Junior Cert 2011: English Paper 2

Desire.

Wednesday June 8th
2:00pm - 4:30pm

All discussion and questions about English Paper 2 goes here!

Good luck everyone!

FatRat

Paper 1 is grand, no study involved, but paper 2!!!!

I got like 80% in paper 2 in the pres and about 70% in paper 1, but still I can't see myself doing well at all in it on wednesday, why is that?

Desire.

I am also freaked for paper two. I just hate all the studied stuff and I'm never going to get it finished in time!

Most dreaded paper by far!

Slow Show

I love paper 2 just not the idea of doing it two hours after paper 1...

Desire.

If you only had a few hours left to study for this, what would you advise doing?

Slow Show

Drama quotes you can use in any situation, questions are usually fairly versatile so if you study a relationship (and in doing that you nerd to focus on two characters so you're covering a character question too), a key scene and a theme. You don't need a huge amount of quotes according to my teacher, it just makes your answer look a lot better if they're relevant.

Poetry - do you have a poem that can fit most questions? I have The Lake Isle of Innisfree for that, but hopefully I can use one of my preferred poems. Have an idea of each poem, learn a few quotes from each and be aware of poetic devices - this part is very important, to do well in poetry you need to reference devices.

Fiction - I think fiction is lovely because they don't expect you to learn quotes. I hate my novel but I like the fiction section. You just need to know what happens in the novel. Similar to drama - relationship, characters, theme.

If I were you I'd spend an hour on each, maybe longer on poetry to revise devices. As for unseen stuff, carry on your knowledge from studied works, particularly in referencing poetic devices in your unseen poetry. Oh and when answering questions -Point, Reference, Explain, you cannot go wrong by it.

Haha, the irony if I get a B or lower in English after constantly telling you people what to do :L I'm so sorry if my advice turns out to be a failure, I sweat I wouldn't share it if it didn't work for me.

rainaa

^ thanks for posting thaaat!
haven't studied for english at all, so not bothered.
i got an a in my mocks without any study so i'm hoping that i can do okay in the actual thing

Desire.

Similar to paper one, I would like tips on timing here. This is the only exam I didn't finish in the Pre, and I would appreciate some advice.

Slow Show

45 minutes for each section, within that my teacher advised us to spend 20 minutes on unseen answers and 25 minutes on studied answer, I disagree though and spend about 25 on unseen and 20 on studied.

barnicles

Desire. wrote: »

Similar to paper one, I would like tips on timing here. This is the only exam I didn't finish in the Pre, and I would appreciate some advice.

My English teacher advised us to spend 23 minutes on each section and no more, it leaves you time to read over at the beginning and the end. Paper II is pretty hard when it comes to finishing it, I only barely got it finished in the pre.

rorrissey

Do you not need quotes for your studied novel? Because I'm doing Of Mice and Men and I find it hard to fit quotes from the book into my answers..

Desire.

rorrissey wrote: »

Do you not need quotes for your studied novel? Because I'm doing Of Mice and Men and I find it hard to fit quotes from the book into my answers..

You don't need them, but I guess it would be good to throw in a quote somewhere. Just learn off a general one.

"There's just one kind of folks. Folks" is going in my answer somewhere for To Kill a Mockingbird, I would imagine.

yellowsky169

Desire. wrote: »

You don't need them, but I guess it would be good to throw in a quote somewhere. Just learn off a general one.

"There's just one kind of folks. Folks" is going in my answer somewhere for To Kill a Mockingbird, I would imagine.

Don't forget that great Atticus quote "you never really understand a person until you see things from their point of view... until you climb into their skin and walk around in it"!! Fits everythng:)

scipsss

for a peace poem would 'the lake isle of inisfree ' be suitable ?

innovation.

Is anybody doing Midterm Break or Dulce et Decorum est? If you are do you have any last minute handy notes I could have? I already have loads but wouldn't mind a few Jew ones just to read at last minute.

Desire.

I know this is clutching at straws now, but if you got a question about love, could you possibly use Follower by Seamus Heaney and describe the love he had for his father?

Irishgirl123

does anyone have any notes on the road not taken by robert frost ? would be a great help

Legion.

Desire. wrote: »

I know this is clutching at straws now, but if you got a question about love, could you possibly use Follower by Seamus Heaney and describe the love he had for his father?

You could probably do that, but 'When you are old' by Yeats is probably better suited.

rorrissey

Are there any predictions for what poetry themes will come up? The only two poems I know well are Midterm Break by Heaney and Lake Isle of Inisfree by Yeats..

Desire.

Legion. wrote: »

You could probably do that, but 'When you are old' by Yeats is probably better suited.

Yeah, I have "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" or something like that, but I'm trying to narrow down what I need to know.

scipsss

timing is a serious problem for me

TheRedDevil10

Do u have to bring paper ?

Desire.

TheRedDevil10 wrote: »

Do u have to bring paper ?

No! :P

EmatoelDiablo

TheRedDevil10 wrote: »

Do u have to bring paper ?

After paying 100 quid I think it's kinda obvious it's included;)

Eoin_Sheehy

innovation. wrote: »

Is anybody doing Midterm Break or Dulce et Decorum est? If you are do you have any last minute handy notes I could have? I already have loads but wouldn't mind a few Jew ones just to read at last minute.

I've both


Mid-Term Break
Seamus Heaney
A personal first person account
His first personal experience of death, is relayed to us, the reader
Use if the word “I” throughout = personal

Stanza 1-2
A shocked sense of sadness surrounds these stages
Stanza 3-4
The young boy (the speaker) is sympathised with by neighbours
-he is almost forced to grow up
-he is almost treated as an adult and a support to his parents
Stanza 5
Highly emotional
-mixed emotions described


Stanza 6
Peaceful, calm feeling
-tender and intimate moment
Heaney wrote this poem as a reflection on the death of his infant brother.
The title has multiple meanings – literal meaning (school break) and metaphorical meaning (a break within the family).
Heaney brings the reader with him as he has to walk into his house, through the porch to meet his father, big Jim Evans, the baby in the pram, the old men and finally his mother.
There is a notable contrast between the way the mother and father react to their son’s death: the mother is angry, trying to restrain her emotions while the father is filled with tears, unable to control his emotions.
Heaney feels embarrassed; he was treated like an adult by old men standing to shake his hand.
In losing his four year old brother, Heaney also lost his own childhood innocence, as he discovered the brutal and harsh reality of life.
The effect of the isolated final line is to allow the reader to focus on the tragedy of the young boy’s death.
This poem has an overwhelming and powerful effect because the emotions are so understated and restrained.
Heaney describes only what he sees, not commenting, never letting any real feeling of his own reach the surface.
Heaney requests the reader to import the sorrow from themselves after reading this sorrowful, poignant poem.



Dulce Et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen
-The title is taken from an old Latin saying "How sweet and honourable it is to die for one's country", as quoted at the end of the poem.
-During WW2 it was considered deeply unpatriotic to criticise the war effort. Wilfred Owen, who witnessed a soldier dying, relives his death in a realistic manner. Owen uses this title in an unusual way. The entire poem disproves and undermines what the title suggests.
Theme: War, death as a consequence and the harsh reality surrounding it. Owen provided us with a realistic view of war, not an ideal view.
Stanza 1: -The soldiers are compared to "old beggars under sacks", "coughing like hags". This is an effective use of similes to highlight the appearance and unhealthy conditions the soldiers are forced to endure.
-An image of tired, worn-out and limping soldiers is presented in the following lines.
-We heard sounds of the battlefield through Owen's description of the "hoots of tired outstripped Five-Nines". However, the soldiers are "deaf" to such sounds because they have become accustomed to the battlefield.
Stanza 2: -Panic and confusion dominates this stanza. The soldiers struggle to put on their gas masks and helmets during a gas explosion. Owen creates a sense of panic through the use of language:"fumbling", "clumsy", "stumbling”, “floundering" and the outcry "Gas! Gas! Quick boys!”
-Unfortunately, one particular soldier fails to fit his gas mask on time. He yells out in desperation "like a man in fire or lime"
-Owen compares the green gas to "a green sea”. The soldiers find it difficult to see through the "misty panes and thick green light”. This soldier is "drowning" in this "green sea" inhaling toxic gas.
- The speaker in this poem endures terrible nightmares and feels helpless. Owen uses strong verbs to highlight the panic and indignity of dying on the battlefield: "plunges", "guttering", "choking", "drowning"
Stanza 3: - The speaker asks us to try to understand the grotesque aspect of war. In his "smothering dreams" he sees the dying soldier £flung" into a wagon. There is nothing sweet and honourable about the manner in which his body is treated. The soldier is at the point of death and Owen is haunted by the sight of his "white eyes writhing in his face".
- Owen continues to describe the sounds of this man dying, "the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs". This is a realistic depiction of a soldier dying.
- Owen uses two similes to highlight this "obscene" and ""bitter" moment of death.
- In the final lines Owen pleads to us in a passionate tone not to lie about the reality of war to those who are innocent and naive in their view of war.
Use of similes: 1."like old beggars under sacks"
2."Coughing like hags"
3."Floundering like a man in fire or lime"
4."As under a green sea"
5."His hanging face like a devil's sick of sin"
6."Obscenc as cancer"
7."Bitter as the cud of vile incurable sores on innocent tongues"
Sound Effects: 1. onomatopoeia (e.g. "trudge", "plunges", "guttering", "choking", "drowning")
- This sound effect is used in order to create a sense of war more vividly.
- Sounds of the battlefield and sounds of the soldier dying are conveyed through onomatopoeic words.
2. Use of exclamation marks and capital letters ("Gas! Gas! Quick Boys!)
- Adds to sense of panic/confusion
- emphasises
Title: -This poem has an interesting title, due to its Latin origin and because the poem itself actually disproves and undermines the title.
- Owen deliberately uses the first part of the old Latin saying - which translates as "How sweet and honourable it is”. This translation doesn't give us and explanation and we are forced to read the entire poem in order to lead of the whole Lain saying - "to die for one's country"
- A poet usually uses a title to reinforce the theme of the poem. However, in this case, the poet uses a title that actually contradicts the central message of the poem.

Louise6

everyone!! go onto juniorcertenglish.com
they have notes on everything!

Eoin_Sheehy

Louise6 wrote: »

everyone!! go onto juniorcertenglish.com
they have notes on everything!

The only section I need notes for is studied fiction and that's on the Lord Of The Flies, I did mine on Across The Barricades, pity.

innovation.

Slow Show wrote: »

Drama quotes you can use in any situation, questions are usually fairly versatile so if you study a relationship (and in doing that you nerd to focus on two characters so you're covering a character question too), a key scene and a theme. You don't need a huge amount of quotes according to my teacher, it just makes your answer look a lot better if they're relevant.

Poetry - do you have a poem that can fit most questions? I have The Lake Isle of Innisfree for that, but hopefully I can use one of my preferred poems. Have an idea of each poem, learn a few quotes from each and be aware of poetic devices - this part is very important, to do well in poetry you need to reference devices.

Fiction - I think fiction is lovely because they don't expect you to learn quotes. I hate my novel but I like the fiction section. You just need to know what happens in the novel. Similar to drama - relationship, characters, theme.

If I were you I'd spend an hour on each, maybe longer on poetry to revise devices. As for unseen stuff, carry on your knowledge from studied works, particularly in referencing poetic devices in your unseen poetry. Oh and when answering questions -Point, Reference, Explain, you cannot go wrong by it.

Haha, the irony if I get a B or lower in English after constantly telling you people what to do :L I'm so sorry if my advice turns out to be a failure, I sweat I wouldn't share it if it didn't work for me.

By 'devices' you mean poetic techniques right? Like alliteration, metaphors, assonance etc.

Slow Show

innovation. wrote: »

By 'devices' you mean poetic techniques right? Like alliteration, metaphors, assonance etc.

Yep.

innovation.

Louise6 wrote: »

everyone!! go onto juniorcertenglish.com
they have notes on everything!

Thanks for that. Really helpful for my poetry and last minute panicky revision.

TheRedDevil10

i'm ****ed, there is no way i will get the whole thing done :mad:

Desire.

TheRedDevil10 wrote: »

i'm ****ed, there is no way i will get the whole thing done :mad:

I agree. I hope I don't **** this paper up as I did a decent paper one.

jak/mar

I know this will sound really stupid but is anyone else going into this exam without having read the novel?
I have but a few lads in my class haven't
Just wondering if there's anyone else out there:pac:

Desire.

jak/mar wrote: »

I know this will sound really stupid but is anyone else going into this exam without having read the novel?
I have but a few lads in my class haven't
Just wondering if there's anyone else out there:pac:

I haven't read a good chunk of To Kill a Mockingbird.

I don't even own Romeo and Juliet.

cantanstrophe

jak/mar wrote: »

I know this will sound really stupid but is anyone else going into this exam without having read the novel?
I have but a few lads in my class haven't
Just wondering if there's anyone else out there:pac:

Like, ever? :O

jak/mar

Yeah theyre just going in with the quotes learned I think

Desire.

Quotes! Ah! I don't know any. I know two for the introduction of Romeo and Juliet but I wouldn't count them. I mean "star-cross'd" and "ancient grudge" are hardly hard to learn.

Then we have the classic: "There's just one kind of folks. Folks!"

That's it. As for poetry, eh, I'm ****ed. :rolleyes:

The Floyd p

Just in from paper 2.

The Other drama was quite easy.
The poetry was also very easy (just write about the loud, big words like heave and great elm)
The Bougainville one was a bit harder. I didn't really like the story and found it hard to write about.

Pov06

I found Paper 2 extremely hard.

The Unseen Poem was complete rubbish, although I did as someone say, use the big words... :mad:

TheRedDevil10

poetry as a whole was a complete disaster, was goin for an A in english but i'd say i got a C+

cantanstrophe

Fiction was absolutely awful. Only managed a page on the whole unseen fiction

innovation.

I went in thinking it would be a breeze. Disaster. All of the questions seemed really crap and weren't what I was hoping for. Really dissapointed in myself. I just couldn't think of anything and just started waffling on about unrelated crap! I was hoping for an A like I got in my mocks, I'd say I'll be happy if I even get a C. The unseen poem was the biggest load of sh1te ever I thought too.

ohdechertig

How did everyone get on? I'm not too sure how I got on, all I'm sure of was that the studied fiction section was a disaster.

Drama - I did good in the other drama, found it easy enough. The studied drama was a breeze, got almost 3 pages in on how Shylock was the villain of the play.

Poetry - The unseen was a bit dodgy.. But I think my answer on The Lake Isle of Innisfree was pretty solid!

Fiction - don't even go there.

Cakes.

The unseen poetry was a load of balls :pac:

I was really surprised with Paper 1 and the Drama Section on Paper 2

Everything else was shíte for me :pac:

cantanstrophe

ohdechertig wrote: »

Drama - I did good in the other drama, found it easy enough. The studied drama was a breeze, got almost 3 pages in on how Shylock was the villain of the play.

The Shakespearean Drama was awesome, got in a page and a half.
Studied Drama, again, amazing. 2 pages on Romeo being the hero (I was tempted to use Tybalt, but decided against it)

Poetry - The unseen was a bit dodgy.. But I think my answer on The Lake Isle of Innisfree was pretty solid!

Unseen was grand, I think, I mean, the poem was utter tripe, but the questions were easy enough. I answered on Innisfree too! Simples. 2 pages.

Fiction - don't even go there.

Me too

shadowninty

That poem was so hard :mad:
Rest was grand, but not enough time :L

scipsss

WORST EXAM EVER PAPER 2, GO **** YOURSELF AND DIE AND I HOPE YOU NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN THANKS !

innovation.

I'd actually say that Paper 2 was my worst ever exam. Nothing went right for me. Ahh well it's over with now, the JC is only a stepping stone for the LC. I've learnt my mistakes now and I'll be sure to never make the same mistakes again. Life is all about lessons and that sure was one lesson learnt now. :eek:;)

ohdechertig

So I think everyone can agree we don't give a ****e about Mrs Reece's laugh and how unusual it is?

TheRedDevil10

how does that woman laugh ??

left the poetry til last and didnt get finished, i'd estimate 20 marks out of 60

Legion.

Wrote a brilliant paper one tbh, think I could get an A for it, then paper two will drag me down to a B Think I could have done better on the unseen drama, fiction then my studied fiction wasnt great either. Thought my studied poetry was boss though .


Oh well, roll on Irish tomorrow. Is feidir linn!