One down, eight to go. I think it's safe to say that everyone is relieved the first paper is completed! At the end of the day I think this was a very good Junior Cert paper.

The theme of this exam was ‘The Art of Good Storytelling’ and featured a range of questions related to this theme. In the first question you were given a few tips for good storytelling from everyone’s favourite hero, Buzz Lightyear! You then choose two of these helpful tips to apply to a character of your chosen film.

There was a question on poetry that tells a personal story, and then examples of effective imagery. I chose Mid-term break by Seamus Heaney, which is a personal story about the tragic loss of Heaney’s four year old brother.

You were asked to write a text presenting a talk to young people on the art of good storytelling, using a play or novel which I found was an interesting question that took a bit of thinking. One thing I found confusing about that question was that the one before was on Hamlet, and the question was ‘a prescribed Shakespearean play’. I was confused as if that meant we had to answer the question using the play Hamlet, while i had studied Romeo and Juliet. In the end I decided not to take a chance on a 40 mark question and answered the novel.

I won’t sit here and tell you that my hand didn’t ache by the end of it; however, overall I think this exam did a good job of challenging students to apply what they have studied, as well as showcasing creativity with questions on creative writing and storytelling.