You’ve heard your teacher say it time and time again: “You lost marks because you didn’t answer the question.” So, what exactly do teachers mean by this?
It is really helpful to adopt the mindset of the marker. The marker is going to be assessing thousands of English essays on the same question, with most responses answering the basics correctly – thesis, providing textual evidence, and reference to a literary technique. However, what sets the best responses apart are the answers that address the marking rubric.
For a band 6 answer, it is expected that students provide a ‘sophisticated’ approach to breaking down the question and providing a meaningful answer. Before you start writing your answer, circle the key words in the question so that you know exactly what to address. For example;
How does Shakespeare use imagery to portray values of revenge and deceit in Hamlet?
The bolded words are the are key parts of the question that are going to be assessed by the markers. A good response would highlight imagery as the key part of the textual analysis and discuss the various types of imagery presented in Hamlet. It would also demonstrate why the ideas of revenge and deceit are addressed and how they relate to each other. A top response would also provide an opinion.
There is also a common misconception about HSC English where students think that memorising a couple of solid essays, and then reproducing them in the exam and changing a few words, is going to get them good marks. This is really not the case. The important skill to practice here is flexibility and fluency in your text. If you know your text thoroughly, then you can adapt your pre-conceived ideas to answer the given question. A pro-tip here is to allocate some time planning before you actually start your answer. It is pretty tempting to dive straight into the exam due to the time restrictions however if you do not plan an outline of your essay, you are likely to stray away from the question.
So…
- Identify the key components of the question.
- Shape your knowledge and ideas around the key terms in the question and address each component directly.
- Do not memorise a whole essay. Understand ideas, themes and textual evidence to adapt it to the question.
- Plan, plan plan so you do not stray away from the question.
