What Is the Goal of Reading a Poem
It is all very well knowing a lot almost famous poets and the canonical forms of poetry (similar poems past Keats or sonnets by Shakespeare) from dissimilar literary movements, but do you know how to look at and analyze poetry in your exam therefore gaining those tiptop marks for your literature criticism?
If you lot take washed your enquiry, then you lot will already know that both the standard GCSE and A Level exams in Uk ask students to compare two poems, usually of different genres. A comparison commodity or essay is very different from a directly verse analysis and so below we take listed some tips in this blog to aid you to successfully write a critical comparison of two (at times) selected poems depending on which grade for students you're enrolled on.
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Analysing Poems at School
Let's but get down to information technology, the real reason that you are reading this mail is non because of your inexplicable love of poesy or to learn how to write a poem yourself, it is considering you lot desire help and to find ways to tackle this next step in your education - the exam - to be in with a take a chance of a good grade in English Literature, right?
And so, this is why we have washed our best to set out some of the primal terms for any poetry students to accept in their repertoire.
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Verse Analysis Terms To Remember
Commencement of all, it's important to know that the below list is merely a snippet of the terms that you will come beyond during your poetry module and not every verse form volition include examples of each word listed. That said, these are some of the more mutual poetic techniques and ones that should feature wherever possible when you lot analyze your verse.
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of successive rhyming lines that are unremarkably the same length. A couplet can be described as airtight when the lines together form a full, grammatical sentence.
Free verse
Free poesy is all-time described every bit non-metrical and non-rhyming lines, whereby the poet does not adhere to whatsoever metrical rules in the composition.
Genre
The word genre is used to group together a class or category of texts that share similar traits, i.due east. in course, style of subject matter. Genre isn't a fixed definition as it can modify over fourth dimension and texts can interact with more than one genre at once.
Iamb
Iamb is a metrical pes fabricated up of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one.
Meter
Meter is the rhythm blueprint of stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry. The different meters in English poetry include accentual-syllabic, accentual, syllabic, and quantitative.
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Parody
A parody is a comic imitation of another piece of work or style.
Pastiche
A pastiche is a patchwork of lines from another writer destined to be like an imitation. Or, it can be an original composition that mimics some other'southward way or style in a spirit of respect as opposed to satire.
Rhyme
A rhyme is the repetition of syllables, ordinarily at the end of a word / line in a poem which are very obvious when read. The unlike types of rhymes include Eye rhyme, Terminate rhyme, Feminine rhyme, Identical rhyme, Internal rhyme, Masculine rhyme, Monorhyme, and Pararhyme.
Stanza
A stanza is a group of lines that are separated from others in a poem. In prose writing, y'all would describe this as a paragraph marker a shift in fourth dimension or mood.
Stress
Yous would use this word to depict a syllable uttered in a higher pitch, or with greater emphasis, than others.
Tone
Tone, or mood, refers to the poet'southward mental attitude and is interpreted by the reader. A combination of things tin can touch tone such as vocabulary, syntax, language, rhyme and metric regularity or irregularity.
Poesy
Poesy is a line of poetry, typically used to refer to poetry that possesses more formal qualities.
For more guidance on poesy terms outside of the classroom, why non read through a poesy magazine from time to fourth dimension to ameliorate your literary assay or get involved in national poetry calendar month?
How to Analyse A Poem
It is no good students simply researching all of the poets whose works they take studied on the curriculum (although it also won't do them whatever harm to know some historical context), they need to emotionally engage with the texts, the theme, and the meaning behind images drawn up.
Here is a list of things to include in your poesy analysis:
- Kickoff at the very beginning. It may seem obvious but brainstorm with the title. What does information technology hateful? Are there multiple interpretations? Is it a play on words? Also, it's good to state the obvious in your first line to show the examiner that you lot are confident going into this assay.
- Become to the bones. Look at the form and structure of the poem. Is information technology organised in stanzas? What length? Do the stanzas vary in length? Why might that be? Do the lines run on?
- Aye, it'due south English, but what kind?Consider what vocabulary is being used, and in what way... are any interesting or unusual words or phrases. Think about the manner of linguistic communication – are there any dialect words? Why has the poet chosen to apply them? Does the style always change? Who is the speaker? What is the significance of the speaker or who/what they are speaking of?
- Words and pictures. Does the poet employ any imagery? How do they practice this and what images do they conjure up? Are at that place whatsoever similes or metaphors? How about symbolism?
- Talk to yourself. Read the poem out loud – is there a definite rhythm or step to it? How does the rhyming scheme work? Does this emphasise the themes within the poem?
- Context is everything. Think about the background of the poet and the wider historical and cultural context of the verse form. Do sure themes run through the author's other poems?
The Structure Of A Comparative Essay
As you at present know, you will be asked to compare two or more than poems in your final GCSE level English language exam. You have a choice virtually which poem(s) you write almost, but in some instances, one or more of the texts is set out for yous. When information technology comes to the subject question, this will usually exist something quite broad as in the presentation of theme, characters or places.
Equally with any poetry essay, yous must make use of your knowledge of language, literary techniques and the result of form. The BBC Bitesize website offers a very useful slice of imagery (annotation the verse term here!), likening a comparative essay to a sandwich with multiple fillings.
They suggest that the first slice of bread should be your new point, with each filling that follows being an example of how one of the chosen poems illustrates the point you are making.
The other slice of bread which completes the sandwich is your concluding bespeak on the matter. By keeping this method in mind, information technology reminds you to go on on referring to all of the poems throughout your essay, rather than splitting your essay into two or three chunks each dedicated to a poem. Examiners like to call this process cross-referencing.
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Planning The Detail In Your Answer
The five criteria that y'all should go on in listen during the course of your exam paper and which the examiner volition desire to see you engage with are:
-ideas
-attitudes and tone
-structure and grade
-techniques used by the poets
Write downwards relevant quotes or notes, linking them where possible to ane of the five criteria in a higher place when you lot are planning.
Tips For A Good Essay
-Some pupils find it easier to write their introduction at the end of the article (ensuring they leave themselves enough time), every bit then they have a clear idea of the journeying on which their essay has gone. This isn't piece of cake if you are hand-writing your essay, as it is difficult to know how much space you will need.
-Don't write predominantly about one poem. Remember, for example, to consummate your points with the final piece of the sandwich, your concluding point that brings all of the preceding points made together.
-Quotations are important to support your ideas in your newspaper equally you express your views, just don't forget to focus on those all-important poetry techniques as they accept a place and meaning in their line, stanza or verse.
-Offer your ain personal response to the poems, explaining how they make you experience and what message y'all get from them. If you lot don't show a connection to the content or style whilst you analyse, and so in that location volition be a big piece missing for the examiner and he or she won't exist able to laurels you lot the best marking.
-If you don't understand a poem, then nevertheless exercise your all-time to find pregnant and to focus on the elements of poetry you do understand, like grammar and punctuation and examples of assonance, onomatopoeia, similes, etc... you can even so get some points in here.
We promise that the above has given you a lot to consider as you head into your side by side year of study, and that it gives yous some ideas on how to revise ahead of the English Literature poetry examination!
Source: https://www.superprof.co.uk/blog/how-to-analyse-a-poem/
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