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Texts and Human Experiences
Highly accomplished English teacher, Jowen Hillyer, answers questions from students studying for their HSC in the lead up to the 2021 exams.
Would you recommend two longer quotes in a paragraph, or shorter (three–five word) quotes integrated throughout (say five or six quotes)?
In my experience integrated is better. Longer quotes can be useful sometimes but the examiners want to see your words more than the words from your text.
How can I best manage my time during the exam? How much time should I generally spend on a 5-mark question as opposed to a 20-mark question?
As a general rule it is 2 minutes 15 seconds per mark, but allow some thinking time so if you allow 2 minutes per mark you have time to read over your responses and add/subtract things. 10 minutes for a 5-mark question is about right (with wriggle room of 1 minute or so).
I worry that I often miss the main points that the markers are wanting me to talk about in the comprehension aspect. Any tips?
Look for synonyms. Rewrite the question in your own words. Look to the verbs – what does it want you to do with the question?
Looking at the HSC verbs list and explanation can help here. Then make sure that when you are reading you only look for what the question is asking. You are probably not missing anything, just writing about all the interesting human experiences you see in the text… but they may not be the ones they are asking you to find. The question gives the answer: ‘How is loneliness in relationships a theme of this text?’ – all you need to look for are parts of the text dealing with loneliness.
I find it hard to comprehend the text and analyse it under test conditions. How do I fix this?
Look for clues. The heading will tell you what type of text it is (even if it doesn’t look like a poem, trust that it is and look for language devices you expect to see in a poem).
Look for the story going on in the poem. Still can’t find it? Look to the question, eg. ‘How is the experience of friendship explored in this poem?’. Then, even if you can barely understand it you know: 1) it’s a poem 2) It’s about friendship. So, all you need to do is figure out who is friends with who and how they feel. Then look for words or actions which show emotions.
Reading systematically with a plan like this will help when you read the whole thing and just don’t ‘get it’. Have a plan of attack and stop the panic attack.
Would you tell us where can we find the stimulus of the reading part in the HSC paper?
The stimulus is in a separate booklet to the question booklet. They are often (or have been in the past) stapled together.
A good tip is to separate them as soon as you are given reading time so that you can look at the question you are answering on a text at the same time as reading that text –rather than flipping between booklets.
Should we do short answer questions in order?
While there is no rule to say that you should, it helps to do it in order for two reasons.
- You work your way into meaning. You get a feel for the paper and will understand it better by the time you get to the higher mark values.
- Each question is marked by a separate team of markers. So what you say in question 1 or what evidence you use, you can use again in a synthesis question worth more marks, but if you haven’t done the first questions you won’t be able to rework and refine your answer by the time you get to high mark ones.
What is the best way to answer a ‘compare’ question, which is typically 6 marks in the short answers?
While there is no ‘one way’ to do this, it helps to have a structure in mind.
- Start with a sentence about human experiences which relates to the question
- Identify the texts you are going to be writing about
- Answer the question (however, similarly, creatively, both texts; or this text … but that text ...)
- Text 1 – analysis
- Linking sentence comparing or segue between texts
- Text 2 – analysis
- Conclusion (both texts use language to position the reader into thinking about …).
Can I tie in texts from other modules when answering questions specifically on human experiences?
No. This module is for the text you studied for Texts and Human Experiences only.
How should we best use our reading time?
There are four ways you can maximise your reading time.
- Separate the stimulus booklet from the question booklet
- Read all the questions including the essay question – often the short answer questions get you thinking about the module and can help generate ideas for the essay
- Then, for section 1 – short answer, read text 1 with question 1 open right next to it so that you are only looking for that answer and not for all the other interesting things you may see in the text
- The minute you are allowed to start, write the time limit next to each question 2 min per mark and stick to it (you have wriggle room of 15 seconds extra per mark if you go slightly over time)
My school's studying the poems of Rosemary Dobson. What are the chances that they'll specify a poem, and get us to analyse that and use it in our essay?
The exam is designed to be unpredictable so that you show what you know not what you memorised.
Yes – they can specify by using it as a stimulus, like an extract from one poem asking how Dobson explores the complexity of being human. But they would not ask you to analyse one poem, as straight analysis of one text is reserved for module B. A good way to handle this is to know all of the poems well and to bundle the ideas you will find in them – eg. the idea of transitions in life will be found in ‘Young Girl at a Window’, ’Cock Crow’ and ‘Summer’s End’.
Could the HSC paper ask us to analyse a specific character in the text and how they represent the human experience?
The exam is designed to make you think on the spot about what you know about the module and how the text demonstrates that.
Yes, you technically could be asked, but it would most likely be a jumping off point – a springboard into an argument, eg. ‘How does (composer) use characterisation to explore (something about human experience) you must discuss (this character) in your response’. A whole essay on one character would not allow you to stretch out into a thesis and would be too limiting.
If an essay question asks about something specific such as setting, can we also include quotes about other aspects of the text?
Of course! Just don’t ignore the question. If it asks about setting you can define what that means in your introduction.
Define ‘setting’ broadly – context is also setting, not just where it is physically ‘set’ (time and place) but the environment of the story and its social/cultural elements too. When you define it broadly you have more to say. So instead of ‘Billy Elliot is set in England during the time of the miner’s strike’ you would ALSO explain what that means – the social rules, the culture and the belief systems. That would probably take up the whole essay, but once you have addressed the setting you could branch out – eg. ‘Beyond setting, the human experiences in the story are enhanced by the director’s use of lighting in key scenes’.
Is it a good idea to prepare generic essays and learn to adapt them in the HSC?
It is a good idea to write a few different essays in response to questions, but this is more for your time management and quote retention purposes.
You will find that some of your paragraphs work really well in an exam but others will not. The temptation is to go in and just write what you remember without engaging with the question. Trying to ‘make it fit’ will not work as well as engaging with the question on the day because the question will have a certain ‘angle’ it wants you to approach it from. Know that by writing lots of prepared paragraphs and responses you are studying for the big day – they are muscle and mind memory training but the essay you wrote for the trials will not match the HSC one.
How do we know which quotes to memorise?
The best quotes to memorise are ones which do more than one thing.
Bundle ideas: pick a quote and think, for example, ‘How can I use this quote to show a behaviour and universal human experiences and an anomaly?’. Then if the question is about ‘behaviours and motivations’ you can use it for that, but if the question is about grief you could use it for that too.
In English Paper 1 Section 1, for a ‘what extent’ question, isn’t stating your opinion, as in ‘to a large extent ...’, too informal?
Instead of saying ‘to a large extent’ try evaluative adverbs (passing a judgement without having to directly state it), eg.‘Creatively, (composer) does …, ‘Succinctly …', ‘Clearly …’.
My teacher pointed out an ambiguity in the rubric regarding the style of writing we may be asked to do. She said that there is a possibility (she said it is small) that we may have to write a creative/discursive etc. piece in this module. She said we haven't seen it yet but there is a small possibility that it may happen. Is it your understanding that this is true?
The rubric shows what you need to learn but not what will be examined.
The examination samples (which are guidelines for how an exam is created) does not offer the possibility for writing in any way other than extended essay style responses. Module C is the place for all other types of writing to shine. If you are in doubt, contact NESA.
What do we talk about when questions ask about form?
This is all about representation. Why did the composer choose film/poetry/prose etc as the best way to get their ideas across to you?
Each form has its own job. Poetry explores big ideas and feelings using the most precise economy of words which need unfurling in order for the reader to explore. Dramatic texts are meant for performance and use stage directions, costuming, proximity, etc. If it is prose, like 1984, Orwell uses the features of prose to get his ideas across (fiction, dystopia, anti-heroes, compelling narrative, futuristic – allowing him freedom to move beyond his context; satire – so he can ridicule his context without saying that’s what he is talking about). Think about the parts of your form (structurers and language features/techniques) and how they help get the message across to you.