Question for VA State-rankers (or anyone who did well!!) (1 Viewer)

[viennawu]

Hi! I was wondering what is the level of skill and detail i need in the paper exam (specifically your section 2) for visual arts to even be considered for a state ranking? All my friends are really competitive and the only subject I get high 90s for is visual arts so I really want to do well for this subject!!! (even if its not as "prestigious" as others)

some questions if you can spare the time!
1) I usually choose 2 artist (1 artwork each) for my section two because I like having more in depth ones rather than a variety. I only make subtle links between them in my responses. Is 2 artists too little and should my response be more "comparative" or analytical?

2) Does the fame/wellknownness (idk what that word it ) of the artist/artwork matter? Obviously i cant do a made up one but does it matter to the examiner if they know about the work or not??

3) I usually get 23-25 in section 2 (practice paper and exam paper) and my analysis is just straightforward and I like to include 1 or 2 quotes. What are some other elements i can use to boost up the quality of my response?

4) If anyone can spare a sample or full version of a state ranker's essay that would be great!!

Thanks for your time!

 

[tacorrito]

Hi! I was wondering what is the level of skill and detail i need in the paper exam (specifically your section 2) for visual arts to even be considered for a state ranking? All my friends are really competitive and the only subject I get high 90s for is visual arts so I really want to do well for this subject!!! (even if its not as "prestigious" as others)

some questions if you can spare the time!
1) I usually choose 2 artist (1 artwork each) for my section two because I like having more in depth ones rather than a variety. I only make subtle links between them in my responses. Is 2 artists too little and should my response be more "comparative" or analytical?

2) Does the fame/wellknownness (idk what that word it ) of the artist/artwork matter? Obviously i cant do a made up one but does it matter to the examiner if they know about the work or not??

3) I usually get 23-25 in section 2 (practice paper and exam paper) and my analysis is just straightforward and I like to include 1 or 2 quotes. What are some other elements i can use to boost up the quality of my response?

4) If anyone can spare a sample or full version of a state ranker's essay that would be great!!

Thanks for your time!

Hi there! I finished the HSC in 2014 and managed to do pretty well for art.
In terms of your questions:

1. I'm only speaking from my experiences, but I think 2 artists in Section Two may be too little. I usually wrote about 3 artists in Section Two when I was in Year 11, and when I hit Year 12, I got told to write about 4 artists. Again, it depends if you can write extremely in-depth about the artists, but it does take much greater effort to get away with a 24 or 25 with 2 or 3 artists, than a 24 or 25 with 4 artists. With the essay being more 'comparative' or 'analytical', it really depends on the question. Do you have any particular examples you need clarification with, and what do you mean by subtle links? I normally link my artists/artworks to the question, and it's only more of a bonus thing if you have a link between the different artists, but again- it really depends on the question and what it's asking for specifically.

2. No, the fame of the artist should generally be irrelevant. However, one of my art teachers did tell me that imagine the sheer amount of people that would use Manet's Olympia as an example, and hence why our selection of artists tend to be a bit more different. I ended up writing about artists like Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Jenny Saville. When it comes down to it, I think the priority is on the quality of the analysis of the artist/artwork, rather than its fame/obscurity. I definitely don't recommend doing the Mona Lisa, but perhaps not the neighbourhood struggling artist either!

3. It's hard to judge what you can improve on without having a sample of your essay, but it's a great step to include quotes! When you say 1 or 2 quotes, do you mean per artist, or for the whole paper? At my bare minimum, I tried to go for at least one quote per artist (4 artists for me), but again, that's just one way of going around quotes.