Incoming Fifth Years...

[andyman]

...here is your prescribed material for English.

SINGLE TEXT

For your exam, you are required to learn one single text inside out and most teachers will pick the Shakespearean text for the simple fact that if you don't do it in this one, you'll have to do it in your Comparative Study and this will require you to learn another Shakespearean text as well as the one prescribed in the Single Text, and learning one of them is tricky enough as it is (although I quite like reading them).

TEXTS
BINCHY, Maeve Circle of Friends (O)
BRONTË, Emily Wuthering Heights (H/O)
IBSEN, Henrik A Doll’s House (H/O)
JOHNSTON, Jennifer How Many Miles to Babylon? (O)
MONK KIDD, Sue The Secret Life of Bees (O)
MURPHY, Tom A Whistle in the Dark (H/O)
O’CASEY, Sean The Plough and the Stars (O)
SHAKESPEARE, William Hamlet (H/O)
STEINBECK, John The Grapes of Wrath (H/O)

Most of you will be doing Hamlet. That's a nice play. Think it's one of the easier ones and you could be able to predict potential questions. An easier play than Macbeth and King Lear (yes, I have read both) imo.

COMPARATIVE STUDY

You are required to do three texts for your comparative. There's a number of texts and films that are prescribed and your teacher will pick three of them. You're only allowed to pick one film at most as part of your comparative study, although some teachers don't do a film at all.

The modes were the most complicated part (for me, anyway) to get my head around at the beginning. You are prescribed 3 modes of comparison and 2 will appear in your paper. These are the headings by which you will compare your three chosen texts. However, if your teacher is covering the Sha

MODES (Higher Level)
Theme or Issue
Cultural Context
General Vision and Viewpoint

Nice and easy ones there. Can't be complaining too much with them. Theme or Issue is self explanatory. Just pick any theme or issue that's common to all three texts and compare them. Cultural Context is the outlook on society of the texts and has a number of sub-headings which you can use in your answer (The setting, Religion, Class divisions, violence, poverty etc. etc.). General Vision and Viewpoint is one I never really understood properly, so what I'm about to say is completely open to correction. From my understanding it's where you explore the themes/relationships and the society of the text and conclude whether the author/director is showing the world of the text in an optimistic or pessimistic light.

MODES (Ordinary Level)
Relationships
Theme
Social Setting

Again, can't complain too much about them. Did Higher Level myself so they'd be a walk in the park for me personally. For an ordinary level student I'd class them as easy as well. All self-explanatory as well.

TEXTS
AUSTEN, Jane Emma
BINCHY, Maeve Circle of Friends
BOWEN, Elizabeth The Last September
BRONTË, Emily Wuthering Heights
CHANG, Jung Wild Swans
COETZEE, J.M. Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life
DICKENS, Charles Hard Times
FRIEL, Brian Dancing at Lughnasa
GAGE, Eleni North of Ithaka
HARRIS, Robert Pompeii
HOSSEINI, Khaled The Kite Runner
IBSEN, Henrik A Doll’s House

ISHIGURO, Kazu Never Let Me Go
JOHNSTON, Jennifer How Many Miles to Babylon?
KEANE, John B Sive
MacLAVERTY, Bernard Lamb
MARTEL, Yann Life of Pi
McDONAGH, Martin The Lonesome West
McEWAN, Ian Atonement
MONK KIDD, Sue The Secret Life of Bees
MOORE, Brian Lies of Silence
MURPHY, Tom A Whistle in the Dark
NGOZI ADICHIE, Chimamanda Purple Hibiscus
O’CASEY, Sean The Plough and the Stars
PETTERSON, Per Out Stealing Horses
PICOULT, Jodi My Sister’s Keeper
ROSOFF, Meg How I Live Now
SHAKESPEARE, William Hamlet
SHAKESPEARE, William The Tempest
SHIELDS, Carol Unless
SOPHOCLES Oedipus the King
STEINBECK, John The Grapes of Wrath
TREVOR, William The Story of Lucy Gault

Only one of my texts is in there (Plough and the Stars) but I've read some of them and while the stories themselves aren't the best and extremely predictable, there's still plenty to write about under the modes of comparison.

FILMS
BRANAGH, Kenneth (Dir.) As You Like It (Film)
CURTIZ, Michael (Dir.) Casablanca (Film)
DALDRY, Stephen (Dir.) Billy Elliot (Film)
MEIRELLES, Fernando (Dir.) The Constant Gardener (Film)
O’DONNELL, Damien (Dir.) Inside I’m Dancing (Film)
RADFORD, Michael (Dir.) Il Postino (Film)

I've seen all of them and I can easily say that is a nice set of films to choose from. Would have liked to have seen Billy Elliot as part of my Comparative Study as it would have fit in well with the Father-Son relationship theme I covered as part of Theme or Issue.

POETRY

In Higher Level, you are given eight prescribed poets with 10 poems from each poet. In the Higher Level paper, four of the eight poets will appear and you are only required to answer the question on one of them. However, you are recommended to learn at least 6 poems per poet to use and quote from in your answer. I only used 4 in my answer which most seem to do.

HIGHER LEVEL PRESCRIBED POETS
Eaven Boland
Emily Dickenson
Robert Frost
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Patrick Kavanagh
Adrienne Rich
William Wordsworth
William Butler Yeats

Boland, Kavanagh, Rich and Yeats are on the 2010 course as well whereas Dickenson, Frost, Hopkins and Wordsworth replace TS Elliot, John Keats, Michael Longley and Derek Walcott (! No more Walcott ). 4 changes is a bit harsh imo. I know the 2010'ers have that as well. I'm a 2009'er and we only had two different poets from the year before which has me thinking that I was one of the lucky ones.

Anyway, no idea why I posted this considering it doesn't really effect me tbh. I found it and I thought I'd tell people

[Aoifums]

Thanks for that.

I just realised how f*cked I am if I have the teacher I'm most likely to have next year

[P55]

Originally Posted by andyman

...here is your prescribed material for English.

SINGLE TEXT

For your exam, you are required to learn one single text inside out and most teachers will pick the Shakespearean text for the simple fact that if you don't do it in this one, you'll have to do it in your Comparative Study and this will require you to learn another Shakespearean text as well as the one prescribed in the Single Text, and learning one of them is tricky enough as it is (although I quite like reading them).

this is not true.
you only need to study one shakespearean text, and it can be either as a single text or a comparative text.


from education.ie
Shakespearean Drama
At Higher Level a play by Shakespeare must be one of the texts chosen. This can be studied on its own or as an element in a comparative study.
At Ordinary Level the study of a play by Shakespeare is optional.

[andyman]

Ah ok. Cheers for that. Was going by what my teacher was saying. Says a lot about him although his notes were pretty epic.

[JW91]

I know you're all going to be going crazy because ye are starting the leaving cert cycle but in fairness the 5th year genuinely isn't something to get too stressed out about.

Leaving Cert isn't overly stressful either although some people almost have a breakdown over the whole thing

[Purple Gorilla]

Thanks for that Really helped!

[That_Guy]

Originally Posted by Aoifums

Thanks for that.

I just realised how f*cked I am if I have the teacher I'm most likely to have next year

If you feel you're going to have a "bad" teacher in English then you should do some extra work for yourself.

English seems like a lot and ok maybe it is but it's very doable and I'd advise every 5th year to really familarise themselves with the course straight off when going back to school. It'll really ease a lot of confusion that some people have with it.

Once you get your head around the exam structure and what you need to learn then it'll be a lot easier on yourself.

5th year is generally the time to study all of your poetry etc. 6th year is brushing up on what you've learned in 5th year and then going hell for leather on the exam papers.

Well this is my experience anyway. Plus a load of creative writing exercises.

[Stev_o]

I pity anyone who has to read Circle of Friends *shudder* thank god i got to change it in 6th year.

[soccymonster]

So overall, do us new 5th years got a good english course?

[jumpguy]

Originally Posted by soccymonster

So overall, do us new 5th years got a good english course?

I think judging by the comments of the OP it's pretty even. The LC English course seems very much rote learning...whereas the JC was I'd say 80% imagination required. I'm not sure which I'd like better but I suppose I'll find out. So, we're the 2011er's now, are we?

[Gavin "shels"]

Purple Hibiscus up again this year, unlucky yous.

[soccymonster]

Originally Posted by Gavin "shels"

Purple Hibiscus up again this year, unlucky yous.

if i even knew something about purple hibiscus was about, I would soooo be dreading your post.

yes jumpguy, we are the 2011er's

[Gavin "shels"]

Originally Posted by soccymonster

if i even knew something about purple hibiscus was about, I would soooo be dreading your post.

yes jumpguy, we are the 2011er's

If Purple Hib is on your booklist, buy a brick and throw it at your teachers head on the first day.

[soccymonster]

Originally Posted by Gavin "shels"

If Purple Hib is on your booklist, buy a brick and throw it at your teachers head on the first day.

on the booklist, it just said that when we are put into classes in september, we wil then receive english booklists.
I bet they are trying to keep us all calm and let us enjoy the rest of the hols without scaring us about that purple hibiscus.
Sounds like a lovely thing to study actually. Like the sound of it. Puurplle hibisscusss

[Fad]

Originally Posted by soccymonster

So overall, do us new 5th years got a good english course?

It seems pretty decent, dont expect miracles though........