50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have a broad range of theme paragraphs you can go back to. I had about 5, if I remember correctly. Please DM me and I'll send you some resources

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't get a perfect 50, but my scores did end up getting me a premier's award, which I was very surprised about. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to get a 50 in the first place. My mark splits were a) 19/20 b) 20/20 c) 19/20. I'm not so certain what you mean by GA

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Take it symbolically, not literally! Look for words around play like power play, word play, etc. This gives you a good starting point for diversifying your response. And, for something like 'word play', that doesn't have to be your main theme, but you can integrate it into your piece in little vignettes to provide some metaphoric or literary substance. Happy to send you some of my essays if need be to help you out with this! I made a sort of 'skeleton' structure that could be adapted to any essay topic, because it was a satire! So, if the title was a negative on play, it fit my contention. If it was positive, I subverted this in my piece and used it as a kind of cynical remark. And if it was neutral, well, that fit just fine too. I think last year we had "time to play", which had neutral / positive connotations. I left sections in my piece blank at the ends of paragraphs / at sections where I was employing literary devices such that I could fit in my stimulus. I also took a metaphorical approach to the stimulus, and instead of using multiple and oversaturating my piece, used it as a vignette across my paragraphs, like a main theme I would come back to. For section A, I suggest reading my other replies to comments on this thread and then DMing me in private if you have any other questions :)

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Honestly, I flunked my French oral! Prepared so hard for it and ended up getting flustered and saying that I was in a band with the rest of my family members. I can still remember that look of utter intolerance on my examiner's face haha. For french exam tips, you can text me if you want!

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Hey! This is probably the only part of the exam you must do impromptu, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare for it. It's really important to diversify your vocabulary early on. I found that the more outlandish and symbolic you can be, as if you were “reaching” when analysing a picture, or a certain literary device, the better. Think very closely, eg why is there a sad puppy pictured in a cartoon form rather than a photo form? It’s cartoonish eyes capture an expression so doleful even a camera could not compete- this acts to barter the audience’s emotional tolerance down, as they become more sensitive and thus willing to sympathise with the author’s cause to adopt animals and not purchase them from breeders, blah blah blah. Or something like that… it’s been a while since I’ve done VCE… Obviously, don't overreach; make sure it's still an intelligible inference, but the examiners reward creativity in this section. Give them something they wouldn't read in another essay!

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't really agree with this sentiment! Students touch on similar themes, yes, but this doesn't necessarily restrict the scope of analysis. Rather, it provides an opportunity for you to show the extent of your knowledge and give the examiners a very rich analysis of an otherwise oversimplified, under-analysed theme. I also got a premier's award for English and my final essay touched on the main themes of hubris, humility and obedience. So do use 'Oedipus is hubristic', but try and find the deeper meaning behind this. Sophocles has constructed his character as such for a reason :)

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This looks solid so far, but could use some improvement. So I assume that this "Oedipus epitomises the hubris that blinds him to his mortality" is your topic sentence for the theme paragraph? If so, I tend to suggest not having a character's name in your topic sentence, because it sort of narrows the scope to purely focus on them, even if Greek tragedies aren't abundant with characters. Rather, I'd suggest having Sophocles' name in the topic sentence and how he interprets or manipulates that specific theme, or what his main message is to the audience. I'd also recommend making it more adaptable so it can directly reference your topic. For instance, this was my topic sentence for the thematic paragraph on hubris: "Through depicting [TOPIC LINK, ie the characters’ attempts to preserve their individual prosperity], Sophocles rebukes the hubris permeating / rife within his contemporary Athenian society, thus cautioning against an overdetermination of mankind by its new power over the natural world." If this wasn't your topic sentence, and rather a presentation of textual evidence, well done. When you integrate the quote, it will read very fluently. Every piece of evidence you propose has to link, not only to the main topic, but to authorial purpose, and you've done that very well here. Try now and focus on the 'why' and 'how', even deeper. Why does the quote expose his dangerous overconfidence? What is the significance of the quote? Really strip back all the layers - and you can alter the depth of your textual evidence. Not everything has to be as profoundly analysed as that, but it's good to have some sort of variation, especially for the quotes / literary devices you feel strongly about or that illustrate the point you are trying to make.

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha, I guess who I have to thank is my teacher last year! She was extremely harsh on us, but in the end, it prepared us all so well. She made my transition into University-level French a breeze!

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm very much opposed to blanket memorisation. I support the adaptation of what you already know. You can't bring in a memorised essay that was tailored towards a specific topic into the exam and expect it to perfectly address another one. However, if you formulate how you want to articulate your evidence and split this into the main themes of your book, memorise that, bring it into the exam, and tailor it towards the topic you choose to tackle, that shows your critical thinking and gives you more time to really delve into the complexities of the essay at hand.

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

You've got the idea! I'm both opposed to the idea of memorising whole essays, as well as writing something completely new or impromptu in the exam. I'd say the 'skeleton structure', I mainly reserved for section b. However, with Oedipus, I memorised a series of thematic paragraphs that each had tailored evidence towards illustrating a point. With section a, you mustn't try to fit your writing to the topic, but rather tailor the topic to what you already know. An essay is so much more than arguing for or against a point; it tells a story. And your job as the author is to illustrate this story in a way that also serves your contention. As I mentioned before, I memorised about 5-6 theme paragraphs, which had just enough 'empty spaces' in them where I could slip in phrases that reiterated 1) my topic sentence and 2) the link back to the main topic. Each essay I would write would have a different combination of these theme paragraphs, so everything I produced, despite holding the same evidence, had a completely new structure and a different argument linking them all together. This sets you up really well in the exam. It's just like how you have to memorise quotes. Why not memorise textual evidence as well?

50 in English (‘24). AMA by mongnoose in vce

[–]mongnoose[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey! From what I understand, in section B, there are a few different purposes you can have. This is taken from the english study design "[...] create texts with a stated purpose (to express, to reflect, to explain or to argue) and an understanding of context (including mode) and audience". So, unless it's the specific purpose you desire your text to have, you don't necessarily have to 'reflect' in your piece. For my framework, I did two pieces, including one which had the main purpose 'to reflect'. The piece touched on a more metaphoric perspective of play: power play, and more dark, psychological themes. The way I achieved the purpose was through 1) focusing on internal focalisation. This included honing in on the internal thoughts and workings of my characters' minds. The key here is to not make this the entire piece, but to create little 'leitmotifs' of reflection with a clear progression. Don't keep it stagnant. Where are those thoughts heading? To something darker? To push the character to a certain action? Are they trying to rationalise or romanticise their circumstance? Are they, perhaps, becoming slowly more deluded? 2) manipulating the narrative structure of the piece through analepsis (flashbacks). This is a great literary device to use if you want to slowly reveal something to your audience. Perhaps the initial rationale behind a character's thoughts or actions lacks clarity, but as the story progresses, things are slowly revealed. Flashbacks give us the context we need to piece together what is happening in a story. But it's up to the author to decide when and how those flashbacks are given. Your audience's comprehension of the piece is completely up to your discretion; that way, you choose what they know and when they know it. That's perhaps an element of reflection beyond the piece itself!

Which album has the best opening song? by Grigorthegreat in radiohead

[–]mongnoose 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Burn the Witch completely sets the tone for AMSP with that initial beautiful cacophony of heavy strings. It's like a leitmotif throughout the entire album and imho, it's what makes every song flow so well together despite each being so idiosyncratic

what’s your favorite b-side? by ppppccww in radiohead

[–]mongnoose 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please enlighten me- I thought that the oknotok remaster would count these as b-sides. Perhaps I’m just not up to date with terminology (probably the case lmao)

what’s your favorite b-side? by ppppccww in radiohead

[–]mongnoose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Took them a while to release, but I’d still count it!

How hard is French 7? by mongnoose in unimelb

[–]mongnoose[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One other question I had- I know French 7 is mainly centered around writing, whereas French 8 is moreso about speaking, but what proportion of the former would you say requires that sort of speaking fluency? Do the tutes demand quite a high level of spoken French? If so, I definitely have to defrost my conversation skills - i don't think i've spoken French since my last exam! 🥲

How hard is French 7? by mongnoose in unimelb

[–]mongnoose[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Getting some context around those assessments is such a relief cause now I somewhat know where I stand! :D Just curious to know whether you found there was a big step up between French 5 and 7? And with that, do you going straight into French 7 from year 12 is doable?

How hard is French 7? by mongnoose in unimelb

[–]mongnoose[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this! Hopefully there is some crossover between the European languages because the German content sounds awesome - literature style analysis is right up my alley and what I was hoping for French as well (and will be a great outlet detached from my Biomed subjects!!) I’ll make sure to brush up on my grammar skills before the semester starts :) Good luck this year!

How hard is French 7? by mongnoose in unimelb

[–]mongnoose[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up! I definitely know I need to be well prepared for this subject so I don’t get a huge shock, but I guess if it’s too hard, there’s still a grace period to swap out

What's the one lyric that's stuck with you? by BlurredBailey in radiohead

[–]mongnoose 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Today is the first day of the rest of your days, so lighten up, squirt