ACSI 2024 Year 5 Timed Practice 1 Review Questions

2024 Year 5 SL LL Prepared by Mr Shawn Lim 2024 Year 5 Timed Practice 1 Review: Questions • These samples were inspired by real student essays. They each feature problems that require improvement and are hence not intended as model samples. • Read the samples and attempt to answer the questions on your own. Sample 1: The article uses common pop cultural references to draw in the reader. The ‘Fun with Language’ section opens with Taylor Swift and her song ‘Blank Space’. Taylor Swift is the biggest pop star of the 21st century and is even more famous now thanks to her ongoing Eras Tour. Additionally, her song ‘Blank Space’ is her greatest hit and its mondegreen of ‘Starbucks lovers’ is also very famous. Hence, the article appeals to her fans, and to young people who would likely have heard of her even if they are not fans. Since the magazine targets students who are interested in science and technology, they are likely to find language boring, so the pop cultural reference will help attract their attention. Further, by mentioning Taylor Swift instead of defining what a mondegreen is like most science textbooks would do, the article prompts the reader to think about who Taylor Swift is and whether her lyrics have been misheard, successfully engaging the reader. Questions: • A marker is likely to find large tracts of the sample unnecessary. Give some reasons why this is so. You should identify evidence to justify your answer. • How then should the writing be improved? • If a large part of the writing is deemed irrelevant or unnecessary, what other criterion, besides analysis, would be compromised?

2024 Year 5 SL LL Prepared by Mr Shawn Lim Sample 2: The article’s precise questions help to interest and inform the reader about mondegreens. In the ‘Fun with Language’ section, the question about ‘Starbuck Lovers’ is posed, with the use of hypophora when the answer is provided immediately in the next paragraph. The hypophora prompts the reader to think about the misheard lyrics, thus creating interest about what the actual lyrics are. Similarly, a question about what songs the reader and their friends have misheard is used to conclude the section. The question serves to engage the reader by asking them to consider real-life examples of mondegreen, even reaching out to others and so applying their knowledge of mondegreens to everyday life. The last section also features a quiz. This forces the reader to engage with the article as they need to use their knowledge of mondegreens to pick the correct answer to the question. Hence, the use of questioning helps engage and educate the reader. Questions: • How do you find the sample’s coverage of questions as a feature? Is it comprehensive, or can more be added? • Examine the sample’s reasoning for each example closely. Is it acceptable or lacking in some manner?

2024 Year 5 SL LL Prepared by Mr Shawn Lim Sample 3: The article’s layout and structure are effective in engaging the reader. The article is divided into three distinct sections, namely ‘Fun with Language’, ‘History’ and ‘Nuts & Bolts’. Each of the headings has their first letter bolded in a larger font compared to the rest of the text, visually drawing the reader to them. The sections then make for easy reading by breaking up an otherwise lengthy text. The first section introduces readers to mondegreens before explaining how they occur. The second provides readers with a short history of the word, before the third concludes with a quiz for the reader. The structure of the different sections from introduction to history and to quiz is very interesting, unlike a regular encyclopedic entry in a science textbook. The sections even appeal to different interests, such as music and history, so that the target audience, young students with short attention spans, need not read the entire text. Thus, the structure of the article makes it interesting for the reader. Questions: • Based on what you have learned from the previous samples, identify repeated problem areas in this sample.

2024 Year 5 SL LL Prepared by Mr Shawn Lim Sample 4: The second section of the article discusses the history of the term ‘mondegreen’. The section uses a formal tone through logos, as the use of numbers and statistics like ‘1954’ adds weight to the tone of the section. It also appeals to avid readers of poetry, since the section talks about a famous writer, Sylvia Wright, and a ‘Scottish folk ballad from a book of poetry’. Hence, this section would attract readers of poetry. Since poetry is often taken as something quite serious, the section feels more elevated in its tone. Through the story, the reader will understand the importance of avoiding mistakes like mondegreens, and its potentially disastrous consequences. The dire results of mondegreens can be fouind in the previous section, where Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ was described as a ‘victim of mondegreen mayhem’. The diction here connotes hurt, injury and ‘mayhem’ implies a chaotic situation, which adds to the overall message about the potential harm that mondegreens might cause. Thus, the section successfully educates readers about the increasing problem of mondegreens in the music industry. Questions: • This is an exceptionally problematic sample. Read the sample closely and try to identify what a marker might take issue with. • With the problems identified, rewrite the sample. You may have to discard certain points and add original insights to rewrite the piece successfully.