Aos Hsc Essay (1 Viewer)

[skypryn]

um...i kinda need some help. fro the HSC essay relating to AOS, my teacher said you should use one stimulus text (im doing road not taken), prescribed text (coleridges poetry in my case) and two texts of your own choosing. I have apparent difficulty linking multiple texts and i lack the ability to invent a logicial, interesting thesis. Perhaps any 03ers could post their AOS essay? or anybody already written theirs for 04 for their 1st assesment? i realise i wont have the same texts as everyone, but can anybody give me some hints on thesis and linking texts?

 

[Supra]

um 03ers didnt do the same AOS (they did change)
we're the first journeys students
unfortunatly i cant help u coz we havent started the AOS yet

 

[= Jennifer =]

quick question: is it true this is the first time the board of studies have said we only need to know one stimulus? or do we have to know more than one?

 

[tooheyz]

Originally posted by = Jennifer =
quick question: is it true this is the first time the board of studies have said we only need to know one stimulus? or do we have to know more than one?

its good to know more than one. though its better to know one in depth, then 2 quickly

last year, u were required to know at least ONE source, though i knew 4. IN DETAIL.

if u talk about more than one in detail, you should get more marks as apposed to a person who only did one..

for the essay, try to find a quote that you can use to start off your essay. just a generic one, then go off to discuss that quote further, and relate the quote to the topic and then to the sources.

its gonna seem hard at first, but i tell u what, to begin, write ur essay first, then leave the thesis/intro last.

thats what i did until i wrote enough essays to know what i was going to write...

 

[AGB]

its true that you can get a 15/15 for the synthesis part of the aos paper with only four texts i.e. core text, one stimulus and two supplementary... teachers at my school who are markers said that they gave a number of 15s to papers who only used 4 texts, however they advised that it would be better to use approx 7 texts i.e. core, 2 stim and 4 supp

 

[skypryn]

Yeah alright I might use 1 more stimulus text which will give me a total of 5. The good thing about having coleridge's poetry as a prescribed text is that i do 2-3 poems, so it seems like more texts to link and relate.

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

omg how on earth do you write about 7 texts in 40 minutes!!!
crazy!

 

[tooheyz]

Originally posted by ~*HSC 4 life*~
omg how on earth do you write about 7 texts in 40 minutes!!!
crazy!

trust me - you can! the more you practice writing esssays and creative stuff, you more you will be effiecient with time, and you wouldnt have to think about what ur writing, it will just come out..

for me in english aos last year, i didnt think as much. i just vomitied out everything i knew and what i wrote in trials and other exams..

just know ur stuff by memory and you can write 7+++ texts!

 

[skypryn]

But more texts = less detail, it IS a definite compromise. PS, can anyone tell me what high schoool and UAI for lazarus?

 

[tooheyz]

Originally posted by skypryn
But more texts = less detail, it IS a definite compromise. PS, can anyone tell me what high schoool and UAI for lazarus?

umm i did 6 sources in detail for my trials - in 40 minutes
i got 19/20

it can be done. believe me.

 

[skypryn]

Originally posted by tooheyz

it can be done. believe me.

like i said tooheys, it IS a compromise. that obviously isnt open to discussion. it doest matter if your shakespeare, any time on other texts DO subtract time that you could have otherwise been using on the first, more important texts. what im saying is i dont doubt it can be done, its just a compromise. also, trials dont mean much you know? theyre really school dependant and get scaled accordingly, although i know youre quite the cookie tooheys.

end shpiel

 

[tooheyz]

hahah i dunno - its really up to you. i was taught and told to do as much texts as i could in depth, so thats what i focused on. i understand and memorised everything about every text i knew and vomitted it out during the exams.

everyone has different techniques. you should read the criteria for the essay. and just follow it. it may have changed for this year, but the marking criteria for band six was like 'using 3 other texts or more' and band five was like 'using 2 other sources'

the numbers may be right, but u get the drift.

hahaha just follow the marking criteria and just do whatever the band 6 section says

anyways, good luck to you

 

[skypryn]

ok nice one tooheys. i think itll work best for me if i just memorise every essay completely. what was ur hsc marks and uai again (pm if u want)

 

[tooheyz]

memorise entire essays?

for english i got band 5 (came in the top 1% of the state so im pretty happy)

 

[Jennibeans]

according to my teacher they've changed the rules this year so they can ask you to refer to a specific text from the stimulus booklet. it doesn't mean they will...but they can
as far as linking texts goes use the common techniques. for e.g. road not taken has metaphor in it talk about that and then you can say this technique is also used by such and such an author is some other text.
hope that helps

 

[skypryn]

Yeah alright thanks for the suggestion jenni, however linking texts solely through techniques is elementary and willl be marked accordingly. I feel to maximise marks, it is necessary to link the texts through themes/motifs as this is much more difficult. Also, if you read the 'prolog' on the stimulus booklet (i dont have it with me now so cant quote) i think it is quite clear that the BOS can only ask you a question based on a text/texts of your choice. I fell ill learn one thoroughly and a second thoroughly for backup, that i dont plan on using in my essay.

 

[tooheyz]

yeah lets us hope they dont ask you's to refer to just ONE text - one of the past papers i did told us to refer to one text - not sure which one it was though...

 

[grk_styl]

I've been told by heaps of english teachers (who are also markers) that you will need to know all of your prescribed text, at least 3 from the stimulus booklet, and at least 3 of your own texts.

For the exams you will most probably use for example 3 of Skrzynecki's poems, one text from the stimulus, and two of your own choosing.

And your question about linking...sit your paragraphs out in front of you and see which you can relate to the other. For example, I think that Skrzynecki's Immigrants at Central Station, 1951 and Journeys over Land and Sea (from the stimulus booklet) are dissimilar thus that is a link. I also think Leunig's How to Get There and Skrzynecki's Crossing the Red Sea are similar thus another link.

I hope that helped. If you need any help, just PM me, coz I've really got the hang of it, and I actually really enjoy linking

 

[LiKe A FiSh]

lol...well my sources from the BOS says our teachers are trying to scare us and we will not be asked on specific stimuli. It is however a good idea to try and learn as many as you can for 2 reasons

1) Some will be more suitable for the task asked of us

2) theres always the chance you'll get exam fright and forget one of your stimuli....and dont say it never happens....because we all remember whats-his-name....who completely forgot whats-his-face

3) THEY ARE SUCH FUN TO LEARN!! CMON GUYS get into it!!!!!!

P.S. I am aware that i cannot count..hence....no maths