HSC Japanese Extension cheat sheet

A monologue is a single sustained spoken turn; markers of one speaker include 一人で話す, first-person 私は repeated without a respondent, and rhetorical questions answered by the same speaker.

HSC monologue tasks typically specify audience, purpose, and register; formal です・ます signals a public or polite setting, plain form signals inner thought or close audience.

Sentence-final particles carry stance: よ asserts new information, ね seeks agreement, かな/だろう marks speculation, のに marks regret or reproach.

Quotative と with 思う・感じる・言う frames reported inner speech; ～と思っていた indicates a belief later revised, a common monologue turning point.

Contrastive connectors しかし・でも・ところが mark a shift in the speaker's position; causal だから・そのため links emotion to reason and is worth tracking in notes.

Fillers ええと・あの・そうですね signal hesitation or planning in speech; in scripted monologue they indicate informality rather than content.

Keigo levels shift within a monologue to index social distance: 尊敬語 (いらっしゃる, おっしゃる) raises the other, 謙譲語 (伺う, 申し上げる) lowers the speaker.

When summarising a monologue in Japanese, retain speaker, situation, main claim, supporting reason, and final stance; omit fillers and repetition.

Identify text type first: 随筆 (essay), 物語 (narrative), 新聞記事 (news article), 広告 (advertisement), and 手紙 (letter) each imply different author purpose and reader relationship.

Distinguish 意見 (opinion) from 事実 (fact): opinion is marked by べきだ・と思う・だろう, fact by dates, numbers, and reported sources such as ～によると.

Rhetorical devices to name: 比喩 (metaphor/simile), 反復 (repetition), 対比 (contrast), 体言止め (noun-ending for emphasis), 倒置 (inversion).

Author stance is inferred from evaluative adjectives (素晴らしい, 残念な), modality, and what the writer chooses to omit as much as include.

Cohesion is carried by 指示語 (これ・それ・あれ・この・その); resolving each referent to its antecedent is a standard analysis step.

Paragraph function labels: 序論 (introduction), 本論 (body), 結論 (conclusion); within body, 具体例 (example) supports 主張 (claim).

A response in Japanese should quote or paraphrase briefly (～と述べている) then analyse function (～ことで読者に…を促している).

Register in written response: だ・である体 for formal analysis; avoid conversational です・ます mixing within one paragraph.

Structure: 導入 (issue restated) → 主張 (clear position) → 根拠 two or three with examples → 反論処理 (acknowledge and rebut) → 結論 (restate position with consequence).

State the position in the first paragraph using ～と考える・～べきだ; the examiner should identify your stance without inference.

Evidence types: 統計 (statistics), 事例 (case example), 経験 (personal experience), 引用 (quotation); each must be linked back with したがって・このことから.

Concession pattern: 確かに～という意見もある。しかし、～という点で不十分だ。- required for top-band argumentation.

Use nominalised forms to raise register: ～こと rather than ～する, ～点 rather than ～ところ, ～可能性 rather than ～かもしれない.

Prescribed-issue vocabulary should be used precisely; define contested terms (e.g. 多様性, 伝統, 個人) in your own words once.

Cohesive devices by function: 追加 (さらに, その上), 対比 (一方, 逆に), 例示 (例えば, 具体的には), 結論 (以上の点から, 結論として).

Length control: allocate roughly 10% introduction, 70% body with two developed arguments, 20% conclusion and implication.

The English response analyses the same issue and Japanese source material; references to Japanese terms should be glossed on first use, e.g. uchi (in-group).

Argument structure: thesis in the opening, signposted paragraphs, counterargument with rebuttal, conclusion that answers the question directly rather than summarising.

Evidence must be attributed: distinguish what the Japanese text claims from what you infer, using 'the author argues' versus 'this suggests'.

Cultural analysis should avoid essentialism: describe tendencies as context-dependent rather than as fixed national traits.

Compare registers: keigo and honorifics index hierarchy; English has no grammatical equivalent, so translate the social effect, not the form.

Quotations from the source should be short, accurate, and integrated into your syntax; paraphrase the rest to show comprehension.

Terminology consistency: choose one English rendering per Japanese term and keep it throughout the essay.

Marking typically rewards evaluation over description; every descriptive sentence should serve an argued point.

A monologue is a single sustained spoken turn; markers of one speaker include 一人で話す, first-person 私は repeated without a respondent, and rhetorical questions answered by the same speaker.

HSC monologue tasks typically specify audience, purpose, and register; formal です・ます signals a public or polite setting, plain form signals inner thought or close audience.

Sentence-final particles carry stance: よ asserts new information, ね seeks agreement, かな/だろう marks speculation, のに marks regret or reproach.

Quotative と with 思う・感じる・言う frames reported inner speech; ～と思っていた indicates a belief later revised, a common monologue turning point.

Contrastive connectors しかし・でも・ところが mark a shift in the speaker's position; causal だから・そのため links emotion to reason and is worth tracking in notes.

Fillers ええと・あの・そうですね signal hesitation or planning in speech; in scripted monologue they indicate informality rather than content.

Keigo levels shift within a monologue to index social distance: 尊敬語 (いらっしゃる, おっしゃる) raises the other, 謙譲語 (伺う, 申し上げる) lowers the speaker.

When summarising a monologue in Japanese, retain speaker, situation, main claim, supporting reason, and final stance; omit fillers and repetition.