tips? (1 Viewer)

[Nadiaa]

Hello there.
I am doing an English assignment on Belonging where i have my prescribe text 'the namesake' and related text.
In general i was wondering if you can suggest some tips on english assignments in general, eg quoting and so forth.

Thanks in advance

 

[pjiggy]

Hello there.
I am doing an English assignment on Belonging where i have my prescribe text 'the namesake' and related text.
In general i was wondering if you can suggest some tips on english assignments in general, eg quoting and so forth.

Thanks in advance

Hi,
the thing with getting good marks in english is that ,unlike math where u either get it right or wrong,different teachers like different ways of writing.so u might get 20/20 for ur assignment under one teacher and 14/20 from another for the exact same assignment.i got 96% as a hsc mark for advanced english and what i did was get my essays marked by HEAPS of teachers,tutors etc. and changed it according to their comments until is was "perfect" .then i just memorised and in the exams twisted my essays to fit the question.a lot of teachers say"DONT MEMORISE" cos ur essay might not fit the exam question but the trick is to practice twisting it on different practice questions until you're an expert.
for ur quotes in your essay,the advice i was given was only put in a minimal number of NECESSARY quotes and always always back them up with techniques and a sentence or two saying how the quote supports your thesis.dont just shove quotes anywhere to make it look like u read the text.EVERYTHING has to go back to your thesis.the topic sentence,quotes,concluding sentences for each paragraph,absolutely EVERYTHING or your essay wont work.
hope this helped and best of luck for your upcoming hsc!!

 

[Sadiah]

Hello there.
I am doing an English assignment on Belonging where i have my prescribe text 'the namesake' and related text.
In general i was wondering if you can suggest some tips on english assignments in general, eg quoting and so forth.

Thanks in advance

What pjiggy said is accurate. With English, it really depends on how your teacher likes essays/assignments to be conducted. For example, some teachers don't like repetition as they argue that it makes your text look boring and it looks like you're just saying one thing over and over again. However, some teachers love repetition as they argue that you're emphasising your point and trying to persuade the reader to agree with you.

What I'd suggest is to simply try to comprehend you're teacher's marking system and act accordingly.

As for quoting and referencing with English texts, it is essential that you must refer back and forth to your text. However, providing a quote from your text isn't enough. You need to explain how the quote you've chosen relates to your context, etc. Just by grabbing a plethora of quotes and shoving them into your task would just make you're writing look over-packed and the reader will palpably be like "What's she trying to prove? That she knows her text by heart?"

Alright? The point is to use evidence -> quotes, etc, and then support them with techniques/sentences explaining how the quote/reference backs up your thesis/argument.

Simple.

EDIT: Oh, and make sure you don't go off-topic! Keep to the question and address it with your talent, but don't write unnecessary things just to make you're piece of literacy look larger in quantity. Remember, English is about a quantity of quality!

Goodluck!

 

[Nadiaa]

oh wow. you both are scaring me now, see with essay writing, i can write to get a descent mark but i want more!
so practice and get them marked by different teachers, got that.
um.. if im asking for too much then dw, can i have a look at one of your essays pjiggy and sadiah. if its too much then dont worry..

i want to see wat a band 6 essay looks like

 

[Sadiah]

oh wow. you both are scaring me now, see with essay writing, i can write to get a descent mark but i want more!
so practice and get them marked by different teachers, got that.
um.. if im asking for too much then dw, can i have a look at one of your essays pjiggy and sadiah. if its too much then dont worry..

i want to see wat a band 6 essay looks like

Mmmm...

I've pretty much distributed all of my essays and notes to others ...

Oh, I remember giving Hassan (from your class) my notes for English.

As for my soft copy essays .. I'll see if I can post them here.

Yes, get you're essays marked by various teachers and learn to twist your essays to suit your topic question.

Oh, and being an avid reader helps a lot!

 

[Sadiah]

Here ya go, Nadia.

I found one of this article thing we had to write based on one of our modules for English .. It was about the Amish in America.

I can't get hold of the question ... But it was got to do with the clashes of cultures, like Amish v. America. It was based on the movie 'Witness' by Peter Weir.

Here is the article. I got 19/20 for it. I've excluded the photographs though. It's meant to be in columns but when I copy pasted the doc here, it got stuffed.

The Amish in America – a clash of cultures
The film ‘Witness’ romanticises cultures which interact yet cannot amalgamate ​

Beyond the archetypal exposé of the Amish culture by all, it seems that the Oscar-winning ‘Witness’ by Peter Weir has expunged the typical intuition of the Amish culture. In a nutshell, 1985 film ‘Witness’ focuses on a detective protecting a young Amish boy [Samuel] who becomes the target of a ruthless killer after he witnesses a brutal murder in a Philadelphia train station. The Amish trace their religious heritage to the Swiss Anabaptist of sixteenth-century Europe, who emerged in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. The first ample group of Amish arrived in America around 1730 and settled near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Amish are not the prevalent group of U.S. Amish as is generally thought, however. The Amish have settled in as many as twenty-four states, Canada, and Central America, though statistics suggest that about 80% are located in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The Amish traditionally speak German and, symbolic of their faith, Amish clothing styles encourage humility and separation from the world. They dress in a very simple style, avoiding all but the most basic ornamentation. Clothing is made at home of plain fabrics and is primarily dark –usually black- in color, as is depicted in the following picture.

The Amish representing the juxtaposition of decency, simplicity, and modesty via their dressing sagacity​

With respect to ‘Witness’, Weir has enthrallingly delivered a subterranean rendering of the Amish culture, which not only adheres to genuine authenticity of the Amish, but also specializes in endorsing the Amish as a sanguine civilization. The Amish are averse to any technology which they believe deteriorates the family configuration. The conveniences that the rest of us take for granted, such as electricity, are considered to be a temptation that could cause vanity, create inequity, or lead the Amish away from their close-knit community and, as such, are not encouraged or accepted in most orders. Most Amish cultivate their fields with horse-drawn machinery, live in houses without electricity, and get around in horse-drawn buggies.

The Amish use horse-drawn buggies which is symbolic of their resistance in opting cars for transport​

The Amish are private people who avoid as much contact with strangers and the "outside world" as possible for important religious and cultural reasons. It is interesting to acknowledge that the Amish classify those who are not Amish as “English”. Considering the Amish categorize the non-Amish pupils as English, it is apparent that the Amish also declare that the English/non-Amish rules do not apply to them, and this is what Weir has beguilingly divulged in ‘Witness’: “You don’t understand. We want nothing to do with your laws.” This statement from the character Rachel Lapp [an Amish lady] to John Book [an English man] represents her commitment to only Amish regulations, and as such the “English” regulations do not apply upon her.
The boundaries which are not to be exceeded are also reflected in ‘Witness’ as a theme of the clashing of cultures – Amish and the English. The romantic relationship between Rachel and Book which forms throughout the film does so with an amalgamation of various tribulations: “If we made love last night I’d have to stay, or you’d have to leave.” Book transmits his frustration to Rachel upon the fact that they cannot exceed physical interaction without having thereby to face severe consequences. The Amish culture does not permit socialization with non-Amish, let alone physical and romantic relationships with non-Amish. Thus, can an Amish plus non-Amish equal one?

Scene taken from Witness (1985) viewing Harrison Ford [John Book] and Kelly Mcgillis [Rachel Lapp]: The Amish culture forbids the Amish plus non-Amish relationship.​

The ‘Ordnung’ is a set of rules for Amish living. The word Ordnung, borrowed from the German language, means order, arrangement, organization, or system. Every local church maintains an individual set of rules, adhering to its own Ordnung, which may vary from district to district as each community administers its own guidelines. These rules are largely unwritten, yet they define the very essence of Amish identity. It is perhaps the essence of the Ordnung which forms the clash between the Amish and non-Amish cultures, and in particular, the Amish and the traditional “English” culture. In the film, the scene where Book and Rachel are dancing and Eli Lapp [Rachel’s father] appears and yells at Rachel exemplifies that this act of Rachel and Book is not permitted within the boundaries of their [Amish] community. The statements “I have done nothing against the Ordnung” and “I have committed no sin” exemplify that Rachel believes that her act of dancing with Book does not adhere to any violations of the Ordnung. However, Eli disagrees to such and deviates against Rachel: “No sin? Maybe not yet. But, Rachel...Don't you know there has been talk? Talk about you, not him. Talk about going to the Bishop. About having you... shunned!” It is clear here that there is a vast difference between the Amish culture and the English culture when it comes to physical, romantic and even sexual relationships; however, the differences between the two cultures go much beyond relationships.
Violence is not tolerated within the Amish community under whatever circumstances; on the other hand however, violence is an every-day occurrence within the English community. This is analytically embodied in ‘Witness’ upon numerous scenes. One of the key scenes being when Book is moving to intervene against some locals who are harassing the Amish, intending to teach them a lesson: “It’s not our way” – this committed declaration is a depiction of Eli’s loyalty to his Amish culture.- The Amish strongly indulge with the ideology of pacifism; they desire peace and do not fight back. However, Book reveals his English gesticulation which is symbolic of him being used to violence in the English world: “It’s my way”. If the locals are harassing the Amish, or anyone in that case, Book will not stay calm as an Amish man, he will fight back, which is very much a symbol of the English characteristics.
Another vital scene in ‘Witness’ which visualizes the extent to which the Amish generally are opposed to violence is when Rachel and Samuel [her young son] are walking through the police station with Book and Rachel states “I just don’t like the idea of my son spending all this time with a man who carries a gun and goes around whacking people!” This illustrates that regardless if violence is present, if even a weapon which can cause violence is present; the Amish are to be as far from it as possible.
In essence, ‘Witness’ by Peter Weir is a must-watch for every teen and beyond – it represents and magnifies the Amish culture and perhaps is an effective informing tool about the Amish civilization. The clash of cultures is depicted between the Amish and English people, which exemplify limits that are not to be crossed under whatsoever circumstances. Henceforth, beyond typical English mentality of the Amish, ‘Witness’ solves the mystery for us all! The Amish aren’t as disclosed as we think they are, in fact, they are innocent and just as sane as any of us: The statement from a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Visitor's Bureau brochure sums it up well: "While you talk and mingle with the Amish, please remember that they are not actors or spectacles, but ordinary people who choose a different way of life."

 

[pjiggy]

same here.ive pretty much distributed all my essays to my students ( i tutor) BUT i have some saved on my other computer which ill post up here if you still want them but they might not relate to what you're doing,cos different schools do different texts/topics.i went to james ruse so mine follow the ruse syllabus
but if u want ill put them here anyway later on

 

[Nadiaa]

thanks sooo much sadiah
and pjiggy, i just want to have a look at them anyway if that is ok with you?

Thanks again sadiah