Post on 14-May-2015
UNSEEN POETRY
A664 – 45 minutes to write about an unseen poem (one
question, no choice)
Lesson 1
PRACTICE FOR THE EXAM A N N O T A T E A S M A N Y F E A T U R E S O F S . M . I . L . E . I N T H I S P O E M A S
Y O U C A N I N 1 0 M I N U T E S
About His Person (page 105)
Five pounds fifty in change, exactly,
a library card on its date of expiry.
A postcard stamped,
unwritten, but franked,
a pocket size diary slashed with a pencil
from March twenty-fourth to the first of April.
A brace of keys for a mortise lock,
an analogue watch, self winding, stopped.
A final demand
in his own hand,
a rolled up note of explanation
planted there like a spray carnation
but beheaded, in his fist.
A shopping list.
A giveaway photograph stashed in his wallet,
a keepsake banked in the heart of a locket.
No gold or silver,
but crowning one finger
a ring of white unweathered skin.
That was everything.
Simon Armitage
What did you find?
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
OVER THE NEXT TWO LESSONS WE WILL THINK AB OUT:
How do we evaluate the tone of a poem? (AO1)
What does an A look like in the Contemporary Poetry
exam? (AO1 and 2)
UNSEEN POETRYP L A N
Read the question, highlighting the key words. Read the poem with the
question in mind.
Annotate the poem looking for features of SMILE that relate to the
question you are being asked to answer.
Sequence these into clear points, cluster together any points that might
be related and can therefore be written about in the same PEARL
paragraph.
If there are bulletpoints to help you structure a response, make sure you
have selected a PEARL for each. If there are no bulletpoints, use the
SMILE structure to help you organise your response.
You have 10 minutes at the most to do this
UNSEEN POETRYR E S P O N D
Write a response which begins with an outline of the poem’s
meaning, tone and how the poet wants the reader to feel
about their subject. You should include the key words from the
question.
Next come your PEARL paragraphs addressing either the
bulletpoints or SMILE. Remember the key words from the
question should feature in your point and in your EAR.
Conclude with a personal response (remember to be positive –
there are no marks for ‘I hated this poem, it was rubbish!’) and
bring everything back to the key words in the question.
H O W D O W E E VA L U AT E T H E T O N E O F A P O E M ? ( A O 1 )
In your introduction it is a good idea to summarise the poem’s
meaning, tone and the response you think the poet wanted from
the reader.
The tone and reader response are created by the poem overall – the
events and their order, the narrative voice, the rhythm and rhyme,
the use of imagery, the word choices, the layout on the page...
It is like looking at a picture and being able to sense the tone and
mood an artist wanted to create. Or hearing a piece of music and
having it put you in a particular mood.
H O W D O W E E VA L U AT E T H E T O N E O F A P O E M ? ( A O 1 )
Listen to the songs. How does each make you feel?
This is probably the mood and tone the artist was going
for when they composed the song. They wanted to
make the reader feel a particular way about an idea or
issue. They also wanted to portray their own feelings.
TEACHER: CHOOSE SOME SONGS WITH CLEAR TONE
AND MOOD
e.g. Ride of the Valkyires, Swan Lake, The Lazy
song Bruno Mars, So what Pink... (all available
on youtube – but just listen don’t watch)
H O W D O W E E VA LU AT E T H E T O N E O F A P O E M ? ( A O 1 )
Take a look at the images that follow. For each
write down the tone/mood in the image and how
you think the artist wanted the person looking
at it to feel. What emotion do they evoke in
you?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
HOW DO WE EVALUATE THE TONE OF A POEM? (AO1)
Poetry is just like the songs or painting, it is a way of
communicating an idea and feeling.
Now take a look at these extracts of poetry :
What is the tone/mood of each extract?
How do you think the poet wanted the person reading
it to feel?
What emotion do they evoke in you?
How does the poet feel about the subject of their
poem?
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-
caste
Brash with glass,
Name flaring like a flag,
It squats
In the grass and weeds,
Incipent Port Jackson trees:
New, up-market, haute cuisine,
Guard at the gatepost,
Whites only inn.
It grows back, a stump of a shoot
Grows longer, grows moist, grows strong
veins,
It ties the other tongue in knots,
The bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth,
It pushes the other tongue aside.
Every time I think I’ve forgotten,
I think I’ve lost the mother tongue,
It blossoms out of my mouth.
I’m not playing ball boy any longer
Batman, now I’ve doffed that off-the-
shoulder
Sherwood-forest-green and scarlet number
For a pair of jeans and crew-neck jumper;
Now I’m taller; harder; stronger; older.
Sometimes, the sudden rush
Of fortune. The municipal pipe bursts,
Silver crashes to the ground
And the flow has found
A roar of tongues.
This is the time and place to be alive:
When the daily furniture of our lives
Stirs, when the improbable arrives.
H O W D O W E E VA L U AT E T H E T O N E O F A P O E M ? ( A O 1 )
In your introduction it is a good idea to summarise the
poem’s meaning, tone and the response you think the
poet wanted from the reader.
Here is an example introduction to the question: how does
the poet show their opinions strongly?:
In Agard’s Poem he expresses his reaction towards the use of
the word ‘half-caste’ to describe people of mixed race. His
response is angry, almost confrontational, and direct in
addressing the reader. He demands the reader think about
the use of the word and, by the end of the poem, he makes us
feel as strongly about it’s use as he does.
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-
caste
Your turn – choose any other extract and write the introduction to the
same question.
HOW DO WE EVALUATE THE TONE OF A POEM? (AO1)
What are we looking for/at?
Morning
And island man wakes up
To the sound of blue surf in his head
The steady breaking and wombing
Wild seabirds
And fishermen pushing out to sea
The sun surfacing defiantly
From the east
Of his small emerald island
He always comes back
H O W D O W E E V A L U A T E T H E T O N E O F A P O E M ? ( A O 1 )S O M E T I M E S Y O U M I G H T R E A D A P O E M W H E R E T H E T O N E
C H A N G E S PA R T W A Y T H R O U G H
Groggily groggily
Comes back to sands
Of a grey metallic soar
To surge of wheels
To dull North Circular roar
Muffling muffling
His crumpled pillow waves
Island man heaves himself
Another London day
What different tones and
moods can you
see in this poem?
Lesson 2
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
OVER THE TWO LESSONS WE HAVE AND WILL BE THINKING AB OUT:
How do we evaluate the tone of a poem? (AO1)
What does an A look like in the Contemporary Poetry
exam? (AO1 and 2)
STARTER:
Look at the poem: From the Motorway and
the question . You have 10 minutes to
annotate the features of S.M.I.L.E. that you
think would help you answer this question.
Teacher: Feedback from starter onto board.
UNSEEN POETRYP L A N
Read the question, highlighting the key words. Read the poem with the
question in mind.
Annotate the poem looking for features of SMILE that relate to the
question you are being asked to answer.
Sequence these into clear points, cluster together any points that might
be related and can therefore be written about in the same PEARL
paragraph.
If there are bulletpoints to help you structure a response, make sure you
have selected a PEARL for each. If there are no bulletpoints, use the
SMILE structure to help you organise your response.
You have 10 minutes at the most to do this
WHAT DOES AN A LOOK L IKE IN THE CONTEMPORARY POETRY EXAM? (AO1
AND 2 )
How does the poet make From the Motorway such a powerful attack
on motorways?
You should consider:
• how the poet describes the scenery and destinations on motorways
• how the poet describes the experience of travelling on motorways
• what the travellers on motorways are missing
• the tone of voice in the poem
• the language the poet uses
• how the poem is structured
• anything else that you think important.
L & I
M
L
S
E
Everywhere up and down the island
Britain is mending her desert:
marvellous we exclaim as we fly on it,
tying the country in a parcel.
London to Edinburgh, Birmingham to Cardiff. 5
No time to examine the contents,
thank you, but consider the bliss of
sitting absolutely numbed to your
nulled mind, music when you want it,
while identical miles thunder under
you, 10
the same spot coming and going
seventy, eighty times a minute,
FROM THE MOTORWAY A N N E S T E V E N S O N
defending a shamelessly naked
25
(rarely a stitch of work on her)
captive free lane,
which the inchlings inch on
without bite or sup, at most
a hard shoulder to creep on, 30
while there, on all sides,
lie your unwrapped destinations,
lanes trickling off into childhood
or anonymity, apple-scented
villages
asleep in their promise of being
35
nowhere anyone would like to
get to.
till you’re there, wherever there
is, ready to be someone in
Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, 15
they’re all the same to the road,
which loves itself, which
nonetheless
here and there hands you trailing
necklaces of fumes in which to be
one squeezed breather among 20
rich and ragged, sprinter and
staggerer,
a status parade for Major
Roadworks
toiling in his red-trimmed
triangle,
then a regiment of wounded
orange witches
WHAT DOES AN A LOOK L IKE IN THE CONTEMPORARY POETRY EXAM? (AO1
AND 2 )
So you’ve gathered your evidence to answer this question. Now,
how will you structure your response? What will your PEARLs be?
PEARLs:
1.
2.
3.
Number your evidence/annotations to show which PEARL it
belongs with. Will you cover all elements of the question/SMILE
with this plan?
UNSEEN POETRYR E S P O N D
Write a response which begins with an outline of the poem’s
meaning, tone and how the poet wants the reader to feel
about their subject. You should include the key words from the
question.
Next come your PEARL paragraphs addressing either the
bulletpoints or SMILE. Remember the key words from the
question should feature in your point and in your EAR.
Conclude with a personal response (remember to be positive –
there are no marks for ‘I hated this poem, it was rubbish!’) and
bring everything back to the key words in the question.
WHAT DOES AN A LOOK L IKE IN THE CONTEMPORARY POETRY EXAM? (AO1
AND 2 )
What follows is a response to this
question, which was the June 2011
exam question. Using the mark scheme,
what mark and band would you give it?
Band Mark
AO1 AO2 QWC
1 1615
•sophisticated critical perception in response to and interpretation of text cogent and precise evaluation of well-selected detail from the text
•sensitive understanding of the significance and effects of writers’ choices of language, structure and form
•text is legible •spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate and assured •meaning is very clearly communicated
2 1413
•critical engagement and insight in response to and interpretation of text(s) •evaluation of well-selected reference to detail of text(s)
•critical insight into the significance and effects of writers’ choices of language, structure and form
•text is legible •spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate •meaning is very clearly communicated
3 1211
•clear, sustained responses to the text(s) •support from careful and relevant reference to detail of the text(s)
•clear understanding of some of the effects of writers’ choices of language, structure and form
•text is legible •spelling, punctuation and grammar are mainly accurate •meaning is clearly communicated
4 109
•reasonably developed personal response to the text(s) •use of appropriate support from detail of the text(s)
•overall understanding that writers’ choices of language, structure and form contribute to meaning/effect
•text is legible •some errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar •meaning is clearly communicated for most of the answer
5 87
•reasonably organised response to text(s) •use of some relevant support from the text(s)
•understanding of some features of language, structure and/or form
•text is mostly legible •frequent errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar •communication of meaning is sometimes hindered
Contemporary Poetry A664
In the poem ‘’From the Motorway’ the motorway is portrayed as a mind-numbingly dull experience which saps precious moments away from unwitting drivers.
The poet describes the motorway as an endless cycle of reoccurring images that never cease to bore drivers as they witness the same road in the same constant stripe: “while identical miles thunder under you”. The writer uses distressed, repetitive imagery to create the same dull feeling in the reader as the scenery does to the driver. However the beginning may begin lacking excitement as the narrator describes the motorway, the narrator ends the poem with a irresistibly luring description of the places the drivers miss as they drive on past: “apple scented villages”. The narrator is therefore claiming that the motorway drains and leeches the fun and excitement of travelling as it boxes you in its path and won’t release you until you reach your destination..
The narrator refers to the country as a gift not to be opened as you drive on down the frustratingly never-ending motorway, “tying the country in a parcel... No time to examine the contents”. The narrators tone when describing the parcel is pleasant and excitable however the tone drops to that of depression like that of a disappointed child unable to open a present. Again this shows that the motorway prevents any fun being absorbed on the long inescapable trek. However the poet does later open the package for the reader towards the end of the poem. The gift is that of freedom “lanes trickling off into childhood” all that which the motorway is stripping away. All these people need is a way out, which presents them as prisoners and the motorway as the person with the key unwilling to share once again portraying the motorway as an evil dictator.
The writer uses personification to place blame on the motorway as if it is the motorway’s doing , like it is the motorway’s fault “they’re all the same to the road which loves it’s self... hands you...”. This portrays the motorway as a selfish, self obsessed, attention clutching captor who will spit you out when you’ve served your purpose. It self-centred attitude means it cares not where you go, only how you get there and that way is the motorway. It drags both you and your car along until you are both battered and shattered and leaves you to fend for yourself once you leave its company.
In the poem ‘’From the Motorway’ the motorway is portrayed as a mind-numbingly dull experience which saps precious moments away from unwitting drivers.
The poet describes the motorway as an endless cycle of reoccurring images that never cease to bore drivers as they witness the same road in the same constant stripe: “while identical miles thunder under you”. The writer uses distressed, repetitive imagery to create the same dull feeling in the reader as the scenery does to the driver. However the beginning may begin lacking excitement as the narrator describes the motorway, the narrator ends the poem with a irresistibly luring description of the places the drivers miss as they drive on past: “apple scented villages”. The narrator is therefore claiming that the motorway drains and leeches the fun and excitement of travelling as it boxes you in its path and won’t release you until you reach your destination..
The narrator refers to the country as a gift not to be opened as you drive on down the frustratingly never-ending motorway, “tying the country in a parcel... No time to examine the contents”. The narrators tone when describing the parcel is pleasant and excitable however the tone drops to that of depression like that of a disappointed child unable to open a present. Again this shows that the motorway prevents any fun being absorbed on the long inescapable trek. However the poet does later open the package for the reader towards the end of the poem. The gift is that of freedom “lanes trickling off into childhood” all that which the motorway is stripping away. All these people need is a way out, which presents them as prisoners and the motorway as the person with the key unwilling to share once again portraying the motorway as an evil dictator.
The writer uses personification to place blame on the motorway as if it is the motorway’s doing , like it is the motorway’s fault “they’re all the same to the road which loves it’s self... hands you...”. This portrays the motorway as a selfish, self obsessed, attention clutching captor who will spit you out when you’ve served your purpose. It self-centred attitude means it cares not where you go, only how you get there and that way is the motorway. It drags both you and your car along until you are both battered and shattered and leaves you to fend for yourself once you leave its company.
Good overview
Textual Support
Reader involvement
Right Word
Engaging with Metaphor
Critical engagement and insight. Not exhaustive but does discuss the material in the poem and the candidate has
structured well.
This is a forceful response to the unseen poem. The introduction
suggests a willingness to engage with both AO1 and AO2. The poet’s
disdain for the motorways is immediately identified and literary devices
referred to. There is analysis of and response to the ‘parcel’ metaphor
and supported discussion of the personification of the motorway and its
arrogance. The candidate comments intelligently on the structure in the
last paragraph. Although there is not always comment on some aspects
on which the response touches (“orange witches”), critical insight is
clear.
What mark did you give it?
This was given a Band 2: 13 marksDo we agree?
WHAT DOES AN A LOOK L IKE IN THE CONTEMPORARY POETRY EXAM? (AO1
AND 2 )
Examiner’s tips:
Basic responses will make relevant comments on what Stevenson says, largely through
paraphrasing. They will move on through the bands as understanding becomes more
secure and better supported by textual reference. Good responses will begin to explore
the language of the poem. There are sound devices reflecting the miles travelled on a
motorway that “thunder under”. Metaphors like “necklaces of fumes”, and the activities
of the military Major roadworks, protecting the shamelessly naked free lane might be
discussed/analysed in high band answers here. Comment on structure might consider the
use of enjambment, the constricted third line of verse five mirroring the traffic filtering
because of a lane not taken, the way the last five verses hurry to a full stop at the end of
verse 6. There is much that can be said about this poem (its title has ambiguities) and it
is important to accept thoughtful exploration here. Best answers will discuss the
poem, its language and structure with some insight.
WHAT DOES AN A LOOK L IKE IN THE CONTEMPORARY POETRY EXAM? (AO1
AND 2 )