Honours English

paddy007

I'm doin honours english for the leavin cert. I hate english, the cultutal context and all that stuff a load of crap to b honest!. What does everyone think of it??

Fad

i am also disliking it but i was never really a fan of english as a subject

challengemaster

absolutly loving it so far. possibly one of my fav subjects

(it helps that I'm doing well too )

But then again, I've always had something for english.. shakespeare/poetry

1huge1

Always liked english so can't really agree there but I really don't like Othello, other than no complaints

I hate biology though

PurpleFistMixer

I find the comparative a little confusing, not in the doing, (i mean, how tricky is it to say: The Crucible is set in 1692 Salem... etcetera) but more in the.. why on earth is it relevant to compare three almost entirely different texts?

Also, I don't like Rich. Okay, Trying to Talk to a Man is excellent, but for the most part, she seems to be incapable of writing about issues that aren't to do with feminism.

And, from what I've heard, Macbeth > Othello. Alas.

cas91

I love English as a subject.. one of the few subjects I really put effort into this year (fourth year)... but flickin through the leavin cert papers.. the exam looks daunting!!!

Dregon

Never really liked English as a subject,I'm not a language person;). But I'm finding Macbeth to be quite good at the moment

lilmissprincess

I'm shocked to find a hatred for it this year, but i have a different teacher and she's not exactly great so...

I love Macbeth(can't wait to start it) and I'm liking "The Secret Life of Bees"

SligoBrewer

challengemaster wrote: »

absolutly loving it so far. possibly one of my fav subjects

(it helps that I'm doing well too )

But then again, I've always had something for english.. shakespeare/poetry

high five brother!:D

Redisle

I dont like it at all, I mean, most of the time I got on fine and I didnt mind it too much, Although I feel the bulk of the course is complete crap.. like when the hell am I ever going to need to disect poetry or trudge through shakespeher again!?

As I said though, I GOT on fine, that is, until I got a new teacher a few weeks ago, before I used not mind english, Now when I see it on my timetable its actually like "Oh No English", I got a new teacher because my teacher left on mat leave and now I am beginning to hate the dam classes..

PurpleFistMixer

ab_cork wrote: »

when the hell am I ever going to need to disect poetry or trudge through shakespeher again!?

This kind of reasoning when put to many subjects can leave one feeling rather confused and irritated. Unless you do physics, everything you learn in physics is relevant to real life.

*accelerates some electrons*

Redisle

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

This kind of reasoning when put to many subjects can leave one feeling rather confused and irritated. Unless you do physics, everything you learn in physics is relevant to real life.

*accelerates some electrons*

I aggree totally! Thats why I love physics and chemistry too, I find myself noticing things I have learned in physics and chemisty, I know this may sound weird but right after we studied the doppler effect when I was walking on the road and a car passed me with music on I was like heh that sound is changing because of the doppler effect , oh and also things like refraction.. would teach you to keep back from a lake when fishing.. and so many other things..

SligoBrewer

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

This kind of reasoning when put to many subjects can leave one feeling rather confused and irritated. Unless you do physics, everything you learn in physics is relevant to real life.

*accelerates some electrons*

hence why i love physics... and chemistry.



science ahoy!

PurpleFistMixer

We learned why microwaves have rotating turntables the other day, it's actually fairly cool. I was sort of joking about physics there, but large chunks are quite relevant. They probably tailored the course like that to make us more interested in it.

Corruptedmorals

Tut tut, horrifyingly off-topic. Yes, Macebth owns Othello. Also Hamlet (imo). AND it's the shortest play ever. Loved the question we got, power in Macbeth

You really are screwed without a good teacher. I was quite good at English, never brilliant exactly, got a brilliant LC teacher..A1. The most important thing is to get the timing right. I doubt cultural context will be predicted to come up for you lot actually. And Plath, no. Montague, no. So whichever Irish/female poets are left would be a safe bet to learn off by heart. Though don't exclude all the rest obviously, know the female and Irish poets very very well, 1 other quite well, 2 others enough to write the essay.

Don't waste time on the stupid waste of space Unseen Poetry. 3/4 of a page is enough, especially if you're short on time. As for the Paper 1 essay, if you're anyway imaginative/good way with words, a short story plot you can bend to a title is almost always a winner.

challengemaster

SligoBrewer wrote: »

hence why i love physics... and chemistry.



science ahoy!

indeed.. bio/chem/phys here

challengemaster

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

They probably tailored the course like that to make us more interested in it.

yeah, because who doesn't like microwave turn plates! :rolleyes:





*note: I need to remember about "multi-quote"

paddy007

Dregon wrote: »

Never really liked English as a subject,I'm not a language person

I'd agree with that aswell:). For me, languages are not my strong point.
Id be far more interested in physics and maths

Mars Bar

I did Macbeth last year, its a great play, Othello(I'm repeating) doesn't touch on it. Also the comparative is a pain in the arse and the poets aren't as nice either. Last year was a good year for English. I love the subject and its my best subject but the course just doesn't really interest me as much this year. Thank God for John Donne still being poetry this year otherwise it would be a complete bore!

regob

come on lads just work at it and it will be no bother to use.

phasers

I love english literature, but I hate what you have to learn on the course

regob

phasers wrote: »

I love english literature, but I hate what you have to learn on the course

wat are you doing

Antamojo

Linguistics are not my strongest point but I'm stilling doing all honours
I'm more of a maths and science person

I think that the course isn't doing itself any justice
As my teacher says "I'm teaching a course, not English", which I think sums it up

All those quotations are held melting
And the fact that you have to write the essay about 7 pages long
They're expected us to write one A4 page in 12 mins!

PurpleFistMixer

Which essay is meant to be 7 pages long? o.O I thought the max was like 5...

Antamojo

We were told that around 5 - 7 max is what is expected in Paper One Essay, bit of a joke really

Corruptedmorals

Pfft. 4ish for the personal essay, with biggish writing. Everything else at least 3.

NoQuarter

didnt really like the subject but knew how to do it, got a b1 in higher and that was 4 years ago so all i remember is describe EVERYTHING, like make the cat become the jolly fat cat or somethin stupid like that and on the questions, stay on topic!!! like if they ask a question, emphasise your thinkin about the question in every paragraph, ie say "and this is why x happened" that sorta thing, that was hard to explain but hope some people understand!

brianthebard

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

I find the comparative a little confusing, not in the doing, (i mean, how tricky is it to say: The Crucible is set in 1692 Salem... etcetera) but more in the.. why on earth is it relevant to compare three almost entirely different texts?

Also, I don't like Rich. Okay, Trying to Talk to a Man is excellent, but for the most part, she seems to be incapable of writing about issues that aren't to do with feminism.

And, from what I've heard, Macbeth > Othello. Alas.

Its not immediately apparent at leaving cert level, but compartive studies is one of the most important aspects of English studies. It allows you to go deeper into themes and issues, cultural aspects, meta narratives, movements, general criticism and lots of other things that will be essential if you continue english or need to be able to compare two texts properly (not confined to studying english). Also, you can't say Macbeth is better than Othello or vice versa, it doesn't work like that.

paddy007

king-stew wrote: »

didnt really like the subject but knew how to do it, got a b1 in higher and that was 4 years ago so all i remember is describe EVERYTHING, like make the cat become the jolly fat cat or somethin stupid like that and on the questions, stay on topic!!! like if they ask a question, emphasise your thinkin about the question in every paragraph, ie say "and this is why x happened" that sorta thing, that was hard to explain but hope some people understand!

Thanks for the tip!!

PurpleFistMixer

brianthebard wrote: »

Also, you can't say Macbeth is better than Othello or vice versa, it doesn't work like that.

But Macbeth has witches.

1huge1

Well im sure few people have done them both, but as much as I like english I sure do hate Othello

brianthebard

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

But Macbeth has witches.

Aw dude I totally forgot!!! Macbeth owns Othello./

lilmissprincess

I was in a production of Macbeth so i was praying we'd get it...*jumps around with happiness*...I like the novel its ok("The Secret Life of Bees"), but i hate my teacher, she's not exactly brilliant.....she has poetry answers from six weeks ago still to be corrected...

phasers

regob wrote: »

wat are you doing

right now it's poetry, which is probably one of my least favourite things ever

EamonnKeane

Pfft. 4ish for the personal essay, with biggish writing. Everything else at least 3.

I did 7 for the essay, 5 for everything else, but I don't know if that'd be necessary for an A1.

Piste

The secret life of Bees is a very good book, but a little too "to kill a mockingbird"-esque for my liking, racism gets terribly boring after a while. So I;m glad our English teacher has picked the Life of Pi for us to do, I read that a few years ago, it's a great book.

ZorbaTehZ

Piste wrote: »

racism gets terribly boring after a while

LMAO.

PurpleFistMixer

Piste you know that ain't true.

(Though after doing Roll of Thunder... and then To Kill a Mockingbird, one can tire of that particular theme.)

Crania

Single Text: The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Absolutely loved it, thought it was a great play. We read the book, went to see the play live in the Abbey in May and watched the movie. Always had an interest in this period in American history and this play only increased it.

Comparative Texts:
As you Like It-Shakespeare. Didn't particularly like it but then I don't enjoy Shakespeare.
The Remains of the Day-Kazuo Ishiguro. While most people in the class didn't like it, I quite enjoyed it. Nothing actually really happens in it, which is probably why most of the guys in my class didn't like it-no sex, drugs or violence! But I just thought it was a nice story about a man reminiscing on his past. I think it's a nice change sometimes when there's no violence and things like that.
Strictly Ballroom-Baz Luhrmann. This was the movie we did, I hated it the first time I watched it. I thought it was silly, badly-made film with poor acting and a terrible storyline. But it was only when we started discussing it and analysing it that I began to realise that it was those very qualities that make it such a great film.

I really do enjoy English, love to read books and poetry and stuff. I wouldn't be the best at it, but I'm not too bad at it either. I have no trouble with the Single Text, Poetry and the Comprehension/Fuctional Writing. It's the essay and the Comparative that I have my troubles. With the essay, I tend to lack imaginative ideas. While with the Comparative I find it hard to link the three texts.

Nanaki

actually loving English, one of my best subjects atm!
heh, for my summer test I wrote two essays for the comparitive on The Poisonwood Bible, My Left Foot, and Philadelphia Here I Come.
Now, I stared out of the window for most of Philadelphia, and I've read 181 pages out of over 600 for The Poinsonwood Bible, and I still got 85% betwwn the two essays!!!!

straight_As

Antamojo wrote: »

Linguistics are not my strongest point but I'm stilling doing all honours
I'm more of a maths and science person

I think that the course isn't doing itself any justice
As my teacher says "I'm teaching a course, not English", which I think sums it up

All those quotations are held melting
And the fact that you have to write the essay about 7 pages long
They're expected us to write one A4 page in 12 mins!

One A4 page in 12 minutes, my JC teacher would be fuming.
For the JC, our teacher told us that we were expected to write at least 3 pages for each studied question on paper two. That's at least three pages in 22 minutes. I believe that works out at about 1 page every 7 mins 20 secs. On top of this, between 16 and 20 quotes were required for each section.
I heeded the warning and practiced writing VERY VERY fast.
In the exam I actually wrote over what my teacher had instructed for each section (16 pages for paper 1 and 18 pages for paper two). It worked out well. I think about a third of people in my class got an A in the exam.
Anyhow, the moto of the story is that if you put 1 A4 page in 12 minutes vs 1 A4 page in 7 minutes 20 seconds it doesn't seem that daunting.
(I do, however, realise that your A4 page will more than likely need to and be of a far higher quality than JC level)

JC 2K3

I got an A2 last year.

On Paper 1 my Comprehension Questions were about 2.5 pages, my Functional Writing was 2.25 pages and my Essay was about 4 pages.
On Paper 2 my Single Text answer was 3 and a bit pages, my Comparative was 2.5 pages and my Poetry answers were 1 and ~3 pages respectively.

It's about quality, not quantity, kids.

Randomness

JC 2K3 wrote: »

I got an A2 last year.

On Paper 1 my Comprehension Questions were about 2.5 pages, my Functional Writing was 2.25 pages and my Essay was about 4 pages.
On Paper 2 my Single Text answer was 3 and a bit pages, my Comparative was 2.5 pages and my Poetry answers were 1 and ~3 pages respectively.

It's about quality, not quantity, kids.

i got an A1 last year and i 100% agree with JC 2K3 above, please don't think you have to write 8 pages of an essay or something stupid like that.

Quality not quantity all the way:D

SligoBrewer

I don't mean to resurrect threads but my friend and I went to see Philadelphia, Here I Come on Wednesday night as we have it for our comparative and it's an absolute fantastic play when you see it live. I'd imagine that just reading it out would be boredom as there's so much movement and such and also the Public and Private characters of the main character is superb but different. Any other views on the play?

DmanDmythDledge

Don't really mind English, probably my weakest subject but have an amazing teacher so could scrape an A if I put in loads of work. Only thing I hate is the poetry- it's so boring. I found John Dunne very good though. Adrianne Rich is awful.

Anyone have any tips for the comparative question? I find it difficult to make any proper points as you keep having to switch between the texts every 6 lines.

SligoBrewer wrote: »

I don't mean to resurrect threads but my friend and I went to see Philadelphia, Here I Come on Wednesday night as we have it for our comparative and it's an absolute fantastic play when you see it live. I'd imagine that just reading it out would be boredom as there's so much movement and such and also the Public and Private characters of the main character is superb but different. Any other views on the play?

Was thinking about going to see it myself. Enjoyed doing it in class but I'd imagine it would be much better to get a feel of it by seeing the two Gars.

tabouli

DmanDmythDledge wrote: »

Was thinking about going to see it myself. Enjoyed doing it in class but I'd imagine it would be much better to get a feel of it by seeing the two Gars.

There's a film of it that we watched instead of going to the play. You could look that up if you can't get to it.

Also, is it usual to only do 6 out of 8 poets? I know that that's the minimum you have to do, but surely it'd be better to let the students pick which poets they want to study themselves?

PurpleFistMixer

We're not even touching Donne or Larkin. Of course one can do a poet in their own time, but the teacher I'd say, would prefer to do the most accessible six, as opposed to spending time discussing a poet that only a tiny number of people may like/understand.

JSK 252

At this moment of time through this english discussion, the exam papers are being fabricated and constructed.

Twill be me next year...

Acid_Violet

I love english, my favourite and probably my best subject, can't get enough of it! Only problem is I'll probably have a few problems in the exam as I tend to waffle and go into too much detail.

artanevilla

If you work hard it's not a problem to know most of the stuff you need, it's getting it all down on paper in time and without your hand falling off.

Davidius

I never cared for English. I find subjects like History and Physics to be at least 1000 times more interesting. I don't find it particularly hard but it's certainly tough to try to put some effort into the homework simply because it's just too damn mind numbing.

We're on Macbeth at the moment and I have to say, Shakespeare really wasn't the writer everybody says he was. =/