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What if the poem on the exam isn't one of these four? What is the point of the "Fab Four"?
What if the poem on the exam isn't one of these four? What is the point of the "Fab Four"?
Students will be expected to compare the poem they receive on their exam to one they have memorised (key quotes and detailed analysis). As it is unreasonable to expect students to memorise all fifteen poems to the extent required to score well on the exam, we have narrowed it down to four key poems. These four poems have been selected by our department because they encompass the widest variety of themes, so students will have the greatest chance to easily compare the poem in their exam to one of these four. Of course, students do not have to memorise these exact four and do not have to use them for comparison in the exam. These are just our recommendations based on experience with past exams.
Exposure
by Wilfred Owen
“the merciless iced east winds that knive us”
“All their eyes are ice”
“What are we doing here?”
“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”
“Our brains ache”
“But nothing happens”
The Emigree
by Carol Rumens
“The white streets of the city”
“like a hollow doll”
“there’s no way back”
“They accuse me…they circle me.”
“There once was a country…”
“my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight”
Kamikaze
by Beatrice Garland
“a shaven head full of powerful incantations”
“as though he no longer existed”
“but half way there…”
“my mother never spoke again in his presence”
“Her father” and “no longer the father we loved”
“he must have wondered…”
Remains
by Simon Armitage
“I see every round as it rips through his life”
“His blood-shadow…”
“pain” and “agony”
“tosses his guts back into his body”
“On another occasion”
“Then I’m home on leave”
Student-Created Revision Resources
Student-Created Revision Resources
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