• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

What could they ask? (1 Viewer)

endingstory

New Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
20
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
I've realized that preparing a 'generic response' before the exam may not get me anywhere as MOD B is sometimes really specific.

I've seen
Questions on Charaterisation, Relationships between Characters

Could they ask specific scenes, or ask make you select specific scenes?
 

Shadose

Enjoy Life
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
255
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Yes, they asked for a specific scene in 2006.
 

Shadose

Enjoy Life
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
255
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Actually that was TWO specific scenes.

Last year they made you specify on "intense relationships/emotions" that "captivates readers/engages audiences". So I guess that was themes.

Maybe this year, its going to be characters, or even language. What do you think?
 

endingstory

New Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
20
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Well the charaterisation of a character seems to be a common question. I just hope that a general question appears, cause this is my worst module!
 

Shadose

Enjoy Life
Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
255
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Same here, I'm hating it. I hope for a general question too...although I doubt it, because it doesn't seem like its going to be part of the pattern since we are the last ones doing this syllabus. I heard they are changing everything next year.
 

janaranaran!

Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
149
Location
In your base, killing your doods
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
endingstory said:
I've realized that preparing a 'generic response' before the exam may not get me anywhere as MOD B is sometimes really specific.

I've seen
Questions on Charaterisation, Relationships between Characters

Could they ask specific scenes, or ask make you select specific scenes?
They won't specify the scene for you, like they aren't going to say discuss act 2 scene 3 or whatever, but they have a number of times said "Support you answer with an examination of two key extracts" or something similar.

SO basically prepare 3 or 4 scenes that relate to your reading/the readings of other people you're looking at, and maybe consider how those scenes have or can be produced on stage.

that's what im doing anyhow :/
 

jenecis

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Messages
85
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2008
Yeah, but how much are you guys going to spend on the readings? If you look at it, the past (recent) HSC questions don't even mention them at all! Is it necessary nowadays to include other readings?
 
Joined
Dec 18, 2005
Messages
137
Location
Sydney
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
If the question asks for your personal response/interpretation you don't have to include readings, and your personal response IS a reading. I think.

Also, is it possible for them to ask about specific characters, because there are different texts within the module and some of the texts don't have characters?
 

janaranaran!

Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
149
Location
In your base, killing your doods
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
they have different questions for different texts.

and i think even if you do mainly only talk about your response, you'd want to make it clear you understand how context influences reception, both with your response and those of others (without going overboard into making your whole essay about other people's ideas)
 

munchkink8

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
About your personal response and the views of others.... It is much more important to establish what YOU think about the text, and then only support it with slight references to others. This is a quote from the Board of Studies Module B Support Document:

"Misplaced emphasis may lead students to rely on the views of others, rather than developing their own informed view. Exploring the perspectives of others and discussion and evaluation of how the prescribed text has been received in different contexts should enhance rather than overshadow a student’s personal engagement with and close analysis of the prescribed text. The view students develop must continue to be supported with detailed textual reference from the prescribed text.
Students refine their interpretation by testing their perspective against the perspectives of others. During this process students consider aspects of the text that they may not have considered previously, thereby deepening their own understanding and sharpening their personal view of the text’s value and its meaning. The teacher’s careful direction of students as they refer to other perspectives will enable them to develop and demonstrate their understanding of the prescribed text."


A lot of girls at my school in the trials based their arguments on saying "there is this undestanding and this understanding", rather than saying "this is what I understand the text to mean"... and they got really low marks for their Module B essays (in our case.. King Lear). So yeah, they're pretty much looking for waht you think, backed up by what others think.... rather than just the various interpretations out there. As for what they're going to ask us, I wish I could answer that.
 

dolbinau

Active Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
1,334
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Is it appropriate to talk in first person? How do we establish a strong student voice?
 

munchkink8

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
If the question involves "your interpretation" or "what do you think", it is definitely appropriate to talk in the first person, often better because it forces you to talk about you, rather than others.
In establishing a strong student voice... not really sure what you mean by that. But what I do (and i got 20/20 for my Lear essay in the trials) to establish what I think really firmly is to say... "Traditionally this scene is viewed as bla bla bla" however through an analysis of the text it is clear that in fact Shakespeare is commenting on bla bla bla. You don't need to say: on the other hand. State your ideas like they're fact. :)
 
N

Nicola1616

Guest
I'm pretty sure your voice will be strong if your arguments are. You can give your own interpretation in a way that either implicit "A feminist re-working of Lear is in danger of transforming the text into an unrecognisable new form so that the responder may be left to ponder ..." or explicit "I found that a feminist reading of Lear produced as ....."

Not saying "I" always sounds a little more academic but if you can't work it don't worry.
 

dolbinau

Active Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
1,334
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
If the question was "To what extent has YOUR" style.


How can you say "It has affected me to a large extent" without saying "me"

At the moment, I'd be saying "It affects 'you'" or "the responder".
 

danz90

Active Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
1,467
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
If you don't include various readings/interpretations of King Lear in your response, REGARDLESS of the question... then you're ignoring one of the dot points in the rubric. Hence, you won't get a good mark for that response.
 

munchkink8

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
It has affected "my interpretation" or it has affected "me" is absolutely fine. If the question talks about YOU, address the question. Of course, don't overuse "I" but the essay style of not using "I" is old-fashioned. If the question doesn't mention it, you can still put it in but limit it. If it says "affected YOU" you can say "me" and "my interpretation throughout the essay, it's the righy way to do it if that's what the question is asking for. I think I just repeated myself haha.

If it asks about you and you don't mention yourself or your interpretation at all, then you will probably get a lower mark than if you use it.
 

munchkink8

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
15
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
danz90 said:
If you don't include various readings/interpretations of King Lear in your response, REGARDLESS of the question... then you're ignoring one of the dot points in the rubric. Hence, you won't get a good mark for that response.
True, but at the same time, you can't have your entire essay based on the other readings. It is a critical study of the TEXT and thus your first priority is to set up your argument based on evidence from the text rather than on the way in which OTHERS interpret it. That is only to back up your argument.
 

jenecis

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Messages
85
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2008
danz90 said:
If you don't include various readings/interpretations of King Lear in your response, REGARDLESS of the question... then you're ignoring one of the dot points in the rubric. Hence, you won't get a good mark for that response.
Actually, my teacher marked the King Lear essays for last year's HSC and she explicitly told my class that you don't need to include ANY other readings apart from your own interpretation. You address the dot point by giving a sense of your understanding that King Lear can be interpreted in different ways - you don't need to explictly mention the readings. Seriously, that's what I've been doing all year and I've been getting pretty high marks for Module B.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top