desperate girl Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Hi guys, Do any of you know what is the quickest/ fastest method to score for English at Higher level? recently, I got back my preliminary grades and they were horrible!!!!!! I need to get at least a 6 for the year end ecaminations. Could you please give me some tips ont o how to score better for english? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaginelifeless Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Hi guys, Do any of you know what is the quickest/ fastest method to score for English at Higher level? recently, I got back my preliminary grades and they were horrible!!!!!! I need to get at least a 6 for the year end ecaminations. Could you please give me some tips ont o how to score better for english?tough to score a 6. most of the pple in english HL in acsi scored a 4/5.... and they're ACSI!!! read commentaries by pple who got 6/7 for their english. prefarably pple from UWCSEA. i think their english average grade there is a 6. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
youcantstopthebeat Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 Although I'm not the best person to get advice from for English HL (it has been my worst subject so far), what has helped me is:- taking lots and lots of notes on books/plays etc that i have studied. Notes under headings such as characters, themes, techniques etc. It really helps as it is easy to forget... when you look back at your notes it should all come back to you and it will be easier to write on them- make sure you take care with the criteria. Read over your work to make sure you fulfill the requirements. My teacher always says that you can have a perfectly good essay, for example, but if it does not cover all the criterion then you can't get a really good mark.- as imaginelifeless said above, read other people's commentaries, essays etc. Maybe ask your teacher if they can give you examples. This will help you with getting a grasp of what is expected, what format or structure you need to use and so on. And sometimes reading work that did not get a good grade helps... that way you know what not to dothat's all i can think of at the moment Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindpet Posted August 31, 2008 Report Share Posted August 31, 2008 I made it my mission to get a 7 in English A1 HL and I failed. I'm still not exactly sure how to achieve a 7 in examiner's eyes. Given that my teacher is the one who marked all of my work which received mostly 6/7, I can't say it's valid. I even went to the OSC summer course to be taught by an examiner who couldn't even explain what constitutes 'in-depth critical analysis'. I wish you the best of luck. My advice would be to kidnap an examiner and interrogate him/her until you get the answers you seek. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
heronumbazero Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 totally agree with youcantstop. You need to really be able to pick apart and book and UNDERSTAND IT. Some books you read and you are like, what the heck are they talking about? How did this beast of a book become a classic?What you need to do is read and re-read those types of books which you DO NOT understand and gradually come to understand their underlying meanings. Here are two books I'm in the process of figuring out: The Metamorphosis by Kafka and Catcher in the Rye by SalingerHere is what I recommend:1. DONT USE SPARKNOTES - it will not help you in the long run! If you desperately need help and have no clue what the book is talking about, read some critical papers on the books. 2. Do a first reading on the book - just to get a handle on what the book is about and basic storyline, characters, etc. It also helps if you write this stuff down.3. Think about it. I mean, REALLY think about it. Why is this character here? Why did this happen? Why didn't this happen?4. After your thinking session, write down your remaining questions. 5. Re-read the book again. Pick out four or five questions that you think are important and LOOK for the answer IN the book. Keep notes on what you find and also what you DO NOT find. 6. THINK. Did you find your answer? Did you come up with more questions? If question is still unanswered after a GREAT DEAL of thinking, try looking back at a critical essay. 7. Read. Think. Read. Think again.8. Still stumped? Use sparknotes or the like sparingly. I know I said don't use sparknotes - but English is one of those subjects that is flexible. Hope that helped! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeBlake Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Hi guys, Do any of you know what is the quickest/ fastest method to score for English at Higher level? recently, I got back my preliminary grades and they were horrible!!!!!! I need to get at least a 6 for the year end ecaminations. Could you please give me some tips ont o how to score better for english?OkayOrals - read plays/books carefully, look for hidden meanings, little things matters in IBeg. King Lear and MacBeth - in both plays, Hecate, queen of the witches either got mentioned or appeared as a character...question is, out of all the mythological witches, why did Shakespeare pick Hecate? what does she symbolisemy english teacher said: ask yourself "how did the author expand the text (meaning a small book, but with lots of meanings)" "what purpose does this character/symbolism serve in the book?" when you're reading the booksread once, quick scans, to get the plot and idea of what's happening...then read again, mark down all symbolisms, imagery (important one in plays, especially shakespeare) and other literary devicesthen read it for the third time and start asking questions "what is the purpose of this imagery right here?" "why would s/he do that?" tie it in with other literatures...written...this one i haven't done yet...but i'll post something as soon as i notice something Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesire_Cat Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 when you're reading the booksread once, quick scans, to get the plot and idea of what's happening...then read again, mark down all symbolisms, imagery (important one in plays, especially shakespeare) and other literary devicesthen read it for the third time and start asking questions "what is the purpose of this imagery right here?" "why would s/he do that?" tie it in with other literatures...I agree, my English teacher says it would be great if you made an outline for all the possible poems you might get in your oral, so that even if you get stuck with ones you don't really like, you still know what to talk about. He says that the people who did it were the ones that got the best grades. I guess a 7 is still going to be really hard to achieve, but if you understand the hidden meaning of the poem/piece of literature, you should be fine. And since poems are subjective, you can try to find what it means to you, or make up a meaning (but if you do, remember to say why you think that the piece of literature you're reading means that, and why you think the author wanted it to mean that).Also, we were told that 2/5ths of our commentaries should be about the author, and how his/her life influenced what he/she wrote. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monica Posted October 13, 2008 Report Share Posted October 13, 2008 Ok, so apparently you are all talking about English A1. What about English B HL? How difficult do you guys think it is to get a high score in that one? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
laush Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 Ok, so apparently you are all talking about English A1. What about English B HL? How difficult do you guys think it is to get a high score in that one?It is a lot easier than english A1 ofcourse since it mainly deals with grammar. However you need to do tons of work and really be fluent in the oral assesment.Most students in my shool who take English B HL score an average of six and seven. The trick though is to know the syllabus by heart and follow it.Some though who are good in english and neglect the syllabus end up getting a lower mark. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandev Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 I made it my mission to get a 7 in English A1 HL and I failed. I'm still not exactly sure how to achieve a 7 in examiner's eyes. Given that my teacher is the one who marked all of my work which received mostly 6/7, I can't say it's valid. I even went to the OSC summer course to be taught by an examiner who couldn't even explain what constitutes 'in-depth critical analysis'. I wish you the best of luck. My advice would be to kidnap an examiner and interrogate him/her until you get the answers you seek.I agree with what blindpet, has said above. In my year level we had 2 published poets (they won competitions), and both of them got a 6, and one of them study her ass off, she wrote a commentary or essay a day in the 2 months leading up to the exam. But then 2 other girl got 7s. I think it also depends on your teacher because at my school we have 3 IB English teachers one of them gets at least two 7s every year and the other two struggle to get one every year. My teacher didn't get any this year, and my class had some incredibly smart english students, btw this is only HL I am talking about SL students of course tend to get 7s more often, and my school get really good marks in other subjects and my year level had an average of 38 so it is not as though we are stupid and English is practically everyone's first language. I think it is luck basically that gets you a 7. Or perhap in the only case that I got 7 in my IOC, your are posessed by something, I actually can't remember anything from the moment I started my 15 minutes of oral until I walked out the door at the end. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkSpider Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Well, as far as english goes, my teacher gave me the preliminary prediction of a 6 or 7, but with the warning that the threshold for 5s and 7s is much larget than the one for a 6, which is strange but true. Anyways, I was able to get better at English by participating in class and by simply thinking about material. More than any other course, english requires a competent teacher who can teach you not just about certain works, but about how to make a good commentary, and how to do a good analysis. Generally, I've seen that good english students are ones who are assertive, opinionated, and not afraid to argue a point in front of the class, or more importantly, in a commentary or essay.Anyways, English A1 HL is not about your creativity or your understanding of literary devices, it is about your ability to grasp the bigger picture of any work you examine, and to comment on what authors do to create moods, themes and question. IB follows a philosophy that I personally don't agree with, which is to award low marks for students who attempt to argue about the author's intent in writing something, which is called the intentional fallacy. This is still a hotly debated topic, and examiners may have personal opinions that differ from IB. Generally, IB will accept arguments worded so that instead of stating the author's intent, you state the effects of a work. Basically, focus on the who, what, where and when, and leave why out of it. The why part comes when you state the effects of the passage, and must always be implied instead of explicitly stated.Anyways, there is no best method to score a 7. You have to become a competent debater, you have to become good at analysis, and you need to develop a writing style that shows a mastery of the english language, and you need to be able to structure an argument. Practicing writing commentaries every day won't help if you write a commentary that would be worth a 5 or 6, because unlike math or physics, you will be stuck with being great at writing a mediocre commentary instead of improving your skills. For anything that you can study for, you should do so by reading the works, for anything else, just go in to it knowing that you have no idea of what you'll see. For commentary, which is most of the course, I tend to write down what feelings the passage invokes, and what philosophical ideas I can get from it, then what recurring uses of literary features are present, where changes in the passage occur, and where you can find things that are not repeated anywhere else. Then, I look for the effects of all these things, and base the commentary on the effects, using the causes as references to improve my arguments. Analysis is the act of proving that you understand the piece, in a way that brings a personal insight to what its meaning is. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Shiver Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 (edited) IB follows a philosophy that I personally don't agree with, which is to award low marks for students who attempt to argue about the author's intent in writing something, which is called the intentional fallacy. This is still a hotly debated topic, and examiners may have personal opinions that differ from IB.It's interesting that you brought this up, because I was thinking about this recently myself. I find it kind of paradoxical that they don't accept the author's intention view, but then expect organic unity to be the focus of analysis. If they were really serious about endorsing New Criticism, then they would have to be encouraging deconstruction/post-structuralism and other frameworks much more than they seem to right now. But I suppose then it'd be a lot more difficult to have standards in marking. Edited November 21, 2008 by Mr. Shiver Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
it.hebe Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 I have a brother who got a 7 in english...you have to have a very clear understanding of the text...don't use sparknotes or bookrags etc..read the book, find the important quotes, and make a general connection to society. That's the whole point of reading books, is to understand the author's message. Also simple writing style that is fluent and eloquent is the best way to go. Also learn to integrate quotes well because you have to use them as evidence for your arguments. A lot of students try so hard to get a 7 in english but its in fact not that hard. Its the style of writing and understanding of the text that matters. Find about ten important quotes in the book youre reading and have group discussions without using outside resources. By doing this youll learn to analyze texts properly which is how ib english intended. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
posse02 Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) Although I'm not in HL, a few of my friends are in it and are going to be predicted a 7,they just said that pay attention to the teacher, as they will help you for the oral commentary, and it shows that you are listening in class, ask questions even if you think its stupid, and also actually read the plays and books assigned (no sparknotes)And for the commentary, both written and oral, you want to emphasize on the important arguments, even if you have to repeat them, but do not make the essay repetitive, like restating your argument all over again, just put in there a line thats like "and this relates back to the ....", back to your thesis, reminding the markers about what your argument is. Edited November 26, 2008 by posse02 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivy12003 Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 Um.. .what really distinguishes a 6 paper from a 7 one? I'm at a borderline between the two and I don't know how to distinguish between the two even tho i've read papers that have received these marks. Can anyone explain? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Shiver Posted December 3, 2008 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 It's quite simple, really. For the 6 paper the examiner was probably irritable, and for the 7 paper cheerful. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.