3 Easy Ways to Boost Your Mark in VCE English
01 TEXT RESPONSE
The simplest thing any student scoring in the 5-7 range can do to easily improve their grade, is to move away from summary and into analysis. Often low to mid scoring pieces in VCE English tend to struggle with narrating the text - providing a chronological breakdown of the plot, instead of providing a cohesive analysis.
Often times this occurs due to students having a poor understanding of TEEL. TEEL is the overall paragraph structure that students often use in structuring their body paragraphs.
T - Topic Sentence
E - Evidence
E - Explanation
L - Link
The issue occurs when it comes to “explanation.” Too often students forget to use their explanation to provide insightful analysis of the quotes they have selected, and instead use it to explain what has occurred within the text.
Consider the following two examples:
Hitchcock reveals a world where men and women often project social assumptions on to each other. Jeff makes assumptions around Miss Torso, whom he believes is “the Queen Bee with her pick of the drones,” only interested in the “most prosperous looking [man].” This is because Miss Torso has a lot of men at her party, and she is looking for a partner in one of them.
Hitchcock reveals a world where men and women often project social assumptions on to each other. Jeff makes assumptions around Miss Torso, whom he believes is “the Queen Bee with her pick of the drones,” only interested in the “most prosperous looking [man]." This reveals Jeff’s belief around the inherently shallow nature of women, who he feels are more interested in the social prestige of a “prosperous” husband, than the companionship a partner may bring.
If we look at the two explanation sentences (in the green!), the difference in quality between the writing is clear.
The first example only contextualises Miss Torso’s decisions in light of the plot - it is a summary.
However, the second example provides an analysis. It does this in two ways.
Firstly, it uses analytic language, e.g. “reveals.”
And secondly, it connects the evidence back to the idea in the topic sentence - “social assumptions.” In the case, it shows the social assumptions that Jeff is making.
I would encourage students struggling in text response to master that first skill in utilising analytic language in their explanation sentences. Words such as, reveals, portrays, highlights, showcases, etc.
From there, move on to the second skill - try and provide insight into how the evidence demonstrates your idea within the topic sentence.
02 COMPARATIVE
For students studying comparative I think the key is to move beyond simple comparison sentences starters such as, “Both texts discuss x….” when starting out a body paragraph.
Think of how many essays examiners read that have those sentence starters!
Focus on having a strong, overarching idea in your topic sentence which has clear thematic bearing in relation to both of your key texts. For example, VCAA’s 2019 examination report highlights this as a successful example of a strong topic sentence: When change is deemed incapable for a society, a defiance may occur where rebellion seems the most successful option.
This approach to a topic sentence is a bit more philosophical/abstract/ideas based, but it allows you to smoothly integrate both texts in a single paragraph under the banner of thematic analysis.
With respect to body paragraphs, I would encourage students to carefully begin weaving together evidence from both texts, integrating analysis of the texts as much as possible and moving beyond a ‘block’ approach where you analyse texts one at a time.
Finally, I would remind students that in the 2019 examination report, VCAA also reminds students of the need to “explore meaningful connections.”
It is important to remember that meaningful connections in texts extend beyond character - remembering to compare literary devices, ideas, and socio-historical context is also key to ensuring a stronger mark.
03 LANGUAGE ANALYSIS
I think language analysis, structurally, is one of the easier components of the exam. You don’t have to memorise any quotes - you can walk in and rely on executing a skill set that you’ve practiced multiple times in the year.
My primary advice for students to boost their mark in this section is to practice isolating a writer’s contention and their arguments.
This can be really difficult without consistent practice.
I would encourage students to look beyond the structure of a persuasive piece. For example, if I started my opinion piece with strong statistical analysis I could be doing this as a hook, to lead in my audience. However, I could also be raising these examples to bring an argument of mine to the forefront of my article, in order to shock my reader into later accepting my contention. I could also be doing both!
Having an awareness that arguments are often not presented chronologically, and that a contention is rarely articulated in a forthright manner, makes it easier for students to dig through and find the connecting threads between the ideas presented by an author.