English!!!!!!! (1 Viewer)

[香港!]

HiHi!!
What are you people doing to prepare for HSC exam?
I dunno wat to do... currently my plan is to just memorise the few essays I have been using over and over again throughout the year... then hope for the best in the exam... LoL
I really hate english!! Arrghh!
Someone help meee plzz!

 

[glitterfairy]

Stay calm.

I strongly advise you *not* to memorise essays. The aim of the game is to learn and improve from everything you do - regurgitating the same stuff over and over again isn't going to get you anywhere!

Read your texts again. Look at the main points. Look at the module guidelines and marking criteria. Write practice papers.

 

[Dreamerish*~]

I'm not great at English myself, but I'll post anyway.

To save you a bit of trouble and memory, you should memorise main points of each paragraph instead of the entire thing, word by word. Some people are used to it and if that gets them full marks, it's fine. But I always found it to be too time consuming.

 

[香港!]

I don't mind memorising word for word... I do it all the time and it got me decent marks throughout the year...
But I'm only aiming for 80+ in English...
Now another question...
Who has done what I did... just memorise essays then go for it... and get 80+(HSC Mark, not raw mark) in english advanced??????????

 

[glitterfairy]

Come on guys!!!!

All that effort you're putting into memorising essays could be put into actually *learning* the text and coming up with your own answers - that way, if you're ever stuck, you don't have to try and remember something. You can just logically think it out. And because it's what *you* think, it's a heck of a lot easier (and clearer) to argue.

Memorise generic points if you need to. But do it because you can easily justify their importance in your own words. You can do so much better! An extra few marks (or ten) can go a long way!

 

[Eagles]

ok.. guys and girls..

I'm gonna go against the norm and say.. DO memorise your essay.

now, hold it! just hold on!! give me a chance to explain...

Hong Kong, if all you've been doing for the year is memorising it.. then chances are that you won't get a band 6 anyway.. unless your're very lucky in the hsc question.

a good well structured answer (thou not really answering the question) will get you your target mark (low 80s) no problem.

at this rate.. how many days are there?.. less than 100.. ok.. get your teachers to mark your prepared essay. fix up and add substance to your preparations. then write it out 5 times.. then you'll be fine.

on exam. try to somehow address the question asked in your intro and TRY to link your ending sentences of each paragraph to answer the question.

you should get your target(80s) no probs.

 

[glitterfairy]

As for everyone else, if you can get some extra marks, please do.

Consciously thinking about what you're writing about is essential in University. Even thinking about repeating essays in Uni is suicide, because unlike the HSC they're not going to ask you the same question twice. They're probably not even going to ask you a similar question that would allow you to recouch what you said last time. Consciously being concise and generally writing well is also essential for any potential humanities/social sciences Uni student for next year.

You've got a great opportunity to clean up your essay technique here. Do it now, and you might be able to get some extra UAI points. Do it now, and you can avoid failing or almost-failing your first few Uni assessments next year (again, mainly for humanities/social sciences Uni courses).

There is absolutely nothing wrong in giving something your best shot. In all honesty, english really isn't that hard once you get the hang of it - but you've got to get the fundamental writing tactics down. Once you've got that, you've got it for the rest of your life.

 

[silvermoon]

I'm gonna go against the norm and say.. DO memorise your essay.

*shoots Eagles*

now, hold it! just hold on!! give me a chance to explain...

not a chance

i have to agree with glitterfairy. learning your material is not the impossibility you think it is. read your texts again to re-familiarise yourself with them. the only memorising you should be doing is quotes. you've been learning this material for a year. you know it - trust me! you do! honest! you'll be fine if you can just stay calm and rational. try practice essays and you'll see that you don't need a memorised essay.

 

[glitterfairy]

Hear hear!

Stick quotes on your walls and memorise them in funny accents Use hand puppets if you need to.

 

[kami]

Do not regurgitate an essay. Ever. What you are doing is essentially capping your marks - you are *ensuring* that your essay will not answer the question, you are *ensuring* that you won't meet all of the dotpoints. Unless of course you are *extremely* lucky and get the same HSC question as your practice question. What you should be spending your time learning the generic points in all Advanced essays as well as the generic structure so that you aren't clueless about how you should write and approach each question because there *will* be a common theme in the questions of the 2u course. And believe me, its lots less effort to remember a few points and *actually* answer your question(which you should have been able to plan how to do in the 5 min reading time if you practice on past HSC and trial questions) and chug in your quotes(which are easy to learn once you read the text once and do your homework) and then you are in with a good chance.

 

[Sepulchres]

I memorise essays, word for word, but I change it so much during the exam that it never ever ends up the same as my initial essay. Works fine. I usually change the structure of my essay according to the question which usually tells the marker that I havnt prepared my answer. Make sure the things you write are relevant becayse thats what gives away a prepared answer from an *unprepared* essay. Changing the first and last line of each paragraph doesnt necessarily mean you are answering the question.

 

[Eagles]

Stick quotes on your walls and memorise them in funny accents Use hand puppets if you need to.

hahahahahaha.. yes.. english is funny

*shoots Eagles*

still flying high

Ok.. back on topic

I usually change the structure of my essay according to the question.
Make sure the things you write are relevant.

Spot on. Serve the customers the way they ordered their Burgers

Changing the first and last line of each paragraph doesnt necessarily mean you are answering the question.

Correct again, this 'tatic' should only be used as a last resort if you get a brain freeze or question totally caught you off guard.

however, this should not ever happen if you've learned everything they can think of.. take my Frontline example. no way did I write everything in the exam, only served what was ordered.

my 2000 bucks

 

[glitterfairy]

I can understand this idea of "giving them what they ordered", which is oh so Eng Adv (EE1 is so much more interesting because it's *not* Adv Eng), but from a moral standpoint, I really really do encourage everyone to do more than master basic essay technique.

It's one thing to give them what they want. It's another thing to be two steps ahead and prepared for anything they could throw at you (and more). Essay writing "formulas" or "guides" like SEX, SEE and yes, even the Burger Theory are all pretty good, but an essay written with sophisticated flair and writer's intuition is even better. Of course, there will always be someone better. There will always be someone who can just flippantly toss out a spectacular essay with almost no thought at all. But if you work hard, you can get close. And that's still better than following a formula.

An essay written with the sole intention of answering a question is difficult for most mere mortals to do if they have another essay in their heads, demanding to be written down. Right from the start, every essay topic and every sentence used to convey opinion is (or should be) shaped to answer the question.

Let me use a little visual exercise.

We want a burger. Specifically, we want a triangular burger. We have two options - we can make it from a regular, pre-made burger, or from scratch.

You can cut the pre-made burger to fit. You can shift things around. It can end up looking pretty good! Making it from scratch is harder. But if you do it well, it's hard to top. It was just meant to be.

In the HSC (which admittedly, provides leeway for regurgitated answers) you can get away with shifting and changing. Some remarkable individuals (of which I've met a few) can even get the really high marks in Adv Eng by doing this.

But most can't. And most of the people who put the effort into learning their content and challenging themselves each time by completely re-thinking everything they know and using everything they know to best answer an essay question *will* do well. Even if in the rare event they don't, it's the point of the exercise that matters most. You need good writing skills for Uni. And for the HSC, the ability to think on-the-spot and not rely on pre-prepared material is an absolute lifesaver.

Learn it now and you won't have to do it later (when it's more stressful and the stakes are a heck of a lot higher).

 

[Eagles]

ah.. you misunderstand the burger theory Miss glitterfairy.

The burger is not pre-made and reheated, only the ingredients are prepared before hand.

Its like when you open a resturant, you can't go open until you've got the tables, chairs, cutlery all ready and set. Thats just making you look organised and calm to attract customers (not panick before exam).

Then in the kitchen, you won't make everything that you can offer. You don't have the time and money to do that! You can only prepare the main ingredients that is needed in all your courses (paragraphs). Still need to season the meat IF they order it. You're a quality resturant, if you serve pre-made pizzas from Franklins, you're gonna go bankrupt (lose marks)!

First, customer orders, then, and only then, do I place the ingredients in the way they want it cooked.

Formulas, techniques whatever you want to call it, are to get newbies at english tackle it at a understandable level, get them in the correct mindset when they begin! (you can compare it to pickup lines when to the game )

After countless times of practicing, they've understood and applied all the basics, they'll realise that there are no more need for 'techniques', then, and only then, they will have mastery.

amen.

 

[nwatts]

Practice essays. If you do nothing else, practice essays and get someone reputable to mark them.

 

[glitterfairy]

ah.. you misunderstand the burger theory Miss glitterfairy.

The burger is not pre-made and reheated, only the ingredients are prepared before hand.

Its like when you open a resturant, you can't go open until you've got the tables, chairs, cutlery all ready and set. Thats just making you look organised and calm to attract customers (not panick before exam).

Then in the kitchen, you won't make everything that you can offer. You don't have the time and money to do that! You can only prepare the main ingredients that is needed in all your courses (paragraphs). Still need to season the meat IF they order it. You're a quality resturant, if you serve pre-made pizzas from Franklins, you're gonna go bankrupt (lose marks)!

First, customer orders, then, and only then, do I place the ingredients in the way they want it cooked.

Formulas, techniques whatever you want to call it, are to get newbies at english tackle it at a understandable level, get them in the correct mindset when they begin! (you can compare it to pickup lines when to the game )

After countless times of practicing, they've understood and applied all the basics, they'll realise that there are no more need for 'techniques', then, and only then, they will have mastery.

amen.

Oh my god, all this talk about burgers and resturants is making me hungry :S *mouth waters*

I hear what you're saying about the formulas. I always advise people to start with the formulas and progress from there when ready, however as the response to this thread has appeared to come from people already very familiar with the formulas, I'm written my posts with that assumption about the audience.

Just for the record, I said "more than just basic essay technique". Everyone needs a good foundation We can agree about that... at a burger restaurant!

 

[nwatts]

Essay writing "formulas" or "guides" like SEX, SEE and yes, even the Burger Theory are all pretty good, but an essay written with sophisticated flair and writer's intuition is even better.

Why aren't you president of essay writing?

Eagles: Burger theory, good read. More entertaining than useful, I think . I might post this off to a few friends of mine who struggle with structure though.

 

[glitterfairy]

Why aren't you president of essay writing?

Because I'm actually not that good

Whilst I admit I've turned some pretty sappy stuff into what looks appetising, I have a feeling this is greatly due to my creative writing background and hundreds of practice essays (my essays sucked big-time at the beginning of year 11. I'm serious... they were deplorable).

I think I write pretty good essays without too much effort, and I can write some very nice essays when I want to (and take the time to), but I don't have the natural talent for whipping out the truly brilliant stuff without much effort (I'm much better at writing literature than having to write about it). And some of the people at my old high school definately had that talent. It's murder-worthy, I tell you!

 

[kami]

Don't put yourself down glitterfairy, I've looked at some of the essays you've popped out for uni and they definitely have some meat in them(exchange meat for flair, lol).

But I'll address this to the thread starter since somewhere along the way it became a discussion between students who already know the answer. Memorising can help you build a foundation, but its a limiting foundation. There are some places you just won't be able to take a wholesale regurgitated essay or even a partially regurgitated one. It can help you secure that 60 or 70 or maybe if you're really good you'll get in the 80s, but it will only take you so far. However the true skills of essay writing will allow you to develop a response that even if you miss something, will probably be of sufficient depth and style that there will not be a significant impediment to getting high 70s or 80s and possibly 90s. It also like glitterfairy has mentioned, an excellent skill to develop for your tertiary education. You will almost certainly do essays in Arts, Education, Law and possibly in Business/Commerce and there's no time like the present to develop the skills that you will use not only in the HSC but later on as well.

 

[silvermoon]

damn it eagles, glitterfairy, you're making my mouth water! *stomach rumbles* need.burger.now. eagles --> did you come up with this burger metaphor yourself or were you taught it? we always had 'essay man' stuffed down our throats as a quick essay structure. personally, i hate them, so restrictive!
lol, its funny though, i was reading back over this thread and i realised i am being totally hypocritical --> i didnt even start doing any work til week/2 weeks before HSC, just wrote off the top of my head basically. but, at least no memorisation! obviously, to everyone else, this is not a good idea...practice and you'll get muchos better marks then me. i blame biomed.