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Poetry edexcel 9-1 relationships revision help

For the new 9-1 exams I have to memorize quotes for 15 poems and what I'm doing is getting quotes for themes. But that did not help because I looked at the specimen paper 2 for english lit and the theme was something that I did not revise. My teacher told me to get quotes from 5-6 poems with the most themes but I'm still quite confused. I think that the poetry exam will be the hardest so I want to know if you have any revision techniques for poetry. So how do you revise for the poetry exams- do you get quotes from each poem, get quotes from a few poems etc.

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Original post by GCSE 9
For the new 9-1 exams I have to memorize quotes for 15 poems and what I'm doing is getting quotes for themes. But that did not help because I looked at the specimen paper 2 for english lit and the theme was something that I did not revise. My teacher told me to get quotes from 5-6 poems with the most themes but I'm still quite confused. I think that the poetry exam will be the hardest so I want to know if you have any revision techniques for poetry. So how do you revise for the poetry exams- do you get quotes from each poem, get quotes from a few poems etc.


i have something that may be extremley useful to you IF u are doing the relarionship cluster
Original post by GCSE 9
For the new 9-1 exams I have to memorize quotes for 15 poems and what I'm doing is getting quotes for themes. But that did not help because I looked at the specimen paper 2 for english lit and the theme was something that I did not revise. My teacher told me to get quotes from 5-6 poems with the most themes but I'm still quite confused. I think that the poetry exam will be the hardest so I want to know if you have any revision techniques for poetry. So how do you revise for the poetry exams- do you get quotes from each poem, get quotes from a few poems etc.


It might not be a good idea to revise quotations as pertaining to specific themes because quotations and themes aren't these separate, isolated things; they all interlink to make up the poem as a whole and can all be interpreted in many different ways. I'd suggest that you choose the quotations you feel are relevant/mean something and try to interpret those in as many different ways as you can. That way, you'll be able to adapt your analyses to whatever question comes up because you'll have so many ideas about the quotations you've chosen and the effect of the language used in them. Also, make sure you link quotations to each other; there will probably be an idea in one quotation which is continued in another.

God, I hate GCSE English. >:frown:
Original post by sahir0113
i have something that may be extremley useful to you IF u are doing the relarionship cluster

I am doing relationships cluster, that would be great if you have something- thanks
Original post by Sonechka
It might not be a good idea to revise quotations as pertaining to specific themes because quotations and themes aren't these separate, isolated things; they all interlink to make up the poem as a whole and can all be interpreted in many different ways. I'd suggest that you choose the quotations you feel are relevant/mean something and try to interpret those in as many different ways as you can. That way, you'll be able to adapt your analyses to whatever question comes up because you'll have so many ideas about the quotations you've chosen and the effect of the language used in them. Also, make sure you link quotations to each other; there will probably be an idea in one quotation which is continued in another.

God, I hate GCSE English. >:frown:

Thank you, I agree with you but for some themes like memory and personal experiences, it's hard to link quotations to it- because only some part of the poem may actually be a memory. I'm worried because personal expercinces came up in the 9-1 spec papers.
Original post by GCSE 9
I am doing relationships cluster, that would be great if you have something- thanks


give me your email ill forward it
Original post by sahir0113
give me your email ill forward it


Can you give it to me in the TSR private message. Can you inbox it to me through TSR?
Original post by GCSE 9
Thank you, I agree with you but for some themes like memory and personal experiences, it's hard to link quotations to it- because only some part of the poem may actually be a memory. I'm worried because personal expercinces came up in the 9-1 spec papers.


You can link personal experiences/memories to things which aren't personal experiences or memories themselves, I'm fairly sure. Could you post the poem on here? I do IGCSE so I don't have to learn the same stuff as you but I might be able to give you an example.
Original post by Sonechka
You can link personal experiences/memories to things which aren't personal experiences or memories themselves, I'm fairly sure. Could you post the poem on here? I do IGCSE so I don't have to learn the same stuff as you but I might be able to give you an example.

So it's a comparison question:
Neural tones:
We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles of years ago; And some words played between us to and fro On which lost the more by our love. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die; And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing…. Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
A child to his scik grandfather:
GRAND-DAD , they say you're old and frail, Your stiffened legs begin to fail: Your staff, no more my pony now, Supports your body bending low, While back to wall you lean so sad, I'm vex'd to see you, Dad. You used to smile and stroke my head, And tell me how good children did; But now, I wot not how it be, You take me seldom on your knee, Yet ne'ertheless I am right glad, To sit beside you, Dad. How lank and thin your beard hangs down! Scant are the white hairs on your crown: How wan and hollow are your cheeks, Your brow is crossed with many streaks; But yet although his strength be fled, I love my own old Dad. The housewives round their potions brew, And gossips come to ask for you; And for your weal each neighbour cares; And good men kneel and say their prayers, And every body looks so sad, When you are ailing, Dad. You will not die and leave us then? Rouse up and be our Dad again. When you are quiet and laid in bed, We'll doff our shoes and softly tread; And when you wake we'll still be near, To fill old Dad his cheer. When through the house you change your stand, I'll lead you kindly by the hand: When dinner's set I'll with you bide, And aye be serving by your side; And when the weary fire burns blue, I'll sit and talk with you. I have a tale both long and good, About a partlet and her brood, And greedy cunning fox that stole By dead of midnight through a hole, Which slyly to the hen-roost led,-- You love a story, Dad? And then I have a wondrous tale Of men all clad in coats of mail, With glittering swords,--you nod,--I think Your heavy eyes begin to wink;-- Down on your bosom sinks your head:-- You do not hear me, Dad.

sorry if the poems are too long and the theme is mermories. Thank you.
Original post by GCSE 9
So it's a comparison question:
Neural tones:
We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles of years ago; And some words played between us to and fro On which lost the more by our love. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die; And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing…. Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
A child to his scik grandfather:
GRAND-DAD , they say you're old and frail, Your stiffened legs begin to fail: Your staff, no more my pony now, Supports your body bending low, While back to wall you lean so sad, I'm vex'd to see you, Dad. You used to smile and stroke my head, And tell me how good children did; But now, I wot not how it be, You take me seldom on your knee, Yet ne'ertheless I am right glad, To sit beside you, Dad. How lank and thin your beard hangs down! Scant are the white hairs on your crown: How wan and hollow are your cheeks, Your brow is crossed with many streaks; But yet although his strength be fled, I love my own old Dad. The housewives round their potions brew, And gossips come to ask for you; And for your weal each neighbour cares; And good men kneel and say their prayers, And every body looks so sad, When you are ailing, Dad. You will not die and leave us then? Rouse up and be our Dad again. When you are quiet and laid in bed, We'll doff our shoes and softly tread; And when you wake we'll still be near, To fill old Dad his cheer. When through the house you change your stand, I'll lead you kindly by the hand: When dinner's set I'll with you bide, And aye be serving by your side; And when the weary fire burns blue, I'll sit and talk with you. I have a tale both long and good, About a partlet and her brood, And greedy cunning fox that stole By dead of midnight through a hole, Which slyly to the hen-roost led,-- You love a story, Dad? And then I have a wondrous tale Of men all clad in coats of mail, With glittering swords,--you nod,--I think Your heavy eyes begin to wink;-- Down on your bosom sinks your head:-- You do not hear me, Dad.

sorry if the poems are too long and the theme is mermories. Thank you.


Oh, you can definitely relate the parts of these poems to memories even if they aren't explicitly describing memories. One thing to keep in mind is that the poems exist as wholes, rather than being divided into parts corresponding to arbitray themes; if there is mention of a memory in one line, that memory will not just be ignored for the rest of the poem. An example would be if you discussed the contrast between "then" and "now" in the two poems. The poems are similar in that they both have a clearly defined past, which is explicitly separated from the present. The "present" (and so the end of the memory) is clearly marked by the words "since then" in Neutral Tones, which are emphatically placed at the start of a new line to show a change in time and mood. "But now" is similarly placed at the start of a line in A Child to his Sick Grandfather, and once again marks out the contrast between the memory and the present. This is compounded by the line "you take me seldom on your knee", which draws attention to the fact that the narrator's father no longer does typically paternal things by mentioning one such thing. Thus in both poems, memories and the pasts they inhabit are presented as an altogether different era from the present reality through the use of conjunctions which explicitly separate the two.

Maybe that wasn't the most eloquent example, but that's a way in which you could compare/contrast the presentation of memories in the poems without quoting the memories themselves. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful.
Original post by Sonechka
Oh, you can definitely relate the parts of these poems to memories even if they aren't explicitly describing memories. One thing to keep in mind is that the poems exist as wholes, rather than being divided into parts corresponding to arbitray themes; if there is mention of a memory in one line, that memory will not just be ignored for the rest of the poem. An example would be if you discussed the contrast between "then" and "now" in the two poems. The poems are similar in that they both have a clearly defined past, which is explicitly separated from the present. The "present" (and so the end of the memory) is clearly marked by the words "since then" in Neutral Tones, which are emphatically placed at the start of a new line to show a change in time and mood. "But now" is similarly placed at the start of a line in A Child to his Sick Grandfather, and once again marks out the contrast between the memory and the present. This is compounded by the line "you take me seldom on your knee", which draws attention to the fact that the narrator's father no longer does typically paternal things by mentioning one such thing. Thus in both poems, memories and the pasts they inhabit are presented as an altogether different era from the present reality through the use of conjunctions which explicitly separate the two.

Maybe that wasn't the most eloquent example, but that's a way in which you could compare/contrast the presentation of memories in the poems without quoting the memories themselves. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful.


Thank you very much and also, can you select quotes from the poem and analyse them but not link it to the theme (memories in this instance). For example, obviously memories is a theme in both poems, so all the quote's in the poems will link to memories? Do you get me?
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by GCSE 9
Thank you very much and also, can you select quotes from the poem and analyse them but not link it to the theme (memories in this instance). For example, obviously memories is a theme in both poems, so all the quote's in the poems will link to memories? Do you get me?


You have to answer the question, so probably not. Random analyses won't get you marks if they're off-topic. As I say, themes are not absolute - poets don't write thinking "ah, let's make memories a theme in this poem and highlight it using onomatopoeia in the second stanza." A line or word will only be related to a certain theme (which is merely one idea contained and explored somewhere within the poem) if it is interpreted as such, and not every line can reasonably be interpreted in a certain way.
[QUOTE="Sonechka;71258924"]You have to answer the question, so probably not. Random analyses won't get you marks if they're off-topic. As I say, themes are not absolute - poets don't write thinking "ah, let's make memories a theme in this poem and highlight it using onomatopoeia in the second stanza." A line or word will only be related to a certain theme (which is merely one idea contained and explored somewhere within the poem) if it is interpreted as such, and not every line can reasonably be interpreted in a certain way.[/QUOTE

What about if you try to link it to the theme memories, but it doesn't actually link. For example, the quote "weary fire turns blue" could link to memories because probably in the past the father radiated warmth but both he doesn't.
Reply 15
Original post by sahir0113
i have something that may be extremley useful to you IF u are doing the relarionship cluster


what is it i am!
Original post by abatha
what is it i am!


it is a PDF that has in depth analysis of all the poems with form structure and context and language. i used this and got an 8. message me ur email ill, send it over
Reply 17
Original post by sahir0113
it is a PDF that has in depth analysis of all the poems with form structure and context and language. i used this and got an 8. message me ur email ill, send it over


could you please send it via message
m8 i bought the cgp guide all the annotations heLL YES
Original post by zainabab
m8 i bought the cgp guide all the annotations heLL YES


What did you got

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