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English Literature - Unit 2 - Unseen Poetry - The Unseen Poetry Question

The document provides guidance on analyzing an unseen poem for an English Literature exam. It outlines that the exam will include answering a question about an unseen poem not in the anthology. Students should spend 30 minutes on this question, which is worth 18 marks. When answering, students must discuss what the poem is about and how the poet communicates ideas through language, structure, and form. A five-step process is provided for analyzing the unseen poem: 1) determining the subject, 2) identifying the purpose/theme, 3) exploring emotions, 4) identifying poetic techniques, and 5) including thoughts and feelings about the poem.

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1K views2 pages

English Literature - Unit 2 - Unseen Poetry - The Unseen Poetry Question

The document provides guidance on analyzing an unseen poem for an English Literature exam. It outlines that the exam will include answering a question about an unseen poem not in the anthology. Students should spend 30 minutes on this question, which is worth 18 marks. When answering, students must discuss what the poem is about and how the poet communicates ideas through language, structure, and form. A five-step process is provided for analyzing the unseen poem: 1) determining the subject, 2) identifying the purpose/theme, 3) exploring emotions, 4) identifying poetic techniques, and 5) including thoughts and feelings about the poem.

Uploaded by

chloe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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English Literature - Unit 2 - Unseen Poetry - The

Unseen Poetry Question

What You Have to do in the Exam

• Your poetry exam has two sections. It will be split up like this: Unit 2: Poetry Across
Time - Section A: Answer one question on poems from the Poetry Anthology.
Section B: Answer one question on an unseen poem that's not in the Poetry
Anthology.
• 1) The whole exam lasts 1 hour 15 minutes 2) Spend about 30 minutes answering
the unseen poetry question 3) The question is worth 18 marks
• In your answer, you'll need to cover: 1) What the poem is about - The poem's
message, themes 2) How the poet communicates these ideas using language,
structure and form
• 5 steps to analysing poetry: 1) Work out what the poem's about 2) Work out the
purpose, theme or message 3) Explore the emotions, moods or feelings 4) Identify
the poet's techniques 5) Think about your own feelings about the poem
• Read the question and underline the key words i.e. what themes the question wants
you to focus on and what aspects of the poem's language and structure you have
to look at. Plan your essay (spend about 5 minutes doing this) - pick out 3 or 4
good quotes

Five Steps to Analysing the Unseen Poem

• 1) Work out what the poem's about - work out the subject of the poem. E.g. "The
poem is about the narrator's relationship with his parents". Look at whether its
written in the first person ("I"), second person ("you") or third person ("he"). Who
is the poem addressing?
• 2) Identify the purpose, theme or message - Think about what the poet is saying,
why they've written the poem, or what ideas they're using. The poem could be an
emotional response to something. It might aim to get a response from the reader
• 3) Explore the emotions, moods or feelings - Identify the poem's mood (the general
atmosphere, e.g. gloomy). Look at how the poet has used different techniques to
show these emotions
• 4) Identify the techniques used in the poem - how they create the emotions, moods
or feelings in the poem. Think about why the poet has used these techniques, and
what effect they create. For example, form, structure, poetic devices(metaphors),
imagery
• 5) Include your thoughts and feelings about the poem - Examiners love to hear what
you think of a poem & how it makes you feel. Think about how well the poem gets its
message across & what impact it had on you. Try not to use "I" though - "the reader"

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