What I will do here, is talk about exam question technique for the clusters and the unseen poem. If you are studying WJEC, you lucky, lucky b*stards (Monty Python), you only have to scroll down to the Unseen poem. You did all your poetry for coursework. OCR and Edexcel, I've added some stuff for you.
Here is a selection of questions from an AQA exam paper, covering the themed collections from the anthology:
The next two keywords emphasise what the poet's intention is. But how do they EXPLORE and PRESENT things? Well, they use a combination of things:
Here is a selection of questions from an AQA exam paper, covering the themed collections from the anthology:
- Compare the ways poets explore pride in ‘My Last Duchess’ (page 15) and in one other poem from Character and voice.
- Compare the ways poets present the power of the natural world in ‘Below the Green Corrie’ (page 31) and in one other poem from Place.
- Compare the ways poets use places to present ideas about conflict in ‘Mametz Wood’ (page 36) and in one other poem from Conflict.
- Compare the ways poets explore trust in ‘Sister Maude’ (page 62) and in one other poem from Relationships.
Key words to focus on in the question so that you give a good answer are:
- Compare
- Explore
- Present
Remember that you are comparing first of all, so you must find similarities and/or differences from two poems, the one named in the question and one that you can choose. A good way to REVISE this, is to compile a grid, linking themes, content, structure so that you can easily choose the best poems that go together. (The example below is for the Relationships cluster, courtesy of the TES, and the Conflict cluster, courtesy of the AQA coursebook)
The next two keywords emphasise what the poet's intention is. But how do they EXPLORE and PRESENT things? Well, they use a combination of things:
- Structure (including rhyme and rythmn)
- Language
- Imagery
- Content
The question is in two parts:
- How do they explore/present...
- What effect does it have?
Your task is to explain these two points for your chosen poems.
Here is the markscheme for one of the conflict questions:
Compare the ways poets present fear in ‘Bayonet Charge’ (page 44) and in one other poem from Conflict.
Examiners are encouraged to reward any valid interpretations.
Answers might, however, include some of the following:
AO1
• what the soldier is afraid of
• ideas about helplessness and panic
• the nature of war’s effect on the individual / innocent
• ideas about patriotic idealism against reality
AO2
• the use of imagery to present the soldier’s fear • the presentation of panic / fear
• imagery of pain and danger
• imagery of nature used to present ideas about war
AO3
Some features of the poem chosen dealt with and compared to ‘’Bayonet Charge’, such as:
• feelings of helplessness in ‘extract from Out of the Blue’
• panic / confusion in ‘Belfast Confetti’ or ‘At the Border, 1979’
• fear in ‘Poppies’ or ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
• ideas about fragility in ‘The Falling Leaves’.
So if your answer contains some of these ideas, then you are on your way to a good grade. But, how do you answer the question? Well, pretty much the same way you've been taught for all of your English exams. PEE,
or PQE, or PEEL, or TEEZE, or PEEZE, or PTEEZE, in short, make a clear point, quote effectively from the text, and explain IN SPECIFIC DETAIL how the poet uses language, imagery and structure (and anything else, character, narrative, rhythm, rhyme, if appropriate) to create an effect on the audience. Simple, yes?
For example:
"Words like, running, raw, stumbled, dazzling, smacking, clearly emphasise the violent fear the soldier in Bayonet Charge is feeling. The poet has chosen these words for their onomatopoeic value and their physicality. The Soldier's fear is palpable, a physical thing.
So don't do this:
The Soldier is afraid, so he is "running – raw In raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy, Stumbling across a field of clods towards a green hedge That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing Bullets smacking the belly out of the air". This shows his fear.
If you like formulas for writing, and in exams, they are very useful, use ISLIP.
I - Interpretation (what is happening, though only in relation to the question. Don't just write a summary of the poem unrelated to the question. That's a waste of your and the examiner's time.)
S - Structure (the stanzas, line lengths, rhyme if applicable, rhythm, alliteration, sibilance)
L - Language (the style and type of words: adjectives, adverbs, verbs, nouns, slang, dialect, accent, emotive, descriptive, persuasive, rhetorical, formal and informal*, archaic, can't think of any more!)
I - Imagery (similes, metaphors, extended metaphors, personification, anthropomorphism (look it up!!) zoomorphism (ditto), onomatopoeia)
P - Personal Response (how the poem makes you feel, including emotive responses. BE CAREFUL with this, though. Many, many candidates feel the need to tell the examiner whether they like a poem or not. The examiner DOES NOT CARE that you hate it, find it boring, don't get it, think it's stupid, etc, etc. None of these opinions are credited in the markscheme! However, if you want to give your personal opinion as part of your explanation of the effectiveness of the poem, then, yes, do that).
Click on this link for a summary.
Remember you are comparing two poems for your answer, so you need to do all of the above for both poems, and at the same time, showing the similarities and differences between them. Some people write about the two poems separately, then make the comparisons in a concluding paragraph. Some people compare as they go along. They find 3 or 4 points that the poems have in common, then explain how similar or different they are.
Click on this link for a set of example answers. (Scroll down it for the poetry).
Here is the markscheme for one of the conflict questions:
Compare the ways poets present fear in ‘Bayonet Charge’ (page 44) and in one other poem from Conflict.
Examiners are encouraged to reward any valid interpretations.
Answers might, however, include some of the following:
AO1
• what the soldier is afraid of
• ideas about helplessness and panic
• the nature of war’s effect on the individual / innocent
• ideas about patriotic idealism against reality
AO2
• the use of imagery to present the soldier’s fear • the presentation of panic / fear
• imagery of pain and danger
• imagery of nature used to present ideas about war
AO3
Some features of the poem chosen dealt with and compared to ‘’Bayonet Charge’, such as:
• feelings of helplessness in ‘extract from Out of the Blue’
• panic / confusion in ‘Belfast Confetti’ or ‘At the Border, 1979’
• fear in ‘Poppies’ or ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
• ideas about fragility in ‘The Falling Leaves’.
So if your answer contains some of these ideas, then you are on your way to a good grade. But, how do you answer the question? Well, pretty much the same way you've been taught for all of your English exams. PEE,
or PQE, or PEEL, or TEEZE, or PEEZE, or PTEEZE, in short, make a clear point, quote effectively from the text, and explain IN SPECIFIC DETAIL how the poet uses language, imagery and structure (and anything else, character, narrative, rhythm, rhyme, if appropriate) to create an effect on the audience. Simple, yes?
For example:
"Words like, running, raw, stumbled, dazzling, smacking, clearly emphasise the violent fear the soldier in Bayonet Charge is feeling. The poet has chosen these words for their onomatopoeic value and their physicality. The Soldier's fear is palpable, a physical thing.
So don't do this:
The Soldier is afraid, so he is "running – raw In raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy, Stumbling across a field of clods towards a green hedge That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing Bullets smacking the belly out of the air". This shows his fear.
If you like formulas for writing, and in exams, they are very useful, use ISLIP.
I - Interpretation (what is happening, though only in relation to the question. Don't just write a summary of the poem unrelated to the question. That's a waste of your and the examiner's time.)
S - Structure (the stanzas, line lengths, rhyme if applicable, rhythm, alliteration, sibilance)
L - Language (the style and type of words: adjectives, adverbs, verbs, nouns, slang, dialect, accent, emotive, descriptive, persuasive, rhetorical, formal and informal*, archaic, can't think of any more!)
I - Imagery (similes, metaphors, extended metaphors, personification, anthropomorphism (look it up!!) zoomorphism (ditto), onomatopoeia)
P - Personal Response (how the poem makes you feel, including emotive responses. BE CAREFUL with this, though. Many, many candidates feel the need to tell the examiner whether they like a poem or not. The examiner DOES NOT CARE that you hate it, find it boring, don't get it, think it's stupid, etc, etc. None of these opinions are credited in the markscheme! However, if you want to give your personal opinion as part of your explanation of the effectiveness of the poem, then, yes, do that).
Click on this link for a summary.
Remember you are comparing two poems for your answer, so you need to do all of the above for both poems, and at the same time, showing the similarities and differences between them. Some people write about the two poems separately, then make the comparisons in a concluding paragraph. Some people compare as they go along. They find 3 or 4 points that the poems have in common, then explain how similar or different they are.
Click on this link for a set of example answers. (Scroll down it for the poetry).
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