Junior Cert English
Exam Questions
Exam Questions
You can access past exam questions on the following website. Click on exam material archive, then chose subject, year and level. Practicing these questions regularly will improve your grades.
https://examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=en&sc=ep&formAction=agree
You can access past exam questions on the following website. Click on exam material archive, then chose subject, year and level. Practicing these questions regularly will improve your grades.
https://examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=en&sc=ep&formAction=agree
Exam Questions
You can access past exam questions on the following website. Click on exam material archive, then chose subject, year and level. Practicing these questions regularly will improve your grades.
https://examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=en&sc=ep&formAction=agree
You can access past exam questions on the following website. Click on exam material archive, then chose subject, year and level. Practicing these questions regularly will improve your grades.
https://examinations.ie/index.php?l=en&mc=en&sc=ep&formAction=agree
"Said is Dead" - Better ways to say 'said'
Reading
This section tests your abilities in reading, writing and understanding
The comprehension has a topic that sets the tone for the rest of the paper.
For this reasons, you should always attempt this section first.
Approach
- Read the questions
- Read the extract
- Using the marks as a guideline, decide how much time you should spend on each question.
As a guide:
10 marks = ½ to ¾ pg
15 marks = ¾ to 1pg
20 marks = 1 to 1¼pgs
The key skills for writing a good answer are:
- Focusing on the question (keep referring back to the question, stop and reread it if you need to)
- Quoting in support of your answer
- Explaining in your own words
You may be asked a STYLE question. For these questions you need to understand what style the author is using in their writing and what aspects of that style make it effective It may be informative, argumentative or persuasive, narrative or aesthetic.
Check out the link below for a summary of each language style
http://www.skoool.ie/skoool/examcentre_sc.asp?id=364#Aesthetic
Check out this useful handout from leavingcertenglish.net that outlines the effective aspects of each feature of the writing styles.
Scroll through the documents below.
The first one contains the 2014 Higher Level Reading section with marking scheme and the second one contains the 2014 Ordinary Level Reading section and marking scheme.
Practice the questions, then check the marking scheme to see how you have done.
Higher Level
Ordinary Level
Personal Writing
Approaching the question
Remember for a short story you need a convincing setting (uses senses and imagery to create this), an interesting character, conflict (a significant problem that must be overcome) and resolution (the story ends with consequences of the climax).
The climax is the dramatic turning point or moment in the text. Everything in the story builds up this this point and from this point something will have changed.
Check out the following website. The link will bring you to some sample essays and tips and tricks for this section of the paper.
http://www.aoifesnotes.com/junior-cert/Paper-One/personal-writing.php
Approaching the question
- Make a decision on which question you are going to attempt. Remember to write about what you know. Don't decide to write a detailed essay based on the life of a soldier during WWI, if you have no idea of important details.
- Choose the best material for your essay. Your content must be interesting, relevant and original
- Make a plan
- Remember to hook the reader by creating suspense and tension. You can do this by withholding information and using the five senses.
- Creating interesting characters by describing them without giving away too much detail. Remember how we described a timid person, without saying the word 'timid'.
- Only use dialogue if it moves the story on, otherwise it risks becoming boring.
Remember for a short story you need a convincing setting (uses senses and imagery to create this), an interesting character, conflict (a significant problem that must be overcome) and resolution (the story ends with consequences of the climax).
The climax is the dramatic turning point or moment in the text. Everything in the story builds up this this point and from this point something will have changed.
Check out the following website. The link will bring you to some sample essays and tips and tricks for this section of the paper.
http://www.aoifesnotes.com/junior-cert/Paper-One/personal-writing.php
For this section, your question will be worded as follows:
HL- Write a prose composition on any one of the following titles. Except where otherwise stated, you are free to write in any form you wish, e.g. narrative, descriptive, dramatic, short story, etc.
OL- Write a composition on ONE of the following topics.
You will have a choice of questions, you must only pick one.
A short story must include all elements presented below
Check out this sample short story from leavingcertenglish.net
Pay particular attention to the analysis of the ingredients for a short story.
The graveyard was cold, dark and dreary. One weary old oak tree leaned over the entrance gate and broken battered headstones were scattered all around. I could hear the sound of the howling wind and the creak and groan of branches as they swayed in the storm. The smell of fear and rotting leaves filled my nostrils and I swallowed deeply afraid I would get sick.
As I walked towards my brother’s grave, I heard another noise. It was slow heavy footsteps. I turned. A tall muscular man was walking towards me. His face was tough and covered in stubble to hide the scars which criss-crossed his jaw.
“I don’t think this is such a good idea” I shouted over the wind.
“It’s too late to change your mind” the man replied in a low threatening voice. “Either we dig him up now or you spend the rest of your life wondering how he died”.
“Ok, ok” I mumbled, afraid to say anything more in case the lump in my throat would cause tears to run down my face.
I could still remember the day those two army officers arrived at my house to tell me my brother was dead. Their cold hard faces gave little away when I asked how he died. “Killed in the course of duty” was all they would say. Everything else was “classified”. They handed me a letter from my brother, saluted, then turned and left, the click-clack of their shoes on the pavement slowly dying away. I stood frozen to the spot, dazed, confused and devastated. I finally opened the letter with trembling fingers but only one line stared back at me. “I’ll always be with you brother. Karl”. What did he mean? How could he be with me ever again? He was dead.
Now I leaned heavily on the rusty shovel in my hands and started to dig, determined to uncover the truth. The scar-faced man beside me began to dig at the other end and soon my brother’s coffin began to emerge from beneath the layers of sodden earth. Faced with this moment of truth, I began to panic. What if I was wrong? I knew Karl hated the army, I knew he wanted out. His girlfriend Sarah hadn’t turned up at the funeral, hadn’t contacted her family in the two months since his death. But maybe she just needed some space?
I looked down at the coffin as my hired helper tugged at the lid with a crowbar. With a loud snap the lid flew back revealing the frozen corpse inside. My whole body filled with relief – there was a dead man in the coffin. But it wasn’t my brother.
Now look at the analysis of how the story was put together step by step.
STEP ONE: WHERE – describe the place where the story happens. Sentence 1 & 2 describe sights, 3 & 4 sounds & smells:
The graveyard was cold, dark and dreary. One weary oak tree leaned over the entrance gate and broken battered headstones were scattered all around. I could hear the sound of the howling wind and the creak and groan of branches as they swayed in the storm. The smell of fear and rotting leaves filled my nostrils and I swallowed deeply afraid I would get sick.
STEP TWO: WHO – introduce/describe the characters. Describe what you did/saw/heard/smelt.
As I walked towards my brother’s grave, I heard another noise. It was slow heavy footsteps. I turned. A tall muscular man was walking towards me. His face was tough and covered in stubble to hide the scars which criss-crossed his jaw.
STEP THREE: WHAT happens between these two characters? Usually one character wants something and tries to get it but something goes wrong. This is revealed here through dialogue.
“I don’t think this is such a good idea” I shouted over the wind. “It’s too late to change your mind” the man replied in a low threatening voice. “Either we dig him up now or you spend the rest of your life wondering how he died”. “Ok, ok” I mumbled, afraid to say anything more in case the lump in my throat would cause tears to run down my face.
STEP FOUR: FLASHBACK – a memory from before this story began.
I could still remember the day those two army officers arrived at my house to tell me my brother was dead. Their cold hard faces gave little away when I asked how he died. “Killed in the course of duty” was all they would say. Everything else was “classified”. They handed me a letter from my brother, saluted, then turned and left, the click-clack of their shoes on the pavement slowly dying away. I stood frozen to the spot, dazed, confused and devastated. I finally opened the letter with trembling fingers but only one line stared back at me. “I’ll always be with you brother. Karl”. What did he mean? How could he be with me ever again? He was dead.
STEP FIVE: RETURN TO THE STORY – what happens next? Focus on the thoughts and feelings of the main character.
Now I leaned heavily on the rusty shovel in my hands and started to dig, determined to uncover the truth. The scar-faced man beside me began to dig at the other end and soon my brother’s coffin began to emerge from beneath the layers of sodden earth. Faced with this moment of truth, I began to panic. What if I was wrong? I knew Karl hated the army, I knew he wanted out. His girlfriend Sarah hadn’t turned up at the funeral, hadn’t contacted her family in the two months since his death. But maybe she just needed some space?
STEP SIX: FINISH WITH A TWIST
I looked down at the coffin as my hired helper tugged at the lid with a crowbar. With a loud snap the lid flew back revealing the frozen corpse inside. My whole body filled with relief – there was a dead man in the coffin. But it wasn’t my brother.
Functional Writing
Drama
Studied Drama "Romeo and Juliet"
For your exam you need to know the following:
OL- Ensure you know an unexpected event, a character you like and the reasons why and be able to state if you are satisfied with the ending.
Click the link below to find study notes for all aspects of the play including characters,themes etc.
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/
Clicking the link below will bring you to a scene by scene summary of the play including questions to ponder.
http://leavingcertenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/romeo-and-juliet.pdf
Follow the link to a step by step guide to answering a theme question on the play.
http://leavingcertenglish.net/2012/01/love-love-love/
Watch this short video from sparknotes.com that runs through the plot of the play
Studied Drama "Romeo and Juliet"
For your exam you need to know the following:
- Plot
- Key scenes
- Characters, their development and relationships
- Hero/heroine
- Themes
- Mood and atmosphere
- Dramatic turning point and tension
- Staging/direction a production of a play i.e. lighting, setting, costume, props, music, stage directions, sound and dialogue.
- Quotes to back up the points you make in your answer.
OL- Ensure you know an unexpected event, a character you like and the reasons why and be able to state if you are satisfied with the ending.
Click the link below to find study notes for all aspects of the play including characters,themes etc.
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/
Clicking the link below will bring you to a scene by scene summary of the play including questions to ponder.
http://leavingcertenglish.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/romeo-and-juliet.pdf
Follow the link to a step by step guide to answering a theme question on the play.
http://leavingcertenglish.net/2012/01/love-love-love/
Watch this short video from sparknotes.com that runs through the plot of the play
Please enjoy the Romeo and Juliet comic strip below. The whole play is summed up in two short illustrated pages.
Click here to go to an interactive Romeo and Juliet revision guide. Spend some time exploring all aspects of the play!
Unseen Drama
You must attempt an unseen drama question.
HL- Remember you have a decision between 'Shakespearean drama' and 'Other drama'.
When answering these questions the following is important:
- Language
- Genre
- Themes
- Character
- What they say
- What others say about them
- Actions they perform while on stage
The stage directions (text in italics) gives us some idea of when and how the action happens. Sometimes the stage directions reveal how a character is feeling at a particular moment.
- Costume, make-up and props
- Voice, movement and posture
- Lighting
- Set
Remember planning and practice are the best ways to organise your thoughts and write a good answer.
Functional Writing
Media Studies
Fiction
Studied Fiction - For your exam you need to know the following:
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Summary - "Skellig" - David Almond
This chapter by chapter summary should refresh your memory on the plot details of the novel.
This chapter by chapter summary should refresh your memory on the plot details of the novel.
Poetry
You will have to answer two poetry questions
Steps for responding to unseen poems
Remember 'THE MOIST PEARS' analysis technique
- Unseen Poetry
- Studied Poetry
Steps for responding to unseen poems
- Read the questions
- Read the poem and highlight key phrases
- Underline any images that stand out for you
- Note an poetic techniques used
- Read the questions again and begin to form your answers
- Trust your instincts and explain your response by commenting on quotes from the poem.
Remember 'THE MOIST PEARS' analysis technique
THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE - William Butler Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
Base Details - Siegfried Sassoon
If I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
I'd live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
You'd see me with my puffy petulant face,
Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
Reading the Roll of Honour. 'Poor young chap,'
I'd say - 'I used to know his father well;
Yes, we've lost heavily in this last scrap.'
And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
I'd toddle safely home and die - in bed.
Mid-Term Break - Seamus Heaney
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.
In the porch I met my father crying--
He had always taken funerals in his stride--
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand
And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble,"
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand
In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Funeral Blues - W.H. Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
Dulce Et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
But You Didn't - Merrill Glass
Remember the time you lent me your car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me...
But you didn't.
Remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance was
formal, and you came in jeans?
I thought you’d hate me...
But you didn't.
Remember the times I'd flirt with
other boys just to make you jealous, and
you were?
I thought you'd drop me...
But you didn't.
There were plenty of things you did to put up with me,
to keep me happy, to love me, and there are
so many things I wanted to tell
you when you returned from
Vietnam...
But you didn't