How's this for a draft reflection statement? (1 Viewer)

Emph

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Reflection statement already... you have got to be kidding!

Nah- I guess some people are just more organised than others. Congratulations for being there already...

Few comments-
* try and make your vocabulary a bit more sophisticated.
* you might want to expand a bit on the explanation of your purpose; that is a fairly major thing that needs to be covered
* fix up punctuation; insert commas in the right place and reveiw your use of ";"

sounds quite alright for a first draft :)
 

pungemo

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Hmmm, if that person has read it and has to ask you may need to make it more obvious. Congrats on reaching this stage already, I think I'll be doing mine the night before :p
 

gelo

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yeah, the draft reflection statement is actually a requirement from my teachers :(
so i only did it out of necessity, i guess.

anyway, if you read it, you will find that obviously the guy above DIDNT read it, as it is blatantly obvious that my piece is about teen loneliness.
it is written in almost every paragraph.
 

renton

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i read the thing, but i only understood as far as your major work is about teen loneliness. is that it? what else is there in the thing? ur reflection statement doesnt really say nething specific about your work. there are a bunch of long sweeping brush strokes so to speak and what i am left with is it is a work about "teen loneliness". make it more specific, give it more depth
 

Asheroth

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Also, I'd fabricate a specific audience even if you didn't compose with one in mind. Saying there isn't really one is a bit of a cop-out, especially when you can just put it something about teenagers and anyone who struggles with feelings of being alone, while also emphasising that the way you have composed it ensured that it will appeal to a broad demographic. It sounds much better than 'there isn't really a specific audience'.
 

pungemo

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Asheroth beat me to it, but you do indeed need an intended audience... or rather the markers feel you need one. If there are any sort of knowledge requirements, like knowing the location of a city or knowing something about computers, turn these into boundaries for your intended audience. eg. I feel that my story would most appeal to those with a computing background as many of the more subtle jokes play upon the nuances of computer operations. Or perhaps. Those with a sound knowledge of world geography would most appreciate the depth of research evident in my work and, as a result, more fully enjoy the richness of setting and the depth of character I have developed using this research.
 
J

jhakka

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pungemo said:
Asheroth beat me to it, but you do indeed need an intended audience... or rather the markers feel you need one.
Not even the markers. The markers want it because it's what the syllabus says you have to have. It's not like a trend that goes in an out.
 

phatchance

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It reads like a train wreck, go out and pick up a decent essay, check how many times they repeat phrases and write 'I feel'. No! You don't feel, you know. Tell them what you are saying as a fact, convince the responder that you are correct and know exactly what is going on, you don't 'feel' that there is no target audience, the work has been 'deliberately constructed to convey the values of the piece' to a wide audience, talk about the human condition and most importantly, write in an essay structure.

Introduction! - What the hell is your piece about? Why is it about this? How did it evolve and what inspired you? WHY are you writing about this. As a word of advice, don't say "because I am an angsty goth teen who slits my wrists while listening to Nirvana, but I do it sideways because I am secretly afraid to die and looking for attention". Talk about your personal interests in human nature and the human condition; loneliness is intrinsicly linked to existence, NAME A FEW TEXTS THAT INSPIRED YOU.
Body - How did you do it, why did you do it, give some examples, link to references, mentors, shit that helped you make it, even if there was nothing. I did no literary study for mine, and I made showcase. It's about what the marker believes and whether you honestly know what you are talking about, not about what you actually did or actually feel. TECHNIQUES. Techniques is a catch phrase that markers love, it means you know what you are doing, even if you don't. TALK ABOUT THE TECHNICAL. How did you film it, who taught you to film, how did these effects impact upon the composition of the work? What program did you use to sequence it, how about sound. This should all be in a small paragraph that shows the marker you worked hard. Summarise 9 months of learning an audio visual program you never learned into a single line, that is the mark of a true artist.

EXAMPLE: "Through my research on the topic of loneliness, my concept has developed to become the written screenplay."

What the hell is this? Good god. Honestly. No. Firstly the sentence structure reads like something a year 7 would write; it should read: "Throughout the progress of my independent research, the influences of BLAH BLAH AND BLAH contributed in the development and evolution of my project from INSERT BULLSHIT STARTING POINT to the medium of written screenplay. BLAH BLAH AND BLAH demonstrated the effectivness of the written screenplay in conveying meaning. INSERT MORE EXAMPLES ON HOW THEY DID THIS.

You need to convince the marker that it evolved in a big way, that it did so because you worked your arse off and WHY it did this. You have a semi-decent vocabulary, but it's not written in a flowing way, imagine your work is a pool of bullshit that the markers want to go swimming in, they don't want to have to wade through that harsh and realistic genuinity, or personal opinion, they want to duck dive in the fetid, feminist mess, don't put things in their way, make it easy.

EXAMPLE TWO: "Being an analytical piece, I followed very closely information I gathered from various websites written by qualified professionals relating to its common causes, loneliness as the human condition, the effects of loneliness, and its treatment. I also searched for literary quotes concerning loneliness, and these eventually were what propelled the screenplay into being. Several of these are also littered throughout the text."

Look at this crap! Where is the MEAT in your text. "various wesbties written by qualified professionals"; what bloody websites? What the hell did these professionals say? What makes them proffessionals? How did it develop your work? What sayings and quotes, who wrote them, how did that person influence your work? Where in the text, why in the text, WHAT does this do for your text?

The reflection statement is MAKE OR BREAK. You can have the best project in the world and have spent hundreds of hours making it beautiful, but if you can't convince the marker in the reflection statement that you are a pretentious, feminist, left wing, arsehole who toiled for 300 hours on their project late at night in their room surrounded by Orlando and Possession posters, then you will get nowhere! My best advice to you is to get it edited by someone who really knows what they are doing, I would volunteer, but I am a bastard.

One more point; link it back to the godamn course more. What modules influenced you, how did these modules influence you, how are they inexorably bound to the content of your work. It doesn't matter if they aren't, BULLSHIT A LINK.
 

phatchance

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PS: reading your reflection statement, Catcher in the Rye should be your most prominent influence textually, talk about APPROPRIATING the concept of phonies, and how Holdens disillusionment and social seclusion inspired your piece.
 

pungemo

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OK, while phatchance may have been slightly too.... passionate in his criticism of your work, he makes some good points. Techniques, influences and changes are the big things you want to cover. Although I would disagree completely with the 'feminist, left wing' crap unless you are actually feminist and/or left wing. There's no need to get so cynical about the marking process. I haven't been able to read your work yet as I have beend doing my Viva, but I will download it tonight and offer some advice when I've finished it.
 

renton

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phatchance said:
It reads like a train wreck, go out and pick up a decent essay, check how many times they repeat phrases and write 'I feel'. No! You don't feel, you know. Tell them what you are saying as a fact, convince the responder that you are correct and know exactly what is going on, you don't 'feel' that there is no target audience, the work has been 'deliberately constructed to convey the values of the piece' to a wide audience, talk about the human condition and most importantly, write in an essay structure.
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this bloke had the balls to do what none other would, hes right listen to wat he says
 

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