Memorizing Essays......... (2 Viewers)

[Meldrum]

That doesn't mean your essay was necessarily any good.

Okay, shut up now.

 

[silvermoon]

Since this thread is still getting replies and just to add a bit more controversy to the topic........I got my english trial results back.......I came second out of about twentyish people and i memorized all my essays. This second placing in the exam solidifies my second rankin overall. Last year i came about tenth and i didnt memorize any essays.

firstly, well done on improving your mark. but secondly, and?? no1 said it was impossible to do well memorising an essay, just that it was better not to. remember the hsc is against a lot more than 20 ppl. so, in the spirit of controversy, i ended up coming uh, 5th maybe? (*grumbles* was first til stupid speech grr) out of 164 and i never memorised anything

 

[kyu_chan]

I hear that in HSC, they can pick memorised essays real easy, and if/when they do, you can't get higher than 14/20 or thereabouts no matter how good it is.

Umm, one question though, how could they tell?

 

[Eagles]

Umm, one question though, how could they tell?

easy, if they don't answer the question.

 

[Rafy]

Yeah if you read the examiners comments for just about every subject, every year they say something along the lines of "Some canditates appeared to have preprepared their response in advance. Such reponses while of a generally high standard did not respond to the specific details of the question. "

 

[gordo]

if u memorise an essay and the question is a slightly different take, wat are u gonna do.
a full structured essay which doesn't fully answer the question is plain obvious to the markers as a memorised one and will do crap.

i recommend memorising an introductory paragraph on journies or watever where u can slot in a direct answer to the question and then memorise or strucutre how paragraphs can be linked, i.e. based on a common theme between texts etc, that way the essay flows very well and u can still structure i around any question u like

 

[kyu_chan]

But couldn't one just fit the memorised essay into the question?

 

[nwatts]

But couldn't one just fit the memorised essay into the question?

You could. But i've seen a stack of past essay questions that are virtually unadaptable. Ie, they give you something to argue. I've found this to happen often in extension 1 (genre - crime) and module B (critical study- harwood).

 

[Vampire]

Hmmm...can you give me an example plz nwatts...I'm yet to find an unadaptable HSC/trial question.
thx

 

[glitterfairy]

^^ Take note of what nwatts says here!

The generic essay 'shoving-into-question' works pretty well for Eng AOS, where the questions are equally generic. However, if you're given an opportunity to argue for something I suggest you take it. This is how it works in EE1 and Uni.

Actually writing an essay rather than regurgitating something shows... not just in the essay but the marks as well.

 

[glitterfairy]

Hmmm...can you give me an example plz nwatts...I'm yet to find an unadaptable HSC/trial question.
thx

You can be given a specific quote or reference point from which to write from, such as "Given the events that occured in the author's historical context, how has this affected the text and its reading?" or something like that.

Yes you can answer that in a generic essay, or you can spend the entire essay answering the question. The difference is immense.

 

[Vampire]

I see...but I know of many many people who have got mid-high band 6's in english with generic essays..all i'm saying is that i'd be happy with a mark like that.

 

[nwatts]

My particular style of essay writing is very argumentative, which is why memorising essays for me is awful. The band 6 responses will be highly evaluative, which comes from a strong argument, rather than simply lots of detail/quotes/etc..

A few questions i've recently done that I couldn't fathom a preprepared response for -

Module B: Critical Study. Poetry - Gwen Harwood. Compose an argument for or against this topic: "That every text has a used by date."
I chose against, and said that the reading of poetry is an exploration of the self with regards to personal context. Harwood's poetry is timeless in the sense that its study is a means of self exploration, not of evaluating value or worth.
Of all the essays I'd previously read/written for this module, I couldn't find one that composed a solid thread that answered the question.

Module A: Genre. Crime Fiction. "In a genre where mystery is known to be the key element before a responder begins, how do different composers create active involvement in their texts?"
This is one i'm working on now. For all my previous essays and in MANY other responses i've read, the key focus of the essay has been on how mystery is the key element of crime fiction. This question already has this key point of argument established. If I was to write out a preprepared response for this question, I would ramble on about something already established in the question. The knowledge needed for a discussion on mystery and for a discussion on audience involvement is quite different, and would lend to two very different essays.

glitterfairy is absolutely right. AOS questions are virtually all the same, because there's not a huge amount of significant depth of argument that needs to be drawn on. Modules B/C in advanced and Module A in ext1 have immensely varied depth in response.

 

[glitterfairy]

*re: nwatt's post*

Yup. And if you don't answer the question at all, you may kiss your high marks goodbye.

An essay written with an answer in mind re-affirms and supports this answer in every single sentence. Now there's a solid essay that's hard to beat. Your re-shaped generic essay won't even come close in times when you really need it to.

Sure, you might get an easy question in the HSC. It does happen. But it's best to be prepared for anything.

 

[glitterfairy]

Technically there's no such thing as a personal style of essay, since an essay is supposed to follow conventions and structure. How can you have a strong argument without detail and quotes anyway? The detail and quotes make the argument. Plus I've read 'exemplar' band six responses from previous years where they give a bunch of details and then conclude with a vaguely relevant argument... Pretty much what you'd do with memorised detail really.

Yes there is personal style. Look at two different essays written by two different people. There is a different system of arguing points, different wording, different approaches to essays. Sophistication, flair, a demonstration of mastership of the essay medium. All these little things make up "style". A good essay isn't merely "constructed". It flows.

You can make up a good essay without microscopic detail and quotes by backing it up with damn good opinion. The detail and quotes do NOT make up the argument. "Harry's dog was black and white and died when it was run over" does *not* answer the question. However, how you *use* the detail and quotes to support what YOU say creates a strong argument.

Some band 6 responses suck (they're probably low Band 6 responses that you read). Frankly, I'm somewhat suprised I got a Band 6 in Eng Adv last year because I didn't think I knew that much about it, particularly in comparison to my EE1 work. Apparently my essay writing style (I like to answer the question) saved me, as well as what I consider "in-depth".

Detail ain't gonna save you. You're not there to summarise another text. In fact, you're supposed to assume your audience has already read the book. Use evidence to support what you're saying. At the end of the day, it's what you *say* that counts.

You pretty much have to choose "against", I mean, just look at how biased the question is, would it even be possible to argue "For" at all? I did this question with King Lear, in which my memorised essay mentions that one of the qualities of King Lear is its ambiguity and the universality of its themes which makes it adaptable in many different contexts, as shown by different productions. It's not that big of a step to change "universal, can be adapted to different contexts..." into "doesn't have a used by date because it's universal and can be adapted to different contexts..."

Trust me, you can always argue the other side if you have the guts. And look carefully at how questions are worded. Subtle changes in your head can actually change the direction you interpret the question.

The question is always going to be something about the 'module', all it boils down to is listing a bunch of detail from your texts and saying that said detail supports whatever argument the question asks. (even if it doesn't really... they don't seem to care as long as you use all the right buzzwords)

^^ Use this opinion if you're not aiming for the highest marks possible.

Adv Eng can be stupid at times, but it's still worth looking at seriously if you want to do really well. You sound like an intelligent bloke. So come on. Do better, because you can!

 

[nwatts]

Technically there's no such thing as a personal style of essay, since an essay is supposed to follow conventions and structure. How can you have a strong argument without detail and quotes anyway? The detail and quotes make the argument. Plus I've read 'exemplar' band six responses from previous years where they give a bunch of details and then conclude with a vaguely relevant argument... Pretty much what you'd do with memorised detail really.

"Detail and quotes" does not make an argument. Detail and quotes support and argument. If you're using detail and quotes to present ideas, rather than support them, I suggest you get someone other than your current english teacher to mark your essays.

There is most definitely a personal style when it comes to essay writing. It's essentially the scale that extension history papers are marked on. "What is this personal saying about history, and how does the structure/content of their essay support it?" English papers are more concerned with detail, but they crave a personal voice, so markers can figure out what a given student has to say about the concept presented - rather than rambling out quotes.

Ask your english/history/society teachers tomorrow morning about personal style/voice in an essay. They'll irrefutably agree with me.

You pretty much have to choose "against", I mean, just look at how biased the question is, would it even be possible to argue "For" at all? I did this question with King Lear, in which my memorised essay mentions that one of the qualities of King Lear is its ambiguity and the universality of its themes which makes it adaptable in many different contexts, as shown by different productions. It's not that big of a step to change "universal, can be adapted to different contexts..." into "doesn't have a used by date because it's universal and can be adapted to different contexts..."

The question is always going to be something about the 'module', all it boils down to is listing a bunch of detail from your texts and saying that said detail supports whatever argument the question asks. (even if it doesn't really... they don't seem to care as long as you use all the right buzzwords)

You virtually have to choose against, but it still lends itself open to further interpretation. My friend's thread was more in line with yours, saying that "Harwood's poetry deals with life issues that have timeless significance." We had varied threads coming from the same question, and both scored highly.

Your memorised essay merely mentions one aspect that then consumes an entire essay? I can imagine that you would have been marked down significantly for lack of detail in response, if your memorised essay than only contained a fragment of what the question asked.

In module B, context is no where near as significant as it is in module A, and this is a question that calls for a significant debate on context. If your memorised response deals with context in the same depth you normally would in a fairly generic essay question, you'd be screwed when it comes to this specific question, and would score poorly.

With regards to writing an essay "for", you could argue that texts are written in a certain context, and because of that further readings lack any sort of value in contemporary society. However, it would take time to back this up, and I wouldn't attempt it in an exam situation.

 

[silvermoon]

Plus I've read 'exemplar' band six responses from previous years where they give a bunch of details and then conclude with a vaguely relevant argument...

i might be wrong here, but don't the exemplar answers come in double bands? ie. bands 5 and 6 are lumped in together? how then would you differeniate between them? i'm just guessing, i know that's the way it's done in some other subjects, it might be different for english.

 

[nwatts]

i might be wrong here, but don't the exemplar answers come in double bands? ie. bands 5 and 6 are lumped in together? how then would you differeniate between them? i'm just guessing, i know that's the way it's done in some other subjects, it might be different for english.

'Exemplar' = full marks.
'High range' = band 5/6.

That's the way it is for English Advanced and EE1. No idea on other subjects.

 

[kami]

'Exemplar' = full marks.
'High range' = band 5/6.

That's the way it is for English Advanced and EE1. No idea on other subjects.

From what I remember the Standards packages use the double banded lumping, and the Student Answers booklet just says "high range" and "mid range" instead of full mark essays.

 

[silvermoon]

yeah, that was what i thought. you just know the rough range they come from.