SOR Essay Confusion (1 Viewer)

[monsta4lyfe]

As many SOR I and II students know, the religion exam demonstrates on the front page that the student are expected to allocate 35 minutes to the essay section.
35 minutes for a 20 mark question... (Not sure the logic behind that)

Anyway I've been sending my teachers practice essays. The feedback I am getting isn't constructive at all. Apparently my 830 word length is too short? That I haven't included enough depth to my response? That I should elaborate further on certain points?

I'm not sure about anybody else but 900+ words for 35 minutes just doesn't work for me. I tried it for both my essays in the trials and I almost didn't finish my terrible peace essay.

Thoughts from anybody else in this position...

 

[Spiritual Being]

I spent 1 hour on each essay in the trial. I probably got to 1200 each. Obviously more is possible within the hour, but I stop for like 5 minutes and think how I will chronologically present my essay and think of niche statements. I got 19/20 for christianity and 20 for peace.

 

[monsta4lyfe]

I spent 1 hour on each essay in the trial. I probably got to 1200 each. Obviously more is possible within the hour, but I stop for like 5 minutes and think how I will chronologically present my essay and think of niche statements. I got 19/20 for christianity and 20 for peace.

Wow, Congrats, really well done!

My only question is how did you have so much spare time? I will admit I myself dawdled a bit on SA (especially for Jewish death and mourning). But 1 hour each is insane. It'd be great to know how you did it...

 

[Spiritual Being]

Wow, Congrats, really well done!

My only question is how did you have so much spare time? I will admit I myself dawdled a bit on SA (especially for Jewish death and mourning). But 1 hour each is insane. It'd be great to know how you did it...

Thanks.

I spent around 8-10 minutes on the twenty multiple choice (got 18/20 lol), then I just zoomed through the short answers and I'm a very fast writer. I even stopped every now and then to think about some of the short answers.

I think the key is to NOT prepare an essay for either of the 20 markers. Your essay should thoroughly engage with the question, and TBH, I like having a theological debate with anyone in my spare time, so I've come to know a lot about the dynamic of religion.

If one pre-prepares an essay for a question which is within the bound of a very broad syllabus, they're playing with fire. It's not like English where you can have an adequate amount of information derived from the rubric, and still do decently despite the question. SOR, they can ask about person/practice/ethics, and you don't know which combination it may be, or which ones may be applicable (although I do tend to link all three - it's about the valid and applicable content within those three concepts).

 

[enoilgam]

I agree with SB, I would probably dedicate a bit more time to the essay because you can go through MC and Short Answer quite quickly. I aimed to get around 1,000 or so words for my essays in SOR.

 

[monsta4lyfe]

Sweet... in that case I guess I should practice writing 1000 word essays.

Cheers guys.

 

[enoilgam]

If one pre-prepares an essay for a question which is within the bound of a very broad syllabus, they're playing with fire. It's not like English where you can have an adequate amount of information derived from the rubric, and still do decently despite the question. SOR, they can ask about person/practice/ethics, and you don't know which combination it may be, or which ones may be applicable (although I do tend to link all three - it's about the valid and applicable content within those three concepts).

I went in with a general idea of what I wanted to say and molded what I had around that. I was pretty much prepared for either a general essay or one that asked only about the person, practice or ethics.

 

[Candidate]

My SOR teacher marks the essays, and 800 words is more than enough to access full marks, hence why there is only 35 minutes allocated to it. Obviously write more if you struggle to be so concise, like me, but you just need to use sophisticated language and relevant terminology and engage with the marker with evidence to back up each point. They aren't looking for 10 pages of writing, she says most band 6 answers are anywhere between 4-8 pages. In other words, word count does not matter– less is preferable to avoid boring the marker/straying from the question– you just need to argue your point demonstrating extensive knowledge of theological concepts and sacred texts. Generally you will finish the exam before the time limit, so you can really pace yourself for the essay thinking through each point.

 

[Spiritual Being]

I went in with a general idea of what I wanted to say and molded what I had around that. I was pretty much prepared for either a general essay or one that asked only about the person, practice or ethics.

Yeah, being able to sustain a response on just one is important, because that's all that may be applicable.

 

[enoilgam]

Yeah, being able to sustain a response on just one is important, because that's all that may be applicable.

I did my HSC in 2010, up until 2009 the essays were always on one topic - so I made sure to prepare for that possibility.

 

[BRegs]

My advice is that 1000 + is the way to go for Peace + Section III (20 mark depth-study response) ... Multiple choice shouldn't take you more than 5-8 minutes, plus an additional 5-10 minutes per 5 marker, and then about an hour (or less if you're a quicker writer) on Section II. This leaves about 50 minutes + for each essay. It's the only way I think. It's unfortunate that you have to write so much to get the marks, in Legal I can get away with a 24-25/25 with 850-900 words.

 

[Kowther]

I spent an hour for each essay, not sure how much I wrote though, got 17 for peace essay and 16 for my essay on Islam. I lost marks because I lost time to do my short answers though for Judaism personality question, and I rushed my Christianity personality question, but yeah 35 minutes each is probs not a good idea unless you're a fast writer

 

[NWO]

I disagree. If you dont prepare for long responses, you're gonna fail lol. First, your language will be bad, and ull stop to think. So, just integrate it )

 

[NWO]

lol. its easy to get those marks in short answers than long responses...

 

[Spiritual Being]

I disagree. If you dont prepare for long responses, you're gonna fail lol. First, your language will be bad, and ull stop to think. So, just integrate it )

what??? as in memorising?

 

[Kowther]

what??? as in memorising?

I memorised my peace essay, and still took me longer than 35 minutes...

 

[Spiritual Being]

I memorised my peace essay, and still took me longer than 35 minutes...

you don't need to memorise an essay for high marks, and this is the first time I've ever heard of someone memorising a SOR essay

 

[Kowther]

you don't need to memorise an essay for high marks, and this is the first time I've ever heard of someone memorising a SOR essay

yeah my Islam 20 marker was written from scratch but I still attained a high mark. The only reason I memorised my peace essay was because we had just started the peace topic a week prior so yeah

 

[norwegianwood]

I disagree. If you dont prepare for long responses, you're gonna fail lol. First, your language will be bad, and ull stop to think. So, just integrate it )

wtf no

 

[NWO]

Its quality over quantity. If you have like 1k words compared to 800, it might be worse as you rush it, and it might not make sense/ or answr the question.