Leaving Cert English

animalcrazy

Hey everyone,
I'm in 4th year/5th year what ever you call it in your school
So I got a B in my JC last year and I'm in an honours English class, I want to stay doing honours but I'm finding it really hard. In my last test I only got 50% and we got a comprehension today and I can't even answer question three because I haven't a clue

Soooo...for those who are doing their leaving cert this year, did you find it hard for awhile? did you end up having to do pass? If you found it hard, did it get easier? Or did you find it easy straight away?

Thanks

K4t

Do some extra study for English and see how you get on.

Failing that, have a talk with your teacher and get his/her advice.

To be honest, honours English is really just a piece of piss at the end of the day. Everybody gets at least a C with a bit of work for the last few months of 6th year. Do not despair now in TY ffs!

animalcrazy

I'm not in Ty

fkt

Well if I couldn't differ between the number four and five I wouldn't be doing honours anything.

Seriously though, I don't understand how you don't have a clue in a comprehension? You have the whole thing in front of you. I'll make a wild suggestion and say read what's written before the questions. If you can't answer the question then, I'd be slightly concerned.

fkt

Johnny Giles wrote: »

Sunday?

Yep, today's Sunday.

We're struggling with numbers and days of the week here, very worrying.

Lawliet

fkt wrote: »

Well if I couldn't differ between the number four and five I wouldn't be doing honours anything.

In some schools TY is optional and forth year is the start of the leaving cert course.I'm assuming in the OP's school this is the case, but realising that in school schools forth year is TY, they put down 4th/5th year to clarify that they were not in TY.

But apparently this is too confusing. :rolleyes:

Anyway @OP: Don't worry about it at this stage, very few people can come up with brilliant comprehension answers this early. My best advise is to read over the question highlight the key words and then read through the passage again with the question in mind and then attempt to answer it. Just write something down, it's better than leaving it blank and you can always ask your teacher for constructive criticism.
The only way to improve at English is to just keep practising, you'll get there eventually.

MaggieNF

i got a D in junior cert english, got put in higher level, still there


it was really hard at first like with poetry and comprehensions, didn't get them at all, but i am sticking at it, and its getting easier, spose have to see what happens in june but yah stick at it

implausible

fkt wrote: »

Well if I couldn't differ between the number four and five I wouldn't be doing honours anything.

If I couldn't 'differ' between good and bad grammar, I wouldn't be posting and criticising someone else because I don't realise that not every school is the same as mine:rolleyes:

OP, 50% is nothing to worry about, you've only started the course and you hardly expect A1s from the start, do you?

Comprehensions take practice, you'll get used of them. Try to figure out what exactly the question is looking for-your opinion, style, a summary of the piece. Often question 3 is asking about style i.e. what techniques is the writer using - personal point of view, humour, fact, statistics, anecdotes, description? This question may be phrased as 'did you find this piece interesting/entertaining/effective/well-written?' or 'comment on the writer's style/technique'.

laura93

I'm in 6th year atm, and while we haven't done tons of comprehensions, we've done enough to understand what is expected in the answer
What my teacher always says is always try to make 3 points per answer. For example, if the question asks you what the relationship between the narrator and their parents is, try to find 3 examples that illustrates their relationship. I remember doing a question similar to that and one of the points was that the parents trusted the author. I explained this and backed it up with a few quotes.
If you're struggling to find 3 points, look up marking schemes as these will really help you out. Do not depend on them though, cause you won't benefit then!

irish-anabel

Definitely nothing to worry about.
Comprehensions can seem like the easiest thing ever but when I look back on the ones I answered at the start of 5th I realise that I was answering them totally wrong. They just take practice and when you do more you'll realise what the question is actually looking for.
Also in my opinion, maybe this isnt true for everyone but I don't think tha the junior cert is a massively trustworhy indicator of your ability. In my class there are 2 groups, those who did the JC in 2007 and those who did it in 2008 and the difference in standard is unbelievable with some people because they were marked so differently.
Another thing, your teacher might just be encouraging you to work harder, they're cruel like that sometimes!

animalcrazy

fkt wrote: »

Yep, today's Sunday.

We're struggling with numbers and days of the week here, very worrying.

Well if I couldn't differ between the number four and five I wouldn't be doing honours anything.

Seriously though, I don't understand how you don't have a clue in a comprehension? You have the whole thing in front of you. I'll make a wild suggestion and say read what's written before the questions. If you can't answer the question then, I'd be slightly concerned.

Reported

Thanks to all who gave proper advice, I ment to say I was doing the comprehension today and we got it Friday :rolleyes:

The question was a bit tricky, I wrote a paragraph, I just couldn't write anything, don't really see the point of handing her up gibberish so I think I'll just say it to her tomorrow and see what she says.

randylonghorn

fkt wrote: »

Well if I couldn't differ between the number four and five I wouldn't be doing honours anything.

fkt wrote: »

Yep, today's Sunday.

We're struggling with numbers and days of the week here, very worrying.

Not every school has TY.

Get off your high horse.


Let's keep it civil, folks, please.

Piste

OP: Don't worry too much about it, there is a bit of a leap in between JC and LC English. There's a knack to comprehensions if you can figure it out. Read the questions through before you read the comprehension so you have them in mind when you read the piece. After reading the piece through the first time take each question one by one.

If you're having difficulty with a particular comprehension post it up here and we'll be happy to help you. If you're not doing many comprehensions in class your teacher might be willing to answer any you do in your own time, so you can get used to how you answer them and getting the timing right.

Aoifums

My teacher said not to worry about marks at the start of 5th year. She's marking by LC standards and she doesn't realistically expect anyone to get an A this early in the year.

How many comprehensions have you done? I find that the more you do, the easier they get.

Slow Show

fkt wrote: »

Well if I couldn't differ between the number four and five I wouldn't be doing honours anything.

That's ignorant. Some schools call TY TY and afterwards 4th and 5th year, like mine.
Sorry if it's a bit off-topic now, I just found that very irritating.

highlydebased

English is not all about studying- alot of it is to do with your own opinion on texts, what you think yourself, and your own response to questions.

Most of the course is reletively easy- its important to try relate to the material- for poetry and the comparitive this is easy enough, easier than you think!

There are new things- the comparitive, Shakespeare if you did not study in him in Junior Cert.

Stick at it and dont throw in the towel now.

blackbetty69

yeah the only thing u need to remembr is to always include 3 points in your answer.. if u can get 3 valid points, and back them up with direct quotation or reference to the text ul be flyin it

donam321

anyone any notes on longley, kavanagh and yeats??