HSC marker reveals subtle trick to answering module 1 essay question

A deceptively simple essay question may have left some Year 12 students stumped during their very first HSC exam. Did you answer it correctly?

A picture of a girl on a bicycle and a question about “emotion” has been among the first questions of the HSC.

Cherrybrook High’s head of English Steve Henry said most students would have completed the exam with ease while a question about poem on mixed spice might have seen some students stumped.

But the essay question which appeared simple might have tricked some students.

That question asked them to talk about and link the “textual form” with emotional experiences.

“There’s no surprises in that in that question. It does lend itself to probably a slightly more technical response because they have to deal with the form of the text they have studied,” Mr Henry said.

Cherrybrook Technology High School Year 12 students undetaking their first English exam. Picture: Jonathan Ng

He said some students would not pick up on the subtleties of linking textual form with emotions — and that would separate the top performers from those just getting average marks.

“There will be some discriminators in the question.”

Year 12 student Vihaan Jain said the people responsible for setting the exams this year were “nice”.

“The exam was a lot easier than I expected, especially when we compared it to like previous HSC papers.

“I feel like NESA was a lot nicer this year than they were previous years, at least in my opinion.”

He said he pre-prepared an essay and had memorised that. That was the first thing he did in the exam before returning to the short answer questions.

“I think it’s kind of just to hit on this because, at least for this module, the essay question there’s only so much they can ask and it’s always relating to the human experience. So as long as you have a generic essay, you can adapt it pretty well regardless of the question.”

Students have sat their very first HSC exam this morning. Picture: Samantha Studdert

Fellow teacher Emma Campbell said it was a good question because everyone would be able to attempt it — but said the best students would zero in on the relationship between emotion and the specific form of their text whether it was a theatrical play or a poem.

“It was a good question in the sense that it meant that kids who could access it, was an accessible question,” she said.

“Everyone could go in and talk about the emotions and talk about that in relation to their text and really confidently and competently answer that part of the question.

“The nuance comes out a little bit more with that relationship.”