the sake of knowing the quality of writing, what should you really be getting out of 30?

Ta.

literally lauren

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #113 on: March 23, 2014, 10:27:00 pm »
+1
Hi Lauren,

We have a upcoming SAC on context, which is in the form of imaginary writing, with the context encountering conflict, situated around ideas from Animal Farm. My dilemma is , i have hardly written one, i wrote one in year 7/8 and one beginning of year 10, where i blabbed on about random stuff. I have no idea how to go about it an no idea of structuring.

I have come up with an idea about using the basis of the darwin bombings as the story, with mr Frederick and humans etc attacking on Animal Farm, thats just an idea i got no idea. Do you have anything that will help me/tips etc.

Thanks heaps :0
Your idea seems solid enough, what exactly are you having trouble with? Is it coming up with ideas or expressing them?
Maybe consult the Assessor's Report (just google it) there's usually some examples of high scoring creative responses, or check with your teacher as they should be able to provide some structural guidance.

literally lauren

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #114 on: March 23, 2014, 10:39:24 pm »
+4
For context what is the difference between a creative, expository and persuasive form?

Creative: either a short story, anecdote, letter, news article... basically a piece of writing that involves adopting the 'voice' of someone else (usually a character from the text you're studying.)

Expository: the essay format you're used to using for Text Responses or Language Analysis. It involves 'exposing' or discussing different elements of the prompt.

Persuasive: can occur in different forms, but usually as a speech. Similar to expository, but will have stronger language and a more definitive contention, ie. you're not 'exposing' ideas as you would in an expository piece but rather persuading your audience of your own views.

Or you could try a 'hybrid' essay, which is a combination of two, or even three of these. Whatever suits you, really :)

literally lauren

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #115 on: March 23, 2014, 10:58:08 pm »
+5
Hi Lauren,

I was just wondering, beyond the quality>quantity, what word count should you be aiming for?

When I'm trying to absolutely perfect my essays when I am writing them on my computer under no time restrictions, it could take me close to 2-3 hours to write a single paragraph. When I got into my essay which I was massively unprepared for, I was expecting to write around 2 pages. When I saw the prompt I realised I had done some work on it and got my three ideas and could non-stop write about it and wrote around 4 1/2 pages in 45 minutes before I realised my first paragraph was like 1 1/2 pages long and my last paragraph was like a page long, and decided to stop.

What should you aim for? Also despite ranks, if I were to go to a school that was ranked in the top 50, what would a good score out of 30 be which is on cue for a 40 study score? I know it varies and that SACs are just a rank, but for the sake of knowing the quality of writing, what should you really be getting out of 30?

Ta.

As you say, quality>quantity, so this advice is really general. You should write at least 800 words for each essay, closer to 1000 if you're aiming for really high marks. Really though the assessors care waaaay more about your content.
Re: study scores... look I only have a passing knowledge of VCAA's bizarre ranking/standardization marking scheme, so I really don't like to speculate. It's good to have study score goals in mind, but just concentrate on learning and doing the best you can. VCAA will moderate and warp your grades in some way that apparently makes sense, but if you've worked consistently well throughout the year then the school you're at won't have too much of an impact. Granted, some SACs will scale down (if you're given three or more hours for a single essay, or if you know the prompt days beforehand) whereas others will scale up (if you're given 50 minutes and unseen articles/prompts like my school :P)
I seem to remember hearing that an 8/10 for each essay should get you a 40+ with the consistently good SAC marks and rankings, but I could be wrong. Maybe check with someone on the Technical Score Discussion Boards, I really don't know  :-\

DJA

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #116 on: March 27, 2014, 06:51:21 pm »
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Hi Lauren – I was just wondering if you had any tips to cut down on the amount of writing in sacs/exams. I have a reasonably fast writing speed and I have ideas so I tend to write like ~1600-1800 words in a 90 minute SAC. The problem is when I tried to cut down (for example in the LA) I found this really really difficult as my argument of how the author is positioning the reader broke down. I’m worried because the end of year exam only gives an hour for LA and if I write as much as I do, I just won’t finish…

Any advice?
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literally lauren

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #117 on: March 28, 2014, 08:17:15 pm »
+7
At the end of the year you'll have three hours for three essays, but you're not restricted to one hour for each. So you can use 70 or 75 minutes for one task if there's another you can get done in 45/50. But for any essay, 1000 words (give or take a few hundred) is usually enough. While it's impressive you can write that much, a lot of it will probably be either reiterating/rephrasing points you've already made, or too far removed from the core discussion. There's no strict word count, but it will annoy your assessors if they have to read 8 or 9 pages when 4 would have been sufficient.
For LA. I'm assuming it's because you're covering too much ground. Remember they aren't looking for a holistic reading of the entire article. You don't have to mention every persuasive technique you come across. In fact part of the criteria is basically selecting relevant aspects of the text to discuss rather than trying to write an essay covering everything. Try to cut down on some of the most obvious stuff: the entire state will be acknowledging an appeal to authority or a rhetorical question, so see if you can find some more sophisticated appeals or devices. Remember the credit you get is for your analysis. The intro and concl are mere structural requirements so don't overdo them (4 or 5 lines depending on your handwriting is probably sufficient.) And don't waste time summarising the article or contextualising the arguments. Assume your assessor will have read the piece. Though you still have to integrate quotes fluently, you don't have to introduce or signpost them. Likewise don't just give stock definitions when explaining the techniques, elaborate in terms of the issue, as this will make for a shorter, smoother transition into your discussion of the effect on the reader.
If you want to post or PM a sample of your work I might be able to give you more specific advice. Otherwise just focus on the content for now and worry about timing later. Your school should prepare you throughout the year with SACs and practice exams, so don't be too concerned if you can't write a piece in under an hour :)

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #118 on: March 28, 2014, 10:35:06 pm »
0
Thanks!
2014 - English (50, Premier's Award)| Music Performance (50, Premier's Award) | Literature (46~47) | Biology (47) | Chemistry (41) |  MUEP Chemistry (+4.5)  ATAR: 99.70

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Re: 50 in English, available for queries :)
« Reply #119 on: March 29, 2014, 12:18:44 am »
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Hey Lauren

In preparation for the exam, do you think 850-950 words is sufficient? I personally write 1000-1300 words for SACs in 90 mins, but I think 800 words would be suitable to write in say 45 mins. I do think it'll take 1 hour 15 mins for LA, and possibly 45 mins for context, leaving me 15 mins for editing. What do you think?