No major surprises or hitches in English papers
For the 52,000-plus Leaving Certificate students, more than five hours of writing was on the cards with papers for all candidates in the morning and afternoon.
Only those Junior Certificate candidates taking higher level English had two papers to endure, with just a morning exam for those doing ordinary and foundation level.
PJ Sheehy of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland said the higher level Leaving Certificate comprehension questions were quite fair and straightforward. His only real quibble was with an image related to the third text, which showed a girl whose face was painted blue, the significance of which might have caused problems for students.
Mr Sheehy was also unsure if students would see the relation between the task they were set about advertising and the images, which also included a masked swordsman, a boy in a fireman’s outfit and a diving footballer.
He said there was a reasonable choice of composition titles, although some might have been difficult to write three pages about.
However, any fans of Bono or Bob Geldof’s work would have had plenty of inspiration for a speech to deliver to world leaders on global problems.
For Paper II, Sheehy felt questions on Pride and Prejudice and King Lear were fairly straightforward, although part of a question seeking uplifting elements of Lear was challenging.
He said Junior Certificate students might have been better pleased with the easy questions on the unseen poem, The Toy Horse.
Teachers Union of Ireland’s (TUI) Michael Byrnes said all three Paper I comprehension texts were accessible and invited students to refer to their own opinions and experience.
“I couldn’t see anything that would have thrown them,” he said.
He said the composition titles reflected the paper’s pretence theme and were very accessible.
Byrnes felt the Paper II single text questions were fair and precise as students were invited to discuss their understanding of the text. In the comparative study section, he felt the questions sought their knowledge well and moved fluidly between texts, while there was plenty of range in the poetry questions.
At ordinary level Leaving Certificate Paper I, Byrnes described the use of an article by Transition Year students as shrewd because it connected students with peer experience of fear, a theme running through the paper. The other two pieces were about an alien invasion and the horror industry, and Byrnes said students were given plenty of scope to use their imagination in related questions.
He said the ordinary level compositions offered plenty of choice.
For higher level Junior Certificate English candidates, a picture of a dog with a wig was the suggested inspiration for one of the composition titles on Paper I.
While Sheehy felt it would allow students be witty and different, TUI spokesman Bill Ryan thought the picture would not really engage younger students. He felt the essay titles were poor overall and the comprehension piece about goldfish was long and boring.
Both commentators had concerns about the media studies section, with Sheehy highlighting the lack of choice. Questions were based on a close-up photo of an elderly man’s furrowed brow used in a ploughing championship poster, which Mr Ryan said had little content for students to write about or describe.
He felt the drama extracts in Paper II were difficult and lacked appeal although the questions based on them were student-friendly. Mr Ryan said the unseen poem, Van Gogh’s Yellow Chair, wasn’t great and described it as insipid.
The ordinary level Junior Cert paper was well laid out and similar to other years, according to Mr Sheehy. He praised the fact that the fiction piece related to students themselves, being based in a school, and that it was amusing.
Mr Ryan said the essay titles were very approachable on a paper in which some sections worked well but others didn’t. While the fiction and drama extracts were fine, he said the poem and media studies sections were poor.
He said the foundation level English paper was challenging, but interesting and well laid out.
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