Assessment: Proposal (1 Viewer)

bringbackshred

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I think that i'm in the same boat as you Dizzy.. I might make this forum my second internet home for the next 12 months...

Thanks for the things you wrote last year guys - it gave a me a few pointers as my proposal is due very soon.. In a few weeks.
 

mongybill

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you peeps chill reeeeally hard...thankyou for all the info on proposals. i appreciate your efforts and style :p
 

princesskt

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Thanks for that guys! my proposal is due in a few weeks and just trying to pull it together. BUt all that you've posted has been such a great help!
 

canned soup

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You guys are awesome. I have mine due in 4 days and I've really been having a bitch of a time getting it all into 900 words. This has really helped! Thanks a bunch!
 

kloudsurfer

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Thanks. That was really helpful.

My proposal has to be 1500 words(!!!!!!!), and Ive been having some trouble fleshing it out without sounding like im just babbling.
 

bringbackshred

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Finished mine today - with the help of my good friend Opeth.

We had to write 1000 words - I wrote 1150 as well as a 1000 word bibliography. The bibliograpghy didn't take half as long as I thought - which was good. But this was one of the first assessments where I thought about the placement of every word and the effect that it would have.

I'm pretty happy with it. If anyone wants to ahve a read, I can upload it - it's in PDF form.
 

princesskt

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i finished mine too.. i tried to think too really hard and i swear i put my mind into it lol. but i think i did pretty crap..
 

zangetsu.xo

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jhakka said:
Hey Daves.

Since you lot (the class of '06) are the first new batch to come through the Extension 2 forums since Lynn (glitterfairy) and I have been granted mod powers for this forum (the class of '05 are half as lucky... we got our powers a fair way into their HSC year), we've kinda decided to start things fresh with lovely new threads for the assessments that you'll be facing over the next three quarters of a year. At this point we'll just be doing the threads as the assessments get closer and will probably be recycling old material, but it will all be integrated, addressing what we see as the major aspects of the assessments.

I'm sure that at this point Extension 2 seems very intimidating, especially since around this time your teachers will be handing you some lovely little assignment sheet saying "PROPOSAL! YOU NEED IDEAS NOW! SHOW US!" or something just as reassuring along those lines. And since it is all reassuring, there's no reason to stress, right? And in any case, since we're providing our own little guides to the assessment, at least you'll go in with some idea of what to expect.

And now that I've probably confused you, you probably have some questions that I hope to answer in the next couple of sections.


What's going on? What's all this shouting? (About the assessment):
This assessment is usually the first one. I say usually because there is probably at least one school out there who wants to be different. In my experience it's usually weighted at 10 or 15% (out of 50%), or something small like that. When you look at the other assessments (usually weighted at 20% each), its not too bad.

Anyways, this assessment is not necessarily about the idea you will be using. It's about an idea that you could use. There is no pressure to stick with the idea you are talking about. I think, and many will agree with me, that if you stick with something you've decided on with almost no research, consideration, and with the pressure of 10% of your total mark on the line... you'll be screwed. This course is about change, compromise and being ready to say "This idea sucks. It needs to go."

So essentially, your proposal idea with probably be rubbish. But that doesn't matter. All you need to do is sell it.


Wanna buy some pegs, Dave? (What to do):
When it comes down to it, the aim of the Proposal is to sell your idea to the marker. You need to tell them "This is what I want to do. This is how I will get what I need for it. This is how it will look." You need to convince them that before you even think about writing, designing or speaking in tongues, that you know exactly how you're going to get to your final product sitting on top of that pile of paper in the corner of your room the day before hand-in. There's probably a desk under all of that, too.

Ideally, what you want to do is come up with an idea that you can work with. One that, if it comes to the worst case scenario, you can always fall back on and pull something together (if it does get to this point after all the effort that Lynn and I are going through to make things easy for you we'll be quite disappointed). That way you won't be stuffing around later with ideas, ripping hair out and screaming "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

Generally there are a few things your teacher will want you to address in you're proposal. If you're lucky you'll have a nice 1000 or so word count. If you're unlucky it'll only be 500 or so. If you get the latter, learn how to condense. That's kinda off topic, though. The things your teachers will be looking for (will be explained on the criteria sheet, but may include) an explanation of your intention, your idea, audience, medium, how you expect your work to turn out (format-wise), research methodologies, and so on.

I'll just provide a brief rundown of each aspect I mentioned. You're all big people who can think for themselves, so I won't go into too much detail.

Intention:
The marker will want to know what your purpose is. What will you achieve by composing this major work? Do you want to make a statement or just satirise something? Do you want to empower the red sphere jellyfish from the shores of Canada? Remember, you want to sell this thing, and there's no way you can do that without a goal in sight. "Getting 50/50" is not acceptable. You need a reason to compose this thing... and it better be good.

Idea:
Self explanatory. What's your work about? How will it fulfill your intention?

Audience:
Who do you want reading your work. Don't say "The markers." We all know that it's true, but you want it to be consistent with your purpose and idea. If its about the red sphere jellyfish, mention animal rights activists. It has to be relevant, and it has to be logical. Don't write a story with drinking, swearing and rock and roll music, and aim it at five year olds. That's just stupid.

Medium:
Choose one. Say why it's the best choice.

End result:
It's all well and good to have an intellectual intention, but you need to have some idea of how you want your major work to look at the end. Will it be an epic poem? A fragmented, chapter-ised short story? Will it be a multi-section website with a different layout for each idea? Explain it. Explain why.

Research:
Research is a huge thing in this course. And you'll need to have a hell of a lot of it if you want to do well. Not just "I need to know what the sphere jellyfish eats" either. You need to research and know your medium, genre, theme, influences, theories and ingredients of whatever horrible cereal you've been eating inside and out if you want to do well. Go. Learn. Record it. Because if you don't, you'll have trouble with your Reflection Statement.

Those are just a couple of the common aspects that I have come across. Some schools will add more. Some will knock some out. You have to read your criteria sheet and see what they want. But it can't hurt to add some extra stuff in. If it enhances your vision of your work and sells it, throw it in.

That's about it until you have to look at housekeeping issues like formatting for this assessment.


In this house we leave our shoes in the front porch... underneath the barometer. (Layout and format issues):
Layout is strange, and there is no universal answer to what the winning layout is. From experience, my school wanted the proposal to be in essay form, addressing each of the aspects they specified. It had to be a sustained piece of writing, showing that we can provide them with an idea and present it in the appropriate form. Same stuff as Advanced, really. But I highly doubt they'll be wanting an interview for this one.

Odds are you'll probably be asked to write in essay or report form. But that's not really an issue. Reports are just like essays with subheadings lobbed in there anyway. In both you need to make sure that your writing is appropriate to the form, and that you address everything. I suggest a paragraph or two for each thing they want you to address. Nine times out of ten, they will not think that a passing reference to research/audience is acceptable. Explain everything. Give everything equal priority. Anyways, if you do a paragraph per idea, you can always throw a subheading in where necessary. Easy.



That's all I can come up with while keeping it general. Good luck, guys. Relax. Stay calm. It's not that bad. You don't have to stick with the idea you discuss.

You're my wives now.
-Justin

Note: You can find more info and opinions on the Proposal here: http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=45494http://community.boredofstudies.org/showthread.php?t=45494
wow you guys are dedicated.
 

flyingdown

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Thank you so much for the awesome advice! I am perfecting my proposal right now, so it's very useful.

I wish my teacher provided more criticism, because with anything I give him, he just says it's good without giving me any advice for improvement. *sigh*
 

bringbackshred

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Well, shit.

I got 7/10 for my proposal.... Apparently it wasn't focused enough and my description of my idea was too vague.. Oh well, i've still got more assessments to go - hopefully that hasn't shot me in the foot for an E4.
 

emdrinan

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Im a little worried about doing the EE2 course- My teachers only spoken to our class of 3 once and nothing was mentioned about handing in proposals or any sort of assessment really. Ive been brainstorming and still cant even fish out a decent idea the only one I like so far is differing perspectives but thats to broad and im not sure how to explore it yet.

Are the proposals a board of studies requirement?! Im really worried that I still havnt got a propper idea, and that our teacher hasnt spoken to us about the course properly- I've chased her around a bit trying to find out whats happening with the course and by the end of last term she got the class together and spoke to us about the course briefly saying it was mostly independant work and its generally quite rewarding- basically I didnt really find out much more than I already knew. The only helpful thing was she gave us each a copy of a past students work including their reflection statement, story and some parts of their process diary.

I basically just want to know what the sylabus is- ive looked at it on the board of studies website but it didnt mention anything about word limits etc is there an actual set requirement for these things or is it anything you want?!
 
J

jhakka

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The internal assessment criteria is set by the school. You'll have to give your teacher a really hard time as soon as you get back.


On a side note: Past students, please feel free to add any guides or advice on the proposal if you wish. :)
 

bringbackshred

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emdrinan said:
Im a little worried about doing the EE2 course- My teachers only spoken to our class of 3 once and nothing was mentioned about handing in proposals or any sort of assessment really. Ive been brainstorming and still cant even fish out a decent idea the only one I like so far is differing perspectives but thats to broad and im not sure how to explore it yet.

Are the proposals a board of studies requirement?! Im really worried that I still havnt got a propper idea, and that our teacher hasnt spoken to us about the course properly- I've chased her around a bit trying to find out whats happening with the course and by the end of last term she got the class together and spoke to us about the course briefly saying it was mostly independant work and its generally quite rewarding- basically I didnt really find out much more than I already knew. The only helpful thing was she gave us each a copy of a past students work including their reflection statement, story and some parts of their process diary.

I basically just want to know what the sylabus is- ive looked at it on the board of studies website but it didnt mention anything about word limits etc is there an actual set requirement for these things or is it anything you want?!
The word limits and other parameters are in the syllabus... I hope your teacher doesn't drag you down in the subject, because it sounds like she is.
 

annarose

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I got twelve out of fifteen which was the best in the class... too bad my class only has three people in it! My proposal has nothing to do with the actual story I'm working with; not in theme, style storyline, genre; anything. They day I handed it in I read an article in the newspaper and I thought "hey, wouldn't it be cool if I wrote about blah blah blah."
I was actually impressed with my mark because I'd actually put incredibly little work into the proposal. I've really got to get my butt in gear someday soon...
 

emdrinan

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hey thanks still my teacher hasnt told us a date a proposal is due so im thinking maybe we dont do one?! argh!! i have no idea basically were just going in every fortnight and telling her what were thinking of doing and she gives us some feedback on the idea etc...
so all ive done so far is come up with an idea.... Im soooo behind!!
anyway thanks i found the word limits after a lot of searching ha ha =D
 

emdrinan

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well hey i finally got my assessment it was supposed to be due week 3 term 4 last year well i got it on the last day of term 1 and shes made it due week 3 term 2 so its not that bad i guess at least i have some time to write it, shes set it as 1000-1500 words and hasnt said what format to write it in so im thinking ill go for essay just cause im more comfortable with that- i hate reports lol so yeah thanks for all the info =D i should be able to write something half decent with something like 5 weeks to write it.... my aim is to have it written by friday and just edit it later like i already have my idea so yeah.... holidays.... hmmm
 

sleepy12

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THANK YOU!!!

my proposal is due in 4 days and i havent started... i was freaked out but now im just sticking to what you said :D

thank youuuu
 

leoman

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darn.
i wish i'd seen this sooner, it has some great pointers.
mine was worth 20% and i earnt only 32/40.
the subtitles were so ambiguous that most of my proposal was guesswork.
it's very true though that my MW is turning out as completely different to what my proposal said.
it really is just there to be bought by your markers.
 

focused

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You can find layouts for your proposal and other useful information at www.qtp.nsw.edu.au , my ext2 teacher gave everyone in the class a printed copy.

A proposal could include:
- an identification of the medium and the option within the medium
- conecpt and ideas the student aims to explore
- the link with the knowledge, understanding and skills developed in the Advanced and Extension courses
- the purpose and audience of the Major Work
- the intended process ( timeline of investigation)
- an assessment of personal interests and strengths
- resource requirements
- premliminary investigations
- a working title

My proposal is only 500-600 words but i have to include a 10 minute presentation with visual aid. :S
 

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