Really Struggling With how to study for english (1 Viewer)

[Maroon And Gold Never Fol]

Hi Guys,
At the moment I feel hopeless for english. I have written two common mod essays and I am struggling to even interpret the questions let alone write an essay in 45 mins. What is the most ideal way for studying english? Should I remember themes for every mod? how much quotes should I know? How do i interpret questions? Should I only be memorising techniques and quotes or should I also memorising analysis? What is the best way to memorise? and what the best way at adapting evidence for a question?

Pls help needed.

 

[Maroon And Gold Never Fol]

Relatable, I only do standard but what I did in my previous exam was that I didn't memorise my intro or conclusion but 3 of my themes roughly, not word for word but the quotes plus some general idea of what my analysis looks like (technique + effect) and I just improvised on the spot to engage the question. I think having themes which are easily adaptable to a range of question is crucial, as well as being able to come up with a good or at least decent thesis within the reading time is really important which is something I'm still working on too.

Good quotes are a must from what I've heard from my teacher, especially those that fit into multiple themes & have deep meanings behind them (obviously), I'm pretty bad at English myself but the most important thing that helped me go from horrible (I failed my prelim lol) to somewhat decent (band 5) was just putting in an immense amount of time & effort in it. Go the extra mile, do your English homework, write more than you need to not get told off by the teacher, find resources besides what your teacher gives you & ask questions. Improving your vocabulary and being more analytical is a must too, so as using cohesive devices to connect your sentences and using evaluative terms to show understanding & your own interpretation.

Another thing that helped me was actively looking for feedbacks, obviously your teacher is the best person to ask but some teachers aren't bothered and won't get back to you or give you really general & unhelpful feedback which is what I'm going through right now. Other people include your competent peers doing higher levels (or really well on the same level) and a tutor if you have one. Most importantly, use the rest of the holidays to work on English, hard work almost always pays off. Good luck!

I do standard and failed my prelims aswell and also put a lot of time in english which got me up to first rank. However, I am just terrible at on the spot essays but I'll try what you suggested. Thanks for your help.

 

[jimmysmith560]

In terms of writing essays, you should probably adopt a more pragmatic approach which I believe is evident considering the difficulties you are facing in interpreting the questions as well as not being able to write an essay in 45 minutes.

I don't think there's an ideal way to study for English, since each student may be comfortable with different study methods and may adopt different study strategies as a result. However, I do think that making the appropriate changes to your study methods will allow you to progress and study more effectively.

Preparing and memorising a thorough analysis of your texts where applicable may be a more effective and efficient way of preparing and writing your essays in a timely manner. Knowing your analysis implies simultaneous knowledge of both techniques and quotes. In addition, you won't need to worry about having to construct complex sentences while you're doing your exam, which will allow you to save time you would otherwise spend on thinking about how to express your point in a written form. Knowledge of your analysis prior to your exam will also allow you to complete your exam using a much more flexible approach, as you'll be able to adjust your analysis (including introduction, conclusion and links to the question) depending on the question.

Memorising depends on how you're used to retaining information. When I did my HSC, I memorised my analyses by memorising one paragraph at a time, which I did by constantly reading and repeating, and then trying to say my whole analysis when I've memorised all paragraphs. Once I was confident that I 100% knew my analyses, I started to write my analyses under timed conditions and kept doing so until I was able to write them in a timely manner.

In terms of knowing themes and being able to interpret the questions, and as mentioned above, you should definitely seek assistance with those as these remain essential components of your response and having a thorough understanding of them is essential. This is manifest in the form of questions and feedback you receive from your teacher. There are of course several people on here who are very good at English who may be able to help you more directly as well.

One last thing, never feel hopeless. You still have time to improve and you can definitely improve!

I hope this helps!

 

[Maroon And Gold Never Fol]

In terms of writing essays, you should probably adopt a more pragmatic approach which I believe is evident considering the difficulties you are facing in interpreting the questions as well as not being able to write an essay in 45 minutes.

I don't think there's an ideal way to study for English, since each student may be comfortable with different study methods and may adopt different study strategies as a result. However, I do think that making the appropriate changes to your study methods will allow you to progress and study more effectively.

Preparing and memorising a thorough analysis of your texts where applicable may be a more effective and efficient way of preparing and writing your essays in a timely manner. Knowing your analysis implies simultaneous knowledge of both techniques and quotes. In addition, you won't need to worry about having to construct complex sentences while you're doing your exam, which will allow you to save time you would otherwise spend on thinking about how to express your point in a written form. Knowledge of your analysis prior to your exam will also allow you to complete your exam using a much more flexible approach, as you'll be able to adjust your analysis (including introduction, conclusion and links to the question) depending on the question.

Memorising depends on how you're used to retaining information. When I did my HSC, I memorised my analyses by memorising one paragraph at a time, which I did by constantly reading and repeating, and then trying to say my whole analysis when I've memorised all paragraphs. Once I was confident that I 100% knew my analyses, I started to write my analyses under timed conditions and kept doing so until I was able to write them in a timely manner.

In terms of knowing themes and being able to interpret the questions, and as mentioned above, you should definitely seek assistance with those as these remain essential components of your response and having a thorough understanding of them is essential. This is manifest in the form of questions and feedback you receive from your teacher. There are of course several people on here who are very good at English who may be able to help you more directly as well.

One last thing, never feel hopeless. You still have time to improve and you can definitely improve!

I hope this helps!

Thanks for your help, I'm a memory guy myself. So do you suggest memorising the analysis of quote in which I can then adapt to the certain question?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Thanks for your help, I'm a memory guy myself. So do you suggest memorising the analysis of quote in which I can then adapt to the certain question?

No worries, that's good to know. I believe being a memory guy will only make this easier for you, and being ranked first currently also confirms your ability to achieve your goal. What's left is your determination to get there.

I believe it would be good if the analysis you memorise explicates both techniques and quotes within your prescribed texts. That'll reduce the number of things you will need to worry about on the day of your exam, where your most demanding task will become adapting your analysis to the exam question.

I'm not sure if you study this text, but since you're doing English Standard, have a look at my analysis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I believe it can give you a good idea of how to shape your own analyses:

HSC English Standard - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (17/20)

Analysis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time which was part of my essay, for which I received 17/20. Useful as a guide to perform well in Module B: Close Study of Literature. Do not plagiarise. All the best with English! :D

boredofstudies.org

Best of luck with your trial exams!

 

[Maroon And Gold Never Fol]

No worries, that's good to know. I believe being a memory guy will only make this easier for you, and being ranked first currently also confirms your ability to achieve your goal. What's left is your determination to get there.

I believe it would be good if the analysis you memorise explicates both techniques and quotes within your prescribed texts. That'll reduce the number of things you will need to worry about on the day of your exam, where your most demanding task will become adapting your analysis to the exam question.

I'm not sure if you study this text, but since you're doing English Standard, have a look at my analysis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I believe it can give you a good idea of how to shape your own analyses:

HSC English Standard - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (17/20)

Analysis of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time which was part of my essay, for which I received 17/20. Useful as a guide to perform well in Module B: Close Study of Literature. Do not plagiarise. All the best with English! :D

boredofstudies.org

Best of luck with your trial exams!

I actually do study that text, thanks. This will help a lot because we only spend a total of 5 weeks on it before trials.

 

[jimmysmith560]

I actually do study that text, thanks. This will help a lot because we only spend a total of 5 weeks on it before trials.

Oh well that's great to hear then! I'm glad I was able to help directly!

You got this for sure, all the best!

 

[zizi2003_]

Relatable, I only do standard but what I did in my previous exam was that I didn't memorise my intro or conclusion but 3 of my themes roughly, not word for word but the quotes plus some general idea of what my analysis looks like (technique + effect) and I just improvised on the spot to engage the question. I think having themes which are easily adaptable to a range of question is crucial, as well as being able to come up with a good or at least decent thesis within the reading time is really important which is something I'm still working on too.

Good quotes are a must from what I've heard from my teacher, especially those that fit into multiple themes & have deep meanings behind them (obviously), I'm pretty bad at English myself but the most important thing that helped me go from horrible (I failed my prelim lol) to somewhat decent (band 5) was just putting in an immense amount of time & effort in it. Go the extra mile, do your English homework, write more than you need to not get told off by the teacher, find resources besides what your teacher gives you & ask questions. Improving your vocabulary and being more analytical is a must too, so as using cohesive devices to connect your sentences and using evaluative terms to show understanding & your own interpretation.

Another thing that helped me was actively looking for feedbacks, obviously your teacher is the best person to ask but some teachers aren't bothered and won't get back to you or give you really general & unhelpful feedback which is what I'm going through right now. Other people include your competent peers doing higher levels (or really well on the same level) and a tutor if you have one. Most importantly, use the rest of the holidays to work on English, hard work almost always pays off. Good luck!

How are you preparing for Module C? I know I shouldn't memorise an imaginative/discursive/persuasive but given the time left I'm really tempted to-