Short answer techniques? (1 Viewer)

NFmusic1995

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Use the 10 minutes reading time to Read all the comprehension articles and see the questions, and answer the questions mentally in your head, making sure everything is fine.

If you still have time, look at your creative, normally they give you options, choose one, and see if your plan fits.

And finally look at the last question and make sure everything is fine :)

Then when u can start writing, GOGOGOGO
 

Amaranth_

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Read the question before you read the text. Reading the question first means you know what to look for when you read the text, hence meaning you only have to read it once - and when you do read it that one time, make sure you read with a highlighter in your hand or underline certain techniques and quotes that you see fit. Not reading the question and reading the text first means you will need to read it twice.
 

Crobat

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I will copy paste the advice I gave to Spiritual Being in a PM. I have never gotten a mark other than 15/15 in short answers (externals inclusive).

So the general structure is something like 2/2/3/3/5 and the rule of thumb with S1 is 50 words a mark.

For the picture the easiest technique will always be colour imagery or contrast, and just because it will most definitely be overdone does not mean you won't get full marks for the question so don't waste time trying to find some unorthodox technique there. Use the first thing that comes to mind, and finish that question as fast as possible. Make sure you try to use more than 1 technique because the more techniques you have, the stronger your response will be. I remember I had around 6 techniques for last year's picture question.

Most of the rest of the questions will ask for a set number of techniques, but I find that my answer is simply stronger if I have more. What I usually did was find one strong technique like a metaphor or simile and elaborate on it, and then chuck in a "combined with the alliteration/hyperbole/etc, the author's emphasis of__ is furthered" towards the end to add more to my answer.

Because a lot of concepts in Belonging are inter-related like interaction and relationships, family and friends, time and change in belonging, family and culture, community and culture, society and identity, etc , it is sometimes a good idea to bring in another aspect of belonging to further your response keeping in mind that this new aspect of belonging is only a supplement to the one asked in the question. So something like "The sense of belonging to culture in this extract is inextricably also emphasised through the character's interaction with his/her family..." In situations like that, the link between more aspects of belonging is actually more effective than techniques because you are demonstrating a more elaborate understanding on the concept as well.

Also keep in mind you also studied not belonging and using examples of not belonging can be a great way to emphasis whatever aspect of belonging may be asked in the question.

As for the mini-essay, there is usually some contention as to whether or not to repeat the same techniques you've used in the previous questions. Unless it specifies otherwise, don't worry too much about it. Remember the questions are usually actually marked by different markers so they won't really be able to tell anyway. But if you can find different quotes and techniques, prioritise those in your response. Remember also that it's a comparative question so you have to compare the texts in the ways they represent the same type of belonging, as well as the different types of belonging and not belonging. Really take a conceptual approach to section 1 because it's standardised across the state and they prefer the conceptual understanding of the AoS over too many techniques and stuff. Still keep a good bank of techniques and quotes in your response, but try to find as many links to the many aspects of Belonging as you can.

Really get straight to the point with answering the question because this section usually takes the longest but is still the easiest to get marks in. It actually always used to take me ~45 minutes (I remember it actually took me 48 in the exam).

You may have heard of STEEL or PEEL. I prefer STEEL: Statement, Technique, Example, Explanation, Link. It's the structure of essay paragraphs. I approached Section 1 the same too, but always had about 2-3 sentences and repeated it at least twice with supplementary techniques if the question only asked for 1 or 2.

Anyway I hope this helps! Don't stress too much about it. Advanced is really easy when it comes down to it, and as long as you're confident with techniques you will do splendid!

EDIT: Something I didn't touch on here but I should have was exam technique. If you have memorised your essay and creative, then it is safe to assume the creative will likely only take you ~30-35 minutes to write out, and the same for the essay. Even if you haven't memorised, aiming to do the creative in 30-35 minutes is very plausible, and no longer than 40 minutes for the essay is necessary anyway.This means that you can potentially save ~20 minutes altogether, which you can dedicate to S1. I always approached the exam with S2, S3, S1, purely because I like to be meticulous with S1 as it is a free 15 marks, and this approach was the same for a lot of students in my grade. It is excellent for students who aren't confident that they can get through each text in the 10 minutes reading time (I'll be honest, I never could), and also for making sure you can maximise the amount of marks you can get in the section :)
 
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Bobbo1

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I will copy paste the advice I gave to Spiritual Being in a PM. I have never gotten a mark other than 15/15 in short answers (externals inclusive).

So the general structure is something like 2/2/3/3/5 and the rule of thumb with S1 is 50 words a mark.

For the picture the easiest technique will always be colour imagery or contrast, and just because it will most definitely be overdone does not mean you won't get full marks for the question so don't waste time trying to find some unorthodox technique there. Use the first thing that comes to mind, and finish that question as fast as possible. Make sure you try to use more than 1 technique because the more techniques you have, the stronger your response will be. I remember I had around 6 techniques for last year's picture question.

Most of the rest of the questions will ask for a set number of techniques, but I find that my answer is simply stronger if I have more. What I usually did was find one strong technique like a metaphor or simile and elaborate on it, and then chuck in a "combined with the alliteration/hyperbole/etc, the author's emphasis of__ is furthered" towards the end to add more to my answer.

Because a lot of concepts in Belonging are inter-related like interaction and relationships, family and friends, time and change in belonging, family and culture, community and culture, society and identity, etc , it is sometimes a good idea to bring in another aspect of belonging to further your response keeping in mind that this new aspect of belonging is only a supplement to the one asked in the question. So something like "The sense of belonging to culture in this extract is inextricably also emphasised through the character's interaction with his/her family..." In situations like that, the link between more aspects of belonging is actually more effective than techniques because you are demonstrating a more elaborate understanding on the concept as well.

Also keep in mind you also studied not belonging and using examples of not belonging can be a great way to emphasis whatever aspect of belonging may be asked in the question.

As for the mini-essay, there is usually some contention as to whether or not to repeat the same techniques you've used in the previous questions. Unless it specifies otherwise, don't worry too much about it. Remember the questions are usually actually marked by different markers so they won't really be able to tell anyway. But if you can find different quotes and techniques, prioritise those in your response. Remember also that it's a comparative question so you have to compare the texts in the ways they represent the same type of belonging, as well as the different types of belonging and not belonging. Really take a conceptual approach to section 1 because it's standardised across the state and they prefer the conceptual understanding of the AoS over too many techniques and stuff. Still keep a good bank of techniques and quotes in your response, but try to find as many links to the many aspects of Belonging as you can.

Really get straight to the point with answering the question because this section usually takes the longest but is still the easiest to get marks in. It actually always used to take me ~45 minutes (I remember it actually took me 48 in the exam).

You may have heard of STEEL or PEEL. I prefer STEEL: Statement, Technique, Example, Explanation, Link. It's the structure of essay paragraphs. I approached Section 1 the same too, but always had about 2-3 sentences and repeated it at least twice with supplementary techniques if the question only asked for 1 or 2.

Anyway I hope this helps! Don't stress too much about it. Advanced is really easy when it comes down to it, and as long as you're confident with techniques you will do splendid!

EDIT: Something I didn't touch on here but I should have was exam technique. If you have memorised your essay and creative, then it is safe to assume the creative will likely only take you ~30-35 minutes to write out, and the same for the essay. Even if you haven't memorised, aiming to do the creative in 30-35 minutes is very plausible, and no longer than 40 minutes for the essay is necessary anyway.This means that you can potentially save ~20 minutes altogether, which you can dedicate to S1. I always approached the exam with S2, S3, S1, purely because I like to be meticulous with S1 as it is a free 15 marks, and this approach was the same for a lot of students in my grade. It is excellent for students who aren't confident that they can get through each text in the 10 minutes reading time (I'll be honest, I never could), and also for making sure you can maximise the amount of marks you can get in the section :)
Would rep, but already gave you some before :D
 

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