o The first obstacle in HSC English Advanced Paper 1 is as follows:
- A series of random texts you’ve never seen before. It can be a poem, a cartoon, or an essay excerpt. You won’t know until you see it.
- 20-marks of short answer questions, analysing the above
- Roughly 45 minutes of time
Needless to say, it’s a pretty tricky section to get right.
It’s a completely different game compared to writing essays, where you know the text you’re writing about (or at least the Sparknotes summary of it - we don’t judge here).
But don’t let this throw you off! It’s still asking you about the Common Module: Human Experiences. Except, instead of asking for comprehensive essay-level analysis, short answer questions require on-the-spot analysis of the provided unseen texts, packaged into a couple of sentences.
As it turns out, the process of answering these questions is much less intimidating when broken into steps - it’s almost like following a recipe.
So, how can we cook some short answer responses?
Understand Your Directive Verb
A directive verb is our first instruction, and it tells us how we should be approaching and structuring our analysis of the text. It’s like a recipe telling us that we should stir-fry our ingredients, rather than boil them.
Some common directive verbs in short answer questions include:
- Explain: to clearly relate techniques (causes) and why/how they create meaning (effect).
- Compare: to show how things are similar or different, whether within a text or between two texts.
- Analyse: to identify relationships between elements of the text, and link their effects.
- Assess: to make a judgement, e.g. how well a text conveys a certain idea.
A guide to NESA directive verbs can be found here.
Follow the Recipe
Planning
Before we start, let’s establish 2 guidelines:
- Mark allocation x 2 minutes = recommended time to spend (feel free to include a buffer)
- Mark allocation - 1 = recommended number of techniques to include
Now, onto the step-by-step:
- Look the mark allocation
- Highlight the directive verb
- With the context of the question, revisit the stimuli and annotate any good techniques or quotes
- Brainstorm your argument based on stimuli and techniques
The checklist above, sets you up to write a good short answer response. Now, onto the actual writing, which follows the TEEL structure.
Topic Sentence
Your topic sentence should serve as a mini thesis. It should answer the question whilst considering the directive verb, and clearly summarise your idea. Also avoid repeating the question, and instead use the keywords.
Evidence
We can now introduce supporting evidence - think of this as the ingredients for our recipe. As I mentioned earlier, the number of techniques required depends on the mark allocation. However, you’ll always need these components when introducing evidence. Many students refer to this as the “TEEL” framework.
- Technique
- Evidence/Quote
- Explanation of technique’s effect
- Link to idea/question
Failing to account for these could render your evidence useless - it’s like you’ve added raw ingredients into your dish without cooking them!
Conclusion
Finish off with a strong concluding sentence to restate your idea. No need for a full paragraph - short and sweet is good.
Adjusting for Higher Mark Questions
Note that higher mark questions (e.g. 5 or 6 markers) need some additional padding when discussing two texts, such as:
- A small introduction that introduces both texts.
- Separating evidence from each text into paragraphs.
- Including comparisons or links to the other text.
Choose Good Quality Techniques
As always, QUALITY > QUANTITY - do not stuff your answer full of random techniques for the sake of hitting a quota. Also, the best techniques may not necessarily be the most complex per se. Instead, look for ones that are easily identifiable, and links to your idea in an insightful and relevant way (i.e. high weight techniques).
Listed below are some of my favourite high weight techniques, split by text type:
- Fiction: Characterisation, contrast, imagery, metaphor, tone, perspective, symbolism, diction, structure.
- Non-fiction/persuasive: Ethos, pathos, logos, analogy, aporia, anecdote.
- Visual: Salience, colour, vectors, composition, contrast, symbolism, angle.
It’s helpful to compile a bank of techniques that you’re comfortable with, like a list of regularly used ingredients. Below is a screenshot from my own techniques bank, with easily identifiable techniques checked on the left.
Also, if you want some ideas on what literary techniques to familiarise yourself with, check out “Ultimate Guide to Literary Techniques”.
Example SAQ from 2024 Paper 1
Let’s do a question to put this all together!
Here is a non-fiction text that was assessed in the 2024 English Advanced Paper 1.
Image credit: NESA English Advanced Paper 1, Text 2
“Analyse how Vincent connects the significance of measurement to human experience.” (4 marks)
First, looking at the mark allocation indicates that we should spend around 8 minutes on this question, and include at least 3 techniques.
If we examine the question, it’s telling us to highlight the relationship between techniques and their effect, which is how Vincent connects the significance of measurement to the human experience. Whilst the meaning of ‘human experience’ can be a vague at times, some avenues of thought for this extract could be:
- The complexity of society and how it has developed.
- How tools like measurement can unify individual efforts.
Here’s an example of how you could respond, colour-coded for your convenience:
Common Mistakes
It’s easy to slip-up under the intense time pressure of short-answer questions, but here’s how to tackle some common mistakes that students face.
- Running out of time? Spend about 2 minutes per mark to finish the entire section in 40 minutes (ideally). Opt to complete high mark questions first if possible, as it’s tempting to spend more time on low mark questions.
- Overanswering? Make a brief dot-point plan before you start writing, keeping in mind the number of techniques required for the mark allocation.
- Waffling and not having a clear idea? Concisely answer the question, and introduce each piece of evidence with a purpose (i.e. using the four component structure I mentioned before). Remember key buzz words from the rubric (Common Module) if you’re struggling to generate ideas.
Conclusion
Preparing for short-answer questions is no easy task, considering that they’re so mentally intensive. Ideally, you’d want to practice them at least once a week, and more often closer to your exam. But remember it’s never too late! Keep spamming those practice questions - they’re still useful, even the day before your exam.
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Good luck :)
