ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM- SECTION B POETRY
In this section of the exam, you will be given one hour to read two poems and
write about your response to them, using the given questions. The question will
always be the same: ‟Write about the poem and its effect on you. Show how
they are similar and how they are different’. The question will then be
followed by bullet points which will be on
 CONTENT ( what the poems are about)
 IDEAS TO THINK ABOUT
 MOOD / ATMOSPHERE
 HOW THEY ARE WRITTEN ( words and phrases you find interesting, the
way they are organised etc)
 YOUR RESPONSE
ANNOTATING
Annotating is the process of reading a text several times and identifying
features, ideas and impressions about the text.
Do not begin to answer the bullet points until you have spent at least 10/15
minutes reading and annotating the poem
 This means reading the poem at least three times and making notes
around the poem filled with your ideas and impressions about the content,
structure, language and techniques.
 Imagery- what pictures does the language create in your mind?
 Sentence structures- where is the punctuation and why? What effect
does it have?
 Is the poem written in a certain style?
 Title? How does it start? How does it end and why?
 What is the voice/ tone of the poem?
 What does it remind you of/ make you feel?
 What can you say about the time or place it was written? Do you know
anything about the social or historical conditions which could affect the
interpretation of the poem?
 Do any words or phrases have a double meaning? Can they be interpreted
in other ways?
 Fill your page with information, ideas and underline anything that is
effective to you.
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Plan your answer
After you have read and annotated your two poems thoroughly, plan your answer.
Draw a table for comparison to highlight the similarities and differences
between the two poems
Similarities
Differences
Both poems use the theme of
nature
Poem A is a celebration of nature whilst
Poem B recognises that nature can be
dangerous
Both poems use personification to
show the power of nature
Poem B uses an extended metaphor to
show the evil force of nature
Writing your answer
Write one paragraph, on each bullet point. This will provide a structure to your
answer and ensure you don‟t miss things out. Again, you might want to underline
key words in the bullet points before writing.



Use quotes to back up your ideas
Remember to put the titles of poems in inverted commas.
Always refer to the character in the poem as the persona.
Remember the Point, Evidence, Explain model.
(P) In this poem the poet has tried to come up with a new way of describing the
arrival of Autumn. (Ev) He does this by creating an extended image of Autumn
as a thief, stealing the “green stuff” of summer, aided by his “accomplice” the
wind. (Ex) This seems quite a good way of making the reader think about how
the seasons change and how summer is taken away from us.
Remember to be analytical and to give a comment not just “feature spot” – the
poem begins with a simile – would not get any marks. However, try to identify
techniques and consider the effect they produce.
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The hardest bullet is probably the last one – Try to come up with something
positive about the way it was written or what it made you think – you could
practise by finding five things you can say about a poem
Check your answer!!
Important note: you may have been given mnemonics for analysing poems in
coursework – e.g. TWIRLS or STRIVE but in this exam you should definitely
follow the structure laid down by the bullet points. It is a good idea to
consider STRIVE and TWIRLS to help ensure that you have covered all the
points in the language paragraph.
Make your language formal
Try to use these synonyms for „ this shows‟
1. This portrays
2. This reflects
3. This divulges
4. This displays
5. This illustrates
6. This appears
7. This discloses
8. This can be evidenced by….
9. This reveals
10. This demonstrates
11. This portrays
12. This reflects
13. This divulges
14. This displays
15. This illustrates
16. This appears
17. This discloses
18. This can be evidenced by….
19. This reveals
20. This demonstrates
21. This exhibits
22. This presents
23. This indicates
24. The poet feels
25. The poet is trying to express…
26. From studying the poem …..
27. The theme of …..
28. The poet wants the audience to
feel…
29. The poet uses….. to show a
sense of ….
30. It may be argued that….
31. Therefore, we may see…
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POETIC TERMS
ALLITERATION - Repetition of consonantal sounds at the beginning of a series
of words: „Peter Piper picked a peck of peppers‟
ASSONANCE - Repetition of vowel sounds within a series of words: „The sound
went around the town‟
ALLUSION - reference to a person, event or work outside of the poem.
BALLAD - A poem which tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend
BLANK VERSE - unrhymed iambic pentameter
CAESURA - A natural line or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of
the line: „How do I love thee? Let me count the ways‟
CLOSED FORM - A poem which uses a fixed structure or pattern in terms of
rhyme, line length and meter.
CONSONANCE - Repetition of consonantal sounds within or at the end of a
series of words: „ picked a peck of pickled peppers‟
COUPLET - In a poem, a pair of lines which are the same length and usually
rhyme or form a complete thought.
ELEGY- a poem which laments the death of someone or is simply sad and
thoughtful.
ENJAMBMENT- The continuation of a complete idea( a sentence or clause)
from one line or couplet of a poem to the next line or couplet without pause.
EPIC- A long serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure.
FOOT- Two or more syllables that make up the smallest unit of rhythm in a
poem.
FREE VERSE- Lines with no prescribed pattern or structure
HEROIC COUPLET- A stanza composed of two rhymed lines in iambic
pentameter
HYPERBOLE- exaggeration used for effect: „The days crawled by like years and
I wept a million tears‟
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IAMB- A metrical foot of two syllables, one short ( or unstressed) and one long
( stressed).
IAMBIC PENTAMETER- a line of poetry containing 10 syllables where every
other syllable is stressed.
IRONY- a contradiction of expectation between what is said and what is meant
or when a character speaks in ignorance of a situation known to the audience.
METAPHOR- When something is described as if it is something else: „He was a
lion in the fight‟
METER- The arrangement of a line of poetry by the number of syllables and the
rhythm of stressed syllables.
ONOMATOPOIEA- words which describe sounds: Bang! Crash! Crack!
OPEN FORM- A poem which does not use a fixed structure or pattern in terms
of line length, metre and rhyme.
OXYMORON- a combination of two words that appear to contradict each other
or are placed together for a certain effect; „Loving hate‟ „bittersweet‟
PERSONIFICATION- When an inanimate object is given human qualities and
feelings: „The tree waved its arms angrily in the raging storm‟
PERSONA- Character in the poem
PUN-A play on words or a humorous use of a single word with two or more
implied meanings.
REPETITION-When a word or phrase is repeated for a specific effect: „The
long, long years of sorrow‟
SIBILANCE- repetition of „s‟ sounds, usually gives a calming effect; „ icicles sink
softly onto the snow‟
SIMILE- When something is compared to something else , using „as‟ or „like‟: „He
was like a lion in the fight, as cold as ice‟
STANZA- Unit of a poem often repeated in the same form throughout the
poem. ( verse paragraph)
SYMBOL- Something which represents something else; white dove
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EXAM PRACTICE
Use the poems below and the self assessment sheet to practice your
poetry analysis skills
SELF ASSESSMENT- ENGLISH LITERATURE EXAM ANSWERS
Not
confident/
Not
attempted
POEM:
Attempted
and ok
Secure- can
do this well
1. Have I addressed all bullet points?
 CONTENT
 IDEAS TO THINK ABOUT
 MOOD / ATMOSPHERE
 HOW THEY ARE WRITTEN ( words and phrases
you find interesting, the way they are organised
etc)
 YOUR RESPONSE
2. Have I used quotes to back up my points?
3. Have I analysed the language in the quotes I‟ve used
and considered how they contribute to the overall
effect?
4. Have I discussed my own thoughts and feelings on
the poem?
5. Have I discussed how meaning is conveyed through
language, structure or style?
6. Have I discussed alternative interpretations?
7. Have I discussed stylistic features?
8. Have I considered a variety of ways in which effects
are achieved?
9. Have I used paragraphs correctly?
10. Have I used a range of vocabulary, sentence
structures and punctuation?
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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Exam Practice 1- Both Wind and Storm on the Island are written from the
perspective of people experiencing a storm.
Wind
This house has been far out at sea all night,
The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills,
Winds stampeding the fields under the window
Floundering black astride and blinding wet
Till day rose; then under an orange sky
The hills had new places, and wind wielded
Blade-light, luminous black and emerald,
Flexing like the lens of a mad eye.
At noon I scaled along the house-side as far as
The coal-house door. Once I looked up Through the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes
The tent of the hills drummed and strained its guyrope,
The fields quivering, the skyline a grimace,
At any second to bang and vanish with a flap;
The wind flung a magpie away and a blackBack gull bent like an iron bar slowly. The house
Rang like some fine green goblet in the note
That any second would shatter it. Now deep
In chairs, in front of the great fire, we grip
Our hearts and cannot entertain book, thought,
Or each other. We watch the fire blazing,
And feel the roots of the house move, but sit on,
Seeing the window tremble to come in,
Hearing the stones cry out under the horizons
Ted Hughes
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Storm on the Island
We are prepared: we build our houses squat,
Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate.
The wizened earth has never troubled us
With hay, so as you can see, there are no stacks
Or stooks that can be lost. Nor are there trees
Which might prove company when it blows full
Blast: you know what I mean - leaves and branches
Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale
So that you can listen to the thing you fear
Forgetting that it pummels your house too.
But there are no trees, no natural shelter.
You might think that the sea is company,
Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs
But no: when it begins, the flung spray hits
The very windows, spits like a tame cat
Turned savage. We just sit tight while wind dives
And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo.
We are bombarded by the empty air.
Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.
Seamus Heaney
Write about the 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 response to the poems.
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Exam Practice 2
poem of death .
Both Ambulances and Mid Term Break deal with the
Ambulances
Closed like confessionals, they thread
Loud noons of cities, giving back
None of the glances they absorb.
Light glossy grey, arms on a plaque,
They come to rest at any kerb:
All streets in time are visited.
Then children strewn on steps or road,
Or women coming from the shops
Past smells of different dinners, see
A wild white face that overtops
Red stretcher-blankets momently
As it is carried in and stowed,
And sense the solving emptiness
That lies just under all we do,
And for a second get it whole,
So permanent and blank and true.
The fastened doors recede. Poor soul,
They whisper at their own distress;
For borne away in deadened air
May go the sudden shut of loss
Round something nearly at an end,
And what cohered in it across
The years, the unique random blend
Of families and fashions, there
At last begin to loosen. Far
From the exchange of love to lie
Unreachable inside a room
The traffic parts to let go by
Brings closer what is left to come,
And dulls to distance all we are.
Phillip Larkin
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MID-TERM BREAK
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o‟clock our neighbours drove me home.
In the porch I met my father crying –
He had always taken funerals in his stride –
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand
And tell me they were “sorry for my trouble”,
Whispers informed stangers I was the eldestm
Away at school, as my mother held my hand
In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o‟clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandages by the nurses.
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every year.
Write about the 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 response to the poems.
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Exam Practice 3- Both Stealing and The Man who finds his son has become a
Thief deal with the subject of stealing.
The Man Who Finds His Son Has Become A Thief
Coming into the store at first angry
At the accusation, believing in
The word of the boy who has told him:
I didn‟t steal anything, honest.
Then becoming calmer, seeing that anger
Will not help in the business, listening painfully
As the other‟s evidence unfolds, so painfully slow.
Then seeing gradually that evidence
Almost as if tighten slowly around the neck
Of his son, at first vaguely circumstantial, then gathering
damage
Until there is present the unmistakable odour of guilt
Which seeps now into the mind and lays its poison.
Suddenly feeling sick and alone and afraid,
as if an unseen hand had slapped him in the face
For no reason whatsoever, wanting to get out
into the night, the darkness, anywhere to hide
The pain that must show in the face to these strangers, the fear.
It must be like this.
It could hardly be otherwise.
Raymond Souster
Stealing
The most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman.
Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute
beneath the winter moon. I wanted him, a mate
with a mind as cold as the slice of ice
within my own brain. I started with the head.
Better off dead than giving in, not taking
what you want. He weighed a ton; his torso,
frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill
piercing my gut. Part of the thrill was knowing
that children would cry in the morning. Life's tough.
Sometimes I steal things I don't need. I joy-ride cars
to nowhere, break into houses just to have a look.
I'm a mucky ghost, leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera.
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I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob.
A stranger's bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this - Aah.
It took some time. Reassembled in the yard,
he didn't look the same. I took a run
and booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped out
in rags. It seems daft now. Then I was standing
alone among lumps of snow, sick of the world.
Boredom. Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.
One time, I stole a guitar and thought I might
learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once,
flogged it, but the snowman was the strangest.
You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?
Carl Ann Duffy
Write about the 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 response to the poems.
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