y r! y ihua gong...any good essay isn’t too long or too short. an ideal essay should answer the...

HSC ENGLISH:

DISCOVERY

Define. Develop. Discover!

By Meihua Gong

SECTION 1: UNSEEN TEXTS!

ANNOTATE. ANALYSE. ASSESS!

ANNOTATE!

!   Make sure you quickly annotate and highlight/ underline sections of the unseen text that may be helpful in answering the given question. You should do this for significant quotes which contains plenty of techniques and discovery ideas to analyse.

ANALYSE!

!   You should analyse the conceptual significance of discovery ideas examined. It is important to analyse the text as a whole rather than just analyse an obscure part.

!   Never analyse parts of the text you are uncertain about. Good analysis is supported by concise, coherent and complete expression of your interpretation of the discovery concepts explored in the texts.

ASSESS!

!   It is important to formulate a point of view regardless of what question you are responding to. Make sure you evaluate how effectively a particular composer has explored an idea relevant to discovery.

Tip 1: Answer the Question ONLY!

!   DO NOT have a NEUTRAL VIEWPOINT and support your point of view with VALID TEXTUAL EVIDENCE.

!   YOU MUST ENSURE you are explaining the CONCEPTUAL SIGNIFICANCE of techniques at ALL TIMES

!   (i.e. how the techniques enhance an understanding of a particular discovery concept!)


Tip 2: NORMALISE your answers!

BEFORE AFTER

The use of hyperbolising within…highlights she is UNHAPPY…

The use of hyperbolising within…highlights her UNHAPPINESS…

The integration of a simile within…exemplifies he is ISOLATED…

The integration of a simile within…exemplifies his sense of ISOLATION…

The historical allusion to…accentuates the persona is SATISFIED.

The historical allusion to…accentuates the persona’s sense of SATISFACTION...


Tip 3: Construct Thesis

Sentences !   Deliberately planned discoveries motivated by

necessity can often result in the individual accumulating a renewed understanding of their self.

!   The exploration of a new physical landscape, can empower individuals to speculate upon future possibilities that is transformative for their creative identities.

TOP 10 LITERARY TECHNIQUES!

!  Personification

!  Metaphor

!  Simile

!  Alliteration

!  Symbolism

!  Multisensory Imagery

!  Anaphora

!  Hyperbole

!  Modality

!  Jargon


Top 8 Visual Techniques!

!  Juxtaposition

!  Symbolism

!  Camera Angle

!  Salient Feature


!  Camera Shot

!  Lighting

!  Vectors

! Colour Tone

SECTION 2: Creative Writing!

EXPLORE. EXPERIMENT. EXCEL!

EXPLORE!

!   Make sure you explore any given visual and literary stimulus in a sustained and significant way. Make sure you explore at least two or three concepts relevant to the discovery rubric in your story, including the concept(s) highlighted specifically in the creative question. Explore simple experiences in a poignant, personal way.

EXPERIMENT!

!   Experiment with different structural forms, don’t stick to the conventional narrative model of introduction, complication, climax and denouement if you wish to stand out. Experiment with framing devices, two, perspective stories, integrating diary entries, letter fragments into your story.

EXCEL!

!   The only way to excel in creative writing is through sustained practice, focus on understanding how you can adapt your creative to different types of stimuli and practice under exam conditions. Practice makes perfect.

An Irresistible Plot…

!   DOES NOT involve: murder/ drug abuse, abortion/ self image or bullying, romance,

!   DOES NOT have a CLIFF HANGER ending

!   HAVE a REALISTIC PLOT that your markers will find RELATABLE to their lives.

!   Consider cultural, familial, friendship thematic concerns


Tips to Plot Creatively!

!   You can start your story in its ending/climax.

!   DON’T FOCUS on more than 3 MAIN characters in your story!

!   If your plot is too good to be true, chances are it is.

!   Make sure there is a TRANSFORMATION from the beginning to the end of your story! I.e. The Plot Advances!


POINTS FOR GRABS!

!   5 POINTS for the WORST COHERENT PLOT idea on a discovery creative.

!   (HINT!:MORE FORBIDDEN THEMES, MORE MARKS!)

!   10 POINTS for the BEST COHERENT PLOT idea on a discovery creative

!   TIME LIMIT: 5 MINUTES!

A DIY guide to a CREATIVE

setting! !   Integrate MULTI-SENSORY imagery!

!   AVOID DYSTOPIAN/UTOPIAN backdrops

!   A GOOD SETTING should:

!   A)ADVANCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTERS

!   B)ENHANCE YOUR EXPLORATION OF DISCOVERY CONCEPTS


Devilishly good creatives… !   MAKE SURE your characters are NOT flawless

individuals, they need to be realistic, believable ones!

!   DON’T have POPULAR names for your characters such as Sarah, Jason, Katrina etc. Choose a cultural or nickname to make your character STAND OUT!

!   NEVER use the word ‘DISCOVERY’ in your creative. If needed, use synonyms or related words.


USE DIALOGUE WISELY!

!   AVOID using EXCESSIVE DIALOGUE in your story. Dialogue should achieve 3 THINGS.

!   1)REVEAL MORE things about the MAIN character or their RELATIONSHIPS with other characters

!   2)ADVANCE PLOT PROGRESSION

!   3)ENRICH DISCOVERY THEMES


!   Grandma had always told us to preserve very hot chillies in a glass jar filled with an oily, rich liquid that she claimed was a family secret passed down through generations. Whenever I pestered her about the secret ingredients, she dismissed my request and said she could give the recipe to me before she died. But when Sam asked her about the ingredients, Grandma could pull Sam aside and gently whispered the generative wisdom into her ears.

!   The smooth flow of Grandma’s endless proverbs and Sam’s laughter used to be mixed with the ease of steam and water and made the time spent in wrapping the dumplings passed seamlessly. Now, Grandma only gave monosyllabic replies to my questions. It was not only Grandma that had changed. We were all like mechanical robots: scooping, dipping, wrapping, sealing. It was difficult to start a lasting conversation; some memories were too heavy to share…

BAND 6 CREATIVE EXAMPLE!

LAST….But NOT LEAST!

!   USE PARAGRAPHS-the marker DOES NOT want to see one long continuous body of words.

!   USE LITERARY DEVICES that you use in analysing your prescribed texts to ENHANCE your own writing. I.e. simile, extended metaphor, reflective tone etc…

!   STICK with ONE NARRATIVE POINT of view in your story-don’t confuse markers with multiple points of views.

!   GRAMMAR& PUNCTUATION COUNTS-use complete sentences, have the right tense and MAKE SURE your writing makes sense.


POINTS FOR GRABS!

PROMPT 1: A man, in his thirties, likes to take public transport, enjoys playing tennis, unmarried.

PROMPT 2: A woman, in their forties, never travelled back to her birthplace, hates to linger on the past, married.

Give me the best plot you can think of in relation to discovery. The more rubric points the better, the more integration of the given information, the better.

MAX: 30 POINTS! Time Limit: 10 minutes

SECTION 3: Essay Writing!

CONCISE. COHERENT. COMPLETE!

CONCISE!

!   Any good essay isn’t too long or too short. An ideal essay should answer the given essay question in a concise and succinct manner, using only significant quotes and techniques. Don’t have a memory dump in your essay writing. Make sure all the things you write are DIRECTLY relevant to the essay question.

COHERENT!

!   The coherency and fluency of an essay depends heavily upon having a strong grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling as well as utilising a good essay structure. Each paragraph should have linkage words to link ideas in a coherent manner. To make your essay more coherent, try to avoid using unnecessarily verbose language.

COMPLETE!

!   Any good essay must be a whole essay, meaning it should include a strong introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion. An essay missing any of these components is an incomplete essay and will result in you losing unnecessary marks.

DO NOT’s of a GOOD ESSAY!

!   recount PLOT

!   rephrase the question EXACTLY

!   Have SYNOYMNS in the SAME sentence!

!   have the same technique and/effect in the SAME body paragraph

!   DERAIL from answering the question!


DO NOT’s of a good essay…

!   HAVE effects of techniques as advancing PLOT PROGRESSION

!   LINK texts by PLOT SIMILARITIES

!   HAVE an UNBALANCED DISCUSSION OF TEXTS

!   HAVE an EXCESSIVELY SHORT essay (i.e. less than 900 words) or an EXCESSIVELY LONG essay (i.e. more than 1500 words)


LINKING COHESIVELY!

!   MOREOVER

!   SUBSEQUENTLY

!   THEREFORE

!   THUS

!   FURTHERMORE

!   COMPARATIVELY

!   IN CONTRAST


!   CONGRUENTLY

!   ADDITIONALLY

!   LIKEWISE

!   -SIMILARLY

!   -ACCORDINGLY

!   -UNLIKE

!   -CONVERSELY

HIGHLIGHTING…Techniques!

!   EXEMPLIFY

!   HIGHLIGHT

!   ACCENTUATE

!   REVEAL

!   EMPHASISES

!   EXAMINE

!   EXPLORE

!   EXPLORE

!   STRESS

!   EXPOSE

!   BRING ATTENTION

!   GIVE PROMINENCE

!   UNDERSCORES

!   INTENSIFIES


MUST’S of an ‘A+’ essay!

!   Relevant,

!   Fluently Expressed

!   Complete,

!   Concise

!   Relevant

!   Cohesive,

!   Specific,

!   Well-Organised

!   Analytical

!   Non-Repetitive


DECONSTRUCTING an ESSAY QUESTION

!   When you get any essay question, you need to ask yourself some of the following questions: What is the question really about? What is it asking you to do? What parts of the rubric is the essay question focusing on? What are the thesis points you can come up in relation to the question? What are the textual evidence that you remember that will assist you to answer this question and relates to your thesis points?

!   Underline/highlight the key words of the essay question, including the exam verb(s), i.e. evaluate, discuss, explain, explore, analyse as well as key words relevant to the module.

!   NEVER WRITE AN ESSAY WITHOUT DECONSTRUCTING THE ESSAY QUESTION AND MAKING AN ESSAY PLAN FIRST. REMEMBER TO PLAN BEFORE YOU START TO WRITE WITH YOUR PEN.


IDEAL INTRO:

!   A general sentence that covers the overall aim/objective of the overall module/rubric studied.

!   2 or 3 sentences that introduces the texts to be discussed in the essay, including the author of the text, the title of the text and the year the text was first written/ performed in brackets.

!   Make sure you give an overview of what the text is about and introduce your main thesis points relating the text and answering the question. In a normal essay, usually two main thesis points is adequate.

!   A concluding sentence that links both texts together in relation to the aims of the module and essay question.

!   A good introduction should be no more than 150 words in length


IDEAL BODY PARAGRAPH! !   A clear, concise topic sentence that clearly utilises the key words of the essay

question to answer it directly. A well-written topic sentence doesn’t recount plot details, doesn’t contain contradictory statements and is firmly relevant to the essay question and is a strong thesis.

!   3-4 pieces of most relevant textual evidence which supports your topic sentence/thesis point. succinct quotes and text-specific techniques.

!   A clear, concise, concluding sentence that clearly summarises the key thesis point being proven in the paragraph. A well written concluding sentence does not introduce new points that have not been examined within the body paragraph.

!   The body paragraph should be between 200-250 words in length , and an ideal essay should have three or four body paragraphs approximately equal in length.


IDEAL CONCLUSION!

!   2-4 sentences that summarises the main thesis points being proven in the body paragraphs, you should make a last reference to the texts including the author, the textual form, the title of the text.

!   A good conclusion shouldn’t include reference to plot detail, shouldn’t be identical to the introduction and should show some greater overall insight relevant to the question.

!   The ideal conclusion should be no longer than 150 words in length.


Highlight all the mistakes in this paragraph

Mickey Mouse’s novel, “A mouse and a cat” explores how new discoveries can transform and renew self-perceptions. Through Mouse’s integration of a simile “as delicate as a feather” in Minnie’s assertion, “The unprecedented volcanic explosion made me realise the fragility of my life…it is really as delicate as a feather”, Mouse examines how Minnie views life to be transient. Futhermore, Mouse’s judicious use of emotive, high modality language within the lines “Without my mother’s phone calls, I could never have enough courage to continue this journey” emphasises the importance of having a mother’s support in making new discoveries. Thus, Mouse’s classic, “A mouse and a cat” effectively examines the diverse ways in which new discoveries can transform and renew self-perceptions.

Corrected Paragraph Mickey Mouse’s novel, “A mouse and a cat” explores how new discoveries can transform self-perceptions. Through Mouse’s integration of a simile “as delicate as a feather” in Minnie’s assertion, “The unprecedented volcanic explosion made me realise the fragility of my life…it is really as delicate as a feather”, Mouse examines the potential for renewed perceptions to be catalysed by new geographical explorations. Futhermore, Mouse’s judicious use of emotive, high modality language within Minnie’s revelation “Without my mother’s phone calls, I could never have enough courage to continue this journey” emphasises the important role that psychological support plays in motivating new discoveries which in turn transforms individual’s outlook on life. Thus, Mouse’s classic, “A mouse and a cat” effectively examines the diverse ways in which new physical discoveries can transform personal perceptions.

Useful LinksJ

! http://community.boredofstudies.org/44/english-area-study/331128/discover-discovery-guide-99-student.html

! https://www.matrix.edu.au/introducing-the-new-area-of-study-discovery

! http://www.englishteacher.com.au/Portals/EnglishTeachers/PublicDocs/Free%20Resources/DISCOVERY%20FREE%20PPT%20(1).pdf

DEFINE. DEVELOP. DISCOVER!

THANK YOU AND MAY YOU UNCOVER

YOUR BEST HSC RESULTS!

For further questions, feel free to email me at

[email protected]

y r! y ihua gong...any good essay isn’t too long or too short. an ideal essay should answer the...

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