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Subjects · Leaving Cert English

Leaving Cert English: Single Text

How often Single Text comes up on the English papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 10 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

OL Asked on 10 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Single Text, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Single Text.

(a)In a Single Text essay, your 'thesis' is…
  1. A summary of the plot in your opening lines
  2. Your central argument in answer to the question
  3. A list of key quotations you plan to use
(b)Which tense is conventionally used to discuss events in a literary text?
  1. The future tense
  2. The past tense
  3. The present tense
(c)A character's development from the start of a text to the end is often called their…
  1. Arc
  2. Chorus
  3. Setting
Show the answers

(a) Your central argument in answer to the question

(b) The present tense

(c) Arc

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Single Text.

Higher Level

Asked on 10 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Single Text
2025Single Text
2024Single Text
2023Single Text
2022Single Text
2021Single Text
2019Single Text
2018Single Text
2017Single Text
2016Single Text

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 10 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2026. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Single Text
2025Single Text
2024Single Text
2023Single Text
2022Single Text
2021Single Text
2019Single Text
2018Single Text
2017Single Text
2016Single Text

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Single Text questions

Single Text, 2 marks

For the Single Text question on Paper 2 you write about…

  1. Two texts together
  2. A text you have never seen
  3. One text you studied in detail
Show the answer

One text you studied in detail

Section I of Paper 2 is on the single text alone. Your comparative texts belong to Section II and should not be mixed in.

Single Text, 2 marks

In a play, the writer's notes telling actors how to move or speak are…

  1. Chapter headings
  2. Stage directions
  3. Soliloquies
Show the answer

Stage directions

Stage directions are usually printed in italics or brackets. They tell you a lot about mood, setting and how a line is said.

Single Text, 2 marks

A 'key moment' in a text means…

  1. An important scene that changes things
  2. The longest chapter or scene in the book
  3. The very first line of the book
Show the answer

An important scene that changes things

Pick a scene where something shifts: a decision, a discovery, a quarrel. Say what happens and why it matters.

Other English topics

All of Leaving Cert English