Writing about Poetry for English Literature GCSE

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Writing about Poetry for English Literature GCSE

• How to excel

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Writing about Poetry

• You MUST answer the question precisely. They are
  worded in different but specific ways.

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Writing about Poetry

• Purpose (author)
• Devices (form language)
• Comparisons (within between)
• Contrasts (within between)
• Control (detail and whole text)

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Writing about Poetry

• Analyse sensitive insight, independent
  evaluative response
• Explore developed, qualified, measured,
  independent response
• Explain sustained and structured response
• Identify structured comments

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Writing about Poetry

• You will HAVE to choose TWO poems from the
  pre-1914 batch, ONE by Simon Armitage and ONE by
  Carol Ann Duffy.
• Think COUNTDOWN. "Two from the top row one from
  the middle row one from the bottom row."

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Writing about Poetry

• Think COUNTDOWN. "Two from the top row one from
  the middle row one from the bottom row.

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Writing about Poetry
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Writing about Poetry

• Opening paragraph should link all four poems the
  red region, the bull's eye.
• (Although the blue regions look important,
  revealing overlaps between three of the four
  poems, we advise for practical reasons to omit
  them.)

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Writing about Poetry
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Writing about Poetry

• Your essay will gain a lot of marks for
  COMPARISON, so use the GREEN sectors to focus on
  comparisons between pairs of poems.
• (The clever ones amongst you will realise that
  the green sectors therefore must subsume and
  include the blue sectors!)
• Keep your eye on the bull's eye bring back each
  comparison, however far you've gone, to the key
  red overlap.

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Writing about Poetry
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Writing about Poetry

• Spend ONE HOUR on the poem essay there are more
  marks awarded to the poetry essay than to the
  prose (short story) essay.
• You do not have to write the same amount on each
  poem. You MUST write something on each poem the
  most marks are reserved for COMPARISON.

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Writing about Poetry

• You do not have to write the same amount on each
  poem.
• You MUST write something on each poem.
• The most marks are reserved for COMPARISON.
• A more accurate Venn diagram might therefore look
  something like this.

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Writing about Poetry

• The clever ones amongst you might notice that
  although the basic circles here - mainly yellow-
  vary according to the poems chosen, the green
  areas - the key comparisons - remain broadly
  equal.
• Interesting.

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Writing about Poetry

• When the examiners refer to 'comparison', they
  are also including 'contrast'. Think of
  comparisons and contrasts.
• In comparing between 'old' and 'modern' poems, it
  is permissible to draw attention to the
  differences evident as a result of the periods in
  which they were composed.
• The more you compare, the better your answer.

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Writing about Poetry

• Think of different responses and interpretations.
  You might want to compare and contrast the way
  readers might be expected to respond to each of
  the different poems.
• Integrate comparisons within paragraphs.
• Use concise quotations to support your argument.

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Writing about Poetry

• Use the MAGIC TRIANGLE to make sure you are
  making the right sort of points.

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Writing about Poetry

• Here is a sample question to consider
• In Hitcher, Simon Armitage writes about a
  deviant or disturbed character.
• Compare Hitcher with one poem by Duffy and two
  pre-1914 poems that present deviant or disturbed
  personalities.

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Writing about Poetry

• Discourse Markers
• Managing Comparisons
• Similarly
• In the same way
• Also
• We can see a similar effect
• Just as so
• This is also true of
• Equally

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Writing about Poetry

• Discourse Markers
• Managing Contrasts
• On the other hand
• But when we look at
• Although
• Whereas
• While

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Writing about Poetry

• Discourse Markers
• Managing Conclusions
• Finally,
• In the end,
• All the poets
• When the reader considers all this,
• To sum up
• The most important reason

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Writing about Poetry

• Discourse Markers
• Expressing attitude and feeling
• Possibly,
• Probably,
• Superficially,
• Of course,
• To be precise,
• In my experience,
• This could mean
• It may be
• Perhaps
• It seems to me that

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Writing about Poetry

• Discourse Markers
• Exploring different approached and
  interpretations
• Some people may think that
• It is often said that
• It could be that
• Alternatively,
• On the other hand,

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Writing about Poetry

• Use technical terms to show your ability at
  analysing poetry.
• Simile, metaphor
• Personification, symbolism
• Rhythm, rhyme
• Colloquial language
• Lexical field
• Direct address to the reader
• Dramatic monologue
• Voice, persona
• Imagery, motif
• Closure, resolution
• Ambiguity, ambivalence

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Writing about Poetry

• Tip
• Begin with the technical term and then make
  something of it.
• (You wont get high marks, will you, for just
  spotting the fact that two words rhyme. Year 7
  know that.)

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Writing about Poetry

• Begin with the technical term and then make
  something of it.
• The image which Armitage presents us with at the
  beginning of the second stanza is violent and
  challenging.
• Throughout the poem, internal rhyme is used to
  tighten the structure and to create a rather
  intense and focused mood.
• Brownings complex grammar suits the essentially
  evasive manner of the Duke.

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Writing about Poetry

• See how all these sentences require a paragraph
  to develop and explain their ideas
• The image which Armitage presents us with at the
  beginning of the second stanza is violent and
  challenging.
• Throughout the poem, internal rhyme is used to
  tighten the structure and to create a rather
  intense and focused mood.
• Brownings complex grammar suits the essentially
  evasive manner of the Duke.

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Writing about Poetry

• Use these techniques in the question about poems
  from different cultures as well as in the
  English Literature essay on poetry.
• This presentation is accessible on the school
  website.