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Urgent help regarding essay structure and time constraints (1 Viewer)

tomdoml

Premium Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
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Hello peeps, first time posting here (I think) and I'm just looking for some pointers on essay structure in time constraints.
Like what seems to be most people on bos, English is definitely not my best subject.

Much of the problem comes, as with many people, in my unbearably slow handwriting. This is not so much a problem in paper 1 of the trials because time was made up in rushing through the creative and the analysis, but I think this is going to be a major problem in paper 2 tomorrow :S.

I know what I need to write for each essay but in practice and in exams I find it near impossible to write within the constraints. In large I think it may be due to my essay structure and I was just wondering if anyone could help out in ways I could cut it down a bit. Been to different teachers; some say it's good and wouldn't recommend a change, others dint seem to like it too much.

A typical body paragraph usually goes:
-intro, relate to question
-author's context
-purpose, relating to their context
-context of quote -quote/evidence (this is usually technique rich)
-reference technique
-link to effect on audience/meaning
^^ usually more than one technique per quote
^^ I list another quote and provide another couple techniques.

I usually do about 4 of these sort of body paragraphs per essay. Looking over some of the resources on the bos it seems this is pretty similar to the way they say to structure a response, but I just can't fit it in. I'm worried about cutting it down to one quote per text because teachers say you should have a minimum of 2 examples from the text.

I'm getting really worried with paper 2 coming up tomorrow :S and was just looking for some input, any help would be appreciated.
 

Gigacube

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Apr 19, 2010
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HSC
2012
I think a minimum of 2 examples from the text is a lot better than one per text. Try linking things in your essay to. Like relate a specific scene to the whole play & write about why it is important & such.

If you have slow handwriting you should try taping a battery to your pen & then practice writing with it. Once you take the battery off you'll find the pen feels super light. This helps build up the hand muscles which then improve your speed.
 

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