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Edexcel English Literature IGCSE Tuesday 22nd of May 2018

Hi!

As many of you know, our English Literature exam is soon approaching. I just have a few questions for you guys, such as, what are your predictions for the poetry anthology? Or, what are good combinations of poems from the anthology and why?

I'd appreciate your help, and I'm sure many others will too! :smile:

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Reply 1
Sorry, I made an error, wrong exam :smile:
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by nakash
Hey, I was glad to see someone posting about the same exam I'm about to do:smile:
I personally think that Hurricane Hits England and Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan would be a good combo, bearing in mind that Presents from My Aunts is quite a unique poem in the anthology. This is because they both feel a disconnection to their cultures and their backgrounds (for example: "it took a Hurricane to bring her closer" and "I was there - of no fixed nationality":wink:
Then of course, London and Composed Upon Westminster Bridge would be a really great comparison. Not just because they're both about London but also about the way the different poets view industrialisation and change (for example, "the river glideth at his own sweet will" and "the chartr'd Thames":wink:
However I also think Nothing's Changed and London would be a good combination because they both portray disgust at the world around them - but you could also compare them saying that one is angry about too much change and one is angry about the continuity
I think that Adlestrop and Absence could be potentially a good combination as they both appear to be being haunted by the things they long for and a haunting simplicity in their surroundings (for example, the descriptions of birds haunting them in both)
I Started Early - Took My Dog is a very interesting one, but as it is about drowning in a desire and on the theme of love and being consumed by one's feelings I thought maybe Absence?
Don't even get me started on Postcard from a Travel Snob...I honestly don't know what I'd do if that turned up but potentially I'd put it with Stewart Island as it's sort of the portrayed image of an environment versus the reality - the Travel snob is actually quite lonely but is presenting it as calm and in Stewart Island "but look at all this beauty" when actually the poet portrays it as dull

As you may have guessed, I do time and place anthology but I hoped this helped someone:smile: feel free to discuss and add any points xxx



Hi! Thank you for all these points but I'm afraid we might be doing different exams as I don't know any of these poems on here? What exam will you be taking? What exam board?

I'm so sorry you spent so long typing this out, but hey, it might've been some quick revision! :wink:
Reply 3
I'm doing Edexcel so I just assumed I did the same one but it is IGCSE so I guess that's probably why? Or you're just doing a different anthology but oh well haha, I'll see if I can paste this into another forum :smile:
Original post by nakash
I'm doing Edexcel so I just assumed I did the same one but it is IGCSE so I guess that's probably why? Or you're just doing a different anthology but oh well haha, I'll see if I can paste this into another forum :smile:


I am doing IGCSE as well, I am doing the exam with the transferred coursework. My exam on Tuesday is just the Poetry (Unseen and Anthology - which includes Hide and Seek, Prayer Before Birth, Search for My Tongue, etc.) and then the other section within the same paper is writing about a book we read, which for me was Of Mice and Men.

Anyways, thank you for your help!
Reply 5
Yeah we are doing totally different things but good luck for Tuesday!
Do you have any exams which include:

- Of Mice and Men

- Hide and Seek
- La Belle Dame Sans Merci
- Sonnet 116
- If --
- Prayer Before Birth
- Poem at Thirty-Nine
- Search for My Tongue
- Piano
- Blessing
- My Last Duchess
- The Tyger
- War Photographer
- Half-Past Two
- Half-Caste
- Do not go gentle into that goodnight
- Remember
Finally a thread with this exam! I was beginning to think there was no one else doing it!

I don't have any predictions except that it most likely won't be the poem in the specification material (sad as that's one of my strong poems)

For combinations I guess you're referring to the comparison question. Here are a few that I have:

Hide and Seek links with War photographer as they share the theme of loss of innocence, seeing the reality of the world, and abandonment. It also links with Half past two with the theme of abandonment and being found.

Piano links with war photographer as they both have stimulus's that evoke memories (music/photos) It also links with Poem at 39 in terms of an adult looking back at their childhood and there's a contrast in the tone of how they look back at their relationships.

Half Past Two links with hide and seek (left alone), and with Prayer Before Birth as there is a contrast in terms of the innocence the child has, (In PBB the child knows the world is filled with evil but it HPT the child only begins to see) It also links with Blessing in how they are both focused on the childrens world.

Search for my tongue links with poem at 39 in the relationship with parent figures (The tongue could represent her connecion with her parents-there's tension but they're always together)

Blessing links with IF as they both make you think about things (poverty/what makes a man) They also inspire and advice/persuade. It also links to the tyger according to my teacher because they both have religious aspects.

Sonnet 116 links with my last duchess in terms of True love VS marriage for power and possesion. Also links with La belle in terms of true love VS infatuation.

Prayer Before Birth links with blessing as they're both about children and have religious aspects. Links with if as they both have world issues.

IF links with blessing, (mentioned above) and with prayer before birth as they both talk about issues in the world (PBB prays to have qualities to avoid them while IF is about if you have the qualities you will be great etc) Links with Sonnet 116 as they both give advice.

Poem at 39 links with Piano (Above) and you could contrast it with other poems that have relationships that aren't based on parent-child but love, i suppose...

The Tyger... I have no idea.... If this comes up then I'm dead.

War Photographer (above)

Do not go gentle into that goodnight. As its above father-son could be contrasted with poem at 39, piano. Also the imperative language could be linked with IF or prayer before birth.

Half caste could be linked with search for my tongue.

Remember with other relationship poems (piano, do not go gentle)

My Last Duchess (Above)

La Belle Dame (Above)

Hope that's useful. Let me know any of your ideas/links for the poems.

What texts are you doing?
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by KawaiiArtist
Finally a thread with this exam! I was beginning to think there was no one else doing it!

I don't have any predictions except that it most likely won't be the poem in the specification material (sad as that's one of my strong poems)

For combinations I guess you're referring to the comparison question. Here are a few that I have:

Hide and Seek links with War photographer as they share the theme of loss of innocence, seeing the reality of the world, and abandonment. It also links with Half past two with the theme of abandonment and being found.

Piano links with war photographer as they both have stimulus's that evoke memories (music/photos) It also links with Poem at 39 in terms of an adult looking back at their childhood and there's a contrast in the tone of how they look back at their relationships.

Half Past Two links with hide and seek (left alone), and with Prayer Before Birth as there is a contrast in terms of the innocence the child has, (In PBB the child knows the world is filled with evil but it HPT the child only begins to see) It also links with Blessing in how they are both focused on the childrens world.

Search for my tongue links with poem at 39 in the relationship with parent figures (The tongue could represent her connecion with her parents-there's tension but they're always together)

Blessing links with IF as they both make you think about things (poverty/what makes a man) They also inspire and advice/persuade. It also links to the tyger according to my teacher because they both have religious aspects.

Sonnet 116 links with my last duchess in terms of True love VS marriage for power and possesion. Also links with La belle in terms of true love VS infatuation.

Prayer Before Birth links with blessing as they're both about children and have religious aspects. Links with if as they both have world issues.

IF links with blessing, (mentioned above) and with prayer before birth as they both talk about issues in the world (PBB prays to have qualities to avoid them while IF is about if you have the qualities you will be great etc) Links with Sonnet 116 as they both give advice.

Poem at 39 links with Piano (Above) and you could contrast it with other poems that have relationships that aren't based on parent-child but love, i suppose...

The Tyger... I have no idea.... If this comes up then I'm dead.

War Photographer (above)

Do not go gentle into that goodnight. As its above father-son could be contrasted with poem at 39, piano. Also the imperative language could be linked with IF or prayer before birth.

Half caste could be linked with search for my tongue.

Remember with other relationship poems (piano, do not go gentle)

My Last Duchess (Above)

La Belle Dame (Above)

Hope that's useful. Let me know any of your ideas/links for the poems.

What texts are you doing?


Hey hey!

You are a lifesaver! These combinations are great, and you provide lots of good detail.

As far as other ideas, I didn't really have any because I have barely given thought to English since I had my Biology and Chemistry exams last week, and they needed so much revision...

Regarding the text, I am doing "Of Mice and Men" but with this I feel more prepared, rather than the poems... but overall I am not where I need to be for this exam on Tuesday. The worst part is that I have my 3 hour Geography IGCSE that same day! :frown: Anyways, I also did my coursework on "Macbeth" and "A View From the Bridge" which I got a 28/30 and a 29/30 on...

If you want to discuss these poems, feel free to, I'd like to get another point of view on things as well because I always find that helpful with most situations. :smile:
Aw I'm doing The Joy Luck Club for the text, and then An Inspector Calls and Great Expectations -which I've barely revised for- in Paper 2 on the same day as Sociology. I'm not doing course work but congracts on your marks, that's great, and I hope your other exams went well!

Yeah it'll be great to discuss the poems. Do you have any strong/weak ones in particular?
Original post by KawaiiArtist
Aw I'm doing The Joy Luck Club for the text, and then An Inspector Calls and Great Expectations -which I've barely revised for- in Paper 2 on the same day as Sociology. I'm not doing course work but congracts on your marks, that's great, and I hope your other exams went well!

Yeah it'll be great to discuss the poems. Do you have any strong/weak ones in particular?


For me, I think the easiest ones to compare are the poems centered around love (eg. Sonnet 116, LBDSM, and My Last Duchess), as they have the most obvious links. Piano and War Photographer or Piano and Remember are nice ones to compare as well.

As @KawaiiArtist said previously, if Tyger comes up, I'm screwed. However, I think it has so few links to other poems that they can't possibly put it in.

Any bets on what will come up anyone doing To Kill a Mockingbird?
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Scott943
For me, I think the easiest ones to compare are the poems centered around love (eg. Sonnet 116, LBDSM, and My Last Duchess), as they have the most obvious links. Piano and War Photographer or Piano and Remember are nice ones to compare as well.

As @KawaiiArtist said previously, if Tyger comes up, I'm screwed. However, I think it has so few links to other poems that they can't possibly put it in.

Any bets on what will come up anyone doing To Kill a Mockingbird?


Let's hope you're right about Tyger!

@Scott943 are you doing Paper 1 and 2, or the coursework?

How is everyone feeling about the unseen poetry?
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by KawaiiArtist
Let's hope you're right about Tyger!

@Scott943 are you doing Paper 1 and 2, or the coursework?

How is everyone feeling about the unseen poetry?


I'm lucky - doing the coursework route myself, so only need to revise the poems and TKAM.

I think the unseen poetry really depends on what poem they put in. The poem on the sample paper they gave us, on 'The Geography Teacher', was really lacking in language, so it looked pretty difficult to answer. Fingers crossed they are kind in the first ever paper :smile:
:facepalm:Just realised now that paper 2 is open book...
I hate the poem hide and seek and prayer before birth...... hopefully they don’t come up tomorrow
Original post by camilaguerrero
Hey hey!

You are a lifesaver! These combinations are great, and you provide lots of good detail.

As far as other ideas, I didn't really have any because I have barely given thought to English since I had my Biology and Chemistry exams last week, and they needed so much revision...

Regarding the text, I am doing "Of Mice and Men" but with this I feel more prepared, rather than the poems... but overall I am not where I need to be for this exam on Tuesday. The worst part is that I have my 3 hour Geography IGCSE that same day! :frown: Anyways, I also did my coursework on "Macbeth" and "A View From the Bridge" which I got a 28/30 and a 29/30 on...

If you want to discuss these poems, feel free to, I'd like to get another point of view on things as well because I always find that helpful with most situations. :smile:

i am also doing of mice and men and i think it could be any between curley, crooks, slim or george. do you ahve any tips for a view from the bridge? i am also doing geography tomorrow and will be a long so good luck
Original post by Supremecoolness
I hate the poem hide and seek and prayer before birth...... hopefully they don’t come up tomorrow


this exam is on friday
Original post by cmoyanos
this exam is on friday


It's the 22nd (Tomrrow)
Original post by KawaiiArtist
It's the 22nd (Tomrrow)


Paper 1 is the 22nd which is tomorrow but paper 2 which is where the poems are in is on the 25 which is on friday
Original post by cmoyanos
Paper 1 is the 22nd which is tomorrow but paper 2 which is where the poems are in is on the 25 which is on friday


Are you sure you're doing IGCSE Edexel?

Paper 1 tomorrow is unseen poetry, anthology poetry and modern prose...

Paper 2 on Friday is Modern Drama and Literary Heritage Texts...

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