Question 1 Skills: Analysing a Poem

Question 1 will be based on one of the fiction texts in your Edexcel anthology. The anthology consists of
ten texts, of which the following are poems:

 ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen

 ‘Out, Out—’ by Robert Frost

 ‘An Unknown Girl’ by Moniza Alvi

 ‘The Bright Lights of Sarajevo’ by Tony Harrison

 ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou

It’s important to prepare for this question in the exam by studying the ten texts in advance. The
following guide is designed to help you in your study of poetry. It includes:

 Overview

 Form

 Structure

 Language

 Meanings and ideas

 Perspective and tense

 Quoting from a poem

Overview

Poetry presents its readers images that are not always realistic, and which need to be interpreted. It is
important to remember that the choices a writer has made in terms of how the poem is set out and the
language they have used are all deliberate — a poem is a crafted piece of work. It is therefore useful to
consider not only the language choices a writer has made, but also what decisions they have taken in
terms of structure and form.

What to do when analysing a poet’s methods

 Take a whole-text approach to the poem:

o This could involve commenting on structure: “at the start”/“this changes when”/“in
contrast…”

o This could involve commenting on a poet’s choice of form:

 How have they conformed to, or subverted, the form of sonnet/dramatic

monologue etc.?

 What deliberate choices has the poet made with their verse form? Are there
reasons there is a regular or irregular rhyme structure?
 o Think about how tone is presented and develops: why has the poet chosen to present
this tone? Why have they included a tonal shift?

o Are characters in the poem presented differently from each other? Why? What does
each represent?

o Do characters’ relationships with each other change? Why might a poet have chosen to
do this?

 Remember that personas, and characters in a poem, are constructs, not real people:

o Think about what each character’s function is in the poem

o What does the poet use their persona, or characters, to say about the theme?

o Why has the poet chosen to write their poem in first, or third, person?

o Is the first-person narrator reliable or unreliable?

 Always frame your essay with the poet in mind:

o As the examiners say: “writers use methods, including language and structure, to form
and express their ideas — the choices the writer makes are conscious and deliberate”

o Therefore, write that a poet “highlights X”, “suggests Y”, “challenges Z”

o And always use the poet’s (last) name in your essay

o Use the words “so” and “because” to push you to explain your own ideas further

 Zoom out to big ideas in your analysis:

o Go from analysing language, or other writer’s choices, to a poet’s overall intention or

message

o This should also link to your thesis, and argument, throughout

o You can begin these “zoom out” sentences with “The poet could be suggesting that
because X, then Y” or “The poet could be using the character of X to challenge
contemporary ideas about Y”

o Use modal language to present sophisticated ideas:

 Using words like “could”, “may” or “perhaps” shows that you are thinking
conceptually

Form

The form of the poem can be thought of as “genre”. Poetry itself is a form of text, as are prose and
drama. Within the form of poetry, there are many sub-forms. It’s important that you know what genre
your anthology poems are in, as you can gain valuable marks for commenting on a text’s form.
When writing about form in poetry, it is important to consider why the poet has chosen that particular
form, especially if they have altered the rules of that particular form. It is also useful to consider how the
form reflects the themes of the poem.

Let’s take a look at an example. The following poem is called ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

‘Ozymandias’ Analysis of form

I met a traveller from an antique The form of this poem is a sonnet, made up of 14 lines
land
However, Shelley blends elements of the Petrarchan and Shakespearean
Who said: Two vast and trunkless sonnets
legs of stone
It is Petrarchan in that the poem is structured as an octave and a sestet,
Stand in the desert. Near them on but Shelley alters the rhyme scheme
the sand,
This could reflect the idea that the fleeting nature of human power is
Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, overwhelmed by the power of nature
whose frown

And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold

command

Tell that its sculptor well those

passions read

Which yet survive, stamp’d on these

lifeless things,

The hand that mock’d them and the

heart that fed;

And on the pedestal these words

appear: Shelley breaks away from the traditional sonnet form to imply that power
doesn’t last and can be broken
“My name is Ozymandias, king of
kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and
despair!”

Nothing beside remains. Round the

decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless

and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far

away.

How to apply this in an exam response:

Exam question Incorporating analysis of form in your response

 Shelley conveys ideas of power in ‘Ozymandias’ by taking the traditional form of a
Explore how Shelley sonnet and subverting it. He blends Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet forms, and
conveys ideas of power alters the rhyme scheme. This reflects the fleeting nature of human power when
in “Ozymandias” compared to the overwhelming power of nature, and implies that power does not last
and can be broken down and re-arranged.

Structure

The structure of a poem refers to how the poem has been put together in its particular form. The
choices a poet can make in terms of how to structure their poem includes stanza length, the use of
repetition and refrains, a circular structure, and the use of particular types of punctuation, such
as caesura, or a lack of punctuation at the end of a line, called enjambment. Structure also includes
rhyme scheme and changes in line length. The poet’s choices regarding structure can affect a poem’s
meaning or message.

Let’s look at an example of structural choices made by a writer and how these shape meaning. The
following stanzas are taken from John Agard’s poem ‘Checking Out Me History’:

‘Checking Out Me
Analysis of structure
History’

Dem tell me bout Agard deliberately structures the stanzas into two distinct styles through the use of
1066 and all dat italics to emphasise the separation between the history he was taught at school and
Black history
dem tell me bout
Dick Whittington and The poet also juxtaposes sometimes frivolous British and white history taught in colonial
he cat schools with powerful Black history
But Toussaint The stanzas dealing with the history the speaker was forced to learn use simple rhyming
L’Ouverture couplets
no dem never tell me This emphasises the superficial nature and lack of relevance of this history to the speaker
bout dat
Each of these stanzas also start with “Dem tell me” — the repetition suggesting a
frustration with the colonial control that has dominated the speaker’s life, and which
Toussaint now dominates these stanzas of the poem

a slave The stanzas in italics are longer and use an unconventional structure, to suggest these
are unconventional ideas
with vision

lick back

Napoleon The lines in these stanzas are shorter and written in free verse to sound more like speech
and in contrast with the nursery-rhyme rhythm of the “white history” stanzas
battalion

and first Black

Republic born

Toussaint de thorn

to de French
How to apply
Toussaint this in an exam response:
de beacon
Exam question Incorporating analysis of structure in your response

Agard structures his poem to show a clear distinction between the white,
colonial history he was taught at school, and the history that is more important
How does Agard strikingly to him that he was not taught. He does this by deliberately changing the font
convey the differences in of the poem between the stanzas. In addition, the stanzas containing “white”
personal experiences of history history are structured using simple rhyming couplets, giving them a nursery-
in “Checking Out Me History”? rhyme and simplistic quality, while the stanzas written in italics and dealing
with his history are written in free verse and are longer, suggesting they deal
with more complex and unconventional ideas.

Language

When analysing language in a poem, you need to consider the specific choices of words and phrases the
writer has used, as well as the imagery they have created and the language techniques they have used,
all of which contribute to the themes and meanings in the poem.

In order to do this, you should consider both the denotation and the connotations of particular words:

 Denotation = the literal meaning of a word or phrase

 Connotation = the associations or implied meanings of the word or phrase

When commenting on words and phrases from the text, you should always try to consider why you
think the writer has chosen that particular word to use. Below are some questions that you might ask
yourself when analysing the words and phrases in a poem:

Denotations and Formality and

Emotional impact Charactеrisation
connotations informality

How do the words evoke

How do these layеrs Do the words rеvеal aspеcts of the Do the words make
еmotions or fееlings in thе
of mеaning add narrator's pеrsonality, background the text morе
rеаdеr? Do thеy crеatе joy,
dеpth to thе poem? or еmotions? rеlatablе or distant?
sadnеss, fеar or еxcitеmеnt?

Once you are able to identify particular words and phrases within a text, you need to develop this skill
further by considering why the writer has chosen to include these within their writing.
Rеmеmbеr thе goal of analysing words and phrasеs is to uncovеr layеrs of mеaning, to understand thе
writer’s intent and to explore how languagе contributes to the ovеrall impact of thе poem.

Knowing the names of sophisticated language techniques will not gain you any more marks in the exam,
especially if these techniques are only “spotted” and the writer’s intentions are not explained. Once you
are able to identify and understand different literary techniques (see our Literary Devices Glossary for
more details), you need to develop this skill further by considering why the writer has chosen to include
these techniques in their writing.

How to apply this in an exam response:

Exam question Incorporating analysis of language in your response

The poem begins with the hawk as the narrator, personifying it with the human
quality of dreams, as it describes dreaming “about killing my prey perfectly and
How does Hughes create
eating them”. Hughes gives the hawk the powers of conscious thought, but
such a compelling portrait
juxtaposes this with the lack of human qualities such as mercy and remorse. This
of the hawk in ‘Hawk
leads to a contradiction that runs throughout the poem: the hawk’s natural instinct
Roosting’?
is the non-human one to kill, yet it can only express this nature through human
language

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It is more important to explore the effects of the writer’s choices than it is to use over-complicated
terminology. You can be just as successful in writing about the effect of a specific word choice as you are
in writing about complex language features.

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Meanings and ideas

A sensitive and personal response to a poem comes from reading the poem closely and knowing the
poem thoroughly: what it means and what the poet is trying to say. You should think critically about
meanings and interpretations, and use quotations and references to support your response.

When you consider your response to a poem, it is essential that you provide evidence to support your
interpretation. This will make your response well-informed. However, it’s important that your analysis
isn’t led by the evidence.

You should therefore begin your analysis of the given poem with an exploration of the poet’s meaning
and ideas, rather than the methods they have used. This will automatically mean that you are
developing a personal response to the poem, rather than just “spotting” the techniques a poet has used.
It is also a good idea to consider how the poem’s title helps you understand its content. Then,
depending on the focus of the question, find the evidence that supports your understanding and
interpretation of the poem.

Ideas and themes, not methods

 Examiners warn against structuring your analysis based on the poet’s methods:
 o They do not reward well when students identify a poet’s method first, and then analyse
what it means

o For example, spotting that a poem includes sibilance, or caesura, and then attempting to
say something relevant about that method

o Often, this won’t work because students will fail to identify a convincing link between
the method and the theme of the question

 Instead, examiners suggest students focus their responses on meaning and ideas, and use the
poet’s methods as a means of illustrating meaning:

o So your argument should start with the poet’s overarching ideas in terms of the
question, and then find evidence from the poem that illustrates these ideas

o For example, if the question is about how the poet conveys ideas about marriage, you
would not start a point like this:

 “The poet uses caesura in line 13. This caesura could show how…”❌

o But instead, like this:

 “The poet presents marriage as something challenging, which requires mutual

respect. The poet shows this when…”✅

Tone

Another way to understand the meaning and ideas of a poem is to consider its tone.

 In poetry, tone is the “mood” of a poem:

 This could be the mood that:

o A speaker expresses in a poem

o A poet has towards their speaker

o The poet creates in terms of the setting of the poem

o The poet creates in terms of the poem’s subject matter

 The tone of a poem reflects its ideas and meaning:

o It is therefore something you should consider when thinking about how a poet
expresses their ideas and meaning

 Because a poem’s mood is created by the poet’s language, pace and rhythm, symbolism and
grammar, it works perfectly as evidence in your essay:

o So think: what is the tone the poet is trying to convey in their poem?

o And how — via their choices — do they create this effect?

  Another sophisticated way to explore ideas and meanings presented by a poet is to consider
whether the tone of a poem changes:

o Think: why has the poet created this tonal shift?

o And how — via their poetic choices — do they create this shift?

o This also enables you to say something relevant about structure

 So think first about why a poet has created a certain tone, and what its effect is, before thinking
about what methods they have used to create it:

o For example, you would not start a point like this:

 “The poet uses imagery in line 1. This creates a tone of …”❌

o But instead:

 “Macrae explores ideas about being contented within your own self through her
use of metaphor, “while inside his heart was fat with sun”, which suggests
Harry’s life is one that is filled to the brim with joy and pleasure, which…”✅

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You do not get more marks for addressing language, structure and form separately. In fact, if your
analysis is irrelevant to the question you have been set, you could lose marks. Always begin with the
question, and make sure everything you consider in the poem relates back to the focus of the question.

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Perspective and tense

Considering perspective is another sophisticated way to explore a poet’s intention and messages:

 Perspective in poetry is the point of view from which the poem is being told:

o It could be narrated in the first person (using the pronoun “I”)

o It could be narrated in the third person (“he”; “she”; “they”, etc.)

 Poems often also contain a persona:

o A persona, or speaker, is the invented character through which the poem is narrated

 Remember, the persona of a poem is not the same as the poet themselves, and this separation
allows poets to explore ideas with more nuance and subtlety

 Poets often create a fictional narrator (a persona) when writing in the first person

 Sometimes, writing in the first person can give a poem more immediacy

 Perspective is therefore a very deliberate choice made by the poet in order to better get across
their ideas and message:
 o As such, it counts as a writer’s method

o Just like tone above, it is directly linked to a writer’s intention, and so serves as excellent
evidence for a poet’s meaning and ideas

 Considering the tense of the poem also contributes to the speaker’s perspective

 Different tenses will create a different tone and perspective, and the poet will have made a
deliberate choice over which tense they are using and why:

o For example, is the speaker looking back (past tense), speaking about now (present
tense) or looking forward (future tense)?

How to quote from the poem in your essay

 The ability to support your interpretation means selecting relevant quotations from the poem

 However, it is the skill of precisely unpicking and selecting textual references, rather than using
quotations, that’s important

 Therefore, references don’t always need to be direct quotations:

o They can be references to things that happen in the poem

o They can be references to the choices and methods the poet uses (“this idea is
expressed when the poet uses first-person narration/a tonal shift/symbolism relating to
X in order to…”)

 Examiners repeatedly stress that textual references are just as valuable as direct quotations:

o The most important thing is that these references are directly related to the ideas and
themes you are exploring in your essay, and provide evidence to prove your thesis

 When using direct quotations, you should aim to select 6–7 relevant quotations that contain a
range of language and/or structure devices that you can comment upon and analyse:

o A high-level response will incorporate these quotations into the explanations of

meaning

o Your quotations should also be embedded into your sentences, rather than separate.
For example:

 “The poet explores how power does not last by stating that ‘Nothing beside
remains’, which tells us that there is nothing left of this once-powerful ruler
except a broken statue standing in the middle of a vast desert” ✅

o Rather than:

 “The poet explores how power does not last. This is shown in the quote
‘Nothing beside remains’. This shows…” ❌
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Paper 2: Fiction

Paper 2: Overview

Paper 2: Section A Reading

 How to Answer Question 1 (Poetry or Prose)

 Question 1 Skills: Analysing a Poem

 Question 1 Skills: Analysing Prose

 Disabled

 "Out, Out-"

 An Unknown Girl

 The Bright Lights of Sarajevo

 Still I Rise

 The Story of an Hour

 The Necklace

 Significant Cigarettes (from The Road Home)

 Whistle and I'll Come to you (from The Woman In Black)

 Night

 Question 1: Model Answer

Paper 2: Section B Writing

Author: Deb Orrock

Expertise: English Content Creator

Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time
travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in
literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English
Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and
quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into
vocational curriculums. She most recently managed a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing
educational content and resources.