Students who studied George Orwell's1984 were asked specifically about loneliness;the question for Shakespeare'sMerchant of Venice was about deception.
Head of the English Teachers Association of NSW,Eva Gold,said NESA had this year responded to concerns students were rote-learning essays by forcing them to think on the spot.
"One of the problems that English teachers had expressed about the HSC exam was[that] students perceived it was too predictable,"Ms Gold said."This is an issue they said they would try to address,and this is the way they have chosen to do so."
Students at St John's Park High School in Sydney's west left the exam hall feeling thrown by the specificity of questions. Kevin Tran said it was"pretty tricky"."Producing something new was quite challenging.[But] it’s a new syllabus so of course it’s unpredictable,"he said.
School captain Mel Lim said while the exam wasn't what he expected,and he had to change the essay he prepared,there was comfort in solidarity."The whole cohort is performing the new syllabus together,so everyone should perform relatively similarly,"he said.