Papers mixed easy with challenging questions

JUNIOR CERT ENGLISH HIGHER LEVEL:THERE WAS a mixed response to yesterday's Junior Cert higher-level English in both Papers I and II.

Parts of paper I were regarded as challenging for the level, with some teachers remarking that the excerpt from Charles Darwin's diary was more testing than the equivalent section on yesterday's Leaving Cert higher-level paper.

"Some of my students found this difficult," said Christina Henehan of Rice College in Westport, Co Mayo.

"The language in the excerpt from Charles Darwin's diary was challenging for this age group. The media section was also quite tough in parts. As long as students chose carefully, they should have been okay."

Paper II presented few problems for the most part, although the unseen poetry question, featuring There Came A Dayby Ted Hughes, was challenging. "It was more of a Leaving Cert or adult-level poem . . . Some students found the follow-up question very difficult," Ms Henehan said.

The exam was a mixture of easy and testing material, according to her: "Paper I was a question of the choices a student made. A student could avoid the more challenging questions if they made good choices . . . The Ted Hughes question on Paper II was almost like an IQ test, but overall there was no huge upset."