scholarship english
Post on 15-Jun-2015
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The English Scholarship Exam
What is the Scholarship exam?
- A monetary award - No credits- Not a qualification- Challenging standards- Most able students in each subject
You must be able to:
- Demonstrate high-level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation- Integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations.
• An exam at the end of the year that is seen to be the highest level a secondary school student can achieve
• There are 3 grades for Scholarship: Not Achieved (A), Scholarship (S) and Outstanding Scholarship (O)
• Only about 2-3% of all students entered for NCEA Level 3 will achieve Scholarship; fewer than 1% will achieve Outstanding Scholarship
• There are monetary awards for success- between $500 and $30 000
$$$$ The awards:
Premier Scholars - at least three Scholarships at Outstanding level: $10,000 each year for three years
Outstanding Scholar Award - a minimum of 3 Scholarships (at least 2 at 'Outstanding' level or more than 3 Scholarships with at least 1 at Outstanding level) - $5,000 each year for three years
Top Subject Scholar (multiple awards)- the top performer in each subject : $2,000 each year for three years
Scholarship Award - three or more Scholarships subjects - $2,000 each year for three years
Single Subject Awards - 1 or 2 Scholarships - A 'one-off' award of $500 per subject
WHAT IS IN THE ENGLISH SCHOLARSHIP EXAM?
• SECTION A: a close analysis of two texts, often different in genre, but with a point of commonality
• SECTION B: an in depth analysis of one or a number of texts from one particular genre
• SECTION C: an in depth analysis of a number of texts from a number of genres
• All three sections require essay answers of more than 800 words each
How the paper is marked:
- Constant checks within the marking team - 4 Performance Descriptors - Each essay is out of 8 points- The top two Performance Descriptors
(1 and 2) gain Scholarship
Your record of Scholarship results will show:
- The Performance Descriptor which best fitted your paper- The ‘cut off’
WHAT SKILLS SHOULD YOU HAVE?
• High level critical thinking, abstraction and generalisation, and
• Ability to integrate, synthesise and apply knowledge, skills, understanding and ideas to complex situations.
• Comprehensive content knowledge;
• Effective communication;
• Original or sophisticated solutions, performances or approaches;
• Critical evaluation;
• Flexible thinking in unfamiliar/unexpected contexts.
WHAT SHOULD YOU BE ABLE TO DO?
• Write fluently: excellent vocabulary, structure and style
• Apply a knowledge of English: grammar, literary techniques, syntax, style, structure, effect
• Cross-reference: not just to other texts, but also to other fields of study and to past and present societies
• Apply other knowledge to texts• Be aware of author’s purpose
Outstanding Performance - Performance Descriptor 1
The student will:
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of texts and methods used in crafting them.
• Respond critically with mature ideas and independent reflection.
• Demonstrate an exceptional level of sustained critical response showing consistent ability to synthesise knowledge, understanding and argument.
Scholarship - Performance Descriptor 2
The student will:
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of texts and methods used in crafting them.
• Respond critically with mature ideas and independent reflection.
• Sustain coherent, substantiated and engaging argument.
Performance Descriptor 3
The student will:
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of texts and methods used in crafting them.• Respond critically with mature ideas and independent reflection.• Demonstrate coherent and substantiated argument.
Performance Descriptor 4
The student will:
• Demonstrate knowledge of texts and methods used in crafting them.• Respond critically with some mature ideas and independent reflection.• Demonstrate coherent and substantiated argument.
Demanding text and questions - It is not necessarily the complexity of the text but how you respond that makes it demanding.
Respond critically … initiate an alternative reading or application of theory; take a fresh approach to accepted interpretations; challenge the reader’s understandings; apply or deconstruct theoretical models.
Knowledge of methods used in crafting … such as structure, style, layout, delivery techniques, figurative language, editing, method of narration, rhetorical devices, sound effects, dramatic techniques, characterisation, costume and scripting.
Section A
Close Reading of Unfamiliar Texts
– a technical comparison of two written texts, one poetry, one prose, with an emphasis on content and crafting.
Section A - Tips for success:
- Use the guidelines in the question
- Include wider discussion of the themes/ideas too.
- Avoid listing technique and effect ; look holistically at each piece
- Read the introductory paragraph
- Keep answer balanced across both texts
Section B
Response to Literature and Language
- A response to literature / language which you have studied.
- If you choose short texts, it must involve at least two.
- Genre-based questions
- Do not repeat material across Sections B and C
Shakespeare, novel, film, TV, poetry, short stories, theatre, aspects of language, journalism, non-fiction, online texts…
Section C
Exploring Issues in Literature and Language
- an exploration of issues in literature / language studied.
***Thesis-driven, not text driven
Sections B and C - Tips for Success:
- Focus on the question
- Sustain your response to it throughout
- Don’t skew the question
- Address ALL parts, including quotations
- Draw up parameters for discussion
- Link texts
Revision:
- Practice planning
- Map the links across all your texts
- Use exemplars / models to analyse and compare against your own work
- Practice framing the thesis in introductions
- Text choice – knowledge and personal response
Final advice:
- More than 800 words
-1 hour per essay
- Address the chosen topic throughout
- Central thesis, especially in Section C
- Evidence, quotations…
- Read all questions first
- Enthusiasm, personal engagement, critical response
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