Learning things off for the LC

lilmizzme

Ok so its been established that the majority of Leaving Cert Exams boil down to basic memory tests...I was talking about this today with my friends, and it resulted in a pretty heated argument.

I personally am not going to learn off any English or Irish essay, on the grounds that the grade I get will be a result of my own natural ability in the subjects and not a result of my memory. I did an Irish essay off the top of my head in the mocks and got 70/100....same for english and I got 80/100.


Now my friend argues that that's fair enough for me, I may have the ability to do it off the top of my head but she needs to learn off essays for the exam. I'm against learning off essays, as I believe the grade you receive on the essay is not a true reflectioon of your ability, just your memory. If it means getting a lower grade then my friend who's pre-learnt half the exam, then that's fine with me. I know my grade will reflect my ability in the subject. Am I wrong to think this? Am I making a mistake by not preparing an essay before the exams?

cocoa

if you have a comfortable amount of points, then continue. If you're tight for points, well then I suggest you start playing the points maximising game... As soon as it becomes a race to the finish, the "reflecting your own ability" goes out the window...

lilmizzme

Stupid leaving cert..not letting me be as deep as hell and "reflect my ability"

JC 2K3

I'm not "learning off" any essays. But I mean, if you've written an essay yourself before the exam you're hardly going to forget it, and if it fits with the question and you know it'll get a high grade, then why the hell wouldn't you write it?

Anyway, I used to be a big advocate of tests "reflecting my ability", but in recent times I've come to reject that idea. I'll showcase my ability in the real world, doing something that actually means something thank you very much.,

cson

The LC is 90% rote learning anyway. I wouldn't hold myself back (i.e. not learn them off) as a matter of principle. Do whatever you think will yield the best results for you.

Nehpets

Learing off essays would make the leaving cert that little bit more boring

Enemy Of Fate

JC 2K3 wrote:

Anyway, I used to be a big advocate of tests "reflecting my ability", but in recent times I've come to reject that idea. I'll showcase my ability in the real world, doing something that actually means something thank you very much.,

Who the hell cares if it ''reflects your ability''?All anyone cares about is how many points you got, and thats all anyone will ever see.

genericgoon

Some people are better at just learning things off by heart and others work better when working off the top of their head. I personally prefer to write from the top of my head as any times I learn stuff off Im prone to forgetting bits and the boredom kinda leads to more spelling mistakes. Tbh if i had to learn off a 6 page essay for english Id be very annoyed.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

lilmizzme wrote:

I'm against learning off essays, as I believe the grade you receive on the essay is not a true reflectioon of your ability, just your memory

but u obvously had to wright the essay (which is a reflectioon of your ability) before it is learned off by heart. It also gives people confidence going into the exam. I learned off a few for my leaving in 2004 and got on a lot better than i would have if i didnt.

Enemy Of Fate

Cannon Odd Hobo wrote:

but u obvously had to wright the essay (which is a reflectioon of your ability) before it is learned off by heart.

You could always learn someone elses essay.

genericgoon

genericgoon wrote:

Tbh if i had to learn off a 6 page essay for english Id be very annoyed.

If you got an A1 from it, I wonder if you would be still annoyed.

Not condoning it, but as JC 2K3 said if you have an essay done already there's nothing wrong with using it again. Saying that, once you get to college the plagiarism rules make that a whole lot difficult.

genericgoon

Im not saying dont use your previosly used essays but Im getting the feeling ppl are learning these word for word nearly and that would be annoying.

JC 2K3

Enemy Of Fate wrote:

Who the hell cares if it ''reflects your ability''?All anyone cares about is how many points you got, and thats all anyone will ever see.

Well, some of us aren't so cynical.

As I've said, it doesn't matter for the LC. What I will say is those who actually worked and fully understood what they were doing for the LC rather than just learning a load of crap off will generally do better in life than those who do. You can't bluff real life the same way you can bluff the LC.

Enemy Of Fate

JC 2K3 wrote:

Well, some of us aren't so cynical.

As I've said, it doesn't matter for the LC. What I will say is those who actually worked and fully understood what they were doing for the LC rather than just learning a load of crap off will generally do better in life than those who do. You can't bluff real life the same way you can bluff the LC.

Its not cynicism.Its realism.All anyone cares about in the LC is points.I mean the universities aren't going to look at your application and say ''Oh this guy got a result that truly reflects his ability.Lets choose him over this guy who got an extra 10 points by learning things off, and writing them down''.Thats not how it works.They don't know that your result reflects your abilities, and the other guys result doesn't, and even if they did they wouldn't care, because its still all about points.

JC 2K3

Enemy Of Fate wrote:

Its not cynicism.Its realism.All anyone cares about in the LC is points.I mean the universities aren't going to look at your application and say ''Oh this guy got a result that truly reflects his ability.Lets choose him over this guy who got an extra 10 points by learning things off, and writing them down''.Thats not how it works.They don't know that your result reflects your abilities, and the other guys result doesn't, and even if they did they wouldn't care, because its still all about points.

It's realism and cynicism.

Yes, all that the universities care about are points, that's realistic, where the cynicism comes in is the matter of the question, "did you deserve the points you got?"

But as I've said, be as cynical re: the LC as you like, because if you don't, someone else will, just remember that in college and the real world it's not so easy to bluff.(like, you might get your points in the LC, so what? You still have to work hard in college)

maxi-twist

I learned off 3 things for english last year,a poet, literary genre and a king lear essay. Got extremely lucky,they all came up and i got an A1 in Paper 2overall.Which is an absolute joke as my teacher said i shoulf have gotten a C3.

I realise now that i would have been absolutely ****ed if one hadnt come up,but thats fairly irrelevant!

Donald-Duck

maxi-twist wrote:

I learned off 3 things for english last year,a poet, literary genre and a king lear essay. Got extremely lucky,they all came up and i got an A1 in Paper 2overall.Which is an absolute joke as my teacher said i shoulf have gotten a C3.

I realise now that i would have been absolutely ****ed if one hadnt come up,but thats fairly irrelevant!

Literary genre didn't come up last year

brianthebard

What's the difference between learning off an essay and learning off a personal response to a poem? OP you seem to be moralising in all the wrong places tbh. Not trying to be mean but the LC isn't the place to show your abilities at writing. Its a test to get points, plain and simple. There's nothing to be gained by doing an essay on the spot that can't be gained by someone who has an essay planned in their head.

Steve01

I'm adopting the rote learning approach for most subjects - English, history, biology, irish. I know it doesn't reflect my 'true ability' and all that blah blah blah but it gets me the marks so I'm happy.

As regards maths, practise practise practise. Thats what makes OL maths so fun!
Music is a bit harder to study. With the exception of listening to the four set works, knowing all their features and practising melody composition there's not much I can do. And as for French I'm learning off a lot of useful phrases for the written expression section. I'll be relying on my own stilted grasp of the language for the rest of the exam though.

Enemy Of Fate

I must be the only person around who doesn't actually do out the questions whilst studying for maths.I always just look at the solutions, and figure out how its done, and then forget bout it till the exam.I never actually do the questions out though.......Hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass, I mean it hasn't so far, but you never know.......

PurpleFistMixer

Steve01 wrote:

Music is a bit harder to study. With the exception of listening to the four set works, knowing all their features and practising melody composition there's not much I can do.

You could learn off the scores. : ) Would be helpful for dictation.

Pure Cork

Enemy Of Fate wrote:

Who the hell cares if it ''reflects your ability''?All anyone cares about is how many points you got, and thats all anyone will ever see.

Nobody cares how many points you get. In the real world, it means **** all.

Sauron

We had heated debates about this throughout the entire year in my school...

Alas, we all seem to have come to the realisation that personal ability just ain't on the marking scheme...

You really just have to play the game and stop complaining about the rules.

That said...say, in English, you can still do very well by having a good knowledge of texts and being able to apply it in whatever way you happen to be asked... just as long as you're used to formulating essays on the spot.