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Parramatta HSC English Trial Discussion (1 Viewer)

strawberrye

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As with the analogous thread to the chemistry trial, I will be posting general comments and answering questions anyone may have had on this paper. I am also slowly marking my way through the papers so please be patient until you get your marks and comments back:)

Some sample answers I have complied:

(Note: These answers are just an indication of an exemplar answer that could get close to, if not, full marks. The diverse nature of English semantics accommodates many other possible answers which can get full marks. As such, use the structure and detail of these answers as a guide to what band 6 responses would look like and assist you in addition with any marked feedback to improve for your HSC exams).
Section I Question 1:


a) Select two aspects of the visual text and explain how these contribute to the composer’s exploration of the inherent barriers that prevents an individual from enriching a communal sense of solidarity.

In text 1, the disconnected heads in the overall schema of a perceived coherent community of linked individuals is symbolic of the innate pursuit for the complete expression of one’s individuality that becomes a psychological barrier for individuals to contribute to establishing a sense of communal solidarity. The composer’s use of antithetical statement “He was the one we feared, as well as the one we relied upon” further accentuates that an inability to forge meaningful interpersonal connections results in eliciting a superficial sense of affinity which undermines the formation of a genuine sense of solidarity.

b) Explore the impacts of time and Grandma on the sustenance of a familial sense of belonging within the persona’s family
In text 2, the composer highlights Grandma acts as a unifying force to connect the family together through metaphorically characterising Grandma as “the Sun which we gravitated and revolved around”. Furthermore, the composer examines the progression of time as a powerful catalyst for the inevitable diminution of a familial sense of belonging arising from decreased opportunities for consolidating connections. This is emphasised by the persona’s alliterative assertion “Marriages and migrations, accidents and appointments…these events had ultimately come to define our characters as we diverged into our own paths”.

c) What are the personal insights about belonging gained by the persona after the bombing and how do these insights come to affect the community’s sense of communal affinity?
Through the traumatic experience of the atomic bombing, the persona comes to realise the fragile nature of geographical connections being destroyed with the demolition of familiar landmarks, a notion asserted through the vivid imagery of the bomb “incinerated orphanages and churches with the blink of an eye”. Furthermore, the persona comes to realise the interminable nature of conflicts which further segregates individuals through the use of pun in his recognition “What proceeded was another war, a war that was not cold, yet threatened to tear us apart all the same”. The composer’s integration of accumulative language “Many became charcoaled remains, many more were burnt and torn by the cruelty of man, by their naivety” further emphasises the potential for catastrophic experiences to demolish any sense of communal affinity as individuals becomes dehumanised by these experiences.

d)Explain how does the composer attempts to challenge dominant social perceptions to transform belonging on a collective scale?
The composer challenges dominant social perceptions by revealing the significant extent to which individuals are disconnected from real life connections, emphasised through the integration of colloquialism and statistical data “80% of teenagers are connected to some sort of technology…for more than 5 hours every day”. Moreover, the composer challenges a prevalent assumption that the number of virtual contacts one has defines the number of meaningful interpersonal connections they form in real life through rhetorical questions such as, “Remember those old primary school friends that you became “friends” with on Facebook and whom you never talk to in real life anymore?” Ultimately, the composer attempts to transform these collective habits through a comprehensive enumeration of strategies for forging more meaningful interpersonal and geographic connections “Logging off your Facebook account…going out to the bush to experience the twitter of birds”
 

fatassmcfat

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Isnt the exemplar for question 1 just using one example of the visual text (disconnected heads)? Or was the written quote below considered part of 'visual text'
 

strawberrye

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Isnt the exemplar for question 1 just using one example of the visual text (disconnected heads)? Or was the written quote below considered part of 'visual text'
The written quote is considered a part of the visual texts, although I admit the wording of the question should have been more general to avoid confusion, instead of visual aspects I should have just said aspects of text, but I didn't take marks off for using two visual techniques, the more important point is whether the person answered the question or not, and so many people for the first question assumed it was about connection when it was about the opposite thing, so although they had a lot of good techniques, I had to give them zero because they weren't answering the question at all.

Just as a side note, I have finished marking all the English papers and they should be ready for collection from the reception desk on third floor of Parramatta Library from tomorrow onwards:)
 

strawberrye

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Just some additional comments about the exam:

For the first question, many people assumed that the question was about how the image portrayed a sense of connection, and they ignored the demand of the question which required them to illuminate aspects of disconnection in the context of communal solidarity. This question, and in a way, as with other aspects of this paper, is to really explore the paradoxical, ambiguous, dichotomous nature of belonging, in that, there are many degrees of belonging, one may look like they belong from an external perspective, but they may internally feel very alienated. Hence, nearly half of the papers got 0 for the first question because marks are given based on how well candidates answered each question, if they failed to address the demands, they fail to gain the marks.

A similar problem emerged with the rest of the paper, where there were some candidates who failed to use quotes and techniques, or enough of them, to support their belonging theses. Many went on a tangent and start recounting what they thought the plot of the text was about, which was largely irrelevant to the requirement of discussing belonging concepts. Candidates are advised to read the question very carefully before commencing their answers and also make sure they write legibly, some hand writing was so illegible I had to guess what half of the answer was, which did not increased these candidate's chance of getting better marks.

For the creative writing section, many candidates did not sufficiently addressed both stimuli in their story, many stories were clearly replicated from memory, and although many stories are polished, as would be expected at this stage being very close to the HSC, not many stories made a satisfactory attempt to address the stimuli. Many only addressed one part of the stimuli, again, candidates are advised to read the entire question very carefully which explicitly stated the requirement of integration of BOTH stimuli into the story. More planning before writing the story is required to more closely address the question. Avoid writing melodramatic stories of people going off to war and school bullying, try to focus on writing stories that are universally relevant through simple, everyday experiences. Writing in first person would also have assisted many people to have more engaging stories. Many people also had too much unnecessary actions in their story which impeded the development of belonging and not belonging feelings and concepts and clogged the flow of the story. No one addressed both stimuli to a satisfactory extent, from memory only one or two individuals got 13/15, most were averaging around 10-11/15 due to ignoring the stimuli given.

For the essay question, only one person got a 14/15 and a few got 13/15, most were around 11-12/15, this is a bit disappointing since the question wasn't super hard, but candidates did not sufficiently addressed the 'compromise' part of the question, they often frequently referred to barriers and community while ignoring a key component of the question. Candidates are advised to integrate key words of the question consistently throughout their topic and concluding sentences. Furthermore, there was too much plot recount of how techniques advance the plot of texts rather than focusing on how techniques enhance individual's understanding of the significance of relevant belonging concepts. A significant portion of candidates also failed to include a second related text where the question demanded the inclusion of two related texts, and in instances where a second related text was included, it was often the case that the discussion was very weak compared to the other texts. Inadequate comparison between texts in relation to belonging concepts was also an evidence problem. Some candidates did not get to start on the essay, and I strongly advise those candidates who did not complete the exam to practice their exam time management skills a bit better to ensure they make a decent attempt at all three sections of the paper and maximise their marks.
 

strawberrye

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Any questions about any aspects of the paper-feel free to ask:)
 

nishi4000

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Any questions about any aspects of the paper-feel free to ask:)
HEY! :)

i just completed this paper, and boy, it was hard .. I couldn't complete part e) of section 1
I just wanted to know how to manage time effectively and comparatively, how well people went in this section? And if possible, just an example on how to begin that question!

Thank you!

- an extremely stressed out hsc student fearing Paper 1 in 3 days
 

strawberrye

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HEY! :)

i just completed this paper, and boy, it was hard .. I couldn't complete part e) of section 1
I just wanted to know how to manage time effectively and comparatively, how well people went in this section? And if possible, just an example on how to begin that question!

Thank you!

- an extremely stressed out hsc student fearing Paper 1 in 3 days
Time management really is a result of practice, but essentially I spent around 40 minutes for comprehension, 35 for creative and 45 for the essay. Plan before you write anything down. I can't tell you how to begin 1 e)unless you post an attempted reply-in the actual forthcoming HSC exam, there won't be a person giving you outline of the answer if you have no idea what the question is about, so have a go-most people actually did quite well in the last question-it really is a matter of reading the question carefully, deconstructing it and selecting the most appropriate text. And I will see what comments I can give you to improve your response:)

Just in case if people missed my proposal of questions in the previous thread, below is some extra belonging essay question you can practice writing essay plans on:) (these are created by me:))

1)Personal relationships forms the foundation to one's sense of belonging. Geographical connections merely serves to consolidate such a sense of affinity through the progression of time. Evaluate this statement in relation to your texts.

2)What assumptions about belonging has been challenged through your study of texts this year? Analyse this statement in relation to your texts

3)Textual forms serves as powerful representation vehicles by which composers either alienate/invite responders to the fictional microcosms they create, revealing the ambiguous and complex nature of the quest to belong. Explore this statement in relation to your texts

4)The perspectives that are presented within a text is just as important as the perspectives that are absent from the text in developing a heightened awareness of the pertinent and lifelong quest to belong. Discuss this statement in relation to your texts
 
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Smile12345

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...Just in case if people missed my proposal of questions in the previous thread, below is some extra belonging essay question you can practice writing essay plans on:) (these are created by me:))

1)Personal relationships forms the foundation to one's sense of belonging. Geographical connections merely serves to consolidate such a sense of affinity through the progression of time. Evaluate this statement in relation to your texts.

2)What assumptions about belonging has been challenged through your study of texts this year? Analyse this statement in relation to your texts

3)Textual forms serves as powerful representation vehicles by which composers either alienate/invite responders to the fictional microcosms they create, revealing the ambiguous and complex nature of the quest to belong. Explore this statement in relation to your texts

4)The perspectives that are presented within a text is just as important as the perspectives that are absent from the text in developing a heightened awareness of the pertinent and lifelong quest to belong. Discuss this statement in relation to your texts
I like these questions... Especially the first one. :) Thanks Mei :)
 

sramisetty

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Just in case if people missed my proposal of questions in the previous thread, below is some extra belonging essay question you can practice writing essay plans on:) (these are created by me:))
Thanks a bunch, these questions are great! Also thanks again for having a look at my short story and essays a while ago, your feedback was extremely helpful.
 

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