Know the poems!
This means you should be able to:
1.
Quote extensively (in completion?) from between 8-12 poems.
2.
Be able to summarise the main themes of each poem from memory
(see example on the next slide). These can often be used in essays to
introduce the key ideas of a poem before analysing in detail.
3.
Be able to select appropriate quotations to highlight the stated
themes.
4.
Be able to highlight key language and structural points from memory.
5.
Be able to use literary language to analyse the points highlighted.
6.
Remember 5/25 Marks are available for ‘Knowledge and
Understanding’.
In ‘Valentine’, Duffy seeks to subvert the conventions of St
Valentine’s day (and indeed the conventions of traditional
romantic poetry) by replacing the worn out and clichéd gifts
of love with the offering of an onion. For Duffy the onion
becomes a much more honest reflection of the complexities
of love than ‘cute cards’ or ‘kissograms’. By comparing love
to the many layered nature of the onion, she identifies the
range and variety in the romantic experience and, in
particular, she leads us to an understanding of the
juxtaposition between the ‘promise’ of love and the
emotional suffering and possessiveness that love so often
brings.
Again, without knowing the poems really well it will be difficult for you to
sustain a response. If you do know them well…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Read all of the titles carefully (both the poetry and general literature questions)
before deciding which title is most appealing.
Highlight the key words and requirements of the question (what is it asking;
how many texts do you need to use etc) and think carefully about which poems
you would use. Many students make poor choices and select poems that are
only partially suitable for the question.
Plan your essay: points to make, quotations to use (depending on the reliability
of your memory, you may want to jot down the quotations in full here)
Make sure all points relate to the title!
Remember 5/25 marks are available for ‘Responding to the Question’.
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Overall Argument: Poetry shows us that love is complex but seemingly universal emotional state and is
manifest in a variety of human experiences with a variety of human responses. It can be moving, sensual,
shocking, possessive, isolating, unwanted, surprising.
Poems to use: ‘Mean Time’, ‘Body of a Woman’, ‘Spinster’
Points:
Love can be painful
Love can cause regret
Love can make us feel
that life is pointless
Love can be exciting and sensual
Love can make us want to possess
and be possessed
And so on…
Evidence:
‘The clocks slid back an hour / and stole light
from my life’
‘…there are words I would never have said’
‘But we will be dead, as we know / beyond all
light.’
‘Oh the goblets of the breast!’
‘You look like a world lying in surrender’
How far did you identify different ‘speaking voices’ in the poems which you
studied? How was a speaking voice created and what were its qualities in at
least three poems you have studied?
The creation of a unique ‘voice’ is arguably one of the chief concerns of the
poet. Through the poet’s voice (or sometimes voices), we engage with the
world from a different perspective, a perspective that is often beyond our own
narrow understanding. So, for example, we can see the world through the eyes
of an alienated and disenfranchised youth in Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Stealing’; we
can appreciate the hopelessness and disillusionment in Duffy’s ‘Havisham’; we
can get closer to the bitter frustrations of a woman coming to terms with
feelings of loss, betrayal and victimization in Sylvia Plath’s ‘Daddy’. The very
different and distinctive voices created in these poems are the media by which
these poets can communicate their sometimes brutal, often moving, but
always profoundly important truths about what it is to be a human being.
A response to the question (in purple)
Examples from the poems that you will analyze (in
green)
3. A clear idea of the argument that you will use (in
red)
1.
2.
4.
Look again at the example introduction:
The creation of a unique ‘voice’ is arguably one of the chief concerns of
the poet. Thorough the poet’s voice (or sometimes voices), we engage
with the world from a different perspective, a perspective that is
often beyond our own narrow understanding. So, for example, we
can see the world through the eyes of an alienated and
disenfranchised youth in Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Stealing’; we can
appreciate the hopelessness and disillusionment in Duffy’s ‘Havisham’;
we can get closer to the bitter frustrations of a woman coming to
terms with feelings of loss, betrayal and victimization in Sylvia Plath’s
Daddy. The very different and distinctive voices created in these
poems are the media by which these poets can communicate their
sometimes brutal, often moving, but always profoundly important
truths about what it is to be a human being.
1.
2.
3.
A response to the question (in purple)
Examples from the poems that you will analyze (in green)
A clear idea of the argument that you will use (in red)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Please remember that the examiner will expect you to compare and
contrast the poems that you are writing about. Try not to write 2/3 ‘miniessays’.
You can plan to make your points explicitly comparative (e.g.. both Duffy
and Plath at times make use of a tone of regret in their poems; or both
poets see love as possessive in nature; or both Heaney and Plath use
natural imagery to reinforce their points about love (although of course
from very different perspectives) and select evidence from both poems as
you write.
You can also make comparative statements throughout the essay (e.g.
Unlike Plath, in ‘Adultery’, Duffy sees physical love as dangerously
exciting and engaging. She relishes the physical, human connection that
Plath seems to reject in ‘Spinster’.
Remember 5/25 marks are available for ‘Presentation’.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Always think about the order of the points you make. Make sure that there is a
logic to you structure – remember the presentation mark!
If possible, start with the most straightforward points / easiest poems to help
build confidence.
Consider summarising the main themes of the poem that you are analysing (see
example from earlier) so that you can show the examiner that you understand its
main themes.
Always make sure that your points are clearly stated and that your evidence
directly supports them.
Points should be linked to each other (discursive markers) and clearly linked to the
title. Topic sentence – seamlessly embedded quotations – analysis – linking
sentences.
You need to offer both an explanation of how the evidence reinforces your
argument / connects to the title and show that you can comment on how the
language of the quotation supports the overall point.
Use technical language and a sophisticated, academic vocabulary – don’t use
colloquial expressions, a conversational tone or, god-forbid, slang.
Remember 5/25 marks are available for ‘Formal Use of Language’.
It is vitally important that you show the examiner that you appreciate the ways that writers use language
to reinforce meaning. In order to do this you will need to identify specific features of the poems, use
technical language to describe them, discuss the effects of those features and show how they relate to
the themes/topics under discussion.
For example, consider the following quotation:
‘She judged petals in disarray, /The whole season, sloven’
Here, as in the poem as a whole, Plath uses ‘spring’ as an extended metaphor for the
the chaotic disorder of human feeling. The ‘Spinster’ reels away from
spring because, like love, it is portrayed as unpredictable and untidy. The language
used is important. The ‘Spinster’ ‘judges’ spring; adopts a patronising moral stance
and the conventionally appealing ‘Petals’ are seen as jumbled and messy. Plath
then personifies spring as slovenly which is again unexpected considering that spring is
usually seen as the embodiment of purity, vitality and natural energy. The hyperbole, ‘whole’
and the sibilance in these lines suggest the disgust of the speaker’s feelings as the words are
almost spat out.
Remember 5/25 marks are available for ‘Appreciation of Literary Features’.
A conclusion should, of course, bring your
argument to a logical end. It should re-state
you main argument(s) and briefly show how
you arrived at this point. You may want to
give a few specific examples of evidence used
as well.
See the example on the next page.
As we have seen, Duffy, Neruda and Plath all engage with the
concept and emotional state of ‘love’ although they do so
from very different perspectives. In ‘Valentine’, Duffy
examines the gap between conventional symbols of love and
the much more complex reality of how love manifests itself
in the human experience. In ‘Havisham’, Duffy primarily
explores the idea of ‘lost love’ and takes on the persona of
the reflective, sometimes melancholic lover struggling to
come to terms with love’s end. On the other hand, in
‘Spinster’, Plath rejects the very notion of ‘romantic’ love and
exposes the impulse for a withdrawal from romantic liaison.
Love, as all of these poets show, is a common and
fundamental but also highly complex and confusing state of
body and mind.
 Good Luck!
 But, even better, create your own
good luck by being properly prepared!