About the anthology poetry exam section

What you will be doing in the Section B part of the exam:

• You will be given a blank poem from the "Power and Conflict" anthology. This copy of the poem will be printed out in the exam paper. You will need to compare this poem with one other poem from the collection. 

• As you will not have a copy of the anthology with you, you will need to recall the second poem from memory. 

• You will be asked to comment on these poems, exploring the big ideas expressed, and how these ideas are explored through word choices and methods (language and structural features). Within your response, you will be demonstrating your close language analysis skills (A02), using relevant subject terminology, as well as discussing form and structure.

• You should spend around 45 minutes answering this question.

Here is an example of how the question will be laid out (this is not your actual exam and unlikely that this poem will come up): 

             Assessment Objectives:

A01: 

This tests your ability to come up with your own interpretations (an informed, personal response), as well as your ability to make close reference to the poem (including selecting and commenting on short quotations). On this paper, A01 also tests your ability to make comparisons between two poems.

A02:  

Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate. Here are some examples of Language, form and structure techniques you could comment on:

Language: 

• • Imagery including personification, (extended) metaphors and similes. 

• • Use of verbs in a poem. 

• • Pronouns. 

• • Hyperbole.

• • Irony. 

• • Pathetic fallacy. 

• • Onomatopoeia. 

• • Figurative language. 

• • Symbolism. 

• • General language terminology (see Subject Terminology Glossary section). 

Structure:

• • Line lengths and changes in line length, including the use of enjambment. 

• • Use of punctuation in a poem (caesuras, end-stopped lines).

• • Rhythm and sound (alliteration, sibilance, assonance, mono or polysyllabic words).

• • Rhyme scheme.

• • Repetition.

• • Changes in ideas across the poem. 

• • Echoes in ideas across the poem. 

• Climax of a poem 

• Volta / turning point / shift in mood / tone 

• Significance of the title.

• • Significance of the last line. Final messages 

• • Juxtapositions / contrasts in ideas. 

Refer to the Subject Terminology glossary section if you are unsure of the meanings of any of the above terms. 

Whatever you discuss in terms of language and methods, you should be pulling out the central ideas from the poem = how does language put forward these ideas? Think about looking at words, quotes and effects from different angles, extending your ideas, thinking about the poem as a whole and making links and connections across different parts of the poem.

A03:

Engaging with the ideas, attitudes and perspectives explored in the poems.

Always think about the central ideas the poem as a whole is putting across. What is the writer's central message? Why have they written this poem? How are they influencing / shaping your attitude? 

 As the name of the collection suggests, the collection is held together by the larger theme of power and conflict - think about where there is a power imbalance in the poem, and the form of conflict explored. 

For example: 

There is a moral conflict in War Photographer - this is an internal conflict (in the man in the poem). He is thinking about the horrors he has witnessed / captured and feels a sense of shame that the readers of the newspapers will not take in the severity of what he has seen / experienced. 

Poppies also has an internal conflict: the mother is overcome by the power of her emotions - her fear and worry for her son takes over her; she has to process how to let go of this strong feeling and need to protect her son. 

In exposure, the power of nature makes the soldiers feeble and weak.