Leaving Cert English Paper Two
Shahed - Higher Level
The dreaded English Paper 2, where the questions are either awful or a blessing. Thankfully, the general consensus this year is that it was a nice paper throughout!I opened the paper and quickly read the questions. When I saw the poetry section, I nearly screamed with joy. Thank you, SEC!!For the Single Text, I answered the question about Macbeth's relationships and how they can be seen as power struggles. This was a pretty straightforward question with a lot of leeway for answers, as you could include literally any of the other characters in the play. It was a nice start!For the Comparative Study, I answered the Cultural Context question relating to difficulties that the characters face and how they respond to them. This took some thinking, but once I got into it, it was quite simple.Next was Poetry, the section that everyone dreaded. I turned the page and who was there but Seamus Heaney, yet again! Only this time, for the Unseen Poetry questions, which related to what the meaning of the poem was and two of your favourite images or else to give your personal response.The Prescribed Poetry section was a miracle. Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath both came up, as did William Butler Yeats and Philip Larkin. Despite the fact that this section is worth the least amount of marks, it's certainly the hardest and the one worried about the most. The poets were all what everyone hoped for and the questions were straightforward. I answered about Plath's language and theme.With one subject down, I now have six left to go. Time to tackle some maths!
Nicole - Higher Level
Hi everyone!First off I should say (and this will say a lot about my personality) that I only realised today through no one's fault but my own that I WAS blogging English. So apologies there.So onto the papers. Well I'll say this first because we're all thinking it: HEANEYYYYYY!!! *shakes fist at the sky*Where were you where we needed you? All my very brilliant English teachers in my school and heck, every teacher in the country was counting on him to come up. And he did!...in the comprehension and unseen poem. Err I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say this, that's not what we meant exam makers!Though I must be honest, it was not a tragedy for me as it was for some as I was counting on my gurl Emily Dickinson all the way (see my bio) but still. Cheek.So Paper 1 went alright didn't it? It's nice I think how we have an exam that doesn't require studying (unless you're hardcore) on our first day. I went straight to the back page once the clock hit 9:30 and checked out the titles for the composing sections. I had decided previously that personal essays and speeches were just not for me. Unless I can rant about something I truly am passionate about, I'm pretty useless with them. The title I ended up choosing (and quickly so, though we are warned about not reading the paper properly, lets face it nobody wants to dawdle around) was the ghost themed story. Once that was picked I quickly scanned the rest of the paper (taking a second to appreciate the irony of Heaney showing up in Paper 1) and I went straight into Question A. I chose Text 1 (as did most of my year I found out later) and went straight to work. For some reason I do this thing where I write absolutely loads for the first question of whatever exam I do, and this was no exception. I must have spent over an hour on those silly comprehension questions! Question B I chose from Text 2, a speech on positive and negative influences in young peoples lives. I started writing and I somehow twisted it around to suit myself and made it really about looking out for abusive relationships, that the ones we most love could be the most harmful. Pretty heavy stuff but I was pleased enough. And then my story. Well my story was implying that my character was just after dealing with someone dying but their memory still haunting them. And let me tell you readers, I thought I was the STUFF writing it "Aw yeah this is going to be GREAT!" I was thinking to myself. And of course I was punished for my arrogance when I read over it as it was...well I was alright I guess. In summation I think Paper 1 was grand. Really, to be honest I have no idea whether it went really well or bad, but by talking to others I can safely say I'm not alone in feeling that way.Now Paper 2. How lovely was it to start at 2:00pm? I had attempted to studying yesterday but I only succeeded in organising my notes, watching a John Green live show and giggling to myself at the always fantastic Leaving Cert memes that surface this time of the year (the Seamus Heaney ones; oh LORD people will not let that go anytime soon). So I tried again this morning with about 50 million pages in my hands, reading them over and over and over and so on and just hoped while I could not feel it, that SOMETHING was going into my head.When the exam started at 2, I think I was in shock because everything I was reading just didn't seem to be reaching the part of my brain that y'know, comprehends anything. "Huh?" I was saying, having to read over and over, until I could finally focus. Everyone dashed to the last page to see who the poets where and thank god, the woman herself, Emily Dickinson was there. I was also doing 'Macbeth', and for my comparison essay my chosen texts were 'Wuthering Heights', 'Sive' and 'Casablanca'.The first thing I did was my comparison section, which was on the cultural context because I could never throughout the two years of the Senior Cycle comprehend the order and structure of an essay like that. I caaaaaaaaaan't flip back and forth between texts without getting very confused and structurally diabolical so I literally needed to learn off the order of what I was going to say. Again I spent a good hour or so on it and it was by far my longest piece in the exam (which is fine by me, its a good load of marks).I had to note how the people in the texts reflected the society so I tried by best by mostly repeating the sentence "This is shows how ___ was a reflection of this culture".Then I did 'Macbeth', which everyone thought would be about Lady Macbeth but alas, was not. I find in essays like this, just be really strong in opinion. Say things like "I would argue that..." "Some critics say..." heck even if the critics you are referring to are make believe, it sounds a lot stronger, like you are certain of what you are talking about. Then I went onto poetry which, for future Leaving Cert students I have to say to you, try not to stress about too much because it's not even the biggest part of the exam. But every year people stress (with good reason, don't get me wrong) about this section and you're just going to make things feel a lot worse for yourself. My poetry essay I found out was a lot shorter than what my friends were saying their's was, but even then there is no point on stressing about it now, its over! Lets celebrate! When I finished my unseen, I literally exhaled like the way you would after taking a gulp of a cold fizzy drink "Ahhhhh!" partly because my hand had been killing me and could finally rest, partly because I'd needed to go to the bathroom for over and hour but was too afraid to leave and waste time, but mostly, MOSTLY because I was DONE.Thanks for reading!
Please note: blog post reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.
ISSU Supports Bring Back Our Girls Campaign
The ISSU have fully endorsed the #bringbackourgirls campaign. We believe everyone is entitled to an education regardless of their ethnicity, religion or gender, and we are horrified at the recent events in Nigeria where girls were kidnapped for availing of their right to an education.We wish to express our sorrow to the parents and friends of the abducted girls, and will do our best to support the campaign to get them back safe and sound. Craig McHughISSU President
Junior Cert Metalwork
Mark - Higher Level
Ah, the last exam for me. Well I wasn't at all stressed about this exam, its an easy exam. And of course there are the practical's done previously which make up most of the marks. Q 1 is compulsory for everyone to answer but then you get a choice of various questions and pick 3. I uncreatively decided to do Q2, Q3 and you've guessed it, Q 4. although they were the easiest for me. Well I was so glad that the blast furnace came up. And as per usual there wasn't any issues with the paper. So at last its all over. Freedom!!! :) Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Leaving Cert History
Sheila - Higher Level
Well that was an intense 2hours and 50minutes. I was so nervous for history today it was the subject I was praying the right questions came up and I was having visions of going in and not being able to answer a thing. On top of that I got caught in traffic and got into the hall at 3 minutes to 2. Any way, The document question as hoped and expected was Katanga and I'm sure it was such a relief not seeing Race Relations on the paper. The cartoon was easily deciphered and the questions were all manageable. I did struggle with the strengths and weaknesses of a visual document but overall it was good and the context of the question was easy. Then Northern Ireland, I chose the Welfare State. Thank god I had looked over it well because I would have struggled with the other questions in that section as Sunningdale did not make an appearance. For Topic 3 I chose the De Valera question which I assume is what a lot of people did ? I found it okay and was happy with the essay in the end. I don't do Dictatorship and Democracy like most , we studied America and the questions were challenging. Everyone was banking on the moon landing McCarthyism and maybe Detente none of which made an appearance. The normal standard Johnson was teamed with Truman this year which will have definitely have thrown people off. I chose that one as the best of a bad lot. I'd love to know what other people thought because some friends of mine thought it was awful and others said it was great. What do you all think ? Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.
Irish Second-Level Students' Union Welcomes Action Plan on Bullying
The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) welcomes the Government’s “Action Plan on Bullying”, which was launched in the Department of Education today. The ISSU has been strongly involved in developing this plan, with Equality Officer Mark Caffrey sitting on the Anti-Bullying Working Group which helped to develop it, and he is looking forward to its full implementation. ISSU Equality Officer, Mark Caffrey said; ‘Bullying is something which we know affects our students hugely – around one quarter of students are likely to have experienced some form of bullying in the past couple of months, and I’m delighted that an action plan to tackle this head on has been launched today. Bullying is a serious problem, so it needs to be taken seriously. ‘Schools need to be given the necessary supports in order to manage and prevent bullying in all forms, and we need to make sure that parents are aware of the role they can plan in both preventing bullying, and intervening in an appropriate way where it is occurring. Tackling homophobic bullying and cyber bullying are key focuses of this action plan, and we look forward to working with other partners to see it implemented’. ISSU President, Dylan Grace said; ‘Bullying can have very serious consequences and it’s important that everyone involved in education play their part in stopping bullying. The Action Plan on Bullying is very thorough in its approach and recommendations, and I am very encouraged by the commitment shown by the Department of Education and Skills and our other education partners in tackling the scourge of bullying in our schools’. The Action Plan is available here.
Junior Cert Science
Clara - Higher Level
I was convinced this was gonna be a fail - it was my last exam (yay!) so all I was focusing on this morning was the sweetness freedom would bring. I couldn't wait for those two hours of my life to be over! I just had one hurdle left-scienceIt was a pretty fair paper to be honest-with some remarkably easy questions. I mean two safety precautions in the lab? They're throwing marks at you with that one!Biology: This section was probably my second best section after chemistry - I found the questions unsurprising, they seemed to be similar in format to previous years. The question on food at the very start (the one with the eggs) was a nice way to warm up and I was delighted to see no trace of ecology! Not even the breathing system. The only thing that was unusual about this section was the question on the kidneys. This was odd - I'd never say a question asked in this way before, they rarely give a list and ask for functions of parts. Thankfully I knew them! The experiment was also a challenge for me - I had really disliked that particular one!Chemistry: This section was by far the easiest in my opinion. The same basic idea as biology ie. mainly some pretty basic questions (the one about safety precautions was in this section for example) and the a few toughies to keep you going.Physics: This was the most challenging part of the paper and I think most people will agree with my there but to be perfectly honest it wasn't overly stressful. There was one stupid little question that I was just puzzling over for 15 minutes at the end but eventually I came to some sort of a logical conclusion and answered it-not sure how correct it was but!Anyway, overall not too bad a paper. With a decent knowledge of science and some common sense (combined with the 30-ish percent we already have!) everyone's a winner and has passed so not much to worry about. Now, excuse me while I go burn my books. State exams and FINALLY over for me - out for good! Good luck to everyone with the remaining exams. Viel glück (hope that's right) to everyone doing German in the morning, all those in religion later, home-ec kids and everyone with exams next week too. Soldier on with pride and knowledge!
Jack - Higher Level
My final exam!So, I went straight through Biology. There was nothing unexpected in this. Some questions caught me but over all it was okay.Next came Chemistry. Not my strongest part of Science. I managed, though.Last came physics. No calculations this year. A bit odd. Overall, Physics was grand. Some confusing questions, tho.Overall, Science was a good paper. No surprises on the Paper! It was manageable and fair.Now, SUMMER!!
Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.