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How I Passed WACE English Confidently – A Student’s Perspective

WACE English can be a daunting subject for anyone who has never had confidence in the subject. For Stacey, who recently completed Year 12 – it turned out to be a piece of cake. Hear from her below.

1) How did you feel about English as a subject throughout high school?

English used to be a subject I struggled with during middle school. However, since having Bianca as my English ATAR tutor, I felt more comfortable and stronger completing tests, assignments and exams, especially when completing my WACE. I knew that all my preparation leading up to exams with Bianca helped me feel calm and relaxed about completing this course.

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2) What were you most worried about for Year 12 English?

There was not a lot that I was worried about for Year 12 English, as I felt comfortable when seeing my grades constantly improve after each test. So I knew that I was improving every time and was never falling backwards. However the one thing I was most worried about was not finishing in time, but I knew the only way to fix this was to use my time wisely by making sure that the 10 minutes of reading time purely went to reading the texts over and over again and annotating these in my head.

3) How did you study for Year 12 English and what tips would you give other students?

When studying for English it is best to continuously re-write essays, create new essays and read over essays. This will not only help you think on the spot, but helps you write faster and think about the structure of an essay as well. If I had to give one tip to other students I would say, ensure that when you are reading the novel given to you by the teachers, make sure you leave sticky notes on pages you believe would benefit you when writing an essay about the novel. So you then won’t have to go back and find quotes later on.

4) What was the biggest lesson you learned from the WACE exam that you could pass on to other students?

Calm down. You are stressing yourself out over something you have done a million times now. You know how to write an essay, you know how to annotate an extract and you know how to use your time wisely. When you open that piece of paper take a deep breath and just focus on what is in front of you.

5) What was the benefit of working with Bianca throughout Year 12?

Bianca is a bright and bubbly woman, who made me feel relaxed and confident, she never doubted me once and made me feel like I was capable of achieving anything. Bianca’s corrections would never make me feel like I have failed, she would explain the reasoning as to why something would not be necessary in that specific place. Bianca not only helped me get my grades up and achieve a higher score then I ever expected to get in English, but she managed to expand on my vocabulary which then made me feel like a confident out-going person. Bianca is someone who is striving to help everyone achieve the best they can and always puts her students first. Bianca is someone who loves to express good deed in anyway possible. I was successfully able to graduate from school, and complete ATAR English on a B, which I never expected to achieve, I also passed my WACE exam higher then I expected to get as-well. So Thank you Bianca for all your hard work and squeezing as many lessons possible for me.

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List of Narrative Conventions

The secret to doing well in your English essays, comprehension tests, and exams, is knowing which conventions to incorporate into your discussion. One particular type of convention is the narrative convention. Narrative conventions, or narrative techniques, are important to an understanding whenever you are reading a novel or a short story, and you need to analyse it after you read it. By understanding what narrative conventions are and why they are used in certain ways, you will be able to better answer your questions.

Here is an extensive list of narrative conventions and some examples of why they are used and how they are relevant.

List of narrative conventions
Posted on February 13, 2018 by perthenglishtutor

The secret to doing well in your English essays, comprehension tests, and exams, is knowing which conventions to incorporate into your discussion. One particular type of convention is the narrative convention. Narrative conventions, or narrative techniques, are important to an understanding whenever you are reading a novel or a short story, and you need to analyse it after you read it. By understanding what narrative conventions are and why they are used in certain ways, you will be able to better answer your questions.

Here is an extensive list of narrative conventions and some examples of why they are used and how they are relevant.

Narrative Conventions

Characterisation

Setting

Structure

Syntax

Tone

Style

Dialogue

Emotive language

Descriptive language

Narration

Metaphors

Similes

Personification

Hyperbole

Imagery

Allusion

Symbolism

Diction

Repetition

Characterisation

Characterisation is important to analyse in a text as it reveals a lot about the message of the text. The characters are usually the vessel by which the author tells the story. Are the characters typical of a genre? Do they fit a certain archetype? Are some characters good and some evil?

Setting

An understanding of setting will assist you with all different types of narrative texts. In certain genres such as western and horror, setting is very fundamental. However, no matter the text, setting is going to play a key role.

Structure

How has the text been structured? Is there a flashback? Does it loop? The structure of the text is important in identifying how the author wants you as a reader to uncover his message. This is highly important in short stories, also.

Syntax

The syntax is the way that words and phrases are put together in a sentence. Sometimes authors will adhere to syntax and sometimes they will play around with syntax, which is just as significant. Take a look at the syntax and try to understand what is going on with the author’s writing.

Tone

The tone of a novel or story is a big determinant of the message of the narrative. It is important to identify tone, whether it be serious or sarcastic.

Style

What style has been employed to write this narrative? This will require you knowing the key terminology surrounding style.

Dialogue

Dialogue is any time that someone speaks to your narrative. It can be very telling about a number of things and can reveal things about your characters, in a different way to your narrator.

Emotive language

The use of emotive language is very significant is it positions the reader to “feel” what the author wants them to. This is important when talking about serious issues.

Narration

First person, second person, third person limited and third person omniscient are all different methods of an author telling a story. Each of these is significant in their own right.

Metaphors

A metaphor is a useful language tool that compares two things that have nothing in common. E.g. Lost in a sea of nameless faces.

Similes

A simile is when something is said to be like something else. E.g. Her smile was as bright as a sun.

Personification

Personification is when an inanimate object is assigned with a human-like quality. E.g. The daffodils danced in the breeze.

Hyperbole

This is an exaggeration of the fact. E.g. She was so hungry she could have eaten a horse

Imagery

A great author can conjure up pictures in your mind through the use of imagery. This is very descriptive language that paints a visual picture.

Allusion

An allusion is a reference to something else. E.g. Bec was the Trojan horse to Marta’s social group.

Symbolism

Symbolism can be anything from a dagger to a colour and usually has a hidden meaning.

Diction

Diction is the choice and use of words in the writing and can be highly significant. Look for unusual word choices and anything that seems significant.

Repetition

When words or ideas are repeated in a text, it usually means that the author is trying to point your attention to that thing.