How to approach leaving cert english (HL)?

fontdor

So yeah any tips on how to approach the unseen poetry the seen poetry the comprehension the essay and comparative studies?

0mega

For the comprehension, brainstorm many ideas for short stories and there's a chance that you'll be able to use it under one of the titles. Obviously don't write out a load of essays and learn them off, just if you have an idea for a short story, write out a few bullet points about it but leave it open enough that you could twist it to suit a title.

Unseen poetry - just be able to spot writing styles, poetic techniques, etc. and be confident in writing about them. This ones just down to practice really.

Studied poetry - Try and look at the different angles they can take on the poet, e.g. Wordsworth and the 'romantic style', plan answers through bullet points about how you would approach questions with these angles and which poems you would talk about, try and back up things you say with quotes and tie in your points with the themes and techniques.

The comparative is the section I personally find most difficult, as there's too much to write about and the questions tend to be quite broad leaving you unsure what to include and not to include. All I can say for this one is, keep referring to all your texts constantly throughout the answer. Don't split it up into the different texts, just keep juggling the three of them (or two, depending on what question you pick) and each time you make a point, try link it in with the three texts (and keep it brief, they don't want to know the full story, just the elements which you can compare and contrast).

Hope that helps, I'm not exactly qualified to be giving tips, but I do have a good English teacher.

Canard

fontdor wrote: »

So yeah any tips on how to approach the unseen poetry the seen poetry the comprehension the essay and comparative studies?

Comprehensions: Always pick your part B first, then find the next easiest part A. The A's are always easier than the B's - you don't want to do a part A only to discover your favourite part B was in the same question! A big point with the part A's is, on the 20 mark part, write FOUR points. Not three, or you'll be marked out of 15.

Unseen poetry: Generally the 10+10 questions are easier, but yeah we never did these in class and I got an embarrassing 13/20 in that so I won't say anything more. :P

Seen poetry: A big thing is that you can disagree with the question, though generally the idea is to agree. Just keep that in mind. Underline the key points in the question and think about where you've seen them - e.g. a Plath question might hint at "dramatic imagery" and "personal moments". What I always did, and always worked for me perfectly though I don't know many others who ever took this approach, was to analyse the 5 (or 4, or 6, whatever) poems completely. For example, you could look at Plath's poem Poppies in July for dramatic imagery, but I'd always write something like "in this poem, plath talks about little poppies, little hell flames" - you can drop quotes into your sentences anywhere if you know enough, even if theyre not related to dramatic imagery. Its a great way to fill up space and show that you know your stuff.

Comparative: I've never understood all the trouble around this one...firstly, I'd always advise the 30+40 questions. The questions are so broad that you can talk about anything. I know you guys dont have GV+V, so I'll try my best to talk about theme a bit. :P One theme question I remember was something like "A theme can open our eyes to harsh realities" I think? Some people would panic and think "oh no, mine doesnt do that!" or "mine doesnt do that very much!" but you just name the theme, point out how its seen (e.g. what scene), then say whether or not this opens our eyes to a harsh reality. It might or might not, it doesnt matter! Then at the end you draw a conclusion.

As for actually comparing them, with every point you make (e.g. we see the theme of x in Text 1 when Y says Z to their child...), compare it to another text - so the last example might continue with "This is reflected in Text 2 when Y2's parents tell him...". It's nothing too difficult.

Essay: Dunno how much help I can be here, I did the short story every single time I did an essay and I don't know if you'd like those. They're so easy though, if you have any flair for writing you can learn off emotive / lovely descriptive phrases and just drop them in to fill up space, worked absolutely fine for me. :pac:

Feel free to PM me if you need any other help, I love helping. :P

dmca93

One rule and one rule alone brought me from a high C/low B student to an A2 in the Leaving Cert - constantly refer back to the question and link it to your answer. That alone will ensure you a decent grade.

doogybag

Canard wrote: »

Comprehensions: Always pick your part B first, then find the next easiest part A. The A's are always easier than the B's - you don't want to do a part A only to discover your favourite part B was in the same question! A big point with the part A's is, on the 20 mark part, write FOUR points. Not three, or you'll be marked out of 15.

Unseen poetry: Generally the 10+10 questions are easier, but yeah we never did these in class and I got an embarrassing 13/20 in that so I won't say anything more. :P

Seen poetry: A big thing is that you can disagree with the question, though generally the idea is to agree. Just keep that in mind. Underline the key points in the question and think about where you've seen them - e.g. a Plath question might hint at "dramatic imagery" and "personal moments". What I always did, and always worked for me perfectly though I don't know many others who ever took this approach, was to analyse the 5 (or 4, or 6, whatever) poems completely. For example, you could look at Plath's poem Poppies in July for dramatic imagery, but I'd always write something like "in this poem, plath talks about little poppies, little hell flames" - you can drop quotes into your sentences anywhere if you know enough, even if theyre not related to dramatic imagery. Its a great way to fill up space and show that you know your stuff.

Comparative: I've never understood all the trouble around this one...firstly, I'd always advise the 30+40 questions. The questions are so broad that you can talk about anything. I know you guys dont have GV+V, so I'll try my best to talk about theme a bit. :P One theme question I remember was something like "A theme can open our eyes to harsh realities" I think? Some people would panic and think "oh no, mine doesnt do that!" or "mine doesnt do that very much!" but you just name the theme, point out how its seen (e.g. what scene), then say whether or not this opens our eyes to a harsh reality. It might or might not, it doesnt matter! Then at the end you draw a conclusion.

As for actually comparing them, with every point you make (e.g. we see the theme of x in Text 1 when Y says Z to their child...), compare it to another text - so the last example might continue with "This is reflected in Text 2 when Y2's parents tell him...". It's nothing too difficult.

Essay: Dunno how much help I can be here, I did the short story every single time I did an essay and I don't know if you'd like those. They're so easy though, if you have any flair for writing you can learn off emotive / lovely descriptive phrases and just drop them in to fill up space, worked absolutely fine for me. :pac:

Feel free to PM me if you need any other help, I love helping. :P

hi could you send me sample essays you have please?