ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM- SECTION B POETRY In this section of the exam, you will be given one hour to read two poems and write about your response to them, using the given questions. The question will always be the same: Write about the poem and its effect on you. Show how they are similar and how they are different. The question will then be followed by bullet points which will be on CONTENT ( what the poems are about) IDEAS TO THINK ABOUT MOOD / ATMOSPHERE HOW THEY ARE WRITTEN ( words and phrases you find interesting, the way they are organised etc) YOUR RESPONSE ANNOTATING Annotating is the process of reading a text several times and identifying features, ideas and impressions about the text. Do not begin to answer the bullet points until you have spent at least 10/15 minutes reading and annotating the poem This means reading the poem at least three times and making notes around the poem filled with your ideas and impressions about the content, structure, language and techniques. Imagery- what pictures does the language create in your mind? Sentence structures- where is the punctuation and why? What effect does it have? Is the poem written in a certain style? Title? How does it start? How does it end and why? What is the voice/ tone of the poem? What does it remind you of/ make you feel? What can you say about the time or place it was written? Do you know anything about the social or historical conditions which could affect the interpretation of the poem? Do any words or phrases have a double meaning? Can they be interpreted in other ways? Fill your page with information, ideas and underline anything that is effective to you. 1
Plan your answer After you have read and annotated your two poems thoroughly, plan your answer. Draw a table for comparison to highlight the similarities and differences between the two poems Similarities Both poems use the theme of nature Both poems use personification to show the power of nature Differences Poem A is a celebration of nature whilst Poem B recognises that nature can be dangerous Poem B uses an extended metaphor to show the evil force of nature Writing your answer Write one paragraph, on each bullet point. This will provide a structure to your answer and ensure you don t miss things out. Again, you might want to underline key words in the bullet points before writing. Use quotes to back up your ideas Remember to put the titles of poems in inverted commas. Always refer to the character in the poem as the persona. Remember the Point, Evidence, Explain model. (P) In this poem the poet has tried to come up with a new way of describing the arrival of Autumn. (Ev) He does this by creating an extended image of Autumn as a thief, stealing the green stuff of summer, aided by his accomplice the wind. (Ex) This seems quite a good way of making the reader think about how the seasons change and how summer is taken away from us. Remember to be analytical and to give a comment not just feature spot the poem begins with a simile would not get any marks. However, try to identify techniques and consider the effect they produce. 2
The hardest bullet is probably the last one Try to come up with something positive about the way it was written or what it made you think you could practise by finding five things you can say about a poem Check your answer!! Important note: you may have been given mnemonics for analysing poems in coursework e.g. TWIRLS or STRIVE but in this exam you should definitely follow the structure laid down by the bullet points. It is a good idea to consider STRIVE and TWIRLS to help ensure that you have covered all the points in the language paragraph. Make your language formal Try to use these synonyms for this shows 1. This portrays 2. This reflects 3. This divulges 4. This displays 5. This illustrates 6. This appears 7. This discloses 8. This can be evidenced by. 9. This reveals 10. This demonstrates 11. This portrays 12. This reflects 13. This divulges 14. This displays 15. This illustrates 16. This appears 17. This discloses 18. This can be evidenced by. 19. This reveals 20. This demonstrates 21. This exhibits 22. This presents 23. This indicates 24. The poet feels 25. The poet is trying to express 26. From studying the poem.. 27. The theme of.. 28. The poet wants the audience to feel 29. The poet uses.. to show a sense of. 30. It may be argued that. 31. Therefore, we may see 3
POETIC TERMS ALLITERATION - Repetition of consonantal sounds at the beginning of a series of words: Peter Piper picked a peck of peppers ASSONANCE - Repetition of vowel sounds within a series of words: The sound went around the town ALLUSION - reference to a person, event or work outside of the poem. BALLAD - A poem which tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend BLANK VERSE - unrhymed iambic pentameter CAESURA - A natural line or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways CLOSED FORM - A poem which uses a fixed structure or pattern in terms of rhyme, line length and meter. CONSONANCE - Repetition of consonantal sounds within or at the end of a series of words: picked a peck of pickled peppers COUPLET - In a poem, a pair of lines which are the same length and usually rhyme or form a complete thought. ELEGY- a poem which laments the death of someone or is simply sad and thoughtful. ENJAMBMENT- The continuation of a complete idea( a sentence or clause) from one line or couplet of a poem to the next line or couplet without pause. EPIC- A long serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. FOOT- Two or more syllables that make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a poem. FREE VERSE- Lines with no prescribed pattern or structure HEROIC COUPLET- A stanza composed of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter HYPERBOLE- exaggeration used for effect: The days crawled by like years and I wept a million tears 4
IAMB- A metrical foot of two syllables, one short ( or unstressed) and one long ( stressed). IAMBIC PENTAMETER- a line of poetry containing 10 syllables where every other syllable is stressed. IRONY- a contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant or when a character speaks in ignorance of a situation known to the audience. METAPHOR- When something is described as if it is something else: He was a lion in the fight METER- The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the rhythm of stressed syllables. ONOMATOPOIEA- words which describe sounds: Bang! Crash! Crack! OPEN FORM- A poem which does not use a fixed structure or pattern in terms of line length, metre and rhyme. OXYMORON- a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other or are placed together for a certain effect; Loving hate bittersweet PERSONIFICATION- When an inanimate object is given human qualities and feelings: The tree waved its arms angrily in the raging storm PERSONA- Character in the poem PUN-A play on words or a humorous use of a single word with two or more implied meanings. REPETITION-When a word or phrase is repeated for a specific effect: The long, long years of sorrow SIBILANCE- repetition of s sounds, usually gives a calming effect; icicles sink softly onto the snow SIMILE- When something is compared to something else, using as or like : He was like a lion in the fight, as cold as ice STANZA- Unit of a poem often repeated in the same form throughout the poem. ( verse paragraph) SYMBOL- Something which represents something else; white dove 5
EXAM PRACTICE Use the poems below and the self assessment sheet to practice your poetry analysis skills SELF ASSESSMENT- ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM ANSWERS POEM: Not confident/ Not attempted Attempted and ok Secure- can do this well 1. Have I addressed all bullet points? CONTENT IDEAS TO THINK ABOUT MOOD / ATMOSPHERE HOW THEY ARE WRITTEN ( words and phrases you find interesting, the way they are organised etc) YOUR RESPONSE 2. Have I used quotes to back up my points? 3. Have I analysed the language in the quotes I ve used and considered how they contribute to the overall effect? 4. Have I discussed my own thoughts and feelings on the poem? 5. Have I discussed how meaning is conveyed through language, structure or style? 6. Have I discussed alternative interpretations? 7. Have I discussed stylistic features? 8. Have I considered a variety of ways in which effects are achieved? 9. Have I used paragraphs correctly? 10. Have I used a range of vocabulary, sentence structures and punctuation? 6
PRACTICE QUESTIONS Exam Practice 1- Both Wind and Storm on the Island are written from the perspective of people experiencing a storm. Wind This house has been far out at sea all night, The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills, Winds stampeding the fields under the window Floundering black astride and blinding wet Till day rose; then under an orange sky The hills had new places, and wind wielded Blade-light, luminous black and emerald, Flexing like the lens of a mad eye. At noon I scaled along the house-side as far as The coal-house door. Once I looked up - Through the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes The tent of the hills drummed and strained its guyrope, The fields quivering, the skyline a grimace, At any second to bang and vanish with a flap; The wind flung a magpie away and a black- Back gull bent like an iron bar slowly. The house Rang like some fine green goblet in the note That any second would shatter it. Now deep In chairs, in front of the great fire, we grip Our hearts and cannot entertain book, thought, Or each other. We watch the fire blazing, And feel the roots of the house move, but sit on, Seeing the window tremble to come in, Hearing the stones cry out under the horizons Ted Hughes 7
Storm on the Island We are prepared: we build our houses squat, Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate. The wizened earth has never troubled us With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees Which might prove company when it blows full Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale So that you can listen to the thing you fear Forgetting that it pummels your house too. But there are no trees, no natural shelter. You might think that the sea is company, Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits The very windows, spits like a tame cat Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo. We are bombarded by the empty air. Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear. Seamus Heaney Write about the poems and their effect on you. Show how they are similar and how they are different. You may write about each poem separately and then compare them, or make comparisons where appropriate in your answer as a whole. You may wish to include some or all of these points: The content of the poems- what they are about; The ideas the poets may have wanted us to think about; The mood or atmosphere of the poems; How they are written- words and phrases you find interesting, the way they are organised and so on; Your response to the poems. 8
Exam Practice 2 Both Ambulances and Mid Term Break deal with the poem of death. Ambulances Closed like confessionals, they thread Loud noons of cities, giving back None of the glances they absorb. Light glossy grey, arms on a plaque, They come to rest at any kerb: All streets in time are visited. Then children strewn on steps or road, Or women coming from the shops Past smells of different dinners, see A wild white face that overtops Red stretcher-blankets momently As it is carried in and stowed, And sense the solving emptiness That lies just under all we do, And for a second get it whole, So permanent and blank and true. The fastened doors recede. Poor soul, They whisper at their own distress; For borne away in deadened air May go the sudden shut of loss Round something nearly at an end, And what cohered in it across The years, the unique random blend Of families and fashions, there At last begin to loosen. Far From the exchange of love to lie Unreachable inside a room The traffic parts to let go by Brings closer what is left to come, And dulls to distance all we are. Phillip Larkin 9
MID-TERM BREAK I sat all morning in the college sick bay Counting bells knelling classes to a close. At two o clock our neighbours drove me home. In the porch I met my father crying He had always taken funerals in his stride And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow. The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram When I came in, and I was embarrassed By old men standing up to shake my hand And tell me they were sorry for my trouble, Whispers informed stangers I was the eldestm Away at school, as my mother held my hand In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs. At ten o clock the ambulance arrived With the corpse, stanched and bandages by the nurses. Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him For the first time in six weeks. Paler now, Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple, He lay in the four foot box as in his cot. No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four foot box, a foot for every year. Write about the poems and their effect on you. Show how they are similar and how they are different. You may write about each poem separately and then compare them, or make comparisons where appropriate in your answer as a whole. You may wish to include some or all of these points: The content of the poems- what they are about; The ideas the poets may have wanted us to think about; The mood or atmosphere of the poems; How they are written- words and phrases you find interesting, the way they are organised and so on; Your response to the poems. 10
Exam Practice 3- Both Stealing and The Man who finds his son has become a Thief deal with the subject of stealing. The Man Who Finds His Son Has Become A Thief Coming into the store at first angry At the accusation, believing in The word of the boy who has told him: I didn t steal anything, honest. Then becoming calmer, seeing that anger Will not help in the business, listening painfully As the other s evidence unfolds, so painfully slow. Then seeing gradually that evidence Almost as if tighten slowly around the neck Of his son, at first vaguely circumstantial, then gathering damage Until there is present the unmistakable odour of guilt Which seeps now into the mind and lays its poison. Suddenly feeling sick and alone and afraid, as if an unseen hand had slapped him in the face For no reason whatsoever, wanting to get out into the night, the darkness, anywhere to hide The pain that must show in the face to these strangers, the fear. It must be like this. It could hardly be otherwise. Raymond Souster Stealing The most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman. Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute beneath the winter moon. I wanted him, a mate with a mind as cold as the slice of ice within my own brain. I started with the head. Better off dead than giving in, not taking what you want. He weighed a ton; his torso, frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill piercing my gut. Part of the thrill was knowing that children would cry in the morning. Life's tough. Sometimes I steal things I don't need. I joy-ride cars to nowhere, break into houses just to have a look. I'm a mucky ghost, leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera. 11
I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob. A stranger's bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this - Aah. It took some time. Reassembled in the yard, he didn't look the same. I took a run and booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped out in rags. It seems daft now. Then I was standing alone among lumps of snow, sick of the world. Boredom. Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself. One time, I stole a guitar and thought I might learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once, flogged it, but the snowman was the strangest. You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you? Carl Ann Duffy Write about the poems and their effect on you. Show how they are similar and how they are different. You may write about each poem separately and then compare them, or make comparisons where appropriate in your answer as a whole. You may wish to include some or all of these points: The content of the poems- what they are about; The ideas the poets may have wanted us to think about; The mood or atmosphere of the poems; How they are written- words and phrases you find interesting, the way they are organised and so on; Your response to the poems. 12