English poets (HL)

DancingRainDrop

what are the catagories that come up?
a female poet
an irish poet
and what are the other two?

anyone have any perdictions?

since it is Plath's last year I am thinking Plath for a female poet? anyone else thinking the same?

I have no idea about the other's though

adamcp

Montague, Frost, Yeats

D. Coughlan

I reckon it will be Plath, Eillot, Frost, Kavanagh

nick23

The four poets on the syllabus this year are:

* Elizabeth Bishop
* John Donne
* TS Eliot
* Robert Frost
* Patrick Kavanagh
* John Montague
* Sylvia Plath
* WB Yeats

Personally i dont think John Donne is going to be repeated. Bishop may be but not likely (as Plath is the only other Female poet plus Bishop came up last year)

Apart from that i cant really make any predicitons but i have heard a good few people talk about Montague and Yeats

Personally im going Plath, Kavanagh, Frost and Yeats. Chances are at least one of them have to come up

chas_88

I'm studying Plath, Bishop, Kavanagh, Yeats and Frost.

They've already repeated Bishop (2001 and 2002) and Plath (2003 and 2004) so it's not impossible to have a poet on the paper 2 years in a row.
It's not Plath's last year by the way, it's Bishop's! Plath is on again next year. I think they're equally likely.

The same goes for Kavanagh and Yeats.. this year is the 40th anniversary of Kavanagh's death (he came up in 2004, his centenary year), and there was a Yeats exhibition in the national library last november, when they would've been setting the paper, so it's a hard one to call as well.

Also, i think if Kavanagh's on, Eliot will be on, and if it's Yeats, Frost will be on. Both women being on is a possibility too.
Donne is hugely unlikely.
The reasons a lot of people are predicting Montague are that he's the only living poet on the course, and it's his first year on the leaving cert... doesn't it seem a bit too predictable? When Heaney was prescribed first in 2001, 2002 & 2003, everyone expected him in 2001, and he didn't come up until 2003, so they might do something similar with Montague - he's on for the next 2 years as well. I'd be surprised to see him on this year.

spudington16

Yeah, I'm taking Frost, Montague, Plath and Kavanagh.


It'd be safe to ignore Bishop, given her presence on the '06 paper... That said, to be statistically guaranteed of a question you'd want to have 5 poets, but you can take fairly safe educated assumptions...

Thomas_S_Hunterson

DancingRainDrop wrote:

what are the catagories that come up?

I don't think they categorise them.

JC 2K3

Yup, there's nothing that says a female poet and an Irish poet have to come up. It's just a pattern that's been noticed.

I'm doing Frost, Donne, Kavanagh, Bishop and Plath.

I can generally write well on Plath, Bishop and Kavanagh. Given the choice I'd probably choose Plath. I don't like her much anymore, but I used to last year and know the most about her.

Frost and Donne I've covered as simply as back-ups.

KarmaCreep

I'm going for Frost, Plath and Montague. I'm pretty confident one of them will come up although i'm hoping for Plath.

colm-ccfc84

I am doing Eliot, Yeats, Montague and Kavanagh. It is 99.99% that one of Yeats, Montague and Kavanagh will be on.

chas_88

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

I am doing Eliot, Yeats, Montague and Kavanagh. It is 99.99% that one of Yeats, Montague and Kavanagh will be on.

that's a safe bet alright.

Steve01

I figure if Montague comes up (which is very likely) the question will be something like 'Write a letter to John Montague explaining why you like/dislike his poetry' since he's the only living poet on the course and the Department seems to like the letter question So make sure you know your letter format and replace the word 'Montague' with 'you' in what you've already prepared.

That being said, I'm still hoping for Plath

rjt

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

I am doing Eliot, Yeats, Montague and Kavanagh. It is 99.99% that one of Yeats, Montague and Kavanagh will be on.

Even if an Irish poet wasn't likely, if you study any four poets, you have a 98.5% chance that at least one will come up. So although, of course, it's better to do 5, you would almost certainly get away with 4. (In fact, if you were to do three poets, the chance of at least one coming up is 93%; hell, if you were to only study one poet, you still have a 50:50 chance they'd come up!).

I'm doing Yeats, Kavanagh, Montague, Bishop and Plath, but I'm focusing on Path and Kavanagh. I prefer Elliot, but I find him difficult to answer on .

colm-ccfc84

rjt wrote:

Even if an Irish poet wasn't likely, if you study any four poets, you have a 98.5% chance that at least one will come up. So although, of course, it's better to do 5, you would almost certainly get away with 4. (In fact, if you were to do three poets, the chance of at least one coming up is 93%; hell, if you were to only study one poet, you still have a 50:50 chance they'd come up!).

I'm doing Yeats, Kavanagh, Montague, Bishop and Plath, but I'm focusing on Path and Kavanagh. I prefer Elliot, but I find him difficult to answer on .

There has never ever been a Leaving Cert HL english exam without an Irish poet!

rjt

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

There has never ever been a Leaving Cert HL english exam without an Irish poet!

Yeah, and almost certainly there will be this year too. My statistics are just there to show that even for those that doubt it (and there should be doubt, as JC2k3 said, there's never been anything from the Department that states that an Irish poet will come up), you'll be safe enough even without 5 poets.

I'm studying 5 just in case. Sure, the chances are very low, but how much extra time does it take to revise two more poets? Especially if you've covered them well in class (I was lucky to get a good teacher).

My post wasn't meant as an attack on those only studying Irish poets, it was meant as just the opposite!

colm-ccfc84

rjt wrote:

Yeah, and almost certainly there will be this year too. My statistics are just there to show that even for those that doubt it (and there should be doubt, as JC2k3 said, there's never been anything from the Department that states that an Irish poet will come up), you'll be safe enough even without 5 poets.

I'm studying 5 just in case. Sure, the chances are very low, but how much extra time does it take to revise two more poets? Especially if you've covered them well in class (I was lucky to get a good teacher).

My post wasn't meant as an attack on those only studying Irish poets, it was meant as just the opposite!

I know, don't worry I didn't think it was! I think I just won't bother looking over my Plath essay. I am 99.99% guaranteed!

originalcupcake

my two preferred has to be Plath and Kavanagh...but id rather Kavanagh. i also looked over Monatgue, Bishop, Eliot, but havent learned them to the same extent really as the first two.

i really doubt Donne will come up hes on the course for the next 2 years and he came up last year, so...fingers crossed for Kavanagh anyway!!

tolosenc

Plath, Bishop, Eliot, Yeats and Kavanagh. REALLY hoping for Yeats.

colm-ccfc84

obl wrote:

REALLY hoping for Yeats.

Me too! I'd say he will be on.

Marshy

I'll be happy as long as John Mont makes an appearance.

If I was a betting person I'd say it'd be him, Sylvia "spiralling abyss" Plath, Robbie "ice man" Frost and William Butler Yeats, who I doubt cared very much for nicknames.

JC 2K3

Yeah.

It's all to do with the person setting the paper having a fondness for names that can be colloquialised with the addition of a "y".

So, Monty, Plathy, Frosty and Yeatsy it is!

nick23

chas_88 wrote:

The same goes for Kavanagh and Yeats.. this year is the 40th anniversary of Kavanagh's death (he came up in 2004, his centenary year), and there was a Yeats exhibition in the national library last november, when they would've been setting the paper, so it's a hard one to call as well.

Plus i think i remember someone telling me that its Yeat's last year on the course for a while so chances are he'll make an appearance

chas_88

nick23 wrote:

Plus i think i remember someone telling me that its Yeat's last year on the course for a while so chances are he'll make an appearance

i just checked it there, and both yeats and kavanagh aren't prescribed again until 2010.

blondie07

It's impossible to predict which of montague, yeats, and kavanagh will come up. they all have equal chance. the only thing u can really bank is the two female poets coming up.

Diamond007

Im hoping for one of Plath, Montague, or Frost... Am i safe with knowing them really well? Iv done a bit on Kavanagh aswell just to cover myself...

nick23

chas_88 wrote:

i just checked it there, and both yeats and kavanagh aren't prescribed again until 2010.

Really? I wouldnt mind at all if Kavanagh came up. He's the only poet i actually like (apart from maybe Frost) plus he's just os easy to write on!

Corruptedmorals

Hoping for Kavanagh or Plath, also studying Frost and Yeats. Bishop is sooo unlikely, and I hate Yeats..still looking over him..

KnifeWRENCH

quick question: since john montague was born in northern ireland does he count as an irish poet???? i havent studied him and i will be fairly pissed off if he is there and either kavanagh/yeats isnt.

plath- she better come up.definetly my preffered option.could get 40+ marks

kavanagh- im fairly good at anwering on him.so that would be okay

eliot- a little more difficult but i'd get through it okay-ish

yeats- i will only answer on him if its a personal response question,and i get to say how crap and overrated all his poems are and what a pompous arrogant hypocritical twat he was..i refuse to write an essay where i have to pretend to like anything that man ever did..at the same time im worried my examiner will be a big yeats fan and i'll rather upset him/her.do i'll avoid if possible:D

frost- only as a last resort (i.e. if its montague, donne, bishop and him...in which case i will be the unhappiest bunny that ever did live) his poetry is difficult to write on since i cant find any common theme (apart from nature,but all the poems we did were the non-naturey ones.and i really couldnt be bothered learning new ones now...)

colm-ccfc84

square_igloo wrote:

quick question: since john montague was born in northern ireland does he count as an irish poet???? i havent studied him and i will be fairly pissed off if he is there and either kavanagh/yeats isnt.

You would want to do a bit of research! He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Enemy Of Fate

square_igloo wrote:

apart from nature,but all the poems we did were the non-naturey ones.and i really couldnt be bothered learning new ones now...)

Then don't learn new poems.Just learn key lines from them.Hell the only full poems I know are Ragalan Road and Innisken Road by Kavanagh (which I learnt way back in 4th year) and Yeat's Lake Isle Of Innisfree (which I learned for the junior cert).I only know about 2 or 3 lines from the other poems, and plan to just put them in as needed.

Poetry needs ALOT more work though.I only have 2 poets done (Plath and Kavanagh), and while I have them done really well, I can't even NAME 4 poems done by any other poet (I can name 3 poems from Yeats though)!I'm still not even sure how I'll handle poetry.I'm going to study Yeats definitely....and possibly Montague.But i'm not sure i'll bother studying a 5th.I mean what are the odds of me not getting ONE of those poets?Especially when pretty much all of them have a VERY good chance of coming up (Plath's a woman who hasn't been up in a while, it was Kavanagh's 40th anniversery this year, Yeats had that big thing in the national library around the time the exams were set, and of course its Montague's first year on the course).

spudington16

colm-ccfc84 wrote:

You would want to do a bit of research! He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

LMAO! Someone needs some research, alright... Surely the fact that he was born in the States and sent back to Garvaghey is fundamental to Montague's poetry???