How many words are your essays (2 Viewers)

[shuttle_bus5]

the max I can do in 2 hours is around 2500, unless I go crazy and break my wrist

Exactly the same with me

 

[melissa_mac]

i write like i going to die too. usually i have prepared noted of about 1400 words with areas which i can add or delete. i write fast for my class but there is no way i'm gettting more than 1150 good words down
there is no way if you write 3800 words in 2 hours it will be a substantial essay. like how could you even read that writing?
quality not quantity.

 

[emmcyclopedia]

anywhere between 900 and 1100 during a 40-minute exam period.

my problem is that i have heaps of prepared material, but i physically can't make my hand go as fast as my head is going!

Any tips for going faster? I think I just need to practise more...

Also, is it possible to get a band 6 with around 1000 words??? I mean, my AOS essay in the trials was only around 6.5 pages, not much (i think about 850 words), but I got 14/15. So if I sustained this quality for another 100-150 words (about another page i think?), do you reckon I could get a 15, or do I need to be getting into a second booklet. This is something they have pounded into our brains - get into a second booklet - what do you guys think?

 

[shuttle_bus5]

Its all about Quality not Quantity, as Melissa said.
You could get 15/15 with 700 words if it was well written.
Likewise you could get 8/15 with 1400 words.

 

[q3thefish]

If mind-blank = 800s

If not = at least 950.

 

[emmcyclopedia]

You could get 15/15 with 700 words if it was well written.

ok =]
lol, that's probably a mild exaggeration to make a point tho... maybe it's just my teachers? they refuse to give you band 6 / band 5 if its of that quality but not of a certain length.
i think it comes to a point where no matter how well you're writing, you're obviously going to need to write more to compete with the rest of the cohort.
I want to ask those people who can write like 11 pages in 40 minutes... haha, do they do thumb weights or something???

 

[abhi23]

My teacher is like emmcyclopedia's.
He said that if we want to get into the A range then the following lengths are required:

7-8 pages for Belonging Essay
4 pages for Creative writing
and 6 pages for each Module essay.

He's a HSC marker and apparently that's how they go about it.

 

[susstorm]

7-8 pages for Belonging Essay
4 pages for Creative writing
and at least 6 pages for each Module essay.

He's a HSC marker and apparently that's how they go about it.

pages, as in the HSC booklet pages?

 

[loz1]

My teacher is like emmcyclopedia's.

7-8 pages for Belonging Essay
4 pages for Creative writing
and at least 6 pages for each Module essay.

this might sound dumb.. but how many words to a page approx?
cause i've been told that the hsc exam booklets fit less than the writing pages we usually use.. or are you going by how much we should write on normal loose leaf paper?

 

[abhi23]

this might sound dumb.. but how many words to a page approx?
cause i've been told that the hsc exam booklets fit less than the writing pages we usually use.. or are you going by how much we should write on normal loose leaf paper?

That was going off the HSC booklets.
Somewhere between 150-200 words a page.
200 a page is a bit extreme for 7-8 pages though so I'd say closer to 150.

 

[Macdwg]

Not to be rude or anything, but the way that HSC english is marked is to criteria, not by the length, perception means JACK SHIT. They have several people read over essays and if their are large differences in the marks given then a senior marker looks at it and gives it the final mark. Dont go spreading this fucking bullshit myth about length. It doesnt matter how big how small how long, aslong as you cover the criteria you will get the marks.

 

[loz1]

That was going off the HSC booklets.
Somewhere between 150-200 words a page.
200 a page is a bit extreme for 7-8 pages though so I'd say closer to 150.

okayy.. that sounds kinda realistic

 

[evil_kitten]

we got told that it has to be minimum 4 pages for each module.
my teacher marks hsc's and she said that the first thing she does is count the pages.
i'm so screwed! i can't write a sustained essay to save my life!

 

[abhi23]

Not to be rude or anything, but the way that HSC english is marked is to criteria, not by the length, perception means JACK SHIT. They have several people read over essays and if their are large differences in the marks given then a senior marker looks at it and gives it the final mark. Dont go spreading this fucking bullshit myth about length. It doesnt matter how big how small how long, aslong as you cover the criteria you will get the marks.

It's what we've been told all year, not by just one teacher either.

I hope your right though, there's no way I can write the lengths we were told to.

 

[shady145]

yea its ~160 words a page for HSC booklets at 8 words a line... that was the average of some guys that i have an examplar response of.

I can't write 1000 words in 40 minutes. In the trial for my belonging it was around 50 minutes and it's ~950 words.

modules are around 750-800 words

For me the thinking happens during reading time. I see what is being asked and so manipulate my thesis to suit the question. And then write like im gonna die.

this was the strategy that i found works best

 

[Cloesd]

1200+ for sure.

Despite what people say, Essays are marked based on length.

The process goes something like this.

-Step 1 pick up student's essay
-Step 2 flip through paper to see how long essay is
-If essay is <6 pages. Mark is capped at 80%, begin reading
-If essay is <4 pages mark is capped at 60% , begin reading
-If essay is < 2 pages mark is capped at 30% , begin skimming
-If essay is <1 pages mark is capped at 10% , glance at.

Check the standard's package for evidence. Band 6s in english are almost WITHOUT FAIL 7 pages or more.

The suspicious thing is, people with huge hand writing and people with tiny hand writing both seem to be getting band 6s around the 7-8 page mark, REGARDLESS of word count.
Ofcourse this doesn't apply if you just want to prove me wrong and go in writing an 8 page recount of the time you let the ham cook for too long, in place of a hamlet essay.

 

[emmcyclopedia]

My teacher is like emmcyclopedia's.
He said that if we want to get into the A range then the following lengths are required:

7-8 pages for Belonging Essay
4 pages for Creative writing
and 6 pages for each Module essay.

He's a HSC marker and apparently that's how they go about it.

Hey abhi23 - why does your teacher say we need to write more for AOS than for our modules? I would have thought it'd be the other way round???

But yeah... those numbers actually sound pretty reasonable. You see, my teachers say that if we're not getting into the second booklet, then a band 6 isn't really possible. So that means 9 pages+ ...

I've never gotten onto a second booklet (except in English Extension exam which is 1 hour per section), and so I've always thought that I'm not writing enough. But I do get around 7-8 for AOS, 5-6 for CW, and 7-8 for Modules... so maybe I'll focus less on writing surplus pages, and more on getting it down clearly?

To the person who made a comment about the criteria not specifying length - yes, I'm hearing you... just keep in mind that in order to fulfil the criteria you need to be able to write about it extensively. An essay consisting of 1-3 body paragraphs, despite it's quality, does not indicate an in-depth understanding of the course content. The more an individual writes, the greater the range of understanding they are able to demonstrate to the marker, thus fulfiling the criterion to a greater degree.

=]

 

[Cloesd]

Not to be rude or anything, but the way that HSC english is marked is to criteria, not by the length, perception means JACK SHIT. They have several people read over essays and if their are large differences in the marks given then a senior marker looks at it and gives it the final mark. Dont go spreading this fucking bullshit myth about length. It doesnt matter how big how small how long, aslong as you cover the criteria you will get the marks.

How can you be sure?

Just take a look at the standards package.. How is it that people who write in all different sizes of writing, with VARYING abilities at being succinct all hit both the band 5/6 mark and the 7/8 page mark simultaneously?

When the... Marker flips through the pages and notices you've got the whole booklet filled, he gets a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. From then on, after this realization of 7~ pages, your essay has favor.

Now if you go ahead and write random things in those 7 pages, youl'l quickly lose that favor. But say, you compared the essays of two students, one who's written 6 pages, the other who's covered the EXACT same content in 8 pages, with a little more long winded response.

I can gaurentee you the 8 page guy will > the 6 page guy, even if those 2 pages were filled with nothing more than extra "ands" and sophism.

 

[abhi23]

Hey abhi23 - why does your teacher say we need to write more for AOS than for our modules? I would have thought it'd be the other way round???
=]

Hello,
your right I double checked with him, it is 6 pages at least to get into B range.

For A range module essays should be 8 pages.

 

[annabackwards]

1100-1200 for me

But i've written 900-1000 words before and gotten 18+/20 so i doubt length has anything to do with it...