Heed these words: Avoid Pretension and Relying on your Teacher
|
 |
By Laurence Cawley in General Published: Sunday, 28 June 09 - 11:13 AM (GMT) Last Updated: Sunday, 28 June 09 - 11:42 AM (GMT) |
| ||
A highly experienced English A level examiner is going through a batch of scripts from one school deemed outstanding by the powers that be.
Each essay is written in the preposterous language of the pseudo-intellectual and all carry identical the same hallmarks of teacher-inspired you-must-mention "insights".
Now it is possible that a weak examiner lacking in confidence might let this pompously-written garbage through and give it an "A", because it is written in such a way that someone not paying any attention might believe some deeply inspired thinking has taken place in the examination hall.
But not for our highly experienced A level examiner. He sees it for what is: utter nonsense. Worse than that though. It is utter nonsense purporting to be clever.
So what has happened here? It was clear to our examiner that the students' A level students had instructed them to remember a certain number of great facts about the author and about the text. It was clearly stressed to each and every one of these hapless students that they must squeeze these incredible facts into their scripts at any cost and regardless of the question set. They have also been taught to use the most pretentious language possible - not only at the cost of a simpler word, but also at the cost of the correct word.
What can we learn?
1. Scripts are marked in batches from the same school. This means if everybody regurgitates the same stuff from the teacher it'll show - and infuriate the examiner as he wades through the same points over and over again. This irritation is amplified when the teacher's key points have no bearing on the question set. All it shows is the candidate is unable to have their own thoughts or apply their "knowledge" in a meaningful and focused way.
2. Avoid preposterous language. The best words to use are the simplest ones possible that convey exactly what you want them to. The very best students out there use often deceptively simple language with precision.
3. By all means listen to your teachers. But please remember the examiner is far more interested in what you think about the question set. Your teachers - even if they did get A grades when they sat exams a few moons ago (and many did not) - are not in the exam hall doing the exam. Your fresh response to a question will almost always be better than a half-arsed attempt at remembering what Mrs Jones said about whatever it was some time ago.
4. Read the question, read it again. When you've fully understood what is being asked of you, read it again. Your answers have to be nailed to the question set to get the top grades.
5. Know your subject. This sounds like common sense, but the only way you can have your own ideas about your subject is by studying it for yourself. When you then find yourself sat in an exam hall, you'll have your own response.
I was once told about a director of English studies at a Cambridge college who was asked what she looked for in a candidate. Her reply was simple: "Somebody who loves to, and can, read and somebody who loves to, and can, write." Would she always give a place to somebody who matched that description? The answer was 'yes'.
1 Comment so far: |
Leave a comment |
| Nice Article | techword | 06/29/09 |
|
Top | Reply to this Title: Nice Article Author: techword Date Posted: 29 Jun 2009 07:41 AM (GMT) Very Nice Article On the subject really like to have link from some career advice website to this will be good for students www.examcentres.com twitt at http://www.blogs4tech.com/twitter |
Have your say on this article:
<-- Back
