English Exam 9am Friday 28 Oct

fnkychk · 28 Oct 2005, 3:09 PM

You can hide this advertisement by registering.

My section B part 2 was rushed, was only a page and a bit. It was a speech, I made sure it was clear within the speech that it was one...but it was short, and I didn't explain who I was or who the hell I was talking to.
I need to stop thinking about this.

Cass05 · 28 Oct 2005, 3:57 PM

Hmm I think, or at least hope I did okay... lol.

I think I did a prettty good response for my Gatacca and Wife of Martin Guerre responses. I wrote non stop for 4 pages on my issue, although I'm now regretting not refering to the provided material a bit more in my writing... ran out of time on my analysis though, wrote 3 pages but had to leave out a bit so I had enough time to finsih a conclusion.

Epiphany · 28 Oct 2005, 4:39 PM

In terms of pages, I did 3 pages for each text response, 2, maybe 2 and half for the analysis and 1-2 pages for part b.

Baiku · 28 Oct 2005, 5:46 PM

I was kinda hoping the HSC retardedness with " I did more pages" Wouldn't spill over into the VCE side of BOS...

Quality, not quantity.

For text response 500+ words is acceptable
For writing tasks 300+ words is acceptable

If you wrote more, it isn't better, if you can get your point across in 2 pages, that's better than making an examiner read through your mindless dribble for two whole script books...

fnkychk · 28 Oct 2005, 6:10 PM

Is that 300+ for both of them together?

ephemeral · 28 Oct 2005, 6:38 PM

I'm sorry to say but quantity does matter. If you're aiming at high marks you need something to set you above the rest of the state, primarily this is the depth of your observartion, and a deep observation is made more effective if it is sustained over a greater length.

I can't see a response of 500 words getting a really good mark, as you just don't go deep enough into the text. The length of a response is often reflective of how well you understand the concepts you write on, and the extent to which you are capable of expanding upon your reading of the text.

I know of several people last year who went into the English exam with a view to writing as much as possible. Two of them got 50 and one got 49.

Dhruv · 28 Oct 2005, 8:14 PM

My comments:

I did the entire exam in sequential order because I wanted to tackle the text responses first.

For my Part 1 essay I chose to write on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Pretty much what you'd expect of a character question for this novel, really, so no major problems there. One thing that concerns me is that I used a fairly sophisticated vocab in the intro, but I kinda descended into a more casual voice within the body of it. Also, I didn't utilise as many quotes as I had initially planned to during the reading time, but given the one-hour time constraint I think that's to be expected.

My Part 2 theme response was on Border Crossing. I found the question to be quite open to interpretation. Regardless, I focused on a certain aspect and discussed it thoroughly. I'm very confident with my performance on this one, as I used my time really effectively, so I was able to use a myriad of quotes and examples, and I also had a really impressive vocab, from start to finish. I can tell you know that the mark I'll get for this piece will be the higher from the two text responses.

Next up, I did the analysis of language, which I'm also confident of. Because the techniques were extremely easy to spot out, I was really able to explain the effect on reader in great detail. My vocab in this was, again, quite top-notch. I reckon this is the piece I did the best on in the entire exam, which is ironic, given the fact that it's the piece I did the least amount of preperation for.

I elected to do the speech for my POV, question A I think it was, but I had a crisis mid-way. I failed to read the question and had written a speech presented towards 'my fellow prefects', and only realised half-way through it that it had to be a speech given at a public-forum. At this stage, there was a mere ten minutes left so I had to rush it like there was no tomorrow. Because of this, I was only able to use the quality of the provided love letter to back up my arguement, and also had to really cut down on the number of points I made. Oh, and I also recall adding some really lame jokes into it. It was only after I re-read it that I learnt I'm not a comedian, but unfortunately I had no time to remove them.

Yay. No more English.

Baiku · 28 Oct 2005, 9:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ephemeral

I'm sorry to say but quantity does matter. If you're aiming at high marks you need something to set you above the rest of the state, primarily this is the depth of your observartion, and a deep observation is made more effective if it is sustained over a greater length.

I can't see a response of 500 words getting a really good mark, as you just don't go deep enough into the text. The length of a response is often reflective of how well you understand the concepts you write on, and the extent to which you are capable of expanding upon your reading of the text.

I know of several people last year who went into the English exam with a view to writing as much as possible. Two of them got 50 and one got 49.

Two words - You're wrong.

Look on VCAA's examiners report at example's of "top essays". Some, for example one I saw, was a text response of 550 words. You can tell by the language that this is a 10/10 essay.

Nashie · 28 Oct 2005, 9:30 PM

yes well people, I can top all this.... at least you didn't do the Letter to the editor and forget to sign (ie. sincerely...) it!!! I realise this afternoon and work, and almost swore in front of about 10 customers... not happy, and to top it all off, english was a good subject of mine this year... after this i need to blitz the lit exam to go ok...

MJWOOSHA · 28 Oct 2005, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nashie

yes well people, I can top all this.... at least you didn't do the Letter to the editor and forget to sign (ie. sincerely...) it!!! I realise this afternoon and work, and almost swore in front of about 10 customers... not happy, and to top it all off, english was a good subject of mine this year... after this i need to blitz the lit exam to go ok...

Damn damn damn, i got a feeling i might have done the same thing. Any one know if they would mark it down by a lot?

ephemeral · 28 Oct 2005, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baiku

Two words - You're wrong.

Look on VCAA's examiners report at example's of "top essays". Some, for example one I saw, was a text response of 550 words. You can tell by the language that this is a 10/10 essay.

Please specify which exemplar essay you are referring to. I looked at the examiner's report and found an essay on 'Night' which was approx. 1170 words.

The second one on Gattaca is slightly shorter at ~800 words, though using the conservative estimate of 18 words a line on my screen, so it's probably nudging 900 or 1000.

The fact remains that the assessors are looking for depth of analysis, something which cannot be adequately demonstrated in a short response. A 550 word essay is definitely much too skeletal to be of any depth whatsoever, providing merely a reductionist view of the text. You cannot say anything of genuine meaning in 550 words, and can't even begin to 'scratch the surface' of the text. The previous chief examiner in English previously stated that examiners reward a student's efforts to get to the heart of the text, not merely an exposition of the blatantly obvious.

I'm not saying you can't get a relatively decent score in English by writing in the region of 550 words, of course you can, but you're just not going to get the highest marks. If there is an essay of ~550 words on the assessment reports, which I haven't found, I seriously doubt it was awarded full marks. With the added distinction this year of both essays being out of 20 marks, I would doubt it even further.

Just referring to your previous quote- "If you wrote more, it isn't better, if you can get your point across in 2 pages, that's better than making an examiner read through your mindless dribble for two whole script books..."

Naturally writing in excess of 2 pages is useless if it's merely "mindless dribble", but please don't assume people are incapable of writing coherently for an extended period of time on a text they have been studying for around a year. I'd like to think that anyone who reads and studies a text for that amount of time could come up with more pertinent stuff to say in 1 hour than a mere 2 pages or less. Anything less and you'd be betraying the work you've done all year, and your chance at a higher mark.

Roguedeth · 29 Oct 2005, 8:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJWOOSHA

Damn damn damn, i got a feeling i might have done the same thing. Any one know if they would mark it down by a lot?

oh fuck what the fuck, shit i forgot to sign it too arrgh.

jeremiahk · 29 Oct 2005, 10:35 AM

Its out of 20?!

nadinerine · 29 Oct 2005, 10:48 AM

One of my teachers at school marks the VCE english exam. She told us the first thing the examiner did was to flick through the script book and check out how much had been written. She also said as much as it wasn't supposed to, that simple flick pre-disposed them to start thinking of an indicative mark...

fluoro pink · 29 Oct 2005, 12:12 PM

did anyone do part 2 tess of the d'urbervilles or part 1 third man???

my tess of the d'ubervilles was a shocker!!!

28 Oct 2005, 9:30 PM	#24 (permalink)
Nashie Ace up my sleeve HSC: 2005 Gender: Male Location: Canberra Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 441 Last Activity: Today, 1:21 PM	yes well people, I can top all this.... at least you didn't do the Letter to the editor and forget to sign (ie. sincerely...) it!!! I realise this afternoon and work, and almost swore in front of about 10 customers... not happy, and to top it all off, english was a good subject of mine this year... after this i need to blitz the lit exam to go ok... __________________ "Do I dare disturb the universe?" -T. S. Eliot "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it" -George Orwell

29 Oct 2005, 10:48 AM	#29 (permalink)
nadinerine i am special. HSC: 2005 Gender: Female Location: Victoria Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 22 Last Activity: 2 May 2008, 10:26 AM	One of my teachers at school marks the VCE english exam. She told us the first thing the examiner did was to flick through the script book and check out how much had been written. She also said as much as it wasn't supposed to, that simple flick pre-disposed them to start thinking of an indicative mark... __________________ smile, like you've got nothing to prove.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
English intro for PRELIM English Exam--Friday	punkoohi	General Discussion on the Preliminary HSC	2	14 Sep 2006 9:51 AM
Drama Exam on Friday	evviebaby	General Discussion on the 2005 HSC	0	5 Nov 2005 7:54 PM
Is there anyone who has both the Legal Studies and RE exam on Friday n/w?	kimi	Legal Studies	18	18 Oct 2005 9:15 AM
Cosi Trial Hsc Exam On Friday!!!	Crestwood's_G	Focus: Inner Journeys	4	11 Aug 2005 12:02 AM

28 Oct 2005, 3:09 PM	#16 (permalink)
fnkychk Senior Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Undisclosed Location: Melbourne Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 389 Last Activity: 22 Feb 2010, 7:46 PM	You can hide this advertisement by registering. My section B part 2 was rushed, was only a page and a bit. It was a speech, I made sure it was clear within the speech that it was one...but it was short, and I didn't explain who I was or who the hell I was talking to. I need to stop thinking about this.

28 Oct 2005, 3:57 PM	#17 (permalink)
Cass05 Junior Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Female Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 34 Last Activity: 4 Nov 2006, 1:36 AM	Hmm I think, or at least hope I did okay... lol. I think I did a prettty good response for my Gatacca and Wife of Martin Guerre responses. I wrote non stop for 4 pages on my issue, although I'm now regretting not refering to the provided material a bit more in my writing... ran out of time on my analysis though, wrote 3 pages but had to leave out a bit so I had enough time to finsih a conclusion.

28 Oct 2005, 4:39 PM	#18 (permalink)
Epiphany spunkrat HSC: 2005 Gender: Female Location: Vic Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 333 Last Activity: 6 Jun 2007, 11:14 PM	In terms of pages, I did 3 pages for each text response, 2, maybe 2 and half for the analysis and 1-2 pages for part b.

28 Oct 2005, 5:46 PM	#19 (permalink)
Baiku Coolest Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Male Location: Melbourne Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 406 Last Activity: 26 Feb 2010, 8:55 PM	I was kinda hoping the HSC retardedness with " I did more pages" Wouldn't spill over into the VCE side of BOS... Quality, not quantity. For text response 500+ words is acceptable For writing tasks 300+ words is acceptable If you wrote more, it isn't better, if you can get your point across in 2 pages, that's better than making an examiner read through your mindless dribble for two whole script books...

28 Oct 2005, 6:10 PM	#20 (permalink)
fnkychk Senior Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Undisclosed Location: Melbourne Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 389 Last Activity: 22 Feb 2010, 7:46 PM	Is that 300+ for both of them together?

28 Oct 2005, 6:38 PM	#21 (permalink)
ephemeral Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Female Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 129 Last Activity: 28 Oct 2009, 10:41 AM	I'm sorry to say but quantity does matter. If you're aiming at high marks you need something to set you above the rest of the state, primarily this is the depth of your observartion, and a deep observation is made more effective if it is sustained over a greater length. I can't see a response of 500 words getting a really good mark, as you just don't go deep enough into the text. The length of a response is often reflective of how well you understand the concepts you write on, and the extent to which you are capable of expanding upon your reading of the text. I know of several people last year who went into the English exam with a view to writing as much as possible. Two of them got 50 and one got 49.

28 Oct 2005, 8:14 PM	#22 (permalink)
Dhruv Assistant Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Male Location: QLD Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 68 Last Activity: 24 Nov 2006, 6:34 PM	My comments: I did the entire exam in sequential order because I wanted to tackle the text responses first. For my Part 1 essay I chose to write on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Pretty much what you'd expect of a character question for this novel, really, so no major problems there. One thing that concerns me is that I used a fairly sophisticated vocab in the intro, but I kinda descended into a more casual voice within the body of it. Also, I didn't utilise as many quotes as I had initially planned to during the reading time, but given the one-hour time constraint I think that's to be expected. My Part 2 theme response was on Border Crossing. I found the question to be quite open to interpretation. Regardless, I focused on a certain aspect and discussed it thoroughly. I'm very confident with my performance on this one, as I used my time really effectively, so I was able to use a myriad of quotes and examples, and I also had a really impressive vocab, from start to finish. I can tell you know that the mark I'll get for this piece will be the higher from the two text responses. Next up, I did the analysis of language, which I'm also confident of. Because the techniques were extremely easy to spot out, I was really able to explain the effect on reader in great detail. My vocab in this was, again, quite top-notch. I reckon this is the piece I did the best on in the entire exam, which is ironic, given the fact that it's the piece I did the least amount of preperation for. I elected to do the speech for my POV, question A I think it was, but I had a crisis mid-way. I failed to read the question and had written a speech presented towards 'my fellow prefects', and only realised half-way through it that it had to be a speech given at a public-forum. At this stage, there was a mere ten minutes left so I had to rush it like there was no tomorrow. Because of this, I was only able to use the quality of the provided love letter to back up my arguement, and also had to really cut down on the number of points I made. Oh, and I also recall adding some really lame jokes into it. It was only after I re-read it that I learnt I'm not a comedian, but unfortunately I had no time to remove them. Yay. No more English.

29 Oct 2005, 10:35 AM	#28 (permalink)
jeremiahk Member HSC: 2005 Gender: Male Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 153 Last Activity: 6 Jul 2009, 4:59 PM	Its out of 20?!

29 Oct 2005, 12:12 PM	#30 (permalink)
fluoro pink New Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 5 Last Activity: 18 Nov 2005, 9:53 AM	did anyone do part 2 tess of the d'urbervilles or part 1 third man??? my tess of the d'ubervilles was a shocker!!!