While paper two is often seen as the more daunting of the English papers, there are lots of tips that can help you boost your grade and avoid some common pitfalls.

Don’t Summarise

It can be really easy when writing longer answers, especially for the Single Text and Comparative sections of the exam, to start to summarise the text you’re writing about. The examiner knows exactly what happened in King Lear so there’s no point in retelling the story in your own words. Instead you should focus on analysing the text and making points about why you think certain events happened and why certain characters behave the way they do. If you’re not really sure about what a more discursive answer looks like, there are some great A1-grade sample answers on Studyclix, to work from.

Get Personal with poetry…

In paper two – and in particular the poetry section – the examiner really wants to see your own engagement with the pieces. You will be well rewarded with marks for writing things like: ‘In my opinion…’, ‘I found’ ‘I could relate to..’, – provided you back these statements up using the poem or text your writing about. If you’re one of those people who thinks that they ‘don’t get’ poetry, then think again. Anyone can do well at poetry, because it’s all about having your own personal interpretation of the poems. As long as you support your point with evidence from the poem, you’re on the road to success.

Try to stand out

Remember that the examiners will be correcting a lot of similar looking answers, so try to make yours stand out. Adding a little bit of flair to your answers can really boost an examiners opinion. Starting off and finishing your essays with a captivating statement about your opinion or with a quote from the play can help you do this, while also underlining straight away that you know the material which you’re writing about.

Finish every section

For many, the prospect of completing poetry, the single text and the comparative study within 200 minutes on the day of the exam is quite daunting. But don’t worry!

I’m confident it will work out on the day for you. Exam conditions really help you concentrate and focus on the task at hand.

Don’t be afraid to be ruthless, if you’re running out of time, don’t be afraid to finish one answer quickly in order to get on to the next section. It can be hard to leave an answer that you have lots to say about, but by completing every section you maximise the amount of marks an examiner can give you.

Irish Country Living has teamed up with studyclix.ie to offer last-minute help to Leaving Cert students the night before their exams.