• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

is it really necessary to do practise essays? (1 Viewer)

tambourine

Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
185
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2008
if you don't do practise essays for english....is it detrimental to your marks?....is it really bad not to do practise essays?
 

eliseliselise

Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2007
Messages
268
Gender
Male
HSC
2005
you don't HAVE to. but, you'll probably do better if you do one- just to get ur ideas together, devise diabolical sentences, witty conclusions and whatnot.

but if u're one of those alien life forms who can still get 15/15 without doing that, then.. good on ya, kiddo!!

if ur not going to do a practise essay, then at least get ur points ordered in ur head & think about the examples etc..

depends who u are, i guess.

but i reckon that if anyone did a practise essay, rather than not doing one- then their mark would almost definitely be better....;) :)

practise makes perfect!!
 

Aplus

Active Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2007
Messages
2,384
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
Go ahead. It's your loss and our gain.
 

Boxxxhead

Local hairy ethnic man
Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
512
Location
Fairfield
Gender
Male
HSC
2006
It's not necessary, but it will help you. Just two things about practice essays:

1) Don't blankly memorise any practice essays you write, and then copy them down in the exam. You have to link everything you do to the question, so make sure anything that you take from a practice essay (such as a particular paragraph that highlights a certain theme of the text) is relevant, and reworded so that it answers your question.

2) Make sure that your essay writing style improves as a result. Hand essays up to your teacher, and ask them to explain if your actual communication can be improved. People often lose marks for things such as introductions, which are INCREDIBLY easy once you learn how to do them properly.
 

nrs1990

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
99
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
Practice essays not only help you get your thoughts together (which I know I struggle to do quickly), but they help you refine and improve your essay writing for the topic; which means that what you write in the exam will be the product of this refining and improving. I guess you don't have to do them if you don't want to -- but your marks will probably improve if you do write practice essays.
 

DownInFlames

Token Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
Messages
548
Location
where I spend the vast majority of my time
Gender
Female
HSC
2007
Practice essays/papers are about the best way to revise english. It's similar to if you learned all the therories in maths but barely practised applying them to questions. You might be able to work your way through them in the exam but it's going to take you a lot longer and you're much more likely to make mistakes or miss details because you were so caught up in remembering the basics.

In advanced english it's also common to not have generic essay questions. So if they throw one at you and you haven't practised adapting your ideas to different types of questions, it's likely that you're going to be screwed. It shows through if you've done the practise, so I think it's worth it.​
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top