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Need some advice! (1 Viewer)

saki

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Oct 5, 2003
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after relfecting the marks on my trials i seem to have a problem...i tend to lose a lot of marks in the "ability to write with artistry and flair" category. i only manage to get half the marks necessary in this, and i was wondering are there any tips you guys have that would help me?
( like what i should do, and what i shouldnt?)

my teacher says that u cant improve on this , and that you either have it in you or u dont have it at all.

so..any ideas guys?
 

Minai

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Read the exemplar responses from the 2002 standards packages (available on this site)
See why kind of writing style they use, and the sophistication and key usage of their words
Try to get a feel for the level ur writing should be at, and try to incorporate this sophistication into your writing style
 

+:: $i[Q]u3 ::+

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i think ur teacher is a bit slack there... it is a skill and it does take time to develop it but it's not like ur a completely lost case ^^
with the exemplar answers, pick out certain sophisticated phrases so u can stick em in your writing.
another thing is - build your paragraphs and sturcture ur essays so that each paragraph leads into another smoothly, and it's not just little 'blocks' of information.
good luck ^^
 

ezzy85

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having some flair is being original. so copying phrases from an exemplar defeats the purpose of being original.
 

anti

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hmm it's not something that you can't learn. look at artists - to learn how to draw well we all draw (npi) from established artists.

other than reading exemplar responses, which can be depressing, go over your own work and try and give it that extra oomph which will score you those few more marks.

vocabulary is something that everybody should aspire to improve; you don't have to use the longest word in the dictionary but using more complex words in correct contexts gives the marker an indication of your grasp of the language and that you can use it effectively. for example, instead of saying 'there are many kinds of change, including the change in the weather' you could say 'the seasons are but a single thread in the extensive web of changes' (or some such crap). THAT's artistry.

Don't be excessively verbose though (like my example above) - you just want to make a point, and to use nice words to say it.

Hmm. If you find yourself writing a lot of short sentences, see if you can concatenate them at all - sometimes one longer sentence is better than two. Conversely, if you write huge chunks of sentence ('on tuesday i did this and this and this and then we went here, before doing that at this place, where this happened two years ago') split them up and make them easier to read.

Try and make your argument flow convincingly. Even though each paragraph may be a new point, try to link them in some way ('However,...') or to make a logical progression through your essay (or whatever text you're writing). Don't talk about colour in one spot and then come back to it a few paragraphs later in more detail - it seems a bit staggered and not thought out properly. Most my replies in this forum are not thought out properly. :)

How to do that? Hmm. Practise writing essay structures - you don't really have to go into a lot of detail assuming you already know the texts inside out. If you can start making your points lead onto one another then you're on the way to learning the art of essay writing :rolleyes: :)

Flair is some BOS-speak for "makes it look easy". You want your essays to just roll off the tip of your pen, or at least to seem that way. An experienced marker can tell if you've sat there and struggled to get a sentence out - it shows in the words you use and the copious amounts of crossing out on the page. You learn, over time, to make it look like you do this every day.

And by the HSC, you probably will be doing it every day. :)
 

Benno

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Originally posted by Minai
Read the exemplar responses from the 2002 standards packages (available on this site)
really? could u plz tell me where? or put up a link?

thx :)
 

honky tonk

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Originally posted by TastesGoodBut
exemplars are crap i cant understand most of them... they say things we were specificallty told not to say and are all thematic and shit...
I know what you mean. One of them (I can't remember which) had no synthesis, numbers instead of words (e.g. 3 instead of three) and used abbreviations and the very naughty ampersand sign (&). I don't understand why we're told to avoid certain things if they are overlooked in the HSC...
 

connie

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Originally posted by anti
'the seasons are but a single thread in the extensive web of changes' (or some such crap). THAT's artistry.
excessively verbose
concatenate
Most my replies in this forum are not thought out properly. :)
Ok firstly im sure if the kid is having trouble with originality pulling some shit like the above "the seasons..." is not really going to help but rather think "i cant be as ridiculous as this'

secondly "excessively verbose" and "concatenate"?????!!!! hello the person needs help not more big words to confuse them

lastly.. "most replies..."
yep jus like yours!
 

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