how many words in english essays? (1 Viewer)

[jaisy88]

how many words should you be looking to write per essay for paper 2 in adv english? and r hsc answer booklets smaller size then ur normal A4 size?

 

[UnIqUe_PrInCeSs]

I dunno.
the average is around 1000 words per essay.

 

[Tim035]

min- 1000
max- 1400

Except those exemplar responces who somehow manage to write like 18 pages in 40 minutes. Either that or they bit big time into the time they left for their other essays.

And no 1 A4 page has almost double the amount of lines and a much smaller margine. For me personally 5A4 pages converts to about 9 Booklet pages.

 

[emily2005]

i reckon 1000-1300 max more than that ard u r screwed!

 

[glitterfairy]

don't worry about words - it's not as if you're going to be able to count during the HSC So long as you're over two or three pages (yes, the HSC booklets are smaller than A4) then you're probably ok. I think most people do 5-8 (HSC booklet pages).

 

[dagwoman]

I'm ranked around 5th out of 77 in English, and when I write my essays beforehand, I make sure they are pretty much 1000 words, give or take 50 However, this isn't including introduction and conclusion, as I don't write these until I see the exam question in the exam, thereby encouraging me to apply my essay to the question rather than spit out my memorised one.

 

[glitterfairy]

^ Wouldn't you also need to relate your entire essay - not just intro and conclusion - to the question as well?

Regurgitated essays aside, I'm not a fan about obsessing over word limits. Unless you *have* one, it gives you one extra thing to worry about that you really don't need to. When you're in the exam room, you'll be dealing with things like "dammit! My hand is shaking!" and "crap! What's the word for ____ again...?" and "gah there was something else to do with existentialism... what was that quote again?"

Compared to all of the above, "how many words am I at now?" or "I'm at 800 words now, I don't think I should talk about XYZ point otherwise I'll go over my happy 1000 words" seems so unimportant/irrelevant...

 

[dagwoman]

Yes, of course I have to relate the whole essay to the question, but with the "model" essay I write, I'll still be using the same quotes and techniques and structure etc. regardless of the question, it'll just be about "teaking" it to the question. However, the introduction and conclusion is JUST about answering the question directly so there's no point in preparing it.

 

[P_Dilemma]

i think i've gotten away with 800-1000 word ones and gotten great marks once or twice.

-P_D

 

[scoobydoo]

i've been taught that you don't measure your essays by words in the exam
you write however much you can in 40 mins
no more no less

 

[pLuvia]

I've been doing 1200-1400 words for all of my essays

 

[poohead4444]

the last dude said some smart stuff. write as much as you can in 40 minutes. thats a good way of making a rough guide. once you have done that, you can count the words and make a rough number guide for future essays.
glitterfairy was sorta right. obviously you wouldnt count the words in an exam but she was being pedantic. its a good idea way of seeing how much you can right in 40 minutes tho wen you are preparing..... anyways
GOOD LUCK everybody!:wave:

 

[Wackedupwacko]

xia im sure ur aware by now that its quality over quantity.... (damn fag at english u r)