Japanese

Home > Japanese > Extension Course > Advice > Advice

How to approach the Written Examination

Section I: Response to prescribed text

General examination specifications for Section I

Response to prescribed text (Part A)

Examination specifications: Part A
Before the examination
During the examination

Response to prescribed text (Part B)

Examination specifications: Part B
Before the examination
During the examination

General examination specifications for Section I

Section I relates to Objective 2 and is designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of the prescribed text and the relationship of the text to the issues, as well as your ability to respond to the prescribed text through the production of an original text.

Objective	Outcomes
The student will: 2 evaluate, analyse and respond to text that is in Japanese and that reflects the culture of Japanese-speaking communities	The student: 2.1 evaluates and responds to text personally, creatively and critically 2.2 analyses how meaning is conveyed 2.3 analyses the social, political, cultural and/or literary contexts of text that is in Japanese

Response to prescribed text: Part A

Examination specifications: Part A

Part A will be worth 15 marks.

This part is designed to assess your ability to respond critically to the prescribed text.

You will be required to analyse and evaluate aspects of the prescribed text and demonstrate knowledge and understanding of language features, content, context, how meaning is conveyed, and the relationship between the prescribed text and issues.

You will be given a short extract from the prescribed text. There will be 4-6 questions on the text. Questions will be phrased in English, for responses in English.

Criteria for judging performance

In your answers you will be assessed on how well you:

respond critically to the prescribed text
analyse how meaning is conveyed
demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the prescribed text and prescribed issues
communicate information and ideas in comprehensible English.

You may be required, for example, to:

identify and explain the plight of a character
analyse a character
evaluate the impact of events on one or more of the characters
comment on a character’s ability to deal with a situation
comment on the significance of particular linguistic features
comment on the relationship between an aspect of the text and the prescribed issues
analyse a character's involvement in an incident in the text
show an understanding of the linguistic features and basic film techniques employed by the film maker and their impact on the viewer
comment on the style and structure of the text (film)
comment on a quote(s) from the text
evaluate the significance of a character’s words and/or actions
identify and comment on symbolism within the text
express and support a point of view
describe how characters deal with situations
identify and describe a mood or atmosphere
comment on the attitude of a character
show an understanding of how humour is employed
compare and contrast aspects of one or more of the prescribed text extracts
comment on the effectiveness of the text in delivering its message
comment on the impact of the title
discuss how mood, etc. is conveyed through language
compare and/or contrast the way an issue is dealt with in the text.

Before the examination

Apart from being familiar with the whole of the prescribed text, you should familiarise yourself with the issues treated in each of the four prescribed text extracts and consider the message the film maker wishes to convey.

The following are among the questions which may assist you in gaining an insightful understanding of the prescribed text.

For example:

How do the prescribed issues relate to the prescribed text (film)?
How do the language features and structure of the extracts help to deliver the message?
How are the characters in the prescribed text (film) similar or different?
What is the nature of the relationship between each of the characters?
Do you feel empathy towards the characters?
What purpose did the film maker have in the extracts? Has the message been effectively conveyed?
What linguistic features are used by the film maker? How effective are they?
Why has the title been chosen?
How would you describe each of the characters?
How do the characters react to the situations in which they find themselves?
Is there any character development in the protagonists? Is the development (or lack of it) significant?
Why has the film maker chosen these characters? Would the film have a different impact if the gender roles were reversed?
If you could ask each character five questions, what would they be?
Does the film have a climax? Is it effective?
Are any issues left unresolved at the end of the film?
What has the impact been on you, the viewer?
Does the message have a moral?
Do the characters live on for you, now that you have finished viewing the film/extracts?

During the examination

During the 10 minutes reading time, you should familiarise yourself with the questions and estimate how much time you will need to give full responses.

Read each question carefully to ensure your answer is relevant. Be certain to establish whether the question refers to the excerpt, or to the text as a whole. Highlighting or underlining key-words may be useful in ensuring your response correctly targets the question.

The questions may require you to show an in-depth understanding which is more than a simple re-telling of events. Remember that the text has a message and you will need to show that you have formed an interpretation or opinion you can discuss and support.

If you are asked a question related to the use of language features or film techniques you should comment on their impact, rather than simply listing them without any explanation.

Use the number of lines as a guide – this is intended to indicate to you the length of a complete response, succinctly expressed. It is important that valuable time is not wasted by repeating the question or giving responses which are longer and more involved than necessary. However, if you do need to write more than the lines allow, you can use the remaining space on the paper or ask for an additional examination booklet.

In determining the depth of your response, you should consider the number of marks allocated to the question. A question worth 5 or 6 marks is likely to require a more perceptive and insightful response, with supporting evidence from the text.

It is important to remember that this part of the examination must be answered in English. You should take time to review your answers to ensure they are unambiguous and your intention is clear. It is not usually necessary to supply extensive quotes from the text, unless specifically required by the question. If the question asks you to comment on a quote, you should show that you have a clear understanding of its meaning, e.g. by translating or paraphrasing it, or including its meaning in your response. This will ensure your response is clear and to the point, rather than vague and general.

Response to prescribed text: Part B

Examination specifications: Part B

Part B will be worth 10 marks.

This part is designed to assess your ability to respond personally and creatively in Japanese to the prescribed text.

You will be given a short extract from the prescribed text. The extract will be different from the extract provided in Part A. You will be required to respond to an aspect of the prescribed text by, for example:

taking the role of a character in the prescribed text
imagining a hypothetical situation in relation to the prescribed text
writing a description of an event in the prescribed text from a different perspective.

You will be expected to write a letter, diary entry, narrative account or the script of a conversation, speech, monologue or interview of approximately 400ji in Japanese.

The task will be phrased in English and Japanese, for a response in Japanese.

Remember, you may use monolingual and/or bilingual print dictionaries in the written examination.

Criteria for judging performance

In your answer you will be assessed on how well you:

demonstrate an understanding of the prescribed text
write from a particular perspective in a specified context
communicate information and ideas clearly and accurately in Japanese.

A high level response will demonstrate a perceptive understanding of the prescribed text. The approach taken will demonstrate flair and creativity and will not be a simple re-telling of the story. The response will demonstrate the ability to manipulate language authentically and creatively to meet the requirements of the task.

Before the examination

You should:

be familiar with the whole of the prescribed text (film).
familiarise yourself with the aspects of each extract, the issues raised and the message the film maker wishes to convey.

The response to this question requires you to demonstrate a sound understanding of the prescribed text (film). A response which is purely creative and does not relate to events in the extract will not fulfil all the criteria.
consider the viewpoint which could be taken by different characters in response to a variety of situations. In responding to a hypothetical situation, it is important to ensure that this remains consistent with the personalities and actions in the film.
practise writing a variety of texts (text types). For example, a narrative account might be used to write an alternative ending to a story, a diary entry might allow for the reflections of one of the characters, the script of a talk might allow for an outsider to comment on what he/she has seen or experienced, a report may be used to present the viewpoint from an onlooker, etc.
be familiar with prescribed kanji and grammatical structures from both the Japanese Continuers and Extension Stage 6 syllabuses and attempt to incorporate a variety of them into your response.
be familiar with the conventions of writing on genkooyooshi (squared paper) whether you are writing horizontally or vertically.
attempt as many practice questions as possible. This should increase your confidence and enable you to cope with any question in the examination. Thorough preparation is the key to success.

During the examination

You should:

read the question carefully and plan your response to ensure that you directly address the question.
remember that, although this question requires creative writing, your response must also reflect a good understanding of the story and the characters involved.
ensure that your response flows logically and does not use lengthy quotations from the original text (film).
avoid copying chunks of text in your response from the stimulus material given in the question. Instead, incorporate parts of it or paraphrase it.
avoid the temptation to re-word the question into another question you would prefer. You must address the question as printed on the paper. This will allow you to respond personally and creatively, as long as you remain relevant to the question. It is important to avoid including slabs of pre-learned material which may not be relevant and are unlikely to fit with your level of Japanese. Doing so can often result in a response which is disjointed and difficult to understand.
allow sufficient time to review what you have written. This is an important part of the writing process and enables errors to be corrected and additions to be made.