Can+I+Study+for+English?

Can I Study for English? Creating Notes Section 1 - Reading Section 2 - Writing Section 3 - Viewing

It has been taken as a given that in the Middle Ages, Europeans thought the world was flat and that it was when Columbus sailed to the New World that this was disproved. Scholars today believe this to be a myth, that it was a 19th century conception relating to their beliefs about the Dark Ages. In English, there has been a myth that you can’t study for exams - you’re either good at English or you’re not. It would, in fact, be easier to prove the world flat than to prove the no-study hypothesis for English. Success in English is relative to study and preparation. Quite simply, the more you study, the better prepared you are. There are hard facts to be memorised and there are key skills to be mastered. For those students that need the security of hard facts in their preparations – here they are: Studying for English involves the following: Like it or not, the TEE is primarily a sorting mechanism for university entry. Universities need to know that students can handle complex ideas, that they can be well-organised and that they can synthesise information from a variety of sources. English, however, sits apart as the only compulsory subject for university entry. There are a number of reasons for this, but among them is the need for students to be able to: Don’t think for a second that engineers, doctors, lawyers, draughtsmen, union representatives, managers, geologists and biochemists live in a world where values aren’t important. The other disciplines that students study will equip them with the key learning to work in these fields, but the decisions that are made in these vocations must be made with a critical mind. This last point is made so that students can enter exams with a purpose beyond mere percentages, for only with a more personal sense of purpose can the dizzy heights be scaled. One of the most basics methods of effective study is to look at past papers and sample papers. The Curriculum Council is a good starting point.
 * Knowledge of terms and concepts
 * Knowledge of texts studied
 * Knowledge of a range of texts
 * Knowledge of how to articulate ideas
 * Knowledge of how to synthesise ideas
 * Reading and re-reading texts. Re-reading does not necessarily mean word-for-word re-reading; it means that students go back over key scenes, chapters and passages.
 * Making notes. To make notes, you need to create a note-making framework that suits you.
 * Practising writing skills. Write practice essays just as you would do practice questions for Maths, Physics, Chemistry or Economics.
 * identify the various angles and positions that can be taken on an issue;
 * have the mental stamina to read and process large amounts of text;
 * have the critical skills to question ideas and use them to construct their own arguments;
 * understand that the decisions that will be made in life, in the workplace and in one’s engagement with the world are based on one’s values and attitudes as well as the influences of society; and,
 * independently think about, comprehend and evaluate complex ideas.