Exam tips from Luke Saunders of Studyclix
Leaving Cert English is a subject that drives fear into the hearts of most students. It needn’t be this way though, English is manageable provided you prepare well and put in the work right now. Here are some quick surefire ways to help you get the grade you deserve come June.
Know your strengths, and play to them. It’s really important that you start to figure out what type of pieces suit you and perhaps, more importantly, those that don’t. This is especially true in the composition section, where you write one essay from the seven available. These can vary from short stories and newspaper articles to speeches. If you haven’t already done so, try a few of these out from the past papers and see what kind of compositions best fits how you write. You can really easily view all of the composition topics from past papers on Studyclix.ie, as well as what examiners were looking for in each year. It might be a case of trial and error but it’ll be a lot easier to write a piece in a style that you like!
ALWAYS PLAN
For every essay-style answer you do in English, it really helps to have a plan before you commit pen to paper. Your plan doesn’t have to be complicated or cover everything you’re going to write but it should be a rough guide of what points you plan on covering in your answer. This can be a lifesaver if you forget about your most important point halfway through your essay and really keeps you focussed while you’re writing. You can do your plan out on some extra paper and keep it in front of you in the exam or at the back of your answer book.
DON’T SUMMARISE
It can be really easy when writing longer answers, especially for the Single Text and Comparative sections of the exam, to start to summarise the text you’re writing about. The examiner knows exactly what happened in King Lear so there’s no point in retelling the story in your own words. Instead you should focus on analysing the text and making points about why you think certain events happen and certain characters behave the way they do. If you’re not really sure about what a more discursive answer looks like there are some great H1 sample answers on Studyclix to work from.
GET PERSONAL WITH POETRY…
In paper two and in particular the poetry section, your examiner really wants to see your own engagement with the pieces. You will be really well rewarded with marks for writing things like ‘In my opinion..’, ‘I found’ ‘I could relate to..’, provided you back these statements up with content from the poem or the text you’re writing about. If you’re one of those people who thinks that they ‘don’t get’ poetry, then think again. Anyone can do poetry because it’s all about your personal interpretation of the poems. As long as you back up your point with evidence from the poem, you’re on the road to success.
PRACTISE YOUR TIMING
Both Leaving Cert English papers are notoriously difficult to finish on time, and it’s something that students struggle with every year. Being able to write a decent essay under time constraints is not an easy task and it’s also not something you can do without practise. If you’re serious about getting a good mark, you’ll set aside time to practise writing essays within a time limit. The more you practice writing within a certain time frame, the easier you’ll find it in the exam. It will also put you under less pressure and stress. It doesn’t have to be huge chunks of time which you practise. Try starting by writing an intro and a first paragraph to an essay within 15 minutes and see how you do.
BROADEN YOUR VOCABULARY
Having a wide and impressive vocabulary in your essays won’t get you a H1, but they will help, provided that your content is also good and relevant. Showing off with more complex words shows the examiner that you know your stuff and that you’ve spent time reading and learning. Learning new vocabulary isn’t exactly something you can do in a day, but it’s something you can do rather passively. The best way of doing this, I think, is to read as many books and articles as possible in your spare time and absorb new words as you see them. Just make sure you fully understand the words you use in your exam, as if you use it incorrectly, having this broad vocabulary could have the opposite effect on your mark.