I've spent about 5 hours putting stuff on the blog this week. I want to make sure that as many people as possible view it. Can you please pass the link on to anybody who is struggling? (particularly from our class)
Thanks, and good luck.
NW
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Post questions here by 7!
As always, if anyone has been on this blog and hasn't got the answers they're looking for, quickly post a question under any of the posts and I will answer it by 8PM tonight.
SECTION B - THE UNSEEN POEM
I will try and put everything you need to answer Section B into 1 post so that you don't have loads to read.
Section B is worth less marks than section A. You should only spend about 30 minutes on it.
Realistically, you will only be able to plan and write about 5/6 paragraphs.
The question(s) will be about a poem which you will not have seen or read before. That is the whole point.
If the question is in multiple parts, have a look how much each part is worth. Make sure you split up your time in accordance with how many marks each question is worth. More marks = more time.
The question will ask you something like,
"What do you learn from the poem about...."
"How does the poet present his ideas about...."
The important part of the question is the bit at the end, because this will refer to the poem in particular.
So then, with that in mind, all you have to do is go through the poem with your highlighter and look out for all the following things:
Structure
What is the structure of the poem like? Does this link to the question?
*If the structure or rhyme scheme is regular or constant, it could be a clue that the poet thinks whatever is going on in the poem is quite normal, happy, regular, constant etc.
*If the structure is unpredictable, or there is no real rhyme scheme, then it is usually a clue that the poet wants you to look more closely at what is going on in the poem. Usually there is something unusual or untidy going on in the poem.
*Has the poet repeated any important words?
*Has the poet used enjambment?
*Look at the words which are first and last in each stanza/line. Are these important? Have they been placed there for a reason?
Language
What sort of groups of words (lexical field) has the poet used? Does this link to the question?
*For example, has the poet used lots of words about a particular subject like death/money/love/work/emotions/religion etc? Highlight them, and link them all together.
Which words has the poet used that really stand out?
*Has the poet used any large/unusual/interesting words that link to the question? Highlught them and point them out.
Imagery
Has the poet used any SIMILES, METAPHORS, PERSONIFICATIONS, ALLITERATION or ONOMATOPOEIA which remind you of the question?
Then, once you have found yourself about 5-6 different points from the poem, start turning these points into PEE paragraphs using the normal method:
POINT - The first thing the poet has done which links to the question is....
EVIDENCE - We can see this where it says..." QUOTE " (Try to use more than one quote if possible)
EXPLAIN - This links to the question because...
Write about 6 of these and you're done!
Section B is worth less marks than section A. You should only spend about 30 minutes on it.
Realistically, you will only be able to plan and write about 5/6 paragraphs.
The question(s) will be about a poem which you will not have seen or read before. That is the whole point.
If the question is in multiple parts, have a look how much each part is worth. Make sure you split up your time in accordance with how many marks each question is worth. More marks = more time.
The question will ask you something like,
"What do you learn from the poem about...."
"How does the poet present his ideas about...."
The important part of the question is the bit at the end, because this will refer to the poem in particular.
So then, with that in mind, all you have to do is go through the poem with your highlighter and look out for all the following things:
Structure
What is the structure of the poem like? Does this link to the question?
*If the structure or rhyme scheme is regular or constant, it could be a clue that the poet thinks whatever is going on in the poem is quite normal, happy, regular, constant etc.
*If the structure is unpredictable, or there is no real rhyme scheme, then it is usually a clue that the poet wants you to look more closely at what is going on in the poem. Usually there is something unusual or untidy going on in the poem.
*Has the poet repeated any important words?
*Has the poet used enjambment?
*Look at the words which are first and last in each stanza/line. Are these important? Have they been placed there for a reason?
Language
What sort of groups of words (lexical field) has the poet used? Does this link to the question?
*For example, has the poet used lots of words about a particular subject like death/money/love/work/emotions/religion etc? Highlight them, and link them all together.
Which words has the poet used that really stand out?
*Has the poet used any large/unusual/interesting words that link to the question? Highlught them and point them out.
Imagery
Has the poet used any SIMILES, METAPHORS, PERSONIFICATIONS, ALLITERATION or ONOMATOPOEIA which remind you of the question?
Then, once you have found yourself about 5-6 different points from the poem, start turning these points into PEE paragraphs using the normal method:
POINT - The first thing the poet has done which links to the question is....
EVIDENCE - We can see this where it says..." QUOTE " (Try to use more than one quote if possible)
EXPLAIN - This links to the question because...
Write about 6 of these and you're done!
'Hour' - Carol Ann Duffy
Context
Carol Ann Duffy is the first female Poet Laureate (2009), and probably the best known female poet working in Britain today. She was born in 1955 in Glasgow. Duffy is well known for poems that give a voice to the dispossessed (people excluded from society); she encourages the reader to put themselves in the shoes of people they might normally dismiss.Her poetry often engages with the grittier and more disturbing side of life, using black humour like a weapon to make social and political points. Her place on the GCSE syllabus caused controversy in 2008, when a complaint was made about the poem Education for Leisure; she responded with typical wit and intelligence with the poem Mrs Schofield’s GCSE.
Hour was published in the collection Rapture (2005) which explores the highs and lows of a romantic relationship.
Subject
Hour is about the feelings that arise from spending time with a loved one. The poem suggests that to be with a loved one, even for just an hour, is precious and valuable. It also presents the traditional idea of time as an obstacle to lovers.Structure and language
Structure
Hour follows the structure of a Shakespearean sonnet: it has fourteen lines and a predictable rhyme scheme (a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g). Sonnets often use a final rhyming couplet to offer a 'turn' in the meaning; however, Duffy only offers a partial turn, which is confirmation of the idea that love will always triumph by finding unlikely sources of value.Language
Hour has many references to money and riches, contrasting the concept of material wealth and possessions against love and time spent with a loved one.Line three puns on the word
"spend", and is typical of the way in which the poem investigates the themes of love and money:
We find an hour together, spend it not on flowersOr wine, but the whole of the summer sky and a grass ditch.
The traditional territory of lovers ("Flowers"and
"wine") is replaced by alternatives: for example,
"a grass ditch"is an improbable romantic location. There is simplicity and perfection to
"the whole of the summer sky", an image rich in meaning, a visual feast for a loving couple lying down together and looking up. They enjoy the
"Midas light". (Midas was the mythical king whose touch turned things to gold.)
As the poem's title suggests, time is an important consideration for the lovers.
"For thousands of seconds we kiss"is a striking phrase, offering the idea of excess -
"thousands"- with the limitation of available time, measured in seconds. This precise measurement indicates how precious time is to the speaker, a
"treasure"to be carefully counted.
The pleasure and riches that the couple gather in an hour allow them to feel as if they are frozen in time:
"Time slows, for here/we are millionaires, backhanding the night". The hour spent together in the golden light gives them a sense of power, making them feel as if they can bribe the darkness to hold back, giving the lovers immense joy and wealth.
There is a contrast between images traditionally seen as romantic (or associated with wealth) and the ordinary:
"Flowers"and
"grass ditch"compare to a
"jewel"and
"cuckoo spit"(insect eggs left on long grass);
"sunlight"contrasts with a
"chandelier";
"gold"contrasts with
"straw". These contrasts emphasise the romance of the lovers' time together. Traditional ideas are shown to be unimportant compared to the personal experience of the two characters.
Hour also makes frequent references to images of light in contrast to the night and the darkness of inevitable separation. These include:
"Bright",
"summer sky",
"Midas light",
"shining hour",
"candle",
"chandelier or spotlight". Duffy uses light to suggest a positive, warm, optimistic liaison. Rather than dwelling on the darkness of separation the lovers make the most of the time they have together.
In the final stanza there is a single-word sentence
"Now.". It is simple, like the lovers' situation, and yet has a strong sense of being complete; nothing more is needed. It celebrates the moment rather than dwelling on the future or the past.
'Sister Maude' - Christina Rossetti
Context
Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) is remembered as one of the Pre-Raphaelites, a group of 19th century artists and writers who took inspiration from works of art produced in the Middle Ages. Sister Maude draws on the traditional folk tale of two sisters feuding over a lover. The Victorians were keen on folk traditions, and lots of poetry from the period makes use of traditional source material.Sister Maude describes the death of a loved one caused by the actions of a jealous sister. The poem is ambiguous but hints strongly that jealousy and betrayal led to the death of a sister's lover. The poem is written from the point of view of the betrayed sister, left alone without her loved one, who was coveted by Maude. The speaker believes that even if she hadn't been born her dead lover would
"never have looked at"Maude, and perhaps this provided motivation for Maude to destroy the lovers' relationship.
Structure and language
Structure
Each stanza contains even lines that rhyme; this regular pattern helps to reinforce the traditional source for the poem because older poetry is often characterised by the use of strict structural devices like rhyme, rhythm and even line and stanza lengths.Of the five stanzas in the poem, four have four lines. The fifth stanza offers an extra two lines in which there is a turn, after which the mood of the poem subtly alters.
Language
The third line makes use of a break in the centre (a technique called 'caesura') to reflect the speaker's outrage and anger that
"Maude, my sister Maude"could have deliberately caused such a tragedy. The repetition of
"Maude"also adds to the strength of the narrator's feelings.
There are frequent religious references in the poem, reflecting conventions within society at the time in which the poem was written, as well as the seriousness of the events described. Maude has committed such a terrible deed that, rather than going to heaven, her sister tells her,
"Bide you with death and sin". The narrator feels that Maude deserves the eternal punishment of hell.
The regular rhythm of the poem is broken by a shorter line in line 16, highlighting Maude's destiny:
My father may sleep in Paradise,My mother at Heaven-gate;But sister Maude shall get no sleepEither early or late.
Alliteration is used in the poem to communicate the feelings of the speaker. In the second stanza she describes the body of her dead lover using several repetitions of the letter 'c', the hard sound echoing her outburst. In the final two lines there is alliteration of 's' sounds, mimicking the hissing satisfaction that the speaker feels at the prospect of her sister going to hell.
William Shakespeare: Sonnet 116
Context
As well as writing plays, William Shakespeare is also remembered for his poetry, especially sonnets. This poem is part of Shakespeare's famous collection of poems (a sonnet sequence), consisting of 154 poems. They are about topics such as love and time. The structure of the poems has become the popular format for the sonnet, also called the Shakespearean sonnet.This poem is about love, not between a speaker and his lover, but as a concept or idea. The poem explores what is meant by love, and proposes that, if it is true, love is one of life's constants which does not change with time or circumstance.
Structure and language
Structure
The Shakespearean sonnet has 14 lines divided into three stanzas of four lines each and a final couplet. The rhyme scheme can be described as a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g. This predictability and use of a regular pattern is frequently found in older poetry as writers tended to stick to the restrictions of a set format. This poem follows the conventional structure and includes the usual 'turn' at the end - a pair of lines (or couplet) that either shifts the mood or meaning of the poem, or asserts some sort of revelation.Language
Sonnet 116 uses repeated pairs of words:"love is not love",
"alters when it alteration finds"and
"remover to remove"are examples from the first three lines. This mirroring of words is suggestive of a loving couple. As well as pairs of words, there are some opposites and negatives used to stress the qualities of love by saying what it is not: true love can observe storms (
"tempests") and not be affected;
"Love's not Time's fool".
Shakespeare uses metaphors based on natural elements: love
"looks on tempests and is never shaken"and
"is the star to every wand'ring bark". So love is presented as an essential part of our physical world; it's a fixed point of light in the sky - a
"star"- guiding a boat (
"wand'ring bark") lost at sea.
The opening lines of the poem echo the conventional Christian marriage service and they stress the idea that love (
"the marriage of true minds") should be without
"impediments"or barriers and obstacles. These lines can also be interpreted as meaning that love, if it is true, should be without fault.
"unshaken"by storms,
"Love alters not"- it is a constant, an
"ever-fixed mark", just as a
"star"is reliably found in the night sky.
As well as not changing appearance or position, love
"bears it out even to the edge of doom". Shakespeare is using language associated with extremes to show the power of love, confirming love as a positive force that triumphs over the prospect of
"doom".
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