Section in Irish LC HL Exam????

Chrissie

Erm..., I've just noticed the Próstéacs Breise section on the exam paper, that I knew NOTHING about!!!! :eek:

BTW, I'm a mature student studying this thing on my own for next years exam, so there is a bit of an excuse for my ignorance!!!!

So anyway (ignoring the Roghnach options) am I right in saying these are the 4 prescribed pieces. I.E These 4 come up each year:-

Scothscéalta
Máire Nic Artáin
A thig ná tit orm
An Triail

So, am I also right in saying each student / class just chooses 1 of these to study at the beginning of the LC cycle

So, assuming I'm correct so far, which of these 4 is the easiest to learn?
Shortest in length, easiest themes, characters etc, etc (or whatever it is you get asked on in these things!!!)

Have I a book to buy for whichever 1 I choose?

Is this only a new addition or how the hell did I not come across it until I read this years exam paper?

Thanks for all the advice I'm hopefully about to get!!!

genericgoon

Im not sure about the 1st two there but AN triail and thig na thit orm are right. Yes you only have to study one of them. Yes you will need to buy the text of your chosen piece and probably an accompainment book which gives sample answers, analysis etc. Although most books will have that anyways. As for which is easiest, cant really say, did An Triail nothing too hard, bit depressing though.

Corruptedmorals

An Triail is easy.

Chrissie

Roughly how many pages are in the play?

I just read a brief summary of each of the scenes on the net & although sad, it's a nice story, I quite like it.

Corruptedmorals

It's smaller than a copybook, about half that. Wouldn't say more than 60 pages?

Grudaire

You can do different things though- I studied Tóraíocht Dhiarmuid agus Ghráinne....

gaeilgegrinds

Get the list from the Dept. and then browse through them in a bookshop. One will jump out at you as being more your style, stick with that one. One is not generally considered easier than the other, depends on your dialect, level and of course interests! Best of luck!

fionated7

a thig ná tit orm was nice enough to study.. the questions that are asked in the exam are generally handy enough too...i think if u just knew the summary of the story ud almost pass any question asked on it..

EamonnKeane

You'd have to say a lot about the characters too.

JC 2K3

Scothscéalta is a really great piece of literature, it's a collection of short stories. The Irish can be a bit hard at times, but if you understand the stories, it's easy to write about and the questions are always very straightforward and general, basically asking you to discuss the main theme in a certain story. Also, They put about 4/5 different stories on the paper for you to choose from and there're only 10 in the book, which means you can get away with leaving 3/4 out.

So if you don't find the Irish too hard, I'd definately recommend you go with Scothscéalta. A minimal amount of work if you understand them. Might be a bit too hard if you have no teacher though...

ZorbaTehZ

I thought An Triail was excellent. Really good story, and lots to talk about. Interesting portrayal of the time too.

Chrissie

Yea, I decided to go with An Triail.
My Irish is cr@p though, I really think I'm kidding myself!!

I read forums (not this one) where people type to each other in Irish saying sorry that their Irish is bad, etc.

There's is SO advanced in comparison to theirs that sometimes I don't even know what they're saying, & I'm the one doing the exam next summer!!!! :eek:

genericgoon

If you know how to play the game then having decent irish should be enough. You of course understand everything on the course suchs as the poems,the stories etc.. Write it in english beside it if you have to.

gaeilgegrinds

Do not write anything in English!Not sure if that was a joke but if not don't dream of it!

fionated7

im assuming the meant write in the english beside it on the text while sudying, not on the actual exam??

genericgoon

fionated7 wrote:

im assuming the meant write in the english beside it on the text while sudying, not on the actual exam??

This. Not in the actual exams obviously ¬_¬ Tbh I translated the whole summary of an triail into english and it helped when reading back over as I actually knew what was going on without referring to a dictionary every five seconds.

gaeilgegrinds

Oh well that is a different matter entirely!

Chrissie

genericgoon wrote:

Write it in english beside it if you have to.

I'm glad someone has suggested this, because this is exactly what I do.
I find it helps me a lot, but then I've no one to guide me, so I was unsure if it was a good thing to do.

spurious

It really might be worth your while to spend a few bob on a VEC night class for Irish in the Leaving to get some guidance re the paper etc.

JC 2K3

Chrissie wrote:

I'm glad someone has suggested this, because this is exactly what I do.
I find it helps me a lot, but then I've no one to guide me, so I was unsure if it was a good thing to do.

Well, if it helps you understand it's fine. As long as you can write about it in Irish all right having learnt the story in English you're grand. You might want to try and avoid relying on English translations though and only use it as an aid in conjunction with studying the text. Learning to understand it fully will help your Irish considerably. Write words and phrases you don't understand down and learn them.

genericgoon

I find it most useful when going over something you havent done in a while and then theres your complete translation to tell you whats going on right away. Of course learning the relevant irish vocab for each text is a must.

Seinas

Scothscélta is amazing, Padraig O Conaire really is one of the most underappreciated Irish writers ever.

Its a shame i was too lazy to bother with the thing in the actual exam:rolleyes:

gaeilgegrinds

Agreed, his use of language is musical to many but unfortunately unheard by some aswell, made me open my eyes, ears and heart to so much.