INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CARLOW SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DEPARTMENT OF - - PDF document

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CARLOW SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT SUMMER EXAMINATIONS 2014 COURSE CODE: CW DATE: Course Title: National Certificate in Business Studies Course Year: 1 Subject: Writing, Presentation and Research Skills Duration: 3 hours Examiners:

• Mr. C Derenda

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: NO Dictionaries allowed INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATE:

• 1. Write your Name, Course Year and Class Group on your answer book.
• 2. You must answer three questions. One from each section.
• 3. All questions carry marks as indicated on question sheet.
• 4. You may use, detach and hand up the text for Question 3 in answering this

particular question.

• 5. No dictionaries allowed.

Section A Answer either Question 1 or question 2 in this section. QUESTION 1 TOTAL: 40 MARKS You are the secretary / PR officer for a large sports club in Ireland’s south east. Your club is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and you have been informed that the Minister for Sports, Arts and Culture will be attending the celebrations. Many famous (past and present) players and members of the club as well as a number of local dignitaries will be present at this event. There will be plenty of activities for all ages surrounding this event as well as a lot of fundraising for both the club and a number of charities. Write a plausible, detailed press release intended for the local papers. Invent all the necessary details (i.e. club name, place name, names of dignitaries & celebrities etc.) You do not want this published before September 1st, 2014.

• Min. 400 words.

QUESTION 2 TOTAL: 40 MARKS Use all the information contained in the dialogue format, below, to produce a special report. Ensure that the report is structured, numbered and also fulfils all the linguistic criteria of report writing. (Invent any other necessary details, i.e. titles, etc.)

• Min. 400 words.

Enda Donnelly, the principal of St. Mary’s School, Milltown, is meeting with a number of teachers who are on the After-School-Club committee. Principal Donnelly: Good morning, ladies. Something has come up. I’ve just been speaking to the board of management, and they are concerned that there aren’t enough junior students involved in the after-school club. They want to know what the facilities and activities for junior students in our after-school club are like. That means: Some statistics! What’s the uptake? How many junior students are using the club? What are we offering specifically for them? …etc. Could you go and find out about it? Anne: Ok, we could talk to the junior students who are coming in … Rita: I have a few ideas what we could do to make it more interesting. Principal: Yes, that’ll be fine, but don’t rely on just asking the ones who are already using the after-school club, go out there as well and ask some of the junior students who are NOT using it. What do they want? And then let’s hear what we can do to make it more interesting for them. Do up a report. […] The teachers meet to discuss their strategy and to ascertain what needs to be done. Anne: So what are we going to do? I could go and interview the junior students who come into the club regularly. Rita: Okay, you do that. Yvonne and I can go around and ask other junior students if they’re going to the after-school club, and also why they’re not using it if they answer ‘no’. Anne: ---What questions should we ask exactly?

Rita: -How about:

• do you go to the after-school club? If yes, how often per week?

If no, why not? Anne: ---Yes, good, but let’s also ask: Do you even know that there IS an after-school club here in town? I’ll get Yvonne to do the legwork. Rita: -OK. And let’s also ask them: Would you go to the after-school club if there were things on you like? Anne: ---And ask them: What things would you like to see happening in the after- school club? Rita: -We also have to include a list of stuff that’s on already and that they can avail

• f right now… what’s that? We already have the statistics on that, don’t we?

Anne: --- Yes, we do. Let’s see: there’s the supervised study class four times a week (that’s about twenty kids every day, half of them are junior students), the games room has open access all the time we’re open, 4 pm to 7 pm, but there’s never any junior students there, only the senior lads playing pool… Rita: -There’s music practise twice a week. Anne: ---Yes, but that’s for band members only. I don’t think there are any junior students in the band. Rita: -Do we have an arts and crafts club this year? Anne: ---No, there weren’t enough interested. Rita: - What else have we got? Volleyball - twice a week, that’s about twenty each time, almost all are junior students. Anne: --- The drama group meets once a week. Is that well attended? Rita: -Yes, there’s about fifteen in that, half of them junior students. Anne: --- All right, let’s meet again in two days’ time to see what we have. […] Next Meeting. Yvonne: - OK. Here’s what I got. I went around and asked about 120 junior students if they know about the after-school club. Eight out of ten do, but only 10% of those actually come to the club. Anne: --- I see. If so many haven’t even heard about it we probably ought to put up some posters and have a bit of a campaign to let people know what is on offer for them here. How about the junior students who go to the club: do they have any suggestions? Rita: -Almost all of them say pretty much the same: “I’d come to the games room more often, but all there is, is the senior boys playing pool or darts… Why can’t we have other stuff like table tennis, or a few computer games, for example?” Anne: ---OK, that’s an idea! What about the ones who know about the after-school club, but won’t go? Yvonne: -Well, about two thirds of them have told me: “We don’t want to hang around with those senior lads playing pool.” Some had very good suggestions saying: “Why aren’t there any outdoor activities like canoeing, you can do that in any kind of weather”. Anne: Canoeing might be worth looking into, but we need to check out first if there aren’t any insurance issues around that. The principal would have to look into it. _______________________

Section B Answer either Question 3 or Question 4 in this section. QUESTION 3 TOTAL: 20 MARKS The following text contains 10 mistakes. Words are either misspelled or used in the wrong context. Identify each mistake by underlining it (10 marks) and write the correct version of each of these words above the error (10 marks). Ignore punctuation and proper names. N.B. Negative Marking applies. If correct words in the text are identified as incorrect then one mark will be deducted! Why is the industrial relations problem in Ireland so acute? Do Irish workers have a self-destructive impulse? Is the good of the community put before selfish personell gain any longer? All strikes are eventually settled. Why can’t they be solved sooner rather than later? It is well known that the longer a strike goes on the more difficult it is to settle. The great problem is that each side refuses to compromise for fear of loosing face. To find a formula that each side can agree to without losing dignity may be the solution to many of the strikes witch occur at present. One of the vital questions to be decided is weather the findings of the Labour Court should be binding. But what happens if people refuse to abide by the Labour Court findings? Should they be fined

• r jailed? If the later, will many people see them as martyrs? Dispite all the talk

about the problem of strikes there seems to be general apathy when it comes to solving the problem. If all conscienscious people involved with the problem would sit down and work dilligently, surely a solution could be found which wood not compromise the principals of any party. _____________________

QUESTION 4 TOTAL: 20 MARKS

• a. Can the underlined elements be described as grammatically correct or

incorrect? Please indicate ‘correct’ or ‘incorrect’. Negative Marking applies! If an element is identified incorrectly, then one mark will be deducted per element! (10 marks)

• 1. The party invitation was for my wife and I.
• 2. Nobody knows why me and my friend were not notified.
• 3. My friend and I love to go to the movies.
• 4. You and me should go away together.
• 5. Please let Daddy and me discuss this in peace.
• 6. Daddy and me are very busy today.
• 7. I can't say for certain that it was her who broke the window.
• 8. Me and my wife were invited to a dinner party.
• 9. I saw her break the window.
• 10. When my friend and me heard that he was coming, all hell broke loose.
• b. Give examples of two English sentences containing the following

elements: i. A subject; A predicate; Three different predicate complements. ii. A subject; A predicate; Two objects (direct and indirect); One predicate complement. iii. Identify each sentence element! N.B. Negative Marking applies! If elements are identified incorrectly, marks will be deducted! (10 marks)

Section C Answer either Question 5 or Question 6 in this section. QUESTION 5 TOTAL: 40 MARKS From a list of well-known short stories studied throughout the year (see below) pick one short story and discuss it in a critical essay.

• Min. 400 words.

i. Summarize the story (15 marks) ii. Interpret the story. First of all: indicate which type of short story you are dealing with. Then, focus on some of the following points, if relevant: Is/are there any central theme/s to the story? Does the writer’s biography give rise to a certain meaning of the story? How far is the historical background of the writer’s life and times relevant for the story? Is there any symbolism used in the story? To what effect? Is there a social / cultural relevance to the story? (25 marks) Anton Chekhov Joy Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour Nathaniel Hawthorne Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne Earth's Holocaust W.W. Jacobs The Monkey's Paw Katherine Mansfield The Fly Katherine Mansfield The Doll's House Guy de Maupassant The Necklace Edgar Allan Poe The Purloined Letter Edgar Allan Poe The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House of Usher Bram Stoker Dracula's Guest Oscar Wilde The Nightingale and the Rose Oscar Wilde A Devoted Friend QUESTION 6 TOTAL: 40 MARKS Write a short-story (any type of your choice) on a topic of your choice. Also indicate which type of short-story you are writing.

• Min. 400 words.
• ENDS-

• DO NOT COPY NOR HAND TO STUDENTS -

Marking Scheme: 1 News Release; Heading + Date and Time of Release + Headline + Ends + Design and contact details = 10 marks Main points in first paragraph. Brevity. 5 marks Language and Tone 5 marks Structure of content 5 marks Depth and breadth of commentary 5 marks Spelling, accuracy and proper style of English 10 marks Date and Time of release to be given. Headline should sum up contents. Factual information required. Release should be of adequate length. Name, telephone number and other contact details must be clearly shown. Accuracy of English and good, appropriate language essential. 2 Correct format & style for report (Terms of Reference Table of Contents) 4 marks Quality of methods of procedure 4 marks Presentation of findings 4 marks Conclusions 4 marks Recommendations 4 marks Structure of content 5 marks Depth and breadth of commentary 5 marks Spelling, accuracy and proper style of English 10 marks QUESTION 3 TOTAL: 20 MARKS

• a. The following text contains 10 mistakes. Words are either misspelled or

used in the wrong context. Identify each mistake by underlining it (10 marks) and write the correct version of each of these words above the error (10 marks). Ignore punctuation and proper names. Negative Marking applies if correct words are identified as incorrect! Why is the industrial relations problem in Ireland so acute? Do Irish workers have a self-destructive impulse? Is the good of the community put before selfish personell / personal gain any longer? All strikes are eventually settled. Why can’t they be solved sooner

rather than later? It is well known that the longer a strike goes on the more difficult it is to settle. The great problem is that each side refuses to compromise for fear of loosing / losing face. To find a formula that each side can agree to without losing dignity may be the solution to many of the strikes witch / which occur at present. One of the vital questions to be decided is weather / whether the findings of the Labour Court should be binding. But what happens if people refuse to abide by the Labour Court findings? Should they be fined or jailed? If the later/ latter, will many people see them as martyrs? Dispite / Despite all the talk about the problem of strikes there seems to be general apathy when it comes to solving the

• problem. If all conscienscious / conscientious people involved with

the problem would sit down and work dilligently / diligently, surely a solution could be found which wood / would not compromise the principals / principles of any party. Question 4

• b. Are the underlined elements used grammatically correctly or incorrectly?

Please indicate ‘True’ or ‘False’. Negative Marking! (10 marks)

• 1. The party invitation was for my wife and I. INCORRECT
• 2. Nobody knows why me and my friend were not notified. INCORRECT
• 3. My friend and I love to go to the movies. CORRECT
• 4. You and me should go away together. INCORRECT
• 5. Please let Daddy and me discuss this in peace. CORRECT
• 6. Daddy and me are very busy today. INCORRECT
• 7. I can't say for certain that it was her who broke the window. INCORRECT
• 8. Me and my wife were invited to a dinner party. INCORRECT
• 9. I saw her break the window. CORRECT
• 10. When my friend and me heard that he was coming, all hell broke
• loose. INCORRECT

1 mark awarded for each properly identified item. Deductions of 1 mark for each improperly identified item.

• b. Give examples of two English sentences containing the following elements:

i. A subject; A predicate; Three different predicate complements. ii. A subject; A predicate; Two objects (direct and indirect); One predicate complement. (10 marks) Possible example:

• i. On Tuesday they will be going to London by boat.
• ii. My brother bought my girl-friend a brand new jumper for her birthday.

SUBJECT PREDICATE OBJECT (direct or indirect.)

• PREDIC. COMPL.

They will be going to London PLACE by boat. MANNER

• n Tuesday TIME

My brother bought a brand new jumper (dir) my girl-friend (indirect) for her birthday

• NB. Permutations for correct answers are, of course, almost endless. 1 Mark awarded

for each correct element in a sentence. Deductions of ½ mark for incorrect elements in a sentence. Question 5 – Essay on Short Story: i. Summary: Ideal length. Should not exceed 10% of short story length. 3% Should contain the most important and relevant plot in proper order. 5% Accuracy of English, Spelling, Grammar etc. 7%

ii. Interpretation Identification of short-story type and proper follow-through 2% Ideas & Content (Creativity & Originality) 3% Structure of content 4 % Coherence 3% Depth and breadth of commentary 4 % Spelling & Grammar 5% Lexicon (quality and adequacy) 4% Question 6 – Short-Story Ideas & Content (Creativity & Originality) 10% Structure of content 5 % Coherence 5% Character Development 5 % Spelling & Grammar 5% Lexicon (quality and adequacy) 5% Identification of short-story type and proper follow-through 5%