Post by sir on Jun 22, 2009 6:03:51 GMT -5
WJEC GCSE English Literature Exam – The Unseen Poem
Your English Literature exam has three sections: A, B and C. Section A tests your exam novel, section B tests the play and section C is an unseen poetry analysis. Questions in sections A and B are worth 30 marks each and you should spend about an hour on each of these. Section C is worth 10 marks and you should spend about 30 minutes on this. This page gives you advice about how to tackle the poem.
The exam paper usually gives you the following help:
You may wish to include some or all of these points:
• The poem’s content – what it is about;
• The ideas the poet may have wanted us to think about;
• The mood or atmosphere of the poem;
• How it is written – words or phrases you find interesting, the way the poem is structured or organised and so on;
• Your response to the poem.
Content – what it is about
A good way to start your answer is to say what the poem is about, on the surface, and to outline briefly the situation or main events. You could also identify its dominant tone or mood but don’t yet go into detail.
Ideas – what the poet wants the reader to think about
Poems often describe a surface situation or event but lead the reader into thinking about deeper things. These might come from the poet’s attitude or viewpoint: what does the poet think and feel about the things in the poem?
Mood and atmosphere
What sort of emotions or feelings does the poem create in you? Is it frightening and edgy, ghostly and mysterious, humorous and cheerful, angry and bitter...? Is the language descriptive and intense, or plain and straightforward? What is the effect on you?
How it is written – words or phrases you find interesting, and how the poem is structured or organised
Which words, phrases, lines create the mood and atmosphere? What is it about these that makes you respond? Think about the sounds and associations of words or phrases and the impact of images (descriptions, similes, metaphors, personification) on you. When you mention devices like these you MUST explain their impact on you! For structure and organisation, what about the verse form and length? Is there a attern to the rhyme? Does it use devices such as enjambement? How do you respond to such poetic devices? How do they make you feel?
Personal Response
What is your attitude towards the poem and the ideas and feelings it produces in you? Do you like it, and why? Do you feel sorry for people in it, or angry about what happens in it? It will depend upon the actual poem but don’t forget to explain your own feelings about it.
Having thought about these things you are now ready to write your response to the poem. Apart from beginning by explaining content the headings above are NOT separate paragraphs. As you explain the poem, remember to include a good range of points from the headings above. Your teacher will show you how.
Recommended Activities:
• Look at past papers from the WJEC website. The “level” of your exam is GCSE, the subject is English Literature, Specification A. This will show you what sort of poem, and length of poem, to expect. You will not have seen before the poem in your actual exam but the skills of analysis are the same.
• Practise writing answers and learn how to assess them yourself as well as your teaching marking your work, of course! Look at model answers from the website or given to you by your teacher, seeing where the necessary ingredients are in them. Use a highlighter to help you.
• Learn a vocabulary of technical terms (imagery, alliteration etc) and use them in your answers BUT remember to always explain the effect these devices produce. SIMPLY SPOTTING TECHNICAL DEVICES WILL NOT EARN YOU MANY MARKS!
• Read some poetry for yourself and think about it, using the approach described above. The more experienced you are, the easier you will find this activity. In addition, it is excellent preparation for “A” level English Literature.
• Finally, remember that the skills of analysing poems can also be used when analysing other sorts of text.
Your English Literature exam has three sections: A, B and C. Section A tests your exam novel, section B tests the play and section C is an unseen poetry analysis. Questions in sections A and B are worth 30 marks each and you should spend about an hour on each of these. Section C is worth 10 marks and you should spend about 30 minutes on this. This page gives you advice about how to tackle the poem.
The exam paper usually gives you the following help:
You may wish to include some or all of these points:
• The poem’s content – what it is about;
• The ideas the poet may have wanted us to think about;
• The mood or atmosphere of the poem;
• How it is written – words or phrases you find interesting, the way the poem is structured or organised and so on;
• Your response to the poem.
Content – what it is about
A good way to start your answer is to say what the poem is about, on the surface, and to outline briefly the situation or main events. You could also identify its dominant tone or mood but don’t yet go into detail.
Ideas – what the poet wants the reader to think about
Poems often describe a surface situation or event but lead the reader into thinking about deeper things. These might come from the poet’s attitude or viewpoint: what does the poet think and feel about the things in the poem?
Mood and atmosphere
What sort of emotions or feelings does the poem create in you? Is it frightening and edgy, ghostly and mysterious, humorous and cheerful, angry and bitter...? Is the language descriptive and intense, or plain and straightforward? What is the effect on you?
How it is written – words or phrases you find interesting, and how the poem is structured or organised
Which words, phrases, lines create the mood and atmosphere? What is it about these that makes you respond? Think about the sounds and associations of words or phrases and the impact of images (descriptions, similes, metaphors, personification) on you. When you mention devices like these you MUST explain their impact on you! For structure and organisation, what about the verse form and length? Is there a attern to the rhyme? Does it use devices such as enjambement? How do you respond to such poetic devices? How do they make you feel?
Personal Response
What is your attitude towards the poem and the ideas and feelings it produces in you? Do you like it, and why? Do you feel sorry for people in it, or angry about what happens in it? It will depend upon the actual poem but don’t forget to explain your own feelings about it.
Having thought about these things you are now ready to write your response to the poem. Apart from beginning by explaining content the headings above are NOT separate paragraphs. As you explain the poem, remember to include a good range of points from the headings above. Your teacher will show you how.
Recommended Activities:
• Look at past papers from the WJEC website. The “level” of your exam is GCSE, the subject is English Literature, Specification A. This will show you what sort of poem, and length of poem, to expect. You will not have seen before the poem in your actual exam but the skills of analysis are the same.
• Practise writing answers and learn how to assess them yourself as well as your teaching marking your work, of course! Look at model answers from the website or given to you by your teacher, seeing where the necessary ingredients are in them. Use a highlighter to help you.
• Learn a vocabulary of technical terms (imagery, alliteration etc) and use them in your answers BUT remember to always explain the effect these devices produce. SIMPLY SPOTTING TECHNICAL DEVICES WILL NOT EARN YOU MANY MARKS!
• Read some poetry for yourself and think about it, using the approach described above. The more experienced you are, the easier you will find this activity. In addition, it is excellent preparation for “A” level English Literature.
• Finally, remember that the skills of analysing poems can also be used when analysing other sorts of text.