This page is for essay prompts. Everyone is welcome here!
Each prompt has been written about in the ‘Sample Essays’ page (except for some of the visual creative prompts, but I’m working on it!). Only students with the password can access them.
CREATIVE (written prompts):
- After surviving a plane crash, you find yourself sick and hungry in a jungle. While exploring, you find a mysterious object. Tell the story of your jungle adventure.
- “One day, my curiosity got the better of me, and I had to investigate the house…”
- Write a narrative story filled with the emotion and drama of your experience with bad memories. Explain how it was important to you and how this experience changed you or your ways of life. Quote: “I wish I had a delete button in my life — to delete somebody, some memories, and some feelings.”
CREATIVE (visual prompts):
PERSUASIVE (for selective exams):
- Most people agree that television is one of the most important inventions of this century. Others say that television is harmful to young viewers in some way. Opinions vary as to it value but no one can deny its great effect upon society. What is your opinion?
- Organic hair products are 10% more expensive than chemical hair products. It should be compulsory for every hair salon to use only organic hair products, because it’s healthier for hair. Discuss.
- Many parents give children a weekly or monthly allowance regardless of their behaviour. This is because they believe an allowance teaches children to be financially responsible. Other parents only give children an allowance as a reward for completing chores or when they have behaved properly. Is giving children money as a reward good or bad? Discuss.
- Cooking should be a compulsory subject in high school. Do you agree?
- When studying books in English classes, only classic literature such as Shakespeare’s plays or Dickens’ novels should be taught. there is no room for modern books such as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games. Do you agree?
- Plans are being made for the future where robots will replace menial workers such as cleaners and salespeople. If this occurs, would it be beneficial for humankind or detrimental?
- Zoos should be closed down and all the animals released. Do you agree?
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, much of Australia was put under lockdown. This meant that people were urged to stay at home and only come out for essential activities such as grocery shopping, exercise, caretaking, and work/education (when it could not be done from home). Do you think a lockdown during a pandemic is a good idea? Why or why not?
- Video games are detrimental to children’s health. Discuss.
PERSUASIVE (for Year 8+ English classes):
- The Australian government has more than doubled the cost of studying most humanities subjects (e.g. history and philosophy) as well as law and commerce at university. Yet, they have also made “job-relevant” courses such as teaching, nursing, maths, science and engineering cheaper for students. Discuss. (Use at least two of the following pieces of evidence).
~ Education Minister Dan Tehan has stated: “What we’re trying to do is encourage … students to go in those areas where we know the jobs will be.”
~ The student contribution for a three-year humanities degree would jump from up to $20,400 to $43,500; while law and commerce degrees could increase from $34,000 to $43,500.
~ “I was so excited to go do an arts degree but now I’m not sure … I have dreamt of pursuing history for years and now that might not be a reality. I could honestly cry. Spending the rest of my life broke is not what I want to do.” – Gabby Price, a current Year 12 student.
Sources: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-20/study-arts-and-humanities-government-fees-tertiary-education/12374124 , https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/19/australian-university-fees-arts-stem-science-maths-nursing-teaching-humanities , https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jun/19/incredibly-frustrating-australian-year-12-students-express-dismay-at-skyrocketing-fees-for-arts-degrees
- The YouTube Kids app provides a platform for children aged under 13 to watch age-appropriate videos. The app allows parents to control what their child watches. Additionally, videos are filtered so that children don’t watch anything explicit. This app is necessary and it works well. Do you agree?
You’ll find below five pieces of evidence. Two of them are for the topic and two are against. One is a neutral fact. Make sure to use at least two of these five pieces of evidence in your essay.
~ Mr. Ducard (YouTube’s global head of family and learning content) said that while YouTube Kids may highlight some content…“it isn’t a curated experience.” Instead, “parents are in the driver’s seat,” he said, pointing to the ability to block channels, set usage timers and disable search results.
~ Parents are also encouraged to report inappropriate videos, which someone at YouTube then manually reviews, Mr. Ducard said. He noted that in the past 30 days, “less than .005 percent” of the millions of videos viewed in the app were removed for being inappropriate.
~ …the app contains dark corners…as videos that are disturbing for children slip past its filters, either by mistake or because bad actors have found ways to fool the YouTube Kids algorithms.
~ Holly Hart of Gray, Tenn., said she was recently reading while her 3-year-old daughter was in the room when she noticed that Disney Junior characters in the video her daughter was watching started “turning into monsters and trying to feed each other to alligators.”
~ Videos in YouTube Kids can be discovered in several ways: ‘Search’, ‘Recommended videos’, ‘Watch it again’ or the home screen.
Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/business/media/youtube-kids-paw-patrol.html , https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6130561?hl=en
Mostly English 
