2014 Notes from the Marking Centre – English Extension 1
Introduction
This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 English Extension 1 course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2014 Higher School Certificate examination, highlighting their strengths in particular parts of the examination and indicating where candidates need to improve.
This document should be read along with:
- the English Extension 1 Stage 6 Syllabus
- the 2014 Higher School Certificate English Extension 1 examination
- the marking guidelines
- Advice for HSC students about examinations
- other support documents developed by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW to assist in the teaching and learning of English in Stage 6.
Module A: Genre
Questions 1, 3, 5
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- showcasing their knowledge of their texts and the genre as a whole
- formulating clear thesis statements that engaged with all aspects of the question
- selecting relevant and appropriate supplementary texts that demonstrate an understanding of generic conventions
- discussing the four required texts in a balanced way
- discussing the technical aspects of texts
- using literary critics to discuss texts and generic conventions
- integrating contextual concerns and the ways in which they are represented in texts.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- selecting supplementary texts that are appropriate examples of the genre
- addressing the requirements of the question rather than rephrasing the question and reproducing a prepared answer
- using textual detail accurately and judiciously
- ensuring that their handwriting is legible.
Questions 2, 4, 6
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- engaging with the demands of the question
- judiciously selecting stylistic devices such as symbolism, allusion and motifs
- using the conventions of the genre in a sophisticated manner
- creating plausible characterisation that is consistent throughout the response
- composing original and complex pieces of writing incorporating the elements of ‘doubt’ and ‘an apology’.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- engaging with the question throughout the response, not tagging ‘the apology’ to the end of the response as an afterthought
- improving the efficacy of a response in terms of character development and the exploration of endemic issues by not relying too much on dialogue
- aiming for a level of logical consistency and overall plausibility
- consideration of setting and context.
Module B: Texts and Ways of Thinking
Questions 7, 9, 11
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- engaging with all aspects of the question
- presenting a convincing engagement
- demonstrating knowledge of the texts, both prescribed and supplementary
- integrating their analyses of texts
- selecting relevant and appropriate supplementary texts
- controlling language skilfully
- demonstrating clear understanding of concepts central to the various electives.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- using textual evidence consistently to support arguments
- engaging specifically with the terms of the question rather than writing prepared responses
- selecting appropriate texts that are connected to the concerns of the period.
Elective Specific Comments
After the Bomb (Question 7)
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- identifying ‘significant ideas’ within the texts
- using textual evidence in order to demonstrate how responders are engaged both ‘intellectually’ and ‘emotionally’.
Candidates need to improve:
- developing a greater understanding of the post-war period
- selecting texts that deal sufficiently with the key aspects of the post-war period.
Romanticism (Question 9)
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- demonstrating an understanding of the ways of thinking central to the Romantic period
- engaging with context and the key historical features of the paradigm.
Candidates need to improve:
- taking a wider interpretation of the values of the period
- moving beyond interpreting the ‘natural’ as good and the ‘man-made’ as bad
- referring to more than one poem from the prescribed poets.
Navigating the Global (Question 11)
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- conceptualising the concerns of the global/local duality
- demonstrating an understanding of the key paradigms
- including theoretical perspectives to enhance the quality of responses
- balancing the intellectual concerns of the elective with an understanding of the emotional concerns of the key characters from the texts.
Candidates need to improve:
- developing broader interpretations of globalisation
- focusing more on the idea of ‘navigating’ the global rather than ‘retreating’ from it.
Questions 8, 10, 12
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- demonstrating a knowledge of the historical period and the ways of thinking for the elective
- responding to the specific words of the question and incorporating hope and apology in a meaningful way
- writing imaginatively, developing and sustaining a viable thesis throughout their response
- using language devices such as evocative description effectively
- presenting a clear sense of time and place.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- integrating their understanding of the elective, its ways of thinking and its historical period into the response
- using the key words of the question in a significant and appropriate way
- engaging the reader by sustaining the development of ideas and the appropriate use of dialogue.
Elective Specific Comments
After the Bomb (Question 8)
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- demonstrating a thorough understanding of the ways of thinking of the historical period
- using a wide variety of settings, many of which were derived from the prescribed texts, although this is not the only way that a candidate can place a narrative.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- taking care when using apocalyptic settings and war stories that do not reflect the paradigms and ways of thinking of the period.
Romanticism (Question 10)
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- demonstrating knowledge of the specified historical period
- using various pathways to develop an appropriate narrative
- incorporating historical events, people and philosophies.
Navigating the Global (Question 12)
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- demonstrating an understanding of the ways of thinking as outlined in the rubric.
Module C: Language and Values
Questions 13 and 15
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- engaging with all aspects of the question and differentiating between the terms ‘intellectually’ and ‘emotionally’
- considering the position of the reader and their relationship to the author
- integrating specific textual references
- using theory
- integrating texts of their own choosing.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- integrating the terms ‘intellectually’ and ‘emotionally’ throughout the response rather than combining them into one phrase and using this as a postscript for each paragraph
- exploring significant ideas rather than just listing techniques
- considering the audience response, not just the composer.
Questions 14 and 16
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- engaging with all aspects of the question and differentiating the key terms
- demonstrating knowledge of textually dynamic texts (Question14)
- considering and evaluating the roles of language in forming identity and the ways linguistic choices have the potential to affect gendered identities (Question 16)
- drawing on contemporary debates, situations and events as vehicles to explore gendered identities (Question 16)
- developing a thesis informed by theory and integrating pertinent textual references
- analysing the prescribed and chosen texts.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- using theory to underpin discussion rather than merely identifying examples in texts
- consideration of the roles of language and semiotics
- avoiding stereotypes such as simply representing masculinity as dominant, and femininity as submissive.
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