The 40 minute essay conspiracy theory (1 Viewer)

[boycalledfox]

If examiners really wanted to see what people knew their texts and modules, why are the exams made to seperate those who can write and order their ideas quickly from those with slower writing skills and who need to have more thinking time before answering a question?

For example, I ran out of time in the trial befor covering my related text for powerplay, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have an understanding of it. Yet a fast writer who merely read a summary of the book could quickly regurgitate some notes they read about it, even if they did't comprehend them, and they get the marks.

If in the future your prefession involved the study of literature, surely you're capabilities are measured on your understanding, not being able to write as many pages as possible in a time limit.

Obviously I'm hopeless at 40 min essays. And why do I now feel like I could write a 50 page essay in 2 min on my hatred of this system?

There's got to be other's that share this opinion?

 

[boycalledfox]

"surely you're capabilities" - your

I suppose crappy grammar doesn't look too good when I'm trying to argue my comprehension of english.

 

[Morgues]

yes I am one of those people that gets severely disadvantaged because I simply CAN NOT write fast enough in a 40 minute essay
So I am forced to be more concise but in the end it does cost marks as I don't have the chance to show as much knowledge as the guy who wrote 10 pages

 

[Zenithliza]

I am in total agreement. I think it is close to impossible, if not impossible to demonstrate an indepth understanding of a module, covering all aspects of the syllabus whilst still showing a good style and a decent intro and conclusion in a pissweak 40 minutes. If they want us to yabber about so much, then they should give us more time.

 

[Arch-man]

I type my exams (I got poor handwriting), but when I did my Yr 11 eams, I could only manage 1 page in 40 mins.

My English teacher reckons you should be able to do 5 pages minimum in 40 mins.

 

[jessika]

Originally posted by Arch-man


My English teacher reckons you should be able to do 5 pages minimum in 40 mins.

BAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
try two and a half, I have to learn how to write quicker

 

[gonzalina]

there is always going to be someone who will write faster than you.

the thing is, the speed at which you write is often determined by how quickly you compose what you want to write. if i knew my work well enough, i should be able to sit there, spend my reading time planning my essay (always plan because otherwise you will miss out on vital points that you will end up forgetting to include. it also helps to create a more logical essay) then just write continuoulsy for the next forty minutes. the reason it takes you so long is because you sit there trying to structure what to write (well, thats why i take so long). i mean, give me a hand in task, and i can write a decent eassy, and make use of a good vocabluary, but when i sit in an exam, it all goes out the door.

anyway...back to my point. if you know you cannot write so fast in an exam, my only hint is to practice under timed conditions, and know your stuff well, so that hopefully you will not need to think so long as to how to go about writing your response. you should be aiming to writ at least four pages (and remember that the paper they use in the HSC has really large lines on it, so you should probably be aiming to write more than that. ) Most importantly, it is not the size that counts, but the content! if you are not answering the question, then writing ten pages will still not get you anywhere.

 

[Cherries]

i so agree. Because of the time limit i try to write extra fast but my brain thinks too far ahead so i have to spend most of my time editing my work otherwise i end up with a sentence involving several ideas. Although i have trouble sitting there comfortably i think english exams especially paper 2 should be three hour exams

 

[Lazarus]

Our teacher told us last year that you should know so much about your texts and have so many points ready that you're simply bursting with things to write down - once you've done your planning during the reading time, the rest of the 40 minutes should be non-stop writing! You shouldn't have to stop and think about anything.

The best way to improve your writing speed is to find a sleek pen and then practice, practice, practice.

 

[user]

Still, I like thinking that it is quantity, not quantity that counts, as seen in the common scenario of person-who-topped-English-wrote-5-pages-more-than-anyone-else. It makes me feel better knowing that it's *not* me and that's it's an English teacher conspiracy

Besides, the writing booklets have massive lines on them.

24 lines per page
each 1.4cm apart
2cm margin on the page

 

[Mistress Lilith]

I can manage five and a half pages in forty minutes (yes, like Lazarus said i'm simply BURSTING with ideas) although that's pushing the legibility scales.
If i write any faster than that, it can not be read!
What i tend to do is write a practice essay which i can apply to whatever question and memorise quotes and points with that. Reduces planning time and i'm ready to go straight away.
Some people say that's bad.. but so far it's worked wonders for me. No complaints about my marks

 

[Coffee_Fan]

I fully agree

I agree with gonzalina

the only way to write fast AND give the damn examiner what they want is to practice under timed conditions. It'll give you the shits, but it's the way to go. set yourself a question or one from a previous paper and do it under exam conditions, no breaks, no phone, no notes

if you prepare well for the exam and you know lots on the text you should be able to work what what you're going to include and exclude in your response AS YOU READ THE QUESTION DURING READING TIME

after reading time take 2-3 mins to jot down what u know and your ideas that relate to the question- by this time you'll have learnt how to write fast-hopefully! This will also be a pain-however it's the best 2-3mins in the paper

after you have written it all down then GO FOR IT, write quickly taking care with legibility and gramma-hopefully u should do ok

 

[angel_kate]

If you practice writing essays with a time limit in place, it makes it a lot easier in the actual exam cos youve already got most of your structure and ideas in your head.
Most of the questions cant be too different. they may ask you to do a speech instead of notes for actors in a film, for example, but if youve done the practice, you should know your work back-to-front and inside-out.
I find that getting a sheet of A3 paper or a piece of cardboard and writing the title of the topic in the centre with all the main ideas of the topic around it, like a mind-map, helps HEAPS, cos instead of wading thru ALL ur notes, you can just look at the mind-map and be set. if you keep summaries, summarise them etc, etc.
If you perfect one essay, you can pretty much use that in the HSC and just adapt it slightly to suit the question cos its still going to require you to cover the same areas.

 

[boycalledfox]

My point still stands. The point is that even if you are bursting with ideas, there's still hardly time to articulate them and express them all adequetly, even if you have done a whole lot of practice. This happens to me with transformations of Hamlet to Ros and Guil are Dead. There's so much depth, it's very difficult to know where to start and how to plan a response, and then you've gotta try and get it ALL out.

This really shits me cause I feel my knowledge doesn't get reflected in my marks. And obviously that's the same way a lot of people feel.

Well, I'm off to do my first practice essay of the year...

 

[bex]

its really strange... in business studies i average about 8pages for the ext response and about the same for the report... but in english!!? bah! 5 tops! i think its cause they rquire so much damn detail... i hate king lear especially... and that article in the SMH really summed up the way i feel about english!! WHY DID I DO EXT 2!? oh well at least theres no exam for that......

 

[Doylie]

In every subject our teachers told us that we should be averaging 1 A4 page every 10 mins (note: 1 A4 page = about 1.5 exam booklet pages) which i find is the pace a stick to (sometimes faster if there is a huge amount to write).
Oh and bex, its different for Business Studies cause when we do the reports you use heading and dot points and all that jazz, so it takes up alot more space, plus its easy to finish multiple choice and short answer within the first hour, leaving 1 hour for each of the extended responses.

 

[Minai]

Originally posted by Mistress Lilith
I can manage five and a half pages in forty minutes (yes, like Lazarus said i'm simply BURSTING with ideas) although that's pushing the legibility scales.
If i write any faster than that, it can not be read!
What i tend to do is write a practice essay which i can apply to whatever question and memorise quotes and points with that. Reduces planning time and i'm ready to go straight away.
Some people say that's bad.. but so far it's worked wonders for me. No complaints about my marks

I'm around the same level as u...around 5 to 5.5 depending on the fitness of my writing arm
and I do wat u do too
By committing a broad essay to memory, I just get in there and WRITE...obviously changing things around to suit the question..
so if your having trouble with speed, at least a week before (or if u havent, start NOW), write a generalised essay covering everything in your module, and keep practicing that under exam conditions, up until exam day. I did that for the trials (on the day before, I wrote my change essay 5 times in a row with 5 min breaks in between)

 

[randhi]

hi, i have a bit of a problem i have recently been told that i have really shocking handwriting and well my teacher told me i had to do something about it, and well i'm kinda scared because firstly those specialist that fixing handwriting don't work and secondly its only been recently that i have started to have this writing issue which is kinding of worring because if its a habit its going to be hard to fix. i need some advice

 

[Trigger189]

i can manage 7-9 pages (exam booklet) in 40-50 mins at the moment, still need to improve...u should get a minimum of a page every 10 mins. its all a matter of practice and practice...the most i could get in this time frame before was 4 pages...just need to push yourself over time and u will get there

 

[~*HSC 4 life*~]

Originally posted by randhi
hi, i have a bit of a problem i have recently been told that i have really shocking handwriting and well my teacher told me i had to do something about it, and well i'm kinda scared because firstly those specialist that fixing handwriting don't work and secondly its only been recently that i have started to have this writing issue which is kinding of worring because if its a habit its going to be hard to fix. i need some advice

write in print and write HUGE