Everything has changed, changed utterly – but students are rising to task

‘ALL changed, changed utterly’ – a different Easter approaches and a different struggle is underway, but Yeats’ quote seems apt nonetheless to describe how our lives and education in Ireland have changed in the past weeks.

Leaving Cert students of Tarbert Comprehensive, and across the country, have been met with an unimaginable and seemingly insurmountable challenge.

I believe they have risen to that challenge.

In revision, we will look to polish and refine our ideas and our writing. All teachers approach revision differently, but my advice to my own English students would be as follows:

Be prepared: Know the features of style of the various writing genres well: this will serve you well across Paper One.

Have a Plan B: Practise writing in the genres you are good at, but don’t rely on any single style – Question B can vary, and you need to be able to be flexible in the Composition

Stay on task: Your job on exam day will be to engage with the question, and adapt your knowledge.

Practise this in revision by stopping after each paragraph, rereading, and ensuring that you haven’t strayed into either summary or ‘the question in your head’.

Learn quotes: In the Single Text and Poetry in Paper Two, make sure you can use and discuss the impact of key quotes to support your arguments.

In Poetry, the focus is on content and style. Be efficient and choose quotes that are rich in technique and also connect well to theme or tone.

Have an opinion, and not just for Paper One: Across Paper Two, be prepared to give a personal response.

For example, in Comparative, consider your feelings on how themes were resolved, or your reaction to characters and their behaviours, or your feelings on the values presented in the societies of the texts.

Give it some thought before the exam. Students will revise over the coming break, but more than any year, you all need to take time to rest, to recharge, and to realise that you are every day meeting challenges, and exceeding expectations in ways that no exam can measure.

Emma Kavanagh, English