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Getting
started
Beryl
Clarke, Contributor
You
have started a new school year, stepped
up on another rung of the ladder towards
your goals. Ahead of you is a year
in which you will strive to achieve,
to reap success and to lay a solid
foundation for the future you wish
to build.
I
must pause here to ask you to extend
congratulations to those who, by their
performances in the May-June CXC examinations,
deserve commendation for jobs well
done. I do not wish to single out
any institution, but I know that across
the length and breadth of our country
many candidates have performed excellently.
The celebrations have been well deserved.
There are those, however, who are
less happy now. Perhaps they were
less successful than they expected
and feel dejected. I urge all such
students not to give up but to redouble
their efforts in this year. They know
whether they did their best or could
have put in more work. Application,
serious application, is vital, not
beating up on oneself!
Let
me welcome all my new 'students'.
It is with true pleasure that I invite
you to become members of the 'Youthlink'
classes, and particularly to my class.
I hope you will be regular in 'attendance',
read all the work, do all the homework
and get ready to earn a grade one!'
Let me give you a bit of advice right
at the start:
If
you have not yet set your goals, try
to do so now. You may have already
set your career goals, but if you
have not, just set intermediate ones.
These would include working for the
grades you want; those that will take
you to sixth form or wherever you
want to go on to. Take your studies
seriously; try not to be side-tracked
by people or things. There are those
who will deliberately set out to waste
your time using one method or another,
but if you put a value on your time
and on yourself you will not allow
this to happen. Do not follow anyone
who tells you that he/she has achieved
excellent results without doing any
studying. It may be true for that
person but can you guarantee that
it will be true for you?
One
more thing - do not let circumstances
dictate to you. Try to find ways to
shut out unwelcome noise; develop
friendships and associations that
can help you, lean on your parents
or guardians, siblings, teachers,
guidance counsellors and pastors.
Do not be too shy or ashamed to ask
for help when necessary.
Before
we look at the 2012-2014 syllabus
and texts, I want to inform you that
the January 2012 examination will
be set on the 2009-2011 syllabus and
texts. So, if you are sitting or re-sitting
the exam in January, you will use
the same texts that were used for
the 2011 May exam. In May 2012, however,
the exam will be based on the new
syllabus and texts. Please make sure
that you are using the appropriate
ones for it is often the unfortunate
situation that some candidates find
themselves in - using texts that are
no longer on the prescribed list.
It would be a good thing for you to
buy yourself a copy of the syllabus.
I am going to give you the prescribed
list and suggest that you keep it
where you can refer to it during the
year.
Drama
| A
Midsummer Night's Dream |
William
Shakespeare |
| Old
Story Time |
Trevor
Rhone |
Poetry
| Contemplation
upon Flowers |
Henry
King |
| Once
Upon a Time |
Gabriel
Okara |
| Forgive
My Guilt Robert |
P.
Tristram Coffin |
| West
Indies, USA |
Stewart
Brown |
| Sonnet
Composed Upon Westminster Bridge |
William
Wordsworth |
| Orchids |
Hazel
Simmons-McDonald |
| The
Woman Speaks to the Man who has
Employed Her Son |
Lorna
Goodison |
| It
is the Constant Image of your
Face |
Dennis
Brutus |
| God's
Grandeur |
Gerard
Manley Hopkins |
| A
Stone's Throw |
Elma
Mitchell |
| Test
Match Sabina Park |
Stewart
Brown |
| Theme
for English B |
Langston
Hughes |
| Dreaming
Black Boy |
James
Berry |
| Epitaph |
Dennis
Scott |
| Dulce
et Decorum Est |
Wilfred
Owen |
| This
is the Dark Time, My Love |
Martin
Carter |
| Ol'
Higue |
Mark
McWatt |
| 'Le
Loupgarou' |
Derek
Walcott |
| South |
Kamau
Brathwaite |
| To
an Athlete Dying Young |
A.
E. Housman |
Prose
Fiction
| Songs
of Silence |
Curdella
Forbes |
| Wine
of Astonishment |
Earl
Lovelace |
Short
Stories
| Selections
from A World of Prose for CXC |
David
Williams & Hazel Simmons-McDonald
(new edition) |
| Blackout |
Roger
Mais |
| Shabine |
Hazel
Simmons-McDonald |
| Emma |
Carolyn
Cole |
| The
Man of the House |
Frank
O'Connor |
| Septimus |
John
Wickham |
| The
Day the World Almost Came to an
End |
Pearl
Crayton |
| The
Boy Who Loved Ice Cream |
Olive
Senior |
| Berry |
Langston
Hughes |
| Mom
Luby and the Social Worker |
Kristin
Hunter |
| To
Da-duh, in Memoriam |
Paule
Marshall |
Literatures
in English is a subject, I believe,
that you have been doing for some
years. I am wondering at your reasons
for choosing it. Some of you, no doubt,
love Literature for one reason or
another and just had to do it. Others,
perhaps, are taking it because of
their proposed career, some because
at your school students do well at
it in examination. Of course, too,
others will be taking it to make up
the required number of subjects that
your school insists that you do. No
matter your reason, it is your duty
to do well at this and all the subjects
that you will be preparing to sit
in CXC exams.
Once
again welcome and God bless!
Beryl
Clarke is an independent contributor.
Send questions and comments to kerry-ann.hepburn@gleanerjm.com
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