Education

Leaving Cert English paper two: tough Hamlet and Plath questions cause some consternation

While predicted poets appeared, teachers say the initial euphoria will have faded for many

Students (from left) Sophie Graham, Lucy Bolger, Jenny Murphy and Lucy Phillips from Rathdown School, Glenageary, Dublin following English Paper two. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Peter McGuire
Thu Jun 6 2024 - 18:32

Difficult questions on Shakespeare’s Hamlet and poet Sylvia Plath posed a considerable challenge to higher-level English students, teachers have said.

“Some disquieting questions will have students feeling unsure about their performance,” said Clodagh Havel, a teacher at the Institute of Education.

“Many questions required students to make the braver choice of directly challenging or contradicting the paper.”

Gillian Chute, an English grinds teacher who offers lessons online and in-person, said that while the paper rewarded critical thinking, one of the two options on Hamlet was especially difficult.

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Students were asked about the aspects of Hamlet that “make it a surprisingly positive and hopeful drama.”

“Students may have struggled with the limited material available in the play to agree with this statement, and not all candidates may have seen the opportunity to disagree with such a narrowly-worded question,” Ms Chute said.

Ms Havel agreed. “The question describes the play of the notoriously melancholic prince as positive and hopeful [but] in 2017 it was ‘a disturbing psychological thriller, which was an approach taken by teachers everywhere,” she said.

“An ardent and argumentative student could make this work, but likely felt it was untethered to their previous two years of study.”

Kate Barry, ASTI subject representative and a teacher at Loreto Fermoy, also agreed, but concurred with her teaching colleagues that the other Hamlet option, which asked students about how Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s complex relationship with the character, Gertrude, to “explore a variety of core issues,” was more accessible.

“Although they had to know the characters and quotations, there were good opportunities for critical thinking here,” Ms Barry said.

Ms Chute echoed this, saying that most candidates would have thrived in the familiarity of the question.

The poetry questions caused some consternation, too.

“Students across the country will have felt an initial wave of relief as they raced to the back of the paper to see which of the long-speculated poets appeared and glanced the names Yeats, Ni Chuilleanain, Dickinson, Plath and Heaney: all of which were predicted,” said Ms Havel.

“However, on closer scrutiny that initial euphoria will have faded for many. While the Heaney and Dickinson questions were typical of the previous examples and the Yeats question demanded a manageably highbrow approach to his work, the Plath question would have worried students.

“The guide quote for the question asked students to assess Plath as a ‘social commentator’, a direct contradiction of what most [had] prepared.

“Braver students will have challenged the claim, but in a high stress environment many won’t want to take the risk at this final high stakes hurdle. There were of course other options but this section, and this paper on the whole, will have forced students to make choices they did not want to make,” Ms Havel said.

Ms Chute said that students had other options, however, including a “beautifully accessible” Seamus Heaney question and a question on W.B. Yeats that “reinforced the notion that rote-learning was truly gone, as students were asked to ‘explore fascinating contradictions that are central to his poetry.”

Laura Daly, Studyclix.ie subject expert and an English teacher at St Benildus College, said that poets John Donne and Gerard Manley Hopkins were noticeable by their absences. “Donne has appeared in recent years, but Hopkins has not appeared in over a decade and it was thought he would be on the paper today,” she said.

On the ordinary level paper, Ms Barry said that, apart from a tricky optional question on a poetry slam, the paper was very doable.

Ms Daly said that the paper was student centred, with the single texts all offering familiar styles of questions.

“All three modes of the comparative study had fairly predictable questions on key moments and the students’ emotional response to aspects of the texts,” she said.

“There was a nice variety within the studied poetry section offering students ample choice of poetic style to choose from. The unseen poem was particularly lovely, if a little unrelatable to the students, as it focused on sleep deprived parents.”

Try this one at home: Leaving Cert English, higher level

Discuss the aspects of Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, that make it a surprisingly positive and hopeful drama. Develop your response with reference to Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet.

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