Did anyone actually memorise 4+ essays for the HSC? (1 Viewer)

[naisAtoN]

No! Memorising essays is a huge risk. Some people do it and end up doing well but if the essays you memorise are nothing like the question you're given, you could end up pretty screwed.

The thing I think I'd recommend most of all is to do as many practise essays as you can and have them marked. Put together several "paragraph blocks" for different points about your texts that you can MOULD to fit a question and use to weave through a line of argument. You might have to completely do away with some of these blocks when it comes to the exam - the best thing to do though is have a range of points to explore that will allow you to fit almost any question. You're essentially being marked on how well you can use what you know to argue a point. If you're arguing a totally different point, the markers will likely see through your essay.

On the other hand, I think it's OK to LOOSELY memorise a few creatives - as long as you leave room to fit them to a variety of stimuli and be willing to slightly deviate from your original plot if necessary.

 

[UncoKane]

I did one for journeys plus the creative writing and three for modules. I memorised all five... just kept writing them out again and again seeing if I could adapt them to past HSC questions and read them at least 5 times each a day. What I wrote out was pretty similar... I could almost always relate everything I said to any question... I did A LOT better than I was expecting.

So yeah, it's possible.

 

[vic_carpe_diem]

Looking back at the two exam papers - paper 1 you should memorise the essay and creative, so you have time to tackle the comprehension.

As for paper 2 watch out - module C can be memorised as well as module A, but module B can throw you off (you need quotes etc.) Since you have such little time in this paper - know the texts well and not your essays.

 

[vanitysnare]

Perhaps memorise a certain structure to your essay overall and even practise sentences that cover technique etc, but whole essays might not work if you have to think on your feet (which you won't entirely so quotes/technique phrases are good to remember word for word).

Just practise the same basic structure with different questions/focus. And this year they are shortening the length (I'm pretty sure for English as well) for most essays so its not quantity.

 

[cassiecocaine]

All my essays were fully memorized (drama students are good at this haha), as was my creative piece. All you have to do is adapt it to the question, which is usually easy enough (the scariest part is not knowing if the questions will be left field, best thing is past essay practice to show your variability). BOS fucked it up for our kind in Paper 1, but I still managed a 92 in english.

I don't know whether to recommend it or not, but i've been memorizing essays since year nine and I'm terrible at writing on the spot... it's for some people but not for others I suppose.

 

[xxheersaletixx]

i memorised pretty much all of my english essays..like i def. made sure i knew what i was on about in each paragraph and all quotes etc
i ended up with 87 in the exam

 

[elv09]

yep, 4 essays + a creative. 96 exam, 95 overall. i used to use the whole "just remember quotes + the techniques and answer the question" approach, but i got lazy.

 

[jkdsfsio3458963]

that right there pretty much sums up the complete failure of the english/humanities subjects in the hsc.

(this isn't an attack at you kaz1)

English may be a joke, but you cant succeed by memorising essays in the humanities

 

[Jack009]

Didnt remember essays or creative in trials. Wrote less than nearlly all my schoolmates. Came 60th for English Overall. Internal Mark was 89.

Remembered all essays and creative for actual HSC exam. Wrote much more than nearly all my schoolmates. External Mark was 94.

My advice, write a good essay. Get your teacher to edit MANY TIMES. Show to more than one teacher if you can i.e. your english tutor. Start memorising not the night b4 but a week b4 so you know your essay word for word off by heart (this can help u to better adapt in the exam cos you can always change the better paragraphs in ur memorised essay to adapt to the question). Memory dump in the exam.

 

[juvekickass]

I did. It was great.

I memorized three for paper 2, and it definitely pulled up my english rank.

My paper 1 creative writing was completely miserable though...hahah. I was never good at it anyway =P

I scored at least 17/20 in each of my paper 2 essays.

The trick is, you memorise 9 quote per paper 2 essay, and you integrate 3 quotes into each paragraph of your body of your essay (making 3 paragraphs in the body).

Although you modify the introduction and conclusion to suit the question, the quotes you use in the body of the essay remains the same.

At the end of quote, relate it to what you stated in the introduction. At the end of each paragraph in the body, relate the overall paragraph to the introduction.

HSC essay writing is a piece of cake. Wait until you see essay writing for postgrad medicine entry, you will want to cry....T.T

 

[CecilyMare]

memorizing is for lazy soupkickers.

 

[tarnished]

Shouldn't you be doing both? Make 4+ perfected essays and some additional, pertinent quotations that are not covered in your essays, just in case.

 

[Deathless]

Err.

I didn't memorise my essays, but I did make plans of possibilites of how I will write my essays. That took me ages and i make notes quickl it still took me like a week. But preparation pays off I think, cus usu. in exam essays - the ones I memorise I tend to get above average marks, but the ones I go off ranting about something that is 'super' revelant to the question, I usu. get near to or full marks. I usu. use the same thesis though.

 

[red-butterfly]

I memorised my creative and essays. I read over them every day on the way to school and read them over again before I went to bed for a month until i completely memorised them

 

[biopia]

I had plot points memorised for my creative.
For my 4 essays, I had a combination of points and memorisation of fancy little sentences or something. It had an order, and the points helped me remember it while the remembered stuff help me make it substantial.