English - #JC2017 - Ellen Kenny

Ellen Kenny- Meánscoil Mhuire LongfordSo today was the first of the Junior Cert exams, starting with English. After the mocks, I think a lot of people were dreading the English exam and its restricted time; I definitely was. In the end though, I was actually surprised at the exam. Even though we still had to do the same amount of questions in the same amount of time, it felt shorter overall.The first reading comprehension was simple and quick to read, and the poetry question was particularly good since it didn't ask for any themes shown in a poem, just your own understanding of it. The only strange thing was the absence of any questions about a novel, but after asking several questions about the poems and plays we've studied, the analysis of a novel might've seemed overwhelming.The Shakespearean extract was focused mostly on staging the drama, which can be easy enough, and the final question only needed a generic argument between a teenager and parent.Overall, it definitely wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be, but I suppose you can't really know how you did until September. At least I'll have to worry about the complexity of Shylock's character ever again! #JC2017 #StateExams #ISSU17 

Leaving Certificate English Paper 2

Liam - Higher Level English Paper 2

"Questions that I did. Section 1: E 1. Section 2: A 2. Section 3: A 1,  B 3"OH MY BISHOP! You are a beaut. I don't say this too often, but I liked this paper.  From the second I sat down in the hall to when I got handed that pink exam paper, I was feeling a funeral in my brain! I had this exam timed out, 55 mins for prescribed poetry, 1 hr 5 mins for comparative, 1 hr for King Lear and whatever left for unseen poetry (not important to be honest).So from yesterday, you now know, I like highlighting. Today was no different. I got the paper and went straight to the back to prescribed poetry, Bishop and Dickinson, and I highlighted the hell out of them! They were the  only poets I actually knew (I wouldn't recommend only knowing 2, the stress ain't worth it!). I answered Bishop and it went quite well!Next one was comparative, Cultural Context! I actually like Cultural Context! I did the 30, 40 questions about if characters were  successful or unsuccessful in the aspects of cultural context, or something like that… lets hope I compared and contrasted sufficiently enough!Next was the single text and King Lear. Choosing the question on the tragic characters of Lear and Gloucester seemed  favourable and I had done a question like that previously in class so I had some idea on what to say.I did the unseen poetry next and only jotted a few points down for that, I genuinely am not  bothered about that. And by jotted I mean scribble like mad! It's only 20 marks at the end of the day, in comparison to the 50, 60 and 70 marks from the other questions.For once I kept my timing on track and I'm happy, enough, can anyone really be too happy when English is concerned ?

Emma - Higher Level English Paper 2 

Paper two was a dream come true!!! I couldn't be happier! I began poetry and it was brilliant - I was so lucky I studied five poets so I had 3 options on the actual paper. I chose Bishop over Eliot and Dickinson because her poems are easier to write about and I enjoy her themes, the question itself was pretty straightforward. The unseen poetry was extremely interesting and I enjoyed depicting each question- I did the two ten markers. I then went onto the King Lear question and chose the redemptive and destructive power of love- this was easy to plan, but I found I fell short of ideas so I had to elaborate a lot. However compared to previous years, I believe that the Lear questions were lovely.Then onto the comparative. We had only studied cultural context and general vision and viewpoint so I had no choice in the question. I chose the 70 mark question because I feel it is easier to focus on the three texts! Having only wrote 5 and a bit pages, I'm extremely happy and as they say quality over quantity!! I'm sure there are a lot of disappointed people because of the lack of Yeats this year, but cheer up!! There's always other papers! 

Craig - Higher Level English Paper 2 

That was one odd unseen poem just as that was exhausting.  19 pages later, and I'm at last liberated from the oppressive regime that is the English syllabus. I had a pretty nice choice in this paper. And overall, it was a good experience.Single Text wise I studied King Lear and found the "love" question to be a treat. I was expecting imagery but love was a pretty easy theme to deal with, I may have spent too much time on it though, at the expense of my other questionsThe comparative was beautiful - Cultural Context I choose, though was happy to see Literary Genre pop up there. Having studied Pats, Foster and the KIng Speech  the question on power was something of a dream. I was able to talk about the role of women, and people's inner power to overcome their personal complicationsFinally, poetry. I had studied nothing but Dickinson & Yeats from September to April, but recently decided id have to put my differences aside and get in on Bishop. I was so happy to see her come up today. Durcan, Elliot and herself were predicted and hats off to those tho who took the risk and only studied those three, to those who prayed on Yeats "being too obvious" so "he'll be put on to put us off" - my sympathies.Unseen poetry I don't know - I'd almost consider scrapping it as a piece, personally I was exhausted by the time it came to tackling it and was fearful of sounding repetitive so in my worst hand writing possible I expressed what I thought paper is meant to express. Honestly what was that?Anyhow, it was all pointless because I'm probably going to be back again next year repeating maths - which is tomorrow. Absolute yay. Best of Luck everyone! 

Ellen - Higher Level English Paper 2 

In preparation for this exam, I visited the statue of WB Yeats in my local park and prayed to the poetry gods that he would come up on the paper, but like the rest of the country, I was sorely disappointed (and now my heart is sore). (I also prayed for Heaney to come up on the history paper so it's not looking good for him either folks). Anyways, onto the actual exam. What a lovely lovely cultural context question! We had studied Citizen Kane, King Lear and Never Let Me Go so there was power and powerless go leor. I left it until the end (probably a mistake) and had only written 4 pages with 5 minutes to go, so I figured it wasn't worth starting a new paragraph. Regretting spending so much time on the single text, I did the character question on Translations, that they are tragic but not heroic, which was all too easy to agree with. I focused mainly on Hugh, Manus and Owen but Yolland and Maire may have been the obvious choice. I struggled a bit with the unseen poem to be honest and chose The 2x10, simply because I feel it would be easier to get half marks in both. I read it completely at face value -about the legacy of literature etc- however I know some smart people connected it to art and transience and all that jazz. I was kinda happy that 3 out of the 6 poets I studied came up, (although I know some lucky suckers got 3 out of 3), after much humming and hawing, I settled on Bishop, which seemed the most straightforward, although I actually prefer Durcan and Dickinson.Anyways, the main thing is I've survived Leaving Cert English and live to see another day!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Junior Certificate English

Shane - Higher Level English Paper 1 & 2

English! My favourite subject. I’m a massive fan of reading and writing stuff so I went in today with high hope.Paper 1: Let me start by saying I loved this paper! I started off paper 1 with my personal writing. I did the speech and was delighted with the motion, I went against the motion ‘Ireland is no longer the land of A Hundred Thousand Welcomes'. I was so delighted that I wrote 5 pages… I talked about Mary Robinson’s ‘candle in the window’ along with various other things, ending on an encouraging note to love everybody to get marks sentimental. Then I did functional writing, choosing the letter. I went back to the start and did the comprehension. I loved this comprehension because it was actually fun. When everyone in my centre opened the paper, they all laughed. Then I chose question one on media studies, talking about keeping up to date on news and Hillary’s democratic nomination.Paper 2: I always thought I’d do better in Paper 1 than 2. That was until I got 89% on paper 2 in the mocks. So I went in to paper 2 confident. I started answering on my studied drama, The Merchant Of Venice, doing question 2. I thought it could have been better (I really wanted one on themes), but hey, you have to work with what you’re given. Then I did the first studied poetry question using two of Wilfred Owen’s pens. I moved on to section 3 and did the second fiction question on To Kill A Mockingbird. Then I worked backwards, doing Unseen Fiction first. In the end, I had about fifteen minutes left to do my unseen Shakespearean Drama, and I have never written so fast.All in all, I am extremely happy with English and feel really good about it. I hope you all feel the same as me! Best of luck in Irish tomorrow!Philip - Higher Level English Paper 1 & 2 Paper 1: I started paper 1 with question 1, not because it was question 1 but because a comprehension seemed like a good starting point. I can now honesty say, I have a much more indepth knowledge on the subject of emoji than I ever expected. Next I did the media studies question. I did question 2 the one with the cartoon and the 1950s and present day comparison pictures. That was.....strange, but I think I did ok. Well I finished it. Third I did functional writing. I did the letter question, mainly because I wasn't really sure what the other one was asking. Was it a blog? Anyway in the letter I said they should buy equipment not hire someone. Last but not least I did the personal writing. I did the "a Door into the Dark" question. I think I did well enough. I took "inspiration" from a creepy pasta. I changed a good bit though. So that was paper 1.Paper 2: In paper 2 I did all the unseen questions first and those were in order. I didn't think the options were great for the drama. I really didn't like the poetry. But I thought the fiction was okay. I did the interview question and the "do you think their friendship will last" question. I said it would. Then I went back and did the studied drama. I did the "character relationship" question for Shylock and Antonio in the Merchant of Venice. then I did poetry. I answered the first question, the one where you were given a statement like "a play can change how you think and how you feel" I answered with Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et decrum est". God I repeated myself SO much. Finally I did the studied fiction question. I answered on Goodnight Mr Tom and I answered the question with the "pick two from this list" thing. Anyway at least English is over that's where your most under pressure for time I think. Good luck with Irish tomorrow everyone!

Joe - Higher Level English Paper 1 & 2 

Paper 1: I woke up this morning with a combination of excitement, worry and a small amount of fear fuelled by my cram studying technique and lack of sleep the night previous.The exams itself wasn't as bad as I first anticipated. I enjoyed the reading of the emoji passage and found the questions relatively easy. I was very fortunate with the questions that came up for both personal writing and functional writing. A short story I had prepared earlier in the year fitted the criteria of a story with a "eureka moment". With the functional writing a letter was an option and this was the only functional writing piece I was confident with. In media studies I picked question one based on "Types of news consumers". I was quite unsure how to answer it correctly and was fairly confused by it.Over all the paper wasn't to bad and I was happy with how it went.Paper 2: After my reasonable success on paper one I was more confident about jumping this second hurdle.Unfortunately I did not do as well on this paper. I did the studied drama, poetry and fiction first as I knew they would be my strongest answers. Unfortunately I liked the questions that came up too much and wrote a large amount for all three. This had the knock on affect of making me have to rush the unseen questions and I was writing to the very end. The unseen fiction and drama questions were straight forward enough and I answered reasonable well. For the unseen poetry I didn't like the poem in the exam paper and was unsure about my answers.The time restraints for paper two were difficult to contend with particularly with my slow reading speed. I however got it all done and over all my questions weren't perfect but we're ok and all finished.

Chloe - Higher Level English Paper 1 & 2 

Paper 1: At 9:30 am I couldn't believe how relaxed I was, we were about to begin our first Junior Certificate exam and honestly you would never have known! I’m not sure if that was a good or a bad thing!I went in chronological order, not changing the order of the questions up or anything and so reading was up first! I was quite happy to see a piece about emoji on the paper I must admit! The questions, I thought, weren't too bad but they need some thinking.Okay so I had learned an essay word for word over the last couple of days and I prayed to the high heavens that it would work for me. It did! I can’t describe how happy I was! I chose option 4 which was adding in a small phrase ‘….but tell them I was here all day’ or something like that I’m not 100% sure.Functional writing was next and honestly, I had had an inkling that a letter would appear. At this stage I had the last reading section question still to finish and I was under time pressure for sure! Letter writing is definitely one of my stronger points so I was buying time with this question as it was actually quite similar to one I had seen beforeOh media studies! I completed question A which was about news consumers and at this stage I was writing so quickly I thought my hand was going to fall off!At the end of the day I felt paper 1 was a lovely paper, obviously it contained some tricky pieces but what exam doesn’t!Paper 2: At 2:00pm we entered the exam hall and I can’t describe how I was feeling when the paper lay in front of me but I didn’t feel ‘into it’ I was praying that I’d boot into work mode asap and thankfully I did half way through the first drama.It wasn’t a surprise to see a question about stage direction laced in here as they had been coming up quite a lot but still I opted for the comparison question along with the first drama one, as to be honest I really hate questions on scene direction!Again I steered clear of the stage like question for the studied drama and focused my answer on question 2 which I chose ‘an unexpected event’ and ‘contrasting characters’ I found these fair enough to answer. I had studied The Merchant of Venice.I loved the poem in the unseen section but the questions were slightly more difficult especially the question on the ‘narrators impression of the woman encountered on the tube’ as I felt there wasn’t much info in the poem to delve into and so, I struggled with this.So, I'm kind of obsessed with ‘The Lake isle of Innisfree’ and again, this is one that I was hoping would suit the question. I chose question 2 and used it as a poem suitable for a wedding. I know, sounds odd but I made it work!This fiction section was so ugly I absolutely hated it, I couldn’t follow it properly or anything maybe this was because I was rushing to finish the whole fiction in 30 minutes or maybe you guys thought so too!The studied fiction also wasn’t my best friend but I completed question 1 and decided to choose Atticus Finch to join me on the desert island and also choosing to leave Bob Ewell behind.Overall paper 2 was okay but I definitely didn’t find it easy by any means.Hope all of you guys got on okay, I’m sure you all did it great!Anois, Gaeilge!Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie

Leaving Certificate English Paper 1

Craig - Higher Level English Paper 1

D-Day! June 8th 2016. English Paper One. The paper that can make or break a person if you ask me. But that's probably the overly dramatic thought process that is compulsory in consuming students who want to do anyway decent in the English exams, it's all about "BS" - English is, or so my teacher says.Paper One for me was done back ways, like I've always done. But for those who do things the right way I'll start with Section 1:The three choices had "A comedy of errors" of which I didn't touch. Some story about a dog called "One eye" and his reclusive owner who is trying to save him, and then a speech from Obama on Space. I took Question A from text two, it was rather do-able in that it asked to identify narrative language and aesthetic language, of which the piece was undeniably consumed by. There was also an opportunity to take an in depth look at the mental state of the main character, I said he had characteristics of mild aspergers due to his obsession with routine, and was obviously very anxious and perhaps overcoming a near suicide due to his reference of "I must go on". It really showed the triumph of the human spirit, and I found the piece very engaging and enjoyable.I took Question B like most people in my year from the Obama piece. I wrote about how Lyndon Johnson and Nixon set up in jet fuel flames the promises of a great society in Vietnam and Florida, and that Obama shouldn't do the same. I found it very enjoyable writing indirectly, even though he will never see it to one of the most inspirational people of our time.Finally, essay wise - I wrote the speech. Number 7 in fact on what it means to be Irish. I talked about our pursuit of fairness and our obsession with identity and blatantly said that we should not fear the erosion of our culture by others, for we have enriched other cultures by spreading ours.And that was it, I walked out of the exam hall - sweating on what is definitely the most humid day of the year. Let's hope English Two is just as kind. Best of luck everyone! 

Liam - Higher Level English Paper 1 

Questions that I did; Section 1: 3A, 1B. Section 2:2When I went into the exam I took out the highlighter and went crazy. I highlighted the paper's theme, 'Journeys' and then started at the back at the section 2 options. I highlighted the key words on the short story and personal essay questions and moved on to the B questions in section 1. After reading them , 1B stood out to me so I went for that. Then it was deciding the As. I liked the topic of 3, Obama's speech about the future of NASA so I went for that one.I timed it out and spent 60 mins reading the comprehensions and doing the A questions, 30 mins on the B questions and the remaining 80 mins on the composition.  The A questions I didn't find too challenging, but it was really writing enough and having sufficient points that gets me. I really liked the B question, a speech, as a judge judging posters for Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors". 1 and 2 were first and second , were yours the same ? And even the short story, I did the one about the mistaken identity, based on text 1. All in all it went fairly well.English wouldn't be my favourite subject, but sure it was grand! 

Emma - Higher Level English Paper 1 

English paper one was completely different to other years!! The comprehensions were extremely specific and the part B's were very tough. The essay titles weren't the best and there wasn't even an article which I was hugely disappointed about! I myself was happy enough with the comprehensions and the part B, but I found I was waffling on for my speech which was about travelling before working or going in to further education! The essay titles again were extremely specific, and none were general like other years. Overall it didn't go horrible but it could have been a lot better. Hopefully there will be a nice paper two tomorrow to make up for the paper one!!   

Cárthach - Higher Level English Paper 1 

So, after waking up not knowing was it actually the first day of exams and to my father's absolute cracking joke saying it was called off, I showed up to the school in quite a good mood and had a chat with my friends, we discussed the timing of Paper 1 quickly to make sure we knew that crucial element of exams (especially for a slow writer like myself).Before we knew it, it had started and I was well underway on the most difficult part of the whole exam, starting!After choosing the B part, I spent what felt like a very long time choosing the right Comprehension, but once I began on the second comprehension it got easier, even if the questions required referring back to a lot of examples in the text and the complexity of the narrative was a challenge in itself.I didn't actually get to finish the (iii) part worth 20 marks, so this was the low point of the whole exam, but I did the thing I had prepared to do, drive on and stick to the rigid time plan I had agreed on!The next 35 minutes was spent on a blog post...an uncommon type of B question. The task was to criticise President Obama's decision to spend $6 billion dollars of public money on NASA. This wasn't the worst either, time pressure yet again forcing me to rush the ending! Overall, I was happy with this option, but the rareness of a blog coming up in functional writing certainly put people off!The composing question was difficult to choose in my opinion! As someone who usually is suited to personal essays, the option was a more solely narrative approach on describing an urban journey. I live in the Gaeltacht, with 4 donkeys, I didn't think this was very suitable for me! My other preference was a speech at a class debate with a motion for or against 'young people should travel the world before entering the workforce or furthering education'. A nice title, but I felt I wrote it in a very unorganised way, but wrote a sufficient amount and hopefully I'll be awarded for sticking to the speech style, but content was lacking, perhaps other things weren't right either, trying to be positive now and look forward to being finished!Overall, It was a fairly fine day to begin with, not brilliant, but fine! If only the rest will be the same!My aim is not to engage in over-thinking such as what I could've, would've and should've done. It's finished now and only another load of papers to get through before freedom! Hup! 

Ellen - Higher Level English Paper 1 

That's it: the myth of the Leaving cert finally debunked- it's all just another exam. These were my first thoughts as soon as I sealed up the answer booklet. As for the exam itself, you never really know about English Paper I because it's so objective. There was mixed reviews in my school, some tears, some sighs of relief. I myself was so happy when I saw the theme was journeys!I was having nightmares last night about visual elements of texts so naturally when I saw the first text I ran a mile. Obama's speech about NASA was my natural choice, and I was able to bring in my knowledge of the Moon Landing from history. Was it just me or were the questions way more personal this year - 'in your own words what were the changes'? And 'in your opinion what are the disadvantages?'For QB I did the competition entry, which I wasn't really sure what the format was supposed to be. I did a letter while other people described the cinematic qualities of the text in detail, so we'll see how that goes. The composing section was not bad at all and offered lots of choice, including a nice debate about young people traveling. I chose to do the descriptive essay about an urban landscape and wrote about my time in Jerusalem. I've never written something from the second person before so we'll see how this goes..! All in all I feel it was quite an approachable paper. 

Conor - Higher Level English Paper 1 

WHY DO WORDS, PHRASES AND PUNCTUATION KEEP ENDING UP IN COURT? TO BE SENTENCED.Yes, I will begin every blog post with a themed pun. If you feel ill, it has worked.For those that were experiencing great nerves this morning, the starting point of the Leaving Certificate 2016 examinations, we as a nation did not make it easy for them:“I think I will turn on the radio; listening to some songs should allow me to feel relaxed.”[turns on radio]“TODAY MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE LEAVING AND JUNIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS, WITH OVER –”[turns off radio]“Okay, maybe I will just stick to songs on my phone.”[looks at phone]YOU HAVE 23 NEW MESSAGES“What? They’re ALL relatives, wishing me good luck? I didn’t even think I had 23 relatives.”[turns off phone]“Maybe I’ll just sit on the couch in silence.”[parents enter]“Oh my God, OH MY GOD, today’s the big day! We best drive you now to avoid the traffic.” “Mom, Dad, it’s six in the morning. The exam isn’t for another three and a half hours!”“Well, better safe than sorry. Come on, polish your shoes and let’s get going. You need to make a good first impression with the examiner.”After meeting my classmates inside the waiting centre thirty minutes prior to the examination, it was perplexing to see that the calm people were those about to take the examinations, whilst the parents were experiencing heart palpitations and saying “Jesus, I don’t smoke, but if it will help with the nerves, I need a drag now.” It is ironic, seeing as they are the ones saying “worrying solves nothing”, yet they are the ones trembling. Our belief is different. To quote a student in my year: “They’re just summer exams with a fancy name.”On receiving the exam paper, the first thing one should do is take note of the theme of the paper. This year, it was the theme of “Journeys”, and we were met with comprehensions, varying from Shakespearean plays to space travel. In fact, I think most students belittle the theme, based on how eclectic the theme itself is. One thing to note was that in the Shakespearean text, which was a writer’s telling of ‘The Comedy of Errors’, it asked to include reference to a Shakespearean text that you have studied. I can imagine most students thought mutually: “Paper Two in Paper One? What next? Construction of an orthocentre in my poetry question? Madness!” But I found it quite intriguing, in that it allowed us to view the works of Shakespeare as a collection, taking notice of the admirable literature he has provided us. If you care to avail of it, you might mention a thing or two about ‘The Comedy of Errors’ when answering on Lear tomorrow. Make your essay stand out. That is what ensures a great result.Unless you write something like “Juliet Capulet, Julius Caesar, Romeo Montague, Mercutio: if you take these character's names apart you can spell out Illuminati. Therefore, Illuminati confirmed.” Maybe you ought to avoid that. There seemed to be little complaint drawn towards the composition section as well. In fact, the overall paper was deemed by most to be rather accessible, and even enlightening, in that they begin to explore concepts that they hadn’t even considered before. That is a wonderful quality of literature, I find. You are met with a world that was once held underneath a blanket, and grow a hunger to try to lift it out of the shadow that it once occupied. The paper also gave confidence to students in their ability to write, due to the broad nature of the paper, one that will certainly be required for the battle we face tomorrow.As the exam ended, and people were comparing what questions they completed, it moved on to the topic of tomorrow’s paper, and making predictions. One would swear that the nation is holding a large bet on who comes up in the poetry. My advice: leave it. Listening to predictions may cause you to forget your strongest poet (bad), study a poet that you have little understanding on (worse), and, as we have seen with many, MANY, predictions, leaving you without anyone to answer on in the exam, because you have only focused on one poet (worst). Stick to what you know now, and don’t get flustered by what other people are saying. No one knows what is coming up. Poets and other questions have repeated themselves. All I can imagine is the person writing the exam with a random number generator choosing the poets, thinking: “If only they knew…”. But I am getting ahead of myself here. This is for tomorrow.So, the conclusion for the day is as follows: most seem pleased with the start, and are now preparing profusely for Paper Two tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and relatives are beginning to relax. For the most part. Hopefully students are getting into the routine of things now, and will take the approach of giving the exam their all, and moving on as soon as it is finished. The more you think like this, the sooner the #whoppersummersesh seems to approach. That is a time parents should be worrying about.Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.Zeminar is an event for Generation Z, particularly those aged between 15 and 19, and their parents, teachers, mentors and coaches. It will take place from 11th - 13th of October 2016. For more information see www.zeminar.ie