Choosing HSC subjects, especially English Extension 1, can be difficult.
Knowing what you’re getting into before you get into it is the best defence against stress and disappointment.
That’s why we’ve collected the top 10 HSC English Extension 1 FAQs to help you make the right decision!
Q1. How important is creative writing?
Q2. How many prescribed/related texts will the exam ask for?
Q3. How should I be choosing my related texts?
Q4. How long should my English Extension 1 essays be?
Q5. Where can I find past essays and/or creative pieces?
Q6. Should my essays be integrated?
Q7. How should I structure my essays?
Q8. Should I drop English Extension 1?
Q9. What should I do if I bomb one of my assignments/exams?
Q10. Is it much harder than English Advanced or is it just more work?
Q1. How important is creative writing?
It’s worth 50% of your HSC exam mark, so it’s pretty important.
Unlike Advanced English, English Extension 1 does have a fairly proportional focus on analytical and creative writing, and you’ll definitely be developing your creative skills in class.
That said though, you really need to focus on building your creative abilities because you’ll have had much ore feedback and practice with your analytical work over the years.
The important thing to remember is that you really can’t just make up a story on the spot with English Extension 1, so you’ll be needing to put lots of effort into planning and developing ideas for your creative.
This means rough drafts, editing, getting feedback from your teacher, etc. throughout the year so that by the time you reach exams you’ll be properly prepared, just like you will be for analytical!
Q2. How many prescribed/related texts will the exam ask for?
It depends on the exam.
There have been a few that have asked for specific texts, or a specific number of texts, and these often freak people out because they’re not what you planned for.
Truthfully, it’s unlikely that your exam will ask for more than 2 prescribed and 2 related texts, but it has been known to happen, so it’s good to be prepared.
The two best things to do in order to make sure you’re safe for your exams is;
- Read, analyse and understand all of your prescribed texts.
- Learn 2 related texts, but have a backup just in case.
Q3. How should I be choosing my related texts?
There’s a number of factors to consider in choosing your related text, but luckily I can take you through step by step, of how to choose your perfect related text!
The first step you should take is looking for possible related texts which have a similar theme to your prescribed text.
For example, if your prescribed text is about human experiences, you want to make sure your related text has elements of this.
The next step you should take is to note the text type of your possible related texts. Are they a poem, film, novel, short story, play, or a speech?
You want to make sure that the related text type is not the same as your prescribed text! You also want to make sure that your skills are up to scratch for technical analysis of a particular text. For example, a film requires you to have solid understanding of visual techniques.
Now that you have a short list of possible related texts, your third step is to make sure that your text has literary merit or integrity. But what does that mean?
Literary merit is a quality that is found in texts that are seen as being of ‘proper’ and having meaningful value.
That means that the texts that the critics think are amazing are probably going to be the kind that your markers think are awesome too.
Obviously, this means the best place to find possible related texts is by looking at what has won the big awards!
Now that you’ve completed all three steps, it’s time to choose the best related text!
Read up in more detail about how to choose a related with our article here!
Q4. How long should my English Extension 1 essays be?
Short answer? 1200 – 1400 words.
Long answer? As long as you need them to be (within reason).
I know that having a set word limit can be useful when it comes to figuring out how much you should or shouldn’t be writing, but a lot of the time that limit doesn’t work for everyone.
While 1300 words is about the average, I know some people who could write very concisely and say everything they needed to in a sophisticated 1100 words.
I’ve also known people who could write 1500 words without repeating themselves or going off-topic even once!
It all depends on the person, how they write and what they’re writing about.
Think more about your one hour time limit and how much you can write in that time rather than focusing on word limits, but do consider them if you’re going way over or way under.
Q5. Where can I find past essays and/or creative pieces?
As always NESA has your back with this sample answers pack full of past English Extension 1 essays and creative pieces!
They have exemplar answers as well as samples of lower marking answers, so you can see exactly what to avoid in your own writing if you want to be making those top bands.
Q6. Should my essays be integrated?
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
The quickest way to knock marks off your essays is by writing them as if each idea or paragraph exists totally separately to the last.
You want your essay to read as a cohesive piece with one central idea that is being argued through different themes, using the texts as examples to prove your point.
Make sure you start trying to integrate your essays from the get-go, and if you’re finding it a little tricky actually sit down with your teacher and talk about how to go about it effectively.
It’s also good to hand in any and all practice essays you write to your teacher or classmates for feedback – that way you’ll know if your integration is working and how effectively!
Q7. How should I structure my essays?
As with any writing there’s always going to be people who like writing essays a certain way, and that’s going to differ from the next person, so there’s no ‘set’ structure that is perfect.
The things you want to aim for however are balance, integration and sophistication.
To do this, you need to format your essays well as follows:
- Introduction
- Context – introduce your texts + their contexts
- Theme A – discuss the theme in reference to both prescribed texts
- Theme B – discuss with reference to one prescribed and one related
- Theme C – discuss with reference to the other prescribed and related
- Conclusion
This way you’re dealing with 3 long theme paragraphs rather than 6 shorter text paragraphs, plus you’re comparing and contrasting the texts as you talk about them because they’re both in the same paragraph.
It’s also good to note the distribution of related and prescribed texts – you can mix this up, but it’s always best to start focused on prescribed and then branch out to related texts.
That said, this is based on using two prescribed texts, however you may choose to use three and mix up the distribution a different way.
If you’re looking for more details on writing a sophisticated essay, check out this article on how to write a band 6 essay!
Q8. Should I drop English Extension 1?
It depends entirely upon your situation!
There are pros and cons to both dropping and keeping Extension 1.
If it’s something you’re considering, we have an article about it over here!
Q9. What should I do if I bomb one of my assignments/exams?
Learn from it.
It seems obvious, but the best thing to do when you get poor marks is to get a lot of feedback on exactly what you did wrong and then work to improve.
One bad mark isn’t the end of the world, and it’s definitely not a reason to give up or drop the unit.
Think of it as a learning experience!
For some more guidance on how to bounce back from a bad mark, check out our article on it here!
Q10. Is it much harder than English Advanced or is it just more work?
English Extension 1 has more content that you learn at a faster pace than Advanced.
You also need to be doing more advanced and sophisticated analysis, doing work outside of class time and taking a lot of initiative if you want to be achieving awesome marks.
So it’s actually a little harder and a fair bit more work (outside of class).
That’s not to say that English Extension 1 is crazy hard or an unreasonable amount of work, but it is a whole extra unit and it’s seen as an extension subject for a reason.
And that rounds up our top 10 HSC English Extension 1 FAQs! Good luck!
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Maddison Leach completed her HSC in 2014, achieving an ATAR of 98.00 and Band 6 in all her subjects. Having tutored privately for two years before joining Art of Smart, she enjoys helping students through the academic and other aspects of school life, even though it sometimes makes her feel old. Maddison has had a passion for writing since her early teens, having had several short stories published before joining the world of blogging. She’s currently studying a Bachelor of Design at the University of Technology Sydney and spends most of her time trying not to get caught sketching people on trains.
