I don't believe English contributed to what I wrote in the Exam at all. (1 Viewer)

[Harry Flashman]

Does anyone else think this? Everything I learnt this year I learnt at home from my own knowledge or internet resources, English was just a big waste of many hours of my life.

 

[*Ninny-mole*]

Hmmmm....I kinda agree with you. I learnt most of my english at home, but that was my fault because I really never paid attention in class. However, I did learn stuff in class. But I want to shoot whoever wrote this exam. It didn't seem to matter how much i studied all my texts, I couldn't get it to fit the question properly. I seriously think that section 3 was a harder question then they've had before since journeys started. Anywho's, nothing other than being given the question beforehand could have prepared me for that. I didn't think it would be anything like that.

 

[ShAzABoB]

Does anyone else think this? Everything I learnt this year I learnt at home from my own knowledge or internet resources, English was just a big waste of many hours of my life.

Agreed... sadly enough...

Quote myself: "I hate english."

 

[Dr_Doom]

Yeah we did nothing in English. You learn from experience I guess.

 

[sideshowtim]

I for one know I studied like anything for this exam yet I think I did pretty average. It's just the fact that they CAN and DO throw anything at you that is irritating. You could study your ass off in one certain area and be brilliant at it, but if you mis-interpret a question or just aren't 100% switched on on that one particular day you're a goner.

 

[Triangulum]

You could study your ass off in one certain area and be brilliant at it, but if you mis-interpret a question or just aren't 100% switched on on that one particular day you're a goner.

Isn't that the same for all subjects?

 

[klaw]

Does anyone else think this? Everything I learnt this year I learnt at home from my own knowledge or internet resources, English was just a big waste of many hours of my life.

That applies to the vast majority of my subjects. In most of my periods my teacher doesn't even attempt to teach, I'm serious. We just do our own stuff or talk about random crap.

 

[bananasmoothy]

ANY STUDY IS GOOD STUDY. And anyone will tell you that General Knowledge and good writing ability is a good basis for English. Therefore, not knowing every single thing for the examinations is not a bad thing. Examinations brought out the best in me last year, and for some questions, I just made up most of the ORTs and so forth. Being able to do that and still hold up a good thesis is what separates the men from the boys.

That's sexist.

 

[Testpilot]

The sad thing was it took people this long to realise English is pointless.

 

[meteorangela]

hey .. i always knew english was pointless... !! and in high school it is even MORE pointless. sigh.

 

[syper]

[sarcasm] It's great how the exams are just a memory test, with everyone adapting pre-written responses to the question. [/sarcasm]

 

[quincyboi]

Lisa Said A Dirty Word!

 

[smegger_em]

I think if English is taught PROPERLY it should not be pointless and should actually really help with this paper, even more than with paper 2.

My idea of teaching English properly is to have lots of dicussions (as opposed to note taking and listening to the teacher drone on) which should help people look at the idea of journey from so many different perspectives that no matter what they get thrown at them in the exam they can still come up with something. I think if you feel really comfortable with the concept in your AOS you are set, and this is much more valuable than a super reheresed responce.

Paper 1 is really about your communication and conceptual thinking skills. And these are things that are hard to develop on your own, but that a good teacher should be able to help you draw out of yourself.

 

[lala2]

English does, however, give you skills for uni, even if journeys are never to be tested again. The skills of analysing, putting forth a few quotes, explaining your judgement on them and how that relates to your thesis, are all essential for uni essays. integration and good flow of ideas is also essential.

be warned though, I met a girl doing Arts at USYD and she dropped uni English after one semester because it's exactly the same as HSC English--you must fit your analysis of the text around a topic (like AOS Journeys), instead of analysing the book as a whole, which she much preferred and enjoyed (and I, for that matter too), similar to the syllabus for Years 7-10 English.

 

[smegger_em]

That does sound irratating, but i have to say that my 3 years of university english (at ANU) have not been like that at all - quite the opposite really. I found that i was given a lot of freedom in terms of what texts i wanted to write on and with my interpritations. Even with the form that assessments took - in most courses we were given the chance of siting an exam or doing an essay. As long as you could back up what you want to say, you were fine.