HELP ME in English please!?! (2 Viewers)

[_deloso]

So like I'm stuffing my English up pretty badly. Got 50% in my half yearly report. The internal weighting on english was 45%. Just finished an essay on Hamlet and got 10/20 with weighting of 20%. Doing pretty well in my other subjects (top 5) and averaging at about 90%+ in the internal weighting. But English is killing me. Do you think you can give me some pointers. I do Advanced English btw.
Just need help on:
-essay writing (belonging, hamlet, frankenstein and blade runner, Ted hughes' birthday letters (conflicting perspective.)
-Creative writing (esp. Short story in belonging)
-Comprehension questions (Belonging)

Do you think I can still get at least a 80+ in my overall HSC mark in english?
and can I achieve an Atar of 90+?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Squishxmishyx]

Bump =[.

 

[Morgan1234pooki]

ok you're doing the same modules as me except for module c because i'm doing fiftieth gate. My assessments have been like this;

Belonging assessement 1: 18/20
Belonging speech: 20/20
frank/bladerunner: 18/20
hamlet: 20/20

what i do is just memorise abour 5/6 essays for each module so i can adapt anything to the question. it's hard to know what you're doing wrong though. it is usually problems with structure, or content or language etc?
i dont know if you can get 90 + with 50%, it is really bringing you down.

 

[iSplicer]

what i do is just memorise abour 5/6 essays for each module

You what?

 

[Morgan1234pooki]

i have quite a good memory i can memorise up to 8000 words or so for each assessment

 

[jnney]

For essays: Practice questions. A lot of them. Give them to your teacher to review. Take on the criticism, rinse and repeat.

It would also help to read some of the essays produced by your class mates who are achieving band 6's if they are willing. Try to mimick their style of writing and you'll be on the right path.

For starters you should look into the structure of an essay. What it that you are missing? Is it a weak introduction? Are you arguing a case with insufficient evidence? Are you using metalanguage (metaphors, similies etc)? The problem that most students have besides the pointd i have already listed is the lack of indepth analysis of a text. If you are just grinding your teachers notes into the essay, this shows that you probably lack initiative and have no idea what is going on in English. You must know your text back to front.

Also, try to develop and adopt a more 'sophisicated' (formal) style of writing by using words such as 'elucidated', and 'likewise reflected' or 'exemplified' and 'evident in' instead of 'is shown in', 'is seen in'.

Approach your teacher for assistance, he/she is there for a reason.

 

[jnney]

By now you should be exploring your own ideas and perceptions of the texts that you study - perhaps an extension to the teacher's opinion etc. Do some research on wht other critics have written.

Last but not least, good luck and dont give up. You can do it!

 

[Morgan1234pooki]

ok woah....aren't you doing prelim right now?

 

[_deloso]

Teachers feedback is mostly the lack of indepth analysis. I have good quotes but analysing the quotes and giving personal insights is what I'm lacking. I dont know how to correct this. I'm struggling with the "metaphysical" meanings of the text as my teacher would say.

 

[jnney]

Yes I'm in prelim. I know all of this because i epic failed year 10 English and realised i wasnt doing something right. Not even joking. It's all about practice, full stop. Haha.


Hm okay. Well usually people say that 'all you ever do in english is bullshit your way through'.

To a degree that's kind of true.

Okay take your quote. What kind of technique is it? Is it a metaphor? What is the metaphor highlighting about the idea in the text? What is it comparing To? How does it do this? Imagery? Choice of words? How does this affect the way the audience feels? All you need to do is analyse te CRAP out of the text. And remember, a text is not concrete. This is no 'right' opinion. Hence you can say whatever you like about the quote and the effect of it so long as what you have said somewhat corresponds to the quote itself and your essay question. Then elaborate on this idea. Introduce some other examples seen in your text that further emphasize your point.


For example if you are discussing the idea lonliness - what thoughts come into mind?
Jot them all down.

- lonliness is experienced by everybody. It is universal and common to all eras.
- it can lead to psychological disorder, some sort of insanity which arises from the sense of worthlessness
- change in perspective of the world, that it no longer pertains meaning in life, loss of enthusiasm

Then you think, where can you see this in the text? Is it the low angle shot that shows powerlessless from the persona's previous identity? The setting? The close up of the character's face? His short, bland comments?

Just keel pushing and pushing from the one single idea you get. Think, 'if i were in this situation how would i feel?' it would help if you watch a loy of movies/dramas like i do.

This leads to your second question. 'metaphysical' - im not sure about this one but i THink it has something to do with the nature of the human condition. What does that mean? It means, 'what is it to be human?'

 

[jnney]

Another way to look at this question is 'why the hell, are we studying something that was produced 4 billion yeas ago?'

The answer is simple. We are all human. We can relate to these ideas. We all experience jealousy, love, hate and revenge, an the composer does an excellent job of portraying them.

Essentially, the study of english is the study of human behaviour (i think.....lol). So these ideas are still relevant to us. We may agree or disagree with the events of the text, but nevertheless we can empathize. How do we understand the world? How do we respond?

The main idea of metaphysics explores the question behind our existence. - therefore excites human curisoity. What facinates us?

 

[x3Reii]

I don't advise you rote learning or memorising a pre-written essay and just reproduce it. What happens if the question doesnt apply to your essay at all? Or they give you a specific quote? Of course, do lots of practice questions and use your teachers. They are the BEST source of information - especially for english. They're better than any notes or memorised essay. Write essays, give them to your teacher to mark. Keep doing this. Abuse them.

Some pointers, use the rubric to construct your essay. Like, for Frankenstein and Blade Runner its a 'comparative study of text and context. I find a lot of people forget the context bit and lose marks. Make sure your thesis is strong and sustained throughout the whole essay and reflects the question and the rubric. Don't forget the rubric because thats basically your criteria.

Another tip for essays is to try and integrate your quotes into your response instead of just slotting it in at the beginning of sentences. Also, one word quote are completely legitimate as well. If you're able to twist the quote into you're response the better but don't misquote it. They'll know.

For creative, try to use heaps of metaphors, similes, descriptive language as this will just drag on the story and it will get boring. First and foremost, a creative needs to be clear. Clarity is the key issue. Try to run a extended metaphor throughout and then have a twist/realisation at the end as this will engage the markers. And instead of "telling" the story, show how it happened. So instead of saying "I finally felt as though I belonged", instead write "I put my feet up on the desk and for the first time, I closed my eyes and relaxed." If you can't think of ideas for creative, try using your real life experience, incorporate something that happened to you into it. You always write better if you know how it happened.

 

[crimson_delight]

Well seeing as you're going relatively well in your other subjects, I say, for now, just focus on working on English, because I'm sure you have the capability to do well.
Practice papers; just continually practice under timed conditions, but before that, study your texts so you know them well. Admittedly, I'm not doing brilliantly in English either (but still above average) but they say practice papers will help you get you where you want to go, so that's what I'm doing. Good luck!

 

[Aerath]

i have quite a good memory i can memorise up to 8000 words or so for each assessment

ok you're doing the same modules as me except for module c because i'm doing fiftieth gate. My assessments have been like this;

Belonging assessement 1: 18/20
Belonging speech: 20/20
frank/bladerunner: 18/20
hamlet: 20/20

what i do is just memorise abour 5/6 essays for each module so i can adapt anything to the question. it's hard to know what you're doing wrong though. it is usually problems with structure, or content or language etc?
i dont know if you can get 90 + with 50%, it is really bringing you down.

Seriously. Noone likes a showoff.

 

[iSplicer]

Seriously. Noone likes a showoff.

If what OP is claiming is true, there's nothing wrong with sharing your achievements with others. He's not showing off, lol.

 

[Aerath]

If what OP is claiming is true, there's nothing wrong with sharing your achievements with others. He's not showing off, lol.

There is when he's posted the same thing in multiple threads in multiple forums throughout the HSC forums. It is when he posts a thread: "Am I doing ok?" and then posts such ranks.

 

[RANK 1]

yea im pretty skeptical of the 'memorising 8000 words' bit

 

[RANK 1]

btw OP i suggest dropping down to standard if possible

 

[LoveHateSchool]

^I agree with Aerath. I find it in this thread, the results to show his method is effective to OP. But the flooding of the ATAR board is annoying haha.

Okay back to OP; have the teachers given you feedback on these tasks? If not, go seek the teacher who marked each one and ask for feedback.

I'll give you some generally advice for three areas you asked for help in;
1. Comprehension questions belonging
Firstly, you should practice answering questions on a wide range of texts. Think of who, what, why etc. when you answer it. Also, know some techniques to look out for that you can talk about e.g irony.

2. Creative writing
Hard to help without seeing the piece but generally, make sure to drafts and get feedback from eng teachers or anyone else good at writing.
Creative stories are typically short, need to be punchy and relate well to AOS. The way the writing is constructed needs to vary...not I, I, I, the the the etc. Sometimes it helps in creative writing to write about something you know really well.

3. Essays
Oh so many factors! In a comparative essay. it's really important to;
Have good language
Equally evaluate both texts in depth
Contrast and compare similarities
Actually say something about your texts, many people can memorise quotes and techniques but when they actually have to comment on what this does, people struggle. So you have to EXPLAIN how the quote is significant in context, EXPLAIN what comment the author is making on soicety etc.
Once again do practice ones and get teacher feedback.

 

[_deloso]

Thanks for the help guys I appreciate it!
Trying to do some practice essays and reading a book to improve my creative writink skills.
and LoveHateSchool, I think that's what I'm struggling as well!!! The significance and meaning of the text to its context and what it's saying to contemporary society. I lack depth, analysis and insight. I find it very hard to do.