HSC English Extension 2 (NSW) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Major Work word count

Typically 6,000-8,000 words for prose, with equivalent scope for poetry, scripts or other forms; the limit is set by the syllabus and confirmed by the teacher.

Controlling concept

A single sentence stating what the composition investigates or dramatises. It should be inferable early in the work and resolved by its ending.

Imaginative composition

A sustained creative work such as fiction, script, poetry or creative nonfiction, assessed on voice, structure, character causality and control of form.

Critical composition

An extended thesis-driven essay or argument assessed on a defensible thesis, coherent reasoning, evidence and engagement with counter-argument.

Voice consistency

Register, diction and syntax remain traceable to a single narrator or arguer throughout, so stylistic shifts read as deliberate rather than accidental.

Character causality

Motivation is established before action, so events arise from character rather than coincidence; coincidence may open a conflict but should not resolve it.

Structural unity test

If removing a section does not damage the whole, that section is a candidate for cutting or folding into another part of the work.

Transformation of sources

Borrowed myth, history or fairytale must be reworked into new meaning; direct reproduction without reinterpretation is treated as derivative rather than intertextual.

Reflection Statement purpose

A separate analytical document, commonly around 1,500 words, explaining the work's intent, research, formal choices and revision process to the examiner.

Reflection Statement opening

The first paragraph should state the concept or purpose of the Major Work explicitly, so the reasoning that follows has a clear anchor.

Analysis not confession

Personal experience belongs only where it explains a compositional decision; the statement argues about the work rather than narrating the student's feelings.

Citation in reflection

Quotations from critics, theorists or source texts require consistent referencing, and a bibliography is normally expected alongside the statement.

Research accounting

The statement names specific sources, traditions or practitioners that shaped the work and states what was taken from each one.

Revision evidence

The statement documents what changed between drafts and why, demonstrating evaluative judgement about the work rather than simply recording effort.

Plot summary trap

Retelling the story or restating the essay's argument wastes the statement; the examiner already has the work and needs the reasoning behind it.

Reflection structure pattern

A workable order: concept and motivation, research and influences, formal choices and justification, drafting and revision, evaluation of the finished work.

Primary versus secondary sources

Primary sources are the texts, documents or artefacts themselves; secondary sources are commentary and criticism about them. Both must be distinguished.

Source evaluation criteria

Judge each source on authority of the author, currency of publication, relevance to the specific concept, and potential bias or agenda.

Analytical reading of models

Identify techniques and structural moves in model texts, then adapt the underlying principle rather than copying the surface features.

Research log contents

Each entry records source, date accessed, the key idea taken, and where that idea was used in the Major Work.

Theoretical framing

Frameworks such as narratology, genre theory or feminist criticism should illuminate specific textual choices, not be named without application.

Craft sources

Interviews, essays on writing and directors' notes give process knowledge about how works are made, which criticism alone rarely supplies.

Verifiability requirement

Quotations, dates, statistics and translations must have a traceable source listed in the bibliography; unsourced claims weaken the whole statement.

Content and form research

Research covers both subject matter (period, science, history) and form (how comparable texts are built, structured and received).

Process documentation

Dated proposals, outlines, drafts, feedback records and journal entries that make the work's development over time visible and assessable.

Draft retention

Every draft is dated and kept, because a visible sequence of versions is the clearest evidence that genuine revision occurred.

Feedback record

Note who gave the feedback, what was said, the change made in response, or the articulated reason for declining it.

Generative versus evaluative entries

A drafting journal separates idea-generation and experiment from judgement about what works, what fails and what must be cut.

Recursive revision order

Structural revision of order, framing, character arc or argument comes first; sentence-level editing follows; proofreading comes last.

Documenting abandoned directions

Recording a discarded approach and the reason for abandoning it is strong evidence of critical judgement, provided the reasoning is explicit.

Genre as contract

Conventions such as those of detective fiction, gothic or elegy create reader expectations that a work may fulfil, delay or deliberately break.

Legible convention-breaking

Innovation reads as error unless the norm is first established; a broken convention must be visible as a convention before it is subverted.