i only picked english advanced bcoz it's better to be bad at english advanced than to be bad at english standard
english is a conceited subject which derives inflated importance only from the fact that it is compulsory and counts towards the atar before any of one's other subjects for no good reason whatsoever.
NESA doesn't even mark down based on grammar, spelling, or punctuation, and yet supposedly one of the fundamental reasons that is so often perpetuated in defence of english's necessity is that it produces writers who are able to express with clarity and sophistication. 'literary competency' my ass. This is partly true though in those who excel at english, but there are plenty of people who are good at coherent thinking and reasoning who cannot show such skill because they are forced through the sieve of English to make it about things they are not interested in or find too abstract.
does english prepare you against texts in the real world outside of literature? show almost any english teacher a scientific journal article and watch them brush it off or become dumbfounded. what was it that english supposedly helps you with in the real world? well it certainly isn't general comprehension. At least you'll be able to tell all your STEM friends about how you can regurgitate a flatulent mess of abstract thoughts about classical literature while they go on to measurably improve the overall wellbeing of humanity. sorry for digressing from my hatred of the subject's compulsoriness towards my personal hatred of the subject itself. The arts do produce much of the entertainment and media that is consumed, but we are not all vested in the path to being authors. it does not help many in the pursuit of university education either; writing and interpreting scientific papers and technical reports are virtually nothing like what you learn to write in english.
is it because text appreciation is an integral part of life? we do all read texts (in various forms) for leisure in the real world. there are a lot of stories that i like, and of those that i am deeply moved by, i might feel like going "ah yes, the idea of finding the truth and pursuing one's true self and persona seems to be a thematic idea in this. i can see it in some occurrences". but beyond that, i would not go to lengths of scraping the bottom of the barrel and trying to superfluously extract some profound meaning that comments on some totally philosophical quality of society that eludes awareness or whatever an english teacher might say. why not follow Keats' advice on negative capability and transcend that tiresome philosophical pursuit, and just take what you enjoy as it is? if one is really eager, they on their own will pursue the ability on how to intellectually express their thoughts about the media they enjoy i.e. taking an english class without needing it to be thrust upon them.
to appreciate the deeper beauty in literature is not a necessity in life, but as i've stated before: we (in the wider world) do read texts and enjoy snippets of insight. we also enjoy music, and there is meaning to be found in the musical devices of Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, but that is no call to make aural music a compulsory subject. there is deeper pleasure in the natural world and mathematics; the ineffable physical complexity of living things, mathematical beauty, and the ingenuity of the built world around us. everyday we engage in the use of innovative infrastructure and engineered products, and yet engineering studies need not be compulsory to take for granted the ingenuity of the workings of something like the revolutionary(pun intended) internal combustion engine. just as you may not deeply enjoy classical orchestra as much as you do contemporary pop, the common person is able to enjoy stories in video games and film without being forced towards classical literature, as if to say "This is the way you should enjoy your media! Look at the intricacies of the classics so you can better appreciate the contemporaries!"
for the sake of argument, let's say that it's required for common scaling or something, whatever that means (i don't have a clue about scaling) because it is something I've heard on a few student forums. there is no reason that it should be english in particular as opposed to anything else. if a compulsory subject is necessary (which i doubt, given the following discrepancies), then i reckon it should instead be bipartisan (ahem maths+english). in QLD it is compulsory, but doesn't necessarily count towards a student's atar if it isn't in their best units. same goes with WA, where literary competency must be demonstrated but where english is not even a required subject. these states are doing fine, so it does not seem to be an issue with needing a 'common' subject for scaling purposes
the only redemption i can see in this subject is that it does positively influence the structure of one's writing. 'intro -> body -> conclusion' is a good form of expression. then again, so does every subject that involves report writing. you say "literacy is ingrained into english", but so it is with every other subject.
I remember [other english teacher] saying of my essay on Keats that it would have been ripped apart (not literally) were it to go through the HSC markers, presumably because I littered it with sarcasm and a heavy hint of loathing. good. so be it. I am glad I can rile an itch into the back of the minds of those markers who would smugly shrug my work off and who are only emotionally protected by a flimsy comfort that their dear pet subject will always count towards the ATAR. I stood and still stand by most of that essay, and had debated on whether to meet the criteria or to incorporate some grit into it while I had been writing it. i ask myself which i will regret more; keeping my head down and chugging along and wasting away the days spent on this subject, or to keep shut about conforming to one of this world's stupidities. safe to say, the latter potential of regret has won.
^i wrote this to my year advisor it was cool, was the moment i gave up trying for english lmao just going to do great in all the other exams
tl;dr english is bad. each paragraph is one of my justifications
