3 October 2016 W303 EDB Kowloon Tong Centre

Dr. Neil DRAVE

Senior Manager Assessment Development Division

HKDSE 2016 Literature in English – Briefing

Rundown

• 3pm Welcome and introductions

• 3.10 Overview of the 2016 exam

• 3.20 Paper 1

• 3.40 Paper 2

• 4.10 Paper 3

• 4.30 2017 Paper; SBA

• 5.00 Finish

Candidates’ performance

• 384 candidates in total (= 2015)

• 3+ 80.2% (= 2015)

• 4+ 58% (+3% cf. 2015)

• 5+ 26.3% (+3% cf. 2015)

• Slightly stronger than 2015, with more top-performers

• Samples of 2016 performance posted on web soon (early November)

Questions

• Aims – coverage of important issues

– bring out what candidates know rather than trick them

– stimulate critical thinking rather than plot recall

– focus on how (technique) as well as what (effect/outcome)

– Film technique and language

• Allow for choice of texts to answer on

Marking scheme

• Aims – balance of standardised presentation (e.g. tables) and

variable analysis

– indicative only, not model answers

– give markers a sense of the range of answers that might be expected

– quantitative and qualitative

– intended to be used with training and feedback from CE, not a guide to teaching

– appropriate literary terms are desired

Mark penalties for incomplete coverage

Genres NOT covered

Genre Novel Play Film Stories TOTAL

No. cases 4 9 12 01 26

Candidates with 1 genre missing

18

Candidates with 2 genres missing

4

Paper 1 Essay Popularity [nq/N] & (Mean raw score)

Part 1 Novel Play

Q1 Q2

Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8

Pop. (%) Mean (%)

6 (62 )

3 (64)

17 (54)

41 (57)

22 (54)

5 (65)

1 (60)

3 (62)

Film Short Stories

Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14

Pop. (%) Mean (%)

45 (55)

12 (57)

2 (47)

5 (68)

17 (56)

21 (58)

Paper 1 Essay Popularity & (Mean raw score)

Part II

Q16

Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22

Pop. (%) Mean (%)

4 (55)

18 (57)

9 (50)

3 (45)

2 (40)

48 (55)

6 (52)

Paper 1 Strengths

• Overall, the standard this year is higher than last year

• The number of students not covering all four genres has dropped

Areas for Improvement

• Read the question carefully

– some questions comprise more than one part, e.g. Q6 (use of soliloquy and aside)

– some questions require students to define/demonstrate understanding of key terms, e.g. “tribal ritual” in Q4

• Avoid questions whose meaning we are unsure about, e.g. Q20 (“peer pressure”)

• Support answers with close reference to the text

Question 4

• Strong responses addressed key words in the question (“quickly”, “orderly routine” and “tribal ritual”) and presented a solid argument

• Weak responses generalized the question into one about the boys’ descent from civilisation into savagery

Question 5

• A number of competent answers

– considered why the play is more about Iago or Othello from different angles (e.g. example, plot, character and thematic development)

• Weak scripts failed to provide convincing justifications for their choice of character

Question 9 • Strong responses:

– discussed “duties” from different perspectives – compared different characters in terms of their duties – gave comprehensive answers

• Weak responses:

– some confused “duty” with “role” (e.g. Waddington has the “duty” to bring Walter and Kitty back together, and Mother Superior’s “duty” is to help Kitty and Walter find out more about each other)

– some left out Walter in their discussion

Question 14

• Strong answers:

– showed understanding of “irritating” and provided elaboration

– adopted a comparative stance

• Weak ones resorted to story-telling

Question 17

• Strong answers:

– showed insight into characters’ behaviour and actions

– approached the question from different levels (theme, plot and technique)

• Weak answers:

– did not distinguish between lies and distortions of truth

– did not explain clearly how truths are distorted

Question 21

• Popular question but not handled very well

• Better answers demonstrated the different ways women were portrayed

• Weak answers:

– were one-dimensional and unsupported by close reference to the text

– contained a lot of unnecessary/irrelevant details

– discussed Piggy as a female character

Lacking close reference to the text: Two examples

Question 14

“Julian as a person is very irritating. He, similar to Dee, is very ignorant and appreciative. He thinks of himself as someone superior to his mother simply because he accepts black people and their growing power in society. However, instead of honestly accepting black people, he uses them to make his mother feel more inferior. He exploits black people in order to irritate his mother.” (assertions without evidence)

BACK EXAMPLE 2

Question 17 “The ultimate use of the distortion of truth, when

Iago falsely demonstrates Desdemona’s adultery with Cassio. Iago does this by his manipulative nature and persuasion. He begins by persuading Cassio to drink and lose his rank as a lieutenant … and in turn asks Cassio to seek Desdemona to get his job back. However, Iago ultimately uses the image of Cassio and Desdemona together in planting a seed of jealousy in Othello’s mind. [This] ultimately brings death to both Desdemona and Othello….”

(broad reference to the text without convincing evidence)

BACK EXAMPLE 1

Paper 2 Appreciation Popularity & (Mean raw score)

A Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 B Q5 Q6

C Q7 Q8

Pop. (%)

Mean (%)

5.7

(55)

1.5

(67)

5.4

(61)

21.2

(44)

20.3

(58)

12.9

(55)

26.1

(51)

6.8

(59)

Fewer questions (2 on each

extract) seemed to elicit more concise, well-developed answers

All responses fully completed

Sound knowledge of background to extracts and understanding of significant details

Less reliance on quotes

Organization: repetition of points (in relatively longer answers)

Content: retelling of the situation/action of the extract(s) room for closer analysis

Paper 2 Section A: Critical Analysis

Section B: Set Poetry

Sophisticated approach to making connections between technique and effect

Sharp focus on approach to question – How are the conversations similar and different?

– Explain how the two environments differ

– How does the tone of the poem change after 1st stanza?

Misinterpretation • The beach hisses like fat

– “the sand is hissing under the heat of the sun”

– “the sun is so hot that the sand melts”

• The millions of grains are black, white… quartz grains, rose and amethyst – “The flower imagery in last lines

reflects the blooming beauty of the sandpiper”

• a sheet of interrupting glass – “This implies the complex problems

people want to escape from in life”

Vague/illogical assertions

“The melting of the beach versus the toughness of the sandpiper who doesn’t melt”

“Sandpiper is at the seaside but Mushrooms is a domestic setting with tables and shelves”

Common weaknesses Q5 Sandpiper & Mushrooms

Stating the obvious

– “A is about Autumn but B is not about Autumn”

– “The common theme is seasons. The difference is Autumn and Winter”

– “The two poems are a lot different because they are written by different poets”

Misinterpretation/

misunderstanding

– “Loneliness is a common theme in both poems. In stanza 2, lonely Autumn is sitting alone, excluded from the harvesting activities”

– “they refers to the devil / themselves / scary things in life / the desert”

Q6 To Autumn & Desert Places

Q7 Woman Work

• Understanding of repetition

seemed confined only to verbs • Very little mention of parallel

line structure or the repetitive nature of rhyme and meter

• “repetition of ‘the’ emphasizes the amount of housework”

• Use of weather imagery explained by simply stating that the sun provides warmth and the snow offers cold

Q8 Raindrop

Explaining theme very literally – missing a metaphorical understanding of the poem

Section C: Unseen Poem

Paper 3 Portfolio

• Mean score 53.5% • Analytical essays on films or adaptations

of books were the most popular • Comparative essays on one or two films • Creative writing more popular • Film reviews and book reviews least

popular

What is a good portfolio?

• A well-defined and focussed topic or thesis that provides a framework for discussion

• Some poor examples – Is ‘The Maze Runner’ just another copy of ‘The Hunger Games’?

(too broad and likely to lead to simplistic ‘this is similar, this is not’ type discussion)

– What degree of success does the adapted film of the musical ‘Into the Woods’ enjoy? (demonstrating that an adaptation is ‘successful’ is tricky as the reader might not even agree on the terms of the argument, let alone the conclusions drawn from them)

• Thesis or topic should

– be controversial or debatable to allow critical discussion from different angles or perspectives

– demonstrate critical understanding of the texts and the topics

• Appropriate and relevant use of textual materials or filmic/narrative techniques to substantiate the central argument

• Purposeful rather than decorative use of pictures or screen shots to illustrate ideas

• Coherent organisation rather than writing in sections or headings with no connection between them

• Effective comparison of texts rather than concentrating on one text and then the other

• Meaningful use of secondary source of information and citations

Technicalities • Paragraphing – avoid long and wordy paragraphs • Grammatical mistakes • Quality of screen shots and pictures – bear in

mind that markers are working from black & white photocopies of Portfolios

• Bibliography and footnotes • Sources of references and secondary materials • Word limit – not strictly monitored but over-long

pieces often suffer from a lack of coherence

• Creative short stories with plausible and convincing development of plot and characters

• Effective use of the different elements of story like setting, symbolism, use of suspense, dialogues etc.

• Stories that come to a convincing ending

• 2017 Texts – Same as 2016

• 2017 Examination – Paper 1 Essay (50%, 3 hours)

• Double marked

– Paper 2 Appreciation (30% 2 hours) • Double marked • A – 2 or 3 sub-questions

– Paper 3 = Portfolio (20%) • Double marked

• Assessment Frameworks – 2019 on web

http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/assessment/subject_information/category_a_subjects/hkdse_subj.html?A2&2&17_1

– 2020, 2021 confirmed – available on request or from EDB

2017 Paper

• 2018 & 2019 SBA Handbooks on web http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/sba/sub_info_sba/dse_subject.html?17&2

• 2018 optional trial (SBA marks not counted)

• 2019 full implementation

• Same format as Portfolio

Key dates

• 19 Sept 2016 – letter to schools explaining process & giving links

• 30 Nov 2016 – deadline for opting in/out & giving staff details

• Late Nov/early Dec 2016 – HKEAA will tell you S/DC details

SBA

More information

• www.hkeaa.edu.hk

• ndrave@hkeaa.edu.hk