Final Advice leading up to the Outcome: Year 12

Final advice leading up to your first Outcome.

1)      When formulating your contention, always look outside the question, not just within. Think of different ways you can construct a contention that shows a critical viewpoint that encompasses many elements of the text, not just one or two.  A lot of you have been very good at doing this so far, and it is encouraged that you keep thinking critically and analytically.

2)      Make your topic sentences clear and indicative of what you will be discussing in that paragraph. Integrate a quote into your topic sentence if you can. Some topic sentences I have read have been way too convoluted or way too diluted. Make it succinct and applicable for future discussion.

3)      Contextualise strongly in your introduction. Integrate a couple of quotes….look for ones that encapsulate the whole experience of Stasiland ie “land gone wrong” or “secret walled-in garden”. 

4)      Don’t forget Funder. She is the one constructing this text. Funder evokes, suggests, elicits, alludes, juxtaposes…..etc.

5)      Don’t forget your elaborations : this demonstrates, highlights, magnifies, illuminates,symbolises….etc. And don’t forget to implement thought into your response…..Perhaps Funder is…. Or It can be seen that…. Etc. The assessor want to witness that element of analytical thought, not just slabs of examples.

6)      Connect deeply with the ideas by appropriate utilising evidence. Don’t leave a finding naked.

7)      Conclude strongly, connect with the immediate picture, but also the bigger picture. Think of individual and societal. Leave your assessor with final insightful commentary that clearly displays your engagement with the question and that you have resulted in some complex findings. Integrate a quote (or two) in the conclusion. Don’t use it as a platform to mundanely summarise. Attack the question and expose your findings.

8)      Use linking words. This gives your response a fluency and thoughtfulness that otherwise is not achieved.

9)      Use appropriate metalanguage for this area of study….you need to be utilising words that describe individuals, Germany, the Stasi…..find some synonyms so you’re not repeating the same one again and again. Ie oppressive, despotic, draconian….make your word list comprehensive.

10)   WORD COUNT. Must be 800+.

Mrs Luscombe