Past trial essay questions? (1 Viewer)

[morgoe]

The journeys part of the syllabus has only been out for 4 or so years so I'm struggling to see how wide the questions for the essay can be and what points I need to include in my prepared essay to fit all/most questions.

Can anyone post their trial questions here, or trial questions from past years? I think all journey questions are the same, but if not, I'm doing physical.

 

[Nicola1616]

I think they usually give you a couple of stimuli to choose from but not always - it could be a selection of images, a couple of quotes or just one introductory sentence for you to incorporate into a story. Obviously, if you love creative writing you just wing it in the moment - or if you love to study you practice writing creative essays a lot - but that doesn't suit everyone. If you are anxious about it I really think you need to prepare something. The idea though is to contemplate what you might do to adjust your work to many different circumstances. If you write a kick arse story about a guy's solitary journey in the wilderness and the stimulus is about how the power of journeys lies in the people you meet along the way - you need to prepare yourself for that eventuality. What is your story about?

 

[morgoe]

Sorry I meant ESSAYS, part 3, not the creative writing.

 

[danz90]

The essay question I got in this year's trial (Independent Trial Papers) was:

The impact of a physical journey is rarely confined simply to the physical effects of this journey on individuals.

Evaluate this statement in relation to the representation of physical journeys in the texts you have studied.

 

[morgoe]

Thanks danz
It seems as long as you have something about obstacles, the journey resulting in the traveler being able to overcome them, and the overcoming of the obstacles leading to personal growth (physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, etc.) you can effectively answer any question.

Only bit I really need to include is the world..one question said that the journey led to a greater understanding of yourself and the world. My trial paper was the other way round, said something like..

"Your journey was not mine, but you have given me an understanding of what it is to have one." [paraphrased, I can't remember it exactly.]
In light of this statement, discuss what you have learnt about the physical journeys from the study of your prescribed text.

So you'd need something that talks about how the journey affects others as well. I don't know if this is really representative of HSC questions though. I just chucked in some stuff about the reader vicariously experiencing the journey, but it'd be good to have something about people in the texts being affected by others' journeys.

 

[danz90]

Thanks danz
It seems as long as you have something about obstacles, the journey resulting in the traveler being able to overcome them, and the overcoming of the obstacles leading to personal growth (physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, etc.) you can effectively answer any question.

Yeah, I was really happy with that question, I have to say it was quite easy. As soon as I saw it in reading time, I was relieved.

I hope this year's Q3 Journey Essay question is fairly straightforward.