Prescribed Poetry section

What are you being asked to do?

The marker is told to look for a representative selection from the work of a poet, which reflects the range of the poet’s themes and interests and exhibiting his/ her characteristic style and viewpoint. The marker is told that the underlying nature of the task is to engage with some poems of the poets. In short, you must comment on the poet’s themes, interests and style through close examination of his/her poetry. The four questions in the Prescribed Poetry section of the exam in 2009 show this:

‘Derek Walcott explores tensions and conflicts in an inventive fashion.’

Do you agree with this assessment of his poetry? Write a response, supporting your points with the aid of suitable reference to the poems you have studied.

‘John Keats presents abstact ideas in a style that is clear and direct.’

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this assessment of his poetry? Support your points with reference to the poetry on your course.

‘John Montague expresses his themes in a clear and precise fashion.’

You have asked by your local radio station to give a talk on the poetry of John Montague. Write out the text of the talk you would deliver in response to the above title. You should refer to both style and subject matter. Support the points you make by reference to the poetry on your course.

‘Elizabeth Bishop poses interesting questions delivered by means of a unique style.’

Do you agree with this assessment of her poetry? Your asnwer should focus on both themes and stylistic features. Support your points with the aid of suitable reference to the poems you have studied.

What do you need to have in these answers?

The marker is told  to expect that you show study of at least six poems of the poet you answer on. In addition your answer has to contain the four qualities of Clarity of Purpose, Efficiency of Language use, Coherence of Delivery and Accuracy of Mechanics. Regardless of the poet you choose, your answer must always show study of six poems and contain these four qualities, so preparing a suitable answer structure beforehand that contains these will allow you to use this in the exam regardless of the poet or question you answer on.

The introduction brings about the first quality of your answer needed.

Efficiency of Language Use

This means using your language suitably for the task at hand. Included in this is your ability to structure your answer and your introduction is an important part of your answer structure. Any good introduction to a piece should tell its reader what it is about, and hence you should always place the following in the introduction to your prescribed poetry answer, to introduce your answer, in which you will answer the question, which will include a representative selection of the poetry of a certain poet

• The poet you are studying
• The question you are answering
• The paragraph topics you will use to answer the question – these should include themes/ interests, style, viewpoint etc

In addition here you can deal with one of the requirements (mentioned earlier) of you in the prescribed poetry answer – showing study of six poems. If you mention in the introduction to your prescribed poetry answer that ‘The poems I have studied are….’ and mention six poems, then you will have shown study of six poems, and you can then focus your answer to three or four poems. A suitable introduction would be something such as so:

‘I like the poetry of John Montague. This is because of his range of themes, his use of ‘I’, his use of different references, the imagery in his poetry, as well as his use of nature. The poems I have studied are The Locket, The Cage, Like Dolmens Around My Childhood, The Same Gesture, The Wild Dog Rose and All Legendary Obstacles.’

The introduction does what a good introduction should do: it tells the marker what the rest of the answer will do: it will answer the question in a certain way, through looking at the poets’ themes/ interests, style, viewpoint etc, while also showing study of six poems. Thus the marker will not only gain an introduction into what your answer will be, but will already see that you know what has to be in the answer and that you are planning to have your answer contain this.

Your answer should then contain a main body of at least four paragraphs, which combined should deal with the poet’s themes/ interests, style, viewpoint etc. Each of these paragraphs must also answer the question, which brings about the second quality needed for your answer:

Clear and purposeful engagement with the set task

Each paragraph, as said, will focus on a specifc element on the poet (themes/ viewpoint/ style etc) but each must also serve the purpose of answering the question in the manner you stated in your answer. So your answer must begin by stating the paragraph topic, and showing how it helps you answer the question through the manner you stated in the introduction. An example would be for the question mentioned in the above sample introduction. If our first paragraph was to focus on the imagery in Montague’s poetry, you would have to say why this helps you ‘like the poetry of John Montague’, which you mentioned in introduction. Something such as so would suit:

‘One reason I like the poetry of John Montague is because of the imagery in his poetry. Montague details each poem thoroughly. Each poem has an individual world of its own, making each unique in a specific way. This means that as I read through his poetry I always meet a new world and setting, which makes reading each of his poems a new and different experience, which I appreciate, as his poetry never becomes monotonous or boring.’

Immediately you have introduced your paragraph topic and said how it helps you answer the question. This also shows the marker that you are aware of the importance of Efficiency of Language Use, as not only are you structuring your answer in an organized manner, but you are organizing each paragraph accordingly also. You are introducing your paragraph topic and then showing how it helps you answer the question. This is called the topic sentences section of your paragraph – it serves the same purpose as the introduction of your entire answer, introducing what the remainder of its piece is about and what it will focus on: here the remainder of the paragraph will use examples from poems to show what you have just said is true: for example in the answer answer above the remainder of the answer would use examples of imagery from a variety of poems to show that each of Montague’s poems uses different images to create different worlds constantly, which you have said you liked, which will show a valid reason for you liking the poems. Something such as so would do:

‘We see this with Like Dolmens Around My Childhood as Montague produces an unfamiliar, slightly fantastical world, with images of the ‘Fomorian’ and the Battle of the Boyne, which have mythological connotations through their legendary status. Elsewhere Montague produces a world of fear and terror in The Wild Dog Rose, created with such images as the humans are no longer passive and civilized: they are now ‘creatures crazed’. The image of ‘the darkness’ symbolizes the world where there is no help and no hope. A world of sadness and regret is created in The Cage as Montague uses images associated with the past which show the irreconcilable passing of time, which cannot be retrieved. The ‘ghostly forehead’ of his father shows this: the poem focuses on a world which remembers his father, but can only do that. His father is now a ghost, and can only be remembered, rather than interacted with.’

This is what each of your paragraphs should do:

• Introduce your point
• Show how it helps you answer the question
• Use your example to provide evidence that what you have said is true, that your point can answer the question

Each of your paragraphs, while answering the question separately, must also appear to the marker as part of a greater answer which answers the question. The best way to link your separate paragraphs is through another quality needed in your answer:

Coherence of delivery

The marker looks for your answer to consistently answer the question without disruption or interruption, hence when you are moving from paragraph to paragraph you have to link them so that everything you mention answers the question. Doing so will not only keep your answering of the question consistent, it also shows that you are once again completing the task asked of you here, to provide a representative selection of the poetry of a poet. To present your paragraphs as part of a whole answer, use linking phrases. All of your paragraphs will answer a question, and linking phrases ensure that the marker is reminder of their serving the same function and thus their link to another. For example, if you began a new paragraph for the question we have been answering, something such as so would suit:

‘Another reason I like the poetry of John Montague is his use of nature…’

The marker is thus shown that this paragraph serves the same function as the last – the use of nature, like Montague’s imagery, shows why you like his poetry. You will then say why this paragaph also makes you like Montague’s poetry, and then provide examples from his poetry to provide evidence that what you are saying is true, and thus is an acceptable and plausible reason for you liking his poetry.

Much like you will be linking different paragraphs to answer the question, you will also to have to link different poems in paragraphs to use a paragraph point to answer the question. For this you can once again use linking phrases, which will simply show how each of the poems you are mentioning all serve the same purpose, showing that the point you are using shows that the point can help you answer the question. If we examine the paragraph mentioned above, the linking phrases are emboldened:

‘One reason I like the poetry of John Montague is because of the imagery in his poetry. Montague details each poem thoroughly. Each poem has an individual world of its own, making each unique in a specific way. This means that as I read through his poetry I always meet a new world and setting, which makes reading each of his poems a new and different experience, which I appreciate, as his poetry never becomes monotonous or boring.

‘We see this with Like Dolmens Around My Childhood as Montague produces an unfamiliar, slightly fantastical world, with images of the ‘Fomorian’ and the Battle of the Boyne, which have mythological connotations through their legendary status. Elsewhere Montague produces a world of fear and terror in The Wild Dog Rose, created with such images as the humans are no longer passive and civilized: they are now ‘creatures crazed’. The image of ‘the darkness’ symbolizes the world where there is no help and no hope. Another world, of sadness and regret, is created in The Cage as Montague uses images associated with the past which show the irreconcilable passing of time, which cannot be retrieved. The ‘ghostly forehead’ of his father shows this: the poem focuses on a world which remembers his father, but can only do that. His father is now a ghost, and can only be remembered, rather than interacted with.’

Simple linking phrases link the three poems mentioned and present them as all doing serving the same purpose (here showing that the imagery of John Montague allows you to like his poetry).

Finally, after your main body, you need to complete your answer with the Conclusion. The function of the conclusion is to sum up what has been said. Here you should mention:

• Your main answer
• The paragraph topics you have mentioned

For the above answer you could say this:

‘I don’t think anyone could dislike the poetry of John Montague. Reading through his poetry I constantly find more and more likable qualities, such as those shown here, his use of ‘I’, his use of nature, his use of different references and his range of themes. For this reason, he is my favourite poet on the Leaving Cert English course.’

When writing your answer with this structure, you need to be aware of the next quality, Management of controlling language appropriate to the task. This simply focuses on your language use. There are only a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Poetic terminology is essential. You are talking about a poet and his/ her poetry, so the marker will presume, and rightly so, that you will talk about elements of the poetry (such as imagery) rather than the way “the poetry made me feel…” etc.
• Use on characteristic of the poet’s poetry per paragraph.
• Short sentences are needed. This is of benefit for you for two reasons. The first is that it reads better for the examiner. The last thing he or she wants is to be following a long winding sentence through four or five lines waiting to see where it will end up. It makes the answer considerably unreadable, and generally gives the writer the appearance of not knowing what he or she is talking about (similar to someone talking a lot to cover what he or she does not know).

This technique is also of benefit to you. If you write long sentences, you will get a tendency to lose some of your concentration and focus. Writing short sentences keeps you in check and hence keeps you aware of whether or not you are writing an A1 standard essay.

• As stated above, use each paragraph of your essay to talk about one characteristic of the poet’s poetry. This organizes your essay much more than talking about one poem per paragraph, because none of the paragraphs will have as cohesive a link as if you talk about different characteristics, as not every poem of the poet will have all the qualities of another.
• The use of “I”. Remember the question will be aimed at “you” so respond accordingly.

Finally, bear in mind the final quality needed in your answer:

Spelling and grammar

Spelling and grammar should be of a high standard. Remember you are writing for the examiner so make sure the answer is informative.

Remember to

Engage with the poems and use plenty of examples.

In addition, keep these basic things in mind when answering your prescribed poetry question:

Six poems

The markers are told to look for evidence that you have studied six poems in your answer. There are two ways to do this:

1)      use examples from six poems

2)      if you do not want to write on six poems, you can simply write down the names of six poems in your introduction when you write down ‘The poems I have studied are…’

When you mention each of the poems you are using examples from for the first time, give a quick introduction on it – what are the poets talking about here, what is their message/ intention in the poem etc.

Use of I

Use I regardless of the question – give your personal opinion

Per paragraph

Give examples of two/three poems minimum

Thematic question

It is easier to write paragraphs on specific features of the poet’s poetry, than on a specific poem. It becomes difficult to link paragraphs on different poems as some features you talk about in one poem may not be in another poem.

Regardless of the written medium (you may have to give a speech/write a letter to the poet etc) the format of each paragraph will never change from:

1)      introduce the paragraph point

2)      say why this helps your answer the question

3)      give examples from poems to provide evidence your paragraph point does help you answer the question

e.g: Why do you like the poetry of…

1) ‘I like the poetry of… because of his unusual imagery.

2) ‘I like his poetry because of this as the imagery in his poetry conveys the message of his poetry in an easy-to-understand manner. We do not have to trawl through his poetry, searching for a hidden meaning; it is presented it for us clearly through his imagery.’

3) ‘We see this with…’

Cohesion

A good way of linking paragraphs rather than going ‘Another reason I like his poetry/ As well as imagery, another appealing feature of his poetry is..’ is to use the poem you picked the last example from the previous paragraph for as the first poem in your new paragraph. Link the quote you used in the last paragraph or simply poem to introduce your next feature with this poem as an example such as:

‘The Trout contains another feature of Montague’s poetry I like,….’