GUIDANCE ON INTRODUCTION TO PART 2 ORAL – POETRY
AND DRAMA – YEAR 13:
It is very important that your oral has a clear and logical structure to it, as an entire
assessment band is devoted to this element (i.e. C: Presentation). You therefore need
both an INTRODUCTION and a CONCLUSION to your oral.
While a conclusion draws together your ideas and offers a definitive, final response to
the guiding questions provided, the introduction should:

place the extract in its CONTEXT, either within the text (play, novel) or
within the body of work from which it comes (the volume of poetry, or the
poet’s body of works/oeuvre);

relate the extract where relevant to the writer’s life/significant biographical
events;

relate the extract to its historical and literary context- e.g. beliefs at the time,
the genre to which the text belongs, social attitudes (e.g. widespread antiSemitism in England at the time The Merchant of Venice was written).
Introduction to a Drama extract (The Merchant of Venice):
Your introduction should:

identify where in the play the extract comes from and relate this to the level of
tension expected from this section- e.g. refer to the ‘comic curve’ and to the
function of each act of a Shakespearean comedy. What PRECEDES and
FOLLOWS this extract and how does this affect the meaning/significance of
the extract;

what is the DRAMATIC FUNCTION of the extract?

offer a brief overview of the guiding questions set, before exploring these in
detail in the main body of your oral.
Introduction to a poetry extract (Donne or Heaney):
HEANEY:
 state that the poem comes from Heaney’s first volume of poetry ‘Death of a
Naturalist’ (published 1966) and outline the dominant themes of this volume
(role of nature as a teacher, childhood disappointment, the poet’s craft,
Heaney’s rural Irish upbringing, death, speech versus silence etc).;

identify where in the volume your particular poem comes from and the
significance of this (I NEED TO GIVE YOU A RUNNING ORDER OF THE
POEMS IN THE VOLUME – REMIND ME!!!);

relate the poem to: other poems in the volume in terms of similar themes,
images, structure or devices AND to any relevant biographical details in
Heaney’s life- e.g. ‘Mid-Term Break.’

Offer an overview of the guiding question(s).
DONNE:
It is much more difficult to make general statements about Donne and his poetry
as it is not known for certain when exactly his poems wee published and the order
they were intended to follow.

identify that the poem comes from ‘Songs and Sonnets,’ the rather eclectic
collection of Donne’s secular (or profane- i.e. non-religious poetry), rather
than his religious poems and that this division in his poetry reflects the two
elements in his life- the intellectual and wit (from 1592 he trained as a lawyer
at Lincoln’s Inn, one of the Inns of Court of London, the influence of which
may be seen in the involved arguments which characterise many of his poems)
and the clergyman who became a priest in the Church of England;

relate the poem to the preoccupying themes of Donne’s poetry, especially in
his ‘Songs and Sonnets’ –i.e. love in its different forms (physical versus
spiritual), faithfulness (fidelity)- John Carey suggests that this occupied Donne
since he felt guilty about changing his religion and renouncing Catholicism in
favour of the Church of England, egotism etc;

relate the poem to the features of METAPHYSICAL POETRY- i.e. use of
conceits (extended metaphor), involved arguments and the use of abstract
concepts, paradoxes, exaggeration (hyperbole), arresting openings to poems
and analogies taken from other branches of learning, as well as an often
cynical attitude to the world.

Offer an overview of the poem and your response to the guiding questions.
E.G. OF INTRO TO ORAL ON DONNE POEM: ‘The Sun Rising:’
This poem, ‘The Sun Rising,’ comes from Donne’s ‘Songs and Sonnets,’ the
collection of his secular poems. These poems are concerned with physical or
worldly love, but often describe it using the language of religion. ‘The Sun
Rising’ is a prime example of Donne as a metaphysical poet, also, since it is
characterised by an arresting opening which recalls that of ‘The Canonization’ in
its outburst of anger against something which intrudes on the private, intimate
world of the lovers, the use of intricate arguments, conceits or extended metaphors
and paradoxes. The poem also demonstrates the egotism of the speaker which is to
be found in many of the ‘Songs and Sonnets’, but which here conveys the lover’s
sensation of being at the centre of the universe. This poem, with its playful, witty
arguments, shows the influence of Donne’s early training as a lawyer at Lincoln’s
Inn from 1592 and his interest in several branches of learning (e.g. astronomy).
The religious language also illustrates Donne’s genuine spirituality, even if he
often approached blasphemy in the ‘Songs and Sonnets’ by equating divine and
worldly love. Despite the playful, even bawdy tone of many of his poems, Donne,
after all, became a priest in the Church of England.
The ‘Sun Rising’ is essentially a challenge from the lover to the sun, which, in
rousing him from bed, is interrupting his pleasure with his lover. The speaker of
the poem asserts the primacy of his love over the sun and concludes by arguing
that he and his lover are “the world” and that their bed is the sun’s centre.