A pass in higher english?

Incompetent

I need to pass honors english. While I'm ok at actually speaking english when it comes to writing/responding I just curl up into a ball and hope it all goes away. Our teacher was the type that never demanded work, so of course I haven't done a tap for paper 1 or 2.

For the mock I failed (though it was close), mainly because I just panicked and couldn't think of anything to write for anything.

What's the stuff I should focus on? I could try paper ones to get my writing flowing better (as it stands it reads much like junior cert pass standard), or focus on paper 2 by cramming some Hamlet, poetry and comparative essays.


I suppose I should mention that if I actually spend time with a thesaurus and the internet (for ideas/quotes/literary terms) then I'm a low b standard, although when I do stuff under exam conditions I'm at a low d, fail standard

implausible

You need to go back over paper 1s and get a feel for the type of questions that come up. Know the structures for the different types of B questions - letters, speeches, radio talk etc. Have a decent structure prepared for the essay question - a speech is usually fairly handy as you can prepare an introduction and a conclusion and it's just a matter of practising brainstorming and organising paragraphs/points.

You have to have essays prepared for paper 2, or at the very least essay plans, so get hold of some and make sure you can adapt them to the title. Don't spend too long on poetry - it's long, time-consuming and is only worth 50 marks.

2 guaranteed ways to fail HL English are to leave out questions or ignore the question asked.