Leaving Cert English 2012

piperroche

Violafy wrote: »

I haven't posted in here in ages so don't actually know any of you current LCers, but I wish you all the best with English Paper 2!

This time exactly a year ago, I was an absolutely nervous wreck - I desperately wanted an A1 in English, for my own satisfaction as well as needing it to get my course, so Paper 2 was literally the most stressful thing of my life then. The day before (aka now) was worst... I was both completely dreading it (in case it went badly) and wanting it to be over at the same time. Leaving Cert really is a horrific jumble of emotions, ahaha. :pac:

It seems pathetic now, but I still feel all panicky just remembering it - watching the RTE news reports about Paper 1 today made me feel jittery. :P So I know exactly how you all feel now with the infinite possibilities of Hamlet questions and poets weighing you down. :P

My advice is to stop studying NOW to let your poor brain unwind and rejuvenate for a bit, read something nice for an hour or two and then turn the lights out early. I took a sleeping tablet the night before English Paper 2 last year, as I was so stressed that I probably wouldn't have slept well otherwise. It was wonderful - I had about 10 hours of sleep and felt all refreshed in the morning. Until I remembered what lay ahead in just a couple of hours, of course...
Have a good breakfast tomorrow, look over your notes for an hour or two after that, but DON'T attempt to learn things off by heart at this stage, and try to walk into school or something so there'll be oxygen in your brain. Get into school early to stop yourself stressing if you're relying on public transport, and also so you can have one last quick look over the notes, and release stress/get moral support from friends. :P

For the actual exam itself, arrive at least 10 minutes early so you have a few minutes to take some deep breaths. Remember timing, and remember that it's quality rather than quantity.Take no notice of the inevitable student asking for extra paper an hour into the exam. I don't think I wrote more than 5 pages for any of the essays on paper 2, and I got an A1. It's much more important that you answer the question properly and don't go off in a big tangent or start retelling the story. It may seem impossible to finish the paper properly when you think about it now - I was convinced last year that I'd open the paper see the questions and just blank... But the adrenaline should see you through if you can keep a calm head! And this is coming from someone who was borderline having a nervous breakdown about English last year, as I'm sure you can tell already. :pac:

Reading this back makes me sound pathetic, ahaha - just goes to show what a horrible paper English is. I'm still traumatised by it, even though I did well! I shall stop rambling aimlessly now, so GOOD LUCK!

Well Done, not an easy thing to get an A1 in English! Thanks also for the advice, really appreciate it

sarahmocks

piperroche wrote: »

Is it true they changed the author of the paper 2 due to its predictability?

They changed the chief examiner 2 years ago, and since then he/she has been trying to make the exams less predictable!

piperroche

sarahmocks wrote: »

They changed the chief examiner 2 years ago, and since then he/she has been trying to make the exams less predictable!

He/She definitely succeeded

ellie66

That was HORRIBLE!

randylonghorn

Eng P2 discussion thread