write a personal essay on what you perceive to be the pleasures particular to youth

The Leaving Cert personal essay is a well loved and virtually permanent feature of Paper 1 (here is some evidence ).

It belongs in the 100 marks Composition section, the single biggest chunk of the English exam.

What is the personal essay?

It calls for a confessional, introspective tone.

Do you like the sound of these questions:

• Remember those times when you did not say what you really thought or felt. Why didn’t you? How do you feel about it now?
• How would you feel about a terrible event of your past if it happened today?
• What did you learn about building family relationships based on the experience of your parents and grandparents?

You get the message – this is serious life stuff! The Leaving Cert personal essay may be one of the only times you truly get to be yourself in a standardised exam.

The marking scheme allows us to interpret the term “personal essay”’ liberally, potentially even entirely or partly as personal (first person) narratives.

How to do well in the personal essay?

Reading such an essay, you should get the feeling that you are learning someone’s deeper thoughts and reflections. It shouldn’t feel like an opinion piece in a newspaper.

Even though a certain stream of consciousness quality is usually acceptable with these essays, remember that clarity (the P of PCLM) always gets priority .

By reading the correct and H1 sample essays below, you will learn how much to write, what kind of themes come up again and again and how you may be able to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

‘To live is the rarest thing in the world, most people just exist.’ – Oscar Wilde

Personal essay: pleasures particular to you for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

• Post author: Martina
• Post published: April 18, 2019
• Post category: #625Lab / English / PCLM / Personal essay

Write a personal essay on what you perceive to be the pleasures particular to you. #625Lab. Corrected by an experienced examiner, graded as 83/100 with feedback on how to improve…

Personal essay: a time in your life in which you felt you were treated unfairly for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

• Post published: March 22, 2019

Write a personal essay on a time in your life in which you felt you were treated unfairly. #625Lab. Corrected by an experienced examiner, graded as 79/100 with feedback on…

Personal essay: moments of insight and revelation for Leaving Cert English #625Lab (Divorce)

• Post published: September 23, 2018
• Post category: #625Lab / English / Personal essay

Write a personal essay in which you reflect on moments of insight and revelation you have experienced. (2017) #625Lab. Theme: divorce. Some parts of this essay are outstanding, but it…

Personal Essay: Uncertain about what you want for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

• Post published: April 23, 2018

Write a personal essay in which you reflect on an occasion in your life when you felt uncertain about what you wanted. #625Lab. Wonderfully reflective, revelatory personal essay dealing with loss.…

Personal essay about significant endings for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

• Post published: April 7, 2018

Write a personal essay about your response to an ending, or endings, in your life that you consider significant. (100 marks)   Stellar stuff via #625Lab. If you want to send…

Personal Essay: Moments of Insight and Revelation for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

• Post published: February 25, 2018

Write a personal essay in which you reflect on moments of insight and revelation you have experienced (2017). This is a good attempt at a personal essay showing a lot…

Write a personal essay about one or more moments of uncertainty you have experienced #625Lab

• Post published: February 15, 2018

This essay below is a beautiful exemplar of the genre of personal essay, full of cathartic confessions, teenage going on middle-aged angst and some incredibly deep insights and lessons learnt.…

Personal Essay: Experience of Dramatic Arts for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

• Post published: November 9, 2017

Write a personal essay about your experience (as a performer and/or audience member) of the dramatic arts; plays, musicals, concerts, comedy etc. (2010) You may also like: Complete Guide to…

Leaving Cert English Personal Essay: Irishness #625Lab

• Post published: October 1, 2017
• Post category: #625Lab / English / Personal essay / Too long

“The shoes of Irishness fit me well.” Write a personal essay in which you explore your sense of what it means to be Irish. (2001) This is a good essay…

Leaving Cert English Personal Essay: Pretence and Unvarnished Truth #625Lab

• Post published: September 18, 2017

“Let’s stop all this pretence and tell each other the unvarnished truth for a change.”   Write a personal essay in response to this statement. (2006) This is an essay…

Leaving Cert English Personal Essay: Useless Clutter #625Lab

• Post published: September 10, 2017

The village shops in Sara Baume’s novel contain a “surplus of useless clutter”.  Write a personal essay in which you reflect on the “useless clutter” that is a feature of…

Write a personal essay on the tension you find between the everyday treadmill and the gilded promises of life

• Post published: June 5, 2017
• Post category: English / Personal essay

Write a personal essay on the tension you find between the everyday treadmill and the gilded promises of life. (2013) Themes: social norms, choice, philosophy, religion ‘To live is the…

Leaving Cert English Personal Essay: one or more moments of uncertainty you have experienced.

• Post published: June 4, 2017

Write a personal essay about one or more moments of uncertainty you have experienced. Themes: social disadvantage, divorce, homelessness Note: this is a personal essay, but it has a plot…

Write a personal essay in which you describe a place that you consider beautiful

• Post published: February 1, 2017

Themes: religion, family Please note that we are apolitical. We just like good essays. This came up on the 2008 paper. This essay is on the short side of the…

Personal Essay: Not all problems are physical

• Post published: October 23, 2016

'Not all problems are physical'. Write a personal essay about your response to this statement in light of experiences your life that you consider significant. Themes: mental health, anxiety ‘It is…

Personal Essay: Moments of Uncertainty

• Post published: September 26, 2016

  Write a personal essay about one or more moments of uncertainty you have experienced.  Themes: sexuality, social conflict Candidates may adopt a variety of approaches (serious, humorous, anecdotal, discursive,…

How To Improve Your Grade If Your Teacher Isn’t Giving You Feedback

• Post published: November 3, 2014
• Post category: Durcan / English / Hamlet / Personal essay / Short Story / T.S. Eliot / Video

- How to write a strong introduction- How to craft impactful sentences- Common grammar, syntax and style problems- How to stay relevant to the question- Examples from Hamlet, Personal Essays,…

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• Leaving Cert. English (Higher) 2015: Paper 1 Section II Composing
• Back to the question >

Preparation

• Information
• You must write a short story. You can take a variety of approaches but generally all short stories have a beginning, middle and end, have at least one character, and have some sense of tension, climax and resolution.
• Ask yourself questions to create ideas: -    Where? -    What? -    Who? -    Why? -    When? -    How?
• Beware of creating an over-long timeline. You have limited space and time. It would be impossible to cover a character’s entire life in 2-4 A4 pages.
• Try to have just 1-3 main characters.
• You have a long time to write this essay. Re-read quickly what you have written to check it for mistakes.
• Create atmosphere and images for the reader — it will improve your writing.
• You must write a story in which the main character transforms when facing a daunting challenge.
• You will be rewarded for employing some of the conventions of a magazine or newspaper layout, e.g. headline, sub-headings, etc.
• Shape your response in a manner appropriate to the register of a magazine or newspaper.
• Think about the role played by romance in our lives. You might consider some of the following: -    The media's obsession with romance -    The popularity of romance as a genre in film and books -    The transforming power of romance.  
• Try to make your article interesting and entertaining.
• Provide a ‘hook’ at the start of the article to make your reader want to read your piece.
• Be careful with structure. You should have a clear introduction and a firm conclusion.
• Never forget your purpose, audience and language register (appropriate style, vocabulary and tone).
• Use all rhetorical devices at your disposal. Some effective examples include: -    Using rhetorical questions -    Flattering your audience -    Using emotive language, strong anecdotes, strong imagery -    Involving the listener -    Creating a sense of unity with the audience.
• Remember your audience; you are speaking to the United Nations Youth Conference.
• Your task is to provoke thought around the issues you wish to discuss.
• What would you consider to be the defining struggles of our age. You may consider some of the following: -    Global warming -    Poverty -    Globalisation -    The role of technology.
• You must consider both the causes and possible solutions to these problems.  
• This title gives you the opportunity to take a number of different approaches but remember it must be a personal account. Your ideas should be at the heart of the essay.
• A personal essay should have a degree of personal reflection.
• Think about the endings in your life. What was significant? You could consider some of the following: -    End of school -    A friendship -    Death -    A relationship.
• Your essay must be descriptive. Concentrate on creating images and atmosphere for the reader. Consider a multi-sensory approach.
• Think about what Ireland is like today. What would a time-traveller make of it? It is important to decide at this stage if your traveller is from the past or present. This will greatly influence his/her observations.
• Plan this essay carefully. Try to create a fluid piece.
• Try to create a lively and engaging piece for the reader.
• You must write a short story. You can take a variety of approaches but generally, all short stories have a beginning, middle and end, have at least one character, and have some sense of tension, climax and resolution.
• You have a long time to write this essay. Re-read what you have written quickly to check it for mistakes.
• You must include a closely guarded secret and its discovery in your answer.
• This is a discursive essay. You should be able to discuss the issues. If you have no ideas on people's privacy and its challenges in a modern world, then avoid this essay.
• Spend time properly planning your essay. Clarity is key to an effective discursive essay.
• Is privacy important to you? Why?
• How has the modern world compromised our privacy? Consider some of the following: -    Facebook -    Snapchat -    Google Chrome -    How much information can be gleaned about you from your profile? -    Is anything on the net really private? -    Reality T.V. -    Celebrity privacy.
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