What really bugs me: (1 Viewer)

[jusdorange]

Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this, but it really bugs me when people upload BAD english essays onto the bored of studies resources section!

No, I'm not downloading essays so I can copy them, I do my own work, but I find it helpful to read good 'example' essays to give me a starting point or clarify things I haven't understood in class.

If you can't even spell the author's name, and your essay sounds like it has been copied and pasted straight from sparknotes, then don't upload it!

Gah!!


+ Is anyone else actually enjoying Chaucer? I think it's good because it's not as popular as Emma and Clueless, so there's less chance of your essay sounding like everyone else's. That's what my teacher said, anyway. Thoughts?

 

[kami]

To your first comments...what you must realise is that no one *has* to submit anything, they do it because they hope someone learns from their experience, so perhaps you shouldn't be that upset about the standards because you can gain ideas even from flawed essays. And yes this *is* the wrong place to complain...there is a sub-forum about administrative issues if you truly have an issue.

Now onto Chaucer, I thought it was a decent text but innapropriate for the advanced course for several reasons. It is of a sufficient complexity that most who attempt to answer it "completely" and thus end up straying awaying from the advanced requirements. It is much more viable I think as an extension preliminary text. As far as being unique...well if you compose an essay according to the advanced requirements, chances are that unless you have a brilliant essay it will still sound like a routine for the examiners, afterall how many times do you think they are going to hear the words didactic and moralising in the course of their marking. It is *you* and your ability to compose rather than the rarity of your text which scores good marks.

 

[jusdorange]

hehe no i don't really have an issue, i'm just a bit stressed/whingey (the chainsaw emoticon doesn't really represent my feelings haha)

sorry! can i edit the post? i'm sort of new to this.

and i like your perspective on the popularity of texts not really being important in how well you can do, i think our teacher was just trying to make us feel better because most people were dreading chaucer..

i find that once i can understand the language more, the text itself has pretty basic ideas & its not too hard to compare with a simple plan.

longer novels are a lot harder to analyse in my opinion, because there's just too much to say! (eg cloudstreet)

 

[kami]

I am sorry I misinterpreted what you were saying then, and apologise if I was too harsh
If at anytime you desire to edit a post, look to the bottom right hand button of the post in question and there is a button entitled "edit".

The language shouldn't be that much of a stumbling block...just read through the Pardoner's Tale a few times and you will start to get in the swing of things, though I have heard some classes even have to listen to tapes of middle english which is a tad overboard...lol

The shortness of the poem can b a hindrance in some cases though if you wish to make slightly more complex arguments as it is more difficult to stray away from the "formula" so to speak.

 

[kimmeh]

Whats really bugs me is the amount of people who dont appreciate the work and effort thats been put in for YOUR usage on this forum/website. What do you classify as a "bad" essay? ALL essays that are submitted through before being placed on the resources page are filtered and read by mods. Everything is read word for word and ensured that they are examples of good, but not perfect essays. Some of them have some bad points but also have excellent ideas in which you can copy from. If you think theyre all bad then dont criticise the work that has been done for you and do it yourself and submit a "good" one yourself to make up for the "bad" ones.

 

[monique66]

Chaucer is cool. I hated it in the beginning and now i'm picking up on stuff that i haven't heard used in essays before. The key is originality!

 

[glitterfairy]

Just to add to the above: If you feel reading an uploaded essay is not worth your time, then don't read it. However having read through the entire thread now, it appears you were a little stressed out at the time so I'll let you off for now Remember that most other people in the HSC are in the same boat as you - if you are having difficulty understanding something, chances are most other people will too (and this is reflected in their essays). I would also imagine the smart cookies that DO understand their stuff are afraid of uploading them for fear of plaguarism (is that spelt right, Evan? :S I lost my thinking cap...) and others don't believe in spoon-feeding material, prefer to post via forums

Onto Chaucer: I didn't do it, but from having done the HSC last year I can tell you now that sometimes you won't "get" your texts/modules until a precious few days or hours before Trial HSC or the actual HSC itself. You may even do the HSC without understanding this particular module at all - eg me (I still don't understand Hamlet). I really think with Advanced English that it's less about knowing your work, and knowing how to work the system... although if you want a good band 6, I strongly advise discussing the finer points of your texts on BOS and talking to teachers about it etc - when a person understands their texts, it shows.

 

[jusdorange]

Whats really bugs me is the amount of people who dont appreciate the work and effort thats been put in for YOUR usage on this forum/website. What do you classify as a "bad" essay? ALL essays that are submitted through before being placed on the resources page are filtered and read by mods. Everything is read word for word and ensured that they are examples of good, but not perfect essays. Some of them have some bad points but also have excellent ideas in which you can copy from. If you think theyre all bad then dont criticise the work that has been done for you and do it yourself and submit a "good" one yourself to make up for the "bad" ones.

i do appreciate that people upload their work, i was just feeling a bit stressed out when i wrote my post. plus, i was not reading them to copy. i don't want other people to do my work for me. i just got a bit irked because one in particular that i was reading obviously had no thought put into it at all, with authors and character's names spelt wrong, lots of grammar mistakes and just generally short and frustrating to read. i just wonder why it was put through by the mods.

but i agree with you, a lot of them have excellent ideas and in general are very useful to get ideas from. sorry if my post sounded rude.

 

[jusdorange]

Just to add to the above: If you feel reading an uploaded essay is not worth your time, then don't read it. However having read through the entire thread now, it appears you were a little stressed out at the time so I'll let you off for now Remember that most other people in the HSC are in the same boat as you - if you are having difficulty understanding something, chances are most other people will too (and this is reflected in their essays). I would also imagine the smart cookies that DO understand their stuff are afraid of uploading them for fear of plaguarism (is that spelt right, Evan? :S I lost my thinking cap...) and others don't believe in spoon-feeding material, prefer to post via forums

Onto Chaucer: I didn't do it, but from having done the HSC last year I can tell you now that sometimes you won't "get" your texts/modules until a precious few days or hours before Trial HSC or the actual HSC itself. You may even do the HSC without understanding this particular module at all - eg me (I still don't understand Hamlet). I really think with Advanced English that it's less about knowing your work, and knowing how to work the system... although if you want a good band 6, I strongly advise discussing the finer points of your texts on BOS and talking to teachers about it etc - when a person understands their texts, it shows.

i know what you mean about not wanting to post essays.. not that i'm a 'smart cookie' but if i put a lot of effort into something i generally like to keep it to myself or just show it to friends if they ask ..damn, does that sound really competitive??