HSC English exam? No, you shouldn't just memorise an essay!

I should just write a base/scaffold essay, right? Wrong.

So you’ve got your trials coming up? Or perhaps you’re reading this as your proper exam is looming for HSC English Standard, Advanced, or Extension 1?

You’ve heard the strategy: write your base essay, or scaffold essay, and memorise it. Then you can adapt it to the question. That’s all you need to do, right?

Wrong.

Uh, oh... not what you expected?

You see, many – if not most – HSC students follow this strategy. And yes, it admittedly quite often works to their favour. “The right question came up!” “The question was perfect for what I planned!” “I could use my entire essay!” These are the kinds of exclamations we often hear. 

But what we don’t often hear shouted from the rooftops in post-exam autopsies are those students for whom their pre-planned essay was not quite the right fit – to say it mildly. They usually stay quiet.

Sometimes the question was just… not what we expected.

For example, in 2019, students who studied George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four were asked to write about loneliness. This did not suit many pre-written essays which focused more on the human experiences of pain or defiance or control. True, you can adapt these themes to answer the question, but according to examiners’ comments, the better responses ‘evaluate to what extent texts invite a reconsideration of the specified human experience’. Notice that word ‘specified’? That means if you want the elusive 20/20, you ain’t gonna get it by just tweaking your topic sentences and thesis slightly. Your entire essay should have been focused on loneliness – right there at the centre of your essay. You needed to fully rework your ideas to write a focused essay that ATfQ – lingo for Answers the (freaking) Question.

So, what should you do?

Two-Pronged Approach

As I wrote in a previous blog, I recommend the two-pronged approach:

1. Base Essays. Sure, write your base essays for all essay modules: common mod, Mod A and Mod B – this is super useful because it forces you to polish a really strong essay, setting a standard, and very often you can use the phrases and analytical points you compose. Great! But far from enough!

2. Handwrite practice responses to unseen questions in timed conditions. Oh my goodness, this step is so important and it blows my mind how many students avoid doing this, thinking that their preparations end with their base essay. Please, please, please, do as much of this step as possible. The more responses you write in timed conditions, the more prepared you will be. Trust me.

Step 2 also demands that you have a brilliant Quotation Station – a quotation bank for key themes with detailed analysis. You need to memorise all this.

Your preparation for the HSC English Standard, Advanced or Extension essay sections should look like this:

“But… but… I don’t have time!” (Short answer: yes you do)

I know what you’re thinking: I don’t have time to do all this! I’ve got Chemistry and Maths and History and there’s my rowing and soccer and… just where exactly am I going to fit all this in?

With all due respect – and I do acknowledge this is a stressful time for you – I would urge you to work on your priorities. Ask yourself: what is really important right now? I bet that English is going to be up there at this point in your life as being rather important. If you think you don’t have enough time to block slots in your calendar to sit down and write timed responses, I would kindly ask you to take out your phone, go to settings, and look at how many hours you’ve spent on TikTok and Instagram this week. Is it over 4 hours? How many practice papers could you have done? 5 practice papers for Mod A would take 3 hours and 45 minutes – not that long, right? The same amount of time as a few episodes of your favourite show on Netflix.

So, why aren’t you doing timed responses?

Maybe it’s because you’re anxious about doing them? Unseen question, blank paper, a timer… You have no idea how to start… Good. This is exactly the wake up call you need. And what to do about it? Stick with it. Quickly plan a response and get writing. Go all the way up to the time limit (45 or 40 minutes) and then stop. How much of your base/scaffold essay did you use? Are you really answering the question? What mark would you give yourself?

Get feedback and act on it – and repeat

The next step is to take your handwritten practice essays and do the following:

1. Ask your school teacher to mark it. Your English department will likely be marking your trial papers, so this will be super useful.

2. Get your tutor to mark it. This is honestly best done in a tutoring session so you can get verbal and written feedback at each point throughout your essay. Do this even if you feel your essay is terrible. Getting a 10/20 for a response is a superb wake up call, and your tutor’s advice on how to move forward – what you could have included – is gold.

Getting feedback will likely force you to look for better quotations to answer each question, and you should be adding these quotations (and analytical notes) to your Quotation Station (quotation bank).

Be dogged when chasing feedback

After five practice responses, you should see yourself using the same quotations to answer different questions, and you should be able to use them with flexibility – using them to truly answer the given question, not simply regurgitate vaguely relevant phrases. You will be far more prepared to write an essay on a range of themes and angles – not just one. And – crucially – you’ll build that ability to actually write with cogency on the spot, answering the given question with aplomb. That’s because you will have thought more deeply about the text and engaged with its ideas honestly and with intellectual rigour (and isn’t that the point?)

It’s time to get serious about preparation for your English HSCs – whether this is for Standard, Advanced or even Extension 1.

If you want to smash your HSC English exams, your base or scaffold essay is not enough. You need to put in the work. You need to practise.

So, block out that time in your calendar. Let’s go!