Preparation Tips for the HSC English Exams
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The Home Stretch- Final Preparation tips for the HSC English Exams

Preparation Tips for the HSC English Exams

This time next week, the English exams will be over and you will never have to write another essay about belonging ever again!

Important last minute preparation tips

  • Do not try and pre-learn your essays. You will do a lot better if you write your essay from scratch, adapting your knowledge of the module and the text/s to the question.
  • Remember that for Paper One, they can ask you to write any text type for questions 2 and 3 (Creative Writing AND Extended Response). A brief overview of different text types and their purposes can be found here.
  • Don’t spend too much time on one question at the expense of others. English teachers will tell you this time and time again, and it is true, it is much harder to get those last 3 or 4 extra marks than it is to get the first 3 or four marks on another question.
  • Know as many techniques and quotes as you can. This will give you a broad base from which you can create and support arguments to respond to questions
  • Do not forget your essay structure. Although it is easy and tempting to just write everything you know about a topic, markers appreciate an essay with a proper introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs with one topic of argument, and a conclusion.
  • Try and do as many practice questions as possible before the exam. Even if you just look at the questions and write a brief plan so you know that if you got that question in an exam, you would be able to answer it with your knowledge of the module and text/s.
  • Remember that no matter how obscure the question they give you may seem, it will be drawn from the syllabus. So read over what the syllabus says about your module/elective/area of study and make sure you understand each of the key concepts it has covered, and how your texts have helped you to understand or explore those concepts.
All of that being said, remember that the HSC is not the end of the world and you should not get too stressed out over remembering every little quote and piece of information. If you have done the work throughout the year, there is no reason to be scared, as you will find that when you are in the exam room, it will all come back to you and you will be able to answer the question well.

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5 Comments

  1. Hey there,
    Just wanted to say a massive thank you for the incredible source of help this site has been.
    I owe a lot of my success in English to you guys
    I think the worst part about trying to study for the coming exams is knowing that in a few days i’ll never have to even think about all that content again! :S kinda seems like a waste of time and brain space, especially when there’s a world of knowledge out there i’d rather be exploring, but i can’t complain – it’s the skills that are important and i’m so lucky to have access to a quality education and resources like this.
    Thanks again!
    😀

    1. Thank you for the feedback-glad we could help.
      It may seem pointless trying to cram all this information in now, but at the end of the day it is best to try as hard as you can and know you have done the best you possibly can!
      Good Luck!

  2. Thanks for the tips 🙂
    Just wondering, in the introduction can you introduce the text as (for example)
    ‘As You Like It (AYLI)’ and from then on use ‘AYLI’ or is this frowned upon?

    1. You are welcome!
      HSC Markers understand that you have a lot to write in a very short amount of time. As long as you put the full version of the text in the introduction and put next to it what abbreviation you will use to refer to it, you will not be penalized.
      Good Luck!

  3. I wonder if I could post any reading passage and question( comprehension) and seek for help from you guys ,I really want to learn and improve my reading comprehension please

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