English 12 Practice Exam - Markers' Report



English 12 Practice Exam - Typical Markers' Report

It is our practice during the marking of the mock exam to discuss each of the written sections and determine the most common problems or weaknesses in student responses. Following is a summary of that discussion. Please consider this summary to be a study guide to help you prepare for your June exam.

General Comments

• The average for the multiple choice sections was 78.4%, a strong result. This suggests that most students are reading well and are comfortable with the terms covered on the exam. Well done!

• The written sections of the exam indicate that most students need to plan more fully before beginning their responses. Most planning pages were left blank, and the quality of the written work certainly reflects this. Discussions often wander about, touching on various ideas until eventually stumbling onto necessary or truly relevant information somewhere around the fourth paragraph. Students should use the planning pages to outline or web their entire response, not just their introductions. Have a "grand plan;" it works!

• In both the prose and poetry sections, supporting quotations were not handled well. Quotations were often "dumped" rather than smoothly integrated into students' own phrasing. Quotations were frequently restated or paraphrased rather than explained. Lastly, there were also problems with "over-quoting" - that is, students cited lengthy, unnecessary passages or used more quoted material than their own insights and ideas. Remember that quotations should be used to support, illustrate, or prove one's points in literary analysis, not substitute for it.

• As usual, there are a number of mechanical errors that are common to student writing. All of these errors have been covered in classes; it is now up to students to focus more closely on avoiding such problems and on proofreading and revising their written responses carefully.

o Use of "you"

o Pronoun - antecedent agreement errors, especially using the plural "they," their," and "them" to refer to the singular" someone" or "every person" / "everyone"

o Comma usage, especially omitting the comma after introductory phrases and clauses

o Word choice issues: bland or elementary diction (good, bad, really, nice, things), making up words (i.e. aloneness), poor word choice (using "although" instead of "however", "on" instead of "of), overly casual or slang usage

o Sentence structure issues - comma splices and sentence fragments, in particular

• Lastly, paragraphing proved a problem in a number of papers. Most common was the single sentence introductory or concluding paragraph, a problem which stems not from lack of knowledge but lack of care on the writer's part. Narrative papers, on the other hand, require proper paragraphing for dialogue to be clear and effective.

Poetry Section

• Most students found the poem and the written response question quite approachable. Some students had trouble with the term "contrast," but most were able to determine the differing perspective and feelings of the poet during the day and at night.

• Strong responses dealt not only with the shift in time and the contrasting imagery, but also with the contrasting feelings and attitudes the poet recalls.

• Weaker papers often left evidence (quotations or references) unexplained or implied a connection between the evidence and the contrasted feelings.

• Poor quoting techniques were noted here, especially a lack of integration. Also problematic were a repetitive quotation / paraphrase tendency.

• Typical weak spots included improper title punctuation and incorrect gender references for the speaker / poet.

• Content issues included spinning off topic and into personal or general commentary as well as the use of circular reasoning - "She is lonely at night because she is alone." There also seemed to be much focus on the farmhouse rather than the valley as indicated in the poem's title.

• Remember to stay neutral in formal literary analysis: no "you" nor "I."

Prose

Symbolism Question

• This was the more challenging question as it required a firm understanding of "symbolism" as well as a competent reading of the story. A number of papers clearly indicated that such understanding was a weakness for some students. For example, the volcano is not a symbol of destruction; it causes it.

• Strong papers made, right from the start, a very clear connection between the suppressed feelings of the protagonist and the building pressure inside the volcano.

• There was a good deal of plot summary substituted for discussion in this response. Students either implied symbolic meaning or made vague statements regarding the symbolism, and left the connection up to the reader.

• Markers were surprised by the number of basic reading errors. Substituting "Betty" for Julia or stating that the protagonist is widowed / divorced / dead is simply unacceptable.

• There were also a number of papers that spun off into speculative commentary or personal reflections. Stick to the topic!

Character Question

• Students were wise to use the multiple choice in addressing this question as there were three specific questions that addressed the protagonist's character.

• A common problem in dealing with character analysis is the tendency to substitute feelings for traits. A feeling is transitory, something that comes and goes; a trait is a fixed characteristic. Feelings, through careful examination, can however lead to a competent understanding of characters traits.

• As with the symbolism question, there were some problems here with speculative analysis and editorial commentary. Again, students need to stay focused on the topic and not engage in discussion not founded on the text.

• Both wordiness and weak word choice were noted in this section. Some students seemed unable to label traits accurately while others fell to using weak conditional descriptions such as "seems," "is somewhat," or "is sort of." Superior papers tended to be concise and emphatic.

• Lastly, beware of sexist stereotypes. What exactly is a "typical" wife or mother?

Original Composition

• It is important that students recognize the original composition as the "showpiece" of their exam. This is their chance to impress their readers with their maturity, imagination, depth of thinking, and writing skills.

• Compositions that are overly general, predictable, or shallow neither impress nor engage the reader. Similarly, attempting to shock the reader by focusing on inappropriate or offensive subject material is rarely successful.

• This topic begs for a single, well-developed example or anecdote, the "certain experience" stated in the prompt. The use of specific, effective detail, coupled with an insightful examination of the changes brought about by the experience will lead to a more engaging, impressive response.

• Students would be far more successful speaking of what they know - that is, using their own experiences as the basis for the essay. Barring that, students could create such an experience and write it well. This would be far more effective than using three "lightweight," predictable experiences such as starting high school or graduation.

• All markers noted a lack of mature vocabulary and acceptable usage in this section. Students' language was often overly casual or conversational, and riddled with cliches and slang terms. Once again, this is the area where students can show what they are capable of, and such informal usage will never impress.

Fresh, mature vocabulary, vivid detail, and stylistic devices, on the other hand, will.

• Students should not underestimate the effectiveness of a dynamic opening and an insightful conclusion. However, students also need to avoid using unsupportable generalizations or absolutes, both common weaknesses in introductory and concluding paragraphs.

• A number of competent narratives were written for this section, but they do require skillful handling of dialogue, paragraphing, timing, and detail. Students who are not competent in these areas should avoid trying to write a creative narrative composition.

• Lastly, spelling does matter.

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