How to approach the poetry section of your English Literature exam

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How to approach the poetry section of your
English Literature exam
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English Literature poetry exam

• As part of the English Lit. exam, you will need
  to answer one poetry question
• You will be tested on your ability to compare
  four poems
• One must be by Carol Ann Duffy
• One by Simon Armitage
• Two must be by pre-1914 poets.

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Some comments from the examiners report.

• Remember to PEE
• Few candidates adopt the simple but effective
  3-part approach to analysis 1-make a
  point,2-quote,3-comment on the effect created.
  May candidates stop at the first part and write
  answers which are very generalised and not
  supported by examples.
• Dont just list devices for the sake of it
• There were , nevertheless, large numbers of
  candidates who still wasted time noting rhyme
  schemes, or line lengths or number of verses or
  such devices as enjambment with no detail or
  understanding.

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Top tips

• Always look for similarities or differences.
• The examiners are looking for interesting and
  sensible comparisons between poems (they wont be
  interested in statements like Havishams got 16
  lines, whereas Mother any distance has only got
  15 lines)
• Try to think of alternative interpretations-this
  will help you target at least a C Grade as you
  are showing you can make a sustained focus on
  similarities and differences.

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Using quotations well

• It is best to embed short quotations within
  sentences, rather than just tagging them to the
  end of your sentences. Remember to work through
  all stages of PEE.
• Example
• P similarly to Ben Johnson, Carol Ann Duffy
  speaks directly to her mother, Marilyn. She says
  E in the very first line that she was ten
  years away from the corner you laughed on the
  effect E of this is to draw us into the poem as
  if we are the mother or child and we are being
  spoken to.

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Sample question

• Compare the ways poets explore the parent
  child relationship in four of the poems you have
  studied.
• Write about Before You Were Mine by Carol
  Ann Duffy and compare it with one poem by
  Armitage and two poems from the pre1914 section
  of the anthology.

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Tackling the questionspend 5 minutes doing the
following

• Read the question carefully and think about what
  it is asking you to do.
• Underline the questions key words.
• Make a list of all the Armitage and pre-1914
  poems that focus on child/parent relationships.
• Tick the ones that you feel would work best in
  conjunction with Before you Were Mine.
• Now select your two pre-1914 poems and your
  Armitage poem.

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Planning your response

• When planning an answer to the question on poems
  dont just consider each of the poems in
  isolation and then try to make comparisons.
• You should compare (similarities) and contrast
  (differences) the poems throughout your essay.
• This will also help you to ANALYSE the poems
  rather than simply DESCRIBING them.
• You wont get may marks for writing there is a
  metaphor in the first stanza
• You will get credit for writing Armitage uses
  the metaphor of a measuring tape you at the zero
  end, me with the spool of tape to suggest a bond
  that connects the mother and her son.

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Suggestions for structuring your essay plan

• Introduction jot down some key similarities and
  differences between the poems.
• Part 1 compare and contrast the child/parent
  relationship in two of your chosen poems
• Part 2 continue your analysis by comparing and
  contrasting your 3rd and 4th poems
• Conclusion draw your 4 chosen poems together and
  summarise your main argument.
• Remember to comment on Form and Structure (rhyme
  or lack of it, rhythm, type of poem, how its
  laid out and put together)
• The way the poets use language.

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The introduction.. Have a look at these two
examples.

• Which do you think is the most effective and why?
• A In this essay I am going to write about how
  the author of Marilyn feels love for her mother.
  I will also write about Mother any Distance, On
  My First Sonne and The Song Of the Old Mother.
• B Both Mother any Distance and Marilyn deals
  with the relationship that exists between a
  mother and her child. In Mother any distance,
  the voice of the poem speaks about the conflict
  of growing to be an adult and leaving behind
  childhood. Similarly, in Marilyn Duffy talks
  about the that very life time before a woman
  becomes a mother and all the resulting changes
  that that brings

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Spend five minutes writing your own opening to
the essay

• Compare the ways poets explore the parent child
  relationship in four of the poems you have
  studied.
• Write about Before You Were Mine by Carol
  Ann Duffy and compare it with one poem by
  Armitage and two poems from the pre1914 section
  of the anthology.
• You could begin with
• In order to compare and contrast the ways in
  which poets present parent child relationships, I
  have chosen to focus on

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Now swap your introduction with the person
sitting next to you.

• Read their work and give your partner
• At LEAST ONE positive comment on something that
  works well I their introduction
• Some constructive criticism-how could your
  partner improve their work and what should they
  remember to do next time?

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Can you add some points to the following list?

• A good introduction
• Addresses key words in the question
• Shows an understanding of the texts and topic
  that have been selected
• Introduces some key arguments (which will be
  developed in the rest of the essay)
• ..
• ..

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You are ready to write that essay!!

• Some final points to remember..
• In an exam you will have approximately one hour
  to answer this type of question (including
  planning and checking time)
• You will have to get used to timing yourself, as
  this type of question forms part B of the 1 hour
  and 45 minute exam.
• GOOD LUCK