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Struggling with Poetry in English GCSE.

As you can see from the title I'm having a few problems with poetry. I've been assigned some homework where I'm supposed to pick two of the five given poems and then go on to compare and contrast them. I've looked for help online but none of it really helped. I've not got a clue on how to structure it or how to figure out the "theme" of the poem. My vocabulary isn't too great so I can't really make any good points. What should I do? :confused:

I'd really appreciate if any of you would help me even if it is just a few tips. Thank you for your time.

Reply 1

Aa'Ishah

The theme of a poem is basically the main idea, so what are the poems talking about? Some common themes are death, love, family, but it could literally be anything. What are they trying to say to the reader? Do the poems use similar language techniques, e.g. similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia? What images crop up? Think about the narrative voice - is it first person, third, does it include the reader? Are the poems in stanzas, or is there one that is just one long stanza? Do the poems rhyme? What is the effect of any of these?

Don't worry about your vocab too much; a lot of people think that if they can use big words they sound more sophisticated, but using big vocab for the sake of it doesn't necessarily help your argument. Just state your points clearly and you'll be fine. It sounds like your task is pretty open - you can compare literally anything about the poems. Pick something and focus on it. If you're looking at language, give an example and explain what the effect is and how that differs/is similar to the other poem you're looking at.

An additional thing about theme is that two poems might take the same theme, but look at it differently.

I hope this helps! :smile:

Reply 2

CloudyKid21

Thank you very much AryaStark! I wasn't sure if anyone would actually respond. I'll keep this in mind when writing essays. Again, thank you. <3 :smile: