Producing a sustained response in the target language, and the register and structure that make it land.
These are the statements the French Extension syllabus makes about Writing and Critical Response. Dux records each one against the questions you answer, so you can see which of them you have actually been tested on and which have never been asked.
Building a thesis from the question, and the paragraph shapes that carry an argument rather than a summary.
Quoting and referencing concisely, and integrating a quotation so the sentence still reads as the student's own.
Sustaining an appropriate formal register at length. Critical writing in French keeps an impersonal register: nous or on rather than je, and the subjunctive after concession is expected rather than optional.
Writing in the world of the text, in one of: essay, review, creative response, while keeping its voice recognisable.
Adapting the argument for an audience that has not read the text, and reflecting on the reading without becoming anecdotal.
The structures that hold a long response together, and the errors most likely to obscure the argument.
Reading your own response as a marker would, and the small errors that cost a band without changing the argument.
Citing a chapter, scene or line accurately, and quoting only as much as the sentence needs.
Holding two readings or two texts together so the comparison produces a claim rather than two summaries.
Writing in the voice of the text without pastiche, and the register decisions that make the imitation readable. Critical writing in French keeps an impersonal register: nous or on rather than je, and the subjunctive after concession is expected rather than optional.
HSC French Extension - Examination Shape is 50 marks in 90 minutes. Questions on Writing and Critical Response are not one shape repeated: the command word decides what the marker is looking for, and the mark value decides how much of it. These are the ones French Extension uses.
Dux writes practice for this module in exactly these shapes, so the drill is the same task the paper sets — not a general knowledge quiz with the module name on it.
Writing and Critical Response is module 3 of 3 in French Extension. Students routinely lose marks because a question spans two modules, so the neighbouring modules are worth reading next to this one.
Dux diagnoses French Extension dot point by dot point, then writes questions in the shape this course marks. Written answers come back marked against the bands.