pract crit poems

8/4/2019 Pract Crit Poems

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[aguideToansweringliteratureexamquestionsonunseenpoetry]


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CONTENTSPART1:INTRODUCTIONAcautionarynote/Whatwilltheexamquestionlooklike?/WhatdoIneedtoknowabouttheformatoftheexam?/WhatshouldIdofirst?/Themarkscheme/5thingsPART2:THEMEWhatisatheme?/Matchthethemeexercise/Amodelparagraph/WhatcanIdotorevise?PART3:LANGUAGEAglossaryoflanguageterminology/Acautionarynote/Keywordsinquotations/Websofconnotations/Amodelparagraph/WhatcanIdotorevise?PART4:STRUCTUREThegoldenrule/Aglossaryofstructure/amodelparagraph/WhatcanIdotorevise?PART5:TONEAdefinitionoftone/Whatarethekeyquestions?/2tonetasks/Amodelparagraph/WhatcanIdotorevise?PART6:THEPOEMS

DONTPANICDouglasAdamsTheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy


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Acautionarynote:

A POEM IS NOT A

RIDDLE, IT DOESNOT HAVE TO BE

SOLVED!

Allyouneedtodoisexplainyourreactionstoit

andexplainhowitcausedthosereactions.


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Whatwilltheexamquestionlooklike?

Keyfeatures:

Thequestionisalwaysthesame!

Itisagoodideatoannotate(writenotes)uponthe

poem.

Difficultvocabularyisoftenfootnotedatthebottom.

Rememberthetitleisakeypartofthepoem.


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Thequestionalwayslookslikethis:

SECTION C

Spend about 30 minutes on this section. Think carefully

about the poem before you write your answer.

17.Writeaboutthepoemanditseffectonyou.Youmaywishtoincludesomeorallofthesepoints:thepoemscontentwhatitisabout;theideasthepoetmayhavewantedustothinkabout;themoodoratmosphereofthepoem;howitiswrittenwordsorphrasesyoufindinteresting,thewaythepoemisstructuredororganised,andsoon;yourresponsetothepoem.[10]


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WhatdoIneedtoknowabouttheformatoftheexam?

Keyfactsabouttheexamquestion:

Itisthelastsectionoftheexam.

Youwillnothaveseenthepoembefore.

Thequestionisalwaysthesame;theonly

thingthatchangeseachyearisthepoem.

Youranswerwillbeanessayofaboutaside.

Itisworth10marks(theothersectionsare

outof30).

Youhave30minutestocompletethe

question.

510minutesshouldbespentreadingand

planning,1520writingand5checking.


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Rememberyouanswershouldbewrittenin

analyticalparagraphs.MakesureyoureviseSEAL.


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Whatdoesthemarkschemelooklike?E/D

Answers

will

be

dependent

on

paraphrase,

withawarenessofmoodand

atmosphere,andsomeawarenessofsubtext,

perhaps,atD.

CCandidateswillselectandhighlightdetailinordertoprobethetext.Therewillbesome

appreciationofsomestylisticfeaturesandaclear

personalresponse.

BCandidateswilldiscussthepoemthoroughly

and

with

some

confidence.

Some

stylistic

features

willbeaddressedwithsomeinsight.

AAnswersatthislevelwillbetypifiedbyoverview,sensitivityofresponse,andappreciationofa

rangeoffeaturesandtheircontributiontothe

overallmeaning.

A*Alltheabove,inacogentandconfident

response,withanalysisandappreciationof

stylisticfeatures.


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WhatshouldIdofirst?

READ THE

POEM

CAREFULLY(twice)


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5Things

Agoodtechniquetohelpyoutogetintothe

poemistothinkaboutwhatitisactuallyabout

beforeyoustart. Thiswillgiveyousomethingto

hangyouransweron. Thebestwaytodothisis

beforeyoudoanythingelseafterreadingthe

poemistowritedown5wordswhichsumitup.

They can be connected words

or separate ones.

They can be from the poem

or from your reaction.

Thenselectthemostimportantones.

Theimportantthingisthatthisgivesyouahandleonthepoemwhichyoucanbaseyouransweron.


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MatchtheThemeExerciseTrytomatchthelistofthemestothepoemsinthebackof

thisbooklet. Trytofindaquotationforeachpairwhich

backsupyourchoice.

Isolation

Loneliness

Naturestriumph

Hope

Change

NaturereflectingLove

Theme Poem Evidence(quotation)


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AmodelSEALparagraphfortheme

One of the poems key themes is

isolation. this is an alien city. The

Persona of the poem finds the city to

be alien this suggests he/she islonely and does not fit in. This is

strange because city suggests that

there are lots of people around. The

poet seems to be exploring the idea thatyou can be isolated and alone even in

a crowd.


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WhatcanIdotorevise?Writeaparagraphaboutthethemeofanyofthepoems.

WhatcanIdotopractiseevenmore?Writeaboutthethemesoftheotherpoems.


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PART3:LanguageAGlossaryoflanguageterminologyIrony

Expressing something by usingwords that mean the opposite(humorous or sarcastic).

AnalogyComparing the likeness of twothings.

PersonificationGiving an inanimate object human

characteristics.

SimileComparing two objects as they havesomething in common (e.g. as whiteas snow).

AlliterationRepetition of a consonant in aphrase (e.g. Harry had a hole in hishard hat).

Assonance Repetition of vowel sound (e.g. cold,told, bold).

Parataxis Use of very short, sharp sentences.

Metaphor Comparisons which don't use "like"or "as", but say that something "is"something else because it is similar.

Imagery

Using language to convey an

atmosphere.

OnomatopoeiaWhen spoken, a word which soundsthe same as its meaning (e.g. "hiss"- a snake).

HyperboleExaggerating something so muchthat it cannot be taken literally.


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Acautionarynote:

WHEN WE TALK

ABOUT COMMENTING

ON LANGUAGE WE

MEAN COMMENTINGON ITS EFFECT ON

THE READER.


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Websofconnotations.

Thisexampleshowsas

ofconnotations(rela

wordsandideas)forthe

wordicebergs.

et

ted

Drawtwomorewordwebsfortheseotherquotationsfrom

thepoems.


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AmodelSEALparagraph

Language is used in a dramatic

and unsettling way with the line:

At every desk a still child stared at

me

The phrase still child seems strangeas we would expect children in a school

to be full of life and energy. The fact

they are staring at the narrator as if

they are inspecting him/her makes

them sound quite hostile. They seem

to be very strange, ghostly and

unsettling children.


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WhatcanIdotorevise?[partI]:Learnthetechnicalvocabulary:Look/Cover/Write/Check.

YOUWILLGAINMOREMARKSIFYOUUSETHETECHNICALVOCABULARY!

WhatcanIdotorevise?[part2]Writeaparagraphforanyoftheother

quotationsdescribingtheeffectsofthe

languageonthereader. Compareittothe

modelparagraph.

WhatcanIdotopractiseevenfurther?Beingabletocommentonlanguageisthekey

skillinEnglish,youshouldpracticethisover

andoveragainwiththepoemsatthebackof

thisbooklet.


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PART4:Structure:TheGoldenrule:


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AglossaryofstructureterminologyEnjambment

Continuing a sentence beyond

the end of a line, couplet, orstanza.

AssonanceThe same / similar sound usedin syllables of words near eachother.

Ballad Ancient poem telling a story.

CoupletA pair of lines of verse usuallythe same length.

Octet / OctaveFirst 8 lines in a sonnet.

Pentameter A line of 10 syllables.

QuatrainA stanza / group of 4 lines

usually with alternate rhymes.Sonnet A 14-line poem.

StanzaFour or more rhymed linesrepeated as a unit.

Verse A group of lines in a poem.

Thekeyquestions:Isthestructureregularorirregular?Howdoesthisfitinwithwhatthepoemisabout?


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Amodelparagraphonstructure

The structure of the poem is regular.

There are six stanzas with each one

being made up of three lines. The first

and third line of each stanza rhyme.This regular structure suggests two

things. Firstly, it seems to reflect the

shopkeepers straight forward, black

and white view of the world. Secondly,it creates a sense of straight forward

honesty on the part of the narrator who

seems aware of the things that sadly

the shopkeeper has missed.


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WhatcanIdotorevise?[part1]

Learnthestructureterminology:Look/Cover/Write/Check.

WhatcanIdotorevise[part2]Practicewritingaparagraphonstructureforoneormoreofthepoemsinthebackofthisbooklet. Haveinmindthethemeofthepoemsbeforeyoudothisasthiswillgiveyoucluesastowhythepoethasstructuredthepoeminthisway.


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PART5:ToneAdefinitionoftone.

Whenwesaytonewemeantheemotionsexpressedandexploredinthepoem.

Whatarethekeyquestions?Whatisthetoneofthepoem?

Doesthetonechange?

Wheredoesitchange?

Whatdoesitchangeto?


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Task1:Identifythetoneofanyofthepoems.

Task2:identifyoneofthepoemswherethetonechanges


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Amodeltoneparagraph

The tone of the poem remainsconstant. It seems to be hopeful

Sometimes a man aims high and all

goes well.Although it is quiet sad as it

acknowledges bad things can happen

it seems positive that it does not have

to be that way. It is as if it is sayingwe should be positive despite the

possibility that things can, and often

do, go wrong. It could almost bedescribes as a poem about desperately

clinging on to hope.


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WhatcanIdotorevise?[part1]Writeyourowntoneparagraphaboutoneofthepoems.Thencompareittothemodelparagraph.

WhatcanIdotorevise?[part2]Tryandidentifythetone,andanychangesinit,oftheremainingpoems.


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PART6:


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