Leaving Cert Higher English helpppppppppppppp!

Overature

im doing leaving cert this year and need advice for the Higher English. Im to good for ordinary, but im failing higher. i need an honour in the exam.
can anybody help? links and stuff like that would be helpful. thanks

Piste

Do you know what your main problems are?


Is it that you're not writing enough? Do you run out of time?

Overature

i have enough time, its just no matter what i do i cant seem to get the quality of what i right to get any better. dont know what to do.

Piste

Could you ask your teacher exactly where it is that you're going wrong and how it could be improved, we havent seen anything you've written so can't judge, but your teacher might be able to be a bit more helpful.

Cokehead Mother

If you're failing higher level, and can't seem to improve your writing, what makes you so sure you're too good for ordinary level?

Why can't you do ordinary level exactly? Points? Course requirements?

I'm not saying you shouldn't do higher level or anything, I'm just curious.

Davidius

Yeah I'm not too great at English myself. My teacher says what I write is too incoherent.

I thought that was what you were supposed to do. Write a bunch of senseless crap. I'm lost here.

ryanj

the markers are told that for each section that you have to answer is in the form of a task that needs to be completed. for each answer/ task that you need to complete your answer is supposed to:

engage with the set task - aka answer the question; don't just write everything you have learned over your two years in LC - make an effort to answer the question
sustain your answering of the question over the entire answer - this means that you are consistently answering the question throughout your answer, and not just in a couple of places and then writing anything for the remainder of
your answer
have suitable management of language - this ranges from things such as using the correct language and register for your answer to suitable sentence length and paragraph structure for your answer
have suitable spelling and grammar

if you have these four qualities in each of your answers to a level the marker deems appropriate you will get an A1

K4t

Overature wrote: »

i have enough time, its just no matter what i do i cant seem to get the quality of what i right to get any better. dont know what to do.

write*

Start by using punctuation and proper grammar on the internet, instead of txt and msn talk. You could be losing marks for mechanics (spelling and grammar).

Go to your teacher after class and ask him/her where you are going wrong and how do you correct it.

grimreaper1001

Try writing as though you don't think poets are ******* ********

Imallin9989

Create an A1 short story and you can apply it for the day, learn off A1 standard poet essay and also the comparitive learn it off. I'm really bad at english but got an A1 from doing it this waylast year , im telling you, it works

KnifeWRENCH

grimreaper1001 wrote: »

Try writing as though you don't think poets are ******* ********

Ha, I know where you're coming from! :pac:

I absolutely detested WB Yeats and his "work", and if he came up on my exam I probably would have gone on a rant about how basically **** I think he and his poems were.
One of the bad things about LC English is that it's always risky to give your honest opinion - if the examiner has opposing views, they might try to mark you down. They're not supposed to do that, and I imagine most of them don't. But you could always end up with a really crabby examiner who'll be biased.

Luckily Sylvia Plath came up and Yeats didn't!

General advice OP - learning quotes from your poems and texts and including them in your answers does look impressive, but only if you use them in the right place. For instance, if you're studying Macbeth there's no point in regurgitating a load of quotes about the relationship between Macbeth and his wife if the question you're answering is about power/kingship.
Make sure all your quotes are used in the right context.

Practice answering the Comparitive study. Those questions can be quite tricky because you could end up rambling about one text and barely mentioning another. Make sure you give all of your texts a satisfactory mention.

As regards timing, it's a tricky one to manage. Coming up with a composition on the day of the exam is extremely challenging - you could spend ages just thinking about what you're going to write before you even begin. Do NOT fall into that trap - remember you've two comprehension questions (A & to answer on top of that.
Decide beforehand how much time you will spend on each question and stick to it. If you run out of time, move on. Don't spend ages on your essay and then realise you have barely any time to do your comprehensions.

You mentioned wanting to improve the quality of your writing - well the obvious answer to this is to read more! Also, look for sample answers to old exam questions. They'll give you a good idea on how to structure your answer.

And finally, for the love God, DO NOT answer A & B on the same text in Paper I. This apprently catches out good few students and it's such a silly way to lose marks. You should pick your question B first - all the A parts will be manageable but some of the B parts may not suit you.

ryanj

With regards to what square_igloo said about quotes, learn quotes off that can be used in a variety of situations - for example, try finding a quote that shows Macbeth's good/ bad qualities, Lady Macbeth's good/bad qualities and something about their relationship etc

daffy-duck

you should do a course in the institute of education. you'll get all the help you need there.

brianthebard

square_igloo wrote: »

Ha, I know where you're coming from! :pac:

I absolutely detested WB Yeats and his "work", and if he came up on my exam I probably would have gone on a rant about how basically **** I think he and his poems were.
One of the bad things about LC English is that it's always risky to give your honest opinion - if the examiner has opposing views, they might try to mark you down. They're not supposed to do that, and I imagine most of them don't. But you could always end up with a really crabby examiner who'll be biased.

That's generally untrue, the problem is people who write negatively about a poet have an argument that boils down to "I don't like his work, therefore he sucks. A pls!" Whereas if you gave a strong cogent argument, outlining what was wrong with his themes, form, style, politics, etc, you would get a good mark.

OP have you thought about grinds? Are you in leaving cert year or fifth? Where are you based?

decdec456

After getting an A at Junior Cert level and then going into 5th year and having a GOAT of a teacher and now in 6th with the miracle of her pregnancy and with the teacher who got me the A in the first place i feel incredibly half baked in LC English

Recently we did a Rich essay which i felt i would get a B2 or B1 one only to my pride's horror to get a C1, It was for a silly reason about not having a personal response but it still shook me as i covet nothing more than an A1 grade next august . . .

Here's to mcDonalds for me


and yes I read no replies on this i just saw "English HELP" lol

ryanj

I tell all my grinds/students to do well in LC English you need to be able to do two things:

1) be able to structure an answer for each section that includes the four qualities looked for by the marker
2) be able to manipulate and use the material you have studied for each section to answer the question - so for example the material you have studied for your poetry - lets say you focused on a certain poet's imagery, variety of themes, use of 'I' and elaborate language - you need to be able to answer any question that comes up using this material aka be able to use it to say why you like their poetry, to introduce their poetry to your classmates/in an article, to write to the poet etc

gaybitch

First off, if you find it really difficult and don't think you can manage it alone - get a grind. It's a load off your mind.

English requires you to answer the question, and show off. Don't be afraid to sound like a total sap - write in essays things you would never say to your friends, don't be afraid to use a wide vocabulary, and focus your mind on answering the question in the most coherent and eloquent way you possibly can. For composition and comprehesnion, show you have an idea what the examiner wants. Learn how to use appropriate register - who am I writing this for? Is it a diary entry? Use personal feelings. Is it a letter to a newspaper? Use appropriate format and language. For comprehensions, read the question again and again and don't veer from it.


For poets, make sure you learn at least five out of eight and learn them well. Have a basic idea of all of them but closer to the LC, focus on the poets you can connect to and identify with. This makes personal responses much easier - and in personal responses don't forget to say "I", "I", "I". In my opinion, my emotions, how it affected me... Link it back to the poet. Support your points with quotes. Use four poems for the bulk of the essay, and reference another two briefly. Practice writing these essays!

For your play, make sure you have a "close working knowledge" of the text. That basically means you have to know more quotes for this than anything else. Learn a few scene references to throw in, make sure you completely follow the plot, and get into the head of the characters. Read it, rent the film, look it up on the internet. Form your own opinion. Practice writing these essays!

For the comparative, less knowlegde is required. Maybe one or two quotes is all you need - if even. However, you must understand the types of questions you will be asked, whichever two your teacher has chosen. Keep comparing and contrasting. Weave the three texts in together. Keep answering the question over and over again, referencing key moments in the texts to support your ideas. Practice writing these essays!

Good luck. Don't drop to ordinary unless strongly advised by a teacher, because I'm sure you can do it!

brianthebard

decdec456 wrote: »

After getting an A at Junior Cert level and then going into 5th year and having a GOAT of a teacher and now in 6th with the miracle of her pregnancy and with the teacher who got me the A in the first place i feel incredibly half baked in LC English

Recently we did a Rich essay which i felt i would get a B2 or B1 one only to my pride's horror to get a C1, It was for a silly reason about not having a personal response but it still shook me as i covet nothing more than an A1 grade next august . . .

Not to be rude, but if you didn't give a personal response to a question which asked for it then its not a "silly reason", you failed to read and reply to the question adequately. You have to tailor answers to the questions specifications, what you did was similar to answering a comparative question that asked for three texts to be compared, and just using two. That would lose you a third of the marks straight away. Perhaps if you have time and your teacher will help you, you could do your answer again, this time in the form of a personal response, so you can see what marks you would get if you answered it properly.

kellyt25

i would really consider doing the week long revision course in the institute of education for english..the notes are brilliant i went from a C3 to an A1 in the space of a few months and i had a crap teacher so it was pretty much those notes and a bit of hard work that did it!!!
The notes for the poets are brill and then they give lots of examples of articles and short stories etc!!

KnifeWRENCH

brianthebard wrote: »

That's generally untrue, the problem is people who write negatively about a poet have an argument that boils down to "I don't like his work, therefore he sucks. A pls!" Whereas if you gave a strong cogent argument, outlining what was wrong with his themes, form, style, politics, etc, you would get a good mark.

OP have you thought about grinds? Are you in leaving cert year or fifth? Where are you based?

Oh I agree. If I just wrote "Yeats was shit." I obviously would not have received many marks!

I know in 9 out of 10 cases, a well structured answer will get your good answers. But there's always a small chance you'll get a very disagreeable examiner who'll mark you down anyway.

brianthebard

square_igloo wrote: »

Oh I agree. If I just wrote "Yeats was shit." I obviously would not have received many marks!

I know in 9 out of 10 cases, a well structured answer will get your good answers. But there's always a small chance you'll get a very disagreeable examiner who'll mark you down anyway.

If that was the case you could appeal. I really don't think it would happen in any case.

Overature

im in 6th year. ive looking in to grinds in the institute

silent_enemy

to be honest the best way to improve ur english is to read.
Newspapers, magazines, books, even advertisments, and listen to the news and radio. this will give u an idea of the different styles, expand ur vocabulary,and make writing come more naturally

Insect Overlord

silent_enemy wrote: »

To be honest, the best way to improve ur your eEnglish is to read.
Read newspapers, magazines, books, even advertisments, and listen to the news and radio. tThis will give u you an idea of the different styles of writing, expand ur your vocabulary and make writing come more naturally

:eek:
FYP

irishmonkey

Im doing eng grind in the institue, only been doing them for the past 3 weeks, but already have got loads done.
He goes through the poetry in much greater detail.
I already have a good english teacher, but im aiming for an A1, and currently getting B3s.

Also.. Does anyone have any notes or webistes on Derek Walcott?
Can't find anything anywhere!!

Overature

I got a C2 in honors in the end, thanks everybody for the help

randylonghorn

Well done!!