Gaining the necessary skills for excellence in vce
- 3. • To achieve high-scoring marks students must improve the quality of their writing. • They must show a sound grasp and control of a variety of sentence structures. • They must show a fluent grasp of analytical vocabulary. Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques: pp. 97-112.
- 4. • Students will build an analytical (tone) vocabulary. • The adjectives/adverbs will help students improve their use of dialogue in creative writing: identifying the character’s manner of speaking will help students analyse and create characters. Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques
- 5. Learn the tone vocabulary. We will work through a variety of exercises to expand your analytical vocabulary. Typical sentences include: • Troy also adopts a candid tone to reveal his typical feelings of pain and suffering as a “zoo animal”. • Troy uses an aggrieved tone, when he suggests that they feel like “zoo animals’. (He uses such a tone to reflect the depth of his feeling.) • Ardently, the blogger seeks to justify the ban on the grounds that “everyone clicks with their own kind” Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques: pp. 43-70.
- 6. Explain the “evidence” as succinctly as possible. Do not over-explain the text/evidence. Use accurate adjectives, adverbs and verbs as well as nominalisation. Be specific with the details. Use one word rather than 5.
- 7. Follow the (analytical) sentence models: these will help you to identify the author’s most important point (main contention), reason and purpose Topic Sentence and author’s intentions) Jimmy criticises owners of dangerous dogs who fail to exercise due diligence. Appealing to values such as safety and responsibility, he encourages all fair-minded members of the public to take greater care (to lock up their dogs). Accordingly, Jimmy directs our anger ….
- 9. Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques: pp. 28-34.
- 10. Be sure to present your ideas logically. Use appropriate keywords and signposts to guide the reader through your discussion. In each paragraph, start with a “big picture” concept and then analyse specific examples and quotes. Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques: pp. 34-38.
- 11. Your topic sentence should be persuasive/analytical; not descriptive. It should not describe a problem, but show a clear analytical link to the topic. Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques: pp. 17.
- 12. In each paragraph, start with a “big picture” concept (author’s views and values) and then analyse specific examples and quotes. Students should pay particular attention to topic sentences. They should be analytical and not descriptive. Students should also show an awareness of the text’s complexities: see close analysis.
- 13. “We grow through conflict” “Through conflict we may discover hidden talent or hidden qualities. Adversity makes us more resilient and confident as people. If we deal with problems or learn from difficult experiences, we can benefit in the future. As Ben Okri says, “Those who transcend their apparent limitations/Are greater than those who apparently/Have little to transcend”.
- 14. You must develop the ability in English to analyse interesting, dramatic, emotional details that highlight individual differences/ quirks/eccentricities. You must focus on details that “stand out”.
- 15. You must develop the ability to accurately identify what an author says and how they say it. You must use appropriate metalanguage/words/expression and grammar (where appropriate) You must recognise an author’s key narrative techniques.