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Tuesday 17th April 2012
Unit 1, Section B: Unseen Poetry
Comparison - Contemporary
 In this section of your English Literature paper you will have two modern poems
to study and compare. That is, you have to:
-
Tell the examiner how both poems affect you;
-
Write about how they are similar and how they are different.
You will need to write about:

the content of the poems;

the poets’ ideas;

the mood or atmosphere of the poems;

how the poems are written;

your responses to the poems.
Examiner’s Hint
 It is probably easier for most people to write about each poem separately and
then make the comparisons.
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Sample exam paper: higher
SECTION B
Spend about 1 hour on this section. Think carefully about the poems before you write your answer.
6. In the first of the following poems, Woman Work, a black woman speaks about her life in the
southern states of the USA. In the second, Overheard in County Sligo, a woman speaks about her
life in Ireland.
Write about both 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 responses to the poems.
[20]
Woman Work
Overheard in County Sligo
I’ve got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I’ve got the shirts to press
The tots to dress
The cane to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.
I married a man from County Roscommon
and I live in the back of beyond
with a field of cows and a yard of hens
and six white geese on the pond.
Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
But I turn to fold the breakfast cloth
and to polish the lustre and brass,
to order and dust the tumbled rooms
and find my face in the glass.
Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
‘Til I can rest again
I ought to feel I’m a happy woman
for I lie in the lap of the land,
and I married a man from County Roscommon
and I live in the back of beyond.
Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
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At my door’s a square of yellow corn
caught up by its corners and shaken,
and the road runs down through the open gate
and freedom’s there for the taking.
I had thought to work on the Abbey* stage
or have my name in a book,
to see my thought on the printed page,
or still the crowd with a look.
Gillian Clarke
* Abbey: A well-known theatre in Dublin
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Let me rest tonight.
Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You’re all that I can call my own.
Maya Angelou
Sample exam paper: foundation
SECTION B
Spend about 1 hour on this section. Think carefully about the poems before you write your answer.
6. In the first of the following poems, Woman Work, a black woman speaks about her life in the
southern states of the USA. In the second, I Had Rather Be A Woman, a woman expresses her
feelings about her life.
Write about both 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 responses to the poems.
[20]
Woman Work
I Had Rather Be A Woman
I’ve got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I’ve got the shirts to press
The tots to dress
The cane to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.
I had rather be a woman
Than an earwig
But there’s not much in it sometimes.
We both crawl out of bed
But there the likeness ends.
Earwigs don’t have to
Feed their children,
Feed the cat.
Feed the rabbits.
Feed the dishwasher.
They don’t need
Clean sheets.
Clean clothes.
Clean carpets.
A clean bill of health.
They just rummage about
In chrysanthemumsi
No one expects them
To have their
Teetotalii, vegetarian
Mothers-in-law
To stay for Christmas.
Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Copyright © 2010 TES English www.tes.co.uk
4
Let me float across the sky
‘Til I can rest again
Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.
Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You’re all that I can call my own.
Maya Angelou
Or to feel a secret thrill
At the thought of extending the kitchen.
Earwigs can snap their pincers at life
And scurry about being quite irresponsible.
They enjoy an undeserved reputation
Which frightens the boldest child.
Next time I feel hysterical
I’ll bite a hole in dahlia.iii
Daphne Schiller
chrysanthemums: a flower
2 Teetotal: someone who never drinks alcohol
3 dahlia: a flower
FOCUS
Sample exam paper
 What you see now is an actual question from a previous examination. Have a
good look. Simply get to know it. Become familiar with it. Look at how the question
and the poems are presented. What you should have noticed is that there is a lot to
read before you even arrive at the poems themselves, so you need to concentrate.
TASK
 As a class, read from the start of the question: “Spend about 1 hour …’ to the
end of the question: ‘your responses to the poems.’ Reread the question again, this
time working on your own, and in silence.
 Consider every sentence of the question. Is one part of the question more
important than others? Is one part of the question more useful than others?
In pairs, try and rank every sentence. First, rank them in terms of their importance.
Next, rank them in terms of their usefulness.
 Discuss your ideas with your teacher and the rest of the class.
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Sample exam paper
 The decision you should have reached is that ALL of the information provided in
the question is ALL equally important and it is ALL equally useful.
 In groups of three, discuss every sentence in the question. Explain why the
sentence is important or useful or both.
 Make a note of your ideas.
Examiner’s Hint
 The unseen poetry question will always be the same. It is only the poems that
will change from year to year.
 In view of the above, use one colour to highlight the sections of the question
paper that will always be exactly the same. Use another colour to highlight sections
that will change.
i
chrysanthemums: a flower
Teetotal: someone who never drinks alcohol
iii
dahlia: a flower
ii
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