The Run Up

Suaimhneach

This last week before it all begins. Does everyone have a plan laid out?

For english I have an essay on most poets done. Finishing Plath now. Comparitive done under a few modes. Want to get one or two more done.

For Irish, I'm not worried, I'm lucky enough to be fluent.

For French, I'm just gonna memorise sayings, try to comprehend the basics of the grammer and pray I make it through.

Maths, Studying from past exam papers and grinds with mates. Then revision with the same mates. Have most of it down.

Art, learning that in the 4 day gap between exams. I know most of it anyway, art history is easy enough.

Business, revise and memorise. I know it, just need to remember it.

Anyone have any tips or recommendations for studying?

subway_ie

Any chance of scanning your english poetry/comparative? I've never actually done a "proper" one yet, can't find sample answers anywhere (for poetry more than comparative). Really not looking forward to english. I'm thinking about maybe making a few essay plans for the usual environment, youth, techology, government, europe, poverty/3rd world, capitalism and maybe one or two more, just some rough preparation.

Suaimhneach

I just did a Plath question you can have.

My comparive might be diffrent you yours. What are you studying?

subway_ie

I'm going to concentrate on Dickinson, Mahon and Hopkins for poetry. My comparative is Of Mice and Men, Things Fall Apart and Macbeth. It's not so much the texts I'm looking for, just the style of the answer: how you go about actually comparing them in the answer. My comparative choice is a bit unusual, so I doubt anybody else has the same.

Isn't Plath fairly unlikely this year?

I hope you had the text of the poem when you were doing hat question... so many bloody quotations. I only know the first two lines of every poem, and maybe the last line. I'm so screwed.

Suaimhneach

Macbeth is my single text. That means I can't use it in my comparitive.

Are you doing pass or honours?

I'm doing OMAM as well, I'll get one of my comparitives and scan it tonight when I get back from grinds.

There is NO pattern for english! NONE! And if anything, the guy who does my grinds who works in the education board where they write up the exams said that Plath and Kavanagh look promising. I'm not taking any chances.

subway_ie

Well, isn't it Kavanaghs centenarary this year? It's also Mahons last year on the course. So right now I'm doing Dickinson, Mahon, Frost, Wordsworth, Hopkins, so I should be OK with whatever comes up (hoping for Dickinson though).
I'm doing honours - with the workrate of somebody doing pass. We had a really intelligent teacher; he just wasn't so good at the old teaching aspects.
Silas Marner's my single text: I'm just trying to read it for the third time. Everytime time I try to read it, it literally puts me to sleep after 2 chapters. It's not that bad of a book really.
Again, I reiterate my screwed status: I'm screwed.

Suaimhneach

I'm doin Plath, Dickinson, Kavanagh, Mahon, Heaney and Frost just to be sure.

Have a question on all of them except Frost as I'm doin him this week in school!

There is no pattern! Really, I went to lectures of people in UCD and the dude from girnds. NO PATTERN.

Hoping for one of the women. Would be screwed if Mahon and Frost came up. They'd be my weakest.

DS

Why does Plath look promising, pray tell? She was up last year.

I'm doing Dicko, Mahon, and Kavanagh (claim to fame: granny went out with him)

On a purely statistical level there's only a 1 in 14 chance of being caught out. To **** me over they'd have to repeat 2 poets (unlikely to do that one twice, the bastards) and put on Hopkins and Wordsworth. Poetry in my class is basically a competition to see who can get away with doing the least poets, purely because very few people have done any work all year, thanks to our oh so laid back teacher. I'm pretty badly off for English. I bull**** you not when I say the only actual written work I have produced in English all year was in the mock. At this stage I'm just concentrating on doing bullet points. But hell, I've got 6 subjects I'm way better off in and that aren't such **** for punishing you if you don't do the work. I do like English, shame I let it crash and burn.

Mutant_Fruit

Kavanagh and mahon.Then i'll be praying that they come up...

subway_ie

Originally posted by Discharger Snake
I bull**** you not when I say the only actual written work I have produced in English all year was in the mock. At this stage I'm just concentrating on doing bullet points. But hell, I've got 6 subjects I'm way better off in and that aren't such **** for punishing you if you don't do the work. I do like English, shame I let it crash and burn.

Sounds eerily familiar....

Suaimhneach

How can anyone do that??

I'm terrified someone I won't know will come up!! And I have four done well!!

DS

Imagine the feeling you'd get just turning the page onto Poetry..... and not finding your poets. *shudder*

*contemplates doing a 4th*

subway_ie

Originally posted by Discharger Snake
Imagine the feeling you'd get just turning the page onto Poetry..... and not finding your poets. *shudder*

*contemplates doing a 4th*

*contemplates doing a 6th*

claire h

A *plan*?

Eeep.

>>It's not so much the texts I'm looking for, just the style of the answer: how you go about actually comparing them in the answer. <<

Just use a lot of phrases like "this echoes Character X's whatever...", "this is in sharp contrast to...", "Character X is... whereas Character Y is..." to link up the points you're making about each text. Opening/closing paragraphs can have something about theme/cultural context/genre, whichever essay it is, and how understanding these is an important aspect in understanding and appreciating a text.

Poetry is even more straightforward. Opening paragraph: Why Poet Is So Great, perhaps some background information. Middle paragraphs: analysis of poems, linking back to the title of the essay at some stage in each paragraph. Closing paragraph: Why Poet Is So Great in slightly different words and perhaps a quote from some critic about the poet, with reference to the title of the essay again. Sound enthusiastic and poetry-loving, too, it can't hurt.

subway_ie

Originally posted by claire h
Sound enthusiastic and poetry-loving, too, it can't hurt.

Oh, ok. So lie basically. Anybody else noticed the distinct lack of decent online leaving cert notes (apart from Skooo.ie), especially for english?

Funky

Dickinson, Plath and Kavanagh are where its at.

Whywontitwrok

Im another Dickinson , Mahon and Kavanagh guy.

I am naturally decent in english , never do any work and get about 65-75%.

I am fearing this test tho, cause its the first I think. Literary genre better come up for comparative, and maybe Kingship, or imagery, or any character in Macbeth.

Oh dear only 9 days left

AndrewWK

Heaney and Mahon are my least favourite poets. I'm hoping that Dickinson or Kavanagh come up!

DS

Really? Mahon's great I think. Antarctica for example. And As it Should Be. Dunno what he was thinking for the Chinese restauraunt one though, what a bore. I've found that that's the reason a lot of people don't like him. After the Titanic is good too.

subway_ie

Originally posted by Discharger Snake
Really? Mahon's great I think. Antarctica for example. And As it Should Be. Dunno what he was thinking for the Chinese restauraunt one though, what a bore. I've found that that's the reason a lot of people don't like him. After the Titanic is good too.

I think all the poets that have a few mental issues (ie every poet apart from Mahon) are fairly easy to write about. Paths depression, Dickinsons mental-breakdown, Hopkins "dark night of the soul", Wordsworths obsession with nature. And then there's Mahon. Nothing really too deep you can say about the poet.

Suaimhneach

All I can say is PERSONAL RESPONSE. Exameners DROOL over it.

I personally FEEL!! Seriously, the reason I honour my questions is because of personal response!

TO EVERYTHING.

DS

I think his poems offer a really original take on the contrasting aspects of human nature (Titanic vs Antarctica). There's a lot you can say about him. Poetry doesn't have to be self-obsessive to be good Plath is such a pathetic attention-seeker, I can't stand her.

subway_ie

Originally posted by Discharger Snake
I think his poems offer a really original take on the contrasting aspects of human nature (Titanic vs Antarctica). There's a lot you can say about him. Poetry doesn't have to be self-obsessive to be good Plath is such a pathetic attention-seeker, I can't stand her.

But being self-obsessed is so much easier to write about. I do agree that Plath was an evil-attention seeking bitch though. But I think with the likes of Mahon, you need to rely more on direct reference to the poems through quotation, where as with the more dark/"self-obsessive" poets, you can just write about their states of mind, and keep the references to the actual poems quite general. Obviously you'll need quotations, just maybe not as much.

Kold

Dickenson merely for "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" I can write a page and a half on how that poem is an outlet for her sexual frustration and a sense of humour peeking through the depreesing majority of her work.

subway_ie

Originally posted by Kold
Dickenson merely for "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" I can write a page and a half on how that poem is an outlet for her sexual frustration and a sense of humour peeking through the depreesing majority of her work.

Hmmm. Wasn't she supposed to be a bit of a lesbian? That's what it says in my poetry notes book anyway. I think "A narrow fellow in the grass" is more about her fear death, the snake being like a "grim reaper" figure.

Kold

Well she may well have been but she was in love with a guy at some point. Lesbians would have more reason than any to talk about faulty willies.

subway_ie

Originally posted by Kold
Well she may well have been but she was in love with a guy at some point. Lesbians would have more reason than any to talk about faulty willies.

How was it faulty? I thought she was just really scared of it? Unless she actually meant "zero at the bone" literally. Very very literally.

Kold

Spotted shaft :dunno:

subway_ie

Hmmm. STD/STI poetry. Interesting. Slightly off topic, but interesting. Maybe that's what brought on her depression?

subway_ie

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It's officially June. Panic.

Kold

Actually, I'm amazed at the amount of people who don't see the sexual innuendo in that poem.