You probably don't want us to go too poetic here. The simple fact is that one of the core subjects is done! English Paper 2 saw a later than usual finish and we have some thoughts from two students on how it went.
Thanks to our friends at the Irish Second-Level Students' Union, and all the students for contributing, it's time for another entry to our Leaving Cert Diary series.
Before we start, shout out to our future Engineers who sat their exams this morning! But it was English this evening, and Greta Thornton from Loreto Letterkenny County Donegal has recorded a video diary entry.
And, Jagoda Ennis from Dublin's Institute of Education has written about how she got on below...
Jagoda writes...
I'm finally done with English! One less subject on my list. This paper was a long one, 3 hours and 20 minutes. Personally, it felt like 5 hours, but my hands can now finally catch a break.
I felt like the paper this year was fair. I studied Othello and Rich, Bishop and Yeats for poetry. I was extremely nervous going into the exam, as I simply had no idea what could come up!
Opening the exam, I was delighted with the choice for the Othello questions. They were suited to the quotes I learned, and the general plot of the story I knew. I felt like it gave students more of a chance to show what they know and input their own ideas, overall slightly easier than previous years.
The poetry section was great! The choice of poets suited most, but I found the questions were more difficult than usual and required more knowledge, including specific stylistic features- which I didn't know well. It was tough to answer a question about a poet, so I ended up writing about Rich. It was also a bit of a shock to not see Bishop on the paper! Many students in the country were hoping for her.
The unseen poetry this year was an easy poem to interpret, and an interesting one too.
Overall, I'm happy with how the exam was laid out and I feel it suited most people well. Having choice with 2 sections eased my nerves as I had more options and the exam was easier to finish. I have no clue about how students used to do it before!
Tomorrow the students have Geography and Maths Paper 1!
If you need any tips you can check out these tutorial videos here:
If you are interested in the work of the ISSU or would like to join them - Click here!
Click here to see all the Leaving Cert Diary entries.
There are lots of great resources on RTÉ Learn to help you revise and get ready!
