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Rank: Senior Student
Joined: 3/6/2011
Posts: 53
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I'm wondering on how I can improve my english marks. I'm talking about essays, short answer responses.etc. I usually am an 80-85 percent average student in English but I'm looking to get a 90+ for grade 12. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Rank: Student Body President
Joined: 12/13/2010
Posts: 1,054
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Which part do you think you're lacking in, looking at past essays? If it's grammar/syntax/language, read more (good) books. If it's content/depth of analysis, really make sure you understand the themes, symbols, motifs etc in a piece of work. Unfortunately, English is one of those subjects where to one teacher you may be a great writer and to another you're not. So it may just be that your teacher happens to not particularly like your writing style and has nothing to do with you as a writer. McMaster Bachelor of Health Sciences 2011
U of Guelph-OVC Doctor of Veterinary Medicine 2015
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Rank: Student Body Vice-President  Joined: 12/23/2010 Posts: 966
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I definitely agree with inthemaking about what he/she said. Also, when you have questions or have rough drafts, go see your teacher and ask for pointers and see if you are on the right track. That saved my butt. Peer editing with essays is also not a bad idea, and ask the people in your English class that have good marks to read their essays and observe what styles they apply...That will inspire you to come up with your own unique writing style. The University of Western Ontario '15 Political Science
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Rank: Senior Student
Joined: 11/28/2010
Posts: 195
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Write really good notes, put down everything your teacher says about the work and be sure to incorporate all that's applicable into your essays and answers. Always, always have your work proofread, preferrably by your teacher but any English teacher can point out problems with flow and sentence structure that are very hard for you to pick up yourself. Don't be afraid to do research on the work beyond what your teacher says, too.
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Rank: Senior Student
Joined: 3/6/2011
Posts: 53
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Thanks for the tips guys, really appreciate them.
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Rank: Student Body President Joined: 12/20/2010 Posts: 2,900
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Replace the various forms of the verb "to be" with interesting action verbs. Many of the sentences with "to be" (there'll likely be alot of them) have inanimate subjects. Try and change these to living subjects. Make sure that you don't just write a bunch of fluff. Try to have clear and concise points that actually contribute to what you're saying. Don't just repeat things with slightly different wording and some big words. On that topic avoid pretentious diction as it will be of little to no benefit to you (as long as you have a legit English teacher). If possible, try to incorporate things such as parallelism into your writing or allusions, fresh metaphors, etc. That's all I can think of off of the top of my head. Hope that helps 
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Rank: Senior Student  Joined: 3/7/2011 Posts: 74
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Honestly, if you want a guaranteed high english mark... private school. =/ It's what I and a lot of people did at my school. Queen's Con-current Education. =)
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Rank: Student Body President Joined: 12/20/2010 Posts: 2,900
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Omok wrote:Honestly, if you want a guaranteed high english mark...
private school.
=/ It's what I and a lot of people did at my school. It may help you get into university, but it very well may hurt you in the long run.
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Rank: Student Council  Joined: 1/4/2011 Posts: 346
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There isn't much teaching of how to improve writing at my school.But here are some tips I figured out for myself. - Use figurative language, allusions, metaphors, etc. They effectively and artfully communicate ideas, and English teachers love them
- Make connections as you read. Note how the setting may parallel the characters, symbolic items, the overall theme. These higher level understandings will help you get better marks
- Start off really strong and write neatly. This helps set a good impression, which sadly, may influence the mark your paper gets.
- Stay on the teachers good side, make eye contact, participate. Again, subconscious influences.
- Vary your sentence structure and the ways you propose ideas
- Learn some new variations for words you find you use alot
- If you get time, check for analysis on the internet to inspire your essay.
- Most importantly, be concise, yet thorough. Each sentence and each word must support the point it is being used to argue as well as the thesis, if it doesn't, remove it.
McMaster 2015
Bachelor of Health Science
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Rank: Senior Student
Joined: 11/28/2010
Posts: 195
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Oh yeah, and reading the essay "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell may help.
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Rank: Frosh
Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 12
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Tell your teacher what he/she wants to hear. Try to engage the reader( your teacher) when you submit essays. You can do this by including familiar subjects in your writing...For example, if your teacher brags about her kids all the time, try to write something related to children.
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Rank: Student Body President
Joined: 3/3/2010
Posts: 9,235
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lemony wrote:Oh yeah, and reading the essay "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell may help. + 1 **Shields**
Accepted:
University of Toronto: Social Sciences + Vic One (Pearson Stream)
Carleton University: Honours Science
University of British Columbia: Arts
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