How many words can you write in 40 minutes? (3 Viewers)

[Rampager]

Consider a typical exam question for Paper 2 of English Advanced, where you have 3 essays to write and 40 minutes for each question.

How many words can you write in 40 minutes? For me, i'm absolutely pushing it at about 920 words. I've done 1000 words in 40 minutes before but I could barely read my own writing.

I'd love to see the length of the essays other people are planning to write out for the HSC.

 

[kaz1]

700-800 if you want readable.

 

[Patar]

If you have something memorised in your head, 30 wpm is very acheivable, in other words 1200 words in 40 minutes.
If you write non stop, 20-28 should be acceptable which would land you 800-1100 roughly.

Saying that, I have been practising lengthy memorised writing for many a-year and just managed to fit in 1400 words in a 45 minute exam 2 weeks ago. That was memorised, though. So I'm pretty happy with that, cause I could still read it and I definately did not think I could write that fast!

 

[a.Limjoco]

If you have something memorised in your head, 30 wpm is very acheivable, in other words 1200 words in 40 minutes.
If you write non stop, 20-28 should be acceptable which would land you 800-1100 roughly.

Saying that, I have been practising lengthy memorised writing for many a-year and just managed to fit in 1400 words in a 45 minute exam 2 weeks ago. That was memorised, though. So I'm pretty happy with that, cause I could still read it and I definately did not think I could write that fast!

OMG. 1400 words, I wish ! However I am posed to ask what was your mark ? For me a 800-900 words is the easy mark to reach with legible writing, still if I really had to I could perhaps push to 1000.

 

[nerdsforever]

a teacher said that it is expected that:

Year 9
- 40 minutes : 500 words + time to edit

Year 10
- 4o minutes: 800 words

try to practice writing quicker, as in the HSc you will need to write heaps. teachers have been telling us to hand write assessment tasks to prepare for speed writing in the HSc... so by Year 11...

Year 11
- 40 minutes: should write about 1100 words to get the best marks possible

 

[SomeoneCool]

a teacher said that it is expected that:

Year 9
- 40 minutes : 500 words + time to edit

Year 10
- 4o minutes: 800 words

try to practice writing quicker, as in the HSc you will need to write heaps. teachers have been telling us to hand write assessment tasks to prepare for speed writing in the HSc... so by Year 11...

Year 11
- 40 minutes: should write about 1100 words to get the best marks possible

What's the name of this teacher? I've got a mate who goes to Sefton.

 

[nerdsforever]

What's the name of this teacher? I've got a mate who goes to Sefton.

cree

 

[Rampager]

1400 Words in 45 minutes is insane.

Good to see people are averaging around the 900-1000 mark though, I wonder if I should apply for the ability to type the HSC instead of write it due to inlegible handwriting. I just practiced my 1000 word essay (in 40m 30s !) and I'm having trouble discerning writing from gibberish.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

Interesting....I don't know how many words I can write in 40 minutes! But I know how many pages I can write in 40 minutes................

 

[Poad]

In my half yearly I wrote 1200+ words for my Journey essay in 40mins, that was pushing it though. I don't think I could do any more than that.

 

[cs01001]

Around 1000 for me

 

[scarybunny]

cree

OMG MR CREE!!!

He's my all-time favourite english teacher ever.

On topic- remember that the number of words you write does not equate to marks. Perhaps practice writing concise essays, so you have less to write and more time to think and edit.

 

[jessi90]

i can write 1200 in 40 minutes

 

[veloc1ty]

I think I do around 800-1000 or so, which is all you need if you know how to write. (Not saying that more is worse, but you can't get 11 out of 10, you know).

 

[lyounamu]

i can write 1200 in 40 minutes

I guess I can write about that much as well. Probably around 1500 words I reckon (in exam condition).

 

[dang]

wtf.. Last assessment i wrote 2.5 pages which is like 600 words. How can you people write so fast?

 

[lyounamu]

wtf.. Last assessment i wrote 2.5 pages which is like 600 words. How can you people write so fast?

I wrote 5 pages in my last assessment. I wrote like a mad person, really.

After that exam, my hand was numb for few minutes. I couldn't move it really. I got good marks in the end so I am not complaining.

 

[Muz4PM]

If I know what I need to write, I can write between 1200-1400 words (I think). If I have to ad lib, it would obviously be less.

 

[Graney]

Doing uni exams, where you are given 3 hours to complete an exam where everyone has up and left after 1.5 hours because they give you so much extra time, made me wonder why they push you for time so much in the HSC.

HSC english exams should be same difficulty but with 4-6 hours to write in. Give students effectively unlimited time to get their thoughts on paper. Mark students on what they know, not how quickly they can write.

It would be a nightmare to mark, but a lot fairer. They really make HSC english unnecessarily and stupidly difficult.

 

[midifile]

In my area of study exam of friday I prepared a 1000 word essay and a 1000 word story so that I would be able to adapt them if the question didnt fit. It turns out that the questions were perfect for what I had written and it only took me half an hour for each of them. So I'm guessing about 1300 if I wrote for 40 minutes