AQA English Literature Poetry Exam Discussion

I also did Ghazal and The Manhunt but I now believe I have ****ed up the entire question.

In my answer, I emphasised and talked about form and structure throughout my answer (comparing them both) but I HARDLY even talked about language because I thought that I might not get a lot of marks for it so mainly just talked about form and structure because that was what the question was asking.

However now I am thinking I should have talked about language. I only made a few simple comments about language. For example, the two-line stanzas in Ghazal allow Khalvati (the poet) to fire different ideas and metaphors about love in quick succession - they are not supposed to be connected as in a narrative and I then talked about how this is in contrast with The Manhunt, which is wrote in the first-person narrative to consequently make the poem seem direct and convey the impact of the physical, mental and physcological effects of war. Similarly, to Ghazal, both poems are in two-line couplets but there is a contrast in the sense that The Manhunt displays fragmentation in the relationship (shown by the separate stanzas) and Ghazal is more of an expressive, desire of love etc.


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I thought the unseen was ok actually. I was really scared because every time I tried to practice I could never link the language/structure points to an idea, but I managed to in the exam! I wrote about the 10 syllables per a line being like a heartbeat, reinforcing the fathers broken heart, and that it also represent the time ticking away. I wrote about how the strict structure suggests the speaker was in control of his emotions more than the father. I didn't mention loads on language :/ but hopefully I've done enough to get my predicted grade. How did you find it?

I also did Ghazal and The Manhunt but I now believe I have ****ed up the entire question.

In my answer, I emphasised and talked about form and structure throughout my answer (comparing them both) but I HARDLY even talked about language because I thought that I might not get a lot of marks for it so mainly just talked about form and structure because that was what the question was asking.

However now I am thinking I should have talked about language. I only made a few simple comments about language. For example, the two-line stanzas in Ghazal allow Khalvati (the poet) to fire different ideas and metaphors about love in quick succession - they are not supposed to be connected as in a narrative and I then talked about how this is in contrast with The Manhunt, which is wrote in the first-person narrative to consequently make the poem seem direct and convey the impact of the physical, mental and physcological effects of war. Similarly, to Ghazal, both poems are in two-line couplets but there is a contrast in the sense that The Manhunt displays fragmentation in the relationship (shown by the separate stanzas) and Ghazal is more of an expressive, desire of love etc.


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Yeah I thought the unseen was terrible until I got out of the exam and it turned out it wasn't so bad. I said there was iambic pentatmeter which is rhythmic, symbolic of his mother's voice which shows the reader that he isn't over her death as he trying to emulate the sound of his mother to keep her close. Then I was like that bit when he was like ",and that is all." and that the caesura shows how he is not religious and doesn't believe in life after death, and has accepted and believes that his mother is dead and gone forever. Idek if I mentioned language?? There wasn't anything that could be said. Same I hope I got my predicted

Yeah I thought the unseen was terrible until I got out of the exam and it turned out it wasn't so bad. I said there was iambic pentatmeter which is rhythmic, symbolic of his mother's voice which shows the reader that he isn't over her death as he trying to emulate the sound of his mother to keep her close. Then I was like that bit when he was like ",and that is all." and that the caesura shows how he is not religious and doesn't believe in life after death, and has accepted and believes that his mother is dead and gone forever. Idek if I mentioned language?? There wasn't anything that could be said. Same I hope I got my predicted

Wow! That's an amazing interpretation! That's so clever, I never thought of that, and no one in my English class -top set as well, thought of that either. Well done you! The examiners will love reading that, that's a really different and original take on the poem, it would be hard not to give you full marks! Well done, and I really hope you've done well, because by the sounds of it you have x

That sounds brilliant, i would never have thought of that!

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I thought the unseen was ok actually. I was really scared because every time I tried to practice I could never link the language/structure points to an idea, but I managed to in the exam! I wrote about the 10 syllables per a line being like a heartbeat, reinforcing the fathers broken heart, and that it also represent the time ticking away. I wrote about how the strict structure suggests the speaker was in control of his emotions more than the father. I didn't mention loads on language :/ but hopefully I've done enough to get my predicted grade. How did you find it?

Actually, it wasn't 10 syllables per line. It alternated between 10 and 11 syllables.

I know but I only wrote about the 10 syllables

I don't mean to come across as blunt, but you do get marks on talking about language. It's poetry. Poetry. My teacher literally the first thing she said when we came out of the exam was "You were supposed to talk about language, did you talk about language?"

Ah, I see. That's okay then xD. I wrote about the 11 syllables disrupting the 'flow' of the 10 syllabic lines and Shakespeare's use of 10 syllabic lines to portray love, so the 11 syllabic lines symbolise realisation of reality being a barrier to love. Obviously you can't love a dead person. *awkward inappropriate giggle*

Do u think I'll lose marks for saying similes instead of metaphors ( "If I am the grass and you are the breeZe in Ghazal) when comparing the poems? Lol!

That's so confusing.. really hoping for low grade boundaries. It's a shame as I thought my exam went quite well, I compared Ghazal to To His Coy Mistress and wrote about 4 pages only on structure and form, which surprised me as I find it really difficult to write about structure and would have so much preferred to write about language and literary techniques but I felt it would have been pointless. Hope I'm not the only one....ugh

Literary terminology doesn't give you any additional marks, so no.

That's so confusing.. really hoping for low grade boundaries. It's a shame as I thought my exam went quite well, I compared Ghazal to To His Coy Mistress and wrote about 4 pages only on structure and form, which surprised me as I find it really difficult to write about structure and would have so much preferred to write about language and literary techniques but I felt it would have been pointless. Hope I'm not the only one....ugh

I literally did exactly the same thing as you and I was absolutely worried. The question made it specific. Form and structure. If you lose marks for not talking about language, AQA is evil and I will definitely be telling God to take care of them xD.

Do you reckon I was too cynical in unseen poetry?
for 'still raw heart' i said that the wife had left him in a bad way so there were still 'raw' wounds from her actions, i also said that 'still' could be an adjective to represent a passionless relationship and that the father was trying to rekindle a relationship that never existed by warming her shoes and what not.
then i said that the 'key to scrape through the rusty key hole' was quite negative as the key hole was rusty so he had become a "prisoner to his own emotions" and 'scraped' is quite an unpleasant sound so he is dreading her return????
Everyone else said completely different things so I'm worried i was way to negative???