State Ranker Guide: How to Write a Full Mark Reflection

Module C: The Craft of Writing is as much a unit about your own skill and style in composition as it is a demonstration of your own ability to synthesise and draw from the work of others. Of course, the most obvious manifestation of this is the study of various texts in class for inspiration, but for NESA that’s usually not enough. Mod C questions in Paper 2 often get you to write a reflection which directly discusses the aesthetic choices you made in relation to a given stimulus and chosen text. Not only is this skill useful for Year 12s, but even junior school assessments starting from Year 7 may assess students on reflections, necessitating an early understanding of exactly how to go about writing one? The following is a dissection of the exact elements that make up a full mark reflection, a similar teaching method to what JP English tutors do when we go through scaffolds and student exemplars during lesson time.

1.  Answer the question.

A big one. No reflection will even get close to a Band 6 level if it does not directly and explicitly addresses the terms posed within the question. For example, the 2019 HSC reflection asked:

b) Compare how you have used language in part (a) to evoke emotion with the way writing has been crafted in at least ONE prescribed text from Module C. (10 marks)

Students were given a short prose stimulus and asked to “continue [the] extract” and “evoke a particular emotional response in the reader”. For argument’s sake, say you chose an imaginative. There are three super important elements you need to address, in this order:

The prescribed text(s). You need to examine your stylistic choices against that of your chosen text. If you used Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, you not only have to name it, but identify what exactly you were inspired by, which leads on to…

Language.  The question specifically asked for language, so focus on this. With reference to Chopin, you could write about the use of imagery, foreign language, syntax, lexical choice, etc.

Emotion. This question is about how the language affects the audience – the impact. This is as much a term about effect as it is about purpose. What was your intended emotion? If you wanted to agitate the reader, link that to the use of harsh or coarse terminology. If it is to cause melancholia, then discuss the elongated sentence structure. In your reflection, you can’t make anything seem accidental; everything you bring up must have a reason for being there and play a role in evoking a response.

Of course, these terms aren’t the terms for every question. If we look at its foundation, a reflection question generally will ask for inspiration, technique and intent. The inspiration isn’t always a Mod C text – you could be asked to draw from Mod A or B. Your techniques should therefore reflect that particular text you chose. Your intent could be found in your stimulus, or be something which you have brought to answer the given question. Regardless, make sure you have these three things in mind while you’re writing your composition; it’ll make life so much easier when you have to dissect your own work rather than you making things up on the spot and drawing wild connections!

2.  Introduction

There isn’t one way to write a reflection. However, they generally follow the same intro-body-conclusion format you use in essay writing. The introduction is the most straightforward of the three sections. There MUST be reference to our three things – inspiration, technique and intent. You must also briefly touch upon how you have addressed the stimuli. Here’s an an opening for the reflection in reference to the 2019 question:

My imaginative composition ‘Soon-to-be-Professor Roberts’ is comparable to Kate Chopin’s novella ‘The Awakening’ in its evocation of introspection and catharsis in the reader through the way my text has been crafted, particularly with its language.

Let’s annotate this:

Note the use of personal pronoun. A reflection is generally more informal in its register – and it is a great way of showing your own personal engagement with the selected text, a massive element to the module.

It addressed the two out of the three things: inspiration “Kate Chopin’s novella…” and intent “…evocation of introspection and catharsis”. The technique will come later as you elaborate.

The opening also directly used terminology from the question, such as “evoked” in evocation, “way [the] text has been crafted” and “compare” in comparable. Use these early on, and throughout the reflection use synonyms to demonstrate your understanding.

Continuing on, you must discuss techniques, but given the nature of the question you will need to more broadly draw links between the selected text and your own. This means discussing themes/ideas which may be shared between the two. And just like any good introduction, you need to elaborate on the content of your own work. After doing these two, you then introduce technique, which should be explored deeper in the body paragraphs. Putting this together, we get something like this:

I was inspired by Chopin’s concerns around self-actualisation and identity, which shaped my characterisation of Mr Roberts, who similarly to Edna Ponteiller experiences a chain of events which shifts his perspective on himself. Continuing on from the extract, my composition manipulates syntax and imagery to communicate the protagonist’s tumultuous emotional state. In doing so, readers may sympathise with Mr Robert’s repressed intellectual curiosity in the same way they are drawn to Edna’s desire for autonomy in a patriarchal society.

Let’s look at it again:

The theme honed on is “self-actualisation and identity”.

The techniques identified are “syntax and imagery”.

The intent once again stressed is for the audience to “sympathise with Mr Robert’s repress[ion]”, connecting to the opening line’s talk of “introspection and catharsis”.

We make a reference to the stimulus, and the fact that we had to keep writing on from it and use it as the composition’s intro.

Notice how there is continual comparing between the two texts. The question leads with the verb compare as such we can infer it to be one of the most important aspects of this response. Think of your reflection as call-and-response. There should be a clear back and forth dialogue between your composition and the mentor text.

When put together, this intro isn’t that long — and that’s okay. Your focus is to elaborate on craft; the intro is just there to orient the marker around what you’re going to discuss, hence why it’s an intro.

3.  Body Paragraphs

In the exemplar intro, the body paragraphs focus on one technique each. However, depending on the question you might instead focus a paragraph on a theme/idea. With our aforementioned question in mind, you could choose to write a paragraph on identity and another on self-actualisation, and then show what sort of language you used. Alternatively, you could have approached the question differently and had multiple emotions, and focused your body paragraphs on each one. The point is that there isn’t a right or wrong focus for your body paragraphs. That being said, there are some ways you can enhance your writing:

Limit your body paragraphs. From experience, two is the optimal number for both depth and brevity. Three might be pushing it (unless the question is heavily weighted towards the reflection, but more on that later).

PEEL is your best friend (to see a full post on optimising the PEEL structure, click here). There is a reason why we teach you this in Year 7 and 8! By having a straightforward structure, you can avoid waffling on and keep on track. It will also help you draw conclusions and insights, just like in any essay. Give evidence from both the mentor text AND your own – an integrated approach is best. You might be surprised to learn that you don’t need to directly quote your mentor text and markers won’t punish you, but have a couple handy just in case. Explain this decision and its intended effect. And finally link the exploration to the purpose, which for the 2019 question is to “evoke emotion”. Be specific when you delineate these.

Always keep referring back to the question. This will ensure that you show the marker that your work is indeed relevant to the stimulus and to the terms of what they’re assessing.

And a big one, keep it personal. It’s your work, not another author’s! Show the marker that you own your composition and that you have confidently attempted to demonstrate skilful craft.

So, let’s see this in action in a paragraph discussing imagery:

Imagery was utilised in my composition in order to illuminate Mr Roberts’ broadening self-concept and his enlightenment. His bubbling curiosity by the books in the university vault permeates the construction of language, allowing audiences to place themselves in his state of mind and experience these intense emotions alongside him.

The point made was that “imagery was utilised… to illuminate Mr Robert’s… enlightenment”.

A little bit of elaboration was given demonstrating the link to a key term, which is “language”.

It also pinpointed the intent – for audiences to “experience these intense emotions”, a callback to another key term.

Now, we have:

Within ‘The Awakening’, Chopin’s use of natural imagery accompanies Edna’s journey towards attaining personal and sexual liberty. The “long, sandy path” trimmed by “acres of yellow camomile” allude to her long struggle towards autonomy, a struggle made better by the likes of Robert and Mlle Ratignolle, the “camomile” in her life. Accordingly, my mythic allusions and ancient imagery are testament of Roberts’ discovery of new interests, drawing similarities between the tragic heroes and legends and himself.

We have another example of comparison, which addresses the question. Regardless, every body paragraph needs to make a comparison to the mentor text even if the question doesn’t ask you to compare. It’s vital that you make links between craft and inspiration if you want to get a Band 6! It doesn’t matter if your comparison is a direct borrow or a loosely-inspired-by type: just make sure it’s one of the first things you address.

After this, we have a discussion of evidence. Be judicious with what quotes you choose. Pick the ones with the clearest thematic relevance and strongest show of craft – it will help you explain them clearly and coherently. There’s a very simple structure you can use if it helps:

Context >> Quote >> Technique >> Effect

In our paragraph, it might look like this:

When Roberts opens the cabinet, the narrator suggests that “he became his own Prometheus… and with fire in his eyes he swept the descending papers like manna from Heaven”, incorporating an allusion to the myth of Prometheus through the direct reference and the lexical choice of “fire”. My omniscient narrator thus implies the experience opened a new world of possibility, much like how in Greek myth Prometheus stole fire from the gods and bestowed it upon humanity so that civilisation may advance. A parallel is made between civilisation within the myth and Mr Roberts’ innate wonder about the world, which invokes in readers the understanding that this accident is a significant catalyst for his change of state.

4.  Conclusion

Depending on your teacher’s preferences, they might ask you to write a full paragraph to conclude. To be honest, this isn’t really needed and is instead a matter of personal preference – and the reason why is because you have continually been drawing conclusions and insights throughout your body paragraphs.

If you want to write a full conclusion, make sure to stick to the PEEL structure and address everything we’ve discussed – key terms, question scope and the three things.

If you’re like me and want an easy way out, add a conclusion sentence to the end of your final body paragraph. Make it short and simple, something like this:

Therefore, ‘Soon-to-be-Professor Roberts’ evokes the emotions associated with catharsis and introspection through manipulating language structures such as syntax and imagery, drawing stylistic inspiration from Chopin’s ‘The Awakening’.

Everything is addressed: key terms, the scope (a connection to the mentor text), the techniques and intent. Additionally, you should make sure to name your composition and the mentor text one last time to round off the reflection.

5.  Final Thoughts

Here are some questions you might be asking:

How does weighting work? Usually the composition will weigh equal or slightly more than the reflection. Knowing this, you should slightly adjust how much you write and how much time you dedicate. You’ve got 40 minutes on average to complete Mod C in the HSC – a 10 marker should be written in 20mins and an 8 marker in 15mins (For more information on how to approach Module C, click here).

How many texts should I choose? If you want to stay on time and sane during the exam, stick to one. While it isn’t outright impossible to draw from multiple, you’ll be doing more explaining of context than showing off your craft, which is the exact opposite of what you’re meant to do for Mod C. You could choose one text for themes and another for style, but again, you’re best off sticking with one (unless they tell you to choose two or more specifically, but let’s hope not…)

How linked should my mentor text and composition be? Remember that you’re inspired by, not directly ripping off of. Unless you’re going to be pulling some Mod A-esque intertextuality, borrow the concept and not the content!

What if they tell us to ‘justify’ in the question? It’s basically the same thing. It’s still a reflection, but you will need to be more persuasive in how you sell your craft choices. Go along the lines of “the diptych structure viscerally reveals…” or “my use of [technique] in [quote] firmly affirms the notion that…”. Just use some stronger language and you’ll be set.

How can I reflect on a non-text stimulus? NESA gave me an image! Don’t fret. Just consider the mood and visual language of the image. Don’t get caught up on the fact it’s not a slab of text, treat it as one.

The question doesn’t ask me to make reference to a mentor text. What now? Treat your stimulus as the mentor text, and replace all the references with it where the mentor text is supposed to be throughout the reflection.

And that’s it! Remember that ultimately a reflection is an expression of your love of reading and how that has shaped you as a writer (and that it’s not an essay) – let that thought guide you. However, this is not a skill you can perfect overnight. And this is where our tutors step in! Even from Year 7, our english tutors go through creative writing modules with associated reflection writing exercises, so that students are prepared for any school assessment they face during high school.

Want to learn more? Click here to see a recording of our reflection writing seminar on our Youtube channel.

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