Solving the HSC English Maze: From Setbacks to State Rank

A myth is currently haunting the modern educational landscape: the myth that every student slots neatly into the rigid binaries of “good” or “not so good” at English. If you lend me a moment of your time, I hope to dispel that myth once and for all – and reveal HSC English success to be within the grasp of any student who puts their mind to it.

‍

As I finished up the HSC, my English results were rather strong (internally ranked 1st in English Advanced, state rank of 9th in English Extension, 99.90 ATAR). But truthfully, my path was far from linear. 

‍

Today, I want to take you through my tumultuous, yet ultimately rewarding journey through HSC English. In doing so, I hope I will reveal to you the frameworks and principles underpinning English success, which are accessible to any and every student regardless of your “natural ability” or pre-existing affinity for the subject.

‍

Let’s begin!

‍

__

‍

Allow me to establish my credentials for the claim that “natural ability” in English isn’t the cornerstone of success: during years 7-10, English was consistently my lowest-performing and least favourite subject. This persisted all the way into year 11: in my term 1 “Reading to Write” assessment, I submitted a rather unremarkable B-range response, consisting of a hastily drafted imaginative piece and an improvised reflection statement. 

‍

However, as I progressed into term 2, the commencement of a close study of Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”, piqued my interest in English for what felt like the first time in years. I was fascinated by the text’s rich contextual influences: Cold War paradigms, political polarisation, the resurgence of patriarchal structures in America. English had coincided with my love for history (my favourite subject throughout high school), and rekindled my interest.

‍

Writing with newfound passion, I was absolutely thrilled to receive 20/20 on my submitted essay – my first 20/20 in English ever. 

‍

This brings me to my first piece of advice:

‍

1. Do your best to find a genuine interest in your texts – even if it’s in an unorthodox way

I’ll be honest: if you genuinely could not care less about a text, it tends to reveal itself in your essay writing. You are likely to end up making underdeveloped, uninspired arguments, or regurgitate someone else’s analysis in a clunky manner.

‍

On the other hand, if you are writing with a degree of genuine interest in a text, your tone shifts to be engaged and passionate. Your writing flows more naturally. Your arguments evolve to become more original — a welcome respite for your HSC marker who has been arduously rereading carbon copies of the same essay on TS Eliot’s critique of modernity, or Atwood’s advocacy for feminism, or Shakespeare’s deterrent against ambition.

‍

Consider Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (one of my absolute favourites!). At face value, it is a tale warning against excessive ambition and overreach – a Romantic critique of Enlightenment ambition. Relatively straightforward, right?

‍

But if you are an enthusiastic history student, like myself, dive into the complex historical context of the novel – and you might find that viewing the Creature’s tale as an allegory for the French Revolution fascinates you a little more. If religion and theology are more up your alley, try reframing Victor Frankenstein’s artificial creation of life as a usurpation of divine authority. Or if your interest lies in science and technology, you could even interpret Frankenstein’s Creature to be the first AI ever conceptualised.

‍

These ideas are not only more interesting for the student, but they offer a fresh perspective on a centuries-old text – which is very likely to be rewarded in the marking centre.

‍

2. Where there are systems, understand the systems

Despite my brief period of elation after my Handmaid’s success, I found myself once again dragged down to reality by my Preliminary Exams. Despite a satisfactory essay mark, my overall mark was significantly weighed down by my struggles with the most deceptively simple, yet remarkably fierce component of HSC English.

‍

The humble short-answer reading paper: 20 marks, 4-6 unseen texts, and an infinite amount of struggle as students desperately attempt to form coherent arguments and scrawl intelligible responses in a race against the clock. 

‍

Or at least, that’s how it felt to me.

‍

Fuelled by a (mostly) healthy amount of frustration, I went into the following holidays planning to complete as many Paper 1, Section 1s as possible, determined to crack the code. 

‍

And it’s safe to say, I did – I achieved 20/20 on every reading paper assessed in Year 12. 

‍

My secret? I ultimately recognised that simpler is frequently better for a short answer paper. 

Clearly and directly answer the question in a topic sentence; follow the formula of repeated ETAs (example, technique, analysis) while linking back to the question; prioritise straightforward techniques over verbose, oftentimes irrelevant ones. Then practice, practice, practice. 

‍

I truly believe that HSC English can be decoded and broken down into key formulae, and short answer unseen responses are the best example of this. As a mathematics enthusiast (completing 4 units of maths in Year 12!), I recognised that the concepts of structure and formulaic analysis can be transferred over into the completion of short answer questions, maximising your marks in this section. So my advice is to learn the systems and frameworks which set you up for success – enabling short answer sections to become your “low-hanging fruit.”

‍

3. Clarity is key

The more I progressed through Year 11, then into Year 12, the more some of my peers began to write essays with increasingly flowery language. Their writing was peppered with words I could hardly pronounce, embellished with sentences that stretched line-after-line down the page, fastened together with an array of semicolons and hyphens. 

‍

These essays sounded eloquent and academic, without a doubt. But in the interests of brevity, allow me to highlight the flaws with this approach:

‍

• By using a thesaurus excessively, or pleading with Chat-GPT to “make my essay more smart-sounding”, it’s very easy to use words incorrectly – making a very negative impression on markers.

‍

• Lengthy sentence structures tend to repeat ideas, and this can eat up valuable words which could be dedicated to new quotes/techniques/analysis/context, or essentially anything else!

‍

• If you’re memorising analysis, it is far, far easier to remember and adapt under exam conditions language that you actually understand. 

‍

In the infinitely wise words of George Orwell: “Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.” 

‍

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using academic language or sophisticated terminology – this can be exceedingly effective at spotlighting your deep knowledge of a module. 

‍

But ensure that you write meaningfully, and demonstrate control of the English language, rather than an ability to regurgitate the longest words in the dictionary. This will absolutely put you in your marker’s good books!

‍

4. For Module C: get deep, and examine meaning-making itself

Amidst the essay modules of HSC English, one emerges as uniquely challenging: the elusive Module C. A labyrinthine maze where students are called to create imaginatives, discursives, and the occasional persuasive – from scratch. Daunting, isn’t it?

‍

For the countless students twiddling their thumbs and staring down at a blank Google document, paralysed by indecision (trust me, I was there too), here’s my key piece of advice for Mod C writing: 

‍

Interrogate the process of meaning-making itself. Or, more simply, write about writing. 

‍

Let me explain. Module C is entitled “The Craft of Writing”, and while this can be interpreted as simply learning how to write better, you can take a far more sophisticated approach. 

‍

Dive into the “craft of writing” itself: how is the meaning in writing actually created? Is it constant, or can it be unstable? Is a text’s meaning created by the author, or is it perhaps interpreted by the reader? 

‍

Don’t spiral into an existential crisis just yet. Instead, consider how you could create a piece of writing which interrogates meaning-making itself. Perhaps, your protagonist might be a troubled poet unable to put ink on parchment for the fear of being misconstrued by society? Or, you could tell a love story told only by letters back-and-forth, where writing fails to capture the true complexity of a relationship?

‍

Or, think bigger. Write about an artist who feels severed from their artwork; a musician who dreads playing the final note because he’ll have to cast off his robe of performativity; a dancer whose bones grow stiff from age, as she laments her devaluation in society if she is no longer able to create art.

‍

Analyse how art is created and distorted, corrupted and purified. And the bonus: this helps you write like an Extension English student, impressing your marker greatly!

‍

5. Don’t ever, ever count yourself out 

Allow me now to pivot to English Extension: the subject I threatened to drop on a regular basis (much to the irritation of my teachers), yet the subject in which I ultimately succeeded.

‍

It’s no secret that year 12 is dominated by crushing time pressure, fear-mongering about ranks, bursts of panic which wake you up in pools of sweat in the middle of the night (maybe I’m being a little dramatic). High highs inevitably come with low lows, and I was no stranger to this reality.

‍

A point of particular demoralisation was during my trial exams. When I received my mark for English Extension, I was disappointed to see that I had fallen shy of an E4 result, stripping me of my rank. At this point, I stood at a proverbial crossroads: dedicate myself to my other subjects and accept defeat in Extension, or put my head down and do my absolute best to improve my performance for the HSC.

‍

Fortunately, I chose the latter. I went into the HSC not ranked 1st in my English Extension cohort, yet ultimately earnt a state rank in the subject. 

‍

So, my final piece of advice is simple: don’t ever count yourself out, because the HSC is a marathon, not a sprint. 

‍

It’s easy to let an average mark at the beginning of year 12 set you up to mentally anticipate average marks for the whole year. Similarly, it can feel incredibly draining when your hard work translates into a less-than-satisfactory mark for an assessment.

‍

But don’t start saying to yourself, “Oh well, I guess I’m just bad at English.”

‍

Or, “English is going to drag my ATAR down.”

‍

The overarching purpose of this article (and my approach to English tutoring) is to convey that any student can succeed at HSC English. But if you count yourself out and fall into negative self-talk, you’re preventing yourself from success, and constructing an impenetrable wall between yourself and your goals.

‍

Instead: find interest in your texts, learn the systems, prioritise clarity in your writing, dig deeper into the process of meaning-making. And you might just find you exceed your expectations in this demanding, labyrinthine, deeply rewarding subject.

‍

Rebecca

‍