idiot (2 Viewers)

[Carnivour]

I did something very similar in my exam - for my historical periods question I misread it - the easier option was worded in a totally foreign way that I had never encountered before, therefore I wasnt prepared to write an entire essay on a topic that I could have misinterpreted and ended up being wrong. So I chose the other option which was more explicit, but I had absolutely no idea about it - I'm not joking, it was the NK Egypt, and this option asked to evaluate specific pharaohs within the period, ones that I never studied. As it turned out, I managed a 21 just with my bullshitting and inventory skills alone- so don't despair jack white. And definetely let us know how you go!

 

[xeuyrawp]

As it turned out, I managed a 21 just with my bullshitting and inventory skills alone- so don't despair jack white. And definetely let us know how you go!

Your school marked a paper about a period they've never taught, let alone you getting 21 without you being able to explicitly referring to Pharaohs?

 

[angelduck]

i think that deserves some congratulations!

 

[xeuyrawp]

i think that deserves some congratulations!

Hahah, most certainly.

Where do I get such a great ability to bullshit? I want some!

 

[angelduck]

hmmm, i had a great deal of that ability in high school, didnt really work for me in my psychology essay though

 

[silvermoon]

yeah, but duck, one of the reasons it was so easy to bullshit in high school was that we had davies! muchos harder with clack. i mean, come on, the guy had no friggin idea what he was teaching us. I still shudder thinking of his explanations of King Lear. Shakespeare is rolling in his grave.

 

[silvermoon]

u make a very good point

thanx duck but...at the risk of sounding narcissistic, don't I always?

 

[Carnivour]

Your school marked a paper about a period they've never taught, let alone you getting 21 without you being able to explicitly referring to Pharaohs?

No, I chose the right period, but the totally stupid option - infact, I was the only one out of 54 kids that chose that option. I think it went something like....

a) Explain the Theban reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt

OR

b) Evaluate the reigns and contribution of Amenhotep II AND Thutmosis IV.

Now, if any of you do NKE to the death of Thut IV you would realise that these two pharaohs did nothing - they are the least prolific of all the NKE pharaohs. Therefore it would be stupid to select that option, but in the heat of the moment I did. Option a) on the other hand is basically the entire topic under one banner statement and you can discuss basically every issue under the Egyptian sun - political, religious, building, etc. However, during the exam I didnt actually realise how general this question was, and stupidly took it to mean some specific event during the period that I hadnt studied. So yes, I didnt chose the wrong period, but I might as well have, because I had no idea about any of the individual achievements of these two pharaohs - which was what the question was really asking. However, by generalising and taking some stabs in the dark, I managed a 21.

 

[angelduck]

congratulations, i did any essay on those 2 (we were asked to write about the influence of 2 pharaohs) and i got 25, yay!! Now, if only i could have my notes back of mitch and id post it up for u, ill try, coz i didnt bullshit in that one anyway

 

[Carnivour]

congratulations, i did any essay on those 2 (we were asked to write about the influence of 2 pharaohs) and i got 25, yay!! Now, if only i could have my notes back of mitch and id post it up for u, ill try, coz i didnt bullshit in that one anyway

Why did you chose those two? they are the least of all the pharaohs I feel comfortable discussing!

 

[enva]

Even though Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV didnt do that much, its always a good point just to expand on what you can remember. For the both of them regarding reigns and contributions i would have emphasised the continued 'Divine' aspect of there claims the dream stela etc. Also nicely relate that Thutmose IV secured peace with Mitanni through a diplomatic marriage. If anything those two points are crucial to a candidate displaying even for two faily minor Pharaohs that they understood the period. Couldnt hurt to throw in some NKE key words aswell.

The trial paper i got had a question i couldnt do as the NKE Queens isnt something i wouldnt have thought that much on. Luckily we did both NKE periods and Hatshepsut for personality with a little Sparta thrown in for society.

 

[silvermoon]

No, I chose the right period, but the totally stupid option - infact, I was the only one out of 54 kids that chose that option. I think it went something like....

a) Explain the Theban reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt

OR

b) Evaluate the reigns and contribution of Amenhotep II AND Thutmosis IV.

Now, if any of you do NKE to the death of Thut IV you would realise that these two pharaohs did nothing - they are the least prolific of all the NKE pharaohs. Therefore it would be stupid to select that option, but in the heat of the moment I did. Option a) on the other hand is basically the entire topic under one banner statement and you can discuss basically every issue under the Egyptian sun - political, religious, building, etc. However, during the exam I didnt actually realise how general this question was, and stupidly took it to mean some specific event during the period that I hadnt studied. So yes, I didnt chose the wrong period, but I might as well have, because I had no idea about any of the individual achievements of these two pharaohs - which was what the question was really asking. However, by generalising and taking some stabs in the dark, I managed a 21.

well...i wouldn't quite agree: ThIV definately had quite a large impact. I would have found it difficult to talk at length about Am II *shudder*

 

[angelduck]

i managed, but yeah, Thtu IV did alot, and also contributed to the change in religion about to come (ahh, the sun god, what grace, what finesse)

 

[silvermoon]

however, there's only so much you can say about contributions to what would come after him without straying outside of the time period being tested

 

[samuelblayden]

relax we all stuff up some time

 

[blink rock]

I wouldnt worry about it too much (which is a stupid thing for me to say because if i did it id be crying!!)
a girl in my class did something similar to that, she answered our sparta question from the wrong section, thinking it was the one we were supposed to do. Our teacher gave allowance to her because it was our first real experience of a proper paper (all previous ones had been written by teachers with purely our topics, not bought) and she still got 3rd in the class (damn her!!! i beat her but!! hehe)
anyway, i wouldnt worry to much about it, its done now. just use it as a learning curve and practise so you can correct it b4 HSC!!!

Dont you hate exams! sends everyone nuts!!!

 

[jack white]

A second-placed idiot.

OK guys, well I got my results back today.

section 1: 23/25
section 2: 22/25
section 3: 22/25
section 4: 0/25 ("wrong question, no marks")
That gives me 67% and second place (says a lot for the quality of my school hey..)

What’s worst of all is that she actually gave me 19/25 for my vain attempt at the wrong question and stood there and crossed it off my results and changed it from 86% to 67%. Ouch. She said it would be useless to appeal to the head teacher but I guess I will anyway just for the sake of it. I ask you all, why not hey? I have never sat a proper HSC-style exam for ancient nor ever looked at one of them...

I asked her, how would a marker know if I had done the wrong question? To that she replied by saying that they "have all our sections on a database". Is this true at all or am I being blindfolded here? I'd love to know from somebody who seriously has a clear idea as I therefore have at least one grounds for appeal.

Do you know what sucks the most - first place was only 85%. If I was given those 19 marks I would have pulled off the impossible. Now that would have been funny. And a complete invalidation of this thread mind you.

But I am looking at the positive side of things, I came second in the class with my shitty attempt. Guys and girls attempted all four questions and got below sixty so I guess I didn’t do all that bad anyway. I am looking at it this way...I got 66/75. Now that’s cool with me. As for my zero, I will fight it, like any respectable HSC student and I will go down fighting. However, I now realise the importance of reading my questions properly. And yeah, bring on some post-it notes as well.

As for the rest of my trials
92 eng
85 ee1 (very tough exam that one)
95 legal
97 soc+cult
Ancient is the thorn in my side or however that saying goes.

I will keep you all posted on my appeal (sounds very legal doesn't it) and thank you all for giving me invaluable tips for the imminent HSC. My average only drops to an 82 because of this silly blunder and my teacher's ruthlessness so I am over it. *bridge is built, now being crossed*

I have a friend who only received 37 in his trial in the 2001 HSC but he got 96 in the HSC for one of his subjects. While it may not have been ancient history it just proves that anything is possible.

Sorry about the length of my post and its self-reflective nature. A post on my appeal will appear this week. Wish me all the luck you possibly can...I will certainly need it.

 

[fleepbasding]

good luck man! I lodged an appeal for one of my english adv essay marks today. Hoping for the best. Goodluck, I think you atleast deserve something for your efforts.

 

[angelduck]

its true, they have ur sections on a database, or at least thats what i was told, i would definetly appeal, spec. if ur teacher didnt give u a previous exam to look at structure wise

 

[silvermoon]

yes, they do have sections on database --> the reason being, they want to stop people from picking the area they know best and just answering all the sections they can with that one area rather than the area they were supposed to answer it in.

i would appeal - id be asking why she gave you 19 in the first place. obviously she knew it wasn't the right section. makes me think she was going to give you the mark and then took it away when she changed her mind. if so, you do have grounds for appeal: if she changed her mind, why? She had the option of giving you a mark or giving you 0 and her first choice was giving you 19. of course, be prepared for the head teacher to say that s/he told your teacher what to do in this case after she'd marked it. but if you feel very strongly about it, go to your principal after the head teacher.