Leaving Cert papers found challenging but fair
The higher level Leaving Certificate papers were challenging but fair, according to Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland English spokesperson Sheila Parsons. She felt that the morning paper did not have too extensive a choice in some questions but students probably found something to suit them and would have been glad to find two composition choices which allowed them to be humorous.
The afternoon paper might not have been as easy as it first seemed, she said. In the prescribed poetry section, for example, students were asked about poets they generally like but the questions were crafted to challenge students as they had to sit back and evaluate things.
Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) English spokesperson Alan Thompson said that Paper I which focused on the theme of change, would have suited most students although second parts of many questions on the text extracts may have been a bit daunting.
He said titles for the composition, worth 25% of total marks in English, were attractive and engaging, giving students a choice of showing their skills in a number of styles of writing.
Mr Thompson said students should have found no surprises in the second paper, particularly with a very manageable option question about the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the single text section where most students would have opted for Shakespeare.
He said there was nothing worrying in the comparative study questions which students often find difficult, while a nice range of poets was examined, including Sylvia Plath and John Montague.
The afternoon paper for ordinary level Leaving Certificate had nothing to surprise students, according to both English spokespersons. Mr Thompson said the single text was a good test on knowledge of themes and characters and although the unseen poetry section was a bit more challenging than expected, it contained nothing unmanageable.
He said the morning paper was fair and reasonable with nothing to fear and had a nice range of essays which students could engage with and express themselves.
Ms Parsons said the texts in Paper I yesterday morning — a passage on explorer Tom Crean and an Irish Examiner interview with athlete Derval O’Rourke — were interesting for students and should inspire them to be enthusiastic in their answering. She believed the essay choices were also interesting, and that students should have been happy with Paper II.
While the comparative study was quite predictable, Ms Parsons felt that the unseen poem — Pat Boran’s Driving Into History — was as hard as one would expect on a higher level paper. After that, however, she said students were asked questions about prescribed poems that most of them generally like.
The single paper faced by Junior Certificate English candidates yesterday was felt by Ms Parsons to have been challenging in many places, but it had a nice choice of essays. She was also impressed by the functional writing section in which students were asked to write a letter to a friend’s parents to apologise for dropping greasy chips on a couch and carpet.
TUI English spokesperson Bill Ryan said the paper was uncomplicated, with the only major quibble in relation to the question on media studies which asked students to do a lot of different tasks.
He said the poetry choice didn’t offer students a lot of scope while they had to read between the lines for answers to questions on the fiction extract.
An unseen poem entitled The Boy Who Nearly Won the TEXACO Art Competition was considered the most challenging aspect of the afternoon higher level Junior Certificate paper.
Ms Parsons said an extract from Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew was also difficult, but a fiction passage of a letter from a soldier should have relaxed students. She didn’t like an extract about science in the morning paper, but this was liked by Mr Ryan as were the straightforward questions which followed.
