Junior Cycle English asks you to study two novels from the prescribed list across second and third year. Your teacher chooses them, so your two may not match your friend’s two.
The written paper does not ask you to retell the story. Studied texts come up in Section C, and the questions there are open. They ask you to write about a moment, a character, a relationship or a theme. You pick which novel to use. One book you know well is worth more than two you half remember. What earns marks is a clear point, evidence from the text, and an explanation of why that evidence matters.
CBA2 is separate. It is called The Collection of the Student’s Texts and it happens in third year. Your teacher assesses it in school against the Features of Quality. You choose pieces from the writing you have done in class, and a response to a novel can be one of them. So anything sharp you write about a book this year may be worth keeping.
Chapter summaries are for checking and revising, not for replacing the novel. Read the chapter first, then read the summary to see what you missed. Used that way they build confidence fast. Used the other way round they leave you holding somebody else’s opinion with no quotes of your own. Answers built only on summaries stay general, and that shows.
Keep your own quote page as you read. Ten lines you picked yourself beat fifty handed to you. You already know what each one is for.
Full notes available now
Complete chapter summaries, themes, characters and exam answers.
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Also on the prescribed list: The Poet X, Things Fall Apart, Noughts and Crosses, The Weight of Water, Bog Child, Washington Black, The Old Man and the Sea, Hombre, Between Shades of Gray, Family Life, Pride and Prejudice, Truth Be Told, Leonard and Hungry Paul, The Henna Wars, Passing, The Choice, Heartstopper Volume 1, Savage her Reply, Jekyll and Hyde, Ender’s Game, Trash. Between Shades of Gray is also listed in some sources as Between Shades of Grey.