How to do well in English? (1 Viewer)

[Freshjiver]

Mate my advice is that you need to get related texts organised early, so that by the time trials come around you have everything set.
For each module that needed a related text i had 4, just so i could use the best one.
Know your texts inside out - draw out themes especially. All my essays were theme-based.
Learn how to sound better when you write, lol. Simple things, ie. instead of writing "the text that the author alludes to", write "the text to which the author alludes". It just makes your sentences flow much better.
Drill words into your head like express, extrapolate, demonstrate. Aswell, connector words like moreover, in addition, furthermore.
Write timed practise essays in 40 minutes, for the weeks leading up to exams.
It sounds pointless - but use good pens, ones that feel good when you write with them.
Give practice essays to your teachers, for them to mark. This helps heaps.


There's probably a lot more i could say but this was just off the top of my head.
Good luck! & btw i'm so glad i never have to do english again lol.

 

[Schoey93]

I have already started gathering related material for Year 11 and HSC English (Advanced). Too keen, you reckon? :/

P.S. I start Year 11 late Jan 2010...

 

[speedofsound]

I have already started gathering related material for Year 11 and HSC English (Advanced). Too keen, you reckon? :/

P.S. I start Year 11 late Jan 2010...

potentially problematic in that you don't yet have a concept and your texts may not fit the concept you develop. finding related material too early can also lead to the possibility that your concept may primarily stem from your related texts, as opposed to your set text, which is the wrong way to go about it.

 

[kaz1]

Memorise essays and use one related text.

 

[Schoey93]

english is so gay.
how do I study english?
I just write heaps of essays and get these edited by the teacher
I then write a sample response before the exam and memorise it

you see, english is all about memorising. even the creative writing has to memorised

I managed to jump from 50% to a 80% in English by pure memorisation

NO...if you were a good student of English, you would have realised by now that it is similar to maths in that it is about SKILLS. You should NOT be memorising every single piece of writing you do for the HSC... that might get mediocre (average) results... but to get into the top band, to crack that 90% mark, you have to have creative flair. If your teacher memorised all his essays when he was an arts student at uni, he is probably a bad student of English himself.

My English teacher's name is Sewell, Tricia. She's about sixty however despite being a senior (just), she engages with the class on a personal AND academic level. She's a good teacher because although she has an extremely high IQ (I would put her on the 180-200 IQ gap; she got 99.95 or 100 for her TER/ATAR), she actually cares about the physical and emotional wellbeing of each class member. Maybe you don't do well at English because you have a shit teacher? Or, as ashieO said, maybe you are just shit at English and have no clue what English is really about; the same way some people just don't understand math.

(Not meaning to brag, but: I was always and am still good at both, lol)

Good luck! Please try googling (in quotes as shown below):

"What is English literature about?"

 

[Schoey93]

potentially problematic in that you don't yet have a concept and your texts may not fit the concept you develop. finding related material too early can also lead to the possibility that your concept may primarily stem from your related texts, as opposed to your set text, which is the wrong way to go about it.

I do have a concept though, because in the last month of Year 10 we discussed next year's area of study and what related material would be appropriate (basically any text under which a physical or inner journey occurs)... I bet you can guess what our AOS is, lol...

 

[Schoey93]

Memorise essays and use one related text.

I lol'd...the BOS sure pulled a fast one on you guys this year! Sucked in...

 

[Sayangliss]

Seriously?

Reading.

As much, as varied as possible. Quality texts of course - news papers such as SMH and the Australian, classic novels (not your junk, like Twilight and other pop fiction), non fiction texts etc etc.

Ask great English students and generally, most have a dense reading background.

 

[Ethanescence]

What I found that helped me a lot with HSC English was researching in-depth existentialism, postmodernism and feminism (and many other movements). These issues were essential to the majority of my essays on prescribed texts, and helped me to choose my own texts.

Even when studying Hamlet, existentialism was a large issue and my understanding of postmodernism came in handy when I had to address loyalty, as Hamlet is seen as an intellectual "renaissance man" and therefore personifies the modern era (and shows disloyalty to the superstition of the pre-modern).

So my advice is research philosophical movements, literary eras, etc - so you are able to apply complex knowledge to the texts you have studied without having to know the texts inside-out. Also, this method stopped me from writing superficial interpretations, or merely recounting the plot in my essay.

I also agree that reading is helpful, but it's equally worthwhile watching good quality films and television series.

 

[kaz1]

NO...if you were a good student of English, you would have realised by now that it is similar to maths in that it is about SKILLS. You should NOT be memorising every single piece of writing you do for the HSC... that might get mediocre (average) results... but to get into the top band, to crack that 90% mark, you have to have creative flair. If your teacher memorised all his essays when he was an arts student at uni, he is probably a bad student of English himself.

My English teacher's name is Sewell, Tricia. She's about sixty however despite being a senior (just), she engages with the class on a personal AND academic level. She's a good teacher because although she has an extremely high IQ (I would put her on the 180-200 IQ gap; she got 99.95 or 100 for her TER/ATAR), she actually cares about the physical and emotional wellbeing of each class member. Maybe you don't do well at English because you have a shit teacher? Or, as ashieO said, maybe you are just shit at English and have no clue what English is really about; the same way some people just don't understand math.

(Not meaning to brag, but: I was always and am still good at both, lol)

Good luck! Please try googling (in quotes as shown below):

"What is English literature about?"

Why would you tell that guy to stop memorising if it improved his marks?

ALL english essays require some degree of memorisation (e.g quotes and techniques).

 

[bubbrubb]

OF COURSE YOU MEMORISE PRE PLANNED ESSAYS

all you people saying not to memorise essays... how silly you all are!

just memorise a very generic essay and regurgitate in the exam room with the terms of the questions threaded throughout.

i did this ruthlessly throughout the year and got 95 in adv english

ALSO...

i dont kno if it was just my school (baulko) or all schools, but i never needed to research nething myself because the school provides more than enough inf on each text. so relli... imho i dont think it is necessary to research anything in depth yourself.

 

[determine]

Why would you tell that guy to stop memorising if it improved his marks?

ALL english essays require some degree of memorisation (e.g quotes and techniques).

yes, I completely agree with you..

ALSO schoey93.. as a word of advice to you, maths and english are different in the senior years, especially english. so I suggest you don't judge from NOW whether you "always will be" good at english and maths, because it might just come back to bite you on the backside. hopefully not, but I have seen it happen to people before! good luck!

 

[irvine]

how much time should we be spending on getting a deep knowledge of our texts compared to time spent perfecting our essays?
which is more important?

 

[Essjaybee]

how much time should we be spending on getting a deep knowledge of our texts compared to time spent perfecting our essays?
which is more important?

Knowledge of texts > perfecting essays

You never know what the exact question will be so you'll usually end up altering your essay to suit the question. To do this, you need a deep knowledge of the texts in case you need to refer to certain aspects that didn't fit in your original essay.

 

[irvine]

Knowledge of texts > perfecting essays

You never know what the exact question will be so you'll usually end up altering your essay to suit the question. To do this, you need a deep knowledge of the texts in case you need to refer to certain aspects that didn't fit in your original essay.

Possibly a stupid question but what's the most effective method of doing this?
i.e Study guide questions, making plot summaries...

 

[Essjaybee]

Possibly a stupid question but what's the most effective method of doing this?
i.e Study guide questions, making plot summaries...

Well it works differently for everyone, so i suggest trying different methods and seeing which ones help you learn and remember.

Personally, I like to write up a short summary of the text, write any important quotes and relate them back to the AOS, related text or point I'm trying to make, and refer to it as I write a first draft of an essay. I try to memorise it as it's basically a condensed version of what I need, and write it out on a back page or something as soon as an exam begins incase I have a mind-blank or something. But that's just what works for me, you need to find what works for you.

 

[ninetypercent]

Why would you tell that guy to stop memorising if it improved his marks?

ALL english essays require some degree of memorisation (e.g quotes and techniques).

exactly. if it weren't for memorising, I would be in the 50% mark. If it's helping me, then I shall continue to memorise my essays

yes, I completely agree with you..

ALSO schoey93.. as a word of advice to you, maths and english are different in the senior years, especially english. so I suggest you don't judge from NOW whether you "always will be" good at english and maths, because it might just come back to bite you on the backside. hopefully not, but I have seen it happen to people before! good luck!

Quoted for truth

 

[h3ll h0und]

just answer the bloody question,

that's really all you need to do.

this plus use evidence from the prescribed, and if required, related text (s).

 

[joecarling]

just vomiting an essay out wont give you the marks. they want substance that will address the question and not rote-learn stuff.

 

[philphie]

no, no they don't want that