Good English Students help pleaseeeee!!!

3raser10

Hi my problem in english is that I do fairly well(getting Bs) when I have to do assignments for home work but during exam time I do veryyy bad(Ds ) and to be honest most of the time the reason is not being able to finish the paper :mad:
can someone please suggest me how to get over that? Its probably the speed issue(I think as I am not a fast writer ) but is there anything i m doing wrong or what can i do to improve?..................Please Please reply thank u and do tell if u have any suggestions on how to write faster!!!

ray2012

the only way you can prepare for speed and trying to get a question done in a set amount of time is practice. Practice, practice and more practice. Know your information well so you won't have to think too much about your answer before you start. And again, practice.

FudgeBrace

I found time management in the JC really tough too. I can't really help with the comprehensions because you have to read them for a while. But for the poetry( unseen) you can learn loads of terms and different ways of saying things( like instead of using the word 'shows' all the time you can use portray or convey or elucidate or something) and then you can just wright slot without really using much time. I don't know it worked for me , got an a in the JC!!

PictureFrame

Hi there,

I sat the Leaving Certificate in 2012 and got an A1 in Higher Level English so i'll lend you a bit of a hand if you want. I'll just give some tips and you can take from it what you will:

• Firstly, English is all about practise. I got a B2 in my Mock and was extremely disappointed as I always thought I was an A student in English. However, after some thinking, I realised I had let other subjects such as Business & Economics which I desperately wanted A's in, take over my study time and I had simply not allowed myself enough time to work on my English. So, practise is essential.
• How do you practise effectively? Easy, take a period of 2-3 weeks, and choose one section from each Paper i.e: one from Paper I Essays or Comprehensions [A+B] and one topic from Paper II: Single Text, Comparative, Studied poetry. Do as MANY questions from each section you pick as humanly possible, until you're blue in the face, and hand them to your teacher for correction. This will not only improve your grades dramatically, but taking it section by section will show you it is not that difficult to do well in L.C. English when you break it down.
• It is SO important to have a suitable time-frame in mind for English in the Leaving Cert. You will only get so far knowing the material, exam preparation is so essential for this subject. Know, before the exam, what chronological order you are going to take each section and stick to your time frame. I always believed in doing the questions with the most marks first in both papers. So, in Paper 1 I would look at the essays, choose one, do a brief plan and write for an hour. Then do my comprehension questions at 45 minutes each. For Paper II, i'd advise doing your comparative first, then single text, then studied poetry and finally unseen poetry.
• A simple piece of advice that students always forget is: ALWAYS READ THE QUESTION.. Relate back to the question asked EVERY paragraph, this is where you will get your purpose marks which is essential to a high grade.
• Don't leave anything to chance. Learn 5 poets, they're not difficult. I personally learnt 5 poets for my exams (Rich, Heaney, Plath, Kinsella and Larkin) so I had a choice of 3 on the day. I throughouly learnt 3 poems from each poet. Don't let anyone tell you this isn't enough. I wrote on Adrienne Rich for the exams, I discussed 3 simple poems: 'Aunt Jennifer's Tigers', 'Living in Sin' and 'Power'. I wrote a total of 6 pages for my poetry answer referring constantly to the question and received 100% in that answer (50/50)
• Learn your comparative off, please. I prepared Literary Genre and General Vision & Viewpoint for my exams, both came up, I wrote 8 pages on General Vision from my notes I had made on the topic, I completely transcribed them from memory onto the page, ensuring to refer to the question each paragraph and also received 100% in the Comparative (70/70).
• Know your single text well. I studied Hamlet, and knew character sketches for EVERY character in the play. Even the minor ones. This coupled with a knowledge of the text, and 2/3 themes and you're set to go! I answered the question this year on 'Hamlet's Madness and how it intrigues the audience'. I had never attempted a question like it before but knew the character of Hamlet and referred constantly to the question and, yet again received 100% in this section (60/60).
• For the Paper 1 essay, there isn't a lot I can say. Just know as early as possible what your preference is with regards the array of different writing styles on the paper. For example do you enjoy writing short stories, speeches, articles etc. By practising and answering the question on the day without losing focus, you should do well!

If you've any other queries fire them at me! I received a total of 394/400 in the Leaving Cert. in English this year (I lost 2 marks in the Unseen poem, 2 in the Essay and 2 in the Comprehension part A section).

English is a fantastic subject and I really hope you enjoy it! I loved it so much, i'm studying it as my Elective subject with my Psychology degree this year!

D3luka

thats amazing advice thanks alot for that pictureframe

ArtSmart

D3luka wrote: »

thats amazing advice thanks alot for that pictureframe

yes. i find the 'do the work' excellent advice also.

Gumbi

Another A student here, from the 2010 LC. I'd agree with most of the points above. Some points of my contention would revolve around the (overly, in my opinion) heavy work load that seems to be implied by the poster.

Take Hamlet, for example. There is no need to know every character. The major characters will do. The most important thing is to know the story. With many questions practised before the exam, you will learn how to best adapt that which you know about the story to the specifications of the question. Of course, having knowledge of characters and several major themes is helpful, but that, not necessarily all the minor characters and the like, will suffice. Specific references are perfectly fine in place of quotes, remember that.

Again, for the comparative, the most important thing is to know the stories. With practise questions done beforehand, and knowing the story, planning and writing an essay around the question asked is easy. Quoting is generally unnecessary here (moreso than the Hamlet, I mean). I repeat, knowledge of the texts is absolutely pivotal in this section.

As for more general advice, be very careful if you decide to transfer learnt notes to paper. You are prone to going off-topic, and this is key to every LC English question.

3raser10

Thanks a Million guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! very helpful n really appreciate it