Unseen Poetry - add me as a friend on allhonours http://www.allhonours.ie/johntryan if you think the notes are of use/ need any help; also, check out my website www.ryjolc.wordpress.com for further notes/ study aids for LC English and/ or email me at ryjolc@gmail.com if you need any help!

What is the task?

It is, simply, to read a poem and be able to answer a question on it. The markers are told to focus on your response to/ perception of the emotions the poem raises/ creates and how it does so. There are two question types that can test you here, a personal response to the poem, or a question focusing on a specific element of the poem.

So how do you answer the unseen poetry question?

Regardless of the question, your answer will always have to adhere to the PCLM marking scheme. This means that you can always have same structure answer regardless of question:

Clarity of purpose

This focuses on whether you are answering the question and completing the task required of you. In your introduction you should introduce how you will do this. For example, if the question was

‘Write a response to the above poem, highlighting the impact it makes on you’

a suitable response would be ‘The poem has the impact of making me sad.’

Then, you should list the paragraph topics you will use in your answer to show that you can make such a response (we shall look at the four paragraph topics you shold use later). This will indicate to the marker what the rest of the answer will feature, and thus serve as a suitable introduction, which also adds to another quality needed,

Efficiency of language use

This involves you making correct use of language to complete the aforementioned task. This in part includes your paragraph structure for the answer. After your introduction you should write four paragraphs to show that you can respond as you choose to do in your exam. Each paragraph should be structured in the following manner:

• Introduce the topic the paragraph will focus on
• Say why this topic can help you respond to the question as you did in your introduction
• Provide examples of this paragraph topic in your poem, thus giving evidence that your response can be given

This should be done for four paragraph topics. When writing in this paragraph structure you also have to make sure that you use suitable language. Focus on the following:

• Using correct terminology: the marker will expect you to write on topics and use terms such as imagery, language etc
• Short sentences: the marker will not want to be reading long, winding sentences, as this makes for awkward reading, which will  not be welcomed by a marker reading hundreds of scripts
• Use ‘I’, even if the question is not aimed at you

In addition, you should be ensuring that your answer has continuity: that it is continuously answering the question, which is concerned with the third quality needed in your answer, Coherence of Delivery. This is achieved in two ways, both achieved with linking phrases (the phrases you use to link/compare your comparative texts):

• Linking your paragraph topics: at the beginning of each paragraph mnention your previous paragraph topic, such as saying ‘As well as… another feature of the poem,…, makes me feel sad..’. This shows that what you are writing on in this paragraph has the same effect as your previous paragraph, to show that you can provide your response to the question, which furthers your answering of the question.
• Linking your examples: when you are providing examples to give evidence that you can answer the question, using linking phrases between each example provides a reminder that the examples are all showing that you can make respond to the question as you did.

Finally, with regards to Accuracy of Mechanics, the final quality needed in your answer, spelling and grammar should be of a high standard.

So what should you write on in your paragraphs?

Email us ar ryjolc@gmail.com for the remainder of our unseen poetry notes, which show you the four parts of the poem the marker is told your answer should show evidence of focusing on, with explanation of these and sample answers.