English... Disaster? (1 Viewer)

st1m

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Hey guys, i do adv english and at the moment, my marks aren't all that... I got 7/15 in my essay and on my last assignment i got 6/15 and 7/15. I hate this so much and to top it off we have the worst teacher anyone could dream of having. I don't know what is the problem, sometimes i just feel like I'm being picked on by the teacher, i mean some people in my class I beat in the SC and they are coming first. The mark range isn't that great, but my mark really drags my rank low. I know that I can improve and do well, its just it disturbs me to think I got marks like that. What should i do? I'm undergoing tutoring now, is it of any help when writing assignments etc...?

any help would be appreciated.

thanks
 

bored of sc

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Don't think your marks are disaster though. That way you stay pessimistic and discontent with yourself - most of us (and probably you) want to be :) and overcome the adversities that we face from day to day. Don't be too harsh on yourself. Furthermore, year 11 marks don't go towards anything to do with the HSC or UAI (in 99.99% of cases).

Hmmm... there are many possibilities that explain the marks you are receiving - could it be:
> you are not answering the question clearly enough - going off on tangents, providing all your knowledge of a text (thus lacking the specificity expressed in the question), not answering the implicit parts of a question (yes, this is true - it happened in my english assessment this year [the teacher talked about the implicit demands of a question])
> you are trying too hard (becoming pompous (over-the-top) with langauge and expression) - again I had the same problem of making relevant point but using ridiculously over the top language (in which when the teaching was marking circled the sentence and printed a large ?)
> you are underestimating the course - alot of people go into advanced english with idea that their band 6 in school certificate will translate into a 90 in HSC Advanced English, NOT THE CASE AT ALL! - effort is much more important as it is measuring powers of recall, analytical skills, essay-writing, short answer-skills and creative writing rather than just plain skill (as in the SC)
> you are over-estimating the course - you have an irrational thought that the course is impossible
 

kaz1

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bored of sc said:
Don't think your marks are disaster though. That way you stay pessimistic and discontent with yourself - most of us (and probably you) want to be :) and overcome the adversities that we face from day to day. Don't be too harsh on yourself. Furthermore, year 11 marks don't go towards anything to do with the HSC or UAI (in 99.99% of cases).

Hmmm... there are many possibilities that explain the marks you are receiving - could it be:
> you are not answering the question clearly enough - going off on tangents, providing all your knowledge of a text (thus lacking the specificity expressed in the question), not answering the implicit parts of a question (yes, this is true - it happened in my english assessment this year [the teacher talked about the implicit demands of a question])
> you are trying too hard (becoming pompous (over-the-top) with langauge and expression) - again I had the same problem of making relevant point but using ridiculously over the top language (in which when the teaching was marking circled the sentence and printed a large ?)
> you are underestimating the course - alot of people go into advanced english with idea that their band 6 in school certificate will translate into a 90 in HSC Advanced English, NOT THE CASE AT ALL! - effort is much more important as it is measuring powers of recall, analytical skills, essay-writing, short answer-skills and creative writing rather than just plain skill (as in the SC)
> you are over-estimating the course - you have an irrational thought that the course is impossible
Thanks for the advice bored of sc. I sort of have the same problem.
 

x.Exhaust.x

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bored of sc said:
> you are underestimating the course - alot of people go into advanced english with idea that their band 6 in school certificate will translate into a 90 in HSC Advanced English, NOT THE CASE AT ALL! - effort is much more important as it is measuring powers of recall, analytical skills, essay-writing, short answer-skills and creative writing rather than just plain skill (as in the SC)
Good point :).
 

Aerath

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How much effort are you putting in?
 

huhwotsthis

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oh hey i waz lyk yay in class bc i got 8/10 but it was really 8/20...devastatin.
 

st1m

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yeah, I'm glad that it's just not me with these marks...

I thank bored of sc for his advice and I will try implementing it as much as possible.

Hopefully i can do better, and to be honest I'm putting most of my effort on 3 unit maths, phys.chem mainly. However for the first assessment tasks i tried hard... some reason didn't work out, and i have uploaded them... most of the students said I would be getting 14/15 and 13/15. I was really excited and I thought I would get really well as my starting point for year 11. Only to find myself with a shocking 6/15 and 7/15. Some of the comments was like "did not provide synopsis" and I'm like "Ok but take away 8 marks for that?" I really don' like my teacher, but with the help of the students here and tutor i would be back to the top or at least top 3.

Thankyou everyone for your advice.
 

Continuum

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bored of sc said:
Don't think your marks are disaster though. That way you stay pessimistic and discontent with yourself - most of us (and probably you) want to be :) and overcome the adversities that we face from day to day. Don't be too harsh on yourself. Furthermore, year 11 marks don't go towards anything to do with the HSC or UAI (in 99.99% of cases).

Hmmm... there are many possibilities that explain the marks you are receiving - could it be:
> you are not answering the question clearly enough - going off on tangents, providing all your knowledge of a text (thus lacking the specificity expressed in the question), not answering the implicit parts of a question (yes, this is true - it happened in my english assessment this year [the teacher talked about the implicit demands of a question])
> you are trying too hard (becoming pompous (over-the-top) with langauge and expression) - again I had the same problem of making relevant point but using ridiculously over the top language (in which when the teaching was marking circled the sentence and printed a large ?)
> you are underestimating the course - alot of people go into advanced english with idea that their band 6 in school certificate will translate into a 90 in HSC Advanced English, NOT THE CASE AT ALL! - effort is much more important as it is measuring powers of recall, analytical skills, essay-writing, short answer-skills and creative writing rather than just plain skill (as in the SC)
> you are over-estimating the course - you have an irrational thought that the course is impossible
I agree with all these points. :uhhuh:

Especially the first though. Year 11 actually requires you to be concise rather than just talking about completely unrelated information like in the junior years. Depending on what you need to write about, having a thesis is very helpful because you can just keep on referring all your information back to it. It helps with structure and gives what you write a purpose (since you're constructing an argument with proof from texts).
 

emytaylor164

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i suck at english. But your marks are really not as bad as you think they are. well they are not a disaster.
 

x.Exhaust.x

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Work on your essays, exam technique and build upon them. Soon, I'm going to actually 'polish' and edit my essays, until I have the perfect 'finish' of my essay.
 

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