English Advanced 2019 HSC exam pack

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the nature of the ‘intense moment’
• effectively explain how the poem represented the ‘intense moment’ within the context of human experience.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing a response that goes beyond a literal interpretation of the poem
• avoiding writing a description of the poem. 

Question 2

In better responses, students were able to:

• express a strong conceptual understanding of the text
• provide aptly chosen textual references
• sustain skilful analysis.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding simply recounting the plot.

Question 3

In better responses, students were able to:

• correctly identify metaphor(s)
• explain how the metaphor developed an understanding of a human experience.

Areas for student to improve include:

• explaining the metaphors, rather than describing or recounting the text
• demonstrating an understanding of the human experience(s) in the text.

Question 4

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate strong understanding of both the text and the paradox of boredom
• articulate ideas with clarity and depth
• use suitable textual evidence to support their discussion.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding describing or recounting elements of the text
• engaging in a discussion of the paradox of boredom.

Question 5

In better responses, students were able to:

• declare and understand the extent to which ordinary experiences were explored in both texts
• articulate ideas with clarity and depth
• use suitable textual evidence to support their thesis
• move beyond comparison of texts to consider the ‘extent’ component of the question.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating an understanding of the texts
• addressing two texts.

Students should:

• develop a personal understanding of the human experience
• evaluate the ways the prescribed text can invite a reconsideration of the human experience
• consider how the textual form, features and language of the prescribed text contribute to the representation of the human experience and how this meaning is shaped
• compose a sustained response using purposeful and evaluative language. 

In better responses, students were able to:

• consider all aspects of the question in their response
• develop and sustain a conceptual thesis which engaged with the question
• evaluate to what extent texts invite a reconsideration of the specified human experience
• adopt a confident personal voice
• articulate a considered interpretation of the specified human experience
• develop their argument to reveal a strong understanding of the text and how the specified idea was explored
• create a purposefully structured and thoughtfully integrated argument
• demonstrate a strong sense of how the audience is positioned by the text
• show awareness of textual purpose and the text as a whole
• select apt and detailed textual evidence.

Areas for students to improve include:

• analysing rather than describing texts
• selecting and analysing textual references which contribute purposefully to the argument
• demonstrating an awareness of audience and the representation of meaning
• demonstrating greater awareness of textual form and features and their impact on meaning
• controlling expression throughout the response.

General feedback

Students should:

• unpack and engage with all aspects of the question
• interpret and apply knowledge of the module
• understand and respond to the module description
• develop a strong and sustained thesis in response to the question
• develop broad understanding of both texts and avoid a narrow and simplistic vision of the texts
• demonstrate a holistic understanding of the texts through detailed and well-chosen textual references and effective and accurate contextual examples
• engage with the texts on a personal level
• balance and integrate contextual and textual knowledge
• use clear and effective topic sentences and paragraphs
• write clearly and legibly.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate personal and thoughtful engagement with the whole question
• frame responses around a clear, highly relevant, perceptive thesis that provided scope to generate a considered, perceptive discussion
• demonstrate a detailed understanding of context, including where composers may have criticised or rejected aspects of their own context
• differentiate between social, historical and cultural contexts
• show a deep and individual understanding of the texts and make effective use of appropriate references to the texts
• reveal a strong understanding of the connections between the texts
• maintain a balanced and synthesised analysis of the text pairing
• offer an extended and comprehensive analysis of texts and context
• use evaluative language in a confident and authoritative manner to consolidate their argument
• demonstrate a skilful command of language and structure.

Areas for students to improve include:

• addressing all elements of the question and referring to the statement in an explicit manner
• considering the set question carefully and planning the development of their thesis and argument before they start writing
• developing a thorough and cohesive thesis
• adapting knowledge to suit the question as opposed to reproducing a generic, thematic-style response
• demonstrating detailed knowledge of their texts
• building a discussion that is focused on the intertextual conversation of the pair of texts as opposed to the texts in isolation
• avoiding generalised statements about context that do not contribute to the development of the discussion
• discussing texts in an evaluative and analytical way, rather than a descriptive way
• considering and analysing how meaning is shaped at a whole text level, rather than dealing with text references in an isolated way at sentence/scene/stanza level
• developing an integrated response which deals with the comparative study, rather than dealing with the texts independently without making appropriate links
• ensuring there is a balanced treatment of the two texts
• referring accurately to the contextual influences of the texts
• developing an integrated analysis of textual form and purpose rather than focusing on themes
• developing a holistic awareness of the specific, and still relevant, conversations generated by both texts
• sustaining a unified argument
• using metalanguage appropriately to enhance their argument
• demonstrating control of register and sophisticated vocabulary.

Shakespearean drama and film – William Shakespeare, King Richard III and Al Pacino, Looking for Richard 

In better responses, students were able to:

• develop a perceptive thesis that clearly addressed all parts of the statement/question in considering the pairing of the texts and the conversation that emerges
• demonstrate an understanding of the contextual framework of both texts
• integrate relevant ideas throughout their responses that supported views relating to the purpose behind texts being ‘dismantled, reconstructed, recycled’ and the values being conveyed
• provide a nuanced evaluation of how Pacino’s stated purpose of making Shakespeare relevant to a contemporary audience evolved throughout the making of the documentary.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating an understanding of postmodernism and how it relates to Pacino’s approach to form
• demonstrating broad understanding of Richard III
• providing a balanced discussion of the texts, rather than placing greater emphasis on Looking for Richard and making simplistic connections between the character of Richard and thematic concerns such as power and ambition
• understanding the difference between values and themes.

Prose fiction and film – Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway and Stephen Daldry, The Hours

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully discuss form, including how Woolf's modernist form is dismantled in Daldry's postmodern film text, reflecting the differing values of their contexts
• use characterisation as a vehicle to evaluate how composers explore the concerns in their context
• effectively discuss the purpose of particular techniques.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding reliance on discussion of themes (mental health, role of women, mortality) that do not relate directly to the question
• demonstrating an understanding of the symbolic function of characters such as Septimus and Richard, rather than simply recounting the ways in which characters are similar or different. 

Prose fiction and prose fiction – Albert Camus, The Stranger and Kamel Daoud, The Meursault Investigation

In better responses, students were able to:

• consider the context of both authors, their individual purposes and unique use of form, and explore how one text mirrors the other
• demonstrate an understanding of The Stranger as an existential critique of the uncertainty of modern life in the face of intense violence
• demonstrate an understanding of how the narrative in The Stranger is significantly influenced by the colonial environment in which it was written
• discuss how the text and main character of The Stranger represent the apathy of the author’s context
• demonstrate an understanding of how Daoud’s postcolonial appropriation reframes the events of The Stranger and significantly reframes the troubled decades of French-Algerian history through an exploration of the consequences of colonialism and nationalism
• demonstrate an understanding of how The Meursault Investigation distances itself from the apathy of existentialism, imploring the reader to view society through an empathetic lens.

Poetry and drama – John Donne, John Donne: A Selection of His Poetry and Margaret Edson, W;t

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate an awareness of the way in which structure in both texts helps create and add to thematic meaning
• demonstrate a clear understanding of the links between Donne’s poetry and the play
• write in detail with a clear understanding of purpose.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a stronger understanding of the context of W;t
• making effective links between context and values
• demonstrating a clear understanding of the religious underpinnings of W;t
• recognising that a postmodern context is not necessarily irreligious.

Poetry and film – John Keats, The Complete Poems and Jane Campion, Bright Star 

In better responses, students were able to:

• produce well-integrated responses that dealt deftly with the conversation between Keats’s Romantic poetry and Campion’s postmodern film
• make judicious selections of textual evidence from Keats’s poetry
• reflect on how the ideas/concerns in Keats’s poetry had been ‘dismantled, deconstructed and recycled’ for a modern audience.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding a narrow and/or simplistic focus on ‘love’
• ensuring there is balanced treatment of the texts, not a disproportionate focus on the film rather than on Keats’s poetry
• engaging with the question rather than just the module description.

Poetry and poetry – Sylvia Plath, Ariel and Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters

In better responses, students were able to:

• consider the broader social contexts of both poets, their distinct purposes and poetic form
• demonstrate an understanding of Plath’s transcendence of the confessional poetry form to represent the relationship between individual suffering and broader social forces
• demonstrate an understanding of Hughes’s deliberate intertextual engagement with Plath’s poetry, post second and third-wave feminism, in a postmodern deconstruction of the public mythology around their relationship that foregrounds subjectivity and the nature of truth
• recognise the subtleties in the meaning and craft of the poems and that neither poet simplistically demonises the other.

Areas for students to improve include:

• grounding their response in aspects of the poets’ lives that are a matter of public record and well documented, rather than assumptions made from literal and limited readings of their poetry.

Shakespearean drama and prose fiction – William Shakespeare, The Tempest and Margaret Atwood, Hag-Seed

In better responses, students were able to:

• establish a clear thesis and balance their textual discussion
• demonstrate an understanding of the Jacobean context of The Tempest and the postmodern third-wave feminist Canadian perspective in Hag-Seed
• discuss the emphasis of the title, Hag-Seed
• discuss ideas related to power, imprisonment, revenge and colonialism.

Areas for students to improve include:

• engaging effectively with the statement in the question
• dealing effectively with the dual representation of Miranda in Hag-Seed
• discussing key characters such as Ariel in relation to the question.

General feedback

Students should:

• specifically address all aspects of the question
• develop a strong, sustained argument and personal evaluation in response to the question
• apply knowledge of the module to inform their interpretation and shape their response
• demonstrate a strong awareness of composer, form and context
• demonstrate detailed knowledge of the prescribed text
• support and develop responses using aptly chosen, detailed reference to the prescribed text
• consider a text’s unity and cohesion
• demonstrate a sustained and skilful control of language and ideas. 

Prose fiction – Jane Austen, Emma

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explore the values and historical context of Georgian England
• demonstrate a clear understanding of Austen’s purpose and context
• clearly articulate distinctive stylistic features
• use well-chosen textual examples to support their argument.

Areas for students to improve include:

• engaging with the key words of the question
• moving beyond an examination of characters, themes and plot
• focusing on an analysis of features specific to form
• incorporating a strong awareness of the module. 

Prose fiction – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

In better responses, students were able to:

• perceptively explore the ideas of reformation and redemption by considering Dickens’s purpose and context
• critically evaluate Dickens’s commentary on his political and social concerns (justice, marginalisation, education)
• provide a balanced treatment of ‘reformed’ and ‘redeemed’
• provide a discerning selection of textual examples to support an integrated thesis.

Areas for students to improve include:

• focusing on Dickens as a composer and his context
• moving beyond a discussion of narrative and character
• providing a detailed analysis of specific techniques
• incorporating a strong personal voice.

Prose fiction – Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explore the contextual values of the composer and Thatcherism in 1980s England
• skilfully explore the setting and values of Japan in the post WWII era
• clearly articulate Ishiguro’s personal voice and purpose
• move beyond an exploration of Ono to explore Ishiguro’s main concerns
• support their ideas through a detailed and discerning selection of textual examples.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a greater awareness of Ishiguro’s context and the setting of the text
• engaging with the key words of the statement in a balanced way
• using relevant and detailed textual examples.

Poetry – T S Eliot, T S Eliot: Selected Poems

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a perceptive understanding of Eliot’s Modernist context and how it influenced his stylistic approach
• demonstrate a sense of how motifs within and across poems synthesise his major concerns
• clearly articulate how philosophy and psychology are infused into a poetic form
• skilfully explore how Eliot’s ideas and approach engage audiences beyond his own timeframe.

Areas for students to improve include:

• clarifying Modernism as a literary movement
• making links within and/or between poems and seeing them as a suite
• focusing on distinctive features of form rather than on micro analysis
• using more detailed textual evidence that is linked to a thesis rather than technique driven.

Poetry – David Malouf, Earth Hour

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explore the innovative alignment of landscape, mind and memory
• demonstrate a perceptive understanding of Malouf’s context and purpose
• critically evaluate the enduring value and significance of Malouf’s insights into the shared experience of what it is to be human
• provide an integrated discussion based on a discerning selection from Malouf’s poems.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a greater awareness of Malouf’s context
• using more detailed textual evidence that is linked to the question rather than technique driven
• providing a clear focus on the module and Malouf’s poems as a suite
• incorporating a strong personal voice.

Drama – Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explore the context of the text, with social concerns such as patriarchal structures and gendered expectations as well as the bureaucracy of the legal system at the forefront of Ibsen’s purpose
• demonstrate a strong awareness of the module, acknowledging the capacity for enduring relevance while also establishing links to context in terms of middle-class, 19th-century Norway
• engage deeply with the terms of the question using discerning textual evidence from varied moments across the play
• demonstrate a clear understanding of the dramatic form, addressing staging and stage directions.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a critical and informed understanding of the play
• evaluating dramatic techniques, rather than focusing purely on character
• providing a balanced discussion of the key words in the question
• using more detailed textual analysis.

Drama – Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a perceptive understanding of Thomas’s context and integrate this throughout the response
• explore key concepts including the contentment to be found in the everyday, the value of Welsh cultural identity and the cyclical nature of life
• effectively integrate detailed analysis of specific dramatic techniques
• present a clear thesis that addresses all parts of the question.

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a greater awareness of Thomas’s context and purpose
• confidently discussing textual features, especially in terms of form – a play for voices
• using detailed and specific textual references, rather than relying on a study of themes or character.

Nonfiction – Edmund de Waal, The Hare with Amber Eyes

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully integrate the historical setting of Vienna during the Occupation into their argument
• provide a balanced treatment of history and memoir
• highlight the impact of the text on responders
• insightfully analyse a range of textual examples indicative of the memoir form.

Areas for students to improve include:

• exploring the nature of memoir as a form
• incorporating detailed and specific textual evidence.

Nonfiction – Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory

There were insufficient responses to this question.

Film – George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explore the dual context of the film, identifying contextual links between 1950s McCarthyism and Clooney’s contemporary context
• provide a well-informed and thoughtful thesis
• insightfully analyse a range of textual examples to provide a holistic evaluation of the question
• cleverly integrate detailed analysis of specific film techniques to support their thesis.

Areas for students to improve include:

• moving their discussion beyond the 1950s setting of the text
• incorporating a clearer focus on form and features rather than retelling the plot
• focusing on Clooney’s purpose as composer, rather than providing a character study of Morrow
• demonstrating a greater awareness of the module.

Media – Gillian Armstrong, Unfolding Florence

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully evaluate Armstrong and Broadhurst as innovative and determined Australian women, within a distinctly Australian context
• provide a well-informed understanding of Armstrong's purpose in exploring gender roles and deviating from stereotypes
• provide a sophisticated and integrated discussion of form and features, layering multifaceted stylistic techniques with well-chosen and consistently referenced examples from the film.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using detailed textual references specific to the media form
• exploring the question in a holistic manner
• demonstrating a greater awareness of the module.

Shakespearean Drama – William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explore the influence of the Elizabethan context on Shakespeare’s work
• demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of how comedy was used by Shakespeare to highlight the importance of political figures in history
• move beyond a literal reading of comedy to view Falstaff as a symbolic figure
• provide a skilful discussion of distinctive features of form, character and setting
• incorporate an insightful and personal critical evaluation of notions of ongoing significance.

Areas for students to improve include:

• moving beyond a discussion of characters to focus on features of form
• engaging with key words of the question
• broadening the range of textual analysis
• incorporating a strong personal voice rather than a reliance on critics.

General feedback

Students should:

• demonstrate their understanding of Module C and the prescribed texts, relevant to the question
• address all aspects of the examination question when crafting a response, paying particular attention to the stimulus, if provided
• avoid rewriting, appropriating or creating an extension of a Module C prescribed text for Part (a) unless this approach is specified for the set question
• consider the mark value for each component of the question when allocating time to responses, and the implications of this for the structure and complexity of their responses
• carefully consider their audience, purpose and context when crafting a voice, setting, character and/or event in their responses
• carefully manage their time
• use clear, legible handwriting.

Question 9(a)

In better responses, students were able to:

• compose a highly engaging piece of writing that skilfully used the stimulus
• specifically address the key word ‘continue’ and engage with layers of the stimulus, including ideas linked to books, reading and the notion of transformation
• effectively use one of the nominated styles, or a hybrid, in crafting their writing
• evoke and sustain a particular emotional response in the reader by crafting their language through figurative, rhetorical or linguistic devices
• demonstrate a transformative element in the character, persona or subject of the piece as inferred by the stimulus
• demonstrate an authentic and engaging character or voice, appropriate to the purpose and style of the writing
• use the extract in a metaphorical and conceptual way when crafting their response
• demonstrate skilful control of language and structure throughout their response, appropriate to audience, purpose and context.

Areas for students to improve include:

• responding to the question and stimulus in authentic ways to engage the reader
• including the stimulus as an integral aspect of their writing, rather than inserting a perfunctory or implied reference to the stimulus
• developing and representing complex idea(s), showing insight into how language has been crafted to shape meaning
• avoiding engaging with the stimulus only on a literal level
• developing an emotional response in the reader as stipulated in the question
• developing their own authorial, original voice and avoiding emulating the voice of a writer from the prescribed text(s), unless it is relevant to the question
• structuring a response, using one or more of the writing styles, with a specific emphasis on ‘crafting’ their writing for a specific purpose and audience
• developing clarity, cohesion and skilful control of language to engage the reader.

Question 9(b)

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide a comprehensive explanation of how their language was crafted to evoke an emotional response in the reader
• specifically and comprehensively address the key word ‘compare’ when responding to their own text and at least one prescribed text from Module C
• explain how they were influenced by the ideas and craft of their chosen Module C text(s) rather than analyse these texts in isolation
• engage with textual references using the prescribed text(s) to compare and justify choices in Part (a)
• organise and synthesise ideas in a cohesively structured response
• demonstrate skilful control of language.

Areas for students to improve include:

• showing an awareness of their own crafting of language in order to evoke an emotional response
• explaining how various figurative, rhetorical or linguistic features have been used to shape meaning and engage the audience in their own writing
• explaining the way the stimulus was embedded into their writing
• demonstrating a comprehensive comparison between their own writing and at least one of the prescribed texts in Module C
• using specific references to their own writing and the prescribed text(s)
• demonstrating skilful control of language, including syntax, spelling and punctuation.