Struggling with advanced English (1 Viewer)

[drainbammage]

Im in year 11 and i just got back my Module A comparative essay, i got 11/15 which wasnt really what i was hoping for. People that made up their essay on the day and other people who did even finish managed to get the same mark as me or higher. Whereas i started weeks before, handed in drafts and memorised the entire thing. The yearlys are coming up in Week 3 next term and i need to improve because dropping to standard is the last thing i want to do. How would i go about improving my writing over the holidays in preparation for the yearlies?

 

[laura-jayne14]

I had the same doubts as you in year 11 & I ended up sticking with Advanced too. I always envy the people who leave things last minute and get top marks! But, just think... What mark would you have got if you didn't prepare. Usually a few days before my exam, I take my essay copy and make summaries of each paragraph e.g thesis, event, example, techniques, effect, link and I use these notes under time restraints to write a response, rather than copying word for word. This may help you, as I found the more I wrote it out, the easier I could remember.
Good luck - don't be discouraged, it sounds like you're organised and on top of things.
If you need any help with essays or anything let me know!

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[rumbleroar]

A lot of B range essays are normally there because of a conceptual thing - i.e. your thesis wasn't complex enough or expressed clearly enough. I think you need to ask your teacher about the feedback. I know English can be demoralising when you get 11/15, but it can also be an excellent chance to improve for year 12

Also I wouldn't recommend memorising full essays (that technique didn't help you from the sounds of it), and I find memorising paragraphs and adapting them works better, if you need any tips.

 

[hellohelicopter]

Module A is always a struggle. I think the most important thing is to go back and read the rubric for Module A. Make sure you include contextual information throughout your paragraphs and that your comparisons are consistent too. Never go on about one text for too long, was what I learnt from my first Module A assessment.

 

[strawberrye]

Have a read through Crobat's guide-it is pretty good
http://community.boredofstudies.org...21953/crobats-guide-hsc-english-advanced.html

I have three pieces of advice to give you
1)Make sure you answer the given essay question and nothing but the question. Memorising an entire essay without having adequate practise adapting your essay to different essay question may possibly have attributed to your mark. (this means you need to make an essay plan and deconstruct the question before writing)

2)Make sure when you compare texts, you are comparing them based on conceptual ideas-and relate it to context rather than having an overemphasis on context-learning how to balance these two things, along with incorporation of textual techniques takes practice. Just because your efforts doesn't pay off in one module don't mean they won't in another-studying is an extended marathon, and English is no different-you must persist in your efforts to see results in the long term

3)Don't despair and don't compare-(sometimes you also need to make sure that your essays talks about strong conceptual concerns. The better essays usually demonstrate an awareness of the purpose of comparative study, and that is, often one conceptual concern is advanced by the other, and more than that, when you compare two texts, this conceptual concern becomes far more significant-or sometimes a new moral emerges.

Best wishes

 

[drainbammage]

Thank you all for this advice, i just had another question. This this essay i was rushing it and trying to finish it within the time allowed and i made 3 spelling mistakes and called a character from the film her name in the novel twice, does this affect the overall mark much in the markers eyes?

 

[laura-jayne14]

One of the criteria has to do with spelling, however; I guess they would consider that it was under exam conditions. But, I am not sure.

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[Squar3root]

i did advanced even though i was meant to be in standard (or belower lol) but i kept it and tried my "best". even though i got a band 4 it was well worth it

 

[_blank]

Yeah, as the posters above said, it's not recommended that you memorise your essay word for word (rather remember key phrases/arguments, techniques, quotes etc) as you'll be able to adapt better to the question if you have something more flexible committed to your memory.

Also, you should ask your teacher what you need to do to get a higher mark, and even ask why you got the same as those students who didn't finish etc. You can even ask them to read and review your essay in detail so you can get some more exact answers from them. Remember that your teacher will often be your internal markers (or one of them) and you should try to get as much information/insight from them as possible.

Regarding the spelling, it can have an immediate effect on the marker, even if subconsciously. I think most Advanced English teachers will tend to have hawk-eyes for spelling/grammar mistakes. However, it depends how good your handwriting is - because if its a bit messy, most won't even be able to read minor spelling mistakes but just be able to tell the word and assume it's spelt correctly, lol.

 

[Mdyeow]

Stop memorising, start thinking.

If you make a deliberate attempt to answer the question (and use a decent structure, solid analysis, et c.), you'll be in a strong position to get a stronger mark. I'm not surprised people who "made up" their essays on the spot did as well as you or better - memorised essays may have worked about 10 years ago, but the marking criteria have dramatically changed since then so that answering the question matters FAR more than anything else. You've obviously got decent skills, but you need to apply them in a more flexible way to address what's needed by each unique question.

An 11/15 is not lethal - my first comparative study assessment got me a 14/20 (this is for someone used to clocking 18-19's) and I managed to get an overall 95 in Advanced. I focused on what I did wrong - in that case, not mentioning context - and attacked it mercilessly.

I second _blank's advice, ask your teacher for what you did wrong and then use that to inform EVERYTHING you do afterwards. Practice makes permanent, so make sure you're practising the right (write?) thing.