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Irish Times
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Leaving Cert English paper two: ‘Dense' questions posed a challenge amid relief over appearance of much-predicted poets
Students were relieved that several predicted poets appeared on this year's higher-level English paper, but many of the questions were very specific in scope, teachers have said. Kate Barry, a teacher at Loreto Secondary School in Cork and ASTI subject representative for English, said that both Eavan Boland and Tracy K Smith – a new poet on the course – both featured. 'But the question on Boland, which asked about the complex nature of powerlessness, was quite specific,' Ms Barry said. 'The question on Smith, which focused on the nature of their lives, was perhaps more candidate-friendly.' READ MORE Clodagh Havel, an English teacher at the Institute of Education, said that it was a testing paper. 'It was not necessarily an arduous one but nevertheless students will feel a lot more pushed to react and grapple with the exam than they did yesterday,' she said. 'Between densely phrased questions and some peculiar vocabulary, some students will be worried that they weren't on the right path. 'Each question was precise in its scope – they had a wide selection, but a narrow focus.' Gillian Chute, head of English at , said that students answering a question on the poet Derek Mahon may have been disappointed with the question. 'It was unconventional in nature,' she said. 'It asked them to what extent they think that an audience's appreciation of both Mahon's language and thematic concerns would be enhanced if his poetry was read out loud, and this may have presented considerable difficulty for some candidates.' Ms Havel said that candidates reading the first King Lear question may have paused and caught their breath on the mention of 'duality' – or two-ness – within the text's characters. 'For those who gave themselves a moment to fully read the question they will have found lots of choice in who to discuss: Lear, Gloucester, Edmund are all very comfortable candidates for discussions and only two were required.' Both Ms Barry and Ms Havel said that the second King Lear question were more accessible. 'The second question was gorgeous in its exploration of justice, order, chaos and cruelty but again the way the question was phrased was dense,' said Ms Havel. 'In the cauldron of the exam hall, composure and a level head are easier said than done. Everyone would have material to bring to fulfil these prompts, they just might not glide through it.' In the comparative texts, Ms Havel said that students aiming for the top marks will need to pick up on the nuances of texts in order to truly incorporate the elements of the 'subtle', 'contradictory' or 'paradoxical' elements mentioned. Both Ms Barry and Ms Havel praised the unseen poem. 'It covered familiar ground about a lost relationship, which is a common theme,' said Ms Barry.' At ordinary level, Ms Barry said that there was a lot of reading and wordiness on the paper, which may have thrown some students, although the questions themselves were not too difficult. 'On higher-level English paper one, students were asked to prepare a podcast, and podcasts also appeared on ordinary level paper two,' she said. 'This is probably because podcasts are such a popular medium these days. 'The other questions, including a debate around the ending of the text, were really nice.' Studyclix subject expert Sue O'Sullivan Casey, a teacher at Pobalscoil Inbhear Scèine, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, said that the ordinary level single text questions were accessible and many students would have managed well with the demands put to them. 'Other questions on Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' and Colson Whitehead's 'The Underground Railroad' were challenging but not unfamiliar,' she said. 'The paper was fair and straightforward. A student who had prepared consistently over two years would have been ready to handle the questions well.'
Associated Press
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
US poets laureate criticize Trump's firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden
NEW YORK (AP) — Outgoing U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón and her two immediate predecessors, Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith, are condemning President Donald Trump's firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had appointed each of them to their positions. 'Dr. Carla Hayden is the kindest, brightest, most generous Librarian of Congress we could have hoped for as a nation,' Limón, who last month completed a three-year run as poet laureate, said in a statement on Friday. 'She promoted books, libraries, and curiosity while dedicating herself to serving both sides of the aisle with genuine grace. I am heartbroken as the cruelty of this administration continues with seemingly no end in sight. She is the best of us and deserves the utmost respect. I hope people are paying attention. What we once feared is already happening.' The library, an outgrowth of Thomas Jefferson's personal book collection, holds a vast archive of the nation's books and history. Hayden, whose 10-year term was scheduled to end next year, was notified late Thursday that she had been fired, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Hayden 'did not meet the needs of the American people.' 'There were quite concerning things at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI, and putting inappropriate books in the library for children,' Leavitt told reporters during a briefing. 'And we don't believe she was serving the interest of the American taxpayer well, so she has been removed from her position, and the president is well within his rights to do that.' Confirmed by the Senate in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be the librarian of Congress. U.S. poets laureate are employees of the Library of Congress, generally serve one to three years in the role and may not 'take political positions in their official capacity while serving as laureate,' according to the library's website. Hayden had been expected to announce a new poet laureate over the summer. Hayden, appointed by President Barack Obama, had been labeled by the conservative American Accountability Foundation as 'woke' and 'anti-Trump.' Her ouster continues the Trump administration's wave of actions against Washington cultural institutions, from the Kennedy Center to the National Endowment for the Arts. Harjo, the laureate from 2019 to 2022, called her firing 'shocking news' and added that she 'found her to be steadfast with good humor as she took excellent care of an institution established close to the founding of the country as a resource for all of its citizens.' 'Her reputation will stand through time,' Harjo wrote in an email to the AP. Smith, who served from 2017 to 2019, told the AP in an email that Hayden had sought poets such as herself who 'engage communities nationwide with the joys and the power of poetry in all its forms.' 'Her abrupt firing suggests a desire to tamp down the ceiling on our collective remembering and deprive the collective imagination of vital resources,' Smith wrote. ___ Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
