Classical Hebrew Continuers 2023 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• use the marks allocated to a question as an indication of the depth and length of response required
• focus on key words in order to address the requirements of the question, for example, explain, account for, compare, analyse, assess
• address all parts of the question, in particular those relating to reference to other parts of the text or commentary
• show detailed knowledge of the extracts
• refer to any given verses or statements appearing in the question in their response, showing clear and detailed understanding.

Prescribed Text – Part A and Part B

In better responses, students were able to:

• show detailed knowledge of commentary (Q1b, Q2a, Q3a, Q4, Q5a, Q5b, Q6b, Q7b, Q7c)
• refer in the response to the verses quoted in the question (Q2a, Q3a, Q5b, Q7b, Q7c)
• refer to all relevant ideas in the extracts provided to respond thoroughly to the question (Q1b, Q2a, Q2c, Q3a, Q3b, Q4, Q6b, Q7c, Q8)
• provide analysis as opposed to description of actions (Q8)
• correctly identify and account for grammatical items, using the correct grammatical terms (Q1a, Q2b, Q5c, Q6a, Q7a)
• answer the question without giving irrelevant extra information (Q1b, Q6b)
• analyse the stimulus and extracts, identifying logical themes, and consistently refer back to these themes throughout their response (Q8)
• provide all required elements when parsing (Q2b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing greater knowledge of commentary (Q1b, Q2a, Q3a, Q4, Q5a, Q5b, Q6b, Q7b, Q7c)
• developing more accurate terminology in identifying and explaining grammatical items (Q1a, Q2b, Q5c, Q6a, Q7a)
• showing detailed knowledge of the prescribed texts and their context (Q8)
• developing a greater understanding of how to create a logical and cohesive response
• developing a greater understanding of key words in order to address the requirements of the question, for example, identify, describe, explain, account for, compare, assess, evaluate.

Prescribed Text – Mishna

In better responses, students were able to:

• accurately describe cases, opinions and situations
• show detailed knowledge of commentary
• provide a concise summary (Q9a).

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing greater knowledge of the prescribed texts
• developing greater knowledge of the commentary
• developing a better understanding of nuances in cases and situations
• developing better knowledge of Mishnaic features and how to explain them (Q9c)
• developing a better understanding of how laws reflect the Mishnaic period (Q11a).

Unseen Text – Tanakh

In better responses, students were able to:

• extrapolate information and explain rather than just translate or paraphrase the text (Q12a, Q12d, Q12g, Q12h, Q13c, Q13g)
• account for grammatical features (Q12c, Q13d)
• accurately parse and give meaning of unseen verbs (Q12e, Q12f, Q13e)
• recognise varying meaning of words in context (Q12b).

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing a more thorough knowledge of grammatical features, parsing and vocalisation (Q12c, Q12e, Q12f, Q13a, Q13d, Q13e)
• ensuring that questions are answered thoroughly by reading the full extract and not stopping when they have an answer that may only be a part of the required response (Q12a, Q12d, Q12g)
• developing strategies to interpret unseen texts.