Achieving Two English State Ranks and a 99.90 ATAR Whilst Being School Captain

HSC English; an insatiable beast, a hardened foe, the most notorious adversary for prospective acolytes seeking the fabled lands of 99+ ATAR.

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And I should know. I completed 4 units of the dang thing. It’s safe to say I did pretty well (99.90, state rank 3^rd for English Extension 1 and 14^th for English Advanced) but honestly, my English study experience wasn’t exactly glamorous.

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I scrawled notes into an exercise book because I always forgot my text. I harassed my teacher for feedback days before an exam. I submitted my English Extension 2 major work after a 72-hour Redbull-fuelled tear. I missed classes due to School Captain-y commitments.

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I know exactly what it’s like to feel as if English is impossible.

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So you won’t see any idealistic fluffy blather here about good sleep or perfect notetaking, because I had neither in Year 12 (those that do, I am in awe). After reading too many HSC advice articles that were either too quixotic or too mundane (who needs to be told to “complete practise papers”??),I ’m going to be realistic.

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This article has practical advice you can immediately implement for a boost of marks. And I’m also throwing in some stuff that will hopefully help you establish a better way to approach English in the long-term.

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Let’s get started with…

Immediate tip #1: Start with a conceptual thesis

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Picture this: Your HSC marker is sitting in a poorly ventilated room after 6 weary hours of teaching, and when they open your paper from an endless batch, they see this for the 100th time: “Shakespeare’s tragicomedy The Merchant of Venice…”

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It’s not a terrible first impression. Not by any means. But you can make it so much better.

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What is a conceptual thesis? Most students start their essays by introducing the author and the text; it’s what we have been taught to do from the very beginning. But using a conceptual thesis instead – by first addressing your argument holistically in a short sentence – you not only immediately grab the marker’s attention, you also aim your essay towards a greater purpose than merely unpacking a text.

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For example, the first sentence of my Merchant of Venice Common Mod essay was “The greatest threat to humanity lies within the institutions that preserve it.”

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Short, snappy, just complex enough to jolt awake a sleepy marker. The conceptual thesis captures your entire essay in one brief sentence by introducing the concept you are trying to prove, independent of your text.

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But also – more importantly – it gives your essay a greater purpose than just answering the question for an exam or an ATAR. In my conceptual thesis, I tell the marker that I am not merely writing this essay because Shakespeare is interesting; I am writing it because I believe that humanity is paradoxically reduced by the very superstructures we create to protect us, and it is through Shakespeare’s storytelling that we can understand this. A much more sophisticated take.

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If that is what you are arguing, why start off by writing about the text? Write to convey some fundamental truth about our humanity, which can be uncovered through your text.

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By starting with a conceptual thesis, you set yourself up for success. Now every part of your essay should aim to fulfil this greater purpose, creating a cogent, powerful and sophisticated piece.

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All through one extra sentence.

Long-term tip #1: Seek advice from everything, everywhere-

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Not all at once though, because sometimes that can be a bit overwhelming.

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But seriously, consistently asking for feedback and being able to accept and apply it without an ego is one of the most important skills for success in not just HSC English, but for life too.

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English is a subject where “firsts” are very rarely “bests”. Most times my first thesis statement was simply pitiful, a sad convoluted lump of words that didn’t seem to make any sense as much as I prodded it and moved things around. It is through the continuous process of refining, polishing, accidentally regressing, and more polishing that you will find progress, and eventually an end product you are happy with.

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Our own brains can only provide us with so much.

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It is no surprise that my best arguments and ideas and theses, moments where everything just slid into place and I truly understood what I wanted to convey in my essay, did not take place after I had stared at a blank Word document in my bedroom for hours.

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It came from reading a particularly juicy exemplar essay. Or from skimming a JSTOR article about my text. Or after mapping out the major values of a text with a friend. Or from a long and winding discussion with my teacher. Or from a pertinent comment left on my essay by a classmate. All incredibly valid and incredibly useful sources when you’re trying to write the best essay you can.

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Different perspectives add sophistication and nuance to your argument.

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Different eyes can spot flaws that you can’t after reading your own work too many times.

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Being willing to seek advice and inspiration from a wide variety of sources is so important, and not just for English, or the HSC. An open outlook and eagerness to constantly improve yourself is never going to work against you.

Immediate tip #2: For Mod C – make it look interesting

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A lot of people struggle with Mod C, and for good reason. It’s an unpredictable beast, hard to pin down and even harder to determine how to deal a definitive strike.

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But there are things you can do to get in your marker’s good graces and maximise your mark.

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And there are also definitely things you can do to cap yourself at C-range.

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One of the worst habits to have for Mod C is making your discursive or imaginative look like an essay – uniform paragraphs, single-line gaps between them, long sentences. Because it’s not meant to be. A creative piece should not be stagnant; it needs to take the reader on a journey, to weave and dip, winding through different motifs and features, emotions and moods. Your marker should be able to take one glance at your piece and immediately see that it has something special to offer.

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In other words, you must manipulate the form of your piece.

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If your character is facing internal turmoil, why not show the

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frustration and the discord and the

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anxiety of being

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torn into a million

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different pieces?

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Or if they are falling; in love, into despair, maybe they are

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falling-

                                               drowning-

                                                                                               gone.

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Writing an imaginative about isolation? Make your character’s thoughts short. Sparse. Terse.

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Or maybe they are feeling hopeful, and then your sentences should be long, and complex, and run-on, adding one emotion onto the next, layering each little experience and interaction, until they reach the climax of their thoughts, because maybe everything is different now, everything might be alright after all, and, and, and…

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…and if you’re writing a discursive about the power of language, then why not include another language, and literally demonstrate how connection and understanding can be shared despite disparate characters or words?

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In Mod C, you get marks for trying, not necessarily succeeding. So try to make your piece look interesting on the page.

Long-term tip #2: Try and find passion somewhere

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This is probably one of the hardest things to achieve in HSC English, because it truly makes a difference to your marks. Of course you can still do really well in English without actually enjoying it, or even detesting it – I’m sure there are countless anecdotes from past high achievers to whom English was just a means to an end.

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But there is a difference between doing well, and consistently achieving 20/20 HSC marks in every essay you write.

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Passion. Love. Something, anything about the text that makes you feel compelled to write the essay not because you have to, but because you want to.

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Case in point: although my overall HSC English Advanced mark was 98, the only HSC essay that I actually received a 20/20 in was for Mod A. This was the module I resonated with the most. I truly believe that both texts (Donne and W;t) have such an incredibly simple yet beautifully poignant message – the need for spiritual satiation amidst the terrifying isolation of death.

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You need to find that thing, whatever it is, that makes you passionate about your text and about English.

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My teacher always said that for English Advanced, you want the marker to think that you are an extension 1 (or 2) student. And the biggest difference is that they tend to write with a greater sense of purpose and drive. Not just for an exam or a grade or entry into medicine. But because they have a need to share something with the rest of the world, even if the only person who will ever read the essay is an HSC marker.

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Only then will you write an essay that is worth not only 20 out of 20, but 30 out of 20, truly guaranteeing you the best chance at achieving top marks.

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However hard it may be, try approach English with an open mind. Hone in on what you enjoy in each module. Do more research on it, read about it, discuss it with your teacher. And try to love it.

Immediate tip #3: Write big! Write a lot!

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Although not true for all things in life, for the hellish experience better known as the Higher School Certificate, Bigger genuinely is Better. There are 2 main reasons why you should start training yourself to write bigger:

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1. Bigger handwriting forces your letters to be clearer and more legible

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I’m sure your tiny sentences have great personality, but squishing together letters and words for the sake of neatness is simply not practical for exams, trials, and eventually the HSC. While it may seem aesthetic and neat on the page, spacing out your letters and writing larger words makes your scanned papers so much easier to read for tired markers’ eyes staring at computer screens all day.

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2. Bigger handwriting creates the illusion of length

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For the HSC I averaged around 4-6 words per line, and ended up needing to use a whole lotta extra booklets to fit in all the stuff I was trying to say. So it seemed like my essay was really, really long. More writing isn’t necessarily always better – but very rarely is it worse. For most markers, a longer script and extra booklets leaves a positive first impression that the essay they are about to read will be one of the better ones– and you want every ounce of goodwill that you can get.

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This is why training yourself to write bigger and faster is so important. I highly advise taking handwritten notes in class like I did(with pen and paper, I don’t believe in Ipads). Even if they aren’t as neat or aesthetically pleasing, it gives you really valuable practise in a skill that is unfortunately a large part of your final exams. So start writing more, and writing bigger.

Some final words…

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At last, we have reached the end. I hope at least one or two things in this article were of use – if nothing else, hopefully as a bit of a study break. English often seems impossible, and stupid, and pointless, but there are ways to make it easier and better on yourself. And if you ever feel inclined to chat more about this obnoxiously beautiful subject, you can find me as a tutor with Opus English.

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Sydney :D

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