English: 2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report€¦ · English: 2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report Author: Queensland Curriculum and Assessment

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Statistics Year Number of

candidates Level of achievement

VHA HA SA LA VLA

2015 59 4 10 33 9 3

2014 67 3 14 30 15 5

2013 79 0 7 45 23 4

2012 106 1 13 48 36 8

2011 85 4 14 40 25 2

Responding to task demands Candidates must ensure that they meet the demands of the task and respond directly to what is being asked of them. It was apparent that many candidates showed they understood the meaning of the texts but they did not use this understanding to respond to the topics.

Candidates must ensure that they use the appropriate text when responding to tasks.

Criterion 1 — Knowledge and control of texts in their contexts

Characteristics of good responses Success in this criterion is achieved when candidates show an awareness of how meanings in texts are shaped by purpose, cultural context and social situation.

Candidates were rewarded for demonstrating their ability to:

• discriminate in the selection of subject matter

• exploit the conventions of genres for particular purposes

• substantiate analysis with appropriate and well-balanced evidence

• analyse texts, ideas and issues

• respond to the demands placed on them through the roles and relationships adopted when answering particular questions.

English 2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report


Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority February 2016

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Suggestions Candidates should:

• develop ideas throughout their responses through the use of analysis and evaluation of the texts they have studied

• exploit the introduction of responses to clearly establish the central idea of that response

• employ appropriate tone and tenor

• construct responses that are consistent with the actions and words of selected characters

• make work responsive to the nuances and demands of the tasks provided.

Criterion 2 — Knowledge and control of textual features

Characteristics of good responses Success in this criterion is achieved when candidates show an awareness of appropriateness of textual features for purpose, genre and register.


• logically and cohesively organise and arrange ideas

• spell, punctuate and paragraph

• use clause and sentence structures for effect

• maintain grammatical accuracy

• use a wide range of vocabulary including figurative uses.


• integrate and synthesise direct evidence within responses for the purpose of analysis

• be fluent with the language of the syllabus (specifically the terms from the glossary)

• avoid common mistakes with run-on sentences, fragments, basic punctuation and spelling

• employ paragraphs

• allocate time to perform a careful proofread.



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Criterion 3 — Knowledge and application of the constructedness of texts

Characteristics of good responses Success in this criterion is achieved when candidates show an awareness of the ways in which texts are selectively constructed and read.


• make choices that invite the reader to take up intended positions

• analyse how readers are invited to take up positions

• evaluate representations

• shape representations

• examine how cultural assumptions, values, beliefs and attitudes underpin texts.


• provide specific evidence to, and analysis of, the topics in the examination

• analyse and evaluate the evidence provided in texts

• make purposeful choices that invite the reader to take up positions about texts

• use evidence to support a point as opposed to simply making it

• identify the positions readers take in response to texts and explain how these readings are produced

• consider cultural assumptions, values, beliefs and attitudes

• synthesise evidence and use this evidence to respond to the tasks

• make deliberate language choices when shaping and evaluating character representations.

Resources and required texts Candidates are required to study a range of texts to prepare for the examination, specifically:

• expository texts, e.g. analytical, persuasive, reflective, argumentative, satirical

• two to four prose texts, including at least one novel and one work of nonfiction (such as a biography/autobiography, memoir or substantial expository or analytical text)

• one to two drama texts (in most cases one Shakespearean play), e.g. scripted drama, television and film scripts

• media texts, e.g. CDs, internet, films, documentaries, television programs. Candidates should specialise in one medium for purposes of the examination, i.e. one medium selected from:



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print, including newspapers and/or magazines; radio; television; advertising, both print and electronic

• 10–12 poems, including a range of poetic forms, selected from lyric, narrative and dramatic poetry, across cultures and time.

Sample responses The following pages contain sample essay responses that met the A standard as defined in the assessment criteria. They have been reproduced exactly as written and therefore include any spelling or grammatical errors made by candidates.



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Paper One Part A Question 1 — Drama: Imaginative response to literature

Topic chosen — 1A

Title — Hamlet

Author — William Shakespeare



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Topic chosen — 1A

Title — Macbeth

Author — William Shakespeare



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Paper One Part B Question 2 — Novel: Persuasive/reflective response to literature suitable for a public audience

Topic chosen — 2A

Title — The Great Gatsby

Author — F. Scott Fitzgerald



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Topic chosen — 2B

Title — Lord of the Flies

Author — William Golding



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Paper One Part B Question 3 — Nonfiction prose: Persuasive/reflective response to literature suitable for the mass media or for speaking and/or presenting to an audience, specific or general

Topic chosen — 3A

Title — My Place

Author — Sally Morgan



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Question 3 — Nonfiction prose (continued)



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Paper Two Part A Question 1 — Imaginative and reflective writing

Topic chosen — 1A Title — The Diagnosis



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Topic chosen — 1A Title — Waiting for Regret



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Paper Two Part B Question 2 — Media: Analytical exposition

Title — The Last Man Hanged



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Paper Two Part B Question 3 — Poetry: Analytical exposition

Topic chosen — 3B Poems — Metho Drinker (Judith Wright ) and Last of his Tribe (Oodgeroo Noonuccal)



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Documents

English: 2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report€¦ · English: 2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report Author: Queensland Curriculum and Assessment