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Is hsc English a real subject? (1 Viewer)

emmjee92

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English is NOT a real subject...pure waste of time!
Maths is more important because it's the universal language
e.g. 1+1=2 wherever you go in the world
 

roar84eighty

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English is NOT a real subject...pure waste of time!
Maths is more important because it's the universal language
e.g. 1+1=2 wherever you go in the world
wow, i guess the english-lovers have to concede after that utterly flawless argument.
 

beve

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English is NOT a real subject...pure waste of time!
Maths is more important because it's the universal language
e.g. 1+1=2 wherever you go in the world
I think you'll find that English is the lingua franca, actually. And you could have never have learned a mathematical ability had you not the linguistics to learn it by. HSC English, be it Standard, Advanced or Extension would be more aptly titled 'Literature Studies' - English is merely the vehicle by which we study it. It shouldn't be compulsory; it should be studied with a real will to study it, but at least having it as compulsory helps people become more expressive... As opposed to you, who is about as expressive as a toilet seat...
 
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i just wanna noe how many people r with me wen i say English 2u isnt a real subject as such. Personally ,English is my worst subject, not that im not good at it, but because i think its pointless.
im with you 100% :headbang:
 

aussie-boy

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English is a real subject; the way its taught and examined destroys this though.

There are 2 things to be learnt from English:

-Intepreting the communications of others, whether they be advertising, novels, reports, emails etc. Its important that everyone can read beyond the surface of any text, and understand the subtle messages and how they are portrayed.

-Communicating meaningfully - in order that your own message will be interpreted in full and with the meaning that you intended. Good communication - effective interpretation by those who consume the text.

The reading task tests your ability in the first thing, and the creative tests your ability to do the 2nd thing. These are the only 2 legitimate sections of the HSC paper!!

Unfortunately, a large proportion of those getting high marks are just memorising what they have been told by teachers or tutors. At school you should learn how to do what I have described, and then in the exam be given texts/tasks that you have never seen before. Study -> skill development; not extra data in your head to spew out in the exam
 

gibbo153

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This title is actually quite philosophical.

However, a subject that allows you to discuss basically anything, from any viewpoint (as long as you justify) is hardly pointless.
this is true.

bullshitting is a useful life skill.
 
Last edited:

beve

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English is a real subject; the way its taught and examined destroys this though.

There are 2 things to be learnt from English:

-Intepreting the communications of others, whether they be advertising, novels, reports, emails etc. Its important that everyone can read beyond the surface of any text, and understand the subtle messages and how they are portrayed.

-Communicating meaningfully - in order that your own message will be interpreted in full and with the meaning that you intended. Good communication - effective interpretation by those who consume the text.

The reading task tests your ability in the first thing, and the creative tests your ability to do the 2nd thing. These are the only 2 legitimate sections of the HSC paper!!

Unfortunately, a large proportion of those getting high marks are just memorising what they have been told by teachers or tutors. At school you should learn how to do what I have described, and then in the exam be given texts/tasks that you have never seen before. Study -> skill development; not extra data in your head to spew out in the exam
We're not taught a particularly brilliant manner of writing, though. When we write an essay, it is aimed at an extremely small audience (ie, a teacher or two) - and chances are, they know more about the subject than you do - they will pick up any fallacies in your argument because they know more than you do. You can't rely on a reader's knowledge to communicate ideas when you're writing, say, a newspaper - hence I like Extension 2 English, because we teach ourselves what we want to know and then communicate it in some way; something which you simply don't get to do in the lower levels of "English".

Anyway, the argument is subjective - the math geeks will attack the english geeks and vice versa; and it's been done before over 9000 times. /thread.
 

gcchick

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Unfortunately, it is a real subject.

I wish it wasn't, but it is.

Don't have a cow about it, everyone else has to do it too.
 

dp624

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it's a real subject all right
 

beve

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Imagine the topics if maths was compulsory :haha:
I wish I never chose it. I started in MX1 and made my way to General. Because it was so time consuming, and it was time I didn't have.

But now I'm bored, too.
 

random-1005

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Seriously im sick of english, its such a bullshit subject, they try to make it into a subject that forms its basis on this technique ideology, because writing a 6 page essay about the conventions and themes isnt good enough, we have to invent the fact that the composer of the text did in fact use an allusion whether or not the composer likes it or not. Also in the film Apocalypse Now, the fact that the Copolla didnt change the colour of the plants from green to another was because he was using symbolism, u see the symbolism of the green plants is metaphoric of the primitive nature of the society upon which Kurtz exploits ... u see, Copolla might not have intended for that but we make it so. Without this whole concept of techniques, english is a futile subject and in Conclusion we use techniques in English because what else would we waste our time doin in English besides studying techniques, its not like there are any philosophical messages behind Romantic poetry? (Note i used symbolism in creating the above piece of writing u see i structured my response like an essay so that the audience can simultaneously reminisce upon the torment they experience whilst finding bullshit to write in their english assessments and be exhilirated by the interesting essay structure)

lol this guy could write a whole essay about his hatred of english (and i probably could to). if only one of the questions was " how shit and pointless is hsc english, Discuss"
 

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