Prepared essays for english (1 Viewer)

[DMOS]

Does anyone else have a habit of writing pre-prepared essays for english exams?
My teachers say it is really dangerous and examiners notice it really easily when marking HSC papers.
Does anyone have any tips on how to write sophisticated essays during exams without preparing it?

 

[DMOS]

so should I have a broad thesis?

 

[gurmies]

The question they provide will be the premise for your thesis. Having a prepared one is a little dangerous.

 

[scaredytiger]

Try focussing on a few (3-5) ideas, with quotes, to memorise. Do practice essays with these ideas.

 

[Divided_By_Zero]

Normally i just learn all the techniques and quotes, and maybe a very broad thesis which is adapted to a more specific question during the test, to me memorizing the whole thing seems like a bit of a waste of time, especially when there's other subjects to study for.

 

[Jaylee42003]

Normally i just learn all the techniques and quotes, and maybe a very broad thesis which is adapted to a more specific question during the test, to me memorizing the whole thing seems like a bit of a waste of time, especially when there's other subjects to study for.

+1 to this.

Also, they say it's "dangerous" to have pre-prepared essays memorized because some students are dumb enough to have the mentality to pump out the memorized essay, regardless of what the exam question is asking. If you're going to do that, expect to get a very, very low mark. It might be the most beautiful piece of work written in the hisotry of mankind, but if your response doesn't address the question, and does not meet the marking guidlines, then it is practically a waste of ink.

 

[squidness]

i think you can prepare essays in terms that you're just practising but if you're going into the test with one memorised essay is just stupid. I know you can usually guess the question but you can easily get sucked in and just rewrtie your esssay rather than answering the question.. so i agree in preparing essays but not memorising them word for word. Prepare many essays and on the day you should remember some stuff you write in the practise essays to answer the questions but most of all know your texts inside out.

 

[LordPc]

memorising an entire essay = failure

your essay probably wont even be good enough to get a mark of 18+/20. so you are memorising a sub par essay.

and even if your essay is a top quality essay, guarenteed 19+/20, then the essay would be useless to memorise, because the only time an essay is going to get such a good mark is if it has very detailed analysis. and if it has detailed analysis then it is specific, in other words, it will only get you marks if you get the perfect question.

so memorisation doesnt work (except in that single case where you happen to memorise the answer to the question by sheer luck, which has probability about 1/500 by my estimate)

 

[want2beasenior]

What I do is beforehand create a very general thesis that is adaptable. I pick main themes that can adapt to questions and then I do dot points of quotes and effects under these themes.

Prepare something that you think will work, but don't rely on this; have a general knowledge of the text and you'll be fine. What you prepare may be very helpful or not at all, but I think you're better off having a rough idea of conerns and quotes then walking in blind.

 

[ekoolish]

memorising an entire essay = failure

your essay probably wont even be good enough to get a mark of 18+/20. so you are memorising a sub par essay.

and even if your essay is a top quality essay, guarenteed 19+/20, then the essay would be useless to memorise, because the only time an essay is going to get such a good mark is if it has very detailed analysis. and if it has detailed analysis then it is specific, in other words, it will only get you marks if you get the perfect question.

so memorisation doesnt work (except in that single case where you happen to memorise the answer to the question by sheer luck, which has probability about 1/500 by my estimate)

x2

 

[04er]

the key to hsc english IS to prepare and memorise an essay beforehand, word by word if you have time.

anyone telling you to NOT memorise an essay is either:

a) trying to mislead you for their own advantage
b) has no fucking clue as to what they're talking about
c) is too lazy to prepare and memorise an essay and has not witnessed first-hand the benefit of a pre-prepared essay

Of course, you will most likely need to adapt parts of each paragraph during the exam (especially the intro and conclusion) to ensure that you are answering the question.

But if you want to maximise your chances of getting the best marks, pre-prepare and memorise an essay. This not only improves the quality of your answer but also helps you to write more and quicker.

 

[Dragonmaster262]

A state ranker in English last year told me thatmemorising essays was a good idea.

Official 600th post...

 

[annabackwards]

memorising an entire essay = failure

your essay probably wont even be good enough to get a mark of 18+/20. so you are memorising a sub par essay.

and even if your essay is a top quality essay, guarenteed 19+/20, then the essay would be useless to memorise, because the only time an essay is going to get such a good mark is if it has very detailed analysis. and if it has detailed analysis then it is specific, in other words, it will only get you marks if you get the perfect question.

so memorisation doesnt work (except in that single case where you happen to memorise the answer to the question by sheer luck, which has probability about 1/500 by my estimate)

I beg to differ XD

A state ranker in English last year told me thatmemorising essays was a good idea.

Official 600th post...

Congrats.

 

[possessionless]

memorising an entire essay = failure

your essay probably wont even be good enough to get a mark of 18+/20. So you are memorising a sub par essay.

And even if your essay is a top quality essay, guarenteed 19+/20, then the essay would be useless to memorise, because the only time an essay is going to get such a good mark is if it has very detailed analysis. And if it has detailed analysis then it is specific, in other words, it will only get you marks if you get the perfect question.

So memorisation doesnt work (except in that single case where you happen to memorise the answer to the question by sheer luck, which has probability about 1/500 by my estimate)

+ 1

 

[ehtefaz.hedayet]

I beg to differ XD

+1

but its also important to understand the concepts of the modules + AOS so you actually know what your writing about.