Honours English

paddy007

I'm doin honours english for the leavin cert. I hate english, the cultutal context and all that stuff a load of crap to b honest!. What does everyone think of it??

Fad

i am also disliking it but i was never really a fan of english as a subject

challengemaster

absolutly loving it so far. possibly one of my fav subjects

(it helps that I'm doing well too )

But then again, I've always had something for english.. shakespeare/poetry

1huge1

Always liked english so can't really agree there but I really don't like Othello, other than no complaints

I hate biology though

PurpleFistMixer

I find the comparative a little confusing, not in the doing, (i mean, how tricky is it to say: The Crucible is set in 1692 Salem... etcetera) but more in the.. why on earth is it relevant to compare three almost entirely different texts?

Also, I don't like Rich. Okay, Trying to Talk to a Man is excellent, but for the most part, she seems to be incapable of writing about issues that aren't to do with feminism.

And, from what I've heard, Macbeth > Othello. Alas.

cas91

I love English as a subject.. one of the few subjects I really put effort into this year (fourth year)... but flickin through the leavin cert papers.. the exam looks daunting!!!

Dregon

Never really liked English as a subject,I'm not a language person;). But I'm finding Macbeth to be quite good at the moment

lilmissprincess

I'm shocked to find a hatred for it this year, but i have a different teacher and she's not exactly great so...

I love Macbeth(can't wait to start it) and I'm liking "The Secret Life of Bees"

SligoBrewer

challengemaster wrote: »

absolutly loving it so far. possibly one of my fav subjects

(it helps that I'm doing well too )

But then again, I've always had something for english.. shakespeare/poetry

high five brother!:D

Redisle

I dont like it at all, I mean, most of the time I got on fine and I didnt mind it too much, Although I feel the bulk of the course is complete crap.. like when the hell am I ever going to need to disect poetry or trudge through shakespeher again!?

As I said though, I GOT on fine, that is, until I got a new teacher a few weeks ago, before I used not mind english, Now when I see it on my timetable its actually like "Oh No English", I got a new teacher because my teacher left on mat leave and now I am beginning to hate the dam classes..

PurpleFistMixer

ab_cork wrote: »

when the hell am I ever going to need to disect poetry or trudge through shakespeher again!?

This kind of reasoning when put to many subjects can leave one feeling rather confused and irritated. Unless you do physics, everything you learn in physics is relevant to real life.

*accelerates some electrons*

Redisle

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

This kind of reasoning when put to many subjects can leave one feeling rather confused and irritated. Unless you do physics, everything you learn in physics is relevant to real life.

*accelerates some electrons*

I aggree totally! Thats why I love physics and chemistry too, I find myself noticing things I have learned in physics and chemisty, I know this may sound weird but right after we studied the doppler effect when I was walking on the road and a car passed me with music on I was like heh that sound is changing because of the doppler effect , oh and also things like refraction.. would teach you to keep back from a lake when fishing.. and so many other things..

SligoBrewer

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

This kind of reasoning when put to many subjects can leave one feeling rather confused and irritated. Unless you do physics, everything you learn in physics is relevant to real life.

*accelerates some electrons*

hence why i love physics... and chemistry.



science ahoy!

PurpleFistMixer

We learned why microwaves have rotating turntables the other day, it's actually fairly cool. I was sort of joking about physics there, but large chunks are quite relevant. They probably tailored the course like that to make us more interested in it.

Corruptedmorals

Tut tut, horrifyingly off-topic. Yes, Macebth owns Othello. Also Hamlet (imo). AND it's the shortest play ever. Loved the question we got, power in Macbeth

You really are screwed without a good teacher. I was quite good at English, never brilliant exactly, got a brilliant LC teacher..A1. The most important thing is to get the timing right. I doubt cultural context will be predicted to come up for you lot actually. And Plath, no. Montague, no. So whichever Irish/female poets are left would be a safe bet to learn off by heart. Though don't exclude all the rest obviously, know the female and Irish poets very very well, 1 other quite well, 2 others enough to write the essay.

Don't waste time on the stupid waste of space Unseen Poetry. 3/4 of a page is enough, especially if you're short on time. As for the Paper 1 essay, if you're anyway imaginative/good way with words, a short story plot you can bend to a title is almost always a winner.

challengemaster

SligoBrewer wrote: »

hence why i love physics... and chemistry.



science ahoy!

indeed.. bio/chem/phys here

challengemaster

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

They probably tailored the course like that to make us more interested in it.

yeah, because who doesn't like microwave turn plates! :rolleyes:





*note: I need to remember about "multi-quote"

paddy007

Dregon wrote: »

Never really liked English as a subject,I'm not a language person

I'd agree with that aswell:). For me, languages are not my strong point.
Id be far more interested in physics and maths

Mars Bar

I did Macbeth last year, its a great play, Othello(I'm repeating) doesn't touch on it. Also the comparative is a pain in the arse and the poets aren't as nice either. Last year was a good year for English. I love the subject and its my best subject but the course just doesn't really interest me as much this year. Thank God for John Donne still being poetry this year otherwise it would be a complete bore!

regob

come on lads just work at it and it will be no bother to use.

phasers

I love english literature, but I hate what you have to learn on the course

regob

phasers wrote: »

I love english literature, but I hate what you have to learn on the course

wat are you doing

Antamojo

Linguistics are not my strongest point but I'm stilling doing all honours
I'm more of a maths and science person

I think that the course isn't doing itself any justice
As my teacher says "I'm teaching a course, not English", which I think sums it up

All those quotations are held melting
And the fact that you have to write the essay about 7 pages long
They're expected us to write one A4 page in 12 mins!

PurpleFistMixer

Which essay is meant to be 7 pages long? o.O I thought the max was like 5...

Antamojo

We were told that around 5 - 7 max is what is expected in Paper One Essay, bit of a joke really

Corruptedmorals

Pfft. 4ish for the personal essay, with biggish writing. Everything else at least 3.

NoQuarter

didnt really like the subject but knew how to do it, got a b1 in higher and that was 4 years ago so all i remember is describe EVERYTHING, like make the cat become the jolly fat cat or somethin stupid like that and on the questions, stay on topic!!! like if they ask a question, emphasise your thinkin about the question in every paragraph, ie say "and this is why x happened" that sorta thing, that was hard to explain but hope some people understand!

brianthebard

PurpleFistMixer wrote: »

I find the comparative a little confusing, not in the doing, (i mean, how tricky is it to say: The Crucible is set in 1692 Salem... etcetera) but more in the.. why on earth is it relevant to compare three almost entirely different texts?

Also, I don't like Rich. Okay, Trying to Talk to a Man is excellent, but for the most part, she seems to be incapable of writing about issues that aren't to do with feminism.

And, from what I've heard, Macbeth > Othello. Alas.

Its not immediately apparent at leaving cert level, but compartive studies is one of the most important aspects of English studies. It allows you to go deeper into themes and issues, cultural aspects, meta narratives, movements, general criticism and lots of other things that will be essential if you continue english or need to be able to compare two texts properly (not confined to studying english). Also, you can't say Macbeth is better than Othello or vice versa, it doesn't work like that.

paddy007

king-stew wrote: »

didnt really like the subject but knew how to do it, got a b1 in higher and that was 4 years ago so all i remember is describe EVERYTHING, like make the cat become the jolly fat cat or somethin stupid like that and on the questions, stay on topic!!! like if they ask a question, emphasise your thinkin about the question in every paragraph, ie say "and this is why x happened" that sorta thing, that was hard to explain but hope some people understand!

Thanks for the tip!!

PurpleFistMixer

brianthebard wrote: »

Also, you can't say Macbeth is better than Othello or vice versa, it doesn't work like that.

But Macbeth has witches.

1huge1

Well im sure few people have done them both, but as much as I like english I sure do hate Othello