Do essays need to sound sophisticated/contain big words to get good marks? (3 Viewers)

[Aquawhite]

The best place to start is to look for words that sum up a few short, simple words.
e.g.

"and then came..." = "subsequently"
"shown through the use of" = "depicted/portrayed/illustrated by"
"despite these circumstances" = "albeit"

You'll get used to using sophisticated language soon enough. Work on getting your ideas as best as you can and at a really deep level. I found that when I worked hard on the idea, a higher level of language was required to articulate what I actually wanted to say and I eventually picked up a larger vocabulary and greater command over the language I was utilising.

 

[enoilgam]

What about the introduction? Do you directly restate the question or is it advisable not to?

You dont restate the question verbatim, you can however state what your argument is going to be (the thesis). For example, in response to this question "Evaluate the importance of Aerial warfare in the outcome of WW2", your opening thesis statement might be "Aerial warfare was of vital importance in determining the outcome of the Second World War."

 

[Carl5]

Use sophisticated language to be concise. This will allow you to say more with less.

 

[enoilgam]

The best place to start is to look for words that sum up a few short, simple words.
e.g.

"and then came..." = "subsequently"
"shown through the use of" = "depicted/portrayed/illustrated by"
"despite these circumstances" = "albeit"

You'll get used to using sophisticated language soon enough. Work on getting your ideas as best as you can and at a really deep level. I found that when I worked hard on the idea, a higher level of language was required to articulate what I actually wanted to say and I eventually picked up a larger vocabulary and greater command over the language I was utilising.

Use sophisticated language to be concise. This will allow you to say more with less.

These.

 

[krnofdrg]

Lol another tip, only use sophistication if you can balance it out well ...

I got called a thesaurus blabber by my teacher for failing to use sophistication properly in my essays during prelims which was pretty humiliating XD..... Make sure also don't overuse your words also, again content>sophistication.

 

[taeyang]

Don't get confused though; they are not trying to say use big words all the time, then you are guaranteed great marks, your better off saying "This presents the strong notions of unorthodox truth..." rather than "The explicit depictions of these heterodox virulent veracities...", that is just silly, no marker wants to read that, it has no nice flow to it.

 

[krnofdrg]

Don't get confused though; they are not trying to say use big words all the time, then you are guaranteed great marks, your better off saying "This presents the strong notions of unorthodox truth..." rather than "The explicit depictions of these heterodox virulent veracities...", that is just silly, no marker wants to read that, it has no nice flow to it.

i lol'ed at the second statement haha, this is clearly how i got my thesaurus blabber nickname

 

[HKK]

Focus on the content, and write in a way that is 'comfortable' <- what i've been told.

 

[Aerath]

Focus on the content, and write in a way that is 'comfortable' <- what i've been told.

Correct. Comfortable and fluent. You can do well with a simple vocabulary in the HSC.

 

[khorne]

You do realise sophistication can be improved in other areas? Advanced thesis statements that show your understanding of the module, interesting examples and techniques, integrating discussion of multiple texts in a single paragraph, and comparing/contrasting. All these things aid in sophistication, more so than any word choice. As long as you aren't informal, word choice has little relevance.

 

[Memi]

You do realise sophistication can be improved in other areas? Advanced thesis statements that show your understanding of the module, interesting examples and techniques, integrating discussion of multiple texts in a single paragraph, and comparing/contrasting. All these things aid in sophistication, more so than any word choice. As long as you aren't informal, word choice has little relevance.

I see I think I'll focus more on the areas you mentioned considering using "big" words doesn't feel natural to me

 

[krnofdrg]

Correct. Comfortable and fluent. You can do well with a simple vocabulary in the HSC.

Yeah the ones who get band 6 in standard (saw the BOS 2010 workbook) just have stacks of brilliant content however their vocab is very simple and inferior to advanced students.

 

[Trans4M]

no u dont, i know a law student who writes very plain simple language and she still got a high Distinction(not HIGH Distinction) for her essay. if you get what i mean... meaning the mark was like 80-84 rather than 85+ so yea sophisticated language is not a prerequisite to getting excellent mark