LEAVING CERT ENGLISH PAPER 2 HIGHER LEVEL:Exam with plenty of surprises reflected Minister's criticism of predictable papers
“WEIRD”, “INFURIATING” and “game-changing” were just three of the adjectives used to describe yesterday’s higher level English paper 2.
The paper set social media sites alight with comment from furious students last night.
There was widespread disappointment at the non-appearance of Sylvia Plath, hotly tipped to feature in this year’s poetry section.
Plath’s shock no-show was only the beginning – the paper revealed itself to be “a real game-changer” throughout, according to commentators.
“The examiners have upped the ante this year,” said Michael Doherty of the ASTI. “All the questions were challenging. There was a much narrower focus throughout. Students had to think very hard before answering. There was no room for pre-prepared material.”
The huge reaction on social media to the non-appearance of either Plath or Seamus Heaney has drawn renewed criticism of the practice of predicting the content of the English higher-level paper.
In 2010 poet Eavan Boland was widely tipped to feature. Bookmakers Paddy Power gave odds on the outcome of the exam and many students expressed anger when Boland’s poetry was not included.
This year teachers warned students to ignore predictions about exam content, especially in light of comments made by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn last December, who criticised the prevailing desire for exams with “no surprises”.
His comments came on foot of a report published by the Department of Education and Skills looking at the current points and Leaving Cert systems and examining the need for change.
The report criticised the practice of candidates memorising prepared answers and essays to secure maximum marks and points and was critical of media commentary, which it said “tends to equate predictability in the exam with quality”.
The State Examinations Commission is carrying out an analysis of Leaving Certificate exam papers to see if questions and topics have become too predictable. “When I heard the Minister’s comments before Christmas I changed tack with my students,” said one English teacher yesterday. “If I was an exam setter and my boss went on the public airwaves criticising how I do things, I would react. I knew this year’s paper was going to be weird.”
Cathy Sweeney, English teacher at the Institute of Education, described yesterday’s exam as “a tough paper”. She described the Larkin question as betraying “a fundamental misunderstanding of his poetry” and the Kinsella question as “mediocre”.
“The examiners’ treatment of the Prescribed Poetry will only intensify the dread that this section of the exam engenders amongst Leaving Certificate students,” she said.
TUI commentator Alan Thompson said that the exam was “on the tough side”. “I suppose that you could argue it was fair overall but certainly some students were very disappointed. Everyone had to work hard on this one.”
Michael Doherty pointed to the Shakespeare section as a departure from previous years. “The Hamlet questions were very difficult this year. One of the options, focusing on Hamlet’s madness, was much more specific than students expected – they would have been looking for a broader study.”The unseen poem, The Beautiful Lie by Sheenagh Pugh, also unsettled some students.
“Some of my students had to read the poem several times before they could get the sense of it. It did not give up its meaning easily,” said Doherty.
The comparative studies section, which lends itself to pre-prepared answers, was again much more focused than past papers, according to teachers. “Nothing was given away cheaply this year,” said one.
