Memorising (1 Viewer)

[nwatts]

The saddest thing is that I'd probably still get decent marks too.

Not if you copied out an essay for the wrong elective.

 

[Mandy101]

I'm talking especially English.

People throw away marks. While it's probably better for me if more people crap out, there are way too many who pledge themselves to memorising essays, instead of thinking and writing effectively on the exam day. Answering the question is often the difference between an A and a D. You may write brilliant, detailed, sophisticated work... that counts for nothing as it has nothing to do with the question asked.

But if you insist on doing it, because it "works for you", then go right ahead. Expect - a) crap exam marks come december and b) a punch from one of my accomplices.

Actually, I beg to disagree. If a person finds they are weak in a certain module area (aka King Lear for me...) it helps to memorise an essay - not so I can go and rewrite the exact same thing, but to reinforce and understand the key ideas. Only someone really silly would go and write the essay word for word in an exam - it just helps you to collate your ideas, and then to adapt them to the question asked.

 

[fakingtheday]

Elisabeth: Geography actually doesn't have that much content. It's the gheyist subject.

 

[elisabeth]

Well, the more I try and make notesw for it, the more I realise I don't know... hence the need to memorise. I agree, there's not enough content as subjects like modern, but still, there's enough to know that I'm worried about having the exam in 13 days.

 

[Sarah168]

not ENOUGH content?? lol

i get what you mean though

for modern, just read over the textbook and frame yoru mind over soem basic essay questions so you're prepared for whatever angle they it at you from

 

[nwatts]

Actually, I beg to disagree. If a person finds they are weak in a certain module area (aka King Lear for me...) it helps to memorise an essay - not so I can go and rewrite the exact same thing, but to reinforce and understand the key ideas. Only someone really silly would go and write the essay word for word in an exam - it just helps you to collate your ideas, and then to adapt them to the question asked.

Fine, disagree. They're your marks, not mine.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

For Economics, Business Studies and English repetition is the key for me. I just run it through my head until I remember it. Albeit, I forget it straight after the exam, but that doesn't really matter for the purposes of the HSC...

 

[xeuyrawp]

coming from a guy this may sound weird.. but making ur notes all bright and colourful... and oh yeh.. eye catchy as well...

although i usually only use blue and red pen.. but i make the most out of the two colours...

for example.. english....

i write a whole page of quotes.. number them... i fit about 3-5 quotes on a page (I also write in large font)..... and sit there for ten minutes going over and over the numbers 1-5 with my red pen ..... that's how i work and stimulate my photographic memory... writing in big font helps the most!

if ur learning an essay... highlighting the first word of every paragraph works well for me....

oh yeh..

and say ur writing an essay.. one that u wish to memorise...

number the pages (top right hand corner- or left whatever works best for u).... and remember what the frst word of each page is...and link it to the number (once again photographic memory)

numbering is a very effective way of memorising stuff... i often use numbers to replace notes in point form... rather than having

.
.
.
.
I'd have

1
2
3
4.. all being colourful and stuff

my point being.... making the page ur trying to memorise as colourful and exciting as possible should do the trick.. even if it may take u longer to do.... when the time comes to memorise... its way more fun!!!...

ok.. im gonna be quite now!!!

I like his method a lot.

Numbering helps soooo much. I can still remember the 5 different perspectives on teh Greek 'seclusion' debate with all their info and sources.... You just remember the number, and say a summary. like ' 1. Forbes- total seclusion ' and then after you remember all them, remember what total seclusion actually was. You expand from the numbers into the short idea, to the bigger ideas. Works for me.

 

[Z_Nizzle]

I find writing it down many times useful. However, when you're writing, make sure you're not listening to music or concentrating on anything else. Make sure that you're paying attention to every word you write, and copy only when you don't know what comes next.

For German, I wrote the tables of adjective endings so many times. I must say, I still haven't really mastered it. Advice?

Ich Bin Zahid...Wee heist du?

 

[ells_ellie]

Hmm.. i've never really liked the whole 'memorising word-for-word' thing. Alot of people in my year do it for their english advanced assessments.. and yeah it really annoys me. Mainly because the essays they memorise don't even answer the question in the first place and they still get great marks compared to those who actually know their ideas and are applying them under exam conditions rather than copying word by word of an essay they have practised 10 times.
I know the HSC is all about getting the best of marks but if you're memorising things word by word, what is it testing? it's not exactly testing if you can work under exam conditions, it's testing on your 'regurgitating' skills.

But then again.. the HSC is kinda about the 'regurgitating' thing.. 2 years of knowledge stuffed into your brain and then spilled out during the HSC exams.
So yeah, i know.. i'm contradicting myself.

 

[PublicUser]

Would you wish the HSC actually be fair? Nay, its asking for your memory skills, and thats easy enough.

Though for English, just practise tweaking the essay, gratiuous use of the words in the question, and using different text types.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

Would you wish the HSC actually be fair? Nay, its asking for your memory skills, and thats easy enough.

Though for English, just practise tweaking the essay, gratiuous use of the words in the question, and using different text types.

I hate having to use different text types...feature articles, speeches and letters are ok though I hate writing interviews/conversations

The HSC is about memorising, but uni will involve memorising as well, although I think understanding content will play a greater role at uni

 

[Meads]

I am surprised that so many people think that the HSC is a test of your memorising skills, because this is far from the case. The HSC exams are going to prove to be just as much about understanding what you have learnt than actually remembering a pre-prepared essay. The issue is that alot of people have been able to get through the year with pre-prepared essays and memorising, but this is because too many teachers are succeptable to flashy, big worded, and well synthesised essays...which in fact dont answer the question. If it is appealling enough, the teacher will overlook the fact that you have not answered the question.

In the HSC all the markers are trained, and the only thing they are looking for are people that ANSWER THE QUESTION. You do not need to be a human dictionary to do well in the exams, you just have to understand what you have learnt, so you can adapt to whatever the question throws at you. It would be unfortunate to see so many smart kids go down the girgler because they think that memorising essays and work will get them through with flying colours in the HSC, the markers are ruthless, they dont care how smart you are.

This applies to all exams, I think it is important that a student has a good grasp of the concepts, regurgitation is not the way to go.

Correct me if I have been wrong?

 

[Sarah168]

Fine, disagree. They're your marks, not mine.

Normally, I would be trumpeting the "i hate memorised essays" thing but this time, i think it's okay for people who are particularly weak in a subject to rely on that to get through. Obviously, it isn't the ideal thing to do.

 

[rama_v]

I am surprised that so many people think that the HSC is a test of your memorising skills, because this is far from the case. The HSC exams are going to prove to be just as much about understanding what you have learnt than actually remembering a pre-prepared essay. The issue is that alot of people have been able to get through the year with pre-prepared essays and memorising, but this is because too many teachers are succeptable to flashy, big worded, and well synthesised essays...which in fact dont answer the question. If it is appealling enough, the teacher will overlook the fact that you have not answered the question.

In the HSC all the markers are trained, and the only thing they are looking for are people that ANSWER THE QUESTION. You do not need to be a human dictionary to do well in the exams, you just have to understand what you have learnt, so you can adapt to whatever the question throws at you. It would be unfortunate to see so many smart kids go down the girgler because they think that memorising essays and work will get them through with flying colours in the HSC, the markers are ruthless, they dont care how smart you are.

This applies to all exams, I think it is important that a student has a good grasp of the concepts, regurgitation is not the way to go.

Correct me if I have been wrong?

it may not work for the essays but memorising a story or feature article for the second section of paper one is virtually the ONLY way to go to get > 12/15, cause most people can't write good stories, even less so when they only have 40 minutes to do so.

 

[~ ReNcH ~]

I am surprised that so many people think that the HSC is a test of your memorising skills, because this is far from the case. The HSC exams are going to prove to be just as much about understanding what you have learnt than actually remembering a pre-prepared essay. The issue is that alot of people have been able to get through the year with pre-prepared essays and memorising, but this is because too many teachers are succeptable to flashy, big worded, and well synthesised essays...which in fact dont answer the question. If it is appealling enough, the teacher will overlook the fact that you have not answered the question.

In the HSC all the markers are trained, and the only thing they are looking for are people that ANSWER THE QUESTION. You do not need to be a human dictionary to do well in the exams, you just have to understand what you have learnt, so you can adapt to whatever the question throws at you. It would be unfortunate to see so many smart kids go down the girgler because they think that memorising essays and work will get them through with flying colours in the HSC, the markers are ruthless, they dont care how smart you are.

This applies to all exams, I think it is important that a student has a good grasp of the concepts, regurgitation is not the way to go.

Correct me if I have been wrong?

What you've said is absolutely correct. Markers do mark you on the basis that you've answered the question. However, it cannot be denied that a large part of the HSC simply requires memory work...I'm not just referring to english either. Afaik, Maths Ext 2 and English Ext 2 are about the only subjects that require a high degree of intuition, thinking and creativity. In many other subjects, you can get decent marks by simply memorising a lot of content. Albeit, you do require a certain level of understanding for all subjects, but many do not challenge students to think beyond a list of memorised facts.

 

[elisabeth]

OK, just to try and get a handle on the memorising debate:

THIS IS NOT A THREAD ABOUT MEMORISING ENGLISH ESSAYS WORD FOR WORD!

This is about methods people here use to memorise their courses CONTENT. As in statistics, quotes, historical dates, ideas, theories. As in, memorising our study summaries. OK?

 

[Meads]

OK, just to try and get a handle on the memorising debate:

THIS IS NOT A THREAD ABOUT MEMORISING ENGLISH ESSAYS WORD FOR WORD!

This is about methods people here use to memorise their courses CONTENT. As in statistics, quotes, historical dates, ideas, theories. As in, memorising our study summaries. OK?

Yes mam...

 

[rnitya_25]

yeah yeah, we needa discuss these things too.

i hate memorising essays, that's a waste of time. why would you ever do that? all you need to know is your texts, quotes, techniques and how they allow a responder to relate it to journeys or whatever it may be. memorising essays will get you a maximum of 10 or 11 out of 15 if you're lucky.

 

[zenger69]

yeah yeah, we needa discuss these things too.

i hate memorising essays, that's a waste of time. why would you ever do that? all you need to know is your texts, quotes, techniques and how they allow a responder to relate it to journeys or whatever it may be. memorising essays will get you a maximum of 10 or 11 out of 15 if you're lucky.

there's people who memorise essays then "mould" them to the question.

thats what some of the successful people at my school are doing.