English
2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report
Statistics
Year
Number of
candidates
Level of achievement
VHA
HA
SA
LA
VLA
2015
59
4
10
33
9
3
2014
67
3
14
30
15
5
2013
79
0
7
45
23
4
2012
106
1
13
48
36
8
2011
85
4
14
40
25
2
Responding to task demands
Candidates must ensure that they meet the demands of the task and respond directly to what is
being asked of them. It was apparent that many candidates showed they understood the meaning
of the texts but they did not use this understanding to respond to the topics.
Candidates must ensure that they use the appropriate text when responding to tasks.
Criterion 1 — Knowledge and control of
texts in their contexts
Characteristics of good responses
Success in this criterion is achieved when candidates show an awareness of how meanings in
texts are shaped by purpose, cultural context and social situation.
Candidates were rewarded for demonstrating their ability to:
• discriminate in the selection of subject matter
• exploit the conventions of genres for particular purposes
• substantiate analysis with appropriate and well-balanced evidence
• analyse texts, ideas and issues
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• respond to the demands placed on them through the roles and relationships adopted when
answering particular questions.
Suggestions
Candidates should:
• develop ideas throughout their responses through the use of analysis and evaluation of the
texts they have studied
• exploit the introduction of responses to clearly establish the central idea of that response
• employ appropriate tone and tenor
• construct responses that are consistent with the actions and words of selected characters
• make work responsive to the nuances and demands of the tasks provided.
Criterion 2 — Knowledge and control of
textual features
Characteristics of good responses
Success in this criterion is achieved when candidates show an awareness of appropriateness of
textual features for purpose, genre and register.
Candidates were rewarded for demonstrating their ability to:
• logically and cohesively organise and arrange ideas
• spell, punctuate and paragraph
• use clause and sentence structures for effect
• maintain grammatical accuracy
• use a wide range of vocabulary including figurative uses.
Suggestions
Candidates should:
• integrate and synthesise direct evidence within responses for the purpose of analysis
• be fluent with the language of the syllabus (specifically the terms from the glossary)
• avoid common mistakes with run-on sentences, fragments, basic punctuation and spelling
• employ paragraphs
• allocate time to perform a careful proofread.
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2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2016
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Criterion 3 — Knowledge and application
of the constructedness of texts
Characteristics of good responses
Success in this criterion is achieved when candidates show an awareness of the ways in which
texts are selectively constructed and read.
Candidates were rewarded for demonstrating their ability to:
• make choices that invite the reader to take up intended positions
• analyse how readers are invited to take up positions
• evaluate representations
• shape representations
• examine how cultural assumptions, values, beliefs and attitudes underpin texts.
Suggestions
Candidates should:
• provide specific evidence to, and analysis of, the topics in the examination
• analyse and evaluate the evidence provided in texts
• make purposeful choices that invite the reader to take up positions about texts
• use evidence to support a point as opposed to simply making it
• identify the positions readers take in response to texts and explain how these readings are
produced
• consider cultural assumptions, values, beliefs and attitudes
• synthesise evidence and use this evidence to respond to the tasks
• make deliberate language choices when shaping and evaluating character representations.
Resources and required texts
Candidates are required to study a range of texts to prepare for the examination, specifically:
• expository texts, e.g. analytical, persuasive, reflective, argumentative, satirical
• two to four prose texts, including at least one novel and one work of nonfiction (such as a
biography/autobiography, memoir or substantial expository or analytical text)
• one to two drama texts (in most cases one Shakespearean play), e.g. scripted drama,
television and film scripts
• media texts, e.g. CDs, internet, films, documentaries, television programs. Candidates should
specialise in one medium for purposes of the examination, i.e. one medium selected from:
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2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2016
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print, including newspapers and/or magazines; radio; television; advertising, both print and
electronic
• 10–12 poems, including a range of poetic forms, selected from lyric, narrative and dramatic
poetry, across cultures and time.
Sample responses
The following pages contain sample essay responses that met the A standard as defined in the
assessment criteria. They have been reproduced exactly as written and therefore include any
spelling or grammatical errors made by candidates.
English
2015 Senior External Examination — Assessment report
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2016
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Paper One Part A
Question 1 — Drama: Imaginative response to literature
Topic chosen — 1A
Title — Hamlet
Author — William Shakespeare
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Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2016
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Topic chosen — 1A
Title — Macbeth
Author — William Shakespeare
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Paper One Part B
Question 2 — Novel: Persuasive/reflective response to literature
suitable for a public audience
Topic chosen — 2A
Title — The Great Gatsby
Author — F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Topic chosen — 2B
Title — Lord of the Flies
Author — William Golding
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Paper One Part B
Question 3 — Nonfiction prose: Persuasive/reflective response to
literature suitable for the mass media or for speaking and/or
presenting to an audience, specific or general
Topic chosen — 3A
Title — My Place
Author — Sally Morgan
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Question 3 — Nonfiction prose (continued)
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Question 3 — Nonfiction prose (continued)
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Question 3 — Nonfiction prose (continued)
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Paper Two Part A
Question 1 — Imaginative and reflective writing
Topic chosen — 1A
Title — The Diagnosis
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Topic chosen — 1A
Title — Waiting for Regret
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Paper Two Part B
Question 2 — Media: Analytical exposition
Title — The Last Man Hanged
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Paper Two Part B
Question 3 — Poetry: Analytical exposition
Topic chosen — 3B
Poems — Metho Drinker (Judith Wright) and Last of his Tribe (Oodgeroo Noonuccal)
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February 2016
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