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

1. “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood” T.S.Eliot 1888-1965

2. Unseen Poetry How to tackle the last part of the Literature Examination

3. 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

4. The Question • Write about the poem and its effect on you. 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 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

5. Content • What it’s about • What happens in each section • Is there an order or sequence? • Who’s speaking? • Story or idea?

6. 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?

7. 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

8. How it is written • Don’t 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

9. Imagery: a quick reminder An image in poetry (or in writing generally) is a picture in the reader’s 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

10. 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

11. Your Response • It’s 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

12. Things you should NEVER write! • At first I didn’t 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…

13. Ok – so let’s 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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 Land’s End to John O’Groats. but he said as a full time tramp with no other place to go he was worried where he would die - Land’s End or John O’Groats.

17. Start by annotating …. Any tramp – no name Tramp Like a child – a simple treat The speaker is someone reporting The tramp’s 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 don’t – why?

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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 writer’s techniques?

22. Improving your answer Go back and think about what you need to add to your notes to ensure you get a C or B

23. 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.

24. 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 – that’s 10 marks! • Don’t panic if you don’t get it all – it is not a trick!

25. Practice makes perfect Practise annotating poems. Remember to annotate in different ways: questions, points, meanings, links, language techniques, poet’s ideas Thinking about the poems and questioning the ideas in them will help you be more confident in the exam.