English Studies 2024 HSC exam pack

Questions 1, 2 and 3

Students should:

• read the question carefully to ensure that they understand its intent and requirements
• have a clear understanding of key words in the question
• select relevant textual evidence to support their ideas
• avoid the use of personal opinions
• review their response to ensure that it addresses question requirements.

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate a clear and effective understanding of why Davis values the experiences she shared with her family
• use appropriate supporting evidence, for example, ‘you managed to take us on adventures that I- we- still value today.’

Areas for students to improve include:

• demonstrating a clear understanding of why Davis valued the experiences of travelling with the family
• identifying appropriate supporting evidence to support ideas around the value that Davis placed on her experiences growing up
• demonstrating a clear understanding rather than recounting the text.

Question 2

In better responses, students were able to:

• explain effectively how Moffatt represents her relationship with the Pacific Ocean
• use appropriate supporting evidence to help explain Moffatt’s relationship of the Pacific Ocean as ‘peaceful’ to most but a ‘liquid monolith’ and a ‘sad sea’ to her
• demonstrate clarity in their response.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using appropriate textual reference and avoiding recounting the text
• writing clearly and explaining rather than describing how Moffatt represented her ‘complicated relationship with the Pacific Ocean’.

Question 3

In better responses, students were able to:

• analyse effectively how Cogan represents her response to a new experience
• identify and analyse the shift in Cogan’s attitude from feeling inhibited to being engaged
• use language techniques as evidence

Areas for students to improve include:

• analysing rather than explaining the text
• writing clearly.

Question 4

In better responses, students were able to:

• explain effectively Brazil’s connection to place using well-chosen textual references to support her connection to Venice
• explain the link to connection to place.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using well-chosen supporting evidence
• explaining rather than providing a recount
• identifying Brazil’s connection to place using appropriate textual references to support.

Question 5

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify the complex concept of change
• explain effectively how Morton represented change through observing others and reflecting on her own life
• use well-chosen supporting evidence to articulate the experience of change.

Areas for students to improve include:

• using well-chosen evidence to support points about change
• explaining rather than recounting the events in the text
• identifying more than one aspect of change that is referenced in the text.

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 to help frame their response. 

In better responses, students were able to: 

• clearly articulate personal ‘insights’ from their study of the prescribed text
• develop a well-informed argument that explores the intricate and interrelated nature of ‘qualities, motivations and actions’
• purposefully select evidence from the most appropriate scene, chapter, poem, or section of their prescribed text
• use clear expression and appropriate language to reveal a personal understanding and ensure continuity of response.

Areas for students to improve include:

• identifying the ‘qualities, motivations, and actions’ of the human experience with greater clarity and specificity
• demonstrating an understanding of how the author's choice of specific language, such as the ocean motif in Past the Shallows; the use of film devices in Billy Elliot; or features such as dystopian tropes in Nineteen Eighty-Four, shapes meaning
• moving beyond the interior world of the text to a more conceptual argument about the composer’s purpose
• avoiding the use of verbose, inaccurate, or convoluted language that may detract from the quality of the response.

Students should:

• demonstrate understanding of the nature of a module through reference to a text studied
• write a structured response, appropriate to audience and purpose
• consider planning their response so that it is clear and logically structured.

In better responses, students were able to:

• express a thoughtful recommendation for which module should remain in the program using multiple reasons
• make detailed reference to a text that they studied in the chosen module and link it to the recommendation for the module should stay in the program.

Areas for students to improve include:

• expressing a recommendation and clearly articulating why it should be a part of the program
• making an explicit reference to a text studied in the module and expressing multiple reasons as to why it should stay
• developing a logical argument and sustaining it in a clear response.

Students should:

• use the stimulus quote as inspiration for a piece of imaginative, persuasive or reflective writing about a moment that led to personal growth
• use the features of either an imaginative, persuasive or reflective text
• write a structured response, appropriate to audience and purpose.

In better responses, students were able to:

• compose an effective and engaging imaginative, persuasive or reflective piece of writing using the stimulus of the mountain and the people climbing it
• effectively organise and sustain the ideas with a strong connection to the stimulus image
• use language appropriate to the chosen text type and the image presented.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring that the link to the given stimulus image is sustained throughout the response
• composing a piece of writing with the appropriate features of the chosen form
• using effective control of language in a coherent response.