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AQA English Literature GCSE Unseen Poetry Revision Guide
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AQA GCSE Unseen Poetry Revision Guide
Hello, and welcome to our guide! In this guide we will be giving you a rough guide on how to answer the unseen poetry questions in your English Literature exam, as well as a variety of practice questions you can use and a basic analysis of each poem. This is not a completely definitive guide, so be sure to use other resources including anything your teacher has given you, as they are the most experienced teachers after all!
If you came here looking for something in particular then here is our contents which you can use to find what you were looking for
Contents
The Exam
Practice Questions
How/What to Analyse
24 Mark Analysis
8 Mark Comparison
Other Revision Resources
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The Exam
For the unseen poetry there will be two questions; a long analysis question and a short comparison question. For example these could be the questions:
Part a) In ‘To a Daughter Leaving Home’, how does the poet present the speaker’s feelings about her daughter? (24 marks)
Part b) In both ‘Poem for My Sister’ and ‘To a Daughter Leaving Home’ the speakers describe feelings about watching someone they love grow up. What are the similarities and/or differences between the ways the poets present those feelings? (8 marks)
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Practice Questions
Here are some questions/poems you can use to practice your unseen poetry skills
Please note these questions are not from the exam board, but have instead been made up of poems from the old specification anthologies and adapted questions.Set 1:
a) How does the poet present the ways children are affected by war in "Children in Wartime"? (24 marks)
b) Compare the different perspectives of war in "Children in Wartime to "A Irishman Foresees His Death" (8 marks)
Set 2:
a) How does the poet present their attitude towards the way we live and work in the modern world to the reader in "How to Leave the World that Worships Should"? (24 marks)
b) Compare the poet's attitudes towards modern technology in "How to Leave the World that Worships Should" and "Dusting the phone" (8 marks)
Set 3:
a) How does the poet present the woman's feelings about loneliness in "In Oak Terrace"? (24 marks)
b) Compare how the poet presents the women's different feelings about life in "In Oak Terrace" and "Names" (8 marks)
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How/What to Analyse
M-meaning. You must analyse the overall meaning of each poem, use quotes to evidence the meaning and include the overall affect the poem has on the reader.
I-[/i]imagery. From the poem you must pick out key pieces of imagery and analyse their effects. Identify the technique within your analysis, and also give multiple interpretations of it where possible.
S-structure. Structure is a key piece of of the poem. Within this comes rhyme, rhythm and form, which can all be analysed for their affect.
L-language. Language goes along with imagery. It is important to uniquely analyse this to obtain top marks. Again, subject terminology should be used, and multiple interpretations are vital.
It is important at this point for me to mention that you should analyse the poems and plan your answer to the question before attempting to write a response. When analysing the poem then do the following things:
- Read the poem once through without annotating it at all
- Read the title, and write down any significant analysis for that relevant to the question
- Read the question again so you know what you are looking out for when analysing.
- Go through the poem and identify any techniques used (metaphor, simile, caesura etc.)
- Work out which lines are most relevant to the question. Take these and write the affect they have on the reader.
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24 Mark Analysis
As mentioned above, you will want to include analysis for the 4 strands of MISL/SLIM to obtain the highest marks possible. The strongest responses, will have a common point throughout, as well as the natural subpoints which will be formed during the writing of the essay. This goes to follow that the structure will be something along the lines of:
- Brief introduction, including overarching point
- Paragraph about overall meaning of the poem
- Paragraph about imagery within the poem
- Paragraph about the structure and form of the poem
- Paragraph about the language used within the poem
- Concluding statement bringing all the points together, back to the overarching point and the question
While it is best not to use the same structure for each paragraph, as it risks becoming too rigid and systematic, it is important to include certain key items in each paragraph, for example:
- The poetic technique(s) used in the quote you have chosen
- The affect on the reader the quote has
- Link back to the question
- Use multiple layers of interpretation and word level analysis on the quote
- Justify how your analysis of the quote proves your point(s)
You do not have to write every paragraph in this structure (in fact, I would advise that you don't!), however these key points should be included if at all possible.
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8 Mark Comparison
- Overall comparison point, relevant to question
- Quote from poem one, name poetic technique and give overall meaning of quote
- Analyse quote in more detail, for example multiple layers of interpretation, word level analysis or other techniques
- Give the affect of the quote on the reader and link back to the question
- Comparitive linking word/phrase followed by quote for poem 2, named poetic technique and overall meaning given
- Analyse quote in more detail, for example multiple layers of interpretation, word level analysis or other techniques
- Give the affect of the quote on the reader
- Conclusion of paragraph, comparitive tone and linking back to question
This structure is by no means definitive (and ideally should not be exactly stuck to for every paragraph for a high level response), but hopefully gives you an idea of the key points which should be included.
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Other Sources
MrBruff (youtuber)
Elite Kids
BBC bitesize
(This was aimed at the old spec WJEC course, but is mostly relevant to the 8 mark question here)
irevise
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#9
This is absolutely amazing!! Thank you so much!! A perfect way of quickly summing up the points to the questions. This has REALLY helped. Honestly. Thank you so much!! Good luck to anyone taking their exams tomorrow! 
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(Original post by Luckystars500)
This is absolutely amazing!! Thank you so much!! A perfect way of quickly summing up the points to the questions. This has REALLY helped. Honestly. Thank you so much!! Good luck to anyone taking their exams tomorrow!
This is absolutely amazing!! Thank you so much!! A perfect way of quickly summing up the points to the questions. This has REALLY helped. Honestly. Thank you so much!! Good luck to anyone taking their exams tomorrow!
You're welcome Good luck tomorrow! Posted from TSR Mobile
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#11
(Original post by Lemur14)
AQA GCSE Unseen Poetry Revision Guide
Hello, and welcome to our guide! In this guide we will be giving you a rough guide on how to answer the unseen poetry questions in your English Literature exam, as well as a variety of practice questions you can use and a basic analysis of each poem. This is not a completely definitive guide, so be sure to use other resources including anything your teacher has given you, as they are the most experienced teachers after all!
If you came here looking for something in particular then here is our contents which you can use to find what you were looking for![Image]()
Contents
The Exam
Practice Questions
How/What to Analyse
24 Mark Analysis
8 Mark Comparison
Other Revision Resources
AQA GCSE Unseen Poetry Revision Guide
Hello, and welcome to our guide! In this guide we will be giving you a rough guide on how to answer the unseen poetry questions in your English Literature exam, as well as a variety of practice questions you can use and a basic analysis of each poem. This is not a completely definitive guide, so be sure to use other resources including anything your teacher has given you, as they are the most experienced teachers after all!
If you came here looking for something in particular then here is our contents which you can use to find what you were looking for
Contents
The Exam
Practice Questions
How/What to Analyse
24 Mark Analysis
8 Mark Comparison
Other Revision Resources
0
reply
(Original post by garchas)
what about for Edexcel unseen poetry??
what about for Edexcel unseen poetry??
Generally the information will be similar, but the exact details will most likely be different for Edexcel Posted from TSR Mobile
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#13
(Original post by Lemur14)
8 Mark Comparison
The 8 mark comparison question should be written in around 10 minutes. Usually, you will answer it last as it contributes the least number of marks to your paper. Exactly what you should analyse has been detailed above. For this question, you should write a very quick and concise plan, and then go straight into the writing as there is a lot to fit in in 10 minutes. As with the seen poetry, you must maintain a comparitive tone throughout, and use multiple interpretations and the other methods you have learnt for poetry analysis. In particular with this question, you will want to write the 4 paragraphs detailed above, or at least 3 if you are running out of time. Each paragraph should be around about 6-8 sentences, for example roughly this structure:
This structure is by no means definitive (and ideally should not be exactly stuck to for every paragraph for a high level response), but hopefully gives you an idea of the key points which should be included.
8 Mark Comparison
- Overall comparison point, relevant to question
- Quote from poem one, name poetic technique and give overall meaning of quote
- Analyse quote in more detail, for example multiple layers of interpretation, word level analysis or other techniques
- Give the affect of the quote on the reader and link back to the question
- Comparitive linking word/phrase followed by quote for poem 2, named poetic technique and overall meaning given
- Analyse quote in more detail, for example multiple layers of interpretation, word level analysis or other techniques
- Give the affect of the quote on the reader
- Conclusion of paragraph, comparitive tone and linking back to question
This structure is by no means definitive (and ideally should not be exactly stuck to for every paragraph for a high level response), but hopefully gives you an idea of the key points which should be included.
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(Original post by dipper_19)
4 paragraphs for 8 marks??
4 paragraphs for 8 marks??
Posted from TSR Mobile
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#17
(Original post by Lemur14)
24 Mark Analysis
The 45 minutes that you should be spending on unseen poetry (approximately) has to be split between this 24 mark question, and the smaller 8 mark comparison. Roughly, you would be advised to spend around 5 minutes planning this question, and 30 minutes writing. This is the only poetry question which is not a comparison between two poems, and hence you would expect for this question your analysis to be more in depth as you do not have to include comparisons. The 5 minutes planning will be vital so you can analyse the poem to produce the best points possible to form a cohesive argument.
As mentioned above, you will want to include analysis for the 4 strands of MISL/SLIM to obtain the highest marks possible. The strongest responses, will have a common point throughout, as well as the natural subpoints which will be formed during the writing of the essay. This goes to follow that the structure will be something along the lines of:
While it is best not to use the same structure for each paragraph, as it risks becoming too rigid and systematic, it is important to include certain key items in each paragraph, for example:
You do not have to write every paragraph in this structure (in fact, I would advise that you don't!), however these key points should be included if at all possible.
24 Mark Analysis
As mentioned above, you will want to include analysis for the 4 strands of MISL/SLIM to obtain the highest marks possible. The strongest responses, will have a common point throughout, as well as the natural subpoints which will be formed during the writing of the essay. This goes to follow that the structure will be something along the lines of:
- Brief introduction, including overarching point
- Paragraph about overall meaning of the poem
- Paragraph about imagery within the poem
- Paragraph about the structure and form of the poem
- Paragraph about the language used within the poem
- Concluding statement bringing all the points together, back to the overarching point and the question
While it is best not to use the same structure for each paragraph, as it risks becoming too rigid and systematic, it is important to include certain key items in each paragraph, for example:
- The poetic technique(s) used in the quote you have chosen
- The affect on the reader the quote has
- Link back to the question
- Use multiple layers of interpretation and word level analysis on the quote
- Justify how your analysis of the quote proves your point(s)
You do not have to write every paragraph in this structure (in fact, I would advise that you don't!), however these key points should be included if at all possible.
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(Original post by Elizabethh A)
I was really running out of time so I could only write 2 paragraphs for the 24 marker and about 1 for the 8 do you think it'll badly effect my grade?
I was really running out of time so I could only write 2 paragraphs for the 24 marker and about 1 for the 8 do you think it'll badly effect my grade?
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#20
This is definitely very helpful... (saying that as an English graduate and a current English teacher!)
For all, here's something else to get you started on close reading and writing poetry analysis: https://hyperbolit.com/2020/07/04/ho...you-may-think/
And other relevant resources here: https://hyperbolit.com/category/poetry/
I hope this helps!
For all, here's something else to get you started on close reading and writing poetry analysis: https://hyperbolit.com/2020/07/04/ho...you-may-think/
And other relevant resources here: https://hyperbolit.com/category/poetry/
I hope this helps!
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