common module practice essay questions

Paper 1 - Section I - 10 Full-Length Reading Tasks

Paper 1 - Section II - 60 Practice Essay Questions

This article contains several sample HSC questions for all modules of the year 12 Advanced English Course.

5 minute read

Last updated 

October 8, 2021

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Six Second Summary

Introduction.

As regular practice is essential to effective study regimes, students should utilise these questions in the lead up to trial and HSC exams. Questions are best practised under timed conditions to best prepare for the exams in an authentic environment.

These questions have been prepared by top state-ranking tutors at Premier Tutors with several years of experience teaching the new syllabus, including three tutors who have placed 1st in NSW for English Advanced.

Common Questions

“Through the language of emotion, texts may provide timeless and universal portraits of humanity.”

To what extent does this statement relate to your own understanding of your prescribed text? In your response, refer to the quotation and your prescribed text.

“Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it but moulds it to its purpose.” – Oscar Wilde

Assess the effectiveness of your prescribed text in providing an authentic image of reality. In your response, refer to the quotation and your prescribed text.

“It is difficult to maintain individual identity in the face of homogenous collectives.”

To what extent does this statement relate to your own understanding of your prescribed text?

How does your text represent the paradoxical nature of human behaviours and motivations?

Literature’s power comes from its ability to confront the reader’s assumptions by representing new perspectives on the human experience. How does your understanding of your prescribed text reflect this statement?

“One’s identity is a culmination of their individual and collective human experiences.”

To what extent does this statement align with your understanding of your prescribed text? In your response, refer to the quotation and your prescribed text.

How does your text represent the inconsistencies between morality and human behaviours?

“The medium is the message” – Marshall McLuhan

How does the composer of your prescribed text communicate their perspective on the human experience through their form choices? In your response, refer to your prescribed text and the above statement.

“Despite our different behaviours, human motivations are all the same.”

How does your composer respond to their context to represent enduring ideas about the human experience? In your response, make close reference to the given statement and the prescribed text.

Question 10

“If the world were clear, art would not exist.” – Albert Camus

How does your prescribed text use storytelling to clarify the uncertainties and inconsistencies of the human experience? In your response, refer to the given statement and your prescribed text.

Question 11

How does the composer of your prescribed text experiment with form to challenge readers’ perspectives about the human experience?

Question 12

“The only constant within the human experience is change.”

To what extent does this paradoxical statement reflect your understanding of your prescribed text?

Question 13

How does your text use storytelling to deepen the responder’s understanding of the power of human relationships?

Question 14

How does your text develop a strong voice to shape the reader’s perspectives about the nature of individual experiences?

Question 15

“The most powerful and transcendental human experience is love.”

Love can come in many different forms. How does your text represent the impact of this emotion on individual and collective human experiences? In your response, make close reference to the above statement and your prescribed text.

Form Questions

Question 16 - prose fiction.

“The primary purpose of prose to create an authentic representation of the human experience.”

To what extent does the given statement align with your understanding of your prescribed text? In your response, discuss how narrative voice and structure help create this authenticity.

Question 17 - Poetry

“The power of poetry is not so much in the literal meaning of the words, but in the feelings that it evokes through imagery and other creative choices. It is through those feelings that we learn about the human experience.”

To what extent does this statement align with your understanding of your prescribed text?

Question 18 - Drama/ Shakespearean Drama

Analyse your prescribed text’s use of performance devices in representing human emotions.

Question 19 - Nonfiction

Analyse how the narrative voice of your prescribed text deepens your understanding of the individual experience represented.

Question 20 - Film & Media

Analyse how visual techniques work in conjunction with dialogue to accurately portray the interaction between individual and collective human experiences.

The following are all text-specific questions:

All the Light We Cannot See (Doerr, Anthony):

Question 21.

How does Doer represent the impact of adversity on the individual and collective behaviours?

Question 22

“So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?”

How has Doer’s representation of hope deepened your understanding of the human experience? In your response, make close reference to the given quotation and your prescribed text.

Question 23

How does Doer’s complicated portrayal of heroes and villains reveal the universality of our underlying humanity?

Vertigo (Lohrey, Amanda):

Question 24.

How does Lohrey represent the importance of connection with place in shaping the individual human experience?

Question 25

“To awaken human emotion is the highest level of art.” – Isadora Duncan

Discuss how Lohrey’s representation of the range of human emotions has enhanced your understanding of the human experience. In your response, make close reference to the given quote and your prescribed text.

Question 26

How does Lohrey represent the impact of loss and grief on individual human experiences?

Nineteen Eighty-Four (Orwell, George):

Question 27.

“Don’t let it happen. It depends on you.” – George Orwell

How does the above quotation resonate with your understanding of Orwell’s authorial intent?

Question 28

How does Orwell represent the power of collective narratives to homogenise individual human experiences?

Question 29

How does Orwell represent the nature of human emotions within a totalitarian regime, and how does this representation help support his authorial purpose?

Past the Shallows (Parrett, Favel):

Question 30.

“No man is an island entire of itself.” – John Donne

Does the above quotation affirm or challenge Parrett’s representation of isolation in Past the Shallows?

Question 31

Analyse how Parrett’s representation of fear shapes your understanding of human behaviours and motivations.

Question 32

How does Parrett represent the influence of setting on individual and collective human experiences?

Rosemary Dobson Collect Poems

‘Young Girl at a Window’, ‘Over the Hill’, ‘Summer’s End’, ‘The Conversation’, ‘Cock Crow’, ‘Amy Caroline’, ‘Canberra Morning’

Question 33

How does Dobson experiment with form to examine the impact of internal conflict on the individual human experience? In your response, refer to AT LEAST TWO of Dobson’s prescribed poems.

Question 34

“His eyes lit windows facing west / to the lemon-coloured light.” - Over the Hill, Rosemary Dobson

How does Dobson’s poetry engage with the different human reactions to change? In your response, refer to the above quotation and TWO OR MORE of Dobson’s prescribed poems.

Question 35

How does Dobson use her poetic form to explore the depth of human emotions? In your response, make clear reference to specific FORM choices made by Dobson in NO MORE THAN TWO of her poems.

Kenneth Slessor Selected Poems

‘Wild Grapes’, ‘Gulliver’, ‘Out of Time’, ‘Vesper-Song of the Reverend Samuel Marsden’, ‘William Street’, ‘Beach Burial’

Question 36

How does Slessor use imagery to evoke confronting emotions and experiences? In your response, refer to AT LEAST TWO of Slessor’s prescribed poems.

Question 37

How does Slessor highlight the paradoxes and anomalies inherent within the human experience? In your response, refer to NO MORE THAN TWO of Slessor’s prescribed poems.

Question 38

How does Slessor’s use of poetic personas allow him to shine light on complex aspects of the human experience? In your response, refer to AT LEAST TWO of Slessor’s prescribed poems.

The Crucible (Miller, Arthur)

Question 39.

“Whilst The Crucible is clearly a response to Miller’s context, it also contains enduring messages about human behaviours and motivations.”

How does the above statement reflect your understanding of the human experience represented in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible?

Question 40

How does Miller represent the power of institutional narratives to overwhelm and shape individual and collective human experiences?

Question 41

“Fear is the primary motivator within the human experience.”

To what extent does this statement reflect your understanding of the human experiences represented in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible?

The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare, William)

Question 42.

How does Shakespeare represent differing motivations and their impact on human behaviours?

Question 43

“Life itself, my wife and all the world / Are not with me esteemed above thy life.” (Bassiano to Antonio, IV.i.275-276, The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare)

How does Shakespeare represent the importance of connection with others in providing value to human experiences?

Question 44

How does Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice represent the influence of social laws and norms on both individual and collective human experiences?

The Boy Behind the Curtain (Winton, Tim)

Question 45.

How does Winton’s memoir form invite the reader to reflect upon the impact of past experiences in shaping individual identity? In your response, refer to AT LEAST TWO of Winton’s stories prescribed for study.

Question 46

To what extent does Winton engage with the tensions between individual motivations and collective expectations? In your response, refer to NO MORE THAN TWO of Winton’s stories prescribed for study.

Question 47

“For many, certainty has become the new normal, but it’s an illusion…We’ll forever be vulnerable to havoc.” – Havoc, Tim Winton

How does Winton represent the illusions within the human experience? In your response, make specific reference to above quotation and AT LEAST TWO of Winton’s stories prescribed for study.

I Am Malala (Yousafzai, Malala & Lamb)

Question 48.

“We realise the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” – I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai

How does Yousafzai represent the importance of storytelling to empower individuals and collectives? In your response, make close reference to the above quotation and your prescribed text.

Question 49

How does Yousafzai represent the importance of maintaining individual values in the face of challenging individual and collective human experiences?

Question 50

How does Yousafzai in I am Malala represent the emotions and behaviours associated with experiences of inequality?

Question 51

How does Yousafzai in I am Malala represent our underlying, universal humanity despite our different beliefs and backgrounds?

Billy Elliot (Daldry, Stephen)

Question 52.

“We cannot change who we are, no more than we can change the rising of the sun or the coming of the tides.”

Does the above statement affirm or challenge your understanding of the representation of individual identity in Daldry’s Billy Elliot?

Question 53

How does Billy Elliot use visual techniques to engage with the difficulty of overcoming social expectations?

Question 54

How does Daldry in Billy Elliot represent the importance of acceptance to the human experience?

Go Back to Where You Came From (O’Mahony, Ivan)

Question 55.

How does Go Back to Where You Came From use documentary techniques which confront the viewer’s expectations to reveal the range of human experiences?

Question 56

How does Go Back to Where You Came From represent the power of new experiences to change existing perspectives?

Question 57

How does Go Back to Where You Came From represent our underlying, universal humanity despite our different beliefs and backgrounds?

Waste Land (Walker, Lucy)

Question 58.

“A powerful artistic vision is undeniable.”

Does the above quote affirm or challenge your understanding of Waste Land’s representation of the importance of artistic purpose for individual identity?

Question 59

How has your study of Waste Land enhanced your understanding of the power of creative expression to unite communities?

Question 60

How does Waste Land use visual techniques to shape our understanding of the timelessness and universality of human concerns and challenges?

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About the Author

Fionn is a humanities tutor at Premier Tutors. Fionn attended Cranbrook School on a full academic Academic Scholarship and graduated as Dux with a perfect ATAR of 99.95.

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Common Module State-Rank Essay Showcase: Nineteen Eighty-Four

The following essay was written by Project Academy English Tutor, Marko Beocanin

Marko Beocanin

99.95 ATAR & 3 x State Ranker

The following essay was written by Project Academy English Teacher, Marko Beocanin.

Marko’s Achievements:

• 8th in NSW for English Advanced (98/100)
• Rank 1 in English Advanced, Extension 1 and Extension 2
• School Captain of Normanhurst Boys High School

Marko kindly agreed to share his essay and thorough annotations to help demystify for HSC students what comprises an upper Band 6 response!

Common Module: Nineteen Eighty-Four Essay Question

Marko’s following essay was written in response to the question:

“The representation of human experiences makes us more aware of the intricate nature of humanity.” In your response, discuss this statement with detailed reference to George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’.

State-Ranking Common Module Essay Response

George Orwell’s 1949 Swiftian satire Nineteen Eighty-Four invites us to appreciate the intricate nature of humanity by representing how the abuse of power by totalitarian governments degrades our individual and collective experiences. (Link to rubric through individual/collective experiences, and a clear cause and effect argument: totalitarian governance -> degraded human experience. Also, comments on the genre of Swiftian satire. Value!) Orwell explores how oppressive authorities suppress the intricate societal pillars of culture, expression and freedom to maintain power. He then reveals how this suppression brutalises individual human behaviour and motivations because it undermines emotion and intricate thought. (Link to rubric through ‘human behaviour and motivations’, and extended cause and effect in which the first paragraph explores the collective ‘cause’ and the second paragraph explores the individual ‘effect’. This is an easy way to structure your arguments whilst continuously engaging with the rubric!) Ultimately, he argues that we must resist the political apathy that enables oppressive governments to maintain power and crush human intricacy. Therefore, his representation of human experiences not only challenges us to consider the intricate nature of humanity, but exhorts us to greater political vigilance so we can preserve it. (Concluding sentence that broadens the scope of the question and reaffirms the purpose of the text).

Orwell makes us aware of the intricate nature of humanity by representing how totalitarian authorities suppress intricate collective experiences of culture, expression and freedom in order to assert control. (This is the ‘collective’ paragraph – a cause and effect argument that relates the question to the loss of human intricacy in the collective as a result of totalitarian rule). His bleak vision was informed by Stalin’s USSR: a regime built upon the fabrication of history in Stalin’s ‘cult of personality’, and ruthlessly enforced by the NKVD. (Specific context – an actual specific regime is named and some details about its enforcement are given). The symbolic colourlessness and propaganda-poster motif he uses to describe London reflects the loss of human intricacy and culture under such leadership: “there seemed to be no colour in anything, except the posters that were plastered everywhere.” (First example sets up the world of the text, and the degraded collective experience). Orwell uses the telescreens, dramatically capitalised “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” posters and allusions to Stalin in Big Brother’s “black-moustachio’d face” as metonyms for how governmental surveillance dominates both physical and cultural collective experiences. Winston’s metatextual construction of the fictitious “Comrade Ogilvy” serves as a symbol for the vast, worthless masses of information produced by totalitarian governments to undermine the intricacy of real human history: “Comrade Ogilvy, who had never existed…would exist just as authentically, and upon the same evidence, as Charlemagne or Julius Caesar.” Similarly, Orwell’s satirical representation of Newspeak ignites the idea that political slovenliness causes self-expression to degrade, which in turn destroys our capacity for intricate thought and resistance: “we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” (The examples above prove that the government’s leadership style truly is totalitarian, and that it results in a loss of intricacy and ‘humanity’ in the collective. It’s good to cover a variety of examples that explore different facets of the collective – for example, the first example establishes the extreme surveillance, the second example establishes the loss of ‘truth’/history, and the third example establishes the loss of language). The political bitterness that marks Nineteen Eighty-Four as a Swiftian satire (This is a link to the ‘Swiftian’ term used in the thesis statement. It’s important to refer back to any descriptive terms you use in your thesis) ultimately culminates in O’Brien’s monologue, where Orwell juxtaposes the politicised verb “abolish” to symbols of human intricacy, “we shall abolish the orgasm…there will be no art, no literature, no science…when we are omnipotent”, to express how totalitarian rulers suppress collective experiences to gain metaphoric omnipotence. Thus, Orwell makes us aware of the intricate nature of humanity by representing a future in which totalitarian governments suppress it. (A linking sentence that ties it all back to the question and rephrases the point)

Orwell then argues that the effect of this suppression is a loss of human intricacy that brutalises society and devalues individual experiences. (Cause and effect argument that links collective suppression to a loss of human intricacy on an individual scale – continuous engagement with the question and the rubric!) Orwell’s exposure to the widespread hysteria of Hitler’s Nazi regime, caused by the Nuremberg Rallies and Joseph Goebbels’ virulent anti-semitic propaganda, informs his representation of Oceania’s dehumanised masses. (More specific context around the Nazis, and a specific link to how it informed his work) The burlesque Two Minute Hate reveals human inconsistency by representing how even introspective, intelligent characters can be stripped of their intricacy and compassion by the experience of collective hysteria: even Winston wishes to “flog [Julia] to death with a rubber truncheon…ravish her and cut her throat at the moment of climax”, and is only restored by compliance to the Christ-like totalitarian authority, “My-Saviour!”, Big Brother. (A link to the rubric with the ‘human inconsistency’ point) Orwell frequently juxtaposes dehumanising representations of the proles, “the proles are not human beings”, to political sloganism: “As the Party slogan put it: ‘Proles and animals are free’”, to argue that in such a collectively suppressed society, the upper class grow insensitive towards the intricate nature of those less privileged. (It’s important to link the proles into your argument – they’re often forgotten, but they’re a big part of the text!) He asserts that this loss of empathy degrades the authenticity and intricacy of human relationships, characterised by Winson’s paradoxically hyperbolic repulsion towards his wife: “[Katharine] had without exception the most stupid, vulgar, empty mind that he had every encountered”. (Continuous engagement with the question and rubric: make sure to recycle rubric terms – here, done with ‘paradoxically’ – and question terms – here, with ‘intricacy’)  Winston’s “betrayal” of Julia symbolises how totalitarianism ultimately brutalises individuals by replacing their compassion for intricate ideals such as love with selfish pragmatism: “Do it to Julia…Tear her face off, strip her to the bones. Not me!” Therefore, Orwell makes us more aware of the intricate nature of humanity by demonstrating how it can be robbed by suppressive governments and collective hysteria. (A linking sentence that sums up the paragraph).

By making us aware of how totalitarian governments suppress meaningful human experiences both individually and collectively, Orwell challenges us to resist so we can preserve our intricate nature. (This third paragraph discusses Orwell’s purpose as a composer. This can in general be a helpful way to structure paragraphs: Collective, Individual, Purpose) Orwell’s service in the 1930s Spanish Civil War as part of the Republican militia fighting against fascist-supported rebels positions him to satirise the political apathy of his audience. (Integration of personal context is useful here to justify Orwell’s motivations. It’s also a lot fresher than just including another totalitarian regime Orwell was exposed to) Orwell alludes to this through the metaphor of Winston’s diarising as an anomalous individual experience of resistance, ““[Winston] was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that nobody would ever hear,” which highlights how his intricate nature persists even in a suppressive society. Often, Orwell meta-fictively addresses his own context, as “a time when thought is free…when truth exists”, to establish an imperative to preserve our intricate human nature while we still can. The Julia romance trope (It’s good to include terms such as ‘trope’ which reflect your understanding of narrative structure and the overall form of the work.) represents how Winston’s gradual rejection of his political apathy empowered him to experience an authentic, intricately human relationship that subverts his totalitarian society: “the gesture with which [Julia] had thrown her clothes aside…[belonged] to an ancient time. Winston woke up with the word ‘Shakespeare’ on his lips.” Orwell juxtaposes Julia’s sexuality to Shakespeare, an immediately-recognisable metonym for culture and history, to argue that human intricacy can only be restored by actively resisting the dehumanising influence of the government. Orwell also represents Winston’s desensitised and immediate devotion to the Brotherhood to reflect how the preservation of human intricacy is a cause worth rebelling for, even by paradoxically unjust means: “[Winston was] prepared to commit murder…acts of sabotage which may cause the deaths of hundreds of innocent people…throw sulphuric acid in a child’s face.” (More chronological examples that show Winston’s transformation throughout the text. It’s useful to explore and contrast those who resist with those who don’t resist, and how just the act of resistance in some way restores our humanity! That’s why this paragraph comes after the ‘brutalised individual experience’ paragraph) However, Orwell ultimately asserts that it is too late for Winston to meaningfully restore humanity’s intricate nature, and concludes the text with his symbolic death and acceptance of the regime, “[Winston] had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” (It’s important to remember that Orwell ends the text so miserably so that he can motivate his audiences not to do the same thing). The futility of this ending ignites the idea that we must not only be aware of our intricate nature, but must actively resist oppressive governments while we still can in order to preserve it. (A linking sentence that ties the paragraph together and justifies the futility of the ending)

Therefore, Orwell’s representation of human experiences in Nineteen Eighty-Four encourages us to reflect personally on our own intricate human nature, and challenges us to fight to preserve it. (Engages with the question (through the reflection point), and includes Orwell’s purpose as a composer). His depiction of a totalitarian government’s unchecked assertion of power on human culture and freedom, and the brutalising impact this has on individual and collective experiences, ultimately galvanises us to reject political apathy. (Your argument summaries can often be combined into a sentence or two in the conclusion now that the marker knows what you’re talking about. This reinforces the cause and effect structure as well.) Thus, the role of storytelling for Orwell is not only to make us more aware of our intricate nature, but to prove that we must actively resist oppressive governments while we still can in order to preserve it. (The clincher! It’s often useful to add “not only” in your final sentence to reinforce the massive scope of the text)

If reading this essay has helped you, you may also enjoy reading Marko’s ultimate guide to writing 20/20 HSC English essays .

P.S If you have any questions about aceing HSC English , you are welcome to learn from Marko and join one of Project Academy’s HSC English classes on a 3 week trial .

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Common module practice essay questions (generic questions).

Need to do some essay practice? Here is a list of generic essay prompts on the Common Module (NSW English Syllabus 2019 – 2025)

Generic essay prompts are good for strengthening students’ understanding of the rubric, prompting you to read the prescribed texts through the lens of the topic; these questions can also guide a broad summary of your analysis of the prescribed text.

Do be aware that in the HSC the essay questions may not be generic but rather text specific in which case, I will post links to specific essay questions at the bottom of the post if you want to check them out.

Here are the questions.

• Composers draw us into the world of the text inviting us to share a representation of human experiences. Critically analyse how your prescribed text shares its representation. (ETA 2019)
• Analyse how the representation of significant human experiences trigger strong emotions that ignite new ideas. Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text.
• ‘People need stories. It’s one of the things that makes us who we are. We crave stories because they make us more than ourselves, they give us escape and they give us knowledge. They entertain us and they change us.’  Apply this statement to your prescribed text, analysing how the composer represents a profound message to readers.
• “Experience without emotion is nothing at all. It is the emotional response that makes experiences human.” Discuss this statement in light of your understanding of your prescribed text. 
• What is illuminated about human experiences in your prescribed text?  (Fort Street, 2019)
• Critically analyse how the representation of conflicting human motivations in your prescribed text invites individuals to see the world differently. In your response make close reference to your prescribed text. (RSC Trial,  2019)
• How does your text’s form and features represent the impact of human experiences on individual lives? (Barker College, 2019)
• It is through the telling of stories that we come to understand what it means to be human. Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text (Chester Hill, 2019)
• To what extent have the experiences represented in your prescribed text developed your understanding of human motivations and behaviour? In your response, refer to your prescribed text. (EAL NESA, 2019)
• “The difficulty of overcoming challenges is integral to the human experience.” Evaluate how your prescribed text explores this concept. (Strathfield South, 2019) 
• Stories draw us in with the shock of recognition, where you see yourself reflected in another’s words. Drawing on the stimulus, evaluate how your prescribed text invites the responder to make connections between their world and the world of the text. In your response make detailed reference to the text you have studied in the Common Module (Hurlstone, 2019)
• “Stories make us more aware of how human imperfections shape the way composers represent human experiences.”  Critically analyse this statement with close reference to your prescribed text. (James Ruse, 2019)
• Explore how texts can represent and provide insight into shared human experiences, both collective and individual. In your response make detailed reference to your prescribed text. (KHS, 2019)
• How has your study of your prescribed text shaped and challenged your understanding of individual and collective human experiences? In your answer you must explore ONE prescribed text. (Kirawee, 2019)
• While we may have different experiences and attitudes to life, we all share the same fate. Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text. (SGHS, 2019)
• Stories enable us to learn about the experiences of others as a collective race of beings and also to engage with our own sense of self as unique individuals. Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text. (St Ursulas, 2019)
• It’s the inconsistencies in human behaviour that provide insights into our true selves. Evaluate the ideas in this statement in relation to your prescribed text. (KRB, 2019)
• How effectively does your prescribed text tell stories to reveal both the personal and shared nature of human experiences? (NESA, 2020)
• Individuals are both challenged and enriched by significant encounters within collective human experiences. Discuss this with specific reference to your prescribed text. (Baulkham Hills, 2020)
• We can never truly understand the motivations of others. To what extent does this statement reflect your understanding of the human experience? (Catholic Paper, 2020)

Do you have any interesting questions that are not given here? Why not post them in the comments and share them with everyone else? If you’re looking for some text specific essay questions, feel free to click on the links below.

Click here for Text Specific Essay Questions for 1984

Click here for Text Specific Essay Questions for Billy Elliot

Click here for Text Specific Essay Questions for The Crucible

Click here for Text Specific Essay Questions for The Merchant of Venice

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• Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences Essay Practice Questions

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Common Module Cheat Sheet - All Texts

Download a printable version here., module description.

In this common module students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and collective human experiences. They examine how texts represent human qualities and emotions associated with, or arising from, these experiences. Students appreciate, explore, interpret, analyse and evaluate the ways language is used to shape these representations in a range of texts in a variety of forms, modes and media.

Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations, inviting the responder to see the world differently, to challenge assumptions, ignite new ideas or reflect personally. They may also consider the role of storytelling throughout time to express and reflect particular lives and cultures. By responding to a range of texts they further develop skills and confidence using various literary devices, language concepts, modes and media to formulate a considered response to texts.

Students study one prescribed text and a range of short texts that provide rich opportunities to further explore representations of human experiences illuminated in texts. They make increasingly informed judgements about how aspects of these texts, for example context, purpose, structure, stylistic and grammatical features, and form shape meaning. In addition, students select one related text and draw from personal experience to make connections between themselves, the world of the text and their wider world.

Key Statements

Dimensions of the human experience.

The human experiences represented in your prescribed/unseen texts will always be connected to one of the subcategories of the “wellness wheel”:

Words to include in textual analysis

These make markers happy for some reason.

• Appreciate - when making a judgement about the value of something
• Explore - when discussing the themes of the text
• Interpret - when discussing the audience’s interaction with the text
• Analyse - When discussing your understanding of the text
• Expression - When discussing the author/poet/artist’s connection to the text
• Elicit - When discussing how a technique results in an emotion

Plutchik Wheel of Emotions

Essay length.

For paper 1 unseen texts, a good estimate is 2-3 lines per mark, while the extended response should be ~800 words/6 pages. If you don’t hit those numbers, that’s totally fine, it’s just a good estimate.

RESOURCE: CHIPS Question Breakdown Strategy

Body paragraph structure.

• Statement about the concept
• What type(s) of experience from the wellness wheel is represented, and is it collective or individual?
• What emotions from the Plutkich wheel are present, and how are they used (Example/Technique from PETAL paragraphs)?
• How does the experience of the example present anomaly/paradox/inconsistency in the human experience?
• Personal reflection? Challenging the reader’s assumptions? Persuading you of something?
• Conclude with a mash of steps 1, 2, and 3

Positive and Negative Words

Words to describe the human experience that mean nothing but for some reason get more marks, targets of a text, punchy phrases.

• Aids in this improved understanding of the textual material
• Indicates the universality in the subject matter being contemplated
• Brings reader to consider more deeply the manner in which ___
• An intimacy is generated between the viewer and ___
• Creates a more nuanced understanding
• Attracting to the audience to both ___
• To further impress upon the reader the idea of ___
• Further clarify and cement reader’s understand of the literal content
• Further elucidates the impression that

Free Thesis Statements

• Texts represent how human experiences are dependent on one’s context and their ability to transcend the limitations of context
• Texts about human experience invite the audience to contemplate on their own experiences and reflect on the processes that shape their identity
• Human experiences may be recursive but they are transformative nonetheless
• Texts offer a representations of human experience that challenges our assumptions and thus intensifies our awareness of self and others
• Representation of relationships in texts highlight the way in which human experiences may differ in varied interactions
• Texts offer a representation of the human experience to record the social and emotional development of the individual and the collective
• Our experiences expose our capacity for fortitude and focus, particularly when our individual ideals are challenged by contextual values / societal expectations

Last updated on November 17, 2021

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• Dec 25, 2019

10 New Syllabus Common Module Essay Questions for You to Practise With!

Explain how composers use character narratives to explore collective and individual experiences.

Texts are dramatised representations of reality that invites new perspectives on old ideas.

Composers closely examine human emotions and qualities to invite fresh perspectives on human experiences.

Individual experiences can be varied but they never wander far from the impacts of collective experience. To what extent is this true based on your text?

Composers reflect on the anomalies and paradoxes in their characters to provide new insight into human motivation.

Storytelling distinguishes individual emotions from the collective mentality. To what extent do you agree with this statement based on your prescribed text?

Texts represent emotions and qualities arising out of experiences from unique perspectives to show the encourage personal reflection. To what extent do you agree with this statement based on your prescribed text?

Explain how telling the story of individual experiences can invite new perspectives into collective experiences.

The telling of uncommon lives and cultures invites reflection on one’s own human experiences.

Question 10

It is through seeing other lives and experiences that new perspectives and reflections arise.

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HSC texts and human experiences

Highly accomplished English teacher, Jowen Hillyer, answers questions from students studying for their HSC in the lead up to the 2021 exams.

In my experience integrated is better. Longer quotes can be useful sometimes but the examiners want to see your words more than the words from your text.

As a general rule it is 2 minutes 15 seconds per mark, but allow some thinking time so if you allow 2 minutes per mark you have time to read over your responses and add/subtract things. 10 minutes for a 5-mark question is about right (with wriggle room of 1 minute or so).

Look for synonyms. Rewrite the question in your own words. Look to the verbs – what does it want you to do with the question?

Look for clues. The heading will tell you what type of text it is (even if it doesn’t look like a poem, trust that it is and look for language devices you expect to see in a poem).

The stimulus is in a separate booklet to the question booklet. They are often (or have been in the past) stapled together.

A good tip is to separate them as soon as you are given reading time so that you can look at the question you are answering on a text at the same time as reading that text –rather than flipping between booklets.

While there is no rule to say that you should, it helps to do it in order for two reasons.

While there is no ‘one way’ to do this, it helps to have a structure in mind.

No. This module is for the text you studied for Texts and Human Experiences only.

There are four ways you can maximise your reading time.

The exam is designed to be unpredictable so that you show what you know not what you memorised.

The exam is designed to make you think on the spot about what you know about the module and how the text demonstrates that.

Of course! Just don’t ignore the question. If it asks about setting you can define what that means in your introduction.

It is a good idea to write a few different essays in response to questions, but this is more for your time management and quote retention purposes.

The best quotes to memorise are ones which do more than one thing.

Instead of saying ‘to a large extent’ try evaluative adverbs (passing a judgement without having to directly state it), eg.‘Creatively, (composer) does …, ‘Succinctly …', ‘Clearly …’.

The rubric shows what you need to learn but not what will be examined.

This is all about representation. Why did the composer choose film/poetry/prose etc as the best way to get their ideas across to you?

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Ultimate Guide for How to Answer Common Module Unseen Questions

In this post, we give you the ultimate breakdown for acing the Common Module unseen questions for Texts and Human Experiences.

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Do you struggle with unseen texts?

Do you always run out of time in for comprehension questions?

Do you know what your responses are meant to look like?

In this post, we will show you how to prepare for and ace the HSC Common Module Paper 1 Short Response Questions.

What skills do I need to ace the Paper 1 unseen questions?

Section 1 of Paper 1 tests a few different things:

• Comprehension skills
• Textual analysis skills
• Knowledge of the Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences
• Ability to write clear and concise responses

Want to put your skills to the test?

You can download the paper with unseen texts and then we’ll send you sample responses along with marking criteria 24 hours later.

Comprehension Skills

You need to be able to quickly read questions and unseen texts to construct responses

You need to be able to quickly analyse unseen texts. It is not enough to be able to spot superficial techniques in a text. Matrix students learn how to analyse unseen texts for higher order techniques and understand how these are developing the themes and ideas in the texts.

To succeed in Paper 1, you need to be able to do a quick analysis and then connect this analysis to the concerns and ideas that you have studied in the Common Module.

If you need help getting on top of your textual analysis skills, you should read our Beginner’s Guide to Acing HSC English Part 1: How to Analyse Your English Texts for Evidence .

Knowledge of the Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences rubric

If you want to write insightful responses to the Paper 1 unseen questions, then you need to have a detailed knowledge and understanding of the Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences rubric.

If you are unsure of what the Module is about or want to get a detailed understanding of it, then you must read our Year 12 English Advanced Study Guide article .

Students are often unsure of what they need to do when writing a response to unseen sections. How much do you need to write? How little?

When answering short answer questions, clarity and concision are key.

In fact, more important than the length is the quality and concision of the writing. Matrix students learn how to produce erudite and insightful responses that clearly relate their ideas and answers to the questions with supporting evidence.

What’s the structure of the Common Module HSC Paper 1?

Let’s look at the structure of Paper 1:

English Advanced Paper 1 has two sections:

• short response questions
• long response or essay section

The short response questions will involve 3-4 unseen texts and a series of 4 or 5 questions. This section will be worth 20 marks.

You will have 10 minutes reading time and 45 minutes writing time to complete each section.

How long are the texts that I have to read for the unseen section?

That will depend.

In previous HSC Paper 1 exams, the length of the unseen texts has varied significantly. In some years, students have had no trouble reading all of the unseen texts, but in others, such as the 2018 HSC, students have struggled to complete the reading in the allocated time.

In the sample 2019 Paper 1 provided by NESA , for example, there are a pair of posters, a 30 line poem, a 536-word non-fiction piece, a 983-word non-fiction piece, and a longer extract from a fiction text.

The length of the unseen texts is a significant challenge that you must account for in your preparation and exam strategy. We’ll discuss the strategies Matrix students use later in this post.

These questions will total 20 marks, one question will require a miniature essay for a response. Students will need to allocate a little over 2 minutes per mark when responding to questions.

How do I study for the Common Module Paper 1 Exam?

As we discussed above, the skills you need are:

But how do you develop and hone these skills?

Practise and feedback!

English is not an innate skill.

Successful English skills are developed through a consistent reading, an ongoing study practice, and regular writing and feedback cycle.

If you want to be able to approach your next unseen paper with a swagger, you need to practice unseen sections before-hand and get feedback on your responses.

So, how do I practise analysing unseen texts?

You need to find short texts online and practice reading them and analysing against a timer.

A good process for doing this is to find texts that are similar in media, form, and length to previous HSC unseen texts and try to identify the main ideas and themes and a set number of examples within a few minutes.

This is actually quite a challenging task, especially the first few times that you try it.

To develop these skills try the following:

• Pick a text of the appropriate length and type
• Give yourself 10 minutes on a timer
• Set yourself a target of, say, 2 themes/ideas and 5 techniques to identify
• Analyse the text to the timer and underline notate the examples you find
• Check your answers
• Try it again on a similar timer, but with only 7.5 minutes on a timer
• Keep practising until you can comfortably analyse a text in 2-3 minutes.

How should I practise my short answer responses?

The skills you need to write a good short answer response are developed through practice and feedback.

Your peers who consistently get full marks for their unseen sections do so because they practise writing responses and get feedback on how to improve them and make them more concise and efficient. All conscientious English Advanced students should be scoring Band 6 for their unseen responses, if not full marks.

To practise your unseen responses, do the following:

• Get your hands on a practice paper. You can find past Area of Study: Discovery papers here on the NESA website or, even better, try your skills on our Matrix English Advanced Common Module Practice Paper 1 .
• Set yourself a timer for 65 minutes. Allow 15 minutes reading time and 50 minutes writing time.
• Attempt the paper.
• Mark your responses against the marking rubrics and exemplar responses provided or get feedback from your teacher or peers
• Find another practice paper and attempt that, working to a shorter time limit.

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Structuring a short response answer

One of the most common questions that students have about short responses is how long their responses should be.

The length of your responses will vary depending on how many marks the question is worth and how much time you can allocate to it.

For example, a three mark question is only worth 7 minutes of your time. So, you’re only going to be able to produce about 100-200 words at most (people tend to average about 13-31 words per minute by hand) in that amount of time depending on your handwriting. You need to keep your writing legible, too. It’s no point bashing out an amazing 210-word response if nobody can read it. Your marks would be better off with something much shorter and more legible.

You want to aim for one example and explanation per mark on offer. For example, if you have a two mark question, provide two examples and analysis of those examples.

The extended short response question

The final question for the short response questions is usually worth between 6 and 7 marks and requires a miniature essay in response. The question can ask you to discuss one text or several.  It is important that you structure your response accordingly.

This means you need a brief introduction , a body paragraph or two, and a brief conclusion .

Your introduction needs to briefly introduce your chosen text(s) and their relevance to the question. Try to include terms or phrases from the Common Module rubric in your thesis, as this will directly address the module concerns. You should keep your introduction under two sentences.

Your body needs to expand on these ideas. It is important that you use topic sentences to introduce your ideas.

If you must discuss two texts, you need to choose between writing a divided (a paragraph on each text) or integrated response (discussing both texts in one paragraph). Whichever structure you choose, you need to present two or three examples from each text and discuss them in detail.

If the question asks you to contrast or compare the texts, you must discuss the texts in relation to each other.

This will usually entail discussing how one text represents an aspect of human experience or emotion more effectively than another. Ensure that you relate your examples to the question, don’t just list technique, example, and effect.

Finally, your conclusion must summarise the argument, relating it back to the question and Common Module. Make sure that you restate your thesis. Aim for at least one sentence, if not two.

Answering a short response question

To get a sense of what you should include in a short response answer, let’s consider one of the NESA sample questions from their mock 2019 paper .

Example B (6 marks) English Standard and English Advanced Compare how Text 2 and Text 3 explore the paradoxes in the human experience.

Text 2 can be found here  and Text 3 is in the NESA sample paper.

Analysing the texts

Before you can write your response, you need to analyse the texts. It is important to use the question to guide the focus of your analysis.

This question asks students to discuss the paradoxes in the human experience. This is a statement from the rubric. A paradox is a statement that seemingly contradicts itself. So our analysis of these texts needs to focus in on things that seem contradictory or logically unacceptable.

Analysing Text 2

Text 2, Vern Rustala’s “Looking in the Album,” is an ekphrastic poem. Ekphrasis is the representation of an image in prose or poetry. In this poem, the speaker describes several photographs and little aspects of each.

The poem explores how photographs can only capture a limited aspect of human experience, even though they trigger memories. The poem also discusses how photographs don’t capture all of the moments and are often carefully curated.

There are a couple of paradoxes present, here:

• Photographs capture moments of our lives and trigger authentic memories but are staged and falsified records
• Photographs don’t carry the records of our negative experiences of our lives. We often curate those out to give a “true account” of our lives.

Next, you need to find some examples that bear these paradoxes out. Because this is a 6 mark question and we have to compare two texts, we will look for two examples. One for each paradox. We will use the text’s form as our other example.

Analysing Text 3

In Text 3, Hillary McPhee explores the trouble she has in reconciling her profession as a historian with her love of her family’s stories and her grandmother’s ability to tell them.

This is an autobiographical text. It is a memoir that discusses her experience of mixing her personal and professional lives and the consequences of this.

This text discusses the conflict between wanting to know the truth about something and enjoying the romance of how it has been told.

There are a couple of paradoxes in this text as well:

• We can either know the truth about something or appreciate the romantic or mythic nature of it
• We can’t reconcile factual truths with family storytellers

Next, let’s look at some evidence. This time we’ll look at three examples, because this text’s paradoxes need a little more framing. McPhee opens with an extended metaphor that introduces the ideas:

Now we’ve got some evidence, we’re in a position to write a response.

Writing the response

Let’s look at the question again:

Example B (6 marks) English Standard and English Advanced “Compare how Text 2 and Text 3 explore the paradoxes in the human experience.”

So, this is a 6 mark question and requires us to compare the texts. This means that we need to use a miniature essay structure.

We then need to decide whether to use an integrated or divided response:

• An integrated response will allow us to be more efficient in our comparison.
• A divided response will be a little more straightforward for presenting our analysis but will require us to spend the second paragraph doing the comparison.

Your marks won’t be affected by your decision, only by the quality of your execution.

Our response will take the following structure:

Introduction : Two or three sentences outlining our response to the question and introducing the texts.

Body : An integrated response that analyses the texts and compares their representations of paradox in human experience across two paragraphs.

Conclusion : Two sentences that summarise your argument and connect it to the Module.

Okay, so what would this look like? Let’s look at the type of exemplary response a Matrix student would write.

Exemplar response

Both Hillary McPhee and Vern Rustala explore the paradoxes we find in our human experiences. Rustala’s poem, “Looking in the Album,” delves into the idiosyncrasies and paradoxes of how we curate and remember our lives. While McPhee’s biographical excerpt catalogues the paradoxes and ironies she wrestled with while trying to balance her professional self with her personal self.

Memory and the process of remembering are rich with emotional complexity and, yet, fraught with paradox. Rustala employs a free-verse poem with heavy enjambment to reflect the conflicts and paradoxes of how we catalogue and record our lives. The persona’s observation that “Here the formal times are surrendered / to the camera’s indifferent gaze” combines enjambment and personification to convey the paradox of how we remember our lives. While humans keep photographs to remember important occasions and feel nostalgia for them as it is an important part of our emotional experience, the speaker observes that we relinquish control over them to an external force – one that is insouciant about our experience or feelings. In contrast, McPhee’s biography focuses on her own experiences and evokes nostalgia in her extended metaphor that “her stories [came] like webs across the world… and her stories invaded our dreams.” As Rustala’s images are a contrived remembrance of the past, so are McPhee’s grandmother’s. Only, in contrast, McPhee ascribes these partially fictionalised accounts a positive value.

“Looking in the Album’s” speaker is troubled by how photographs alter our past and, potentially, our memories when they observe that “[w]e burned the negatives that we felt did not give a true / account and with others made this abridgement of our lives.” The pun on “negatives” conflates photographic images with the poor experiences, developing the metaphor that by destroying negatives we are trying to cleanse ourselves of negative experiences. We can find a paradox at the heart of the ironic notion of manipulating things we feel do not “give a true account” of our lives. Essentially, Rustala is suggesting that we wish to have a true record, but adulterate it to suit our feelings. McPhee struggles with a similar yet different reconciliation between the true and romanticised accounts of her Grandmother’s life. In each paragraph McPhee explores the historical facts and contrasts them to her Grandmother’s accounts, instilling doubt into the veracity of her accounts with the truncated statements “[o]r so she said.” and “[o]r so the story goes …” These caveats frame the paradox she faces: she can’t be a nostalgic granddaughter and a historian at the same time. Pursuing truth comes at the expense of nostalgia. She makes this clear when she ironically observes that “[t]he historian at the back of my brain says I should discover what is true and what is false” while “[t]he rest of me… still sees… the shapes and shadows of other places she made my own.” The contrast between these two sides of her life highlights the emotional paradoxes that can affect our lives as we try to balance professional success with emotional fulfilment and happiness, nostalgia and fact.

Human experience is emotionally complex as we try to hold onto our past while struggling with the acceptable shape it must take. The differences between McPhee’s and Ruslata’s texts highlight this struggle – pointing to how sometimes our emotional security requires us to see things as they actually happened while at others we must shroud events in myth.

Sitting the Exam

Now let’s look at some Dos and Don’ts for the unseen section of Paper 1.

Time Management

Planning your time for Paper 1 is essential. You have 1 hour 40 minutes to complete the section. That breaks down to 45 minutes per section and 10 minutes reading time.

Do read the questions first.

Then read them again. To be efficient and accurate you need to read the unseen texts with the questions in mind.

Don’t just read the texts, analyse them.

As you read look for evidence that will help you answer the questions. The questions usually ask you to address specific ideas in each text. This is done to guide you to the examples you need to collect.

Do use your maths skills to calculate how much time to allocate to answering each question.

Each mark is worth 2.25 minutes of your time. This means that for a 2 mark question you don’t want to spend more than 5 minutes answering it. By this rationale, you want to be spending about 15-16 minutes on a miniature essay worth seven marks. If you don’t finish the question in the allotted time, cut your losses and start the next one.

Don’t answer the questions in order.

Make sure you analyse the texts based on the question, so you gather evidence for all of them. But don’t begin on the lower mark questions. Get the questions worth more in the bag, first.

Do respond to the question worth the most marks, first.

Be strategic and guarantee yourself the most marks that you can. Starting with the 6 or 7 mark question guarantees you a share of those marks. If you do run out of time before finishing one or two questions from the section, it is better that those questions are only worth one or two marks rather than a third of the paper!

Analysing the Texts

Analysing texts on the fly is hard. You will need to practice this skill and ensure you are familiar with a wide range of literary and visual devices. If you need to brush up on them, we explain a comprehensive set of devices and techniques in our Essential Guide to English Techniques .

Don’t rush the reading of the unseen texts during the reading time.

Reading the questions will guide you as to how the text should be read and analysed. The questions will ask you to discuss how a composer represents a specific idea from the syllabus rubric. You want to identify that idea in the text, and note how they represent it.

Do try to identify multiple examples in each text. 

Collecting as much evidence as possible on your first reading will make that easier.  That way you have enough evidence to respond to several questions. You don’t have time to go back and do another reading.

Don’t get caught up in superficial analysis.

Techniques like alliteration and rhyme might have pleasing aesthetic qualities, but they are not as useful for representing concepts as metaphors or similes.

Do focus on higher order techniques.

Literary devices such as metaphor, motif, and irony over simple techniques such as alliteration. Your ability to spot higher order techniques will make analysing the texts far easier. Remember, you should practice on random short stories and poems you find on the internet.

Don’t ignore form and medium.

Your unseen texts will all have different forms. It is important that you take the time to think about how the composers’ choice of form influences meaning. Ask yourself, “what is the composer trying to achieve by utilising this form or medium?” You want to discuss this in your responses.

Answering the Questions

Do answer the questions clearly and concisely.

Ensure that you are answering the question asked. Before writing a response, reread the question to ensure that it will be a direct answer.

Don’t recount the text.

This will generally not constitute an answer to the question. Instead, respond as succinctly as possible to the question.

Do plan your responses according to their value.

As a rule, if the question is worth one mark, use at least one example and an explanation of its technique and effect. If the question is worth two marks, use at least two examples.

Don’t prioritise quantity over detail.

Remember, the markers are looking for detailed explanations of how an example represents an idea, not how many examples you can present. You need to respond to the ideas in the module. To do this effectively try to use terms and phrases from the Common Module rubric.

Written by Matrix English Team

© Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au, 2023. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matrix Education and www.matrix.edu.au with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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Common Module – Practice Essay on “The Crucible”

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Resource Description

Practice Essay “The Crucible”

Arthur Miller’s 1952 dramatised tragedy ‘The Crucible’ extensively explores the significance of motivations and behaviours in a society ultimately driven by the search for power and honour, revealing the timeless complexity of the human condition. Based in the 17th century town of Salem, Massachusetts; the allegorical tale displays Miller’s renunciation of 1950s American McCarthyism – the policy of sniffing out communists to condemn them. This is revealed through the religious persecution of suspected witches in the play; ultimately sparked by the mass hysteria of a fearful society. The notions of fulfilling personal desires are illustrated through the absence of characters’ integrity,  the paradoxical deceit and lies saturating the highly religious society and the oddities of extraordinarily moral behaviours of certain characters within the play. Importantly, this engaging American Playwright highlights many ongoing human experiences faced by individuals everyday. 

INCONSISTENCIES Paragraph 

Inconsistencies of the character’s integrity is evident throughout the play, especially when reputation is at risk, displaying the human experience of being motivated by pride. 

– When Reverend Parris hears about the accusations of witchcraft coming about; he tells the girls to “speak nothing of unnatural causes” in fear of being “toppled[d]” by the people. The metaphor of him falling from his place of power as head of the church reinforces the inconsistency of his Christian faith, as his desire for authority is placed above the care for the people of the church. 

– Abigail also displays attributes of fickleness in her pursuit of power. Initially, she declares that she “never sold [herself]! [to the devil]” and is a “good girl!” a “proper girl!” – the repetition of exclamation marks conveying the urgency of her motivation to stay on the good side of authority. Inconsistently, she soon decides to admit that she “danced with the devil”, realising that this will put her in a position to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of “witchcraft”and be with John Proctor. 

– John Proctor; who is “respected… in Salem” is capricious in his “even-tempered” nature when Cheever arrives at his house with “a warrant for [Elizabeth]”, as he soon results in “(ripping the warrant)” in anger, the stage directions symbolising his contempt and anger with the law. This ultimately shows that Proctor is driven by the motivation to keep his wife’s reputation clean, leading to an inconsistency in his level-headed behaviour.

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Year 12 HSC Module A : Textual Conversations Practice Questions

Feeling stuck with your HSC Module A study? We have got you covered with 10 amazing new questions! 

TutorTime would like to help you prepare for the HSC English Advanced Module A (paper 2). 

A great place to start is to understand the rubric – you can find it here straight from NESA:

“In this module, students explore the ways in which the comparative study of texts can reveal resonances and dissonances between and within texts. Students consider the ways that a reimagining or reframing of an aspect of a text might mirror, align or collide with the details of another text. In their textual studies, they also explore common or disparate issues, values, assumptions or perspectives and how these are depicted. By comparing two texts students understand how composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on) are influenced by other texts, contexts and values, and how this shapes meaning. 

Students identify, interpret, analyse and evaluate the textual features, conventions, contexts, values and purpose of two prescribed texts. As students engage with the texts they consider how their understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of both texts has been enhanced through the comparative study and how the personal, social, cultural and historical contextual knowledge that they bring to the texts influences their perspectives and shapes their own compositions. 

By responding imaginatively, interpretively and critically students explore and evaluate individual and common textual features, concepts and values. They further develop skills in analysing the ways that various language concepts, for example motif, allusion and intertextuality, connect and distinguish texts and how innovating with language concepts, form and style can shape new meaning. They develop appropriate analytical and evaluative language required to compose informed, cohesive responses using appropriate terminology, grammar, syntax and structure. By composing critical and creative texts in a range of modes and media, students develop the confidence, skills and appreciation to express a considered personal perspective.”

Read more about the NESA English syllabus here:

https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/f2ef71a2-ea7c-4b96-92f6-398fe141925c/english-stage-6-prescriptions-2019-2023.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=

Here are some general essay tips:

• Time your essays. You should allow 40 minutes to write the essay and don’t forget to add in the rubric words.
• Hand write your essay, get writing fit, you won’t be able to type your essay in the HSC!
• Don’t forget to answer the question in your introduction.
• Write in clear paragraphs with obvious spacing. 
• Edit your work. 

English Advanced Module A Questions

1. ‘There has no such thing as originality. It has all been said before, suffered before’. 

To what extent is this statement true of the texts you have studied in this module?

2. ‘Literature is one continued conversation, regardless of time or context. People die, texts are immortal.’

Evaluate the above statement with reference to your prescribed texts.

3. To what extent has your understanding of how your texts interact with each other confirmed or rebutted the influence of a creator’s context?

4. ‘If you want to be original, be ready to be copied’.

With reference to the above statement and your prescribed texts, to what extent do modern creators recycle the textual features of their predecessors?

5. ‘Original minds are not distinguished by being the first to see a new thing, but instead by seeing the old, familiar thing that is over-looked as something new’

Evaluate the above statement with reference to your prescribed texts and the manner in which they interact with each other. 

6. Creators cater to their audiences above all else. With reference to the two texts you have studied, to what extent to do agree with this idea?

7. ‘Regardless of societal progression, some things are immortal. Love, fear, power: these things never change’

Evaluate this statement by assessing the extent that the themes in your texts have been reimagined for a modern audience. 

English Standard Questions Module A: Society and Culture

“Language has the power to both reflect and shape individual and collective identity. In this module, students consider how their responses to written, spoken, audio and visual texts can shape their self-perception. They also consider the impact texts have on shaping a sense of identity for individuals and/or communities. Through their responding and composing students deepen their understanding of how language can be used to affirm, ignore, reveal, challenge or disrupt prevailing assumptions and beliefs about themselves, individuals and cultural groups. 

Students study one prescribed text in detail, as well as a range of textual material to explore, analyse and assess the ways in which meaning about individual and community identity, as well as cultural perspectives, is shaped in and through texts. They investigate how textual forms and conventions, as well as language structures and features, are used to communicate information, ideas, values and attitudes which inform and influence perceptions of ourselves and other people and various cultural perspectives. Through reading, viewing and listening, students analyse, assess and critique the specific language features and form of texts. In their responding and composing students develop increasingly complex arguments and express their ideas clearly and cohesively using appropriate register, structure and modality. 

Students also experiment with language and form to compose imaginative texts that explore representations of identity and culture, including their own. Students draft, appraise and refine their own texts, applying the conventions of syntax, spelling and grammar appropriately and for particular effects.”

Practice questions:

1. ‘Language is a powerful tool. It represents our collective identity.’

Evaluate the above statement with reference to your prescribed text. 

2. How do texts use voice and other cultural signifiers to inform self-perception? 

Use your understanding of your prescribed text to respond. 

3. How has your prescribed text explored the impact of change on both individual and group identity? 

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