5 Minute Guide to HSC Common Module

First of all, before getting into the technicalities, I want you to think about what it means to be a human. If an alien landed on Earth today and asked you to describe humans, how would you answer them? Now, we must consider elements beyond physical appearance or external fashion. For example, humans have memories or abilities to dream – whether it is conscious or unconscious. We also have “feelings” and the ability to display emotions such as love, hate, or even the capacity to conform or rebel against a source of authority. Think deeply, what makes up a human being?

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some key rubric terms:

“In this common module students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and collective human experiences.”

The art of acing this module always goes back to referring to your own experiences and applying it to the text you are reading. Are there times when you felt that you were alone and did not know what was going on, but everyone else around you seemed satisfied? Or was everyone else just as perplexed as you? For example, you might have individually realised that the teacher misspelled the word “paradox” but everyone in your class seemed unaware. Did that send you to a spiral of self-doubt that kept you quiet or did you speak up? Another example is that globally we are collectively experiencing COVID-19 pandemic and are all affected in some shape or form.

“Students explore how texts may give insight into the anomalies, paradoxes and inconsistencies in human behaviour and motivations”

We must understand what these keywords are and, once again, apply them to our everyday experiences. An anomaly is an individual that deviates from the standard and outlier. Paradoxes are counterintuitive statements or thoughts that contradict the typical ideology or actions of an individual. Finally, inconsistencies are abnormalities in a person’s thoughts or actions pitted against a wider community.

These are the key things to take into consideration when preparing for your first HSC English module!

All the best and make sure to think of what makes you a human 😊