How is this course run? (1 Viewer)

[itadakimus]

Hey,

I'm currently in Year 11 and my HSC subject selections are coming up soon. I realised I have very little information on 4U english. Could someone give me a brief runover of what the course is like, main strengths required, etc? It would be greatly appreciated!

My friend mentioned that she had heard something like, "there are no classes but occasionally you have one-on-one sessions with the teacher." She also mentioned something about short stories...
This has left me a bit confused as it seems like 4U english is very different from any other course!

So.. help please?

Thank you!


Edit:
Oh, I also wanted to ask if 4U English usually had a topic/area of study like other units of English or does its open style mean that you're not restricted in almost any way?
If so, does anyone know next year's one?

 

[Ivorytw]

Sorry are you talking about Maths or English?

 

[itadakimus]

Sorry are you talking about Maths or English?

Um, English
Sorry, I'll correct my first post

 

[Hysterik]

Check out the Board of Studies HSC Curriculum... it has an FAQ and everything to sort out your questions.

There aren't really any main strengths as you can do anything you like, short stories, critical studies, poetry, film, etc. All you need is an 'inquiring mind' as my teacher likes to call it, basically you need to enjoy working privately and researching subjects that interest you.

It's way way less structured than any other course IMO, but it's a lot of fun! Teachers are there for as much or as little time as you need. Each school runs it slightly differently so talk to your English teacher.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/pdf_doc/english_ext2_qa_support.doc

 

[Aplus]

Hey,

I'm currently in Year 11 and my HSC subject selections are coming up soon. I realised I have very little information on 4U english. Could someone give me a brief runover of what the course is like, main strengths required, etc? It would be greatly appreciated!

My friend mentioned that she had heard something like, "there are no classes but occasionally you have one-on-one sessions with the teacher." She also mentioned something about short stories...
This has left me a bit confused as it seems like 4U english is very different from any other course!

So.. help please?

Thank you!

Well, I'm in really no position to comment, but I believe that Extension 2 English provides students with a lot more freedom and independence to study what they want to study.

Sorry are you talking about Maths or English?

Why would a thread about Mathematics be present in the English (Extension 2) forum?

 

[itadakimus]

@Hysterik
Ooh, wow. That sounds really great! I've always wished courses gave us more freedom. I'll be sure to ask my English teacher more about it. She's only talked to us about Ext 1 so far.

Thank you for your great info and the link to the FAQ. The Board of Studies site has so much info, that I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed!


@humglish
Thank you for your great advice =] Especially the info about doing Ext 2 with other difficult subjects.
I can't say English is my best skill but I definitely perform better than usual when I love and have passion for the text and topic that we're doing.
Ext 2 sounds like an awesome opportunity!


@Aplus
Hey, thanks for your reply =]

Um, in my original post, I accidentally mentioned that I wanted info about Maths Ext 2 instead of English. [My mistake!] Understandbly, it would have been a bit confusing.

 

[grapefruiit]

1) There are no external 'examinations', only internal assessments, and the actual Major Work
2) Internally, you are marked on process (development of ideas, reflection and documentation on form etc etc). Externally, you are marked on the product itself (i.e. your story or critical response or suite of poems)
3) EE2 is not only about being a good writer, but having shit good organisation skills because your internal marks are given purely on process
4) INDEPENDENT research, INDEPENDENT everything. Your teacher is only there to provide a guideline, and to mark your internal assessments. We are pretty much left to our own devices and only occasionally have one-on-one 'interviews' with the teachers. Classes vary depending on your school. We have a two hour session every Monday afternoon

Hope that helps =]

 

[itadakimus]

Oh I see I see. Yes thank you! Your post was very informative.
Ext 2 sounds challenging but I'm very interested now!

 

[itadakimus]

I wouldn't be too worried about it yet. You've still got a while to decide. I'm not sure about your school, but at mine you have to be 'selected' to do it. There was one student as my school who wasn't initially selected, but decided that she still wanted to do it and the teachers allowed her to go ahead anyway. But she didn't end up sticking to it.

Your teachers will probably know best if EE2 is right for you. (woo hoo, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! - definately should have done poetry guys. I think I've realised my true calling)

Ohh.. I don't know how it works at my school, whether we have a selection process or what. I haven't heard much about Ext 2 at my school. I know we have 6 Ext 1 classes and only 2 Adv classes though...

Hehe, I can't say my English results are very consistent. When I enjoy the area of study though, I tend to do quite well so I'm hoping that Ext 2 will give me the freedom to work in areas I enjoy. I don't know what my teacher thinks though... Eek, she's nice but also intimidating! I'm scared to ask!

Ahh that's cool Poetry is not so much my thing... or so I think!

 

[itadakimus]

Don't worry too much about marks. It's more about your capacity to do well. This is where your teacher will have a good idea. For example, my ranking for advnced is really shit. So bad that I won't post it on this site. But I've come 1st in both EE1 and EE2. Mainly because I'm better adapted to 'take home' assignments.

Just ask your teacher and see what she/he thinks. But if your no sure I'd say give it a go. If you find you can't handle it, just drop. That happened to a few people in my class and it's no big deal.

Good luck.

Oh and I suck at poetry! I was just mucking around. ha ha.

I wrote a short story.

Haha wow! Well never mind not doing well in advanced if you topped Ext 1 and 2! Congrats on that

Yeah, I will probably take English Ext 2 as an extra unit next year... I'm not sure if I want to take Maths Ext 2 as well though and I'd rather not take them both!

I've emailed one of my past English teachers and she says I should pop in for a chat so I'll do that later this week. I guess I should talk to my current teacher too though... as soon as I pluck up the courage!

Haha Ah... yeah, I think I'd go with short stories too. So, basically Ext 2 assessments are your major work and your reflection on it right? Which means you can basically choose not to do much/any work on poetry/critical response/etc?
My mum is under the impression that Ext 2 means loads of poetry.

 

[nrs1990]

Yes, assessments are the major work and your reflections on the process of writing it -- so what medium you work in is entirely up to you. If poetry or whatever isn't your thing, then you don't have to do it. It's a very free subject. You can write pretty much anything (so long as you can link it back in some way to what you've done or are going to do in Advanced or Extension 1). That makes it different to a lot of other subjects, because there's no content, you decide what it is your working on. Which is good if your self-motivated, and isn't so good if your not.

On the subject of both extension 2's... There isn't anything wrong with taking both. I know that I prefer extension 2 to the 2 unit subjects in both maths and english, and I'm glad to have both of them -- but I'm probably just strange. They are a lot of work, though, so it's entirely up to you. I'm just saying that you don't have to be scared off the idea.

Anyway, English Extension 2 is a great experience, so if you're interested, you should give it a go.

 

[itadakimus]

Yes, assessments are the major work and your reflections on the process of writing it -- so what medium you work in is entirely up to you. If poetry or whatever isn't your thing, then you don't have to do it. It's a very free subject. You can write pretty much anything (so long as you can link it back in some way to what you've done or are going to do in Advanced or Extension 1). That makes it different to a lot of other subjects, because there's no content, you decide what it is your working on. Which is good if your self-motivated, and isn't so good if your not.

On the subject of both extension 2's... There isn't anything wrong with taking both. I know that I prefer extension 2 to the 2 unit subjects in both maths and english, and I'm glad to have both of them -- but I'm probably just strange. They are a lot of work, though, so it's entirely up to you. I'm just saying that you don't have to be scared off the idea.

Anyway, English Extension 2 is a great experience, so if you're interested, you should give it a go.

Ooh, Ext 2 really sounds amazing. I like the idea of having so much freedom in what we study.
Well time management and all that is a bit of a problem for me so I'm not sure if I could handle both Ext 2's.

Thanks for the post I think I really will give Ext 2 a try!

It's kind of embarrasing though. And then you have to deal with all these things who think they are absolutely amazing because they beat someone in EE2. RRR!

You can definately manage with two ext2 subjects. I know quite a few people who have done both. But don't think it's your ticket to a 99+ uai or anything. Because if you go badly, it will impact on you.

That being said, you seem like a level headed person. You're probably the best judge of yourself, and if you can cope I'd say go for it!

Oh I HATE that sort of thing. It's both irritating and embarassing. Very infuriating!

Ah that's very kind of you
I'd still rather go for one Ext 2 subject though, although my decision isn't yet final. English Ext 2 interests me greatly but I'm good at and like maths so perhaps Maths Ext 2 is a safer option...

note of advice: there is an incredible amount of work for a 1 unit subject. It's not just 'hey, i can write a short story'. you need to research heaps and heaps and redraft/re edit constantly.

in my year, we started with just over 50 people and now we only have 17. most of them dropped because they didn't realise just how much work it was.

Ah yes, that's true. I really need to weigh up my ability to work independantly huh...
Ouch, that's a pretty high dropout rate! I'll ask my English teacher how many students continue with Ext 2 at my school.

 

[itadakimus]

It is a bit of a high drop out rate. But then again, a lot of students who go to selective schools pick EE2 for the prestige without having any idea of what it involves. Basically, they pick it for all the wrong reasons. We had two drop out, but then we only had six to begin with.

Ooh ok. I go to a selective school but we've only talked about Ext 1 right now. Our teachers are pretty down to earth about subject selection and make sure we're choosing something we're capable of or genuinely interested in.

I'll talk to my English teacher about it tomorrow. Sigh, I'm scared that she'll say something like, "What? *You* want to do Ext 2? As if!". In a more subtle way of course but still... Eek!
Wish me luck

 

[itadakimus]

I talked to my English teacher today.
She asked me about my marks. I'm ranked 15th so she said I could do Ext 1. I asked about Ext 2 and she asked how I went in my Ext 1 Exam [she marked them]. We wrote a short story for that. I got 9/10 and she was like, "Oh I must have been impressed then." But even so, she still said she didn't think I was enthusiastic about English enough for Ext 2!

Could it be that I don't contribute enough in class? I'm just quiet.. and sometimes I'm a bit intimidated by speaking in front of everyone and her. She said I could do it as an extra unit, just not my 10th [of course!]

Later, I talked to another English teacher about it. Apparently we also need to be selected to get into Ext 2. It's not just if you want to do it. We only have about 15 students who get in. SCARY!
Since my English teacher is the Head Eng Teacher I guess I need to start contributing in class if I'm gonna convince her to let me do Ext 2...

I'm so confused now. I still want to do Ext 2 but everyone's questioning my ability to do it. Maybe I should just do Maths Ext 2 instead... It'd prob be easier for me but Eng Ext 2 holds my great interest...

 

[xXmuffin0manXx]

im really interested in that major work you have to do..
so.. say you chose to do a short story, then how many
words are you looking at?

 

[JIMMYRECARD]

im really interested in that major work you have to do..
so.. say you chose to do a short story, then how many
words are you looking at?

You have 6000 - 8000 words.

 

[JIMMYRECARD]

note of advice: there is an incredible amount of work for a 1 unit subject. It's not just 'hey, i can write a short story'. you need to research heaps and heaps and redraft/re edit constantly.

in my year, we started with just over 50 people and now we only have 17. most of them dropped because they didn't realise just how much work it was.

I had a guy in my chem class today go, 'Yeah but so what, you have a whole year to write it.' Dickhead.

 

[lloydicles]

I wouldn't be too worried about it yet. You've still got a while to decide. I'm not sure about your school, but at mine you have to be 'selected' to do it. There was one student as my school who wasn't initially selected, but decided that she still wanted to do it and the teachers allowed her to go ahead anyway. But she didn't end up sticking to it.

At our school, everyone in extension 1 was allowed to do extension 2 but most dropped. at the beginning of the HSC course we had 9 in extension 1 and 7 in extension 2. 3 dropped within a month adn 4 of us started on the major work.

by the beginning of this year, one more had dropped extension 2, bringing us to the magic number of 3 and 3 had dropped extension 1, bringing us down to 6 in that department.

now, a week form the major work due date and two months out form extension 1 HSC, we have 3 doing extension 2 and 5 doing extension 2...

and since this comment has been a way of procrastinating and not writing my reflection statement and studying for EE1 trial tomorrow: i am (as they say) off.

btw, my major is a ficto essay which challenges the representation of gender in bluebeard using queer and feminist theory and through writing my own apporpriation which i thread throguh the essay.

bye for now,
not forever