Elementary start and web focus allows candidates to get creative

The 2014 Junior Certificate began with English papers at over 700 schools around the country yesterday morning.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) spokesman Fintan O’Mahony said Paper 1 for higher level students should have marked a good start for most, opening with a light-hearted article about the Sherlock Holmes TV series.

He considered composition choices uncomplicated, offering good opportunities for descriptive or creative writing. He was also glad to see a move towards the internet age in which students live with a school website article among the functional writing options, although he would like to have seen more engagement with youth culture in the media studies section than was found in a question about radio advertising.

Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) English subject spokesman Ollie Power felt the only possible difficulty that might have arisen in the first higher level exam was in the media studies section. He said some students might have been troubled by the use of two topics — radio and a review — which normally appear separately.

He said afternoon questions in Paper 2 about studied drama and studied fiction were mostly typical fare. But he felt that asking students about two poems with common themes might have been a more appropriate task for a Leaving Certificate question.

Mr O’Mahony said the first drama extract, from Shakespeare’s King John, was tough but the questions about it were fine. Conversely, he said, an extract from Tanika Gupta’s The Empress was considered easier, but it had harder questions.

The questions on studied poetry were considered the toughest in the afternoon exam. One asked about a poet who made an important observation about ordinary life, and another sought a comparison of poems with the same theme.

For ordinary level English students, Mr O’Mahony said a comprehension article and related questions about organ donation were a positive start on the single paper in the morning. He felt students were given scope to be creative with the personal writing options, and said questions on the poem Daddy Fell Into the Pond asked about things which ordinary level students would be familiar with such as mood and sound.

He was also pleased that there were references to the world of teenagers in an adapted extract from iBoy by Kevin Brooks.

Mr Power was also satisfied with what he considered a fine ordinary level English exam.

Mr O’Mahony said the foundation level paper was really good, with a poem and a fiction extract which he considered perfect for the level of students taking it, and he found no quibbles with the questions.