English Standard 2023 HSC exam pack

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• explain effectively how Greenacre represents the value of shared experiences, for example, through inclusive statements such as ‘one and all’, and ‘a family of four children was suddenly one at home’
• use well-chosen textual evident to support their explanation of familial belonging
• provide an explanation that showed a specific understanding of the nature of the family’s shared experience.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding simple explanations or recount of the events of the poem
• considering the value of the experience rather than just the experience itself.

Question 2

In better responses, students were able to:

• skilfully explain the importance of kindness as suggested by the composer. For example, through contrast such as ‘we’re all acutely aware of the warmth of it, along with the frost of its opposite’, and emotive language such as ‘that lovely mother melted me back down to my original form, just by being kind’
• make a clear and specific link between the experiences of welcome to the kindness that they demonstrate and foster
• coherently and logically articulate ideas
• use well-chosen evidence in support of their ideas.

Areas for students to improve include:

• making the link between welcome and kindness
• providing a response that explains the link rather than recounting the events of the text.

Question 3

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate an effective understanding of why Dank prefers ‘that gravel and dust comfort, away from that other place’
• make clear and sustained connections to place
• use well-chosen supporting evidence that assists in unpacking why Dank prefers ‘that gravel and dust comfort, away from that other place’.

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding simple descriptions of recounts of the text
• providing a detailed and effective understanding of why Dank prefers ‘that gravel and dust comfort, away from that other place’.

Question 4

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate an effective analysis of Langbroek’s representation of the emotional impact of new places
• unpack the emotional impacts of new places, for example, ‘emotional reasons of love and appreciation’
• use well-chosen supporting evidence to support their points.

Areas for students to improve include:

• analysing, rather than just explaining examples
• making clear connections between the emotional impact of new places.

Question 5

In better responses, students were able to:

• explain skilfully how Hamblin expands the reader’s understanding of the paradoxes of consumerism
• unpack the paradoxes of consumerism, for example, even a bad experience becomes a good story’
• use well-chosen supporting evidence to support the paradoxes identified.

Areas for students to improve include:

• describing rather than explaining the reader’s understanding of the paradoxes of consumerism.

Students should:

• demonstrate an understanding of how texts represent human experiences
• develop a line of argument that addresses the question
• demonstrate a deep understanding of their prescribed text through a range of textual evidence
• compose an organised response with a logical sequence of arguments
• consider using a plan.

In better responses, students were able to:

• employ a personal voice to demonstrate their interpretation of the question, text and module
• engage with all components of the question, demonstrating an ability to evaluate how the text enriches our view of the world
• construct a personal and informed line of argument that deliberately responds to the question
• reveal a holistic understanding of the text through purposefully selected evidence
• maintain a confident and controlled command of language. 

 Areas for students to improve include:

• evaluating, rather than explaining, how meaning is communicated
• incorporating evidence drawn from across the text to reveal understanding of the whole text
• avoiding generalised references to context that do not support their argument
• using metalanguage meaningfully to enhance the specificity of their argument
• moving beyond broad statements about the human experience and into a more specific identification of the ideas and the views of the world ignited by the text.

General feedback

Students should:

• engage with all the key terms in the question and provide relevant textual evidence, including quotes and an explanation of how language is used to shape meaning, to support their ideas.

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate their understanding of the term ‘explain’ as defined in the NESA glossary of terms
• develop and maintain a clear line of argument
• effectively explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity, using purposefully selected textual evidence
• support the explanation of the key concepts presented in the quote by referencing the composer’s language choices
• use the statement to effectively explain key concepts represented in the text
• organise and express ideas appropriately
• explain how stories pass on cultural values and identity to create understanding for an audience as represented within the prescribed text
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the module by exploring how the text’s language, form and features shape a sense of cultural values and identity.

Areas for students to improve include:

• responding to the whole question
• demonstrating an understanding of how stories pass on cultural values and identity to create understanding for an audience as represented within the prescribed text
• explaining the cultural values and sense of identity explored in their chosen text, rather than describing the text
• carefully constructing a response which specifically connects to the statement provided
• selecting a wide range of relevant evidence from the prescribed text and including an explanation of how language is used to shape meaning.

Prose fiction – Henry Lawson, The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for rural Australians in late 19^th Century
• demonstrate an understanding of how Lawson’s stories critique gender roles, and notions of mateship, larrikinism, and/or the romanticisation of the Australian bush when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Prose fiction – Andrea Levy, Small Island

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for migrants in a post-colonial world
• demonstrate an understanding of how Levy critiques issues of race, class and/or gender when exploring cultural values in contemporary society
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Poetry – Adam Aitken, Boey Kim Cheng and Michelle Cahill (eds), Contemporary Asian Australian Poets

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for Asian-Australian migrants and their families
• demonstrate an understanding of how the poets’ critique issues of racial prejudice, language barriers, and/or conflict in society when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Poetry – Ali Cobby Eckermann, Inside my Mother

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for Aboriginal Peoples in relation to their broader communities and/or cultural groups in a post-colonial setting
• demonstrate an understanding of how Eckermann critiques issues of intergenerational trauma, prejudicial stereotypes, and/or the impact of Australian historical events, when exploring the value of culture and relationships for Aboriginal Peoples
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Drama – Ray Lawler, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for Australians in the 1950s
• demonstrate an understanding of how Lawler critiques issues of stereotypical gender roles and/or class structures when exploring cultural values in post-war society
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Drama – Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in Edwardian England
• demonstrate an understanding of how Shaw critiques stereotypical gender roles and/or class structures when exploring cultural values of English society
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Drama – Alana Valentine, Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in a post 9/11 Australian society
• demonstrate an understanding of how Valentine critiques racial prejudice, gender stereotypes, religion and/or cultural practices when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Nonfiction – Alice Pung, Unpolished Gem

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for Asian-Australian migrants and their families
• demonstrate an understanding of how Pung critiques racial stereotypes, familial expectations and socio-economic status when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Film – Rachel Perkins, One Night the Moon

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in colonial Australia
• demonstrate an understanding of how Perkins critiques racial prejudice, gender stereotypes, and/or the impact of Australian historical events when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Film – Rob Sitch, The Castle

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for communities and/or cultural groups in Australian society
• demonstrate an understanding of how Sitch critiques cultural assumptions of class, gender, and/or race when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Media – Janet Merewether, Reindeer in my Saami Heart

In better responses, students were able to:

• explore the construction and recreation of identity for the Saami people
• demonstrate an understanding of how Merewether critiques issues of social class, ethnicity, gender and/or religious oppression when exploring cultural values
• explain how the prescribed text has shaped an audience’s understanding of cultural values and identity.

Students should:

• specifically address all aspects of the question
• refer closely to the chosen prescribed text to explore the significance of the text
• demonstrate an awareness of composer, purpose and form
• demonstrate holistic and detailed understanding of the text
• support the response with well-selected, relevant textual evidence and analysis, displaying control of language and ideas.

In better responses, students were able to:

• explicitly address the question by clearly stating the significance of the chosen prescribed text, such as its purpose, central idea(s), reception, voice, structure
• make meaningful connections between ideas, form and language in the discussion and analysis of the chosen prescribed text
• integrate relevant references to the chosen prescribed text
• compose a fluent, sustained, and structured response
• use a clear, strong personal voice.

Areas for students to improve include:

• understanding the connection(s) between the chosen prescribed text’s form, and its ideas and language
• expressing and organising ideas more clearly, to enhance the cohesion of the response.

Students should:

• ensure they understand the specific requirements of the question and respond to them in a succinct manner
• maintain awareness that the style and/or format of questions will vary year to year
• be aware of the real and imagined audiences and craft language accordingly
• address the question and avoid spending time writing a reflection which is not required.

In better responses students were able to:

• effectively craft a response using a range of language devices and stylistic features to create a highly engaging imaginative or discursive piece of writing
• create a strong and authentic voice emphasising at least one idea exploring the need for momentum in our lives
• effectively craft their language to shape the features of their chosen form
• explore the idea of momentum as both literal and metaphorical
• maintain consistent voice throughout the piece of writing
• skilfully craft a response through thoughtful selection of literary devices that purposefully create meaning
• demonstrate effective control of the mechanics of language including paragraphing, sentence structure, spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring the stimulus is skilfully integrated into the imaginative or discursive piece of writing  
• avoiding using just literal and generalised descriptions of momentum in our lives
• sustaining accuracy of spelling, punctuation and grammar
• appropriately using structure, form and language as part of the crafting of writing
• avoiding predictable storylines by sustaining a personal voice that is highly engaging and not cliched
• showing awareness of context by using appropriate context and subject matter.