This week, Insight writer and English teacher Kylie Nealon gives tips on what you need to do now to prepare for Sections A and B of the English exam.

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The end IS in sight! While for a long time you might have been thinking of it as a remote end goal, something that would arrive ‘one day’, now is the time to get yourself into the right headspace for the exam.

So, how exactly do you revise for the English exam? Fear not – there are techniques that can help!

Preparing for Section A: Analytical interpretation of a text

This will possibly be the hardest section of the exam to revise for because you will have studied the texts at the beginning of the year.

You might think you know which of your two Unit 3 texts you want to write on in the exam, but it’s always best to be prepared to write on both texts, just in case. For example, imagine that you have spent all your time revising Like a House on Fire only to get in to the exam to find that neither of the topics for this text inspire or interest you, or reflect the focus of your revision. Then you look at the Burial Rites topics and wish you’d spent more time studying that text!

It’s always useful to have the other text that you studied in Unit 3 ‘up your sleeve’. Even if you don’t intend to write on it, you should revise it sufficiently that it can be a backup, just in case. You might like to approach it as a 70/30 split – that is, spend 70% of your study time on your chosen text, and 30% on your backup text.

There are three key stages in revision, outlined below.

Step 1: Re-read (or re-watch) your texts

• This is the most important step. There is no substitute for knowing your texts extremely well.
• You should re-read or re-watch your preferred text at least twice.
• You might spend less time re-reading your backup text, but you should still make sure you know it well.

Step 2: Gather ideas and information

• Look at all your notes – class and individual ones – from your study of the texts. Identify any key areas you don’t have enough notes on, such as characters, themes, settings, and authorial techniques, including structure and language.
• Once you’ve identified these gaps in your revision notes, there are a couple of ways you can address them. You might like to create a table with headings that correspond to the gaps in your notes – e.g. ‘characters’, ‘themes’, ‘settings’, ‘values’, and so on – and then fill them in. Or you might like to use mind maps or sticky notes to record your ideas and evidence from the text/s.
• One recommendation is to colour-code your notes, using one colour pen or highlighter to record what you already know and another to write down the new ideas and information you are gathering. (If you’re working with mind maps, use different shading for the boxes or segments of the map; if you are using sticky notes, use different colour notes.) Colour-coding information in this way will help you to keep track of the material you are adding to your notes.

Step 3: Practise writing on your texts

• Look over your SAC task and the feedback you received.
• Talk to your teacher. Ask for two or three specific areas you can work on now, in relation to that feedback. You’re six months along in terms of skills since you completed the SAC task, so there’s a good chance you can write an even stronger text response now
• If your introductions need to be shorter, take three or four different topics and practise writing a brief response of two or three sentences for each.
• If your main body paragraphs need to have clearer topic sentences, take a topic and write the three or four opening sentences you would use for each of the body paragraphs of an essay.
• Is embedding quotes still a challenge for you? Go back to your revision notes and pull out a couple of key quotes that you particularly like and can easily remember. Experiment with inserting them into your practice body paragraphs, particularly the topic sentences.

Preparing for Section B: Comparative analysis of texts

This is will probably be much easier to prepare for than Section A, given that many schools spend a lot of time on the comparative section of the course. But how should you revise for the comparative task in the exam? You can use the same three-step approach as outlined for Section A, above.

Step 1: Re-read (or re-watch) your texts

• Again, this is a vital first step in your revision.
• As you read/watch each text, focus on the connections between them in terms of key ideas, issues and themes. Remember that the texts have been selected for comparison because they share some fundamental concerns. You should be able to identify several important shared ideas.
• Consider also the key differences between the texts. If they are different text types, as is often the case, consider how the particular features of each text type affect how the texts explore similar ideas. Think about how the time and place in which each text is set or was written might affect how they explore certain themes. Do the creators of each text seem to express similar opinions on an important issue, or do they present quite different perspectives? What important values are evident in each?

Step 2: Gather ideas and information

• First, have a look at last year’s exam and consider the topics that the VCAA set for Section B. There were a variety, many of which included direct quotes from one or both of the texts in a pair. If you got one of those types of topics in the exam this year, would you feel comfortable responding to it? No? Then start by looking at the themes and ideas you’ve covered in class and, again, identify any gaps in your notes that would leave you struggling to respond to a topic on a particular idea, issue or theme.
• Once you’ve identified the themes you’re struggling with, work out what you need to know about them. How do they show up in the text/s in terms of characterisation, narrative structure or the author’s language choices? Draw up a chart or mind map, or create a set of sticky notes identifying aspects of the theme and how it is explored through each of these elements. Taking notes in this way, in small ‘chunks’, often makes it easier to retain information than writing your notes in huge slabs of text.
• Ideas, issues and themes are often conveyed through characters and their development. If you don’t feel confident in your understanding of how the protagonists in your texts develop and what the changes they undergo reveal about key ideas, then this is another gap to fill in your revision notes. Start by looking at what you DO know about the main character in one of your texts, then compare this with the main character in the other text in your pair. What similarities and/or differences can you see in the characters’ personalities, behaviours, beliefs and values? What examples of these in the text could you select to explore and analyse a key theme?

Step 3: Practise writing on your texts

• Begin by taking a sample topic and see if you can construct one or two body paragraphs that respond to it.
• Next, ask your teacher or a peer to have a look at your body paragraphs and give you feedback. Then try rewriting your paragraphs using that feedback.
• Practise also writing introductions and conclusions to a range of topics and topic types. The more practice tasks you do now, the better prepared you will be for the exam.
• Make up a list of synonyms for words and phrases such as ‘compare’, ‘contrast’, ‘similarly’, ‘in comparison’ and so on. This is vital. Your essay is likely to get repetitive if you don’t have a good selection of vocabulary to draw on.

Examiners are looking to reward knowledgeable, coherent responses that use textual evidence in a controlled and meaningful manner in both Sections A and B of the exam. Know your texts well, and recognise your weak points. By working to address those now, you will put yourself in the best position to show what you know!

Need help preparing for the English exam? Purchase our English Exam Guides by Robert Beardwood and Melanie Napthine. Our English Exam Guides provide students with revision strategies and activities to prepare them for the VCE English exam. From time management during the exam to proofreading responses, Insight’s English Exam Guides cover all the knowledge and skills required for success in the English exam. Any purchase of the English Exam Guide: Area of Study 1 comes with 64 FREE high-level sample essays.

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