English Standard 2014 HSC exam pack (archive)

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• addressing the key words in the question
• giving detailed responses that used a range of examples and textual references to support their responses
• exploring the text through a range of approaches/pathways
• demonstrating their understanding of the concept of belonging.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• meeting the requirements of specific questions – for example, ensuring that only one text is used in a response if that is what is required (Q.1d)
• choosing the most appropriate quotes/technical features of the text that best support a response
• analysing texts through aptly chosen textual references that are explained clearly.

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• addressing all parts of the question
• using one of the statements as the first sentence for their piece of writing
• insightfully exploring an individual finding their place in a community
• skilfully using language appropriate to their chosen form of imaginative writing
• writing a sustained narrative.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• understanding the mechanics and control of language
• writing credible and original narratives.

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating understanding of how their selected texts reflected the way in which connections with others and the world shape the development of one’s identity
• selecting related texts that complemented the ideas explored in their prescribed text
• demonstrating an understanding of the notion of belonging in relation to the statement
• choosing detailed textual references to support their thesis
• structuring an argument that reinforced the ideas established in the thesis and maintaining this throughout the response.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• deconstructing a question in order to respond to all aspects of the question
• not relying on recount or paraphrasing to highlight aspects of their selected texts
• establishing clear and explicit connections between texts
• explaining the effect of features in terms of shaping ideas relevant to the questions, rather than just listing techniques
• sustaining a focus on the question throughout the entirety of the response by making clear and purposeful links to the question.

Elective 1 & 2: Distinctive voices and distinctively visual

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating a good understanding of how distinctive voices and images are created in texts
• taking a conceptual approach which considers the relationship between composer, audience and purpose
• selecting appropriate textual detail from both the prescribed and related texts.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• presenting textual evidence rather than just generalised observations
• providing explanation or elaboration to support their assertions
• moving beyond retelling or the listing of techniques
• not limiting their responses to a single scene, poem or story.

Prose fiction – Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating understanding of Haddon’s method of storytelling
• demonstrating a clear awareness of Haddon’s narrative features and language techniques
• using the extract as a springboard into the rest of the text
• making detailed reference to the extract and diagrams and elaborating with well-chosen textual references from the novel as a whole.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• addressing all the elements of the question
• explaining how Haddon’s method of storytelling highlighted Christopher’s way of thinking
• including relevant textual references and examples to support a discussion of the provided extract and the text as a whole
• moving beyond a reliance on narrative and storytelling in their responses  
• developing greater fluency in their expression and length of response.

Prose fiction – Jane Yolen, Briar Rose

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating knowledge of the text and focusing on how the fairytale motif was central to the composer’s intent and Becca’s personal journey
• using the extract as a springboard into the rest of the text
• focusing on Yolen’s use of allegory to explore the psychological damage caused by the Holocaust
• developing a confident and convincing thesis, often with an effective personal voice.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• analysing/exploring how the symbolism connected with the composer’s message rather than just identifying elements of the fairytale such as ‘Briar Rose’, ‘castle’, ‘princess’ and ‘gas’
• selecting quotations and examples carefully
• demonstrating knowledge of the composer’s intent  
• focusing on both technical and conceptual elements
• exploring how meaning is conveyed rather than providing a quotation to tell the story
• taking a more analytical or critical and personal approach
• selecting and shaping their material rather than simply reproducing pre-prepared material.

Prose fiction – David Malouf, Fly Away Peter

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• identifying examples of Malouf’s imagery and linking an exploration of its effectiveness to a discussion of the effects of war
• using the extract to help frame their response as a whole
• writing with a personal voice that demonstrated a genuine understanding of the question and text.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• addressing the whole of the question rather than just part
• selecting more relevant textual references rather than giving generalised accounts of wartime experiences
• emphasising Malouf’s use, as a composer, of a specific technique.

Drama – Louis Nowra, Cosi

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• explaining how the use of extreme characters highlights the challenge of life in an institution
• demonstrating Nowra’s characterisation through a clear awareness of dramatic techniques (including stage directions) and linking these techniques to the challenges of life in an institution
• incorporating reference to the extract
• linking the context of the play, including attitudes towards the mentally ill in Australia in the 1970s, to the challenges faced by the characters
• writing a controlled, effective response with a discerning choice of language.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• using the extract to frame ideas that are explored further in the play as a whole
• including relevant textual references and examples to support a developed discussion of the question
• developing an understanding of the entire text rather than relying on stock examples
• engaging with the question, not just the text.

Drama – William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating a detailed understanding of the play’s narrative, characters and ideas
• identifying, describing and explaining the range of conflicts in the text that related to the question
• focusing on the different ways in which conflict was shown, including dramatic tension between characters, dialogue, language choice, characters’ views, and structural contrasts
• making links to all elements of the question.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• developing a greater awareness of the use of dramatic techniques and the way Shakespeare used language to shape and convey meaning
• linking the range of conflicts described and explaining ideas about justice and the law
• selecting and shaping their material rather than simply reproducing pre-prepared material
• exploring the concept in the question, rather than listing conflicts or retelling the storyline of the play
• not including related material – it is not required to answer Module B questions and its inclusion detracts from the effectiveness of answers.

Poetry – Wilfred Owen, War Poems and Others

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• exploring the ‘carnage and destruction of war’
• using knowledge of poetic details
• selecting textual details to support the question
• discussing the extract and one other poem in detail
• clearly addressing all aspects of the question.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• linking the use of dramatic imagery and its intent
• focusing more on the impact of the technique (dramatic imagery) rather than just identifying the carnage and destruction of war
• understanding how Owen’s poetic and structural choices are used to create meaning
• providing textual examples rather than relying on a descriptive recount of soldiers’ experiences during the war
• sustaining an argument throughout the response.

Poetry – Judith Wright, Collected Poems 1942–1985

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating a thorough understanding of the texts
• making connections between Wright’s technical and conceptual intentions
• using a range of detailed metalanguage in their technical analysis of the poetry, and relating it to the meaning created by the text
• linking all elements of the question while balancing a discussion of Wright’s purpose, with her view of the natural world
• exploring the imagery in the poem provided and one other poem.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• ensuring that technical analysis is clearly linked to meaning rather than to just identifying a language feature
• answering the question given rather than just including pre-learned quotes or paragraphs
• making correct textual references
• not including related material – it is not required to answer Module B questions and its inclusion detracts from the effectiveness of answers.

Nonfiction – Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating a clear understanding of the motivations of the central character, narrative elements and ideas
• identifying ‘the personal search for meaning’ in the text through the main character as well as others.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• being aware that the prescribed text is the prose biography and not the film
• focusing on ‘the personal search for meaning’ not just emphasising character
• developing an awareness of how Krakauer uses features of prose writing to shape his text rather than just identifying or describing some textual features.

Film – Peter Weir, Witness

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating a thorough understanding of the film
• using technical language appropriate to the medium
• identifying, describing and explaining key elements of the film that related to the question
• moving beyond the literal action of the film to explore the effect of contrast to reveal the concept of ‘the experience of outsiders’ – including referring to shot selection, motifs, framing and characterisation
• incorporating discussion of the screen shots.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• linking Weir’s use of contrast between characters/ places/ beliefs more closely to the central concept of the question
• linking the discussion of film technique to meaning and purpose, rather than providing a list of techniques
• selecting and shaping their material to the demands of the question rather than simply reproducing pre-prepared material, or retelling the storyline.

Elective 1: The global village

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• demonstrating an understanding of a global context and articulating how it has an impact on the individual
• understanding the connection between the attitudes of the wider world and the impact on the personal beliefs of the characters in the prescribed texts
• demonstrating a good understanding of the texts studied.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• recognising different interpretations of the global village presented in the prescribed and related text and linking these interpretations more specifically to the demands of the question
• defining the ‘struggle’ in the texts – either through the actions of the individual or the collective
• drawing conclusions about the global village from textual detail, rather than using textual evidence without purpose.

Nick Enright, A Man with Five Children

Candidates based their discussion on the premise that the role of the media is pervasive in contemporary society and the boundaries between public and private domain are increasingly blurred. Some candidates explored the question through an analysis of the struggle of the children against Gerry, as representative of the global attitudes.

Rob Sitch, The Castle

The ‘struggle’ aspect of the question was primarily explored by discussing the extent of the family’s actions, particularly those of Darryl, to maintain their world. Other responses explored the satire in the film, engaging with the oppression of the ‘underdog’ as epitomised by the Kerrigan family and their attitudes.

Wikimedia, Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia

The global context was explored through notions of ownership and control of knowledge as a perceived academic struggle, as well as the negative and positive aspects of the text.

Elective 2: Into the world

Candidates showed strength in these areas:

• identifying the personal values of individuals in the prescribed texts
• showing connections between personal values and external expectations (of other characters, a society or the family)
• drawing on an awareness of the societal context explored in the text as a means to highlight the extent of the character’s struggle.

Candidates need to improve in these areas:

• presenting textual evidence that clearly links to the question
• selecting a related text that provides a reinforcement or an effective counterbalance to the prescribed text in order to promote understanding of the ideas presented
• moving beyond recount.

J C Burke, The Story of Tom Brennan

The ‘broader world’ was seen by many candidates to be represented by the attitudes and treatment that the Brennan family was subjected to by people in the town. Some candidates based their response on Tom’s ‘struggle’ to come to terms with the ramifications of the accident. 

Willy Russell, Educating Rita

Candidates explored the expectations of the ‘broader world’ through a consideration of the specific social context of the play. The idea of ‘struggle’ was primarily explored through a discussion of the challenges Rita faced in transitioning into a new phase of her life, through the catalyst of education. 

William Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience in Selected Poems

Candidates drew on selected textual detail to represent the struggles of the Romantic period. They compared the concept of innocence and experience, drawing on the concepts of industrialisation and nature.

Ken Watson (ed), At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners

Candidates engaged with the question through an analysis of techniques, often engaging with the underlying ideas explored in the poems.

Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot

Candidates explored the beliefs and attitudes of the mining community that posed a barrier to Billy’s transition into the world and his subsequent struggle to overcome class and gender expectations. Some candidates discussed the importance of Billy’s attributes of courage and determination to overcome the restrictions placed on him by his social context and venture into the world.