English Studies 2020 HSC exam pack

Question 1

In better responses students were able to:  

• provide an effective explanation of how visual techniques have been used to represent an idea such as unity or connection through the variety of food types and colours
• select appropriate references from the text to support their ideas.

Areas for students to improve include:  

• ensuring they explain, rather than describe, details of the text
• making explicit references to visual features and how they demonstrate specific human experiences.

Question 2

In better responses students were able to:  

• clearly explain how the reader is drawn into the experience by the introduction
• make a connection between sharing food and its ability to be ‘nourishing and nurturing’
• provide relevant references from the text. 

Areas for students to improve include:  

• ensuring they explain clearly how the reader is drawn in through the use of specific language forms and features
• selecting appropriate references from the text which include the reader in the experience.  

Question 3

In better responses students were able to:  

• provide an effective explanation showing how exploring place can be mysterious and uncertain
• select appropriate references from the text to support their explanation.

 Areas for students to improve include:  

• avoiding merely describing the image provided with the poem
• explaining how the forms and features of the poem demonstrate human experiences such as discovery and reflection.

Students should:

• respond explicitly to the question, ensuring that all elements are addressed in a balanced and consistent manner
• develop a deep understanding of their prescribed text
• demonstrate understanding of the prescribed text through evidence and examples from across the text, judiciously selected to support their argument
• organise and structure a cohesive argument
• compose a sustained, cohesive and structured response with controlled expression, purposeful and evaluative language and an authentic voice.     

In better responses, students were able to:

• purposefully address the key terms of the question in a consistent and balanced way
• build a convincing thesis that evaluated how stories effectively reveal the shared and personal nature of experiences
• consider how the textual form, features and language of the prescribed text are used to tell stories and reveal meaning
• explain how the audience is positioned by the text’s construction, with particular consideration of form and genre.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring they respond to the full scope of the question
• developing a line of argument that deliberately addresses the specific elements of the question without relying on generic statements from the module description
• evaluating the author’s intent and the effect of their compositional choices on the audience
• analysing, rather than describing, how the text has been composed
• using the metalanguage of form.   

Students should:

• address all parts of the question
• demonstrate understanding of a significant issue through explicit discussion of a module and text studied
• write a structured response, appropriate to audience and purpose.

In better responses, students were able to:

• explicitly and clearly discuss the issue studied and the extent to which this study allowed for a rethinking of the issue
• establish a clear line of argument which was maintained throughout the response
• provide explicit and varied examples of textual evidence to support their argument.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing responses that offer a more detailed discussion of the question
• writing with increased specificity, rather than making vague or general statements
• taking care with control of language.

Students should:

• engage with the stimulus provided
• show an awareness of form – imaginative, reflective or persuasive.

In better responses, students were able to:

• effectively engage with the stimulus in a way that went beyond interpretation
• successfully use the elements of the chosen form
• use language in a well-developed and coherent way.

Areas for students to improve include:

• engaging with the specific terms of the question
• developing meaningful engagement with the conventions of the chosen form
• composing a controlled and complete response.