Year 11 Exam Preparation
Unseen Poetry
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
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.
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
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
Overheard in County Sligo
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.
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.
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.
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.
Gillian Clarke
* Abbey: A well-known theatre in Dublin
SECTION B
Spend about 1 hour on this section. Think carefully about the poems before you write your answer.
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]
to drop in/phone/write
Lullaby
and if
I need any milk, I'll yell.
Go to sleep, Mum,
I won't stop breathing
suddenly, in the night.
Go to sleep, I won't
climb out of my cot and
tumble downstairs.
Mum, I won't swallow
the pills the doctor gave you or
put hairpins in electric
sockets, just go to sleep.
I won't cry
when you take me to school and leave me:
I'll be happy with other children
my own age.
Sleep, Mum, sleep.
I won't
fall in the pond, play with matches,
run under a lorry or even consider
sweets from strangers.
No, I won't
give you a lot of lip,
not like some.
I won't sniff glue,
fail all my exams,
get myself/
my girlfriend pregnant.
I'll work hard and get a steady/
really worthwhile job.
I promise, go to sleep.
I'll never forget
Nettles
My son aged three fell in the nettle bed.
‘Bed’ seemed a curious name for those green spears,
That regiment of spite behind the shed:
It was no place for rest. With sobs and tears
The boy came seeking comfort and I saw
White blisters beaded on his tender skin.
We soothed him till his pain was not so raw.
At last he offered us a watery grin,
And then I took my billhook, honed the blade
And went outside and slashed in fury with it
Till not a nettle in that fierce parade
Stood upright any more. And then I lit
A funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead,
But in two weeks the busy sun and rain
Had called up tall recruits behind the shed:
My son would often feel sharp wounds again.
By Vernon Scannell
SECTION B
Spend about 1 hour on this section. Think carefully about the poems before you write your answer.
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]
Roller-Skaters
The Side Way Back
Flying by
You’re late. Take a chance up the cul-de-sac,
a short cut home. It’s the side way back –
the way they tell you not to go,
the way the kids and stray cats know
as Lovebite Alley, Dead Dog Lane…
The Council says it’s got no name.
All the same…
on the winged-wheels
of their heels
Two teenage earthbirds
Zig-zagging
down the street
There’s sharkstooth glass on a breezeblock wall.
There’s nobody to hear if you call.
There are tetanus tips on the rusty wire.
There’s a house they bricked up after the fire
spraycanned with blunt names and a thinks-balloon
full of four-letter words and a grinning mooncartoon.
Rising
unfeathered –
in sudden air-leap
Defying law
It’s a narrow and narrowing one way street
down to the end where the night kids meet.
You’ve seen the scuffed-out tips of their fags.
You’ve smelt something wrong in their polythene
bags.
There’s a snuffle and a scratching at a planked-up
gate.
There’s a footstep you don’t hear till almost too late.
Don’t wait.
Death and gravity
as they do a wheely
Landing back
In the smooth swoop
of youth
And faces gaping
gawping, impressed
and unimpressed
Only Mother watches – heartbeat in her mouth
Now you’re off and you’re running for years and years
with the hissing panic of rain in your ears.
You could run till you’re old, you could run till you’re
gone
and never get home. To slow down and walk on
is hard. Harder still is to turn
and look back. Though it’s slow as a Chinese burn,
you’ll learn.
Grace Nichols
Philip Gross
SECTION B
Spend about 1 hour on this section. Think carefully about the poems before you write your answer.
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]
In the Can
Every second is a fishbone that sticks
In the throat. Every hour another slow
Step towards freedom. We’re geriatrics
Waiting for release, bribing time to go.
I’ve given up trying to make anything
Different happen. Mornings: tabloids, page three.
Afternoons: videos or Stephen King,
Answering letters from relatives who bore me.
We’re told not to count, but the days mount here
Like thousands of identical stitches
Resentfully sewn into a sampler,
Or a cricket bat made out of matches
Nights find me scoring walls like a madman,
Totting up runs: one more day in the can.
School is a prison...
The classroom is…
A jail cell,
Their halls leading
To each darkened room
The school food
tastes like prison slop,
In the cafeteria there
are long endless lines for food
The principle runs
the school
The warden runs
the prison
Trapped –learning, learning what?
by Rosie Jackson
When can I leave and spread my wings?
We have teachers
telling students what to do,
We’re all serving
a 12 year sentence.
School is just a prison
Unseen Poetry Mark Scheme
EXAM QN (always the same!)- Write about both poems and their effect on you. Show how
they are similar and how they are different.
EXAM GRADE CRITERIA
U Grade - 0 marks Nothing written, or nothing
OWN WORDS
worthy of credit.
F Grade - 1-4 marks
Simple general comments on the poems. Probably very
brief, with simple and basic points of comparison.
E/D Grade -5-9 marks Emerging discussion and
awareness of the mood, atmosphere, and themes of the
poems as well as their similarities and differences.
C/B Grade - 10-14 marks Focused and
thoughtful discussion of the detail of both poems with clear
points of comparison made. Towards B Grade - Picks out
key words/images and unlocks meaning. Some
analytical skill / Personal and perceptive / Developed
explanations.
A/A* Grade - 15-20 marks Assured appreciation
and analysis of both poems, with confident and appropriate
links and comparisons. Reflective. Explores key words.
Identifies and Analyses techniques skilfully. Confident
and sophisticated. Tentative style. Recognises
alternative interpretations. Links quotes.
Skills being tested:
AO1 Respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail
to illustrate and support interpretations
AO2 Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers' presentation of ideas,
themes and settings
AO3 Make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating writers' different ways
of expressing meaning and achieving effects
COMPARING TWO POEMS – An example and how to do it
I am writing a comparison of two poems, Dolphins in Blue Water by Amy Lowell and
Pigeons by Richard Kell. In Dolphins… the poet describes a dolphin’s movements
against a sunset: In Pigeons the poet describes a flock of pigeons on a hot summer’s
day. Both poems are about animals, their appearance and their movements. Neither
poem rhymes although Pigeons is written in verses of irregular length. Dolphins… has
a rapid, energetic pace and tone, much like the animal it describes. Alternatively,
Pigeons has a slow pace and an overall peaceful tone, suiting its subject, but also
moments of humour.
Dolphins in Blue Water begins with shouted instructions, “Hey! Crackerjack – jump!”
This is an unusual, abrupt opening which, although seeming a trainer’s instructions to
a tame dolphin, also grabs the reader’s attention. The poem goes on to describe, in
short, broken lines, a series of visual impressions of the dolphin in rapid, “Swirl, flick,
flitter”, movement. The use of onomatopoeias helps the reader visualise the energy
of the animal and the short lines emphasise the rapidity of its movements. The poet
seems to abandon sentence-grammar in an attempt to convey the range of things to
be seen and noted. The lines lengthen in a mid-poem climax or crescendo as the
dolphin leaps, “Straight – and shoot at the sky, All rose-flame drippings” before the
short-line pattern is resumed. When the dolphin has disappeared under the surface,
“gone”, the poet focuses the reader’s attention on the sunset-tinted water and upon
the sky, using sensuous, alliterative, euphonic language: ”Slipping liquid lapislazuli”…Tintings of pink and ochre…Underneath a windy sky”. Overall, Amy Lowell
has tried to convey the sense of an energetic animal through an energetic use of
language.
In contrast to the shouted opening lines of Dolphins…, Pigeons begins with a quiet,
description of how the birds “paddle with staccato feet/In powder pools of sunlight”.
Both “paddle” and “staccato” are onomatopoeic and effective in creating an
impression of the birds’ movements, in a way that is similar to how the poet of
Dolphins… conveyed his subject’s movement. The alliteration of “powder pools”
interestingly conveys the heat and dryness of the summer through an image of
wetness, which also forms a link with the first poem. Whereas the poet of Dolphins…
seemed concerned with communicating the animal’s rapidity and energy, Richard Kell
offers a series of amusing, well-observed images of the pigeons’ movements: “
Strutting like fat gentlemen…they stump about…heads like tiny hammers”. Unlike in
Dolphins…the poem is written in lines which form grammatically sensible sentences.
The longer lines slow the pace of the poem and, whereas the frequent Caesura in
Dolphins…makes the poem jumpy and nervous, here it creates thoughtful pauses
which pacify and calm the reader. Richard Kell, like the poet of Dolphins…uses
sensuous, Euphonic language to describe his subject : “Elusive ghosts of
sunshine/Slither down the green gloss/Of their necks” . Interestingly both poems
draw a section to a close with the same word “gone”. They also have in common the
imagery of water, inevitable in Dolphins… but surprising, and pleasing, in Pigeons:
“powder-pools…limpid fathoms…slow bubbles…They fountain into the air.”
Both poems are about animals and their movements and both poets use language in
a way appropriate to their chosen subject. Each poet uses a range of poetic devices,
although Amy Lowell seems to focus on onomatopoeic description as her main effect.
Richard Kell, on the other hand, seems to prefer the possibilities of imagery. I prefer
Pigeons because of this amusing and thoughtful ability to convey many ideas, beyond
a simple evocation of pleasurable sight, through economic language.
Begin by writing a few general statements
about both poems.
Describe their basic content.
Describe their structure.
Identify their overall Tones and try to
explain how they are created.
Go through the first poem line by line,
analysing significant effects, ie. What helps
creates Pace, Rhythm, Tone?
At least try to comment upon how the
poem begins, what happens in the middle,
how does it end?
Make use of technical terms but only to
explain. Weakest students think it enough
to describe:…”He uses a simile in line
three.” (Why?)
Try to do the same detailed analysis for
the second poem but use comparative
terms to keep linking the two poems: “In
contrast to
this…Whereas…Alternatively…etc.
At least try to compare the beginning,
middle and end of both poems.
Sum up at the end with more general
statements about both poems.
State your preference and give reasons,
using some appropriate technical
vocabulary.
Example Poetry Essay 1
The poem Woman Work is written by Maya Angelou and is about a black woman from the south of the U.S.A. who
speaks about her life. Overheard in County Sligo is written by Gillian Clarke and is about a woman speaking about
her life in Ireland. These two poems are both about the women’s own lives and how they are like slaves and not
doing what they want to be doing in life.
Woman Work starts by saying “I’ve got the children to tend, the clothes to mend.” This shows us straight away that
it is her job to look after the children and also suggests that they are poor or live in a harsh environment as she
needs to repair the clothes. It then says, “The floor to mop, the food to shop”, this again rhymes like the first two
lines and states another two jobs that she must do. “Then the chicken to fry, the baby to dry, I got company to
feed, the garden to weed,” this shows us that she is very busy and had got another child or at least has to look
after another one.
“Shine on me sunshine, rain on me rain, fall softly, dewdrops, and cool my brow again,” this tells us that she does
not care about what happens to her. “Cool my brow again” suggests she is working all day. The next three stanza
are the same, with the woman asking for rest on the last line of two of them, “Let me rest tonight.” The last line
says, “You’re all that I can call my own.” This shows us that she has no possessions and the only thing she can call
her own is natural things such as moonlight.
Overheard in County Sligo starts with a line that is overheard by people in County Sligo. It then says, “with a field
of cows and a yard of hens and six white geese on the pond”, this relates to the first poem as it shows the work she
has to do with farming which is similar to the hard work in Woman Work.
The next stanza says she has “a square of yellow corn” which she most probably has to cut down for food or money.
This is very much like “the cane to be cut” in the first poem and is starting to show she may not want to be there.
The last line in the stanza says, “and freedom’s there for the taking,” this tells us she is considering escaping and
may be forced to work there much like being a slave in Woman Work.
GRADE:
REFLECTIONS:
Example Poetry Essay 2
Woman Work and Overheard in County Sligo are two poems that differ in several ways but are essentially similarly
themed. Both poems are written by women and follow the theme of a woman whose freedom has been restricted.
While Overheard in County Sligo is more focused upon a woman’s yearning for freedom from the menial life as a
housewife, “and the road runs down through the open gate and freedom’s there for the taking”, Woman Work has
more to do with the persecution and enslavement of black people in 19th century America. This is indicated by the
line, “and the cotton to pick”, as cotton was a booming industry in colonial America, with black slaves being forced
to pick it in the fields.
Woman Work is less about what a woman wishes to be, like ‘Overheard’ and more about what comforts her after a
hard day at work. This has quite an impression on the reader with the sudden transition from the first stanza, a fast
paced declaration of all the work that has to be done, to the second stanza which has a very calm feeling and is
intended to be read out steadily and softly. In the final stanza the character declares, “Starshine, moonglow,
you’re all that I can call my own,” which indicates that the woman has little other comfort in the world except the
sun and the moon.
The poem also indicates that the woman simply wishes that she could rest, and uses some very soft, gentle imagery
with the word “rest” being used more than once. The woman requests several components of nature to assist her in
resting, including the snow, “Cover me with white cold icy kisses and let me rest tonight,” and the wind, “with
your fiercest wind, let me float across the sky ‘til I can rest again.” The use of nature is symbolic of how she is
tired of living and working in the cold, restrictive environment of the home and the cotton fields.
The mood of Overheard in County Sligo is a fairly negative one, building up what the woman aspired to be then
cutting it down in the final stanza by having the woman claim that she “ought to feel [she is] a happy woman”
whereas she clearly is not. The overall mood of the poem is aspiration cut down by a feeling of hopelessness as the
woman realises she is doomed to live a housewife instead of live out her dreams. This poem reflects heavily upon
the image of the typical housewife and seems to be meant to represent what all housewives wished they could be
but were unable to become as a result of being forced into marriage by society.
In Overheard in County Sligo , the poet describes a “square of yellow corn caught up by its corners and shaken” at
her door. This square of corn “caught up” seems to be symbolic of how she is being held back from her aspirations,
and the shaking may represent her being demoralised and weakened. The third stanza focuses on the woman’s
aspirations, “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.” This describes what she had hoped to do and builds the reader up,
allowing them to empathise with her. Her aspiration to “see [her] thought on the printed page” is representative of
how she wishes to reach out to people and have her thoughts recognised and her wish to “still the crowd with a
look” is symbolic of her desire to have some control over the way people feel or act.
After having seen the woman’s aspirations underlined by the poet in the previous stanza it comes as a shock to the
reader to suddenly see the woman instead announcing what she has to do each day instead of doing what she would
like to do. This is similar to the first stanza of Woman Work wherein the character goes through each of the tasks
she has to do quite briefly. The fourth stanza is effectively capped off as she declares that during her work she
“[finds] my face in the glass.” This allows us to see that the woman cannot recognise that she has become a
housewife and it comes as a shock to her to see her own reflection.
GRADE:
REFLECTIONS:
Poetic device
Alliteration
aaa
Assonance
aeiou
Consonance
bcfghj
Onomatopoeia
Definition
Repetition of
initial consonant
sounds in a group
or words close
together
Repetition of a
vowel sound
Repetition of a
consonant sound
Effect
Emphasises words and ideas,
makes descriptions more vivid.
Unites words and concepts
together.
Example
Helps create tone and affects
rhythm, e.g. a, o, and u can
slow down a line making it
sound sad and weary and i can
speed up a line. Gives a sense
of continuity.
Helps create tone and effect
rhythm, e.g. ‘s’ sound is
slow/soothing.
“it will creep into our dreams.”
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak
the silence”
“Keep your head down and stay in doors –
we’ve lost this war before it has begun.”
“innocent mice rejoice”
“the merciless iced east winds that knive
us…”
“when miners roared past in lorries”
The use of words
which imitate
sound
Emphasises words and ideas,
makes descriptions more vivid.
Repetition
The purposeful
re-use of words
and phrases.
Rhyme
The use of words
with matching
sounds. Can be
internal or at
ends of lines.
Reinforces words and ideas,
makes them memorable and
leaves a lasting impression.
Makes poem more contained.
Makes it memorable. Drives
“O what is that light I see flashing so clear
forward the rhythm. Unifies the Over the distance brightly, brightly?
poem and adds structure.
Only the sun on their weapons, dear,
As they step lightly”
Rhythm
The pace or beat
of the poem - can
vary from line to
line
Chosen to achieve a particular
effect, e.g. to mirror pattern of
natural speech or the pace of
walking. May be fast, lively,
slow, regular, irregular,
awkward, tense, brisk, flowing,
smooth
Words that
appeal to the
senses
Creates vivid mental pictures
and evokes ideas, feelings and
atmosphere by appealing to
the senses (sight, smell, taste,
touch, and sound).
A comparison
between two
unlike things
using like or as.
Enhances descriptions, expands
reader’s understanding of what
poet is trying to convey,
clarifies meanings.
A comparison
saying something
is something else
Can uncover new and intriguing
qualities of the original thing
that we may not normally
notice or even consider
important. Helps us to realize a
new and different meaning.
Makes it more interesting to
read.
Imagery
Simile
‘like’ ‘as’
Metaphor
‘is’
“I was trying to complete a sentence in my
head but it kept
Stuttering”
“I hate that drum’s discordant sound,
Parading round, and round, and round”
“I hate that drum’s discordant sound,
Parading round, and round, and round:”
“I remembered from my Sunday School
book:
olive trees, a deep jade pool,
men resting in clusters after a long
journey”
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak
the silence.
Less deadly than the air that shudders
black with snow,”
“He wore me like a golden knot,
He changed me like a glove”
“their chanting foreign and familiar,
like the call and answer of road gangs”
“Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it
was raining
exclamation marks”
“I wrote
All over the walls with my
Words, coloured the clean squares”
Personification
Symbolism
Rhetorical
question
?
Colloquial
language
Giving human
qualities or
characteristics to
animals or
inanimate objects
A word, phrase or
image which
stands for
something.
A question which
does not expect
an answer.
Non-standard
English, slang.
Makes the objects and their
actions easier to visualize for a
reader. Makes the poem more
interesting and achieves a
much more vivid image.
Enables the writer to convey
images directly to the mind of
the reader - it serves almost
like an emotional short-cut.
Plants a question in the
reader’s mind and then guides
them towards the answer they
want them to reach. Makes a
deeper impression upon the
reader than a direct statement
would.
Makes it sound realistic, part of
speaker’s identity, can indicate
pride in roots, shows a relaxed
and casual attitude.
“I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for
Death; I am
not on his pay-roll.”
“ the ansaphone kept screaming”
“So now I moan an unclean thing
Who might have been a dove”
“My name? Where am I coming from?
Where am I going?”
“Why do you care what class I’m from?
Does it stick in your gullet like a sour
plum?”
“Ah lookin at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye”
“With an ‘Olly in me mouth
Down me nose, wear an ‘at not a scarf”
“Stitch that, I remember thinking”
Emotive
language
Free verse
Couplet
Words and
phrases that
cause an
emotional
response in
the reader
Lines with no
regular structure,
rhyme or rhythm.
A pair of lines,
usually rhymed
Plays on the reader’s feelings,
gets them to think or feel in a
certain way according to poet’s
intentions.
Allows for poet’s creativity. Can
imply freedom, flexibility, and
fluidity. Line lines may suggest
excitement or a passionate
outpouring; short lines break
the flow and add emphasis.
Keeps a tight structure. Can
help conclude a poem.
“And burning towns, and ruined swains,
And mangled limbs, and dying groans,
And widows’ tears, and orphans’ moans”
“Then my grandmother called from behind
the front door,
her voice a stiff broom over the steps:
‘Come inside; they do things to little girls.’”
“Bread pudding is wet nelly
And me stomach is me belly”
“To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields,
And lures from cities and from fields”
Enjambment
Caesura
A line ending in
which the syntax,
rhythm and
thought are
continued into
the next line.
A natural pause
or break in a line
of poetry
indicated by
punctuation
Draws the reader from line to
line and verse to verse and
makes poetry flow quicker by
making it less blocky. Makes
end rhymes more subtle. Can
indicate excitement, anger or
passion.
Stops rhythm becoming
predictable. Mirrors natural
speech. Lots of pauses slow the
pace of the poem. May make
you pause abruptly, drawing
attention to that idea.
“I hear him leading his horse out of the
stall; I hear
the clatter on the barn-floor.
He is in haste; he has business in Cuba,
business in the
Balkans, many calls to make this morning.”
“Why can’t I escape? Every move is
punctuated. Crimea
Street. Dead end again.”
Literature Exam –Section B: Unseen Poetry 1 hour
(10 mins read/plan – 50 mins write)
Reading 1 – WHAT ARE THEY GOING ON ABOUT?
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Jot down what you think the poems are all about on the sheet.
What are the main ideas or themes?
Remember to pay close attention to the titles.
Highlight any lines that stand out to you
Reading 2 – IDENTIFYING COMPARISONS/CONTRASTS
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Check your first interpretations are reasonable ones. Think carefully – what is the
wider, deeper meaning of each poem?
Make sure on your second reading that you have highlighted 5 lines in each poem
that you think you will be able to build PEAs around, circling powerful words or
images for extra analysis. You may wish to scribble helpful annotations at the side
of your chosen quotes.
Bullet point 2 or 3 comparisons as you can
Bullet point 2 or 3 contrasts as you can
(You may wish to draw lines to connect certain key phrases/sections)
************GET WRITING!!************
Write a general introduction (3 or 4 sentences max. – No quotes needed) first that outlines
the main ideas in both poems. Try and make a comparison or contrast in your introduction.
Next, one structure you may wish to use is to write about poem 1 first, then when you get on
to poem 2, try and make links back:
e.g. The second poem ‘Villa rules’ conveys a sense of how great strikers are crucial to a
football team, shown in the line “Oh Darren Bent I love you”. This indicates how the poet
feels very close to the striker, and appreciates the significance of his contributions. In a
way, this is similar to ‘Sport Mad’ which also shows the way goals bring happiness into
people’s lives. However, the emphasis on a particular team in ‘Villa rules’ appears exaggerated
in contrast.
BONUS MARKS!
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Can you identify the mood that has been created in each poem? Does it change?
Are you identifying techniques like
similes/metaphors/personification/adjectives/powerful verbs?
Have any structural devices been used that you could comment on?
e.g. Is anything repeated more than once? Are any words on their own?
Alliteration?/Enjambment? How do these devices affect the meaning or mood? Do the
poems develop or change focus as they progress?
TOP TIP: Think of the bullet points as more of a mind map. Analyse whatever you like in whatever order
you like! It’s all about good PEAs!
TOP UNSEEN POETRY TIPS
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P.E.A. system
Don’t ever hate it or say you don’t understand it
Remember to write about BOTH poems!
Analysis of words / phrases earns the top grades
The image of a “______” is powerful because..
1.
2.
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The poems’ content – what they are all about*
The ideas the poets may have wanted us to think about*
What does the TITLE tell you?
What is the MESSAGE / moral of the poem?
What is the intention of the poet?
Are there any THEMES evident? (Love, death, revenge)
Who are the CHARACTERS and what are their motives?
3. The mood or atmosphere of the poems*
 What is the mood or tone of the poem?
(This is usually linked to how the poet feels about the subject)
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Is the voice of the poem: Angry? Sad? Happy? Triumphant? Bitter? Mocking?
Comic? Ironic? Sarcastic? WHY DO YOU THINK THIS?
What is the relationship between the poet and you, the reader?
(Are you being mocked? persuaded?)
How is the tone achieved? Are the sentences long, flowing? – this often indicates
a calm, peaceful atmosphere or tone. Are the sentences short and abrupt? This
may indicate an angry, unhappy tone.
What is going on with the punctuation? Are there lots of exclamation marks or
question marks? What could this tell you about the tone?
4. How they are written – words or phrases you find interesting, the way the poem is structured or
organised and so on*
 What is the deeper meaning behind the words or lines?
 Why has the poet used a particular WORD OR IMAGE ? How is it effective?
 Are there any language devices used – Similes / Metaphors / Personification?
 Is there a change in time or between tenses e.g. past and present? Why?
 Are there any structural devices used that you could analyse like repetition,
alliteration or enjambment the poem?
 Are there any lines or words on their own? They are significant and need
analysing.
 Does the poem contain different verses focusing on different things? Why?
5.Your response to the poems*.
– IGNORE AS A SEPARATE SECTION – YOU WILL HAVE ANSWERED IT
ALREADY!!
Skills being tested:
AO1 Respond to texts critically and imaginatively; select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate
and support interpretations
AO2 Explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers' presentation of ideas, themes and
settings
AO3 Make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating writers' different ways of expressing
meaning and achieving effects
EXAM GRADE CRITERIA
U Grade - 0 marks Nothing written, or nothing worthy
of credit.
F Grade - 1-4 marks
Simple general comments on the poems. Probably very brief,
with simple and basic points of comparison.
E/D Grade -5-9 marks Emerging discussion and
awareness of the mood, atmosphere, and themes of the
poems as well as their similarities and differences.
C/B Grade - 10-14 marks Focused and thoughtful
discussion of the detail of both poems with clear points of
comparison made. Towards B Grade - Picks out key
words/images and unlocks meaning. Some analytical
skill / Personal and perceptive / Developed explanations.
A/A* Grade - 15-20 marks Assured appreciation
and analysis of both poems, with confident and appropriate
links and comparisons. Reflective. Explores key words.
Identifies and Analyses techniques skilfully. Confident
and sophisticated. Tentative style. Recognises alternative
interpretations. Links quotes.