dropping 2 units of english... what do u think? (1 Viewer)

[physician]

hi ppl...

Ok.. im in a really obscure situation.. well sort of..

anyways... I'm not supposed to be posting in the forums.. as i promised myself not to come back until after trials... but anyways.. i really need some advice or at least opinions...

ok.. here's the situation...

I'm currently doing:

phys
chem
maths 2u maths 3u
english adv. ext1 and ext2

now english ext1 and eglish ext2 has just become way over the top.. my 4 unit teacher has crammed all our assesments into the one term and i know that valuable time i could be spending improving my chem and maths 3u marks (my two weakest subjects) will be spent on 2 units (i.,e. 3 units and 4 units english).. which i have a gut instinct i won't perform so well in...

keeping in mind my school isn't all that englishy...

my 2 unit mark is currnetly 80% rank is 4-5th out of 12

3 unit my mark is 80% ranked somethin like equal 4/10

my 4 unit mark is 90% ranked equal 3rd/4

now i completed 2 units last year..

which measns this year i remain with 9 units if i'm to drop the 2 englishes....

also meaning 20 free periods a fortnight compared to the 10 i have now...

Arabic (the subject i completed in 2004) is a pritty bad scalar- but i'll probably only get 1 unit counted... which wouldn't be that bad for my UAI...

I would really apprecaite any advice or help u would be able to offer...

thanks guys...

 

[kami]

In my opinion you should keep your Ext 1&2 English, the assesments can't be that problematic for Ext 2 as there is only the Major Work submission and possibly a report to go, which shouldn't be a problem as most of the material for the report will go into your reflection anyway and your report can be built out of your journal and your proposal. All this means you can get most of it done in the holidays and it would be a shame to drop it all now when you have come so far. It also should be noted that a school's strengths dont mean much in Ext 2 English since the format is so individualised. So it would really be a shame to drop it now. While the situation is not as cut and dry with Ext 1, I would say keep with that as well because it is just as beneficial as maths or phys or chem to study. For what its worth, from what I've seen on these forums you are a very intelligent student and seem more than capable of handling these kind of stumbling blocks. So in summation: keep going!

 

[Rafy]

Yes i too recommend you keep going.

You are only doing 11 units? If you want to drop your weakest subject (as your doing 11 units Ext maths would be the only option)

 

[physician]

In my opinion you should keep your Ext 1&2 English, the assesments can't be that problematic for Ext 2 as there is only the Major Work submission and possibly a report to go, which shouldn't be a problem as most of the material for the report will go into your reflection anyway and your report can be built out of your journal and your proposal. All this means you can get most of it done in the holidays and it would be a shame to drop it all now when you have come so far. It also should be noted that a school's strengths dont mean much in Ext 2 English since the format is so individualised. So it would really be a shame to drop it now. While the situation is not as cut and dry with Ext 1, I would say keep with that as well because it is just as beneficial as maths or phys or chem to study. For what its worth, from what I've seen on these forums you are a very intelligent student and seem more than capable of handling these kind of stumbling blocks. So in summation: keep going!

well actually we still havnn't done our viva voce either.. and my teacher was thinking of making us submit the report after the major wrok was due.. now i argued against that... but he said it's porbably allowed ... don't know if u guys would know... but i highly doubt that we should be allowed to continue the internal for ext2 after submission...

another thing... I was planning on completeing my entire major work during the holiday... because after the holiday i will be packed out with assessments and trials will be very close....

i would need to spend loads of time on ext2 english during the holidays which is valuable time i could be spending on my other subjects... such as chem and ext maths...

oh yeh and most of my ext2 work is a load of cr*p i'm not just saying that.. it's the truth... i have about 2000 words.. but really only about 800 of those are good enough for submission....

I appreciate ur encouragement thanks Kami... and just to answer Deus's question.. no i have 13 units... 2 completed last year.. which means i currently have 11 units....

i have nothing against ext2 english... it's really given me the opportunity to express myself using the written word... and i truly love poetry... I think i will be able to complete my major work.. but i just think i would be better off spending that time improving my other marks...

as for ext 1.. no comment.... I'm completely lost and can't be bothered for the subject anymore...

anyways.. i'll give it a little deeper thought before i decide...
once again thanks... and by the way the thread is till open for more opinions....

 

[kami]

well actually we still havnn't done our viva voce either.. and my teacher was thinking of making us submit the report after the major wrok was due.. now i argued against that... but he said it's porbably allowed ... don't know if u guys would know... but i highly doubt that we should be allowed to continue the internal for ext2 after submission...

You can actually integrate your report into the Reflection Statement so that it is marked both internally and externally as my teacher is thinking on doing this, and she has been teaching it since its inception so I am sure she would know by now whether that is valid. So maybe you can suggest your teacher do this?

oh yeh and most of my ext2 work is a load of cr*p i'm not just saying that.. it's the truth... i have about 2000 words.. but really only about 800 of those are good enough for submission....

We all feel this way physician, English Extension 2 is about composition - something that should flow naturally, except in this course we are given guidelines and timelimits which don't neccesarily mesh with the creative process so the result is that rather than this glorious manifestation the work that to its author looks more contrived than Jackson's skin. But something clicked with me the other night because of what my teacher said : "You're kids, and you're HSC students. You might be the best that the HSC has to offer but a marker is not going to try to hold you comparable to the greatest works of all time. They are going to look at your Reflection Statement and see what you're trying to do, and why and thats how they are going to read your story(or poem in your case).Its for this reason that the Reflection Statement is so important to you". This statement made me realise that sure its great if my story is like literary oxygen(yeah right) but thats not what I am capable of - what I am capable of, is expressing my work the best I can which may or may not induce euphoria in the markers but then again I dont have to. So I suggest you re-evaluate your work with fresh eyes and try to look at the possibilities, heck you might even end up in the Showcase. Who knows?

i have nothing against ext2 english... it's really given me the opportunity to express myself using the written word... and i truly love poetry... I think i will be able to complete my major work.. but i just think i would be better off spending that time improving my other marks...

as for ext 1.. no comment.... I'm completely lost and can't be bothered for the subject anymore...

anyways.. i'll give it a little deeper thought before i decide...
once again thanks... and by the way the thread is till open for more opinions....

As for Extension 1, perhaps you can talk about your elective with somebody on this forum, personally I find Extension 1 to be an incredibly enjoyable experience but I know it would be completely different had I not found my feet (so to speak, sorry about my writing...its a bit late lol) so early, maybe if you had someone to talk your elective over with, it might become easier and more tolerable.

 

[glitterfairy]

In regards to EE2 - kami's pretty much taken everything out of my mouth (and then some).

Personally, I can't stand my EE2 major work anymore. However, as a process (and this is why your internal assessments, in my opinion, should be before handing the MW in, because they exist to assess your development process) I learnt so much from it - it was my favourite subject last year, and kept me sane. Also remember that extensive reworkings can dramatically change your major work. Don't fall into the trap of believing your first full draft is what the end result will look like, because provided you do re-work it and edit it (painful but good) then you *may* just be satisfied with the end result.

Don't give up on EE1 just yet. A lot of the modules really throw you into the deep end, but if you keep working everything should just click one day - even if it's only the week before trials! (which is what happened to me)

If physics and chem are truly your weakest points, I'd really think about it for a while and decide whether it may indeed be a better idea to drop *them* rather than your two english subjects. In all honesty I think both will require just the same amount of effort, but in a different way.

But think about it for a while, and we shall see. Also - barring yourself from BOS may not be the answer - I learnt a lot here in the months before the HSC discussing module issues, particularly for english

 

[wrong_turn]

i have a lot of things that i regret doing in the hsc year. howeve, one of the things that i regreted doing was to drop down from extension to advanced. i had totally forgotten that it is your best two units of english which are counted into your best 10 units. so therefore they would proably take 1 unit from your advnaced mark, combined with your extension mark.

so dont do what i did.

 

[physician]

thanks u so much guys... i admire the fact that u guys were here for me when i needed it most...

lol... glitterfairy.. yes staying away from bos isn't the answer... but i was spending too much time on the forums... and so to discipline myself a little... by keeping away.. i know that when i return i will minimise the time i spend on the forums..

by keeping away i meant posting.. but i was still visiting the forums every day...

anyways that's not the point...

well i've had a good think about it...

I've decided to continue my major work after the conclusion of my HSC... The theme that i'm exploring is something that can take me a life time to learn about and discover...

anyways... today i found that it was best i dropped english ext2 and so i did!... now i'm not the kind that usually drops something or gives up easily... I havn't given up and I will never give up.. i just know for a fact that i will improve in my weaknesses by dropping ext2..

as for ext 1 i will not drop.. i will keep going and trying.. and hopefully (as glitterfairy said).. everything will suddenly make sence...(i hope!!!)

I plan to extend on my major work and keep it going... just not now... overall i'm happy with my decision... even though i will not complete the ext2 course.. i still admitt that this was my favourite subject... and it will always remain to be the best subject ever...

I will still be visiting the ext2 forums... just because i'm not doing it it doesn't mean i can't help out... and i've offered a friend in school a helping hand with the course and i wish all the current ext 2ers all the best with their major works...

hmmm... maybe i can let u guys read some of my work... it'll probably allow u to re-think just how good ur major work really is...

once again.. thanks for ur help guys...

 

[Sweets]

ohh you dropped EE2...now who is going to complain/lament with me in the EE2 forums????

 

[kami]

is it wise to pick up ext eng in yr 11 RITE NOW

Its certainly doable, but whether or not it is wise is up to how much time you have, and how disciplined you are at managing it. Because on the one hand, the ee1 prelim coursework could in all honesty be completed by a dedicated student in 7 weeks, but on the other not everyone is that dedicated. Another factor involved is what the prelim english at your school is like since yout teacher pretty much makes up her/his own module which could be hella hard, or piss easy.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

is it wise to pick up ext eng in yr 11 RITE NOW

In my case, Year 11 Ext 1 English was fun and not to mention quite easy...we composed our own movie, created a short story of 3000 words and wrote a film review of an appropriation of a Shakespearen play (in my case, Hamlet). In contrast (and there's always a "but"), I started on Crime Fiction in Year 12 and it bored the hell outta me so I dropped it...it all depends on the module your teacher chooses. Take it up and see how it goes. If you don't like it, drop it...simple