Doing OL English on the day.

roguey

I am seriously worried about the exam at this point. Paper 2 that is. I'm just not prepared at all for Hamlet or the poetry. I'm worried that I wont pass the exam and thus fail the whole LC.

I don't need to do HL and I'm not going for big points. So I'm asking is it possible to do the OL exam on the day? With the stuff I've studied already at HL, Lies of Silence, Hamlet and Dancing at Lughnasa?

LittleMissLost

I don't know the layout of the OL paper but you should really think about it before you do it!

www.examinations.ie will give you the info for OL.

The failure rate is tiiiiiny and if you have been going to class all year and have a fair idea of the poets and texts you are likely to pass!

My friend failed HL english last year but she knew NOTHING about the comparative or single texts. She got an E, and said her paper 1 was dire, but she didnt go to class for 2 years!

How likely is it that you'll fail seriously? Pretty low I'd say?

Sunny!!

high probabillity youll pass, if youve half a notion about your texts you should be ok.

roguey

I got a 45 in the mocks, but in that I didn't do the Hamlet or the poetry question.

And based on that I'm worried because I still don't know enough to answer either well.

But I'm thinking that based on my mock results, that even if I only manage to just pass or even fail but still get some marks for the hamlet and poetry questions that will be enough for a pass?

snicket

roguey wrote: »

I got a 45 in the mocks, but in that I didn't do the Hamlet or the poetry question.

And based on that I'm worried because I still don't know enough to answer either well.

But I'm thinking that based on my mock results, that even if I only manage to just pass or even fail but still get some marks for the hamlet and poetry questions that will be enough for a pass?

If you were really stuck on the day (and you probably know more than you think you do) couldn't you try waffle a bit on those questions, you could pick up marks for your language and spelling and whatever information you do know on the texts.
And 45% if you left out 120 marks worth of questions isn't bad at all! But do look at the exam papers before you decide anyway!

good luck

Violafy

Don't they have a lot of different poets for Ordinary Level? There are a few at the back of my poetry book. I suppose poetry is worth hardly any marks though; considering the effort we put into it.

Cardor

I would strongly advise you to stick with higher because they have different poets than us and they study a different text etc etc!

Only 1.5% of ppl taking HL english last year failed.. Just aim for the pass and you'l be fine..

And By the way.. you don't actually fail the leaving cert if you fail english.. it all depends on how many subjects you have passed and what your course requirements are for college.. it is said that if you fail maths you fail the leaving because 99% of all courses in college require at least a D3 in OL Maths.. really mate.. don't worry about it!.. Just do a summary of Hamlet.. I didn't stick to the point on the mocks.. i just gave a summary and I got 16 marks.. like its better than nothing.. my comparative held me up..!

Cardor

Cardor wrote: »

I would strongly advise you to stick with higher because they have different poets than us and they study a different text etc etc!

Only 1.5% of ppl taking HL english last year failed.. Just aim for the pass and you'l be fine..

And By the way.. you don't actually fail the leaving cert if you fail english.. it all depends on how many subjects you have passed and what your course requirements are for college.. it is said that if you fail maths you fail the leaving because 99% of all courses in college require at least a D3 in OL Maths.. really mate.. don't worry about it!.. Just do a summary of Hamlet.. I didn't stick to the point on the mocks.. i just gave a summary and I got 16 marks.. like its better than nothing.. my comparative held me up..!

I just checked there and actually 98.3% passed HL english in 2010

Iceboy

Cardor wrote: »

I just checked there and actually 98.3% passed HL english in 2010

Thats impressive, where do you get these stats?

Cardor

Iceboy wrote: »

Thats impressive, where do you get these stats?

Its on the SEC website.. for LC statistics

http://www.examinations.ie/statistics/statistics_2010/Leaving_Certificate_National_Statistics.pdf

OldSchool94

roguey wrote: »

I am seriously worried about the exam at this point. Paper 2 that is. I'm just not prepared at all for Hamlet or the poetry. I'm worried that I wont pass the exam and thus fail the whole LC.

I don't need to do HL and I'm not going for big points. So I'm asking is it possible to do the OL exam on the day? With the stuff I've studied already at HL, Lies of Silence, Hamlet and Dancing at Lughnasa?

You sure can pass it with flying colours!! ...People who drop down on the day get way above standard grades! I'm not expressing that you should as the points system is dire in pass subjects!! If I was you I would wait in honours unless you REALLY know you will fail and that would lead to failing the whole L.C!

All texts are the same in pass!
Best of luck!

spurious

Failing English (or any single subject, at any level) does not mean you fail the whole LC.

The people most likely to fail Higher English are sitting at the PC right now, playing games, thinking to themselves, 'Sure how hard can it be? I didn't study for the Junior and I was grand. The teachers just say it's harder.'

OldSchool94

spurious wrote: »

Failing English (or any single subject, at any level) does not mean you fail the whole LC.

I meant you don't get into third level education!

brownlad

how many pages should an ol short story be?

OldSchool94

brownlad wrote: »

how many pages should an ol short story be?

Quality not quantity I would do 5 or more pages

brownlad

OldSchool94 wrote: »

Quality not quantity I would do 5 or more pages

in ordinary?:eek: ...like i usually get Bs and As in higher for 3 page stories....

implausible

3 pages is plenty for a short story.

OP, OL don't have different poets. Half the OL poetry course is a few poems by the poets studied at HL and the other half is a list of various poems. On the exam paper, 4 poems appear on the paper (2 from the HL poets, 2 from the other list) and you only have to answer on one of them. You can also just blag it on the day.

To be honest, if you're passing HL and are just a bit shaky on your Paper II stuff, do the HL. As long as you answer all of the sections at a decent length, it's nearly impossible to fail it and you'll be kicking yourself if you get an A or B at OL. The people who fail HL leave out entire sections or have difficulty with English.