How to answer the two unseen poetry questions
The final part of English Literature Paper 2 is unseen poetry. There are two questions for this section, as well as two poems, and they are worth 32 marks, so you should spend about 45 minutes on them (the same as the other two parts). The first question is worth most of the marks (24), and the second is worth just 8 marks, so you should allocate your time accordingly. Also, the second is assessed on AO2 only, and we will discuss the implications of this below.
How to structure your answers
Below are two very simple structures for the two questions. There is more detail on each later in this guide:
Q1 structure - analysing the first poem
A pretty standard four-paragraph essay structure:
Introduction
Analysis 1 – PEAEA – probably about something near the start of the poem
Analysis 2 – PEAEA or PEA – probably about something later in the poem
Conclusion – optional, depending on time
Q2 structure - comparing the two poems with a focus on methods
One fairly long paragraph which offers a conceptualised comparison of the two poems:
Comparative point
Method and analysis from Poem 1
Method and comparative analysis from Poem 2
Method and analysis from Poem 1
Method and comparative analysis from Poem 2
Repeat if possible
Tips for figuring out the poems
Generally speaking, the poems you get given in this part of the exam aren’t that strange or hard to figure out. Nevertheless, it’s worthwhile being systematic about the process, and identifying certain key things. Here are 7 tips.
Look out for the title of the poem. This will generally give you a clue about the meaning, including any subtle, hidden meanings that might be disguised in the poem.
Read the poem in small chunks – between 3 and 4 lines each. You should read each chunk several times to absorb it before you move on to the next one. For each chunk, highlight or annotate anything you notice. This will make the poem easier to digest.
Figure out who the speaker is – and who, if anyone, they are speaking to or about. Look at the pronouns for this: is there an ‘I’? is there a ‘you’? is there a ‘he’ or ‘she’ or ‘they’? And what is the relationship between them? You need this to fully understand the poem, and it’s useful for comparison in Q2 (see below).
Look at the tense of the poem and check to see if it ever changes. If it’s in the past tense, is it some kind of memory? If it’s in the present tense that means it’s about a current situation, a current feeling. This is another feature you can potentially compare in Q2.
Look closely at the start and end of the poem - these are often fruitful for analysis. The start establishes the mood and often introduces the key theme for a poem; the end often conveys the overall message of the poem.
Look for patterns in the imagery. Is the pattern expected or surprising? Are contrasting types of imagery used? This is also something you can probably compare in Q2, and it’s an easy thing to analyse in Q1.
Look for an aspect of form you can analyse. To get to the highest marks, especially in Q1, you should try to write about form. Is enjambment used to emphasise something or create surprise with a line break? Is the poem a sonnet? How are stanzas used? Etc. You don’t need to figure everything out, but try to find one thing, if you can.
Answering Q1 - the main analysis question
For this question you’re assessed on AO1 (your understanding and your use of quotations) and AO2 (analysis of language, form and structure).
In essence, you need to write a quick essay on the first poem, showing you’ve understood what the poem is about and how the poet conveys that meaning through language, form and structure.
Let’s look at the structure again in slightly more detail, with some examples.
All of the examples in will be based on the following question from 2017: In ‘To A Daughter Leaving Home’, how does the poet present the speaker’s feelings about her daughter?
Introduction
A short introduction is great for AO1 – it shows your marker right away that you’ve understood what the poem is about. It might go roughly like this:
In [poem], the speaker describes [rough summary of what happens in the poem]. Through this, [poet] suggests that [overview of the message in terms of ideas in the poem].
Example introduction
In ‘To A Daughter Leaving Home’, the speaker describes the experience of watching her daughter learn to ride a bike. Through this, Pastan suggests that growing up is often harder on the parents than the children, as they worry and watch their children drift away from them.
Analysis paragraphs 1 and 2
Because your time is so short for these questions, you don’t need massive paragraphs. PEA is fine, providing you’ve got enough to say in your analysis of each bit of evidence, though PEAEA is preferable, at least for one paragraph.
You should try to write about an aspect of the form, too, if you can.
The obvious way to structure your paragraphs is to look at the start of the poem in the first, and the end of the poem in the second. This will allow you to explain the meaning of the poem as it develops, which will help you with marks for AO1. Don’t try to explain the overall message right away: explain how the poet develops the ideas over the course of the poem.
In these paragraphs you need to focus on meeting the AOs, which means (1) showing that you’ve really understood what the poem is about, including what’s going on in it, and (2) showing that you’ve understood how the poet has used language, form and structure to convey meaning, including the subtle, nuanced meaning that comes through careful use of language (something that all poets do).
Two example analysis paragraphs: PEAEA + PEA
At the start of the poem, the poet suggests that parenthood – perhaps motherhood in particular – can bring fear and anxiety, which we see in the speaker in this poem. Early on, as the daughter “wobble[s] away” from the speaker, she finds herself “waiting for the thud of [her] crash.” Here the trepidation of the speaker is first conveyed through the verb “wobble”, which creates the sense that the daughter’s cycling looks dangerous and uncertain, as if she could fall at any moment, which would undoubtedly bring fear. It is this fear that the mother is “waiting for” – the onomatopoeic “thud” of a crash, which in this extended metaphor would be some kind of crisis as the daughter grows up; some kind of terrible accident. And it is the uncertainty that really causes the fear here. As the mother “sprint[s]” to catch up (the verb showing her desperation to be there for her child) the daughter “gr[o]w[s] / smaller, more breakable / with distance.” In the poem’s extended metaphor, we get the sense that, as the child ages (as she “grows”) she, in her mother's eyes at least, becomes more fragile, more liable to break, presumably because she is further from her care, and so her fate grows more and more uncertain. This is reflected in the form of the poem, too, as Pastan uses short, enjambed lines which means the reader, like the mother, can never see too far ahead, and there are often surprises to come after the linebreak - unexpected juxtapositions (like “grew / smaller”) that reflect the surprises the mother and child face as the child grows up. For parents, and mothers in particular, it is pretty scary watching your child grow up; you never know what to expect next.
There is happiness, too, however: not all the speaker’s feelings are fearful, and with the surprise and uncertainty of growing up comes unexpected joy too. This is perhaps most clearly seen at the end of the poem when the daughter is said to be “screaming / with laughter” with her hair “flapping behind [her]” as she waves goodbye. This is very much a bittersweet image, but one with more sweetness than bitterness. This image of a child, laughing uproariously in that way that only young children really do, represents all those moments when a mother sees her growing child flourish. Again, Pastan uses enjambement to show first the mother’s fear (the reader is left with the child “screaming” at the end of the line) before we see, with surprise and relief, just like the mother, that it’s actually “with laughter”. Everything is fine! Pastan is perhaps suggesting here that mothers worry too much about their children as they grow. They should, instead, make the most of those childish moments before they wave goodbye.
Conclusion
The conclusion is optional. It’s most useful when you’ve realised something interesting as you were writing your analysis, which means you want to adjust or deepen your summary of the poem’s message from your introduction. It’s also good just to draw everything together in a nice clear way at the end. If you’re short on time, though, you can leave it out.
Example conclusion
In conclusion, Pastan uses this extended metaphor to explore the complex and bittersweet feelings that come with watching a child grow up. It can be terrifying, with so much uncertainty, but it can also be gratifying too, as you see the joy on your child’s face. Ultimately, though, motherhood is also a long goodbye; it is watching your child gain independence and knowing you are no longer required to lope along beside her.
Answering Q2 - the comparison question
For this question you are assessed on AO2 only. This means you need to focus on how the poets use methods in the poems. However, the exam board DO want you to compare the ideas in the poem too, and in particular whatever the connection / shared idea is between the two poems based on the topic provided in the question.
Nevertheless, you should focus on how the writers have conveyed their ideas through the methods they use in the poems. So your evidence should always have a method that you can analyse, and you should attempt to compare the methods in the two poems as well.
Here are 6 methods which are especially useful for comparison in this question:
The speaker. This is one common thing you can compare, providing you understand the effect. Who is the speaker in each poem? Are they both heartbroken lovers because both poets want to explore feelings of heartbreak? Is one speaker a rich person and the other a poor person because the poets each want to explore a different aspect of wealth inequality? Etc. You must describe the effect of the speaker choice, though – how it helps the poet convey their ideas. Don’t just say who the speakers are and leave it there, or you won’t get many marks.
Imagery. What kind of imagery do the two poets use? Are they similar or different? Perhaps they both use natural imagery, or perhaps one uses natural imagery and the other uses urban imagery. Do they both contain romantic imagery? Or imagery of childhood? Or imagery of death? Then say what the effect of the imagery is (e.g. how it contributes to the general mood or message of the poem).
General form - regularity of metre and rhyme. Something the exam board do quite often is have the two poems use contrasting forms. So one poem might be quite regular in its form (regular metre, some kind of rhyme scheme, standard grammar and punctuation), which often reflects some kind of calmness or control or order from the speaker. Then they’ll contrast this with a poem which is very irregular in its form (free verse, no rhyme, lack of end-stops, non-standard grammar and punctuation), which often reflects either a kind of spontaneity on behalf of the speaker, like a stream of consciousness, or perhaps a more relaxed, conversational tone, or maybe a deliberate sense of disorder/disharmony, if the rhyme and metre are very disjointed. You’ll have to look at the specific poems to figure out the exact meaning, but this kind of general form comparison will often help you access the higher marks.
Metaphors and similes. Poets very often use metaphors and/or similes. Do the two poets use similar or contrasting metaphors or similes to address their topic? If so, this would be a useful thing to analyse. Do either of the poems use an extended metaphor?
Symbolism. Another common device use by poets is symbolism. Look in particular for seasons (ROUGHLY: spring = hope, autumn = decline, winter = miserable, etc), weather (ROUGHLY: sunny = good, rainy = sad, etc) and time of day (ROUGHLY: night = bad, daybreak = change/hope, afternoon = decline, etc). You’ll need to make sure these standard symbolic meanings fit with the poems you’re given (you can’t just assume) but they’re definitely something to look out for.
Enjambment. You don’t have to analyse form for this question, but enjambment is an easy feature to spot, and the effect is often easy to describe. Does the poet end a line mid-sentence (without punctuation) and then start a new line? If so, why did they end it there? Did they want to emphasise the word at the end of the line? Did they want to mislead the reader or create surprise with the word at the start of the new line (e.g. screaming / with laughter)? Did they want to create a kind of double meaning - one based on the end of the line and another based on the end of the sentence in the next line? These are all things poets commonly do and which you could potentionally analyse.
Example Q2 response based on the question from 2017: In both ‘Poem For My Sister’ and ‘To A Daughter Leaving Home’ the speakers describe feelings about watching someone grow up. What are the similarities and/or differences between the ways the poets present these feelings?
Both poems explore the feelings of fear and anxiety that loved ones feel when they watch their younger relatives grow up. One difference is between the speaker the poets have used. Pastan uses a mother’s voice, which allows her to explore the feelings of someone who is extremely close and is highly invested in the child’s life. Lochhead, however, uses an older sister’s voice, which allows her to convey different emotions: an older sister will have grown up more recently, so the wounds will be fresher, and the fears more immediate, though less pressing than with a mother. Despite this difference, both poets rely on a central extended metaphor to convey their ideas. Pastan uses the metaphor of a mother teaching a child to ride a bike, which conveys the idea both that mothers have a responsibility to instruct and nurture a child but also the sense of fear that growing up brings mothers: riding a bike is treacherous and so is growing up. The metaphor of shoes that Lochhead uses creates a slightly different effect. There is an element of danger – the sister “wobbles” on the shoes just like the daughter “wobbles” on the bike – but the shoes seem to represent something different: they are symbolic of adulthood, and perhaps even sexuality, and they show the excitement but also the discomfort that these things can bring to a child’s life which has hitherto been innocent. In the end the poem’s messages seem slightly different: Pastan’s poem is more hopeful, with the mother coming to accept the child’s independence and the joy it brings. But Lochhead’s poem ends on a more cautious note, with the speaker’s doomed longing for the sister to stay young and innocent forever, perhaps to spare her the pain that she, as an older sister, has more recently experienced.