Senior Debate

Last Friday the two 6th year English classes pitted their debating skills against each other. The students in 6th year are highly experienced and accomplished debaters and we all knew that it was to be a very close battle. The motion for the debate was taken from the 2016 Leaving Certificate Higher Level exam paper: ‘Young people should travel and see the world before joining the workforce or furthering their education.’

Both teams delivered speeches that were well researched and backed up by plenty of factual data as well as personal anecdotes. They stood in front of their peers with confidence and spoke with passion. This made the job very difficult for the adjudicators; however after much deliberations it was decided that the motion was carried.

We look forward to more high quality debates during the rest of the year!!

 

 

Karen, Alex and Rhys for the proposition
Karen, Alex and Rhys for the proposition

 

Rebecca as timekeeper and Conor as chairperson
Rebecca as timekeeper and Conor as chairperson

 

Adam, Christabel and Bobby for the opposition
Adam, Christabel and Bobby for the opposition

Horror Projects

Class 1A2 was hard at work before the mid-term break, writing about the enduring appeal of horror stories. They investigated why it is that we are drawn to this particular genre and what writers have made a name for themselves through writing stories filled with fear, suspense and tension. The students did some research on writers such as Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe and Derek Landy. A number of our students have a very particular interest in anime and they wrote about this in their project. Some students were even brave enough to write their own original poetry. Here are some samples of their work:

Horror Project

Horror Project

Horror Project

Horror Project

Space Week in the Library

Last week was Space Week in the Library and here we can see some of our junior students with a display of books that are available.

Students have access to a wide range of books – both fiction and non-fiction. The library, run by the Parents’ Association, operates themed weeks during the course of the year. Be sure to pop in whenever you can to find out what is going on!

Students with a display of books about space.
Students with a display of books about space.

Bob Dylan – Nobel Laureate

American singer-songwriter has today been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature ‘for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition’. He is the first singer-songwriter to win the award and the first American to win since Toni Morrison in 1993.

He was born on 24th May 1941 in Minnesota and began writing and performing in his teenager years and has not stopped since.

Permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Sarah Danius, said later: ‘We we’re really giving it to Bob Dylan as a great poet – that’s the reason we awarded him the prize. He’s a great poet in the English tradition, stretching from Milton and Blake onwards. And he’s a very interesting traditionalist, in a highly original way. Not just the written tradition, but also the oral one; not just high literature, but also low literature.’

Author Salman Rushdie stated that he was delighted with Dylan’s win and said that his lyrics ‘had been an inspiration to me all my life since I first heard a Dylan album at school.’

Prof Seamus Perry, chair of the English faculty at Oxford University, compared Dylan’s talent to that of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, calling the songwriter ‘representative and yet wholly individual, humane, angry, funny and tender by turn; really, wholly himself, one of the greats’.

Author Joyce Carol Oates said there should be no question about Dylan’s work being considered literature, praising the academy’s ‘inspired and original choice’.

Not everyone was overjoyed by the announcement, however. Irvine Welsh, the author of Trainspotting, said that although he was a Dylan fan ‘this is an ill-conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies’.

Here is one of my favourites:

Poems written by First Year Students

First year students have been very busy already this year, writing poems on topics that are of personal interest to them.

One such poem was written by Ife Jawando on 28th September 2016 as part of Bullying Awareness Week in the school. Have a read of this thought-provoking piece of work:

 

I don’t know why I do what I do.
But all you know is that people hate you.
You try and try to change
I take my anger out on the firing range.

I try to be a better person.
But my situation finds a way to worsen.
I hear all screaming and crying.
If I said I was nice I’d by lying.

I get no attention at home.
People wish I was sent away to Rome.
Got a mum, but not a dad.
She is always so sad.

They say my temper is a fad.
I do not know why I get so mad.

 

This next poem was written by Ruairí Costigan on 30th September 2016. It is on the ever-present news topic of violence caused by drugs and gang feuds.

 

Gang Wars

Bang bang he is dead,
I wish we could’ve just broke bread.
In these gang wars no one is keeping scores.
For the battles I have fought
My family are being sought.
To them my kids’ lives do not matter;
From them I only hear
Sadistic laughter.
Good men’s blood drips from tables: 
Because this job is dangerous but the income is stable.
Good men’s blood drips from chairs:
This could’ve stopped with warning flares.
Good men’s blood drips from the wall:
May name it seems to call.
It’s a sweet adolescent sound telling me
Civilians are buried underground.
The voice is softly spoken – 
I reject it for my soul has been broken.
Nothing to me is trustworthy;
To my family I am unworthy.
I’m now counting my days.
I’m now a man that prays.
I know my soul is diminished.
I know my life is finished.
And it’s all for fame and glory,
This is how I must end my story.
I am sorry for my family – to you I lied.
I am sorry to the families of those who died.
I am sorry to those I made join my side . . . 

 

I’m sure you’ll agree that these are powerful and moving poem. They show the great potential that we have here in our First Year group – we shall be expecting a continuation of this high standard from them as the year progresses.

Analysing the paper

Some students gain comfort from analysing the poets that have come up in the past. Here is a quick overview of the last few years:

2015
John Montague
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin
Robert Frost
Thomas Hardy

2014
W.B. Yeats
Emily Dickinson
Philip Larkin
Sylvia Plath

2013
Elizabeth Bishop
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Derek Mahon
Sylvia Plath

2012
Thomas Kinsella
Adrienne Rich
Philip Larkin
Patrick Kavanagh

2011
Emily Dickinson
W.B. Yeats
Robert Frost
Eavan Boland

2010
W.B. Yeats
Adrienne Rich
Patrick Kavanagh
T.S. Eliot

2009
Derek Walcott
John Keats
John Montague
Elizabeth Bishop

2008
Philip Larkin
John Donne
Derek Mahon
Adrienne Rich

2007
Robert Frost
T.S. Eliot
John Montague
Sylvia Plath

2006
John Donne
Thomas Hardy
Elizabeth Bishop
Michael Longley

2005
Eavan Boland
Emily Dickinson
T.S. Eliot
W.B. Yeats

2004
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Patrick Kavanagh
Derek Mahon
Sylvia Plath

2003
John Donne
Robert Frost
Sylvia Plath
Seamus Heaney

2002
Elizabeth Bishop
Eavan Boland
Michael Longley
Shakespeare’s Sonnets

2001
Elizabeth Bishop
John Keats
Philip Larkin
Michael Longley

Past exam questions on Philip Larkin

2014
‘Larkin is a perceptive observer of the realities of ordinary life in poems that are sometimes illuminated by images of lyrical beauty.’
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the above statement? Support your answer with reference to both the themes and language found in the poetry of Philip Larkin on your course.

2012
‘Larkin’s poems often reveal moments of sensitivity which lessen the disappointment and cynicism found in much of his work.’
To what extent do you agree with this statement? Support your answer with suitable reference to the poetry of Philip Larkin on your course.

2008
‘Writing about unhappiness is the source of my popularity.’
In the light of Larkin’s own assessment of his popularity, write an essay outlining your reasons for liking / not liking his poetry. Support your points with the aid of suitable reference to the poems you have studied.

2001
Write and essay in which you outline your reasons for liking and / or not liking the poetry of Philip Larkin. Support your points by reference to the poetry of Larkin you have studied.

Questions on Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin

Eiléan Ní Chilleanáin is a relatively new poet on the course and has only appeared once on the Leaving Certificate exam so far. What a lovely question about this wonderful poet!

2015
‘Ní Chuilleanáin’s demanding subject matter and formidable style can prove challenging.’
‘Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with reference to the poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin on your course.

Here are some other sample questions on Ní Chuilleanáin:

‘Ní Chuilleanáin is a truly imaginative poet, exploring other worlds and realms in an inventive fashion.’
Write a response to this statement, supporting your answer with reference to the poems you have studied.

 

‘Ní Chuilleanáin’s poetry reflects her interest in traditional worlds and is rich in symbolism and allusion.’
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this assessment of her poetry? Support your answer with suitable reference to the poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin.

 

‘Ní Chuilleanáin writes about people and places in poems full of vivid imagery.’
Write your response to this statement, supporting your answers with suitable reference to the poetry of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin on your course.

 

‘Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin writes on public and private themes in a way that engages and fascinates.’
To what extent do you agree with this statement? Support the points you make with suitable reference to the poems by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin on your course.

 

To help you come to a fuller understanding of this poet’s work, Poetry Ireland has recorded Ní Chuilleanáin reading her poem ‘All For You’. She then gives an interpretation of this poem, along with a discussion of other aspects of poetry. You can watch this recording for yourself here.

English classes at Franciscan College, Gormanston, Co. Meath

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