Looking for some HSC English practice questions to brush up on your essay writing skills with?
Look no further!
In this article, we’ve grouped together all the practice questions you could possibly ever need for HSC English Standard and Advanced, with 20 practice questions for the Common Module and Modules A, B and C.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get practising!
Common Module Essay Practice Questions
Common Module Short Answer Practice Questions
Standard Module A Practice Questions
Advanced Module A Practice Questions
Standard Module B Practice Questions
Advanced Module B Practice Questions
Module C Practice Questions
Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences Practice Questions
The HSC Common Module questions will be the same for both Standard and Advanced English!
Make sure you answer questions correctly by understanding the key verbs of each question!
Here’s a few practice questions to get you going:
Question 1
Through the telling and receiving of stories, we become more aware of ourselves and our shared human experiences.
Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text.
Question 2
Storytelling invites us to see the world differently through challenging our assumptions.
Discuss this statement in relation to your prescribed text.
Question 3
In what ways does [YOUR TEXT] offer new insights into the anomalies in human behaviour and motivations?
Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text
Liked these questions? We’ve created 20 general practice questions for the Common Module which can be applied to any text for you to practice with!
Check out how to ace HSC English Paper 1 for the Common Module here!
Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences Short Answer Questions
As this is a new module created by NESA, you probably haven’t had much luck accessing any short answer practice questions for it.
Luckily, we’ve created two brand new short answer sections with stimulus booklets for Texts and Human Experiences for you to explore!
Need some help finding related texts for HSC English Common Module? Check out our recommendations here.
Standard Module A: Language, Identity, and Culture Practice Questions
Question 1
‘What we know of the world is captured in the way we talk about it.’
In your answer, refer to your prescribed text and ONE related text.
Question 2
Has your study of texts focusing on cultural voice affirmed or refuted common stereotypes?
How is this idea explored in your Prescribed text and ONE related text.
Question 3
How have the texts you have studied explored how groups have adapted to change?
How is this idea explored in your Prescribed text and ONE related text.
Advanced Module A: Textual Conversations Practice Questions
Question 1
To what extent do the texts you have studied demonstrate that the values a text presents are shaped by its context? How true is this statement of the two texts you studied?
Respond to this question in relation to your prescribed text.
Question 2
‘Context determines the ways in which similar issues are explored across texts.’
Discuss this statement in relation to your prescribed texts.
Question 3
‘How has your comparative study enhanced your understanding of the ways in which texts are influenced by other text in how they shape meaning?
Discuss this statement in relation to your prescribed texts.
You can access all 20 of our practice questions for HSC English Advanced Module A here!
Standard Module B: Close Study of Literature Practice Questions
As this module has a focus on one particular texts, questions will be tailored towards your prescribed text.
Here’s just a few practice questions for some of the prescribed texts:
Feed, MT Anderson
How does Feed confirm or defy audience expectations of its genre?
In your response, refer to the novel, Feed by MT Anderson.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mark Haddon
How does The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time use the voice of its protagonist in order to allow insight into his unique perspective?
In your response, refer to the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Coast Road, Robert Gray
“Amongst these vast grey plastic sheets of heat,
shadowy figures
who seem engaged in identifying the dead –
they are the attendants, in overalls and goggles.”
How does Robert Gray use imagery in order to convey ideas about humanity’s relationship with nature?
In your response, refer to the quote,Flames and Dangling Wire and one other poem from Coast Road.
Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History
Does Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History present an ultimately positive depiction of its subject, or a negative one?
In your response, refer to the film, Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History.
If you didn’t find your prescribed text practice questions here or were looking for more, don’t fret!
Advanced Module B: Critical Study of Literature Practice Questions
Similarly to the Standard Module B, we’ve created practice questions tailored towards each prescribed text as you will be asked to answer questions that are specific to your text.
Here’s just a few of them:
Emma, Jane Austen
How do realisations work to further the narrative of Emma?
In your answer, refer to the novel, Emma.
TS Eliot: Selected Poems, TS Eliot
It is through his vivid imagery of the new urban landscape that Eliot’s work captures alienation.
To what extent does this statement relate to your own understanding of your prescribed text? In your response, refer to the quotation and your two of the prescribed poems.
King Henry IV Part I, William Shakespeare
Within King Henry IV Part I, for what purposes does Shakespeare use contrast?
In your response, refer to your understanding of the play, King Henry IV Part I by William Shakespeare.
If you’re looking for more practice questions on your prescribed text or couldn’t find your prescribed text here, don’t worry!
You can check out our full list of practice questions for HSC English Advanced Module B here!
Module C: The Craft of Writing Practice Questions
The questions for Module C will ask you to write either a discursive, persuasive or imaginative piece that has been inspired by one of your prescribed texts from Modules A, B or C.
It is also possible that in the HSC they may split the question into Part (a) and Part (b), where in the former you are asked to write a creative piece and the latter you are required to write a ‘reflective statement’ which reflects upon creative decisions you have made.
Without further ado, here are some practice questions to get you going!
Question 1
“No one should be ashamed to admit they are wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that they are wiser today than they were yesterday.”
– Alexander Pope
Use this quote as a stimulus for a piece of persuasive, discursive or imaginative writing that expresses your perspective about a significant concern or idea that you have engaged with in ONE of your prescribed texts from Module A, B or C.
Question 2
a) Choose a character, persona or speaker from ONE prescribed text that you have studied in Module C. Express the thoughts and beliefs of this figure, through an alternative perspective to the one presented in your text.
(b) Justify the creative decisions that you have made in your writing in part (a).
Question 3
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Use this quote as a stimulus for a piece of persuasive, discursive or imaginative writing that expresses your perspective about a significant concern or idea that you have engaged with in ONE of your prescribed texts from Module A, B or C.
And that wraps up out definitive list of practice questions for HSC Standard and Advanced English! Good luck!
Check out this in-depth article on how to score a Band 6 in HSC English Creative Writing!
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Momoko Metham is a Media and Communications student at the University of Sydney who is currently a writer and creative for the university’s newspaper, Honi Soit. She is always on the hunt for funky pieces to add to her closet or collecting postcards from art galleries to add to her mini art gallery at home. She is also the 2019 General Editor of the ARNA Literary Journal.
