[aguideToansweringliteratureexamquestionsonunseenpoetry]

CONTENTS
PART1:INTRODUCTION Acautionarynote/Whatwilltheexamquestionlooklike?/WhatdoIneedto knowabouttheformatoftheexam?/WhatshouldIdofirst?/Themark scheme/5things PART2:THEME Whatisatheme?/Matchthethemeexercise/Amodelparagraph/WhatcanI dotorevise? PART3:LANGUAGE Aglossaryoflanguageterminology/Acautionarynote/Keywordsin quotations/Websofconnotations/Amodelparagraph/WhatcanIdoto revise? PART4:STRUCTURE Thegoldenrule/Aglossaryofstructure/amodelparagraph/WhatcanIdoto revise? PART5:TONE Adefinitionoftone/Whatarethekeyquestions?/2tonetasks/Amodel paragraph/WhatcanIdotorevise? PART6:THEPOEMS

DONTPANIC
DouglasAdamsTheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy

Acautionarynote:

A POEM IS NOT A RIDDLE, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE SOLVED!

Allyouneedtodoisexplainyourreactionstoit andexplainhowitcausedthosereactions.

Whatwilltheexamquestionlooklike?

Keyfeatures:
Thequestionisalwaysthesame! Itisagoodideatoannotate(writenotes)uponthe poem. Difficultvocabularyisoftenfootnotedatthebottom. Rememberthetitleisakeypartofthepoem.

Thequestionalwayslookslikethis:
SECTION C Spend about 30 minutes on this section. Think carefully about the poem before you write your answer. 17.Writeaboutthepoemanditseffectonyou. Youmaywishtoincludesomeorallofthesepoints: thepoemscontentwhatitisabout; theideasthepoetmayhavewantedustothinkabout; themoodoratmosphereofthepoem; howitiswrittenwordsorphrasesyoufind interesting,thewaythepoemisstructuredororganised, andsoon; yourresponsetothepoem.[10]

WhatdoIneedtoknowabouttheformatofthe exam? Keyfactsabouttheexamquestion: Itisthelastsectionoftheexam. Youwillnothaveseenthepoembefore. Thequestionisalwaysthesame;theonly thingthatchangeseachyearisthepoem. Youranswerwillbeanessayofaboutaside. Itisworth10marks(theothersectionsare outof30). Youhave30minutestocompletethe question. 510minutesshouldbespentreadingand planning,1520writingand5checking.

Rememberyouanswershouldbewrittenin analyticalparagraphs.MakesureyoureviseSEAL.

Whatdoesthemarkschemelooklike? E/DAnswerswillbedependentonparaphrase, withawarenessofmoodand atmosphere,andsomeawarenessofsubtext, perhaps,atD. CCandidateswillselectandhighlightdetailin ordertoprobethetext.Therewillbesome appreciationofsomestylisticfeaturesandaclear personalresponse. BCandidateswilldiscussthepoemthoroughly andwithsomeconfidence.Somestylisticfeatures willbeaddressedwithsomeinsight. AAnswersatthislevelwillbetypifiedbyoverview, sensitivityofresponse,andappreciationofa rangeoffeaturesandtheircontributiontothe overallmeaning. A*Alltheabove,inacogentandconfident response,withanalysisandappreciationof stylisticfeatures.

WhatshouldIdofirst?

READ THE POEM CAREFULLY

(twice)

5Things Agoodtechniquetohelpyoutogetintothe poemistothinkaboutwhatitisactuallyabout beforeyoustart.Thiswillgiveyousomethingto hangyouransweron.Thebestwaytodothisis beforeyoudoanythingelseafterreadingthe poemistowritedown5wordswhichsumitup. They can be connected words or separate ones. They can be from the poem or from your reaction. Thenselectthemostimportantones. Theimportantthingisthatthisgivesyouahandle onthepoemwhichyoucanbaseyouransweron.

PART2:THEMES Whatisatheme? Athemeisaconcept,oridea,thatthepoem explores. Oftenthethemeswillbecontainedinthe5words youinitiallycameupwith. TASK:Readeachofthepoemsatthebackofthis bookletandidentifythefivekeywordsforeach.

MatchtheThemeExercise Trytomatchthelistofthemestothepoemsinthebackof thisbooklet.Trytofindaquotationforeachpairwhich backsupyourchoice.

Isolation Loneliness Naturestriumph Hope Change NaturereflectingLove

Theme

Poem

Evidence(quotation)

AmodelSEALparagraphfortheme

One of the poems key themes is isolation. this is an alien city. The Persona of the poem finds the city to be alien this suggests he/she is lonely and does not fit in. This is strange because city suggests that there are lots of people around. The poet seems to be exploring the idea that you can be isolated and alone even in a crowd.

WhatcanIdotorevise? Writeaparagraphaboutthethemeofanyof thepoems. WhatcanIdotopractiseevenmore? Writeaboutthethemesoftheotherpoems.

PART3:Language AGlossaryoflanguageterminology
Irony Analogy Personification Simile Expressing something by using words that mean the opposite (humorous or sarcastic). Comparing the likeness of two things. Giving an inanimate object human characteristics. Comparing two objects as they have something in common (e.g. as white as snow). Repetition of a consonant in a phrase (e.g. Harry had a hole in his hard hat). Repetition of vowel sound (e.g. cold, told, bold). Use of very short, sharp sentences. Comparisons which don't use "like" or "as", but say that something "is" something else because it is similar. Using language to convey an atmosphere. When spoken, a word which sounds the same as its meaning (e.g. "hiss" - a snake). Exaggerating something so much that it cannot be taken literally.

Alliteration Assonance Parataxis Metaphor

Imagery Onomatopoeia Hyperbole

Acautionarynote:

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT COMMENTING ON LANGUAGE WE MEAN COMMENTING ON ITS EFFECT ON THE READER.

Task:Underlinekeywordsinthequotations. Oftenthesewillbethewordsusedinanusual way.

Themooncuts,/Clearandround, Ateverydeskastillchildstaredatme ofsnowdropsbloomingbetweendaffodilshoots afieldofsorrow/thatseemedhardfrozen Likeanexperiencedrobber icebergsofwhitefeather,

Websofconnotations.
Thisexampleshowsaset ofconnotations(related wordsandideas)forthe wordicebergs.

Drawtwomorewordwebsfortheseotherquotationsfrom thepoems.

AmodelSEALparagraph

Language is used in a dramatic and unsettling way with the line:

At every desk a still child stared at me The phrase still child seems strange as we would expect children in a school to be full of life and energy. The fact they are staring at the narrator as if they are inspecting him/her makes them sound quite hostile. They seem to be very strange, ghostly and unsettling children.

WhatcanIdotorevise?[partI]: Learnthetechnicalvocabulary: Look/Cover/Write/Check. YOUWILLGAINMOREMARKSIFYOUUSETHE TECHNICALVOCABULARY! WhatcanIdotorevise?[part2] Writeaparagraphforanyoftheother quotationsdescribingtheeffectsofthe languageonthereader.Compareittothe modelparagraph. WhatcanIdotopractiseevenfurther? Beingabletocommentonlanguageisthekey skillinEnglish,youshouldpracticethisover andoveragainwiththepoemsatthebackof thisbooklet.

PART4:Structure:TheGoldenrule:

Aglossaryofstructureterminology Continuing a sentence beyond Enjambment the end of a line, couplet, or stanza. The same / similar sound used Assonance in syllables of words near each other. Ballad Ancient poem telling a story. A pair of lines of verse usually Couplet the same length. Octet / Octave First 8 lines in a sonnet. Pentameter A line of 10 syllables. A stanza / group of 4 lines Quatrain usually with alternate rhymes. Sonnet A 14-line poem. Four or more rhymed lines Stanza repeated as a unit. Verse A group of lines in a poem. Thekeyquestions: Isthestructureregularorirregular? Howdoesthisfitinwithwhatthepoemisabout?

Amodelparagraphonstructure

The structure of the poem is regular. There are six stanzas with each one being made up of three lines. The first and third line of each stanza rhyme. This regular structure suggests two things. Firstly, it seems to reflect the shopkeepers straight forward, black and white view of the world. Secondly, it creates a sense of straight forward honesty on the part of the narrator who seems aware of the things that sadly the shopkeeper has missed.

 WhatcanIdotorevise?[part1] Learnthestructureterminology:Look/Cover/ Write/Check. WhatcanIdotorevise[part2] Practicewritingaparagraphonstructurefor oneormoreofthepoemsinthebackofthis booklet.Haveinmindthethemeofthe poemsbeforeyoudothisasthiswillgiveyou cluesastowhythepoethasstructuredthe poeminthisway.

PART5:Tone Adefinitionoftone. Whenwesaytonewemeantheemotions expressedandexploredinthepoem. Whatarethekeyquestions?

Whatisthetoneofthepoem?

Doesthetonechange?

Wheredoesitchange?

Whatdoesitchangeto?

Task1:Identifythetoneofanyofthe poems. Task2:identifyoneofthepoems wherethetonechanges

Amodeltoneparagraph

The tone of the poem remains constant. It seems to be hopeful

Sometimes a man aims high and all goes well. Although it is quiet sad as it acknowledges bad things can happen it seems positive that it does not have to be that way. It is as if it is saying we should be positive despite the possibility that things can, and often do, go wrong. It could almost be describes as a poem about desperately clinging on to hope.

WhatcanIdotorevise?[part1] Writeyourowntoneparagraph aboutoneofthepoems.Then compareittothemodel paragraph. WhatcanIdotorevise?[part2] Tryandidentifythetone,andany changesinit,oftheremaining poems.

PART6: