An Indefinite Guide to Module C: The Craft of Writing Just like any section of the English Advanced HSC Exam, Module C accounts for 20 marks. It has been heavily revamped with the new syllabus and is now more of a skills-based module. This is the module that relies heavily on improvisation and your ability to think on the spot, more so than others. It’s probably the hardest to revise for (except maybe the Reading Task component of the Common Mod), and is by far the module with the greatest range of possible questions. But with anything in the HSC, there are certain rules and guidelines that can be followed to maximise your marks and score in the top bands. I speak on this topic with no authority, qualification, or aptitude, which means it should suit perfectly for English (because the key to English is to sound like you know what you’re talking about without knowing anything). These aren’t universal rules, and you might disagree with many of them. The aim here is that you can get something out of this guide that helps you. Part I - General Tips The Rubric NESA Rubrics are like a bottle of tequila - flowery and quite attractive on the outside, but the inside leaves you reflecting on your poor life choices and asking why you wasted your time reading it in the first place. These are the useful terms from the rubric - Students write for a range of audiences and purposes - This is important, especially for reflections. Your purpose and audience need to clearly defined and explicit . It should also be implicitly evident within your genesis piece as well. - The rubric later gives examples of what purposes you can have - to express insights, evoke emotion, describe the wonder of the natural world, shape a perspective or to share an aesthetic vision. - These are a good starting point, but your purpose needs to be clearer than that. You can use those phrases as a starting point. - For example, simply saying I crafted my imaginative piece to shape a perspective is not enough for the top bands. Be explicit. I crafted my imaginative piece to challenge preconceptions of patriotism through an anti-war short story that promulgates pacifism. - apply their knowledge of textual forms and features in their own sustained and cohesive compositions. - Use language features and techniques in your writing. Even if the required form is a Discursive or Informative, this is still English and this is the Craft of Writing. The rubric actually gives examples later on - allusion, imagery, narrative voice, characterisation, and tone.
Transcript
An Indefinite Guide to Module C: The Craft of Writing
Just like any section of the English Advanced HSC Exam, Module C accounts for 20 marks. It has been heavily revamped with the new syllabus and is now more of a skills-based module. This is the module that relies heavily on improvisation and your ability to think on the spot, more so than others. It’s probably the hardest to revise for (except maybe the Reading Task component of the Common Mod), and is by far the module with the greatest range of possible questions. But with anything in the HSC, there are certain rules and guidelines that can be followed to maximise your marks and score in the top bands. I speak on this topic with no authority, qualification, or aptitude, which means it should suit perfectly for English (because the key to English is to sound like you know what you’re talking about without knowing anything). These aren’t universal rules, and you might disagree with many of them. The aim here is that you can get something out of this guide that helps you.
Part I - General Tips The Rubric NESA Rubrics are like a bottle of tequila - flowery and quite attractive on the outside, but the inside leaves you reflecting on your poor life choices and asking why you wasted your time reading it in the first place. These are the useful terms from the rubric
- Students write for a range of audiences and purposes - This is important, especially for reflections. Your purpose and audience need to clearly defined
and explicit. It should also be implicitly evident within your genesis piece as well. - The rubric later gives examples of what purposes you can have
- to express insights, evoke emotion, describe the wonder of the natural world, shape a perspective or to share an aesthetic vision.
- These are a good starting point, but your purpose needs to be clearer than that. You can use those phrases as a starting point.
- For example, simply saying I crafted my imaginative piece to shape a perspective is not enough for the top bands. Be explicit. I crafted my imaginative piece to challenge preconceptions of patriotism through an anti-war short story that promulgates pacifism.
- apply their knowledge of textual forms and features in their own sustained and cohesive compositions.
- Use language features and techniques in your writing. Even if the required form is a Discursive or Informative, this is still English and this is the Craft of Writing. The rubric actually gives examples later on
- allusion, imagery, narrative voice, characterisation, and tone.
- develop their self-expression - Though this might vary on what you end up writing about, a strong personal voice always goes a
long way to strengthen your marks. You can draw from personal experiences if you can’t think of anything on the spot. Don’t write about something you can’t do justice to, however. Especially serious topics that can be interpreted as insensitive and offensive if you mess up your execution.
- imaginative, discursive, persuasive and informative texts - These are just the types of texts, plus reflective texts. We’ll go through each of these.
- Students may revisit prescribed texts from other modules to enhance their experiences of quality writing.
- They might very well ask you to use settings, characters, or ideas from texts you studied in Common Mod, Mod A, and B.
- This has the unfortunate implication of requiring us to actually know things about these texts, which is a shame. I miss the old days.
The rest is just fluff. Seriously, the rubric is a steaming pile of garbage.
During the Exam Give yourself 40 minutes - more if you can Paper 2 is 120 minutes long with 3 sections, so naturally, the recommendation is to spend 40 mins on each section. DO NOT, or at least try your hardest not to give less than 40 minutes to Module C. People often neglect it, but it’s worth the same as the other sections and requires more thinking. You can memorise large portions of Mods A and B, and you can also know approximately how long your practice essay will take to write under exam conditions.. Mod C is different, it’s like being thrown in the middle of the Battle of the Somme with no weapons - or clothes. Have a Title - for EVERYTHING Seriously, it can oftentimes be worth a mark in itself. Give a title to whatever you write - imaginative, discursive, informative, persuasive, and even reflection. The more creative your title the better, of course, but if you are running out of time, even something simple can suffice. Also, underline your title. This also applies to your reflection (just title it Reflection Statement if you can’t think of anything) Also, underline your title. Side note (optional): Keep your titles to ONE WORD. Go the Christopher Nolan route (see Inception, Interstellar, Memento, Dunkirk - no, like actually see them, they’re fantastic films). Why? It saves time in your reflection when you mention your title.
Split your word counts depending on mark allocations Let’s pull out some quick maths here. You have 40 minutes for this section. 20 marks. 40/20 = 2 You have 2 minutes per mark. Quick maths. Module C can also ask you split questions, such as a 12 mark discursive followed by an 8 mark reflection, or a 10-10 mark split. Calculate the time you need to spend on each section according to the allocated marks. Using the example above of a 12-8 mark split, since I know that each mark requires around 2 minutes, I’ll just multiply using my aptitude in mathematics, having dropped the subject after Year 11 ‘because I wanted more of a challenge’. :( Thus, you would want to ideally spend 24 minutes on your discursive and 16 on your reflection. Side note (optional): This applies less since no one keeps track of word counts under exam conditions, but it can be useful if you are preparing pieces beforehand. In 40 minutes, you would be wanting to write 900-1000 words, but reduce that to 800 for Mod C because it’s more unconventional and you need to think more. That’s a writing speed of 20 words per minute. Just calculate how many words you want to be using and reaching by relying on the differential equations discussed above. If possible, bring in personal experiences. This is mostly true for imaginative and discursive writing, but you can include it in the other forms as well. If you’ve experienced personal trauma, marginalisation, loss, grief, cultural loss, etc. This is why. It was so you could guilt-trip the marker for extra marks, because they don’t want to look like racists. Make it up if you need to. Stimulus The stimulus is there for a reason. It needs to be sustained throughout. Just like how you would refer back to the question in an essay question, you have to consistently incorporate the stimulus throughout your entire piece. Start from the End This applies to Imaginative and Discursive mostly, but always plan out your ending first. During reading time or perhaps using 2 minutes out of your allocated 40, plan out your piece. Brainstorm your ending - this should be impactful and profound. It should make the marker do an Owen Wilson impression. An ending is not only exceptionally important because it’s the final impression your marker has of your work, but also because it allows you to be more succinct since you have a destination - all you need to do is write the journey towards it.
Part II - Imaginative Writing Imaginative Writing is Creative Writing. It’s been in basically every incarnation of the syllabus and there is more information available on writing these than any other form. Since the markers have also been more exposed to Imaginative pieces, they will usually have higher standards due to the existence of exemplary works that can be compared. Even so, there are always some rules to follow. Idea/Purpose It’s all well and good to write an engaging and exciting story. You can use interesting structural and literary techniques and hit the question well. That’s all great. But if you want to crank it up a notch and give the marker the illusion that you actually care about English and the world, have a clear-cut idea you want to explore. This is intertwined with a purpose - this is a must. Have a clear purpose, since this determines your audience, writing style, perspective, and half your reflection statement. Your idea doesn’t have to be something profound, you don’t need to reimagine Plato’s Divided Sun Allegory through a postmodern lens, it can be something simpler. A simple procedure here would be (this is by no means an accepted or fantastic method, but it can help on the post):
1. Brainstorm universal ideas that relate to the stimulus. Pick one. Let’s say you pick ‘power’. 2. Decide what you want to say about your universal idea. With power, for example, I can write about how
power inevitably corrupts, but that’s been overdone. Find a fresh perspective, or challenge an existing one. Instead of power corrupting people, I can write about how it is the corrupt that can truly wield power effectively.
3. Craft your narrative around this, do NOT shoehorn commentary on it. Show, don’t tell. Don’t tell the marker in your imaginative that this is what you’re trying to say, they should be able to glean this from your narrative, which should naturally explore these ideas.
Playing with form While most students will write a conventional short story, there is technically nothing stopping you from utilising a different form. Some forms work better for exam conditions than others. Let’s go through a few
1. Poetry a. Poetry is very risky because you rely on the marker being able to interpret all your abstract
imagery. It’s also very hard to mark, especially as to what criteria your poetry must hit, thus you end up falling into a trap where you make this Module’s marking even more subjective than it actually is. Unless you’re Sylvia Plath or David Bowie, try and avoid this.
2. Script/Screenplay a. This is not as risky, but it narrows down the focus of your piece since you will be focusing on
dialogue more than setting and worldbuilding (that’s just how the form goes). If you are
accustomed to writing these with a decent level of proficiency, then that’s fine. Keep in mind that it mostly depends on the question.
3. Memoir/Journal Entry a. This is fine. You can use this, just have a strong perspective and personal character voice.
Structure There is no one set structure for Imaginative pieces, but it is usually good to have a pre-established one in mind. On a side note - YOU DON’T HAVE TO CONCLUDE YOUR STORY. You don’t NEED to end a story, but if you can, that’s always ideal. You might intentionally want to end abruptly (justify why in your reflection). I have a tendency to brainstorm ideas that simply can’t be fully captured in a time limit, and alot of people have end up concocting long murder mysteries or fantasy epics. If you struggle with this, and can’t overcome it, you can work around it by choosing one scene in this supposed ‘epic’ and just write that. Back on track, there are many templates for short story structures. There’s always the basic (Introduction, Complication, Resolution) one you can use, but here are some interesting, pre-established story structures you can use:
Three-Act Structure
Pros Cons
- Quite simple to use - It limits your story a lot. It can shove you into a corner, forcing you to write a story that might not be consistent with the characters you’ve established.
- Can be used for split questions and whole questions
- Its simplicity can also be a shortcoming, especially if you’re capable of a sophisticated structure. Plus, it doesn’t give you much to talk about in your reflection.
Five- Act Structure - Friegstad’s Pyramid
Pros Cons
- Simple and quite logical. - Usually not suitable for split questions, and sometimes even full questions (by split questions I mean those that aren’t worth the full 20 marks, and by full I mean those that are 20).
- Quite open if you can stick by it. It’s not as limiting, thus allowing you more creative freedom but still maintaining cohesion.
- Again, often not suitable for timed questions, since this structure is usually helpful for longer pieces.
- It can give you something to discuss and use as a device in your reflection, because you can draw upon one of the prescribed Shakespeare texts.
8-Point Story Circle
Pros Cons
- Very, very simple and effective. - Again, simplicity might be a weakness since it ignores worldbuilding, other characters, etc.
- This places an emphasis on character-driven stories, which is always ideal.
- If you have a question that wants to focus on setting or an idea, the 8-point circle’s character-focus can be a detriment.
The Hero’s Journey - Monomyth
Pros Cons
- Strong, easy to follow structure - Perhaps too conventional. Since this has been used so many times, it lacks originality. The marker won’t necessarily mark you down for it, but you can make them more interested with a different structure.
- It’s accepted and effective (some of your favourite stories use this template).
- Very limiting.
These are just some of the various pre-established templates, each with varying levels of effectiveness. It’s good to know them roughly in case you are backed into a corner. It is also perfectly okay to discard all of these and go for a non-linear structure, especially if you can draw upon a prescribed text.
As I mentioned before about brainstorming your ending first, start your story as CLOSE to the end as possible. This removes fluff, only write the suspense/action that pertains to your primary conflict. Don’t characterise and world build through exposition dumps, weave them throughout your plot. Get into the action as soon as possible - use in media res if possible. Character This is exceptionally important because you might not get enough time to build your world. You DO NOT need a massive range of characters like Game of Thrones (I mean look at how those character arcs ended, ffs all you had to do was end Jaime with a satisfying conclusion). Stick with 3 characters MAX as a general guideline. Sure, you can include others but focus on three with depth. Make your character interesting - relatability isn’t something you’re striving for here. In longer forms, the composer has the opportunity to flesh out a seemingly normal, relatable character into someone unique (e.g. Don Draper in Man Men is a great example). You don’t have that luxury here - get straight into a character’s that’s absurd, unique, different. Make them stand out - from the first line, the marker should want to know more about this character. Your choice of perspective significantly impacts your level of characterisation. A first-person perspective allows greater insight into your protagonist, but a certain perspective bias pervades (which you can use to your advantage - e.g. Crime and Punishment). This choice can, however, provide you leeway with slight rambling when characterising through monologues and so on. A third-person perspective can provide greater insight into all character psyches, but possibly with less depth. You also run the risk of rambling since it makes less sense to do so here. Another thing to focus on here is to make the audience root for your protagonist. I shouldn’t have to necessarily like your character as a person, but I should want them to succeed in their goal (e.g. Frank Underwood). An easy way to achieve this is to, in the words of Kurt Vonnegut, ‘be a sadist’. Put your characters through hell, make them suffer the greatest tragedy, loss, grief, etc so that the audience can see what they’re made of. Make these experiences drive their motivations, and that’s where we come to our next point. Motivation - this is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect of your character. Every character should want something, even if it’s as simple as a glass of water (though obviously, you want higher stakes). Every story in the world can be summarised in the following. Character wants something. Obstacles stand in their way. Character then overcomes these to get that something or fails. The end This is basically how all stories work, so you need to establish what your character wants and WHY they want it, AS EARLY IN THE STORY OF POSSIBLE. This is the driving force behind your plot. Rootable character + motivation = well-paced plot
Another point of characterisation - don’t exposition dump. Tell the marker about characterisation through their actions. Don’t tell me that John was nervous for his job interview, tell me his hands were trembling as he brushed his teeth in preparation for the interview. Small things go a long way for pacing your plot as well. Basic summary for characters
1. Don’t have too many characters 2. Make your protagonist someone the audience can naturally root for 3. Make your characters interesting 4. Establish motivations early on
A final note: make your plot driven by character, not events. Your protagonist and antagonist should be making active choices that alter the development of your narrative. Don’t make them passive characters, because that hurts audience engagement. Tension This is somewhat linked to motivations, since: CONFLICT DRIVES PLOT. There are several types of general
conflicts you can have - some examples are below: Your antagonist also has to be equally interesting to your protagonist. ONLY characterise both to the extent of what they serve to your narrative. Your antagonist’s role is to serve as an obstacle for the protagonist in their pursuit of what they want. On crafting villains A small note here; all the best antagonists truly believe what they are doing is right. Additionally, not only can they physically oppose your antagonist, but their IDEOLOGY must be in conflict with the protagonist’s. For example, the Joker is physically inferior to Batman, but it is the underlying ideological conflict of chaos v order, coupled with the fact that he truly believes he is
‘showing Gotham for what it truly is’, that make him the perfect villain (yeah quote me on that). This also applies to Thanos, who, unlike most other one-dimensional Marvel villains, truly believes what he is doing is right through his own beliefs. Every sentence in your piece must be developing character or moving the plot forward to maintain tension. Your stakes need to be high - a common misconception is that they have to be absolutely high stakes (such as the fate of the universe), but this is wrong. Your stakes need to be relatively high in accordance to what your protagonist and antagonist believe and care about. (again, X-Men: Dark Phoenix has objectively high stakes, but it doesn’t seem like the characters care, so why should the audience? The Dark Knight, on the other hand, is entirely over one city, yet it still maintains tension). Another side note: How good or bad a character is depends on the other characters around them. There is no objective morality in stories. For example, if I asked you who you think is more of a ‘good’ person out of John
Wick and Darla from Finding Nemo, most of you will say Wick. Even though Wick is miles worse than Darla (I mean he murders dozens of people), the way the narrative frames morality in comparison to other characters is what determines how the audience views them. What to take from this? Your villain doesn’t need to be a genocidal maniac to be bad, neither does your hero have to be an angel to be good. It’s all relative. Keep it Simple Basically what the heading says - as mentioned before, no fantasy sagas needed. I personally have never written an imaginative piece under exam conditions that was set in more than one ROOM. This is more of a self-imposed restriction, and is by no means a guideline, it’s simply an example. This helps me have a streamlined plot with less room for filler, whereby I confine myself to only pushing the plot. Plus, it saves on the worldbuilding. On Some Language Choices You might have heard from a variety of avenues that you should avoid the word ‘said’ in your writing. People tend to take this to heart and, as a result, their dialogue becomes extremely heavy-handed. Use said, there’s nothing wrong with it. If another verb suits your purpose better, then prioritise that first, but do not force yourself to remove the word said and replace it with something more sophisticated. This is not an essay, your vocabulary is to be of a lower priority compared to pacing and flow. What you SHOULD try and avoid, however, are adverbs. There are two reasons for this:
1. It breaks flow and hurts pacing. 2. It makes you use more words than you need to.
For example. He walked through the door angrily. Mould your verb to convey the same idea. The same sentence changes to: He stormed through the door. This sentence communicates the same idea with fewer words and is easier to read. Words are money, don’t waste them. Also: play to your strengths. Don’t unnecessarily focus your story on dialogue if you’re not strong at writing dialogue. For example, I have the opposite issue, I can’t world build, but I can write dialogue. Hence, partly why the aforementioned restriction of closed space one-room stories. A well-written story always trumps a mediocre story with fantastic ideas. Don’t let your weaknesses show if you don’t have to (exceptions would be the question screwing you over).
Part III - Discursive Writing
While it may seem like Imaginative writing is the most open-ended form, that actually happens to be Discursive writing. It is extremely hard to define and structure Discursive pieces due to the vast array of possibilities, but general rules still apply. Make sure you distinguish it from a persuasive In a discursive piece, you can DISCUSS and EXPLORE an idea. While the former might require you to analyse arguments from ALL SIDES of any surrounding debate, you SHOULD NOT FAVOUR any one side. You are not to persuade anyone of anything. Categorising Discursives This is pretty much impossible, but you can vaguely categorise them into two styles. Category 1: The Debate/Discussion Format
This picture is not what this style of discursive looks like - it’s just an indication about what you would cover if you were covering healthcare for example. In this style, you would explore both sides of the debate and presents arguments by each respective side, without giving too much credence to one over the other. Your integration of
stylistic features is through your exploration of such dichotomies (an example of this style would be most of Plato’s The Republic). Category 2: The Exploring Discursive Geraldine Brooks’ A Home in Fiction is a fantastic example of this, since it is also a prescribed text. Brooks explores the role of fiction in this piece, wherein this form allows for greater personal input. This form also lends well taking the audience on a journey, reflected in Brooks’ ideological transformation on her outlook on fiction. You don’t necessarily provide sides of an argument - you can ramble and input personal opinions in this form, but this freedom can lead to incoherent pieces. Brooks’ overcomes this through her extended metaphors. Use an extended metaphor if it makes sense Not only does this increases the sophistication of your writing and gives you something to mention in your reflection, the lack of established structures for discursive pieces means that you have to make your own guidelines - that’s where an extended metaphor comes in. These can serve as a framework to wrap your piece around so that you don’t stray away from your main point. Discursive pieces are inherently tangential and allow for rambling, but you still need a sustained, cohesive piece. An example of this from a Mod C piece I wrote would be discussing misinformation and partisan journalism in the Digital Age, topics that can warrant thousand-page books by themselves. To ensure I sustained some level of consistency and concomitantly add a sense of organic unity to my work, I paralleled my piece with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which itself discusses the rejection of the truth. This underscored my work with a sense of universality and textual integrity, while also restraining me from divulging in irrelevant information. Extended metaphors also can bandaid your work if it sidetracks a lot, since linking back to it gives the illusion to the marker that you had it all planned. Remember, the only crime is being caught. The marker needs to THINK you know what you’re going on about - you don’t need to actually know what’s going on. Have a personal voice This is still an English piece of writing - you need a distinct voice and literary devices. Use anecdotes and play with intertextuality. Do NOT make it sound like a science report or case law report - you are not simply recording observations or regurgitating arguments on an issue, you are still crafting an engaging creative piece. Think of yourself as a news anchor mediating a debate - you let your two guests go at it, but you still input your opinion at times and interject when one side is receiving too much attention. Using personal pronouns is perfectly acceptable.
Hybrid Forms This is an interesting one. How do you differentiate whether your piece is discursive or imaginative? Where is that line? Well, there is no absolutely correct answer. But here’s an interesting way to conceptualise the two: IMAGINATIVE - these explore an idea subtly THROUGH THE NARRATIVE, which is the main focus. DISCURSIVE - these explore an idea explicitly - this IDEA IS THE MAIN FOCUS. All creative elements ARE IN SUPPORT OF THE EXPLORATION OF YOUR MAIN IDEA. Remember to keep a focus on your idea - all anecdotes, statistics, recounts, thought experiments, etc must link to your idea. TAKE YOUR AUDIENCE on a journey with your idea if your discursive is exploring an idea. You aren’t providing an introduction then justifying your thesis. YOUR VIEW and, by extension, the audience’s, must have changed by the conclusion of the piece (this doesn’t necessarily mean having a different perspective, it can simply be having newfound understanding). Just how you start with planning your ending as you would for an imaginative, it’s best to chart out the journey your discursive takes you. As you would have seen repeated here - discursives are a double-edged sword. They provide great levels of creative freedom, but the dilemma is that losing marks is a large possibility due to how easily your piece cannot lose its cohesion. Sustained response, that’s key. Hold it together. On meddling with form With great freedom comes great possibility. There is potential to experiment with form for discursive pieces. For example - Waiting for Godot is chock full of discursive elements yet it’s a play. Some forms can even suit this format better than others. For example, a script can work effectively when discussing an issue. Write about a political debate, or just a discussion between friends about an idea (Galileo tried sneaking in his argument for a heliocentric model within a discursive piece using this format - don’t do what he did. Don’t heavily favour one view, or else you’ll end up in house arrest by the Catholic church for most of your life), but keep in mind the following for this style:
Pros Cons
- Allows you to have great pacing and cohesion, since each character would represent a particular viewpoint
- You run the risk of your piece being on the verge of an imaginative/persuasive - or at least being interpreted as one.
- Your discussion revolves around the idea and you can give equal weighting to all sides.
- Very easy to fall into the trap of excessive characterisation.
Part IV - Persuasive Writing
Persuasives are what happens when you take a discursive and add the perspective of a truly ‘woke’ Year 7 child who’s seen some Ben Shapiro videos on youtube. You need to be arguing FOR a certain perspective - this means that your purpose and audience is extremely clear (purpose - to convince about x, audience - people who don’t believe in x). Have a clear structure for your persuasive as well - introduce your position, then present your points and back them up. It should be clear what your position is as soon as possible within your piece. Reiterate it at the end. Try to bring an ‘oomph’ factor to your final line. If you are using an anecdote to begin your piece, it’s effective to return back to that anecdote or hypothetical situation but with a newfound perspective, demonstrating how you’ve proven your point, thus resulting in altered practical examples. E.g. Main argument - Free Will is an illusion Opening anecdote - Revolves around me (a character) choosing breakfast out of your free will. Closing anecdote - still choosing breakfast (you know it’s fictional because no one eats breakfast in Year 12) but with cognizance of the fact that I have no choice, no free will, no autonomy, nothing really matters. :( Good opportunity for conversations Since persuasives require you to attempt to convince someone, you can select your audience accordingly. You can use the same device as Discursives of having a script where a character is attempting to convince another, but you are safer to simply have a structured persuasive piece ala Naplan <3. Since you are expected to show proficiency in the craft of writing, you can do some interesting things with persuasives - you can address your entire piece to your audience through a second-person perspective and take them on a journey. Use statistics if you know any Whip out any pre-existing knowledge you have. Flex statistics, quotes, scholars. Bring out whatever you have to convince the audience; if you demonstrate to the marker that you read widely and are cultured, it gives off a better impression. This is NOT to say that your persuasive is to be entirely academic and devoid of personality - you still need a personal voice.
On anecdotes and stylistic choices DO NOT NEGLECT these - integrate anecdotes, rhetoric, hypothetical situations, analogies, etc. Use them to support your points. Extended metaphors can also be used in the same way. This is especially important when your persuasive is grappling with abstract concepts or morality, where statistics and empirical evidence might not be as applicable or relevant for that matter. Let’s plagiarise an example: I am arguing that ‘Power resides where men believe it resides’ This isn’t something that I can argue using statistics or studies. I can, however, demonstrate it using a metaphor. Call it the Roundtable. In a room sit three great men: A King, Priest, and a Rich man. Between them stands a common sellsword. Each great man bids the sellsword slay the other two. Who lives and who dies? It depends on where the sellsword believes power to reside - is it through money, divine blessing, or authority? Ideally you can interweave both objective and subjective evidence to support your point. Also consider incorporating testimonies, snippets, or extracts of creative anecdotes that also supplement your point. Justify these in your reflection by highlighting how they appeal to pathos and assist in the conceptualisation of your argument. Honestly, there isn’t much to discuss for persuasives. Draw upon NAPLAN knowledge and essay structures (since you are technically arguing a point there anyway), but add creative elements. It’s very open.
Part V - Informative Writing You flip your page to the Mod C section, anticipating an exciting question. Instead, you see that it asks you to write an informative piece. If you believe in a God, this is the point in time you start praying. If you don’t, stare at the clock for 40 minutes. After this, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. In all seriousness, though, informative writing is simply persuasive writing without having an argument. This form is more objective and academic, wherein no perspective is promulgated. Keep in mind that it is very unlikely you will be asked to write an informative piece in exam conditions.
Your purpose, as the name suggests, is to INFORM. Don’t take sides - educate the marker about a topic in relation to the stimulus.
- Use statistics - Employ an objective voice - Have a clear-cut structure
You can use subheadings for informative pieces - it assists for structure. Not much to talk about here for informative pieces - you probably won’t be asked this in the exam anyways.
Part VI - Reflective Writing Your writing, especially reflections, can look way more intellectual than they actually are with a starting quote.
- Abraham Lincoln 2019 Reflections will usually be worth 6-10 marks, and supplementary to an imaginative/discursive.persuasive piece you have written prior. Define your piece This is often overlooked, but DEFINE WHAT FORM YOUR PIECE IS. This is especially important when the question allows you to select from a variety of forms, or when you want to distinguish whether your piece is discursive or persuasive. Just mention this in your intro (My discursive piece …..). Keep in mind that your form has to be directly linked to your purpose. An informative piece should not be looking to convince, and an imaginative piece shouldn’t inform. Not only does this make sense, but it also justifies your form. The marker should be able to look at your purpose and immediately think, ‘Okay, the form of writing chosen makes sense for this purpose’. Structure This is a sample structure - I don’t even follow this every time. Introduction
- Introduce your piece - what’s it called, what form, what it’s about - Outline your purpose - Identify your target audience - Outline prescribed texts you drew inspiration from and any other texts (drawing from other texts is a
good thing, since it demonstrates that you read widely and are able to craft pieces that allude to several texts, but make sure you definitely have prescribed texts for inspiration first, then consider other texts)
2-3 paragraphs
- Outline a key idea/stylistic choice (some reflection questions might focus on justifying stylistic choices whereas some grapple with ideas, format accordingly)
- In a normal English essay, you have QTE (Quote, Technique, Effect). Try and have a similar system. - Purpose - what are you trying to achieve? - Evidence 1 - QTE from your own text - Synthesis - show a clear link between the two - Idea - how does this reinforce/communicate an idea that you are trying to express - Secondary Evidence - QTE from a prescribed text, showing a clear link about how you draw
from that stylistic choice to enhance the expression of your own writing and ideas
Conclusion - Reiterate what your piece - Summarise your main stylistic choices and inspirations - End with something profound
Let’s see this in action. Take this hypothetical example:
- Purpose - I am trying to critique the current state of online journalism and the spread of misinformation - Evidence 1 - I use intertextuality, incorporating extracts from news websites that are followed by
linguistic analysis. - Synthesis - This serves my purpose as I critique the prominence of misinformation and manipulation of
facts through language. - Idea - This is strongly linked to my purpose. My idea is the deterioration of the truth and its exploitation
through language. - Secondary Evidence - I draw upon George Orwell’s use of intertextuality from Politics and the English
Language, and thus mirror his critique, translating these concerns to a contemporary audience in light of the Digital Age.
Important thing to keep in mind: This is NOT the exact order you need to do it in. I You can shuffle these around to whatever order suits your reflection’s flow best, but include this. It can often be difficult to integrate context into reflections, and it’s not necessary. HOWEVER, if you do find an opening to incorporate context, DO IT. This is especially useful when you discuss the prescribed texts you draw from, while keeping in mind that context doesn’t only relate to the time period. Sure, it might seem like older texts are easier for integrating context due to the different milieus of the genesis text and yours, but context also relates to location and audience. Adapting stylistic features and ideas from these texts, and tailoring them to a certain audience (which, remember, should be as specific as possible) counts as context. Reimagining ‘What time is it now where you are?’s’ context of the USA’s invasion of Afghanistan into your own anti-war narrative, which explores the violent subjugation of Indigenous Australians for an Australian audience, COUNTS AS CONTEXT. Think of the following categories of context:
- Historical - Social - Cultural - Personal - Political
If any opportunity arises to integrate context - do it.
Audience Have a clearly defined audience - by the way, this audience shouldn’t be the HSC markers themselves (even though they are technically your audience, your piece should be catered towards another group). This should be linked to your purpose as well - for example, if your purpose is to convince people that morality is subjective, your audience would be those who believe morality is objective. Be specific with your audience - the narrower your targeted audience the better. Don’t just say ‘teenagers’ or ‘people with an interest in morality and philosophy’ - define this group more clearly. You are writing for an audience. Side note: This is a tip from Extension 2 mostly, but it can apply here as well. You can include where your work might be published and link this to your audience as well. E.g. A work of political satire can be published in MAD magazine, and an informative piece of investigative journalism can be published in The New York Times. This can create a strong link between audience and purpose, and can impress markers. This is optional. Purpose Your purpose is the answer to the question: Why did you write this piece? Your purpose is NOT ‘because I had to write a piece in the exam’. As said before, you can and should use the phrases from the rubric as starting points for your purpose. Look above in Part I. It can be to challenge an idea, provide a fresh perspective, effectuate introspection within the audience, discover new meaning, etc. Try and avoid saying that your purpose is simply to explore an idea - be more specific. What is it about this idea that you are trying to explore? Even with an imaginative piece, you arrive at an answer to the central ideological question that lies at the centre of the story. What did you learn? This, in turn, can inform your purpose. Are you trying to prove this idea, disprove it, illuminate a new perspective, etc? Think of the purpose in your reflection like a Thesis in an essay. Just like you would link every paragraph and piece of evidence to the overarching thesis, you should link back EVERY stylistic choice, inspiration, idea, etc to your PURPOSE. Justifying Choices A reflection statement is a real estate agent to the house that is your original piece. It needs to sell it; don’t point out flaws, that’s something for the marker to figure out themselves. Sell your piece - show the marker why it’s amazing, how everything comes together. It is imperative that you JUSTIFY your choices. With every technique, stylistic choice, idea, etc, as yourself ‘Why am I doing this?’ If you did it unintentionally, make it up.
Additionally, your justification needs to ALWAYS be clearly linked to your purpose. There’s no use justifying the use of visceral imagery in your piece if it’s simply to ‘evoke an emotional response within the audience’. Why is that important? Why and how does an emotional response by the audience matter? Link. To. Purpose. Cohesion and justification are ultimately the bedrock of reflections. You also need to justify why you drew upon specific stylistic devices from your prescribed text/s. What purpose does the prescribed text’s devices achieve? Are you trying to achieve the same effect? Are you trying to subvert it, contravene it, reimagine it? Justify everything. You need to show the marker that there is a clear reason you chose, for example, Geraldine Brooks’ extended metaphor, not just because it sounds fancy, but because it helps you achieve your purpose. Regardless of how conventional or unconventional your form is, justify why that form serves your purpose most effectively. Why did you choose a short story/script/poem? Obviously, if you choose something unconventional, you have made an active choice and thus you have more to talk about. However, even if you’ve written a short story, refer to the form or major structural techniques and their relation to purpose. Craft of Writing This entire module is about building up your metaphorical ‘writer’s toolkit’; an arsenal of skills that you utilise to communicate any idea you want. Don’t fall into the trap of centring your ENTIRE reflection around ideas. It’s very tempting to do so; after all, we separate essays and revolve them around themes/ideas, so why not here? What you SHOULD focus on are stylistic features and devices. Reflections for Mod C, more so than Extension 1, 2, or previous school years, should be more focused on textual analysis. Your ideas are important, definitely, but what is so special about the craft of your writing. Remember, sell your piece, and in doing so, sell yourself as a writer. Prescribed text Mostly a reiteration of before; there needs to be a specific reason you are drawing upon your prescribed text. Hint: because it ultimately assists you in achieving your purpose.You must reference how you adapted/recreated elements from a prescribed text. Whether this be Orwell’s intertextuality, Brooks’ anecdotes, McCann’s metafictive style, or Kafka’s cockroach addiction, you should be drawing upon these because it helps you communicate your ideas more clearly. Feel free to reference other non-prescribed texts as well. Flex the fact you have read Sparknotes for other texts, or if you’re truly insane, you’ve actually read other texts. It should go without saying, but mention the author and full title of where you are stealing from. Underline the title.
Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive guide but it should hopefully get you started on Mod C. I hope it was helpful and beneficial. If you have any further questions on anything, chuck me a message on Facebook (Zair Ahmed) or email me at [email protected]. All the best for English and Year 12!
