How long do you spend on essays? (2 Viewers)

[AHAHAHKK]

I have spent around 6 hours on each module essay, but still only got 14ish/20 for each. I am hopeless at English, but am willing to put the work in. Thus I need some guidance and inspiration/motivation. To the students who achieve 18+/20, how much time do you put into each essay? Also, can a lack of talent be overcome by spending more time? Or will working harder be counterproductive?

Thanks.

 

[AHAHAHKK]

Anyone??

 

[ashie0]

between one and two hours.

 

[AHAHAHKK]

between one and two hours.

How long do you spend on analysis?

 

[ashie0]

depends on the text. i usually mull it over in my mind until the final night before the due date. i work differently to most english students.

if you want to do well, make sure you have correct structure, structure is vital. its more about how you present your info than the info itself.

i would suggest working in frequent, small amounts and getting someone else to edit your essay. this way you have time to refine what you have written.

it really depends on the type of student you are.

 

[cayla]

I do ext english the best advice I can give is make sure what ever topic your writing an essay on you have your own oppinion and background info. Then spend 40mins test time. Then if you havent fiished or cant think walk away and come back. If you know your topic should be easy to write atleast three pages in 40mins..

hope that helps

 

[AHAHAHKK]

Thanks for the advice!

Any others?

 

[annabackwards]

Analysis, my teacher does the entire book for me

However, for the analysis i actually use i spend perhaps 1hr on it. I spend perhaps 3hrs for the entire essay. This is of course spread over an entire week, sandwiched between procrastination because i hate english XD

 

[lychnobity]

My teacher is hopeless, so I have to do everything myself.

Normally, I take about 7 hours to write one, but lately am taking up to 15h. But this is in one night (taking into account I have to research while I'm writing, find quotes which take at least 15 mins to pick, and look up the thesaurus and rewrite sentences several times before I progress)

 

[untouchablecuz]

My teacher is hopeless, so I have to do everything myself.

Normally, I take about 7 hours to write one, but lately am taking up to 15h. But this is in one night (taking into account I have to research while I'm writing, find quotes which take at least 15 mins to pick, and look up the thesaurus and rewrite sentences several times before I progress)

exactly like me

i change everything constantly

writing a good intro and conclusion are the hardest parts for me

heya lych, i've got this speech i wrote for an assessment; would you like to critique it?

 

[ashie0]

the other thing, make sure you link your analysis back to the question using specific examples fromt he text, also known as close textual detail. eg if you say 'romeo loves juliet' use a quote from the text that displays romeos love for juliet.

 

[untouchablecuz]

the other thing, make sure you link your analysis back to the question using specific examples fromt he text, also known as close textual detail. eg if you say 'romeo loves juliet' use a quote from the text that displays romeos love for juliet.

isnt that a given

 

[ashie0]

OP did say he was only getting around fourteen out of twenty?

 

[naisAtoN]

Write one in a time limit (around 40 minutes, that's all you'll have in an exam. try an hour or a bit longer if you don't feel up to that yet... but have a DEFINITE limit to keep yourself under pressure to write.) Then get your teacher to mark it and give specific feedback to work on the things your teacher suggests. This is basically all I've done since trials.

Of course, this assumes your teacher is willing to mark/give good feedback. I know this can be a problem for some as many teachers just aren't very useful when it comes to giving constructive criticism.

Remember that your essays aren't just about making seperate points, but instead these points should give support to an overall argument. Markers will look for a perceptive line of argument throughout your response, which should also be clearly visible in your conclusion.

Hope at least some of this helps!

 

[yz125]

I also have a quesiton. When you construct an essay, is it better to integrate your additional materials plus your main text (for exapmle in belonging), or is it better to set the essay out as one material per paragraph? I have one teacher telling me my essay is 15/15 and another saying its only 13/15 (both are hsc markers) because i havn't 'integrated' my texts together.

Any feedback would be great thanks.

 

[annabackwards]

I also have a quesiton. When you construct an essay, is it better to integrate your additional materials plus your main text (for exapmle in belonging), or is it better to set the essay out as one material per paragraph? I have one teacher telling me my essay is 15/15 and another saying its only 13/15 (both are hsc markers) because i havn't 'integrated' my texts together.

Any feedback would be great thanks.

I've been told to integrate if possible, but if you've written a great essay and not integrated it shouldn't matter that much.

 

[ekdownie]

I also have a quesiton. When you construct an essay, is it better to integrate your additional materials plus your main text (for exapmle in belonging), or is it better to set the essay out as one material per paragraph? I have one teacher telling me my essay is 15/15 and another saying its only 13/15 (both are hsc markers) because i havn't 'integrated' my texts together.

Any feedback would be great thanks.

you always need to link your texts together in order to form an overall argument or thesis about the concept of Belonging. You would definetly not get full marks in the HSC exam if you only discuss each text without comparing similarites or differences that each text sheds light on about Belonging.

Also, related texts should be used as a form of support for your prescribed text. i.e thats why you usually try and find related texts that have similar ideas about Belonging that is expressed in your set text.

 

[ekdownie]

I am practically using that same method as 'naisaton' discussed earlier in the thread (we are in the same class )

our teacher is extreamly supportive between the period of post-trial / pre-HSC exams as we are constantly writing up essays for each module (say we would spend a week on eeach module, then at the end of the week we would sit under exam conditions in a time limit and attempt answering an essay question on the module we have been preparing for, we do it in 40 mins)

the feedback we get is useful, it provides points towards what is working well, what to still work on (ie language, sophistication, maybe adding more techniques and more insight to other relevant ideas) and anything that we may be missing out on that would be benificial towards our argument on the question

i really suggest continually writing a really good essay (one for each module remember) that could be moulded to a variety of questions. then practise this essay (or paragraph blocks) before sitting under exam conditions and seeing how much you can do in the 40 mins for the question. hand this essay to a GOOD QUALITY teacher and ask for constructive feedback.

 

[Lukybear]

So i assume spedning the very long hours on essays, i.e. 7, all will be remembered and then recounted during the actual exame? Is yoru essasys about 1200 words each?

 

[lychnobity]

So i assume spedning the very long hours on essays, i.e. 7, all will be remembered and then recounted during the actual exame? Is yoru essasys about 1200 words each?

No, my 7 (15) hours spent writing it, are used on the essay's construction - form, wording, content and eventually perfecting.

I have to spend extra hours learning the essay, and then additional quotes, ideas, perspectives, reception (if necessary) and jotting down my opinions for possible questions.

I then spend about 10 mins revising text types, and writing an introduction for each.

As for memorising an essay, it can be done in about an hour, or less, no problems.

And yeah, my essays are about 1200 words, but I'm trying to cut them to about 1100.