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Hello! Scottish Higher Personal Study help?

Hello everyone. Sorry if the title seemed a bit straight-to-the-point.

Saw this website a while back, tis smashin. Everyone on here genuinely seems eager to help too which is a major bonus, so, even if people can't help me, I'd like to thank you for trying anyway.

Basically, Im in 5th year in a Scottish school, and I am doing my Personal Study on "1984" by George Orwell. I have read the book, and thoroughly enjoyed the plot. I will go onto read it a second time once I realise what I really want to write on.

However, my problem is ; what do you write notes on? I have a question for my essay, which is "Explain how the regime of Oceania affects the character of Winston."

Now, I really am not trying to get a head start here and lets others write stuff for me! :woo:

But I merely need a "head start" on a guideline for my personal study.

I don't understand if you make a gigantic amount of notes...then how do you put it into an essay? You won't put all of them in. So any tips?

Thanks guys, first post!

Scott. :smile:

Reply 1

TimmyVermicelli

Brilliant book, but you should post this on the 'Scottish Qualifications' board in the 'Exams and Qualifications' section. Just scroll down and you'll find it. Loads of people all sitting SGs, Ints, Highers and Advanced Highers are all there to help.

Welcome, by the way :smile:

Reply 2

Vitamin D

I've never read 1984, but here's how I made my notes up.

Make headings for each part of the essay. Write underneath each heading anything (events/description/characterisation/etc) you think is absolutely vital and must go in, then expand on each of those with the less important things, which will come in handy if you think you haven't covered enough at the time. Remember that if you quote something, write down what it means in context and think of ways you can incorporate the essay question into your explanations. If you follow it all in a reasonably consecutive style, you should be able to make the essay link well, and your important points will be easier to remember.

Reply 3

Bhumbauze

Did you come up with the question yourself? We did when I did the specialist study, I'm sure... anyway, the reason I ask is that it sounds a bit too broad for that book. You could basically write another whole book on that question and - as there's a word limit - you're never going to answer it sufficiently in the space you have. You want to choose a question that you can cover, thoroughly and concisely, within the given word limit. Since the higher specialist studies are relatively short, if you want it to be the best it can be you need to think about a more specific question.

Once you've done that, it'll be much easier to do a second read through of the book and pick out the parts that you need to make notes on / quote in your essay. That may be why you're struggling to find a "starting point" right now - you could basically note, quote and analyse the entire book :p:

Reply 4

vapory

i did my study on 1984 (2 years ago now though so i'm a bit hazy)

you need to make your question a lot more specific - mine was a full paragraph and even then it was diffucult to address everything in the time limit

also perhaps basing your question less on the plot of the book and more on the techniques used would produce a more sophisticated answer

good luck :biggrin:

Reply 5

LAURA459

Hendry1873

Hello everyone. Sorry if the title seemed a bit straight-to-the-point.

Basically, Im in 5th year in a Scottish school, and I am doing my Personal Study on "1984" by George Orwell. I have read the book, and thoroughly enjoyed the plot. I will go onto read it a second time once I realise what I really want to write on.

However, my problem is ; what do you write notes on? I have a question for my essay, which is "Explain how the regime of Oceania affects the character of Winston."

Keep all your notes and quotations relevant to your questions.

Reply 6

Hendry1873

Can I just say, Thank you to every one of you i really mean it. I had no idea the replies would be this quick and apologies for posting this in the wrong section! :smile:

Im already beginning to see things in a much more clarified way. Thank you all.

...i may be back. :smile:

BIG THANK YOU. :gtthumb:

Reply 7

Sharoon123

Hendry1873

Ans: He feels that it is impossible to escape from the telescreens "even a back can be revealing" so his destruction is inevitable and as he symbolises humanity the destruction of humanity is inevitable. Due to the regime he cant express his lust, longing for a relationship (which he eventually gets)so is rebellious as he wants to joins O'Brian in rebellion and the over-through of the party. Regime catches him out OB is a loyal party member and his tormentor W is described as "bag of filth". 2+2=5 symbolises W's conversion due to the regeme etc. You get the idea.

This is just a rough help i could give as i did my higher last year on "1984" and the quotes are obviously not exact as in the book.

i suck at english although managed to get a B for due to my teachers help so ask him/her if she can help you more. I am pretty happy as i expected worse when i started higher eng.
Btw i didnt do it as a Personal Study we did it as a class so a very in depth analysis, although i cant remember now much of it so sorry any wrong info.
Hope this helps as a start.

Reply 8

Z_Ahmed

Sharoon123

Off-topic, judging from your username. Are you Sharoon Gill who attended Holyrood Secondary?

Reply 9

Sharoon123

Z_Ahmed

Off-topic, judging from your username. Are you Sharoon Gill who attended Holyrood Secondary?

Yes. I cant remember who you are from your username.

Reply 10

Z_Ahmed

Sharoon123

Yes. I cant remember who you are from your username.

Oh Hiya, It's me Zeshaan. I used to be in your maths class. Look at my name in my profile.

Reply 11

Hendry1873

Sharoon123

Thank you very much Sharoon, you've been a big help! =D

Reply 12

Sharoon123

Hendry1873

Thank you very much Sharoon, you've been a big help! =D

No problem if you need any more help pm me.
I very much enjoyed the book, the plot and the torture at the climax was very intense. only part i found very boring was when he reads goldstiens book other wise it is a great book.
Good luck with your Personal Study. Also you can mention "Animal Farm" which clearly show Orwell's hate for totalitarianism. i did my Personal Study on animal farm, it is very short book and as i already knew about the symbolism and allegory in it it was the easiest think i did in english lol.

Reply 13

KayshaH

You should probs only remember 10 quotes at the most, with only one or two in each para.

Reply 14

Hendry1873

KayshaH

You should probs only remember 10 quotes at the most, with only one or two in each para.

Cheers! =D My NAB is on the 10th of December so i have a month to read it once more (only need to analyse a certain part really) and that will only take a week max to read...

I asked my teacher about the question problem and I came up with this :

"Study the relationship between Winston and Julia, in "1984" by George Orwell, analysing various factors of the totalitarian regime which cause the bond to end in tragedy."

...any thoughts guys?

Thank you again! This website is a life-saver.