Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood

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• Genuine poetry can communicate before it is
  understood
• T.S.Eliot 1888-1965

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Unseen Poetry

• How to tackle the last part of the Literature
  Examination

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What does Unseen mean?

• It will be a poem you have probably never seen
  before
• You are being tested on your ability to read and
  respond thoughtfully
• You are thinking about what the writer is trying
  to say
• Every word of the poem will count

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The Question

• Write about the poem and its effect on you.
• You may wish to include some or all of these
  points
• The poems content what it is about
• The ideas the poet may have wanted us to think
  about
• The mood or atmosphere of a poem
• How it is written words or phrases you find
  interesting, the way the poem is structured or
  organised
• Your response to the poem

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Content

• What its about
• What happens in each section
• Is there an order or sequence?
• Whos speaking?
• Story or idea?

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Ideas

• What did the poet want us to think about?
• Is it a story
• or an idea
• or an expression of an emotion?
• Is there a message?

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Mood and atmosphere

• What is the tone of the poem?
• How does it make you feel as you read it?
• Think about the 5 senses
• Think about the setting

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How it is written

• Dont just list or spot techniques
• Pick out words or phrases that you find effective
  and try to say why
• Think about the sound and rhythm of the poem.
  Does it have a beat? Or is it disjointed?
• Look at repetition of sounds or words

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Imagery a quick reminder

• An image in poetry (or in writing generally) is
  a picture in the readers mind created by the
  words used.
• Literal images can be effective roses in
  snow. The reader sees this in an uncomplicated
  way.
• Similes and metaphors are figurative images
  they are built on comparison
• SIMILE The pigeon bursts like a city
• METAPHOR The sun died - this is also an
  example of personification

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How it is written 2

• Think about the structure or form
• Is it regular, uneven, awkward or easy to read.
  Does that tie in with the content?
• Look at the first line of each stanza to see how
  the meaning develops
• Look at the title and last line to give you a
  clue as to what the writer intended

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Your Response

• Its perfectly acceptable to say you find a poem
  confusing or misleading if you can explain why
• Try to be positive about some aspect of the poem
  or explain how you relate to an idea or event in
  it
• Uses phrases to show your sadness, surprise,
  enjoyment, anger, frustration, empathy
• The examiner basically wants to know you have
  read and thought about this poem

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Things you should NEVER write!

• At first I didnt understand the poem but after
  reading it a couple of times I think
• The poem has no rhythm
• I think the poem needed to rhyme more because I
  like poems that rhyme
• I think the poet has done a very good job of
  writing this poem and they obviously thought
  carefully about it

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Ok so lets try an example

• It is absolutely essential to get into the habit
  of reading the poem at least twice before even
  trying to think of what you will write.
• Try to hear the poem aloud in your head notice
  how it makes you feel and which words felt
  important as you read it.

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TRAMP By William Marshall

• He liked he said
• rainbows and the sky
• and children who passed him in the
• street
• without staring.
• And he liked he said the
• ordinary things

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• like
• roses in snow
• and the way he
• remembered
• the first time
• the first time he
• really smelt the
• rain on
• a green hillside
• back home
• just before the sun died

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• And he liked he said
• thinking about
• who slept beneath the red
• brick roofs he
• walked by in the
• early part of the day
• from Lands End to John OGroats.
• but he said
• as a full time tramp with no
• other place to go he
• was worried
• where he would die -
• Lands End or John OGroats.

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Start by annotating .
Any tramp no name

• Tramp

Like a child a simple treat
The speaker is someone reporting The tramps
opinions
He liked he said rainbows and the sky and
children who passed him in the street without
staring.
Most children stare - likes the ones who dont
why?
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Using P-E-E

• Making sure you always use P-E-E statements in
  the poetry question will help you get a C
• Write two P-E-E statements about this poem now
• Point Evidence Explanation

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How to get a C

• sustained response to situation/ideas or author's
  purposes
• effective use of details to support answer
• explanation of features of language interest
• explanation of effects achieved/authors' purposes

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How to get a B

• qualified, developed response, exploring writers'
  ideas or methods
• details from poem linked to authors' intentions
  and purposes
• exploration of effects achieved/authors' purposes
  
• qualified/exploratory response to writers' ideas
  or methods

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Check your response

• Have you explained?
• Have you used details?
• Is your writing on the poem sustained?
• Are you beginning to explore?
• Do you evaluate the writers techniques?

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Improving your answer

• Go back and think about what you need to add to
  your notes to ensure you get a C or B

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Remember

• Read the poem carefully more than once
• Annotate the poem quickly
• You have 30 minutes
• Spend 5 mins reading the poem and annotating
• Think about the poem.

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Writing your answer

• Use the bullet points provided to structure your
  answer
• Use P-E-E throughout
• Make at least two points for each bullet point
  thats 10 marks!
• Dont panic if you dont get it all it is not a
  trick!

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Practice makes perfect

• Practise annotating poems.
• Remember to annotate in different ways
  questions, points, meanings, links, language
  techniques, poets ideas
• Thinking about the poems and questioning the
  ideas in them will help you be more confident in
  the exam.