english advanced task 1 (1 Viewer)

[BOS101]

Hello.
I received my first english advanced task and I am quite unsure on how to go about it.

I have to prepare either a discursive, imaginative or persuasive piece, and write a reflection about it.

To be honest I'm not that good at english and I haven't been listening in class, so I really don't know how to write any of these.

Any tips on how to get started?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Let's have a look at each type of writing in-depth:

Discursive writing:

This type of writing involves focusing on exploring an idea or a variety of topics. Discursive writing consists of the discussion of ideas and/or opinions without the direct intention of persuading the reader. Discursive writing can take a humorous or serious tone and can feature a formal or informal register.

The following are a few tips targeting discursive writing:

• Ensure that you distinguish your writing from a persuasive piece. In a discursive piece, you may discuss/explore an idea. However, you should not favour any particular side (where applicable) as the intention is not to persuade anyone of anything.
• If possible, try to categorise discursive pieces. Examples of such categories include:
  • Debate/discussion, where you would explore both sides of the debate and present arguments by each respective side, without showing considerable bias towards a particular perspective. Effectively incorporating various linguistic devices is also an important thing that you may wish to consider.
  • The "exploring" type of discursive writing, whereby using an extended metaphor and emphasising a personal voice are essential elements for a high quality response.

Imaginative writing:

This type of writing involves the representation of ideas, feelings and mental images in words. It is characterised by originality, freshness and insight. An imaginative text might use metaphor to translate ideas and feelings into a form that can be communicated effectively to an audience. Imaginative texts also make new connections between established ideas or widely recognised experiences in order to create new ideas and images.

Some tips regarding imaginative writing include:

• Emphasis on the idea and purpose of your piece (which is important). Your idea can be supported by including appropriate literary techniques. Having a thorough understanding of your purpose is important as it assists in determining the audience that your response targets in addition to enhancing your writing style and clarifying your perspective (if applicable).

Additionally, the following is a procedure that you can utilise to assist you with developing an imaginative piece:

1. If possible, brainstorm universal ideas that relate to the stimulus and subsequently pick one.
2. Decide what you want to write about in terms of your idea. Find a fresh perspective, or challenge an existing one.
3. Craft your imaginative piece around this. Your focus should be on showing/demonstrating instead of solely telling. Do not attempt to tell the marker in your imaginative piece that this is what you are trying to say as they should be able to determine this themselves from your writing (provided it is of good quality), which should naturally explore such ideas.

Persuasive writing:

This type of writing aims to demonstrate a particular point of view/perspective in order to persuade a reader. Persuasive texts attempt to convince the responder of the strength of an argument or point of view through the use of information, evidence, well-constructed arguments, critical analysis and the use of rhetorical, figurative and emotive language.

Here are some tips to assist you with persuasive writing:

• Ensure you have a clear structure for your persuasive response. This involves:
  • Clearly introducing your position. An important thing to consider is that your position should be known as soon as possible within your response.
  • Clearly stating your main points in addition to appropriate evidence to support those points.
  • Reiterating your position as you finalise your response.

Reflective writing:

A reflection typically entails a written statement by students in which they discuss the process that they have followed in order to complete a particular assessment task (in this case, your English Advanced assessment task). It also includes a self-assessment, such as why you followed this particular process, what you believe you did well and aspects that you feel you can improve.

Two important things to consider with respect to reflective writing include:

• Ensure that you explain the reason(s) as to the process that you have followed in depth.
• Ensure that you demonstrate a thorough awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses in addition to any learning achieved from completing this task.

I hope this helps!

 

[BOS101]

Let's have a look at each type of writing in-depth:

Discursive writing:

This type of writing involves focusing on exploring an idea or a variety of topics. Discursive writing consists of the discussion of ideas and/or opinions without the direct intention of persuading the reader. Discursive writing can take a humorous or serious tone and can feature a formal or informal register.

The following are a few tips targeting discursive writing:

• Ensure that you distinguish your writing from a persuasive piece. In a discursive piece, you may discuss/explore an idea. However, you should not favour any particular side (where applicable) as the intention is not to persuade anyone of anything.
• If possible, try to categorise discursive pieces. Examples of such categories include:
  • Debate/discussion, where you would explore both sides of the debate and present arguments by each respective side, without showing considerable bias towards a particular perspective. Effectively incorporating various linguistic devices is also an important thing that you may wish to consider.
  • The "exploring" type of discursive writing, whereby using an extended metaphor and emphasising a personal voice are essential elements for a high quality response.

Imaginative writing:

This type of writing involves the representation of ideas, feelings and mental images in words. It is characterised by originality, freshness and insight. An imaginative text might use metaphor to translate ideas and feelings into a form that can be communicated effectively to an audience. Imaginative texts also make new connections between established ideas or widely recognised experiences in order to create new ideas and images.

Some tips regarding imaginative writing include:

• Emphasis on the idea and purpose of your piece (which is important). Your idea can be supported by including appropriate literary techniques. Having a thorough understanding of your purpose is important as it assists in determining the audience that your response targets in addition to enhancing your writing style and clarifying your perspective (if applicable).

Additionally, the following is a procedure that you can utilise to assist you with developing an imaginative piece:

1. If possible, brainstorm universal ideas that relate to the stimulus and subsequently pick one.
2. Decide what you want to write about in terms of your idea. Find a fresh perspective, or challenge an existing one.
3. Craft your imaginative piece around this. Your focus should be on showing/demonstrating instead of solely telling. Do not attempt to tell the marker in your imaginative piece that this is what you are trying to say as they should be able to determine this themselves from your writing (provided it is of good quality), which should naturally explore such ideas.

Persuasive writing:

This type of writing aims to demonstrate a particular point of view/perspective in order to persuade a reader. Persuasive texts attempt to convince the responder of the strength of an argument or point of view through the use of information, evidence, well-constructed arguments, critical analysis and the use of rhetorical, figurative and emotive language.

Here are some tips to assist you with persuasive writing:

• Ensure you have a clear structure for your persuasive response. This involves:
  • Clearly introducing your position. An important thing to consider is that your position should be known as soon as possible within your response.
  • Clearly stating your main points in addition to appropriate evidence to support those points.
  • Reiterating your position as you finalise your response.

Reflective writing:

A reflection typically entails a written statement by students in which they discuss the process that they have followed in order to complete a particular assessment task (in this case, your English Advanced assessment task). It also includes a self-assessment, such as why you followed this particular process, what you believe you did well and aspects that you feel you can improve.

Two important things to consider with respect to reflective writing include:

• Ensure that you explain the reason(s) as to the process that you have followed in depth.
• Ensure that you demonstrate a thorough awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses in addition to any learning achieved from completing this task.

I hope this helps!

Thank you! I think I have an idea of what writing style to choose. Now that I have chosen discursive, what do you reckon I should do? I'm stuck because I don't have much time to prepare (6 days)... Should I go right into formulating and practicing writing my response? Or first take the time to understand discursive techniques and practice writing samples?

 

[jimmysmith560]

Thank you! I think I have an idea of what writing style to choose. Now that I have chosen discursive, what do you reckon I should do? I'm stuck because I don't have much time to prepare (6 days)... Should I go right into formulating and practicing writing my response? Or first take the time to understand discursive techniques and practice writing samples?

No worries! A good understanding of techniques used in discursive writing is essential and will enable you to produce a good quality piece. Since you are a year 11 student, you have the ability to divide the time available to complete this task in a way that would allow you to not only successfully complete it, but also learn from it, mainly due to the fact that none of your assessment tasks/exams will count towards your year 12 results or your ATAR. Based on this, you could allocate one day towards understanding techniques used in discursive writing in addition to practising discursive writing. Subsequently, with the understanding and insight that you will have gained from the aforementioned activities, you can complete your assessment in the remaining days.